Southwest Radio Orchestra of Baden-Baden Archive

Hans Rosbaud conducts MENDELSSOHN; WEBER – Southwest Radio Orchestra, Baden-Baden/ Hans Rosbaud – SWR Classics

by Audiophile Audition | Aug 7, 2018 | Classical Reissue Reviews

SWR Classic issues a series of Hans Rosbaud vintage recordings, 1955-1962, of Romantic staples. Hans Rosbaud conducts = MENDELSSOHN: A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Overture, Scherzo and Notturno; Capriccio brillante in B minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 22; WEBER: Overtures: Preziosa, Op. 78; Der Freischuetz, Op. 77; Der Beherrscher der Geister, Op. 27; Konzartstueck in F minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 79 –  Yvonne Loriod, piano (Mendelssohn)/ Robert Casadesus, piano (Weber)/ Southwest Radio Orchestra, Baden-Baden/ Hans Rosbaud – SWR Classics SWR19040CD, 79:40 (8/4/18) [Distr. by Naxos] ****:   Those who lament the passing of Wilhelm Furtwaengler in 1954 as Germany’s great interpreter of the Romantic tradition—that is, who do not particularly relish the legacy of Herbert von Karajan—may recall the Austrian conductor Hans Rosbaud (1895-1962) continued both that tradition and a strong commitment to modernism in Baden-Baden by tirelessly working with his chosen SouthWest Radio Orchestra.  My late colleague from my “First Hearing” days at WQXR-FM in New York City, Richard Kapp, had been a Rosbaud pupil, and he would harp perpetually on the limited scope of those few recordings that failed to represent the extraordinary range of Rosbaud’s musical acumen. Now, SWR Classic issues previously unpublished documents (rec. […]