The Art of Konwitschny - Great Historial Recordings Vol.2

Franz Konwitschny is undeservedly neglected. Perhaps this is due to the fact that he spent most of his life either in Germany ruled by the Nazis, or in East Germany ruled by the Communists. Nevertheless, given this superb selection of standard repertory works--11 cds, he deserves to be ranked up there with Furtwangler, Bruno Walter, von Karajan, Jochum and others of that ilk.Indeed, I would have paid the price for the performance of Bruckner's Fifth Symphony, alone. one of the finest committed to CD, rivaling my other favorites by Schuricht, Furtwangler, and Celibidache. The Bruckner Seventh is almost as good. The Second is not bad, but suffers from a less than first class orchestra (Berlin Radio).The Beethoven 3rd is perhaps the weakest of the lot, but never really unacceptable, just outclassed by so many others. The Mendelssohn Third, again, is one of the finest available, sweeping and majestic, never hurried, but always nimble, as it should be. And the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with Oistrakh is equally fine.The Shostakovich symphonies (10 and 11) are fine, but, again there are better performances. Still, given the price and the quality of the set, not bad to have.The final two CDs are dedicated to Konwitschny's justly renowned recording of Wagner's FLIEGENDE HOLLAENDER: it's an all round superb account, featuring Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gottlob Frick, Fritz Wunderlich, and Rudolf Schock. It's been available previously, but here you get it for a little more than one dollar (USA) per disc. Again, well worth the price of the set.Konwitschny died suddenly in 1962, and so, he did not fully experience the stereo era, yet the sound of these performances is quite good. And the performances truly worthy.In other words, a fantastic buy...and you will not be disappointed. Now, let's see if those East German audio archives will open up some more....

Franz Konwitschny - who was born in 1901, Fulnek, Northern Moravia, and died in 1962 in Belgrade, former Yugoslavia while conducting in a TV broadcast - was one of the great conductors of the 20th century. In my view, his legacy must be compared with such conductors as Abendroth, Furtwängler, Lehmann, and Weingartner. Apart from covering - more or less - the same repertoire, he was both as personal and gifted as these conductors.From 1949 until his death in 1962 he was principal conductor of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. The present collection of 11 CDs - vol. 2 of two sets - features some of his greatest recordings with this excellent orchestra. In addition, there are also recordings with the Staatskapelle Dresden, Staatskapelle Berlin and Berliner Rundfunk Sinfonie-Orchester.To start with the latter recordings, this box includes one of the greatest recordings of Bruckner's second symphony that we have on record (CD 2). Few conductors have exposed such a masterly understanding of this work as Konwitschny. Though recorded in mono in 1951 with the Berliner Rundfunk Sinfonie-Orchester, the sound is quite good - a memorable and classic recording that all Brucknerians must hear.Konwitschny recorded Shostakovich's 11th symphony with Staatskapelle Berlin in 1960 and the 10th in 1954 (CD 8 & 9, both in mono). These are early recordings of this music (composed just a few years before the recordings) and show Konwitchny's interest in new music. The two recordings give an interesting perspective on these works, and especially the tenth must be considered as one of the finest versions available toghether with Ancerl's (DG).The box includes also Konwitchny's 1955 mono recording of Beethovens's third symphony with Staatskapelle Dresden (CD 1). This is simply one of the best recordings of the Eroica we have on record, an unforgettable deeply felt and passionate account. The mono recording is outstanding.On CD 10-11 it's a pleasure to find the one of the best Flying Dutchmans in recording history, Konwitchny's classic recording of Wagner's early music drama with Staatskapelle Berlin from 1960 (stereo). Cast includes Frick, Wunderlich, Schock, Schech and Fisher-Dieskau.The remaining discs (CD 2, 4-8) are with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Works include Beethoven piano concertos nos. 2 and 4 with Amadeus Webersinke and the Choral Fantasia (on CD 1) with Günther Kootz. These recordings are of great interest: excellent interpretations and fine sound. Further, we find two of Konwitchny's other classic Bruckner recordings: symphonies 5 and 7 (CDs 4-7). Both are great recordings in excellent sound, and hard to find elsewhere. Finally, we get Mendelsohn's third symphony and the violin concerto with Igor Oistrach. Perhaps not two classic recordings, but very good nonetheless.You get all this, in very fine remastered sound, almost for the price of one record. It's a steal. Apart from boasting a collection of outstanding performance of mostly highest rank, it's a very good introduction to Konwitchny's moving and memorable music making. Don't hesitate, grab this gem now! I recommend it enthusiastically, both for interpretations and sound.

I had grown leary of multi-disk bargain sets, because so many times they are padded out with marginal recordings. But I took a chance on this one after reading the previous review.I am glad I did. Every one of the 11 disks in this set is "Grade A" material. The complete Dutchman (2 cds in brilliant 1960 era Stereo) is enough to justify the price of the set. But like they say, "there is more".Even though these recordings are "historic", they are high quality, and pleasurable to hear, even on modern equipment. These stereo and mono analog recordings going back into the 1950's are clearly "Hi Fi" and the performances are superb. No booklet, but each individual slipcase in the little box has the performance dates, artists, and other relevant information.

Super!

Second volume cansacré à ce chef un peu oublié, Franz Konwitschy. Le premier était essentiellement consacré aux neufs symphonies de Beethoven. Je garde un sentiment ému pour cette interprétation, disponible dans mon jeune temps, en édition économique Philips. Toutefois on préférera la remastérisation de ces symphinies, parue récemment.Le second volume est encore plus essentiel. Ecoutez cette 3ème de Beethoven avec Dresde, granitique!! Quelle force, quelle grandeur! Magnifique! La seconde de Bruckner, un peu la mal aimée du cycle, retrouve toute sa place dans le corpus. Et que dire du Vaisseau Fantome. Un chant absolument magnifique et toujours cette direction ferme, marmoréenne. De plus un coffret disponible, sur certains sites, pour quelques euros. Précipitez vous!!!!!

Voila un beau bijou musical réédité graçe au report des anciens microsillons Eterna produits dans la quinzaine d'année après la seconde guerre mondiale.Konwitschny y dirige les orchestres qui ont fait sa gloire; avec l'autre coffret existant nous détenons une somme appréciable de l'art de ce grand kapellMeister.Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Bruckner, Wagner, Schumann: il n'y a rien de mineur dans tout cela.La Staatkapelle de Dresde, le Gewandhaus de Leipzig et l'Orchestre de l 'Opera d'Unter den Linden se montrent au meilleur niveau avec des prises de son bien étagées et à la dynamique soigné.Bien sur, aujourd'hui on ne parle plus guère de Franz Konwitschny et de sa manière bonhomme de saluer ses amis pendant les applaudissements de ses concerts: mais quelle direction!Sûre, avec des tempis qui ne vous martyrisent pas,et la liberté donnée aux orchestre de développer un chant beau et ample, on peut appeler cela le grand style...En plus ça n'est pas ruineux; alors avant que ça ne disparaisse...