Schubert, Rosamunde Overture
Berg, Violin Concerto
Bruckner, Symphony No. 9
Berlin Philharmonic
Joseph Keiberth
(Salzburg Festival, 17 August 1960)
Orfeo C838 112B
Doubtless the performance of Bruckner’s 9th
Symphony is the main reason for this release from Orfeo of a live recording
from the 1960 Salzburg Festival of Joseph Keilberth conducting the Berlin
Philharmonic. And it is indeed an excellent performance. But the 2-CD set also
contains a very good performance of Berg’s Violin Concerto with Christian
Ferras, then in the early years of his fame. This is not a piece that most would associate with
Keilberth, but it is conducted with great insight, and delicacy where needed. Some
will quibble that the Berg and Schumann combined double the price of the set,
while adding only 37 minutes of music, but to my mind the price is worth
paying.
Keilberth’s approach to Bruckner is manifest at the first
climax in the opening movement – conducted with great power and with an energy
that carries over into the pizzicato bridge passage. Throughout the movement
the lyricism comes out clearly – as do the lilting rhythms – even though each
climactic section seems carved out of granite. The tempo of the scherzo and
trio seem exactly right, and the movement displays very forceful brass playing.
The brass continue to impress in the finale, still forceful
but at the same time strikingly in balance with the woodwind, which Bruckner
typically charges with the finer points of detail in this wonderful movement. The
concluding dissonance before the coda is very draining, certainly the most
powerful that I have heard for a while. The coda is a fitting epitaph and the
audience is silent before bursting into enthusiastic applause.
