Testament SBT 1370, 60:49 (Distrib. Harmonia mundi) ***:
Two Schubert works with Arturo Toscanini make their appearance here on CD, both of which the Maestro had never committed to commercial inscription. The truly unusual programming occurs 15 February 1941, with Joseph Joachim’s orchestration (1856) of Schubert’s C Major four-hand duet, long believed to be a sketch for a “Gastein Symphony” which modern musicology has rejected. Toscanini had been moved by an essay by Donald Tovey that the orchestration represented “Schubert’s grandest symphonic style,” and had procured the orchestral parts from the Free Library of Philadelphia. Sounding much like the C Major Symphony, D. 944, the texture still enjoys Toscanini’s penchant for clarity and rhythmic vitality, the Maestro having chosen to ignore the Allegro ma non troppo for the finale for an active Allegro vivace. All indications point to Toscanini’s being the first American performance of this musical curio.
The CD opens with a hearty, beautifully galvanized performance (23 March 1940) of Schubert’s Symphony No. 2, a work which had received much attention in concert and record catalogues at the time. The pace at which the opening Allegro vivace moves, and the confident swagger of the ensuing Andante attest to Toscanini’s natural Schubert style, which is anything but effeminate or mannered. For Studio 8-H recordings, resonance is good, the definition between string and brass work clear and articulated, especially in the NBC woodwinds and string basses. Musically, the Grand Duo proves exciting only in the last movement, likely more because Brahms appropriated the theme for his F Minor Piano Quintet (also a four-hand sonata originally) than for its innate dramatic qualities, although Toscanini drives the music for every ounce of substance. Fascinating repertory from Toscanini and the NBC, especially when considered in light of its historical perspective.
— Gary Lemco
