I think it’s important to begin
this review with some comments
about the attribution of these
recordings since I suspect that
most, if not all, of them have
circulated at some time before
and collectors may wish to avoid
duplication. The recording of
Symphony No 7 is a commercial
one, made for EMI. The others
are all off-air and the recording
of the First Piano Concerto has
been issued by Music & Arts
and, for all I know, by others.
I’m somewhat uncertain about the
recording of the Fifth Symphony.
There’s a comprehensive listing
of Cantelli’s concerts and commercial
recordings in the biography by
Laurence Lewis: Guido Cantelli.
Portrait of a Maestro
(1981). According to Mr Lewis’s
listings Cantelli didn’t conduct
the NYPSO in February 1954. But
he was conducting the NBC
Symphony Orchestra that month
and a performance of the symphony
is noted on 21 February. Music
& Arts have issued a Beethoven
Fifth with the NYPSO from 6 January
1952 but I don’t believe it’s
the same performance as the one
in this box.
I’m afraid there may also be a
bit of doubt surrounding the performance
of the Third Piano Concerto. According
to Mr Lewis again, Cantelli led
three performances of the concerto
in March 1955 of which the last,
on 13 March, was broadcast. However,
the soloist was not Rudolf Firkušnư
but Rudolf Serkin. Since the booklet
shows little evidence of detailed
research I’m more inclined to
trust the published biography
and in the header to this review
I’ve indicated within square brackets
where information from the Lewis
biography has been added.
Cantelli (1920-1956) was a brilliant
phenomenon and who knows what
he might have achieved but for
his tragically early death in
a plane crash, just a week after
being named Music Director of
La Scala. In the eyes of many
this appointment set the seal
on his anointing as Toscanini’s
successor for he had come widely
to be regarded as such. In many
ways the comparison with Toscanini
can only be taken so far but there
are some similarities in their
Beethoven styles. If you haven’t
heard Cantelli in Beethoven but
you enjoy Toscanini’s way with
the composer I’m sure you’ll warm
to Cantelli. But even those who
dislike Toscanini’s approach to
Beethoven will find much of interest
in Cantelli’s interpretations
for he is far from being Toscanini
Mark II and this set valuably
collects together his significant
Beethoven interpretations – so
far as I’m aware there weren’t
many other Beethoven pieces in
his repertoire by the time he
died.
The performance of the First
Piano Concerto is a dynamic
one. In the first movement there
were one or two occasions when
I thought that Cantelli, in his
quest for the necessary rhythmic
precision and vitality, was close
to making the music clipped and
martial. But he and Serkin find
the lightness and wit in this
early concerto. In the second
movement. Serkin brings out the
poetry and repose in the music
although the orchestral contribution
sounds just a touch gruff at times.
In his notes for the Music &
Arts release of this performance
(CD-1170) the noted American writer
and critic, Harris Goldsmith,
who was present at the performance,
writes that “Cantelli’s accompaniment
was as wonderfully vital as Toscanini’s…and
Serkin’s interpretation was…musical,
intense and interesting.”
The Third concerto receives
a good performance, whoever is
the soloist. The substantial first
movement introduction is directed
with a good sense of space by
Cantelli and the interplay between
soloist and orchestra is well
done. The solo playing is spirited
and elegant. The slow movement
is poetic – the solo opening is
very thoughtful and delicate –
with some splendid, well-controlled
orchestral support. The finale
is lively and witty, culminating
in an exhilarating coda. This
is a successful performance in
which one has the sense, as one
should, of the concerto as a bridge
between the first two concerti
and Beethoven’s last two masterpieces
in the genre
Backhaus opens the Fourth concerto
a touch prosaically for my
taste, the piano chords too staccato,
but Cantelli unfolds the subsequent
orchestral passage superbly When
Backhaus rejoins the proceedings
he plays with style and no little
energy. The strings’ contribution
to the slow movement is very fine.
Cantelli gets them to play with
real weight and presence initially,
tapering off as the movement progresses.
Backhaus plays serenely. The finale
has abundant energy.
The first movement of the ‘Emperor’
splendidly combines grandeur and
dynamism. Casadesus is a fine
soloist and Cantelli conducts
quite magnificently. This is a
truly commanding account of the
movement and I thought it very
fine. Grace and poetry are much
in evidence in a satisfying reading
of the slow movement though the
audience is a bit bronchial at
times. Casadesus makes one or
two minor finger slips at the
start of the bounding finale but
one can easily overlook these,
I think, and relish instead the
sweep of the performance. I think
this is an ‘Emperor’ of some stature
The reading of the Fifth Symphony
has great drive and power.
The music suits a conductor of
Cantelli’s vitality perfectly,
of course and the first movement
is strong, direct and very dynamic.
He’s quite broad in the slow movement,
though the music never lacks purpose
or momentum. The transition from
third movement to finale has a
tremendous sense of pent-up energy
and that’s then released in a
blazing reading of the finale
itself. This is a hugely exciting
reading of the Fifth, which sends
the New York audience into raptures.
The Seventh is the only
studio recording in the set. As
such it enables the performers
to avoid the occasional slip that
comes with live performances.
However, there’s no lack of spontaneity
or conviction in the reading and
the Philharmonia give the famously
exacting maestro playing that’s
out of the top drawer. In the
first movement the music of the
main allegro dances superbly,
really justifying Tovey’s celebrated
view of this symphony. The scherzo
fairly zips along and the finale
is all bustle and brio.
With the exception of the Seventh
Symphony, we are hearing the artists
in recordings for which the sources
are air checks that are over fifty
years old. The sound is not at
all bad but it is a bit bright
and aggressive at times and the
piano sound in all the concertos
can be rather clangy. In the only
recording where I was able to
make a comparison, the First Concerto,
I find the Music & Arts transfer
is warmer and has a fuller bass
response. But these Andromeda
transfers are generally satisfactory.
The documentation accompanying
these discs is rudimentary in
the extreme; only a track listing
is provided, which I don’t believe
to be wholly accurate.
However, the main thing is that
this set gathers together at an
affordable price some bracing
and stimulating performances by
a musician who, had he lived,
would surely have been one of
the greatest conductors of the
second half of the last century.
All collectors who share my admiration
for this exciting and great Italian
maestro will surely want to have
these performances if they don’t
already possess them.
John Quinn
Information received
Subsequent to the publication
of the above review Ive
received an email from Don Jones,
of Geneseo, New York, who writes
as follows:
I've just read your article
on the Cantelli Beethoven recordings.
The index to Howard Shanet's
Philharmonic: A History of New
York's Orchestra (Doubleday,
1975) shows that the soloist for
March 10, 11, 13, 1955, in Beethoven
C Minor was, indeed, Firkuný.
Serkin played Brahms B-flat with
the NYPSO that February, with
Mitropoulos conducting.
I havent read the book
to which Mr Jones refers but it
seems from his note that either
Howard Shanet or Cantellis
biographer, Laurence Lewis, has
made an error in identifying the
soloist in this concerto performance.
Without knowing the original sources
that each has used its impossible
to be sure which author is right
and which one is wrong. What this
factual discrepancy does show,
however, is how easy it is to
misattribute historical recordings.
Labels issuing such recordings
do need to take care so that collectors
are not misled inadvertently.
Its unfortunate that the
pianist cant be identified
with total certainty but its
still a fine performance that
we hear.
Im most grateful to Don
Jones for this additional information.