Koeckert quartet on Spotify Bruckner Wolf Dvorak and Egk

For many years now I go sheep shaving in the eastern part of the Netherlands. In a village called Rheden there is a market with shavers, crafts and second hand stuff. On that market (note, fully dressed in shavers clothing) I found this LP on the market; the German Koeckert quartet on the Deutsche Gramophon label . It was a fascinating 1952 performance, one of the first recordings of this piece. To my surprise, DG also uploaded a transfer on Spotify, so you can also enjoy this performance, together with a couple of other recordings of the Koeckert Quartet that are on-line. 

Enjoy the selection! 

Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)

String quintet in F-major WAB 112 (1878-79)

with Georg Schmid on viola

Recorded 1952

Hugo Wolf (1860-1903)

Italian Serenade (1887)

Recorded 1951, issued on 45 RPM single

Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)

String quartet in F major op 96 “American” (1893)

Recorded 1953

Werner Egk: (1901-1983)

La Tentation de Saint Antoine (1945)

This work is written after 18th Century verses and tunes set for Contralto, String Quartet and String orchestra.

Janet Baker, Contralto

Koeckert-Quartet,

Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

Werner Egk, Conductor

Recorded 1965

Rudolf Koeckert (1913-2005), violin

Willi Buchner (1910-1965), violin

Oskar Riedl (1912-2008), viola

Josef Merz (1911-Still alive??) cello

https://open.spotify.com/user/otterhouse/playlist/5Ojla7TzyIbRuI2IkKc3ku

(Spotify Webplayer link)

Karel Sejna on Spotify

Tracks blocked on Spotify... 

NOW WHY DO SOME RECORD COMPAGNIES DO THIS…???

When I was searching for recordings by this Tsjech conductor, his bio can be found -> here <-, I stumbled upon a fine Beethoven Pastorale and even finer Mozart 38, but… all the tracks larger than 10 minutes were blocked. Why? I encounter this more on spotify, like the DG Boulez box and the awesome Zdenek Kosler Prokofiev Symphony cycle, also on Supraphon. It’s a bad advertisement for Spotify… 

But… There is also much to enjoy by Sejna, like the glowing and heartfelt warmth of the not-so-well-known Suite in A, nicknamed “American” (where did we hear that before) by Antonin Dvorak. Folksy melodies in the Moravian Slovak suite by Novàk, of which the Gramophone wrote: “The real gem on this disc by Sejna, though, is the Slovak Suite, full of the most gorgeous melody (try the third movement, ''Lovers''), captivating local colour (''The Band'') and genuinely touching inspiration (the concluding ''At Night''). The raw power of Martinu’s concerto for Strings Piano and Timpani (!) is never captured better than on this live recording from 1959, not even by the modern version by Charles Mackerras.

Hope you will enjoy this Tsjech selection!

Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)

Suite for orchestra in A major ('American'; arr. from suite for piano, B. 184), B. 190 (Op. 98b)

Czech Philharmonic Orchestra

rec. 4-5 July 1956

Vitezslav Novak (1870-1949)

Moravian-Slovak Suite for Small Orchestra op 32

Brno State Philharmonic

rec 1966

Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959)

Double Concerto for 2 string orchestras, piano & timpani, H. 271

Czech Philharmonic Orchestra

rec Dvorák Hall, Rudolfinum, Prague, 15-17 Sept 1958 (stereo)

https://open.spotify.com/user/otterhouse/playlist/2PCX7bxBtaoxJ7CZ55ynlK
(HTTP link)

Collins Classics on Spotify

Oh yes, the early nineties. The years of shoulder pads, three tenors, startling fee’s and start-up cd compagnies. In that period there was one classical music label that started to make a name for themselves; „Collins Classics”. Based in England, they opened up busyness in 1989 and could continue until 1998, when the first troublesome signs of the classical CD market emerged. In later years, the back catalogue was bought by the clever boys and girls of Phoenix Music International Ltd. and they handle the digital distribution (ao on Spotify) of the recordings. Scavenger tactics, perhaps, but it makes it possible to hear some fine recordings from the Collins catalogue again and Phoenix emphasizes that the original artist are still payed all their royalties. Let’s trust on that… 

The first item I picked from the Collins catalogue is an excellent recording of Mozart’s Piano concerti no 17 and 21, played by Tamás Vásáry. Flowing piano lines and a sense op playfulness make these performance bubble and sparkle. It’s one of my favorite Mozart cd’s, actually…

