Rafael Kubelik - son of the great Czech violinist
Jan Kubelik - was chief conductor of, amongst others, the Czech Philharmonic,
Chicago Symphony, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and, from 1961 to
1979, the Bavarian Radio Symphony. He made numerous recordings with
the last of these, almost all of superb musical quality. This box consists
of earlier recordings with a variety of orchestras. Nonetheless it gives
a fine overview of his manner with the music in which he excelled.
His conducting of Mahler is not to everyone’s taste. Its avoidance
of exaggeration and excess is perhaps at the opposite pole from Bernstein’s
more obviously emotional approach. For me it is at least equally valid
and is certainly much more to my personal taste. The two Symphonies
included here are however the least satisfactory items in this box,
more on sonic than musical grounds. I have not heard their earlier issues
so I am unclear as to what is responsible for the very poor sound in
No. 5, in particular. If you can adjust to this the performances do
have much to offer although little that is not done at least as well
by Kubelik elsewhere.
The third disc is however much better. This version of the
New World
may not be to everyone’s taste - the surprisingly swift slow movement
does take some getting used to - but once past the surprise it becomes
wholly convincing and it is in much better sound than the Mahler. The
same applies to the other Chicago recordings. All are bright - but not
excessively so - well balanced and clear. Nothing gets in the way of
enjoying the conductor’s ability to characterise the very different
pieces by Mussorgsky, Hindemith and above all Smetana. I suspect that
his later recording with the Czech Philharmonic will be in the collections
or at least the memories of many readers but this is by no means obviously
inferior.
The British recordings here are amongst the highlights of the set. The
two Concertos show Kubelik’s ability to work creatively with the
two excellent soloists, and the imposing performance of the
Prague
Symphony is wholly convincing. It is good to have examples of his work
with the Czech Philharmonic even if the Martinů symphony does sound
its age. The other items are better in this respect although I am surprised
at the date given for the recording of the
Sinfonietta (1955)
as I had understood that Kubelik had left Czechoslovakia before that.
I lack more reliable information on this point. There is indeed a total
lack of any notes or further documentation with this set and this may
reduce its appeal to those unfamiliar with the conductor’s work.
That is regrettable as the contents are almost all very well worth hearing
and the set would be an admirable introduction to the work of one of
the most humane and instinctively musical conductors of his time.
John Sheppard
List of contents
CD 1 [65:00]
Gustav MAHLER (1860-1911)
Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor [65:00]
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam; rec. 1951
CD 2 [49:38]
Gustav MAHLER (1860-1911)
Symphony No. 1 in D major [49:38]
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra; rec. 1954
CD 3 [50:22]
Antonín DVOŘÁK (1841-1904)
Symphony No. 9 in E minor
From the New World [38:10]
Chicago Symphony Orchestra; rec. 1951
Slavonic Rhapsody in A flat major Op. 45 No. 3 [12:07]
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; rec. 1959
CD 4 [50:48]
Béla BARTÓK (1881-1945)
Concerto for Orchestra Sz 116 [37:25]
Deux Portraits Op. 5 [13:19]
Stephen Staryk (violin); Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; rec. 1959
CD 5 [59:07]
Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor Op 15 [47:52]
Felix MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY (1809-1847)
Overture to
A Midsummer Night’s Dream [11:08]
Solomon (piano); Philharmonia Orchestra; rec. 1952
CD 6
[52:03]
Bohuslav MARTINŮ (1890-1959)
Symphony No. 4 H305 [31:52]
Concerto for two string orchestras, piano and drum [20:06]
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra; rec. 1948 and 1950
CD 7 [53:58]
Modest MUSSORGSKY (1839-1881)
Pictures at an Exhibition (orch.
Ravel) [28:46]
Chicago Symphony Orchestra; rec. 1951
Leoš JANÁČEK (1854-1928)
Sinfonietta [25:12]
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra; rec. 1955
CD 8 [76:18]
Bedřich SMETANA (1824-1884)
Má Vlast [76:18]
Chicago Symphony Orchestra; rec. 1952
CD 9 [61:18]
Max BRUCH (1838-1920)
Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor Op. 26 [24:18]
Ida Haendel (violin); Philharmonia Orchestra; rec. 1948
Paul HINDEMITH (1895-1963)
Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes by Carl Maria von Weber [20:18]
Arnold SCHOENBERG (1874-1951)
Five Pieces for Orchestra Op. 16 [16:51]
Chicago Symphony Orchestra; rec. 1953
CD 10 [46:45]
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
Symphony No 38 in D major “Prague” K504 [23:42]
Overtures
Don Giovanni K527 [6:16]
Die Entführung aus dem Serail K384 [5:18]
La Clemenza di Tito K621 [4:45]
La Finta Giardiniera K196 [2:09]
Der Schauspieldirektor K486 [4:18]
Philharmonia Orchestra; rec. 1952 and 1953
