Wolfgang Schneiderhan

Wilhelm Kempff's cycle of the Beethoven Piano Concertos with Ferdinand Leitner and the Berlin Philharmonic is one of the great achievements of the golden age of stereo. Kempff had already recorded a magnificent mono cycle in the mid-1950s with the same orchestra under Paul Van Kempen (recently reissued on the box set "Wilhelm Kempff: The Complete 1950s Concerto Recordings" in DG's Original Masters series – see my review), but these new performances maintained his highest playing standards while offering the added dimension of stereo sound.

Both conductor and soloist are well-known for their performances of the Beethoven Violin Concerto – just not with each other. The conjunction of Furtwängler and Schneiderhan is probably the least-well remembered of the conductor’s collaborations, either live or studio. Similarly the violinist’s commercial DG recording, conducted by Eugen Jochum, holds the most pressing claim on the collector, notwithstanding Furtwängler’s eminence or the fact that the disc under review was made live in the Titania-Palast in Berlin in May 1953.

In the 1950s these recordings would have given a very up-to-date impression, I imagine; the playing is extremely clean there's never a hint of sentimental violin slides or over-use of the sustaining pedal. But nearly half a century later, perhaps we're more conscious of the old-world virtues Schneiderhan's beautiful legato bowing and gentle vibrato, Kempff's full, unforced tone, and a flexible approach from both artists, with finely graded ritardandos and subtle variations of tempo.

These are two of the most contentious – and rarest - recordings made by the doyen of Czech conductors. Although I have heard rumours that the whole Czech Philharmonic decamped to Vienna to record there, they were apparently made in situ in the National Theatre in Prague in the days of the Nazi-Soviet pact. The Piano Concerto was recorded first and then a year later the Violin Concerto. It’s not hard to see what might have annoyed people.