Overtures

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John Barbirolli had an affinity for Viennese literature and was the first English conductor to be invited to lead the Vienna Philharmonic; one Viennese critic wrote that Barbirolli "insists on firm contours and lets every strand be heard." Toward the end of an exhausting period in which Barbirolli was maintaining a full-time-plus schedule leading the Hallé Orchestra -- he cut back on his engagements for a time just afterward -- Barbirolli made this recording of six overtures of Franz von Suppé for Pye in 1957. "Every strand" is indeed heard, and Barbirolli takes this light music so seriously that the sense of gravity and occasion might make you forget you are listening to "mere" operetta overtures. For a brief time, this von Suppé album was available on a Mercury Living Presence LP, though it was eventually replaced with one of its own, made in stereo with Paul Paray and the Detroit Symphony in 1959 and including all six of the overtures heard here and adding that from Boccaccio. Paray's flexible and ingratiating interpretation is a bit more in the expected light music mode than Barbirolli's taut, intense readings -- fast tempi race breathlessly, snare drums pop and crackle; in general, the energy level maintained by Barbirolli is electrifying. At this point, the Hallé Orchestra knew what he expected, and it seems there was little Barbirolli would require that it could not deliver. These exciting recordings are among the hallmarks of Barbirolli's legacy and first appeared on CD as included in Dutton's Barbirolli Society two-disc issue The Barbirolli Viennese Album. Released in 2002, it was one of the last items in Dutton's Barbirolli Society series. This Archipel reissue is a budget-priced item that couples the von Suppé rather oddly with the HMV recording Barbirolli led of Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 featuring pianist Artur Rubinstein in 1937, a recording reissued countless times on CD, including releases on successor companies EMI and BMG. The transfers on the von Suppé are respectable but lacking in bass response; although this is in part due to the somewhat limited nature of Pye's original recording, the Dutton issue gets it right. The Chopin concerto is constricted, heavily gated, and chemical sounding and really isn't in contention, though it is a shade better than many of the Italian reissues of this same recording. As the Dutton Barbirolli Viennese Album remains in print and adds a second disc for the price of one and more or less maintains a consistent program, it should probably be regarded as the preferred choice for Barbirolli in this material.
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