SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 4 in C Minor “Tragic”; Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major – Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra/Karl Munchinger
HDTT HDCD154, 54:42 **** [Avail. as either CD-R or 96K/24 DVD-R – www.highdeftapetransfers.com]:
Karl Munchinger (1915-1990), whose set of Bach Brandenburgs for London Records set the standard for my aesthetic taste, earned a solid reputation for the integrity of his performances, his having brought much cleanliness and girth to the performance of Baroque music through vigorous, disciplined rehearsal methods, without recourse to original instruments. In Romantic repertory, Munchinger’s style would seem to elicit that clarity, natural sympathy, and athletic verve we associate with his German colleague Karl Bohm, both relatively “objective” practitioners of their art.
These Schubert inscriptions in remastered, Symposium-processed sound, derive from London 4-track prerecorded tapes, the sonic separation quite piquant, from the first notes of the Allegro vivace of the Fourth Symphony, whose brisk pace and instrumental exactness compel our excitement. Dark hued and somberly energetic, the recorded acoustics separate the diviso strings effectively, the woodwinds piping a tender litany as the bowed flurries streak by. The spirit is Beethoven seems nigh, but the procedures, the sensibility, moves rather intuitively to the melodic expression of a dramatic point, rather than the reverse. The heart of this C Minor Symphony is its Andante, whose softly martial, opening figure might have inspired any number of scores by Max Steiner. Beautiful coloration from the VPO, aerial and richly tinted, at once. The syncopations between the winds and the strings resound pungently, all within a close series of modal repetitions of the same, melancholy theme. The VPO cellos and basses win my vote for burnished memories. The Menuetto projects a rough-hewn humor close to Haydn, though some of the jarring sforzati nod to Beethoven. The opening harmonies of the final Allegro look quite forward, though the actual melodic currency remains Viennese Romantic (by way of Mozart) to the core. The instrumental writing becomes eminently virtuosic, alternating rocking or driving rhythms and color effects with singularly deft agility.
The sweetly familiar Fifth Symphony—lacking trumpets and drums–Munchinger pushes with unsentimental clarity and brio, allowing its occasionally dark undercurrents full range. If the VPO were not so insistent with its warm patina and lucid timbres, we might think this streamlined vision belonged to Toscanini or Szell. Even with the first movement repeat, the music sails crisply as a series of melodic periods and balanced musical choirs. The brief development enjoys woodwinds calls directly from the Black Forest. Here too, the Andante con moto provides the emotional center of the symphony, the flute and accompanying woodwinds tragically lyrical over a series of string and bass harmonies which adumbrate the more famous B Minor Symphony, D. 759. The buoyancy Munchinger brings to the Menuetto, with its complement of strings and horn effects, quite charms without any urge to Teutonic heaviness. Grace and liquid coloration move the music to the genial Trio, a laendler that rocks at moments like a cradle song with high flute. Briskly linear, the Allegro vivace hurries along in balanced phrases, the quintessence of classical romanticism, with silky rocket figures in the VPO strings. Whatever intimations of mortality pass along our horizon, the deep allure of Nature and eternal song dispel the temptation to despair. Music of eminently compassionate sensibility rendered by a noble spirit, these London Records originals do well – musically and fidelity-wise – in their HDTT incarnation.
–Gary Lemco
