I don’t know if compact discs are making a comeback, like vinyl has, as a prestigious luxury item. Are listeners finally yearning after something they can literally get their hands on? Certainly not in the realm of today’s pop music, but that market hasn’t aligned with classical music in a very long time. Regardless, classical CD reissue boxes keep coming, many of them from Eloquence, Universal Music’s Australian operation overseen by producer Cyrus Meher-Homji.

Warner is still reissuing their EMI catalogue in big box sets, but the third major source, Sony, sacked Robert Russ, the specialist in charge of their reissue program for the Columbia, CBS and RCA catalogues. So, if you want to get hold of the big Stravinsky, Perahia, Reiner, Munch, Michael Tilson Thomas, or Bernstein’s New York Mahler boxes, better do it now! Not every release has a famous name attached, and many contain material of historical interest only. More often than not, though, you’ll find hidden gems: obscure works and/or performances of special merit. That’s the case in both sets under review here.

Stein: the epitome of a neglected master

Horst Stein (1928-2008) was a short man with a bulbous forehead. Unlike Karajan, he simply did not look like a conductor in the authority-figure mould. Yet he was a brilliant musician whose records speak for themselves. Early on, he assisted big guns like Toscanini and Erich Kleiber, then spent years conducting Wagner operas at Bayreuth in productions directed by the composer’s grandsons Weiland and Wolfgang.

Horst Stein. Photo © Universal Australia

The Decca recordings assembled here were made between 1971 and 1984, split between the Vienna Philharmonic and the Suisse Romande Orchestras. Stein’s Wagner can be sampled in the VPO recording of 1974, featuring perfectly paced Preludes to Lohengrin, Tristan and Isolde, and The Mastersingers of Nuremburg, plus an exciting Flying Dutchman Overture. Other Vienna sessions include excellent Bruckner symphonies, Nos. 2 and 6 (the latter a landmark recording), and a set of the five Beethoven Piano Concertos from 1971. The soloist is the eccentric classical/jazz pianist Friedrich Gulda, teacher of the young Martha Argerich. Gulda’s pristine, fluent pianism is uniquely distinctive.

Unexpectedly, Stein had an affinity with the music of Sibelius. With the Swiss orchestra he recorded several tone poems (including the Lemminkaïnen Suite), the Tempest Suites, Pohjola’s Daughter, and the Symphony No. 2. Discs of Weber’s First Symphony and overtures, and Hugo Wolf’s rarely played Penthesilea and Suite from Der Corregidor are genuine collector’s items. This period was the peak of Decca’s analogue sound, so sonics are strong and present. Altogether, a distinguished collection.

Authentic Hungarian performances of Magyar orchestral music

This set is piecemeal, but none the worse for that. It covers recordings made in Hungary in the 1960s. Under Communist rule, controlled by Moscow – following the disastrous Revolution of 1956 – it was virtually impossible for Hungarian artists to secure a reputation in the West.

However, by the early 60s there was enough of a thaw for Deutsche Grammophon to secure a deal to release recordings of Hungarian orchestras and their maestros. János Ferencsik and György Lehel were two who had stayed put, unlike their contemporaries Doráti, Solti and Kertesz, and they dominate this reissue. (They also made many more records for the state-run Hungaroton label.)

János Ferencsik (left). Photo © Universal Australia

The music of Franz Liszt gets eight discs in this set, with some obscure works like the two-hour oratorio The Legend of St. Elizabeth, a Missa Solemnis, and the Hungarian Coronation Mass (all first appearances of these performances on CD). The choirs involved are large and full-voiced in the old style. Much better known are Liszt’s Faust and Dante Symphonies, which receive well-paced, authentic renditions. A bonus is the Fantasia on Hungarian Folksongs under Ferencsik, with the great Ukrainian pianist Sviatoslav Richter.

Another pianist, Kornél Zemplény, is joined by the Hungarian State Orchestra in Dohnányi’s Variations on a Nursery Song (under Lehel) and Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 1 (under Ferencsik). The Dohnányi is played with such laid-back charm, for once it sounds less like a virtuoso challenge and more of a sunny character piece. It is coupled with Dohnányi’s orchestral suite Ruralia Hungarica.

Zoltan Kodály is represented by his masterpiece, Variations on a Hungarian Folk Song, “The Peacock”, winningly played by musicians steeped in the tradition, plus a disc of his Concerto for Orchestra and tone poem Summer Evening, conducted by the composer – a record that was reissued frequently in the past.

Several of Bela Bartók’s major works are here, including the ballet The Miraculous Mandarin; Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta; Cantata Profana; Piano Concerto No. 2, and the late Viola Concerto (in Tibor Serly’s completion). Violist Pál Lukács was something of a star among Hungarian string players: rightly so, on this showing.

He also gives us a concerto written in 1950 by fellow violist and composer, Gyula Dávid (1913-1977). It is a rousingly folksy piece in the style of Dávid’s teacher Kodály, with a lovely slow movement. The only non-Hungarian music here is Haydn’s Mass in D Minor, the Nelson Mass, with the Budapest State Orchestra under Ferencsik. Solo singers include soprano Maria Stader and tenor Ernst Haefliger.

This historically significant collection serves as a tribute to the Hungarian musicians who continued to flourish during hard times, and in particular these two major conductors. Sound quality is not an issue, so enjoy this interesting and revealing selection.

Horst Stein: The Decca Recordings
Music by Beethoven, Bruckner, Sibelius and Wagner
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande/Horst Stein
Decca Eloquence 4844593 (15CD)
****

Hungarian Pictures
Music by Liszt, Bartók, Kodály and Dohnányi
Sviatoslav Richter p, various orchestras/János Ferencsik, György Lehel
DG Eloquence 4844395 (17CD)
****