Victor de Sabata complete DGG/Decca on CD

[Lance]

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All of us "oldies" generally remember Italian conductor Victor de Sabata [1892-1967] for the work he did with Maria Callas. But his art went so much deeper and well into orchestral work. This is a deluxe package of all of de Sabata's DGG and Decca recordings, 4 discs in all, with notes and information included by his son and daughter.

According to the backnotes: "To mark the 50th anniversary of Victor de Sabata's death, here are the recordings of the celebrated Italian maestro for Deutsche Grammophon and Decca, presented in a deluxe set. The illustrated booklet features an exclusive interview with de Sabata's children, Elio de Sabata and Eliana de Sabata-Ceccato conducted by Gramophone's editor-in-chief, James Jolly."

The third disc is comprised of Mozart's Requiem, K. 626 recorded in December 1941. It features Pia Tassinari, soprano; Ebe Stignani, mezzo-soprano; Ferruccio Tagliavini, tenor; and Italo Tajo, bass with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Italian Radio and Television. Indeed, all the recordings come from the days of 78-rpm recording. If you follow great conductors, this one will surely be most welcome.

[John F]

The recordings with the Berlin Philharmonic in the '30s are impressive, but the Eroica with the London Philharmonic is disappointing - heavy and dull.

[Lance]

They have carefully remastered all these recordings for the reissue. Technology has helped enormously in reissuing these wonderful old recordings to new standards. I'll check out the Eroica sometime soon, but, nonetheless, I had to have this deluxe edition. Let's see who follows with more Sabata reissues.

The recordings with the Berlin Philharmonic in the '30s are impressive, but the Eroica with the London Philharmonic is disappointing - heavy and dull.

[John F]

As you know, there's quite a lot of De Sabata material captured from live performances, chiefly radio broadcasts. He was a guest conductor with the New York Philharmonic, for example, and a few of his Philharmonic performances that were broadcast have circulated on "private" recordings or person-to-person.

[Lance]

Indeed. I have quite a lot on LPs, but there is some interesting repertoire on CD such as a Schumann Piano Concerto with Arrau, a Brahms Violin Concerto with Milstein, a Rachmaninoff Paganini Rhapsody with Artur Rubinstein, a Wagner Immolation Scene (NYP) with Eileen Farrell, Dvorak's New World Symphony (NYP, 1950), a full disc on Naxos of some interesting and rare material. I always took to the collaborations more than just about anything else with Sabata, but as you say, there is plenty that has been issued and reissued on other than major labels.

As you know, there's quite a lot of De Sabata material captured from live performances, chiefly radio broadcasts. He was a guest conductor with the New York Philharmonic, for example, and a few of his Philharmonic performances that were broadcast have circulated on "private" recordings or person-to-person.