{"product_id":"horenstein-early-recordings-1929-pasc506","title":"HORENSTEIN Early Recordings (1929) - PASC506","description":"overviewfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eBACH-SCHOENBERG\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003e  Two Chorale Preludes\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eHAYDN  \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eSymphony No. 94, “Surprise”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eMOZART  \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eOvertures to Le Nozze di Figaro and La Clemenza di Tito\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eSCHUBERT  \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eSymphony No. 5\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eRecorded in 1929\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eTotal duration: 69:02\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eBerlin Philharmonic Orchestra\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003econducted by \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eJascha Horenstein\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_titlefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fAudiophile Audition review578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_quotefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fPristine restores Jascha Horenstein’s German-Austrian repertory of 1929 to the active catalogue578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_bodyfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003eMark Obert-Thorn re-masters the 1929 Polydor recordings by Jascha\nHorenstein (1898-1973), his electrical performances of music to which he\ndid return later in his recording career. Some collectors will\nrecognize this program as having had prior issue on the Koch Legacy\nlabel (5-7054-2) in inferior sound. What becomes significant in this\nprogram lies in the fact that circumstances—mostly political—would\nprevent Horenstein’s access to the recording studio until Vox Records\nsigned this versatile conductor in 1952.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEach of the performances presents a driven, committed interpreter of\nthe Great German Tradition, rather linear in conception and quite\nbrightly lit in the interior vocal lines, especially in the Mozart\nselections. \u003ci\u003eThe Marriage of Figaro Overture\u003c\/i\u003e suffers no “romantic” distortion in what proves a vigorous, brisk reading.  The more militant \u003ci\u003eTitus \u003c\/i\u003escore—also\na favorite of Koussevitzky—enjoys a clean, liquid motion, favoring the\nwoodwind articulation that assumes a chamber music sonority, set against\nthe tutti response by the full ensemble. The layered polyphony benefits\nfrom the composer’s easy mastery of procedure. Much of the writing\nshares elements with the \u003ci\u003eOverture to the Abduction from the Seraglio\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Bach chorale transcriptions by Arnold Schoenberg—he \u003ci\u003eBWV 654’s\u003c\/i\u003e\nfeaturing cello solo work from Nikolai Graudan—virtually points the way\nthe Leopold Stokowski treatment of this same repertory in orchestral\nterms. The low winds, brass, and harp colors converge in controlled\ndynamics while Graudan invokes a solemn prayer. The more festive \u003ci\u003eBWV 631\u003c\/i\u003e resonates with a “Handelian” fervor, the orchestral sonorities’ easily invoking the \u003ci\u003epositif—excepti\u003c\/i\u003eng the clashing of cymbals—of a grand organ.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe 1792 \u003ci\u003e“Surprise” Symphony\u003c\/i\u003e of Haydn maintains a subdued but respectable resonance, gently tipping in the opening \u003ci\u003eAdagio cantabile; Vivace assai\u003c\/i\u003e.\nThis single-theme movement enjoys a sway and varied color line that\nmoves efficiently and dramatically, without histrionics. The famous \u003ci\u003eAndante\u003c\/i\u003e—with its legendary \u003ci\u003esforzato\u003c\/i\u003e,\nwakeup chord—contains a number of musical subtleties, including changes\nof key as the four variations proceed. Again, emotional restrain seems\nHorenstein’s order of the day, even as he crisply articulates the\ncomposer’s inventiveness. The mock-ponderous \u003ci\u003eMenuet \u003c\/i\u003econstitutes rather a German Dance in peasant style. The constrasting \u003ci\u003eTrio\u003c\/i\u003e section from Horenstein may prove too slow for some tastes.  The \u003ci\u003eAllegro di molto\u003c\/i\u003e\nfinale give us one of the many combinations of sonata-rondo form Haydn\nperfected. Haydn exploits his capacity for thematic development, both\nwithin the structure and at the coda; but under Horenstein’s guidance,\nthe music moves without sag or self-conscious seriousness.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHorenstein’s reading of Schubert’s 1816 \u003ci\u003eFifth Symphony\u003c\/i\u003e\nrepresents its first appearance on record. The realization, crisp and\nlight, captures the youthful exuberance and uncanny, lyrical beauty of\nthe score, touched as it is in places—the extended \u003ci\u003eAndante con moto\u003c\/i\u003e\nespecially—with emotional darkness and tragedy. The history of this\nmusic, too, seems to reflect the fate of the conductor: after just one\nperformance, the score disappeared until rediscovered in 1867 by Sirs\nArthur Sullivan and George Grove in Vienna. After 1929, Horenstein had\nto wait a quarter century before receiving an invitation to return to\nthe recording studio. Happily, this particular Past became Prologue.