From the archives

Daniel Jaffé dusts off this month’s selection of reissued and archival recordings

May round-up

Peter Rösel ’s traversal of Rachmaninov’s concertos, recorded 1978-82 with Kurt Sanderling and the Berlin Sinfonieorchester, is particularly special in the

First and Fourth concertos which open this newly remastered reissue. In these ultra-romantic accounts, every phrase appears to be fully engaged and newly minted by both soloist and orchestra. Alas, a vital spark is missing in the more familiar No. 2 and the Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini, both given sumptuous and expansive accounts but lacking in wit or vitality. (Berlin Classics 0302949BC)

A set of four live concerto performances by Vladimir Ashkenazy – apparently taped off-air or surreptitiously in the hall – might have been of more interest if Urania had not presented them in transfers in which much of the sound’s substance has been leached. The Grieg suffers from a very poor source recording, including tape wow; but it is telling that Ashkenazy’s superb 1960 performance of Chopin No. 2 – with the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Leningrad Philharmonic under its soon to-be-chief conductor, Arvīds Jansons (father of Mariss) – can be heard to better advantage on Youtube. (Urania WS 121.407)

Geoffrey Simon has been consistently enterprising in his choice of repertoire, and his Respighi album recorded in 1990 includes what were then several premieres on disc. One is the title track, Ballad of the Gnomes, illustrating a gruesome story similar to that of Balakirev’s Tamara, though Respighi responds with music that, while suitably colourful, is not quite as lurid or inspired. There’s one undoubted masterpiece – Three Botticelli Pictures – and all the works are attractively performed, but for each there are yet finer alternative recordings now available. (Cala Signum SIGCD 2161) HHHH

Loved and respected in the 1960s and ’70s, the Amadeus Quartet – three Viennese-jewish émigrés and a British cellist – here appear in recordings of Dvořák’s ‘American’ Quartet, Brahms’s three quartets and Haydn’s ‘Emperor’ Quartet.

The Brahms in particular was once thought definitive, but listeners today, accustomed to more focused tuning and less of the virtually omnipresent and sometimes quite heavy-handed vibrato used here, will need to make some adjustment: Brahms No. 1, and also the Haydn, can sound rather queasy. But there is a songful quality to everything the Amadeus does, and it is immensely touching hearing these Jewish musicians give such a dignified account of Haydn’s variations on the Austrian national anthem, effectively reclaiming a culture Hitler tried to deny them. (Alto ALC 1611)

Finally, a disc of encores recorded by then-young Polish-jewish violinists Josef Hassid and Ida Haendel, in 1940 and 1948-53, sympathetically accompanied by Gerald Moore. Hassid, described by Moore as ‘the greatest instrumental genius I’ve ever partnered’, plays with a sure technique and gleaming tone a range of pieces including by Tchaikovsky, Elgar, Kreisler and Achron. Sadly his career abruptly collapsed the following year, as he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Haendel, almost as impressive a player, offers a more adventurous mix, including a piece by Tartini and contemporary works by Bartók and Copland.

The transfers are smooth and one quickly adjusts to the mono sound. (Parnassus PACL 95011)