The Beethoven performances by the Trio Zingara may not be everyone’s taste, but it’s highly individual and powerful chamber music making. The Gramophone noted about these performances back in 1990: „Nothing is overstated—the weight they give to sforzandos always seems to me just right—and there's a feeling of being carried forward on a strong, benign current. The Perlman/Harrell/Ashkenazy characterization on EMI sounds more than a little studied after this” 

Finally, an original program by the Duke Quartet; string quartets by Samuel Barber (yes, the one with the famous Adagio), Dvorak and Philip Glass. If you expect sweet minimalist harmonies in the latter one, you will be surprised; Philip Glass first string quartet is hardcore avant garde from 1966, including a 2 minute silence between movements. It was made just after he finished lessons from Nadia Boulanger. In the Samuel Barber string quartet from 1936, the famous adagio takes a central role, but it’s the outer movements that really sparkle and shine in this debut recording of the Duke quartet. I never heard it played with more panache than on this recording…

Hope you will enjoy this selection! 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Piano Concerto no 17 in G Major KV 453

Piano Concerto no 21 in C Major KV 467
The Philharmonia,
Tamás Vásáry, piano and conductor

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1828)
Piano Trio no 7 op 97 in Bb Major „archduke”
Piano Trio no 1 op 1 no 1 in Eb Major
Trio Zingara

Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
String Quartet op 11 in b minor
Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)
String Quartet in F major op. 96
Philip Glass (b.1937) 
String Quartet no 1
Duke Quartet. 

http://open.spotify.com/user/otterhouse/playlist/6qeCWYZ4A4XCdvP2jf0Z8I (HTTP link)

Wiener Symphoniker Karel Ancerl Dvorak 9 on Spotify

Arguably the best recording the Wiener Symphoniker - nope,  it’s not the better known Philharmoniker...! - ever made was the 9th symphony of Antonin Dvorak with Karl Ancerl as conductor. Recorded in the „Grosser saal” of the Vienna Musikverein, February 1958, it was one of the first issues on the Fontana label, the budget label of Philips. Where later on Epic, Philips and Mercury records were re-issued on Fontana, this is one of the few recordings that immediately was released (and re- and- re and- re- issued) on LP. Odd enough, although this is a very fine interpretation of Dvorak’s „American” symphony, it never made it officially on CD, exempt for a Universal Japan (of course, I would say ;-) version. Could not find the LP on youtube either, so I was glad to find out the bibliothèque nationale de France had transferred their vinyl copy on Spotify (earning some nice extra income from this copyright free recording, I suppose) so I can share this performance with you. If you were to sample just one movement, try the third. The drive, the individual character of the soloist passages and the sheer joy of playing is awesome there. 
As an extra, there is the „Moldau” movement from Smetana’s Ma Vlast, which was also featured on the original Fontana issue.

Hope you will enjoy this performance!

Antonin Dvorak, Symphony no 9 in e minor, "from the new world"
Bedrich Smetana, Moldau movement from Ma Vlast suite
Wiener Symphoniker, Karel Ancerl, conductor
Recorded February 8-10 1958

http://open.spotify.com/user/otterhouse/playlist/3YIfXJpXmsxZ5gTtrRVILQ
(HTTP link)

(love the "9" posted over the original "5"... ;-)

Máš rád Brahmse? The Czech Philharmonic in three decades...

Central in this playlist is the very fine Brahms 2nd piano concerto performance by Ivan Moravec and, with a very important contribution, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Jiri Belohlavek. „Here both soloist and conductor go for the gusto” wrote Victor Carr in his review for classics today, unashamedly romantic and with that special Czech orchestral sound, of which Vaclav Talich (1883-1961) was the founder. He can be heard at the start of the list with a work written in 1903 by the Czech composer Vitezslav Novak. After Talich an other Czech master, cellist Milos Sadlo (1912-2003) in two cello gem’s from Antonin Dvoak, the Rondo in g minor op 94 and the tone picture for cello and orchestra called Silent Woods. Vaclav Neumann conducts. Mas rad Brahmse? Yes, very much indeed!
Hope you will enjoy this Czech playlist… !


-Vitezslav Novak, Slovacko Suite op 32
  Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Vaclav Talich (1957)
- Antonin Dvorak, Rondo in g minor op 94 & Silent woods op 68
 Milos Sadlo, Cello,  Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Vaclav Neumann (1976)
- Johannes Brahms, Piano Concerto no 2 in B flat Major op 83
 Ivan Moravec, piano, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra,  Jiri Belohlavek (1988)





               http://open.spotify.com/user/otterhouse/playlist/6LJG4Q7UWRaDi5iWgq2YZi
                                        (One hour thirty-two minute Czech sounds)