A stunning selection of rare broadcast and long unavailable commercial recordings in superbly re-mastered sound and erudite liner notes makes Maestro Editions a must-go destination for the historical collector. Explore the label’s rich catalog today.
Maestro Edition ME.008. Bach: Brandeburg Concertos Nos. 3 & 5 (the latter in 2 performances) – all with Furtwängler and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Furtwängler conducts from the keyboard in BWV 1050, his playing magisterial.
The Bournemouth-based Maestro Editions easily ranks among the most imaginative historical labels active today, one boasting an eagle’s eye view of the immense broadcast and commercial archives available to listeners today, but also with an awareness that such recordings have too often suffered haphazard, amateurish, poorly documented release.
This does a double disservice, both to the artistic legacies of great artists and to music lovers who are given short shrift value for their time and money.
Not only do remarkable, little-known, and/or difficult-to-obtain performances appear on Maestro Editions, but also long-admired recordings that have only circulated in indifferent sound.
One outstanding example of this enterprising spirit and erudite programming is Maestro Editions release ME 008, which usefully pairs Wilhelm Furtwängler’s two surviving accounts of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in F Major BWV 1050, in tandem with one of No. 3 in G Major BWV 1048 – see inset on the next page.
While the 1950 Salzburg Festival performances were released on CD by EMI in 2000 (CMS 5 67422 2), the earlier 1940 concert has always proven elusive, its only previous incarnations being on a rare 2-LP set from the French Furtwängler Society (SWF 8401/2) two hard-to-find Japanese issues, and in execrable sound on YouTube. On Maestro Editions one can finally hear it in sound worthy of the performance, correctly pitched and free of the over-filtering that have marred other attempts.
There are no finer examples of Furtwängler at the piano than these 1940 and 1950 performances of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5: beautiful, deep-in-the-keys playing with a coda of spell-binding majesty. Purists may scoff, but Furtwängler strikes closer to the heart, and timelessness, of Bach than many more hidebound readings, whether on period or modern instruments.
Founded by Richard Chlupaty and joined late by Roger Smithson in an expert advisory capacity, Maestro Editions grew from the latter’s invaluable Antal Doráti “live” series, issued under the auspices of the Antal Doráti Centenary Society. Formed in Bournemouth with the cooperation of the conductor’s wife, Ilse von Alpenheim, the Society sought to “celebrate and promote the works of the late conductor and composer Antal Doráti, through world-wide research and publication and to promote his works for educational purposes.” To this end, an archive was established, preserving copies – on 78s, LPs, and CDs – of the conductor-composer’s complete recorded legacy, as well as much documentary materials. The latter encompassed not only books, articles, reviews, and concert programs, but also an authoritative, beautifully illustrated 400-page discography by Richard Chlupaty, still available for purchase from the Society. Visit their homepage at https://www.dorati-society.org.uk/home.htm.
In addition to many fascinating individual issues, Maestro Editions also boasts several distinguished series, pride of place going to that documenting the enigmatic Sergiu Celibidache in “live” broadcast recordings from Rome, Turin, Stuttgart, Stockholm, and Copenhagen, and taking in repertoire not covered by the Celibidache CDs released by EMI and Deutsche Grammophon.
The label has gone on to document other podium greats, including Ernest Ansermet, Guido Cantelli, André Cluytens, Jean Martinon, André Previn, et al. However, Maestro Editions has not confined itself to only sure-fire “marquee” names, but has also undertaken editions for less celebrated, though no lesser, talents – Howard Barlow, Edouard van Remoortel, Alceo Galliera and, perhaps most worthy of resurrection on disc, the woefully under-rated Dean Dixon.
For those who thrill at the prospect of hearing legendary instrumentalists in concert, Maestro Editions again proves an invaluable source for the historically minded listener and collector: Robert Casadesus in Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2 (with Paray), Janigro in Dvorak’s Cello Concerto (with Dixon), and Szeryng in Sibelius’ Violin Concerto (with Barbirolli). One recent must-hear release is Alice Krieger: “The Legacy of Brahms”. A pupil of Eugen d’Albert, her early 1960s Brahms solo piano recital has languished in near oblivion for over 50 years. Issued in cooperation with the late pianist’s family, it has now been restored to the catalog by Maestro Editions and must be counted an extraordinary find, expertly re-mastered by the label’s in-house sound engineer, Chris Brereton.
In short, Maestro Editions continues to be among the leading lights in historical recordings, dedicated to preserving the artistic legacies of great conductors and soloists of the 20th Century. Visit them today.
More from Maestro Editions in Issue 6 – available in your subscriber account – on page 52.