Karl Propper

He did not thrust himself into the limelight but put himself, with economical, clear gestures, entirely at the service of the music: amongst the conductors of his time, Karl Böhm epitomized the anti-star. In the summer of 1964 he delighted the Lucerne audience with a compellingly flowing and cantabile reading of Bruckner’s Seventh – of course at the helm of “his” Vienna Philharmonic, with whom he was also to perform a buoyant Hindemith concerto six years later.

I have always viewed Dr. Weigl as one of the best composers of the old generation; one of those continuing the illustrious Viennese tradition' – Arnold Schönberg. This statement indicated that Weigl remained faithful to the late-Romantic aesthetic and use of tonality, shunning the more progressive contemporary trends being explored at the turn of the 20th century, as might be found in the music of Zemlinsky, Reznicek or Franz Schmidt. Weigl's style is well reflected in this programme that pairs the first of his six symphonies (written in 1908) with Pictures and Tales, a suite for small orchestra written in 1922.

As a Bach interpreter, Richter was almost unrivalled worldwide for many years and his Bach interpretations set standards. Karl Richter and his choir became the formative interpreters of the internationally renowned Bach Festival in Ansbach, a meeting place for the musical elite from all over the world. For almost two decades, the Munich Bach Choir and Orchestra has had the musical world from New York to Leningrad, from Tokyo to Paris at its feet, and many of its highly decorated recordings are among the best-selling recordings.

When we turn to live recordings, we enter another world, one in which the performances have, on the whole, a greater consistency of thought and execution. That applies in spades to the famous Bayreuth set of 1966. Karl Böhm's swift, incandescent, very theatrical interpretation isn't to everyone's liking. Yet, for all the fast speeds, the charge of superficiality is misplaced. Böhm's direct, cogently thought through reading, in which tempo relationships, inner figures (as one might expect from a Mozart and Strauss specialist), and instrumental detail are all carefully exposed and related to each other, offers rich rewards. Expressive intensity is here married ideally to a transparency of texture.

This is delightful and ingenious set of 2 Cds. For people familiar with R. Strauss "Der Burger als Edelmann" Orchestersuite (op. 60), the set provides the complete music to the comedy of Moliere (reworked by H. Hofmannsthal) as it was staged originally in Berlin in 1919. Sir Peter Ustinov performs the role of Jack of all Trades: he wrote the text, narrated the story, and played all the important roles. It is the BEST we may expect (barring the original Berlin production). For people who are not familiar with the Orchestersuite - this set represents one of the best examples of the neo-classical Strauss. Most of the play's music is part of the suite, but the play's context and Ustinov's magic give a new light to this wonderful work.

Richter brings a solid, disciplined richness to Handel. The big choruses are supported by the organ, and the harpsichord is exuberantly present just about everywhere. The Munich Bach Choir sometimes sings with a German accent but doesn't muff an eighth note. The soloists are all native English speakers, and paramount among them is Alexander Young, the best Handel tenor of his time. He combines agility with persuasive heroic strength, and he is a superb actor. His unparalleled flamboyance of declamation brings every word to life (listen to the confrontation with Dalila); you remember both the character and the music. Arroyo sounds both voluptuous and repentant as Dalila, Procter is a composed, stately Micah with an absolutely steady contralto, and Flagello thunders imposingly as Harapha. Stewart's handsome baritone limns a suave, solicitous Manoa.

This German conductor was heavily involved in creating three orchestras in his lifetime, most notably the Chamber Orchestra of the Saar. With this group he is often considered to have created one of the definitive recorded collections of Bach's orchestral music. These recordings originally saw the light of day in the early '60s as a Nonesuch release on both LP and cassette. Following an out of print period, it was cause for celebration among Bach lovers when the French Accord label released a six-CD set comprising the entire set of Ristenpart recordings of Bach orchestral works.