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e–\u003cb\u003eGary Lemco\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9main_samplefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fsamples\/PASC506.mp3578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fProducer's Note578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcontent578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003e\nBy 1929, the thirty-one year old Jascha Horenstein had already amassed an\nimpressive resumé of conductorial achievements, both on the podium and in\nthe recording studio. After studying under Franz Schrecker, Joseph Marx and\nAdolf Busch among others, he had become a regular conductor of the Blüthner\n(later Berliner Symphonie) Orchestra, as well as an assistant to Wilhelm\nFurtwängler at the Berlin Philharmonic. It was upon Furtwängler’s\nrecommendation that Horenstein had been appointed that year chief conductor\nof the Düsseldorf Opera.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nIn 1928, Horenstein made his first recordings for Grammophon\/Polydor: a\nBruckner Seventh (reissued on Pristine PASC 203) that was the première\nelectrical recording of any Bruckner symphony, and Mahler’s song cycle, \u003cem\u003eKindertotenlieder\u003c\/em\u003e, with baritone Heinrich Rehkemper. The following\nyear, he made the recordings featured on the present program.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nThe repertoire is significant in the conductor’s discography, since he\nnever returned to any of these works in the studio later in his career. The\nSchoenberg transcriptions were recorded at a time when the composer’s\noriginal works had scant representation on disc. (Indeed, as far as I have\nbeen able to research, there had only been two previous published\nrecordings of Schoenberg works issued by this time.) The remainder were\nstaples of the Austro-German repertoire, and included the first-ever\nrecording of the Schubert Fifth.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nSome aspects of the original recordings are worth noting. The Bach\ntranscriptions were done in a larger hall than the remaining items, and\nhave a more impressive sonority – at least until the very loudest passages\nat the end of the second track, which pushed the early microphones to their\nlimits. Many of the sides run much longer than the usual four-and-a-half\nminute average. The longest – the second half of the Schubert Andante –\nruns nearly five minutes and forty seconds, so close to the label area that\nthe matrix number was duplicated on the outer rim of the record. Finally,\nnearly all of the sides from the Haydn-Mozart-Schubert sessions have severe\npitch drift, which has been corrected here.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nThese were to be the last recordings Horenstein would make until the LP\nera. The worldwide Depression cut back recording activity after 1929; and\nHitler’s rise in the early ‘Thirties would force many, including\nHorenstein, out of Germany. The conductor settled in the USA and continued\nto guest conduct internationally after the war; but he would not make a\ncommercial recording again until 1952, when he began a series for Vox\n(along with another “forgotten” prewar German conductor, Otto Klemperer).\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nThe sources for the transfers were laminated Brunswicks pressed by American\nColumbia in the mid-1930s for the Bach and Haydn, and German Polydors for\nthe remainder.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMark Obert-Thorn\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fFull Track Listing578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5ftrack_listing578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBACH-SCHOENBERG: Two Chorale Preludes\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1. Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele, BWV 654* (5:33)\u003cbr\u003e2. Komm, Gott, Schöpfer, Heiliger Geist, BWV 631 (3:41)\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n*\u003cstrong\u003eNikolai Graudan, \u003cem\u003esolo cello\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nMatrix nos.: 800 Bi I \/ 799 Bi I ∙ First issued on Polydor 95295\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHAYDN: Symphony No. 94 in G, “Surprise”\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e3. 1st Mvt.: Adagio cantabile; Vivace assai (7:01)\u003cbr\u003e4. 2nd Mvt.: Andante (8:13)\n\u003cbr\u003e5. 3rd Mvt.: Menuet (5:02)\u003cbr\u003e6. 4th Mvt.: Allegro di molto (4:24)\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nMatrix nos.: 132 \/ 133 \/ 134 ½ \/ 135 \/ 136 \/ 137 ½ BV VI ∙ First issued on\nPolydor 66914\/6\n\n\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e7. \u003cstrong\u003eMOZART: \u003cem\u003eLe nozze di Figaro\u003c\/em\u003e – Overture\u003c\/strong\u003e (4:16)\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nMatrix no.: 138 ½ BV VI ∙ First issued on Polydor 95296\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e8. \u003cstrong\u003eMOZART: \u003cem\u003eLa clemenza di Tito\u003c\/em\u003e – Overture\u003c\/strong\u003e (4:57)\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nMatrix no.: 139 BV VI ∙ First issued on Polydor 95296\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSCHUBERT: Symphony No. 5 in B-flat, D.485\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e9. 