Herbert Kegel - Legendary Recordings of Herbert Kegel (2001) [15CD Box Set]

Late East German conductor Herbert Kegel is probably best known in the West for his omnipresence in Laserlight's legion of budget-priced releases like the four-volume Top 10 of Classical Music, the five-volume of Masters of Classical Music, the seven-volume Classical Relaxation, the nine-volumes of Masters of the Opera, and the ten-volume Top 100 of Classical Music. But, of course, Kegel's recordings were licensed from Berlin Classics, the East German state record company, and thus merely the tip of the iceberg as far as Kegel's repertoire went. For the real conductor in his native element, try this 15-volume set of Kegel leading mostly the Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester of Leipzig or the Dresdner Philharmonie in mostly recherché repertoire. Though there are some standard works here -- Mahler's First, Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, and Orff's ever-popular Carmina Burana -- the vast majority of the items here run the gamut from the rarely played to the never played.

But it is enormously fascinating stuff. Imagine Schoenberg's Gurre-Lieder and Moses und Aaron, Berg's Three Fragments from Wozzeck and Violin Concerto, Bartók's Viola Concerto and Divertimento for Strings, Britten's War Requiem and Penderecki's Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima, a disc of Stravinsky, and a disc of Vivaldi. And there's more: Shostakovich's First, Sibelius' Fourth, Hindemith's Tauermusik, and even substantial works by four composers rarely if ever heard in the west: Friedrich Schenker's Landscapes, Friedrich Goldman's Symphony, Paul Dessau's Sea of Tempests, and Ernst Hermann Meyer's Poem for viola and orchestra.

Of course, that's just the repertoire. What about the performances? As it turns out, Kegel was a first-rate conductor of recherché repertoire with a real feel for its many moods and manners. With a tight technique, a skillful way using tempos to articulate structures, a clear eye for the main chance, and complete command of every aspect of the music-making, Kegel turns in superlative performance after superlative performance. His Shostakovich First is racy and ironic. His Sibelius Fourth is understated and unrelenting. His Mahler's First is oddly accented but wholly convincing. His Symphonie fantastique is hyper-energetic and super-sensual. His Pictures at an Exhibition is massively muscular and wildly colorful. And the list goes on: his Love for Three Oranges Suite is brilliantly sardonic, his Bartók Divertimento passionately lyrical, his Threnody agonizingly painful, his War Requiem magnificently compassionate, his Wozzeck Fragments expressionistically humanistic, his Moses und Aaron excruciatingly atonal, and his Stravinsky strangely compelling.

As for the rarely played East German works, there can be little doubt that Kegel has thrown himself and his players into every note. Whether or not the works succeed is up to the listener. For some, the grinding harmonies and percussion-saturated scoring of Schenker's Landscapes, the aggressive melodies and tight-lipped expressivity of Goldman's Symphony, the howling themes and obbligato violin and cello of Dessau's Sea of Tempests, and the unstoppable sincerity of Meyer's Poem may be just the thing after too much Brahms. For others, it may just be a thing to be gotten through without complaining.

Recorded mostly in stereo, the remastered East German sound here is generally very close, very vivid, and very loud. Though naturally not for the listener looking for the top 10 classical masterpieces of all time, this 15-disc set will be immensely fascinating to fans of East German conductors and music.


Tracks:


CD 1 :

Dmitry Shostakovich
Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10

Jean Sibelius
Symphony No. 4 in A minor, Op. 63

Friedrich Schenker
Landscapes, for large orchestra



CD 2 :

Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 1 in D major ("Titan")

Friedrich Goldmann
Symphony No. 1



CD 3 :

Hector Berlioz
Symphonie fantastique, H.48 (Op. 14)

Paul Dessau
Meer der Stürme (Orchestermusik No 2)



CD 4 :

Modest Mussorgsky
Pictures at an Exhibition, orchestrated by Ravel

Sergey Prokofiev
The Love for Three Oranges, suite for orchestra, Op. 33 bis

Béla Bartók
Divertimento for string orchestra, Sz. 113, BB 118



CD 5 :

Béla Bartók
Viola Concerto (completed in 1949 by Tibor Serly), Sz. 120, BB 128
Violin Concerto (No. 2) in B minor, Sz. 112, BB 117

Paul Hindemith
Trauermusik for viola & string orchestra



CD 6 :

Antonio Vivaldi
Oboe Concerto, for oboe, strings & continuo in D minor, Op. 8/9, RV 454
Sinfonia, for strings & continuo in C major, RV 112
Bassoon Concerto, for bassoon, strings & continuo in A minor, RV 497
Concerto for strings & continuo in A major, RV 159
Flute Concerto, for flute, strings & continuo in D major ("Il gardellino"), Op. 10/3, RV 428
Sinfonia al Santo Sepolcro, sonata for 2 violins, viola & continuo in B minor, RV 169



CD 7-8 :

Benjamin Britten
War Requiem, Op. 66

Krzysztof Penderecki
Threnody (for the Victims of Hiroshima), for 52 strings

Alban Berg
Violin Concerto



CD 9-10 :

Arnold Schoenberg
Moses und Aron, biblical drama in 3 acts (unfinished)



CD 11 :

Alban Berg
Drei Bruchstücke (3 Fragments) aus "Wozzeck"
Lulu-Suite, ("Lulu-Symphonie")

Anton Webern
5 Movements, version for string orchestra, Op. 5
6 Pieces for orchestra, Op. 6
5 Pieces for orchestra, Op. 10
Symphony, Op. 21



CD 12 :

Carl Orff
Carmina Burana



CD 13 :

Igor Stravinsky
Pulcinella, suite for orchestra
Chant du rossignol (Song of the Nightingale), symphonic poem for orchestra
Capriccio, for piano & orchestra



CD 14-15 :

Arnold Schoenberg
Gurrelieder, oratorio for 5 soloists, reciter, chorus & orchestra

Personnel:

Davia Binder (viola), Peter Daß (cello), Heinz Fugner (flute), Gantscho Ganev Ganev (violin), Gyorgy Garay (violin), Erwin Kretzschmar (bassoon), Peter Rösel (piano), Manfred Scherzer (violin), Heinz Schmidt (double Bass),
Fritz Schneider (Oboe), Herbert Schneider (viola), Hansjurgen Scholze (organ), Siegfried Stöckigt (piano)
Theo Adam (baritone), Wolfgang Appel (tenor), Ulrik Cold (bass), Eva-Maria Bundschuh (soprano), Kurt Hübenthal (bass), Hanne-Lore Kuhse (soprano), Rosemarie Lang (alto)
Werner Haseleu (speaking role), Reiner Goldberg (tenor), Renate Krahmer (soprano), Gisela Pohl (alto), Armin Ude (tenor), Hermann-Christian Polster (baritone), Karl-Heinz Stryczek (baritone), Leonard Mroz (bass)
Berlin Radio Symphony Chorus, Dresdner Kapellknaben, MDR Leipzig Radio Chamber Orchestra, MDR Leipzig Radio Children's Choir, MDR, Leipzig Radio Chorus
Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, Members of the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony, MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra,
Herbert Kegel - conductor