Great Conductors of The 20th Century Vol.34 - Felix Weingartner
Great Conductors of The 20th Century Vol.34 - Felix Weingartner
Disc: 1 1. Beethoven: Overture ‘The Creatures of Prometheus’ Beethoven: Symphony No.2 2. I Adagio Molto - Allegro Con Brio 3. II Larghetto 4. III Scherzo. Allegro 5. IV Allegro Molto 6. Berlioz: Marche troyenne (‘Les Troyens’) 7. Weber: Invitation To The Dance, J260 (Rondo Brillant) Brahms: Symphony No.3 8. I Allegro Con Brio 9. II Andante 10. III Poco Allegretto 11. IV Allegro Wiener Philharmoniker (1) London Symphony Orchestra (2-5, 7-11) Orchestre De La Societe Des Concerts Du Conservatoire (6) Disc: 2 Mozart: Symphony No.39 1. I Adagio - Allegro 2. II Andante Con Moto 3. III Menuetto. Allegretto - Trio 4. IV Finale. Allegro 5. Wagner: Overture ‘Rienzi’ 6. Wagner: Siegfried-Idyll Liszt: Les Préludes & Mephisto Waltz No.1 7. Les Preludes, S97 (Symphonic Poem After Lamartine) 8. Mephisto Waltz No.1, S110/2 London Symphony Orchestra (1-4, 6-8) Orchestre De La Societe Des Concerts Du Conservatoire (5) Felix Weingartner – conductor
The Austrian conductor Felix Weingartner was born in Dalmatia (now Croatia) and studied in Graz and Leipzig. His first appointment was in Königsberg in 1884, followed by posts in Danzig, Hamburg and Mannheim. His breakthrough came when he was appointed Kapellmeister at the Berlin Royal Opera in 1891, a post he held until 1898, when he moved to Munich as conductor of the Kaim Orchestra (1898-1903). He succeeded Mahler as Director of the Vienna Court Opera (1908-1911) and at the same time became conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic (1908-1927). During this period he also held posts in Hamburg, Darmstadt and at the Vienna Volksoper, and travelled widely, establishing a reputation across Europe and in North and South America. From 1927, he conducted in Basle and was Director of the Conservatoire, where he taught conducting. He returned to the Vienna State Opera in 1935 but left after eighteen months. He then based himself in Switzerland, working as a guest conductor throughout non-Nazi Europe until his death in Winterthur in 1942. Weingartner wrote several seminal books on conducting and on the performance of the Beethoven Symphonies and is remembered as a pre-eminent conductor of the classical repertoire.
The set offers an excellent cross-section of Weingartner’s interpretations in Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, Berlioz, Liszt and Wagner in newly remastered recordings, taken wherever possible from EMI’s original metal parts. The 1938 performance of Beethoven’s Second Symphony has been available before only on LP and the Prometheus Overture from 1936 has never been issued outside Japan. Brahms’s Symphony No.3 from 1938, Berlioz’s Marche troyenne from 1939, and Liszt’s Les Préludes and Mephisto Waltz No.1 from 1940, represent Weingartner’s life-long championship of these three composers, notably Brahms and Liszt whom he knew well. The compilation is completed by one of Weingartner’s rare Mozart recordings (from 1940) and some Wagner (from 1938-9), all in new transfers. --- bayreuthclassical.blogspot.com
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