From the archives
Andrew Mcgregor reviews the rich legacy of the studio orchestra founded by the great producer Walter Legge
Philharmonia Orchestra: Birth of a Legend (Warner Classics 9029534951; 24 CDS) tells a fascinating history. The list of conductors and their photos on the box is a striking reminder of the Philharmonia’s remarkable early years: Karajan, Furtwängler, Cantelli, Toscanini, Klemperer, Giulini and more. Founded by producer Walter Legge in 1945 as EMI’S house band, the orchestra’s first recordings, as the booklet essay by Alan Sanders tells us, were JC Bach and Wolf, then Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas on 78s. The earliest item here, though, is from 1946 – Walton’s Viola Concerto with the composer conducting William Primrose. Other gramophone classics tumble after it.
The first three discs offer a Karajan showcase: the Schumann Piano Concerto with Dinu Lipatti in 1948, Beethoven, Schubert and Sibelius symphonies, Respighi, Bartók and Richard Strauss – already the Philharmonia’s strength as a recording orchestra is obvious. Furtwängler’s two discs has Kirsten Flagstad in the world premiere of Strauss’s Four Last Songs live at the Royal Albert Hall in 1950; then there’s Fischer-dieskau singing Mahler; and Menuhin playing Bartók’s Violin Concerto No. 2. Less celebrated is the orchestra’s relationship with Guido Cantelli, but his two discs reveal his fondness for French composers, including glorious horn playing by Dennis Brain in Ravel’s Pavane. The quality of the Philharmonia’s principal players features on another disc: leader Manoug Parikian plays Massenet’s Méditation, Brain plays a Strauss Concerto, and a bunch of them are in Barber’s Souvenirs.
Toscanini’s Brahms is revelatory, and Klemperer’s previously unreleased recordings of Strauss tone poems are welcome. But with Giulini’s classic Verdi Requiem from 1964, the story suddenly stops. Why? Legge pulled the plug, and the players themselves then reformed as the New Philharmonia; another story, the notes tell us. But Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht with Esa-pekka Salonen, a live BBC recording from 2018, is included as a coda. In all, a pretty well remastered and curated 75th birthday celebration.
Andrew Mcgregor is the presenter of Radio 3’s Record Review, broadcast each Saturday morning from 9am until 11.45am