Darius MILHAUD (1892-1974)
Ouverture philharmonique [9:31]
Frederick DELIUS (1862-1934)
Intermezzo from Fennimore and Gerda [4:51]
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Piano Concerto No 4 in G major, Op. 58 [33:50]
Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Symphony No 2 in D major, Op. 73 [39:33]
Josef HAYDN (1732-1809)
Cello Concerto in D major, Op. 101 [26:56]
Gina Bachauer (piano); Aldo Parisot (cello)
New York Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir John Barbirolli
rec. live, 30 November 1962; 9 December 1962 (Haydn), Philharmonic Hall, New York. ADD
BARBIROLLI SOCIETY SJB 1067-68 [48:12 + 66:29]
John Barbirolli, as he then was, was permanent conductor of what
was then the Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of New York from 1937
to 1943. I hope that the misplaced notion that he then scuttled back
to the UK, a failure in New York, to conduct a provincial orchestra
in Manchester was long ago debunked for good. However, he did not
return to conduct the New York orchestra until 1959, when he was warmly
welcomed back. Performances from those 1959 concerts were issued on
CD a little while ago by the WHRA label and that set is well worth
hearing (review).
Thereafter, Sir John made a number of further visits to New York,
his last being in 1968.
This set contains one full concert from his 1962 visit. In many ways
it was a trademark JB programme but there was a novelty in the shape
of Milhaud’s Ouverture philharmonique. Barbirolli’s
visit was part of the inauguration season of the NYPO’s new
home, the Philharmonic Hall at Lincoln Center (later re-named the
Avery Fisher Hall). The orchestra commissioned a number of new works
for the season and Barbirolli was invited to lead the first performances
of this Milhaud piece. What a shame it wasn’t more worthy of
his talents. The score is busy, colourful and brash - and that’s
about all one can say for it. To be fair, the close, rather up-front
recording probably doesn’t help but despite JB and the NYPO
playing it enthusiastically it’s an empty piece which I have
no desire to experience again.
We’re on much more familiar Barbirolli terrain with the Intermezzo
from Delius’s opera, Fennimore and Gerda. Sir John leads
an affectionate and subtle performance of music to which he was ideally
suited and along the way there’s some fine woodwind solo work
to admire. Unfortunately, the quieter dynamics of the Delius betray
the almost incessant bronchial contributions to the concert from the
audience, something which the brash scoring of the Milhaud had obscured.
Coughing is also something of a distraction during the performance
of the Beethoven concerto in which the soloist is Gina Bachauer (1913-1976).
She had been one of Barbirolli’s soloists during his 1959 New
York visit, playing the Brahms Second Piano Concerto though unfortunately
that was one of the few omissions from the aforementioned WHRA set.
This Beethoven performance is impressive. Barbirolli conducts the
long orchestral passage at the start of the first movement very well,
investing the music with fine strength and dynamism. Thereafter, and
throughout the concerto, the orchestral contribution is on a very
fine level, reminding us what a fine accompanist JB was. Bachauer
is a commanding and thoughtful soloist and I admired her account of
this movement which culminates in a terrific account of the cadenza.
Disappointingly the audience applauds as soon as the last note has
sounded. In the opening pages of the slow movement the New York strings
are very imposing, playing with strength and great depth of tone.
In answer we hear gentle poetry from Bachauer. The finale is spirited;
there’s excellent energy from both the pianist and the orchestra.
In his notes Robert Matthew-Walker points out that the Brahms Second
Symphony was important to Barbirolli. He chose it for his first Royal
Philharmonic Society concert, back in 1931, and it was also included
in his first concert with the Hallé. Another significant occasion
on which he programmed it was the concert that he gave in 1962 with
the Berlin Philharmonic as part of the celebrations to mark the opening
of Coventry Cathedral (Testament SBT1469). It was also the first piece
that he recorded commercially with the NYPO, in 1940. I’ve always
been a bit disappointed with the recording he made with the Vienna
Philharmonic in the late 1960s, finding it a bit too autumnal. However,
live performances are a rather different matter. There’s an
excellent account from 1959 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (SJB
1057-58) and this New York reading is equally good.
In the first movement Barbirolli achieves a warm lyrical flow yet
there’s no lack of strength and purpose in the reading. Sadly,
like many other conductors, he doesn’t take the exposition repeat.
At the start of the second movement he gets the New Yorkers to dig
really deep and throughout the movement the strings are particularly
ardent in their response. Sir John, no mean cellist himself, clearly
relishes the cello line at several points in what is a deeply felt,
even passionate reading. The finale is well done: the high spirits
in Brahms’s music are well brought out yet the performance is
expertly controlled too. This extrovert movement makes a joyful conclusion
to the programme and it’s no surprise, though somewhat irritating,
that the ovation starts during the last chord.
As a bonus to the complete concert we have a performance of Haydn’s
D major Cello Concerto. This was the opening work on another programme
that Barbirolli conducted during this visit - the rest of the programme
was given over to Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, a magnificent reading
that has been issued on the NYPO’s absorbing but expensive boxed
set, The Mahler Broadcasts, 1948-82 (review).
For the concerto Barbirolli was joined by the Brazilian cellist, Aldo
Parisot (b. 1921). I may be wrong but it seemed to me that after the
orchestra introduction, nicely shaped by Barbirolli, Parisot took
a couple of minutes to get fully into his stride. Thereafter, however,
all is well and he gives a genial enjoyable performance. In the slow
movement, an eloquent song for the soloist, his well-projected tone
gives much pleasure and he and Barbirolli revel in the infectious
high spirits of the finale. As in the Beethoven, one senses a good
rapport between soloist and podium.
So, here we have a set of very good performances in which we hear
Barbirolli happily reunited with his old orchestra. Most of the pieces
are not new to the conductor’s discography but they are very
valuable since they show how inspiring he could be in concert and
also because they show him working to excellent effect with an orchestra
with which he was not as familiar as his beloved Hallé. I don’t
know what the sources were for these recordings. As I indicated earlier
the sound is rather close and I found I had to lower the volume control
a little to get best results. Nonetheless, it seems to me that Paul
Baily has done a good job with the re-mastering and, despite being
over fifty years old, these recordings have come up well.
This set nicely complements the WHRA set of Sir John’s 1959
concerts and it will be self-recommending to Barbirolli devotees.
However, the general listener will find them rewarding listening too.
One final thought. I wonder if a recording exists of Barbirolli’s
last appearance with the NYPO in 1968 when he conducted the Vaughan
Williams ‘London’ Symphony and the Seventh Symphony of
Dvořák. I should like to hear that.
John Quinn
A set of very good performances in which we hear Barbirolli happily
reunited with the New York Philharmonic.
Masterwork Index: Beethoven
piano concerto 4 ~~ Brahms
symphony 2
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