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Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mengelberg
Willem Mengelberg: Conductor, Concertgebouw Orchestra
Genre: Classical

Track Listings (8) - Disc #1
1. Hector Berlioz (1803-1869): "R?koczy March" from The Damnation of Faust
2. Richard Wagner (1813-1883): Prelude to Act I from Lohengrin
3. Franz Liszt (1811-1886): Les pr?ludes, S. 97
4. Franz von Supp? (1819-1895): Overture from Poet and Peasant
5. Richard Wagner (1813-1883): Prelude to Act I from Die Meistersinger von N?rnberg
6. Cornelis Dopper (1870-1939): Ciacona gotica 19:54
7. Julius R?ntgen (1855-1932): Six Old Netherlands Dances, Op. 46 (No. 5 "Bergerette" (Les grandes douleurs) & No. 6 "Pavane")
8. Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893): Waltz from Serenade for Strings, Op. 48
Track Listings (7) - Disc #2
1. Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787): Alceste Overture, Wq. 37
2. Beethoven, Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55, "Eroica": I. Allegro con brio
3. Beethoven, Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55, "Eroica": II. Marcia funebre - Adagio assai
4. Beethoven, Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55, "Eroica": III. Scherzo: Allegro vivace
5. Beethoven, Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55, "Eroica": IV. Finale: Allegro molto - Poco andante - Presto
6. Johannes Brahms (1833-1897): Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80
7. Franz Schubert (1797-1828): Rosamunde Overture, D. 644
Track Listings (6) - Disc #3
1. Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64: I. Andante - Allegro con anima
2. Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64: II. Andante cantabile, con alcuna licenza
3. Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64: III. Valse: Allegro moderato
4. Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64: IV. Finale: Andante maestoso - Allegro vivace - Moderatoassai
5. Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet, Fantasy Overture
6. Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture, Op. 49

CD Details

All Artists: Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mengelberg
Title: Willem Mengelberg: Conductor, Concertgebouw Orchestra
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: Andante
Release Date: 10/29/2002
Genre: Classical
Styles: Opera & Classical Vocal, Symphonies
Number of Discs: 3
SwapaCD Credits: 3
UPC: 699487296626

Synopsis

Album Description

This three-CD set highlights the inimitable artistry of Dutch conductor Willem Mengelberg, who led Amsterdam's Concertgebouw Orchestra for an unprecedented 50 years (1895-1945). The repertoire features Romantic favorites and rarely heard pieces by early 20th-century Dutch composers; the highlights include a Beethoven "Eroica" Symphony from 1940 and an entire disc of Tchaikovsky in recordings ranging from 1928 to 1940. Through this set, music lovers can rediscover one of the legendary names from the Golden Age of interpretation, one whose performances were often idiosyncratic to the point of controversy but who always elicited spirited, state-of-the-art playing from the ensemble he virtually created, the Concertgebouw Orchestra. The vintage sources were painstakingly remastered at Art & Son Studios in Paris using the 24-bit CAP 440 technique. The handsomely illustrated, 84-page booklet includes an introduction by Pulitzer Prize?winner Tim Page, a thought-provoking essay by American writer Harry Haskell ("Mengelberg and the Concertgebouw Orchestra: A Virtuoso and His Instrument") and detailed artist biographies from "The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians." All texts appear in English, French and German.

CD Reviews

Vintage Mengelberg In Superb Transfers

Jeffrey Lipscomb | Sacramento, CA United States | 04/17/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you are already a Mengelberg enthusiast, this set is self-recommending. But if you are new to the Dutch conductor's uniquely exciting interpretations, this 3-disc Andante set is an ideal place to start. Lavishly packaged with perceptive notes, it contains what are probably the finest transfers these performances have ever received.

Every performance here simply exudes passion, extraordinary precision, and absolute commitment. Just listen to the bronze-like glow of the horns at the opening of the Suppe, the trenchant lower strings in the Brahms Academic Festival Overture, or the delicate filigree throughout the enchanting Dopper piece. While Mengelberg's arbitrary gearshifts in the Beethoven Eroica may raise eyebrows, the quality of the playing is beyond belief: this is arguably the best-PLAYED Eroica ever recorded. Likewise the Liszt Les Preludes, one of the greatest performances of ANYTHING I have ever heard.

I could go on and on. Suffice it to say that this superb set deserves to be in any serious classical music collection.

Highest recommendation."

Excellent transfers of 78's

J. Grant | North Carolina, USA | 03/19/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For some reason Mengelberg was constantly overshadowed by fellow contemporaries Stokowski and Toscanini. I still fail to comprehend the reason for this, as Mengelberg infused more energy and passion into his conducting than either of the two aforementioned. Unfortunately, unlike Toscanini and Stokowski, nearly his entire output was recorded on 78's with a few on magnetic tape. Regardless of the rather poor source, Andante does an amazing job on these transfers. They chose the method of preserving the natural sound and leaving some surface noise rather than having no noise at the expense of the musical tone. Michael Dutton and Marc Obert-Thorn are the only engineers I have heard that do an equal or better job on recordings from this era. This set is highlighted by his famous 1928 Tchaikovsky Symphony No.5 and the 1929 Liszt Les Preludes, but everything is really quite good if not excellent. I do wish that his Mahler No.4 from 1939, the Tchaikovsky No.6 (1941) and Strauss Ein Heldenleben (1941) would have been included. The playing of the Concertgebouw is outstanding throughout."