Search - Hermann Scherchen :: Tribute to Hermann Scherchen "The Best-Known Unknown"

A Fine Tribute To One Of The Great Conductors

Jeffrey Lipscomb | Sacramento, CA United States | 06/21/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This 5-disc set from Tahra (the label is owned and operated by Scherchen's daughter Myriam and her husband Rene Tremine) was issued to commemorate the 30th anniversay of the conductor's death. Hermann Scherchen (1891-1966) was one of the greatest conductors of the last century, and he has long been one of my "top ten" favorites. The set comes with a richly informative and lavishly illustrated booklet than runs 145 pages in length.



Scherchen had perhaps the widest repertoire of any conductor; by comparison, those of Furtwangler and Knappertsbusch were quite narrow. Scherchen began playing the violin at age 7 and was one of music's great auto-didacts: he was entirely self-taught and never attended any music schools. His mastery was achieved through intense ear-training excercises and by attending concerts. Few people today seem to be aware of just how important a musical figure Scherchen was. He played violin (and also viola) under such noted conductors as Nikisch, Fried, Weingartner, and Richard Strauss. Scherchen first conducted the Berlin Philharmonic in 1911, and that year he prepared Schoenberg's "Pierrot Lunaire" for performances by the composer. In 1912, with the Berlin Phil., he performed Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony #1 and also Mahler's 5th and the Bruckner 9th. He was interred in Russia during World War I while conductor of the Riga Symphony. In 1922 Scherchen succeeded Furtwangler as conductor of the Museum Concerts at Frankfurt am Main. He was also permanent guest conductor at Winterthur and Koningsberg.



Scherchen became well-known in the United States for the roughly 100 recordings he made for the Westminster LP label. Tahra here has collected many recordings of works otherwise not recorded by Scherchen. Frankly, it's a rather mixed batch, but there are some genuine treasures here.



To dispense with the lesser items first: the Czech Phil. does not play well and is foggily recorded in Prokofiev's Lt. Kije Suite and the Kalinnikov 1st Symphony. Scherchen's studio account (DG Westminster) of Lt. Kije is better played and better recorded: it's my favorite version along with the classic Desormiere account on Capitol LP. Golovanov's reading of the Kalinnikov (with a scorching account of Francesca da Rimini on a Boheme CD) remains unchallenged. And the "live" Schoenberg Chamber Symphony #1 with the Swedish Radio is inferior to Scherchen's wonderful stereo Westminster LP account (coupled with a superb reading of Berg's Chamber Concerto - sadly, neither is yet available on CD).



The balance of this set contains some truly extraordinary items. The 1950 recording (excellent sound!) of Bach's Musical Offering is quite simply the finest interpretation of the work I have ever heard. The Krenek Symphony #1, which Scherchen felt was that composer's most finely crafted work, is expertly handled (Krenek dedicated his 2nd symphony to Scherchen). The Act I Ballet Music from Berlioz's "Les Troyens a Carthage" is brilliantly performed (it quite blows away the otherwise estimable account by Colin Davis in his fine Philips LP set of the complete opera). Verdi's "Nabucco" Overture receives another winning account. The "live" Bartok "Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta" has a few ensemble clinkers and the sound is rather dull, but Scherchen was a great Bartok conductor and there are some wonderfully illuminating touches here (save for odd ritards at the end of the 2nd & 4th mvts.). It's a far cry from the icy brilliance of Reiner/Chicago (RCA) and the deeply tragic ironies of Mravinsky (Melodiya). Scherchen is closer here to the lighter, more dance-like Fricsay reading (DG).



One of the genuine highlights of this entire set is the played-through rehearsal of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. My greatest disappointment in Scherchen's Westminster LP studio set of all 9 Symphonies was his ponderous, ill-played 9th with the Vienna State Opera Orchestra. By contrast, the 9th here is simply breathtaking. The microphones must have been attached to the conductor's podium, for what is heard here is VERY much how the conductor would hear it: VERY close-up and immediate, with a wealth of orchestral details I have never heard in ANY other performance. The 1st mvt. is played straight through, with many shouts from the conductor: "crescendo!", "pianissimo!", "merci!", and so on. The other mvts. are more stop and go, with wonderful examples (in German) of how Scherchen motivated and ignited his players. What a shame that the concert reading itself is not here - this is one of the GREAT Beethoven 9ths, even though the last mvt. is a shade hard-pressed (the Lugano players do a great job of it).



Likewise, the Beethoven 8th rehearsal shows a very "modern" approach, somewhat similar to what is heard today from Roger Norrington (but Scherchen's is played at a far more supreme level of command). The interpretation is quite similar to his extremely fast and furious studio 8th with the Royal Phil. (included on Scherchen's volume in IMG's "Great Conductors" CD series). Scherchen's approach is the diametric opposite of Knappertsbusch, whose live readings are VERY slow and attempt to make the 8th a true precursor to the 9th. I love them both, along with older accounts by Weingartner (Opus Kura) and Busch (Dante LYS).



Finally, a most remarkable epiphany: Scherchen's 1951 WORLD PREMIERE performance of "The Dance Before The Golden Calf" from Schoenberg's opera "Moses und Aron." This is a true landmark in the history of Schoenberg interpretation, and both the sound and the performance are FAR superior to Scherchen's later "live" recording of the complete opera (Opera d'Oro CD set). Tahra has thoughtfully included a separate libretto for the Schoenberg (which lasts a little over 33 minutes).



This set is utterly indispensable for Scherchen admirers.



Very Highly Recommended.



Jeff Lipscomb



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