Toscanini Brahms Symphonies Downloadable

courtesy of Warner Classics

Readers may recall that, at the end of last year, this site discussed an album of MP3 digitizations of the earliest recordings of conductor Arturo Toscanini. This album was released by Guild Music Limited, providing a valuable download opportunity for those interested in Toscanini at the beginning of his recording career. Around that same time Warner Classics released a download of Toscanini performances from the other end of his career, none of which can be found in The Complete RCA Collection.

At the age of 85, Toscanini returned to the United Kingdom in 1952 to conduct a series of concerts of the music of Johannes Brahms with the Philharmonia Orchestra in the Royal Festival Hall. The programs encompassed all four of the symphonies, along with the Opus 81 “Tragic” overture and the Opus 56a orchestral version of the set of variations on a theme Brahms attributed to Joseph Haydn. Since the performance took place in the Royal Festival Hall, the first concert began with “God Save the Queen.”

CDs of these performances (except for “God Save the Queen”) were released on Testament label in February of 2007. Curiously, there is no sign of Warner’s digital release (which includes “God Save the Queen”) on Amazon.com; and it appears that the best site for listening or downloading is a Web page created by IDAGIO Labs. The timing of the Festival Hall concerts is particularly interesting, since they are framed by the Brahms recordings that Toscanini made with the NBC Symphony Orchestra in Carnegie Hall both before and after his visit to London.

One might think that Toscanini’s approaches to conducting Brahms in London would not be that different from his approaches in New York. However, the Philharmonia was a relatively new ensemble, having been founded by Walter Legge in 1945, making it the “unofficial house orchestra for EMI.” By the time Toscanini made his visit, the ensemble would have amassed considerable experience under the leadership of Richard Strauss, Wilhelm Furtwängler, and, particularly, Herbert von Karajan. In addition it had a horn section led by the virtuoso Dennis Brain. Given how often Brahms would bring a solo horn passage into the foreground, the opportunity to listen to Brain’s interpretations under Toscanini’s baton is, as they say, “worth the price of admission!”

By now I have lost count of the number of different interpretations I have of the Brahms “symphony cycle;” but this one definitely got me to sit up and take notice!