The year 2012 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of German
conductor
Günter Wand (1912-2002). Probably the last of the great interpreters
of
the ninetieth-century symphonic tradition it is wonderful to see that in
recent
years Wand has finally been given his due. This five disc anniversary box
comprises
eight live NDR recordings made in Hamburg between the years 1982-96.
Wand with NDR Sinfonieorchester recorded the complete symphonies of
Beethoven
(1986/88) and Brahms (1982/83) for RCA Red Seal. This Profil set omits the
Beethoven
symphonies. However we do get all four of the Brahms but not those
recordings
mentioned above. These are live performances recorded in 1990-92. We also
hear
some Bruckner, Mussorgsky and Tchaikovsky.
Günter Wand was born in 1912 at Elberfeld, Germany. It was not until
he
passed seventy that his talents became recognised internationally as one
of
the finest conductors of his generation. Listening to these live
recordings
it comes as no surprise that Wand insisted on receiving ample rehearsal
time.
Wand’s relatively few commercial recordings involved considerable
duplication
of his much loved Bruckner, Beethoven, Brahms and Schubert. Actually
Wand’s
concert repertoire was considerably wider than those four giants of the
Austro-German
symphonic tradition. Early in his career Wand championed the cause of a
number
of then contemporary composers such as Edgard Varèse, Bernd Alois
Zimmermann,
Frank Martin, Olivier Messiaen And György Ligeti.
Wand did valuable work in the post-Second World War development of German
radio
orchestras. Notably with the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne he recorded
complete
cycles of Schubert and Bruckner. With the NDRSO Hamburg where he served as
principal
conductor he also recorded Beethoven and Brahms cycles. In addition he
successfully
collaborated with the Munich Philharmonic and the two main Berlin
orchestras.
Wand’s live performances with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester
Berlin
and especially with the Berliner Philharmoniker are amongst his most
successful
recordings. Wand’s live recordings of Bruckner’s Symphonies
Nos.
4, 5, 7, 8 and 9 with the Berliner Philharmoniker made in 1996/2001 at the
Berlin
Philharmonie for RCA Red Seal are stunning and have been captured in
spectacular
sound. There are no finer accounts of these Bruckner symphonies on record.
I
have already reviewed Wand’s splendid eight disc box set of
recordings
with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra on
Profil
Hänssler PH06013.
In addition I have reviewed the even more impressive eight disc set with
Deutsches
Symphonie-Orchester Berlin on
Profil
Hänssler PH10046.
There is also a single disc of Wand conducting the NDRSO also contained in
this
Wand set: the Tchaikovsky
Piano Concerto No. 1 with Jorge Bolet
(piano)
and Mussorgsky/Ravel
Pictures at an Exhibition on
Profil
Hänssler PH09029.
Wand had an excellent relationship with the NDRSO serving as its principal
conductor
in the years 1982/91 being appointed as its honorary conductor in 1987.
This
Hamburg orchestra was established after the war in 1945 and named the
Symphony
Orchestra of Radio Hamburg. Berlin-born Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt was the
founding
conductor and their concerts were based at the Hamburg Musikhalle (now the
Laeiszhalle).
The orchestra’s present name the NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg
(North
German Radio Symphony Orchestra Hamburg) was chosen in 1956 following the
split
of the Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (Northwest German Broadcasting) into two
regions:
the NDR and WDR. The orchestra’s principal conductors have included
Klaus
Tennstedt, Herbert Blomstedt, Christoph Eschenbach, John Eliot Gardiner
and
Christoph von Dohnányi. The current principal is Thomas Hengelbrock
who
conducted a marvellous concert that I attended of the Schumann
Symphony
No.
3 Rhenish and
Brahms Symphony No. 1 last May 2011 at the Semper
Opera
House as part of the Dresden Musikfest 2012.
Volume 1 of Wand’s NDR Sinfonieorchester performances contains the
popular
Bruckner
Symphony No.4. It’s
in the original version of
1878/80
that Wand favours. The recording was made at live concerts in 1996 to
commemorate
the 100th anniversary of Bruckner’s death. Bruckner composed his
Fourth
in 1874. Not entirely satisfied with the score he made various revisions
in
1878 and subsequently rewrote the last two movements in 1880. The
première
given by Hans Richter and the Vienna Philharmonic in 1881 at Vienna was
his
first real success as a composer. It seems it was Bruckner himself who
dubbed
the
Fourth Symphony the ‘
Romantic’. This live
account
from Wand is both visionary and magnetic in its effect. All the components
are
handled with the utmost care and control based on decades of experience.
Especially
convincing is the intense forward momentum and sweep of the playing. There
is
an invigorating freshness and a radiant quality revealing a slight
undercurrent
of mystery. Notoriously difficult to get right, Wand’s tempi are
wisely
chosen.
Volume two contains Bruckner’s
Symphony No. 5 - a score he
began
composing in 1875 with his first draft completed in 1876. He wasn’t
satisfied
until he had completed revisions in 1878. The première of the
Fifth
was given by Frank Schalk in Graz in 1894; Bruckner was not able to attend
owing
to illness. Here Wand conducts the original 1875/78 version recorded live
in
October 1995 at concerts given to mark the 50th anniversary of the
founding
of the NDRSO. He is a magnificent Brucknerian and delivers a compelling
reading
abundant in splendour. The dynamic contrasts are perfectly together and
coupled
with well judged pacing. One distinctly feels that Wand has the full
measure
of the score. The orchestra responds with gripping playing that combines
energy
and passion.
