Karl Böhm’s Remastered SWR Recordings

courtesy of Naxos of America

At the end of this past February, SWR Classic released a six-CD collection of performances of Karl Böhm conducting the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, primarily in their preferred venue, the Liederhalle concert hall. Of the ten compositions performed in this collection, only one, Johannes Brahms’ Opus 68 (first) symphony in C minor, is a studio recording. All the others are recorded documents of “live” performances.

As might be guessed, six CDs account for a relatively limited repertoire. Furthermore, that repertoire is not particularly balanced, since two and a half of the CDs are devoted to three symphonies by Ludwig van Beethoven (Opus 26, the second, in D major, Opus 92, the seventh, in A major, and Opus 125, the ninth, in D minor), along with one piano concerto, Opus 58, the fourth in G major. Neither the vocal soloists nor the pianist are likely to be familiar to most readers; but, fortunately, the accompanying booklet provides brief introductions to all of them. The pianist (Branka Musulin) is also soloist in a recording of Robert Schumann’s Opus 54 concerto in A minor, taken from a performance at Waldheim in Degerloch, an outer district of Stuttgart.

Here in the United States Böhm is best known for his performances with the Metropolitan Opera. He made his debut in 1957 and conducted 262 performances there. Most important were the premiere performances of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck and two Richard Strauss operas, Ariadne auf Naxos and Die Frau ohne Schatten. He was also a leading figure at the Salzburg Festival, where he first appeared in 1938, after which he became a permanent conductor. Since all this happened when Adolf Hitler was in charge, Böhm had to complete a two-year denazification process after the end of World War II; and I suspect there are still a few that lift their eyebrows over his association with The Met.

That said, it is worth noting that one of the selections in the SWR collection is Paul Hindemith’s “Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber.” Given that he was included in the Nazi’s 1938 Entartete Musik (degenerate music) exhibition in Düsseldorf, it is clear that the Nazis were far less sympathetic to Hindemith than they were to Böhm. Nevertheless, this particular recording captures all of the wit behind Hindemith’s approach to metamorphosis. Whether is makes the entire collection “worth the price of admission” is left for the attentive listener to decide!

The Hindemith selection is the penultimate one in this collection. It is followed by a live recording of Anton Bruckner’s seventh symphony in E major. This is the one in which the second (Adagio) movement depicts the soul of Richard Wagner entering Heaven. Regardless of any opinions about Nazi influences, Böhm’s interpretation of that movement is likely to make any seriously attentive listener kvell, particularly when the climax involves the only use of cymbals and timpani in the entire symphony! That is reason enough for any serious listener to get to know this recent collection.