Toscanini In London: Legendary 1935 Recordings

Label: WHRA
Catalog: WHRA6046
Format: CD

BBC Symphony Orchestra

live concerts in the Queen's Hall, June 1935. CHERUBINI: Anacreon - Overture; BRAHMS :Symphony No. 4 in e, Op. 98; WAGNER: Götterdämmerung Act 3 - Siegfried's Death and Funeral March; A Faust Overture; Parsifal - Prelude to Act 1 and Good Friday Music; ELGAR: Enigma Variations; GEMINIANI: Concerto Grosso in b [prev. unissued]; BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 7 in A, Op. 92; DEBUSSY: La Mer; ROSSINI: Semiramide - Overture; MOZART: Symphony No. 35 in D, KV385 (Haffner); MENDESSOHN: A Midsummer Night's Dream

By the autumn of 1934 terms were agreed for Toscanini to conduct four broadcast concerts during the third London Music Festival in June 1935, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1930, trained by Adrian Boult, and widely recognized as Britain's foremost ensemble. Previous guest conductors included Richard Strauss, Mengelberg, and Koussevitzky; Toscanini's son-in-law Vladimir Horowitz had been a soloist with the orchestra and his positive experience had no doubt contributed to the Maestro's decision to accept the invitation.

After the first, long sold-out concert on June 3, the following day's critics were unanimous in declaring Toscanini to be pre-eminent in his art. The Manchester Guardian's Neville Cardus pronounced the occasion "a musical experience of the rarest and finest kind - not, indeed, merely a concert but a revelation of the wonder and nobility of music and genius"; here was "the world's master conductor", whose interpretation of the Brahms Fourth, the major work on the program, was the "fullest conceivable", "eloquent yet direct, beautiful in its balanced line and energy, but always human and many-sided" and ending with a passacaglia which recalled Nikisch in its "explosive and generating energy." There were four programs, each given twice (with slight changes), and all recorded "on spec" by HMV; eventually all works (except a Geminiani concerto, issued here for the first time) were released on LP or CD, but have been unavailable for many years, and are now released in greatly improved sound.

Price: $42.98