New Mengelberg set

[Rach3]

Per Slipped Disc today:

"Dutch based Brilliant Classics have reached agreement with the Willem Mengelberg Society to release the complete remastered recordings of the controversial Concertgebouw conductor.

First off the presses are a 1939 Bach Matthaus Passion and Mahler 4th symphony."

[Lance]

My eyes popped when I saw this announcement about Mengelberg [indeed, a controversial conductor]. I have been one of his followers for many moons, having everything Philips issued, including the Bach St. Matthew Passion (with Karl Erb), and the Decca 18 CD set [480 7636] all-Mengelberg (based on Philips material), which includes Beethoven's Nine, Brahms' German Requiem, St. Matthew Passion (again), Schubert, Franck, Mahler 4, R. Strauss, Bartok, etc. Add to that, all the Lys (excellent) transfers, EMI, RCA, Music & Arts, Naxos Historical, Andante, Andromeda, APR (Appian), Arbiter, Archipel, 13 volumes on Archive Documents, Membran, Arkadia, Audiophile Classics, Beulah, Biddulph, Claremont, Dante, Globe, Opus Kura, Pearl, Pristine, New York Philharmonic (archives), Q-Disk, Radio Netherlands, Tarah, Teldec, TIM. I may have missed some along the way. But just look at that! What is there about Mengelberg that has warranted all these issues and reissues, and now a complete on Brilliant (or as complete as legally possible)? It was his great music-making! Something very special about the guy and his close association to the great composers, orchestras, and performing artists of his generation. Brilliant is following the same direction with Mengelberg that they took with their Furtwängler 107 CD edition. I'll be watching out for this set, but it may not be necessary to get this one given all the stuff on labels I've mentioned above.

ADDENDUM: I just looked at Slipped Disc. Did I understand it won't be a big box set, but individual releases, one-at-a-time?

[Belle]

Per Slipped Disc today:

"Dutch based Brilliant Classics have reached agreement with the Willem Mengelberg Society to release the complete remastered recordings of the controversial Concertgebouw conductor.

First off the presses are a 1939 Bach Matthaus Passion and Mahler 4th symphony."

Why was he controversial? I know nothing about this conductor.

[Lance]

One guess! Hint: It has to do with WW2.

[Belle]

One guess! Hint: It has to do with WW2.

Oh, OK. I thought he was Dutch..."controversial Concertgebouw conductor".

[Lance]

Yes, well, lots of problems with composers, conductors and all kinds of artists during the horrible time of WW2. I was just a baby when all that was happening and I have seen some of the results in Europe with my own eyes, which has never left my mind. Incredible what humans do to other humans on this earth. I am only interested in what Mengelberg did musically. There can be great artists in the world whose "other side" can be questionable and not in the least understandable.

This Wikipedia article pretty much tells it all.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willem_Mengelberg

[Belle]

Unfortunately Kirsten Flagstad fell foul of 'the authorities' and this ruined her career because her husband had some kind of engineering business and traded with Germany. It was a sad story which I found out about when visiting the Olso Opera House in 2011.

[Lance]

Yes, I was aware of the "problem" with her husband. Flagstad continued to have and enjoy a glorious career, especially where Wagner was concerned. Few have compared with her vocally in her repertoire. I don't know how "involved" Madame was with the Nazis (same for Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, but this didn't hinder her career as she stated she never was involved with the Nazis, but evidence has proved otherwise). All this can get into a huge discussion. We have Gieseking, Furtwängler, Cortot, Elly Ney, Karajan ... so many. Michael H. Kater has written several books on the subject. Read Twisted Muse - Musicians and Their Music in the Third Reich and you get a good idea. It is hard for me to believe that I walked around in many of those areas where all this was happening.

Unfortunately Kirsten Flagstad fell foul of 'the authorities' and this ruined her career because her husband had some kind of engineering business and traded with Germany. It was a sad story which I found out about when visiting the Olso Opera House in 2011.

[Lance]

He was born in Holland of German parents where he was, more or less, worshipped for his musicality. I constantly get Mengelberg confused with Felix Weingartner.

One guess! Hint: It has to do with WW2.

Oh, OK. I thought he was Dutch..."controversial Concertgebouw conductor".

[Belle]

Yes, I was aware of the "problem" with her husband. Flagstad continued to have and enjoy a glorious career, especially where Wagner was concerned. Few have compared with her vocally in her repertoire. I don't know how "involved" Madame was with the Nazis (same for Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, but this didn't hinder her career as she stated she never was involved with the Nazis, but evidence has proved otherwise). All this can get into a huge discussion. We have Gieseking, Furtwängler, Cortot, Elly Ney, Karajan ... so many. Michael H. Kater has written several books on the subject. Read Twisted Muse - Musicians and Their Music in the Third Reich and you get a good idea. It is hard for me to believe that I walked around in many of those areas where all this was happening.

Unfortunately Kirsten Flagstad fell foul of 'the authorities' and this ruined her career because her husband had some kind of engineering business and traded with Germany. It was a sad story which I found out about when visiting the Olso Opera House in 2011.

I should have specified that Flagstad's career was badly impacted in her native Norway. The statue erected outside the Oslo Opera House went some way towards making amends, I gather.