1st Mvt.: Allegro (5:06)\u003cbr\u003e10. 2nd Mvt.: Andante con moto (10:42)\u003cbr\u003e11. 3rd Mvt.: Menuett (4:51)\n\n\u003cbr\u003e12. 4th Mvt.: Allegro vivace (5:16)\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nMatrix nos.: 140 \/141 \/ 142 \/ 150 \/ 151 BV VI ∙ First issued on Polydor\n66932\/4\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBerlin Philharmonic Orchestra ∙ Jascha Horenstein\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nRecorded 1929 in the Hochschule für Musik, Berlin (Bach) and Schumann-Saal,\nBerlin (Haydn, Mozart, Schubert)\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nProducer and Audio Restoration Engineer: Mark Obert-Thorn\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nSpecial thanks to Richard A. Kaplan for providing source material\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nTotal timing: 69:02\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fCover Art578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcover_art578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcovers\/thumbs\/PASC506.jpg578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcovers\/PASC506.pdf578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fHistoric Review578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcontent578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSCHUBERT - SYMPHONY NO. 5\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI am glad to welcome the happy Fifth of Schubert, which is as great a contrast as one could have to the Fifth of Beethoven. This was the light labour of under a month, in 1816, when the composer was nearly twenty. Earlier in the same year he had written the so-called \u003ci\u003eTragic \u003c\/i\u003esymphony (well worth recording, too : though I should call it the \u003ci\u003eMelodramatic\u003c\/i\u003e, using the word in no bad sense). The later symphony is a charming epitome of Schubert’s liveliest mind in his first ten years of work. It is scored for a small band, not much more than the early “classical” orchestra; strings, one flute, two oboes, two bassoons and two horns. It was first played by, and probably written directly for, a band of friends who used to make music on Sunday afternoons at the Schuberts’ house. I came across the symphony many years ago, in piano duet form, and always hoped it would be recorded. The second movement takes two sides, the other three one each. The orchestra is notably full-toned. The five woodwinds play up splendidly, and quite balance the strings. I wish we could have had a better \u003ci\u003ep\u003c\/i\u003e level, as in the Trio of the Minuet movement, where some of the innocent country-children feeling is lost. The orchestra assures me, by various little signs, that it is a strong, flexible implement, getting high marks for the string tone (the record loses some of them : but I feel the silkiness beneath the electrical waves), and rather lower marks, though still a good total, for rhythmical delicacy. A little more could be done to keep the music subtly moving within the bar: the bars and phrases, however, build up well as wholes. Where will you find prettier, more care-free second subjects than those in the first and last movements, and where a finer contrasting Minuet? This one, I feel, has something of the Mozart G minor symphony’s third movement sternness—resolution, at any rate. The slow movement strokes the senses from the first note: this is pure Schubert, at his most tenderly discursive. There is a Mozartian flavour several times in the work—notably at the start; but mark how, as soon as the second subject of the first movement is enunciated, that modulation spots the composer, unfailingly, for any Schuhert-lover’s ear. I am impressed by the good big scale of the playing—not excessive scale, though it would be possible, I think to make it effective with softer playing, in parts; and in any case I wish we had more of that. The conception pleases me well, and in spite of the surface of these Polydors, which is not so good as that of our own companies, I recommend the records as music that you will want to put on again and again, for it is heartening: the kind of thing that the tired business man, if he has any taste at all, will find far more efficacious than deserts of dance music.    \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e W.R.A.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Gramophone, May 1930\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f","brand":"Pristine Classical","offers":[{"title":"Mono 16-bit FLAC","offer_id":54932305936723,"sku":"iaz1789301915917","price":9.44,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"320kbps Mono MP3","offer_id":54932305969491,"sku":"nfi1789301915918","price":6.37,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1068\/1833\/9155\/files\/horenstein-early-recordings-1929---pasc506_1.jpg?v=1789301923","url":"https:\/\/vendnora.com\/products\/horenstein-early-recordings-1929-pasc506","provider":"My Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}