The third volume is from concerts at Hamburg in February 1990. We are
treated
to Brahms 1 and Mussorgsky’s
Pictures - the latter recorded
at
Cologne concerts in September 1982. Brahms was aware that by writing
symphonies
he was invading the territory ruled by Beethoven. He always said that he
could
feel the presence of Beethoven marching behind him. It was Hans von
Bülow
who referred to the First Symphony as “
Beethoven’s
tenth”.
Brahms was 43 and at the height of his maturity when his
Symphony
was
produced. Although its gestation had been protracted with sketches for the
score
dating from over twenty years earlier. The première was given in
1876
at the great hall of the Karlsruhe Museum under Otto Dessoff. With this
the
first of Wand’s live set of the four Brahms recordings he confirms
his
mastery of another of the great Austro-German Romantics. There are more
hard-hitting
and emotionally charged recordings but none is played with such impeccable
style
and mature expression.
Mussorgsky in 1874 wrote his piano suite
Pictures at an Exhibition.
This
was inspired by a posthumous exhibition in St. Petersburg of paintings and
drawings
by his friend Victor Hartmann. After Mussorgsky’s death the piano
suite
proved exceptionally popular especially in the orchestral transcription
that
Maurice Ravel had prepared in 1922. This dazzling and richly-scored
kaleidoscope
of orchestral writing makes a splendid showpiece. Wand clearly thrives
amid
Ravel’s wonderful orchestration and moulds the myriad moods, diverse
tempi
and broad dynamics with brilliant musical percipience.
Both works on volume 4 were recorded at Hamburg concerts: Brahms
No.
2
in 1992 and the Tchaikovsky
Piano Concerto in 1985. Brahms
completed
his
Symphony No. 2 in 1877. It was quickly written mainly during a
summer
holiday in Pörtschach am Wörthersee in Austria. Premièred
in
1877 in Vienna with Hans Richter conducting the Vienna Philharmonic the
score
has occasionally been described as Brahms’
Pastoral. This
recording
was made at concerts from the Musikhalle, Hamburg in November/December
1992.
It’s an impressively coherent account from Wand who clearly lavishes
considerable
care and attention. The results are fresh and invigorating being strongly
evocative
of rustic Alpine scenes. The uplifting and delightful playing has a
heartfelt
glow. I was struck by the broad range of appealing orchestral colours that
Wand
fashions so expertly.
One of the most famous if not the most famous of all piano concertos is
Tchaikovsky’s
Piano Concerto No. 1 - a much adored staple of the repertory. It is
hard
to believe today that pianist Nikolai Rubinstein when he first played
through
the score was vehemently critical of the writing and suggested various
amendments.
The well received première was given by soloist Hans von Bülow
at
the Music Hall, Boston during a tour of the USA in 1875. In 1879 the score
was
revised to incorporate some of Rubinstein’s ideas. In this live
recording
a firm connection is asserted between Jorge Bolet the legendary
Cuban/American
pianist and Wand his close contemporary. Everything is impressively secure
in
Bolet’s hands with Wand’s NDRSO on top form throughout making
this
one of the most satisfying accounts I have ever heard of this much heard
score.
The iconic introduction is as searingly dramatic as one could imagine. The
pianism
is of such emotional intensity that it sends shivers down the spine.
Crisply
articulated and beautifully paced Bolet never needs to resort to
histrionics.
There is a hushed poetic quality to the slow movement with the keys
lightly
stroked with palpable tenderness. Bolet conjures a near-hypnotic
spell.
Volume 5 offers us two works and opens with Brahms’s Third. Six
years
elapsed between the Second and the start of its successor - a score that
he
composed largely in the summer of 1883 at the German spa of Wiesbaden. In
December
that year the première was given at a Vienna Philharmonic concert
under
Hans Richter who described the score as “Brahms’
Eroica”.
Wand is heard at a Cologne Philharmonie concert in February 1990. His deep
understanding
of the music is evident from the first note to the last. I was immediately
struck
by the finely judged balance that Wand achieves with his Hamburg players
and
the intelligent shifts of mood and tempi demonstrate the maestro at his
best.
The second work on volume 5 is the
Symphony No. 4 that Brahms
worked
on in 1884/85 at the Austrian resort of Mürzzuschlag. This
was
a
success at its 1885 première with Brahms himself conducting the
orchestra
of the Meiningen Court Theatre in Thuringia. Sometimes described as the
Elegiac
Symphony its regard has endured and many judges consider it to be
Brahms’s
finest symphony.
Wand recorded the
Fourth at a concert at the
Musikhalle
Hamburg in December 1990. Immediately one senses how much the Hamburg
players
respond to Wand’s sensitive direction. Wand brings out much
orchestral
detail and colouration. With an unerring sense of nobility and a real
depth
of feeling this is a gripping performance.
This set offers music of a rare expressive quality. The German radio sound
engineers
certainly knew what they were doing because having undergone re-mastering
the
recordings are crystal clear and splendidly balanced. The full
bodied-impact
of the climaxes is stunningly conveyed. As these are all live recordings
some
minor audience noise is detectable. The applause has been left in at the
end
of the performances of four of the eight works. Where there is applause it
is
included in the timings set out in the heading.
This set of live recordings is a valuable document of Günter
Wand’s
very special talent. No Wand supporter should hesitate with this set nor
for
that matter should any lover of Romantic music.
Michael Cookson
