In May 1958 Sir John Barbirolli and the Hallé Orchestra scored a big
success at the Prague Spring Festival: the majority of their second
programme has been issued recently on CD by the Barbirolli Society (
review). Two years later Sir John was back at the Festival, this time to
conduct, for the first time, the jewel in Czechoslovakia’s musical crown,
the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. These recordings, hitherto unpublished,
preserve that guest appearance.
In those days I’m not sure that quite as much fuss was made about musical
anniversaries as is currently the case. However, as is clear from the short
radio interview that’s included here, Sir John was very mindful that 1960
marked the centenary of Mahler’s birth. As he pointed out his programme gave
a nod towards two other anniversaries as well. It was the bicentenary of the
birth of the Czech composer, Jan Dussek (1760-1812) and his Concerto for Two
Pianos was included in this concert, though it’s omitted from the CD. In
addition one of the Tudor composers represented in Barbirolli’s
Elizabethan Suite is Giles Farnaby (1560-1640) and Barbirolli had
realised that this composer was born 400 years earlier. So, as he put it,
the programme was a “concert of the anniversaries of the Sixties’, at which
point his interviewer charmingly reminded him that he himself was then
sixty.
Though it’s presented second on the CD
An Elizabethan Suite
opened the concert. I’ve never really been terribly enthusiastic about this
little five-movement suite in which Barbirolli arranged pieces by Tudor
composers for small orchestra. Nonetheless I can admire the skill with which
the arrangements were made and I can understand their appeal – and why JB
made them something of a calling-card when conducting abroad. The Czech
Philharmonic pay their distinguished guest the compliment of taking the
music very seriously indeed and Barbirolli must have been delighted at the
expert playing.
I don’t know how long Barbirolli was in Prague before the concert but in
the radio interview, which is dated 15 May, he refers to attending a
performance of
Ma Vlast in the city “last Sunday”. That would have
been 8 May; perhaps he combined his concert with a short holiday. In any
event, it would appear that he had ample rehearsal time for the concert and
that seems to be borne out in the standard of the performances preserved
here, especially the Mahler.
I know of two other recordings of the Mahler First by Barbirolli. He’d
made a studio recording of it back in 1957 with the Hallé. That recording
was regarded very highly by Tony Duggan (
review)
and with just cause. There’s also a live performance given in January 1959
with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, which I described in a
review as ‘one of great stature and character’.
Unfortunately that performance is only available in two different boxed
sets, one of which is extremely expensive, though it’s well worth
hearing.
It was an inspired choice to programme this symphony with the CPO because,
as Robert Matthew-Walker reminds us in his excellent notes, Mahler was born
only 90 miles from Prague. It’s marvellous to hear Barbirolli’s splendid
interpretation of this symphony played by the CzPO with their distinctive
Central European timbre.
The long introduction to the first movement is expertly controlled both by
conductor and players; there’s a terrific atmosphere and sense of tension
here. When eventually the main body of the movement is reached and the pace
quickens the music is full of life and freshness; there’s an open-eyed feel
to the proceedings. The repeat is not taken – JB didn’t observe it in either
of his other recorded performances. Whenever the music slows and becomes
more spare of texture Barbirolli is patient in his pacing and careful in the
balancing of the orchestra. The playing is super and I love the tang of the
CzPO’s sound.
The start of the second movement is just a bit too deliberate for my taste
– Barbirolli was pretty consistent across his three recordings – though I
readily acknowledge that the tempo indication includes the qualification
doch nicht zu schnell. To be fair, I soon adjusted and that’s
because though the pacing may be sturdy there’s plenty of life in the
performance and the rhythms are well articulated. Also, the chosen basic
tempo means that when Mahler requires the music to move faster Barbirolli
can achieve a genuine one-in-a-bar without rushing the music off its feet.
The trio is lovingly shaped with portamento in abundance: this is
captivating.
The solo double bass gets a bit carried away at the start of the third
movement and comes in a bar early. Happily, only the timpanist is playing
with him at that point so the error can be corrected with no disruption
whatsoever. As various instruments join in the round I relished the piquant
orchestral colours. In this movement above all there’s a rustic Bohemian
feel and the brief town band interpolations are vivid and suitably garish.
In the ‘Lindenbaum’ episode the strings are encouraged to play in a way
that’s on just the tasteful side of schmaltz. It’s beguiling and the
transition to that episode is beautifully sculpted by Barbirolli.
The recorded sound is pretty good considering that this is from a tape of
a broadcast from 55 years ago. However, in the finale I had the impression
that the sound is somewhat compressed, probably as a result of the Czech
radio engineers seeking to cope with the several passages in which the full
orchestra lets rip. Even despite this compression one can easily hear that
the performance is a cracking one. Launched with great energy, the opening
stretch of the movement is very exciting. The great string melody that
follows is gorgeously sung by the CzPO – and how daringly JB handles the
transition to the melody! Yet the conductor doesn’t over-indulge in this
richly romantic passage and he keeps the music moving forward in a way that
I applaud. In the slower passages of this long movement the expressive
rubato can’t have been easy for the players to follow, no matter how well it
was rehearsed, yet the orchestra is with Barbirolli every step of the way.
This nuanced and understanding account of the finale in which sentiment and
white-hot passion are mixed reaches a most exciting, blazing conclusion. I
don’t know if the 1960 Prague Spring Festival celebrated the Mahler
centenary with any other performances but, my goodness, they got a
tremendous anniversary celebration from Barbirolli.
The Czech Radio recording has been well transferred by Paul Baily and
despite its age the sound does justice to this tremendous performance. Even
if you have one of the other Barbirolli recordings of the symphony you must
hear this one. It represents Barbirolli at his finest. If I may repeat my
verdict on the New York performance, this Prague reading is one of great
stature and character but arguably the expertise and timbre of the Czech
Philharmonic Orchestra makes it the most characterful of all his recordings
of the work.
John Quinn
