BEETHOVEN: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 4 / BRAHMS: Variations on a Theme by Haydn

Beethoven, Ludwig van, Brahms, Johannes

Casals, Pablo, London Symphony Orchestra, Pablo Casals Orchestra of Barcelona

8.111262

The world will remember Pablo Casals as the great cellist of his generation; his role as a concert soloist and as part of the legendary Thibaud-Casals-Cortot Piano Trio are all well documented on disc. We much less think of the Spanish musician as a leading conductor, though he was so intent on this dual career as to form in 1919 his own Barcelona based orchestra, an ensemble of considerable merit as this disc demonstrates.
Sadly the CD's contents together with a recording of Beethoven's Coriolan Overture were the sum total of his studio sessions made before the war. We have to accept those performances recorded after 1945 was an old man indulging himself. Yet these two superb symphony recordings show he was a magnificent Beethoven conductor, his fast tempos back in the late 1920's coming four decades before they became fashionable. Indeed if pressed I would probably take his account of the First Symphony before any other, its clear thinking, ideal pace and long sweeping phrases presenting Beethoven unadorned.
Of course we have to take the dynamic range he achieved much for granted as the recording obviously narrowed that possibility. I think you will be equally amazed at the immaculately schooled orchestra he had created in Barcelona, a cut above the London Symphony in their Brahms Variations, a performance liberally laced with poor intonation. There is a note of apology with the disc from the restoration engineer, Mark Obert-Thorn, regarding the poor surfaces that were inherent in the original releases, yet the sound on the Barcelona recordings obtained considerable inner detail, and you can feel the electricity that must have been in Casal's reading.
After that the Brahms comes as something of a disappointment, some variations sounding laboured, while those given more vivacity only show up the LSO's shortcomings in every department. Still at this low price take the disc for the Beethoven symphonies, and you will have a very pleasant surprise. • David Denton, David's Review Corner, August 2007

CD x 1

Naxos

8/6/07

747313326228