I’ve never heard of
Andromeda before but the cut-off date
of these Haskil concerto performances
might suggest an-out-copyright German
company. I could be wrong but it has
all the hallmarks; no notes, no provenance,
just a bare track listing. Clearly this
makes recommendations difficult, especially
as I don’t have access to the original
releases or to the re-releases on various
labels, but I’d be persuaded to think
that the Beethoven C minor is sourced
from a DG Reissue 471 264-2 GWM and
that the Jeunehomme derives from
Hänssler Classic 93.079 (where
it was there coupled with the Nineteenth
Concerto and a different version from
the Fricsay-led one in this box). Leaving
niceties aside for the moment I should
note that these performances come from
a variety of sources. The two Beethoven
concertos are both from commercial discs,
the C minor from tape, the G major recorded
in London on 78. Of the Mozart concertos
I believe two are commercial – the D
minor and the A major, the remainder
being live.
As an Olympian Mozartian
and one who held even such as Lipatti
in her thrall Haskil remained one of
the leading exponents of the repertoire
throughout her sadly truncated recoding
career. Collectors will have many if
not all of these recordings, both live
and studio-bound. If there are weaknesses
they generally concern orchestral standards
and sound quality, rarely soloistic
concerns. That said her Beethoven C
minor concerto with Swoboda will not
win many plaudits. There are impressions
in execution and balance, the band is
very subfusc, tuttis are soggy and the
sound is inordinately shallow. Haskil
herself drops a few notes along the
way, and there’s a strange edit at 15.45
in the first movement, which may have
been inherent or may not. The recording
turns the finale into something of a
percussion show and the rather sour
toned winds certainly enjoy themselves,
even if we don’t. The G major is much
better known and much better played,
by the LSO under the fine direction
of Carlo Zecchi. It was recorded quite
close-up and was not especially well
balanced and whether this company has
tried to execute a 78 transfer itself
or whether it’s preserved an old LP
transfer the results are not good. Side
joins are poorly done and there’s a
deal of shellac scuff. The performance
is excellent however- adept, responsive,
never outsize, coalescent rather than
overly dramatic with a concentration
in the slow movement that is utterly
convincing and a finale that is vigorous,
clean and with good rhythmic drive.
Which leaves five Mozart
Concertos. The Ninth has some "shatter"
early on but improves though there’s
an annoying treble whine throughout.
Haskil evinces her fabled naturalness
of expression, evenness of runs and
paragraphal sagacity. Her playing is
poised but never calculating, rubati
beautifully judged. She takes a flowing
tempo for the slow movement and crowns
it with a gravely accomplished cadenza.
It helps to have a man like Schuricht
on hand. There are a trio of performances
led by Fricsay. The C major strikes
a finely judged balance between crisp
assertion and reflection – chording
is immaculate, phrasing is fluent without
any glibness in the runs – and there’s
a spun legato in the slow movement.
The F major is unfortunately split across
discs two and three but it receives
another buoyant reading though one not
untroubled by a few sound defects. There
are one or two hesitancies in the slow
movement and what sounds like a splice
at 2.18 (though this is down as a live
recording) but the string fugato is
well etched in the finale as indeed
is Haskil’s dynamism and involvement.
The D minor K466 (RIAS/Fricsay,
January 1954) is marked by a noble and
grave introduction and a few transient
coughs, though they’re (typically) at
their most annoying in the slow movement
where Haskil’s shaping of dynamic gradients
and the melodic curve of the music is
at its most intense. Articulation is
precise, a few missed notes of incidental
concern only and when it comes to the
finale’s cadenza we can witness Haskil
at full stretch. Her last commercial
discs at the end of the decade could
very occasionally be somewhat compromised
by an unexpected lassitude – not here.
The final concerto is the A major K488
with a VSO conducted by Paul Sacher
in October 1954. Strings are a touch
thin, the acoustic is rather odd with
a distant piano, and Sacher can’t replicate
the kind of support provided by Schuricht
and Fricsay. He’s rather inert throughout,
content to provide a cushion of sound
and not to engage with the rhetoric
of, say, the finale to mutually beneficial
advantage. It’s a bit of a soggy Vienna
Symphony that sees Haskil to the line
- and a lacklustre conductor.
So a difficult set
to consider – Haskil’s Mozart is treasurable
and her Fourth Beethoven equally so.
Fricsay and Schuricht are the splendid
accompanists who raise the bar. The
recording quality is very variable,
the transfers similarly and there are
no notes. It’s a question of how much
of Haskil’s Mozart (in particular) you
have and whether you need it in so-so
transfers.
Jonathan Woolf
Vienna Symphony Orchestra/Paul Sacher, recorded
1954 
