Hermann Abendroth - Last Symphonies (2006) [7CD Box Set]

Critical evaluations of near-legendary German conductor Hermann Abendroth are all over the map: some say that were it not for Wilhelm Furtwängler we would be elevating Abendroth to that same exalted status, others that he was "by no means a star conductor." This discord of perspective relating to Abendroth has not prevented European reissue labels from fueling the flame at his bier; the Tahra label has devoted about 10 discs to his legacy, and the now-defunct Italian Arlecchino label once flooded the classical market with some 19 Abendroth issues. Although Abendroth began his recording career in 1927, the vast majority of these releases date from the immediate postwar period when the septuagenarian Abendroth was leading three East German orchestras -- the Weimar Staatskapelle, the Leipzig Radio Symphony, and the Berlin Radio Symphony. The last two of these bands were taping furiously as Abendroth headed into the twilight -- he died in 1956. Berlin Classics, the heir to East German classical record companies, perhaps had this in mind when compiling its seven-disc box set Hermann Abendroth: Die letzten Symphonien (The Last Symphonies). These are not, however, the "last symphony" performances of Abendroth -- chronologically the selection ranges from 1949 to 1954 -- but they are the "last symphonies" of the standard rep composers listed on the front cover. Therefore, we get Schubert's Eighth and Ninth symphonies, Beethoven's Ninth, Bruckner's Ninth, and so on.


Tracks:

CD 1 :

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 35 in D major ("Haffner"), K. 385
Symphony No. 38 in D major ("Prague"), K. 504
Symphony No. 41 in C major ("Jupiter"), K. 551



CD 2 :

Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 9 in D minor ("Choral"), Op. 125



CD 3 :

Franz Schubert
Symphony No. 8 in B minor ("Unfinished"), D. 759
Symphony No. 9 in C major ("The Great"), D. 944



CD 4 :

Robert Schumann
Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Op. 120
Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 129



CD 5 :

Johannes Brahms
Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90
Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98



CD 6 :

Anton Bruckner
Symphony No. 9 in D minor, WAB 109



CD 7 :

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 6 in B minor ("Pathétique"), Op. 74

Personnel:

Paul Tortelier - cello, Edith Laux - soprano, Diana Eustrati - alto, Ludwig Suthaus -tenor, Karl Paul - bass
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Leipzig University Choir, MDR Leipzig Radio Chorus & Orchestra, Hermann Abendroth