Please don’t laugh. When I first listened to the 7th I thought it was incredible that the eerie wind noises could be produced by a musical instrument. Reading the cd booklet I realized that VW had used a wind machine. It should have been obvious even to a musical ignoramus!
I love all his symphonies. I must have played the 5th a hundred times but could never get tired if it. It is my favourite piece of music of any type.
I think that the wind machine from Vaughan Williams’ piece could probably be incorporated into the ‘wind’ music of Mahler’s Seventh Symphony… That would have the beneficial effect of improving the Mahler and drowning out the sound of the so-called ‘music’.
Years ago before HMV were reinvented I picked up a copy of “Carlos Kleiber. The complete orchestral recordings on Deutshe Grammophon”. It consists of three CDs of Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms plus a blu-ray audio with all the above. I see there is a used copy available but by now NLA from DGG I would guess.
If it worries you not to have CK’s complete orchestral recordings in the set that you mention, you should track down his EMI recording of Dvorak’s hardly-ever-played Piano Concerto with Kleiber’s admirer, Sviatoslav Richter as soloist. It was the only time that CK ever led an orchestra in a symphony recording, and was recorded in an underground beer hall in Munich where Nazis held meetings before WW11.
I have no idea if it’s still available to buy new - the German Amazon site may be the best place to start.
When LPs were almost the only choice I bought the Richter/Kleiber LP of the Dvorak piano conceerto.
Another work not often heard is the violin concerto.
I don’t know why that should be, Douglas. My guess is that Dvorak himself wasn’t a virtuoso (as opposed to merely a competent musician), so did not have an instrument to step on to the boards with.
Thank you all for your comments about the RVW symphonies. I got that Boult set some time ago., and have pulled it out a couple times for play. I have it in my play bin to give it a go again.
That’s very similar to my own feelings about the VW symphonies. The Desert Island choice for me has to be No 5. I remember when I was discovering classical music as a teenager, I heard the fifth and was attracted by its strange beauty but puzzled by, for example, its lack of an obvious key at the start of the opening movement. A decade or so later, I came to it again and it rapidly became a favourite piece for me and it remains so many years later.
Nos 4 and 6 are completely different, dramatic and violent but with typical VW moments of beauty. The slow final movement of No 6 is extraordinary, some feel it is a portrait of nuclear winter, but the composer denied this. At any rate the symphony was rapidly performed around the world within a year of first UK performance. Both are essential works in the VW canon.
Of the other symphonies I agree about the London, particularly in Hickox’s recording of the uncut version. I think it was VW’s favourite of his symphonies. The Pastoral, too, is indeed a “War Requiem”. As for the old canard about it’s being “like a cow looking over a gate”, this remark was made by Peter Warlock but referred to VW’s music in general, not specifically the Pastoral, which he also called a “splendid work” and generally praised it.
Of the others, I think some are really best heard in the concert hall rather than on record. A few years ago I was at a performance of the Sea Symphony in Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall, with a huge orchestra and chorus. The impact of that tremendous opening just knocked me off my feet, or would have done if I weren’t sitting down. And I recall many years ago hearing Sinfonia Antartica performed in, of all places, the Chapel of King’s College Cambridge. Perhaps it was the small (by concert hall standards) space that made the originality of the orchestration come across so strongly.
Roger
Its available on Qobuz but label is Warner Classics - Richter, Kleiber and Bavarian State Orchestra.
Thanks for that, I’ll have a look for it again soon. EMI was gobbled up by Warners (WEA) some years ago, but Warners still administers the catalogue.
I think that all this screwing around with ownership of these record labels was part of the incompetent, misguided attempt by the execrable Guy Hands (Nomura) to wrest control of (think ‘steal’ and you won’t be far wrong) record companies away from their owners. Guy Hands failed woefully, and walked away with with his tail between his legs, nursing a huge loss, poor baby! It couldn’t have happened to a nastier chap!
I agree the opening of the Sea Symphony is stunning - one of the best. I have heard it live several times and I was probably being a bit harsh. I enjoy the 1st 3 movements but I do struggle with the last one.
That’s very much it! I remember that cover so well. I had gone to the Royal Festival Hall in London for the only concert that I ever saw Kleiber conduct (he had stepped in as a very late replacement for Bœhm, who had fallen ill. An advertisement for that EMI record was in the concert programme, informing us of that Dvorak release, and hinting at other recordings to come (I recall clearly that ‘La Bohème’ had been mooted in the musical press.)
I have written here before about the fiasco that was the concert, so won’t repeat a painful memory. There was a very tense atmosphere in the hall (for only Kleiber’s second outing (and his last ever) with the orchestra. It hadn’t been relaxed, but it was special. Thunderous applause in the Hall, and lots of excited talk flying around. The LSO were reported to be thrilled and chatter about how soon CK would be able to get back to London. I rushed into the library at work the following morning to scan the concert reviews in the newspapers, and I was appalled that every single one was negative, but hostile with it. The concert had been taped by Radio 3 for later broadcast, but Kleiber ordered the BBC to wipe the tape without listening to it. He never set foot in the UK again.
So sad, so avoidable, but it was never to be again.
If you are able to find that on CD, there is a fantastic filler in the form of Sviatoslav’s Richter’s 1963 recording of Schubert’s almost-impossible-to-play ‘Wanderer Fantasie’ - Schubert found it impossible to play with just two arms to make do with.
Well, I started listening to my Boult copy of the RVW symphonies. I played 5 and 4 and then decided I needed a Mahler fix, so I put on my copy of the Resurrection with Solti/LSO (Decca/Speakers Corner). Much better.
I probably still need some time to embrace RVW, or give up and decide his symphonies aren’t my thing for now.
Yes. That is on the Qobuz album. I will have a listen later.
Big Mahler fan here.
Never really got on with RVW… 
Yeah, over the years I have played my Boult a few times and I don’t make much progress wrapping my head around it. Love Mahler though. All the symphonies are great.
I can imagine that a number of the RVW Symphonies will take some getting used to, but I do think that 'A London Symphony is special and deserves to be heard. ( I have never heard Boult’s account, but I Imagine that it will be good,)
I do like the London, but have yet to be able to say that about any of the others. Anyway, I think I will put it away until next time.
I have a 12-LP set of the Dvorak String Quartets (perf. Prague Quertet on DG) coming today, so I will spend some time with that for now.
