Vienna Philharmonic Archives

[MartinH]

There's a search function on the Vienna Philharmonic's website that was news to me:
http://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at/converts/archive

You can search their entire concert listings from the beginning. Very interesting. Schmidt's 2nd has been a favorite, conducted by several giants. They even did Raff - the only symphony was the 3rd and the last time that happened was in 1924 with Weingartner. But they did do concertos for violin, cello, and the piano. I wonder what, if any, archive recordings exist. There are some really interesting concerts from the 1950's and 60's.

[chill319]

Great find! Accessible source to help with who heard what when questions. Although there are things to quibble about. For example, I doubt that on 20. February 1881 Richter conducted "Symphony No. 4 in E flat major, WAB 104 "Romantic" (3rd Version, 1888)."

Dessoff had a soft spot for Spohr, whose music was played 35 times before the Jazz Age (unofficially beginning 2 Jan 1920).  Some other counts for the same period:  Raff 11; Saint-Saens 19; Rubinstein 27; Bruch 30; Mahler 30; Tchaikovsky 32; Bruckner 61; J. S. Bach 90; Haydn 94; Liszt 107; Wagner 116; Schubert 137; Brahms 145; Schumann 167; Mozart 222; Beethoven 471.

Handel and Draeseke are tied at 0.

[Alan Howe]

Handel and Draeseke are tied at 0.

Boo!

[MartinH]

I was disappointed, but not surprised, to find that the VPO has never played the Elgar 2nd, haven't played any Bax in 80 years, and then they've only played Tintagel once.

[adriano]

... and I was highly surprised to see that Felix Weingartner conducted Brun's Third Symphony in 1925! That was a unique occasion; suppose that, after having played/heard this difficult and strange work, they never tried out other Brun Symphonies :-)

[eschiss1]

this concert, with an overture by Robert Schumann, Fuchs' 1st serenade, and the Scandinavian Symphony of Frederic Cowen (January 15 1882, conducted by Richter), looks interesting. (Ok, many of them do...)

[Ilja]

Martin, this may be difficult to take in for an Englishman but I think it's fair to say that if it weren't for the Enigma Variations, Elgar would rate pretty highly as an 'unsung' in continental European concert halls - certainly prior to the 1990s.

[Alan Howe]

You're right, Ilja. Take a look at the recordings of Elgar's symphonies: how many of them feature orchestras from outside the UK? And how many feature the world's greatest orchestras? Colin Davies recorded No.1 with the Dresden Staatskapelle (magnificent) and there is a recording of No.2 with Previn conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra (in 'Anthology Of The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Vol. 6 - Live Radio Recordings 1990-2000'), but the statistics support the notion that Elgar is still pretty much unsung beyond these shores.

[MartinH]

I concur. Even in the US, it's the Enigma over and over. Once in a while the cello concerto. and less often the violin concerto. Of course P&C #1 is everywhere, but hardly anyone other than musicians know what it is. The First Symphony was given here a year ago - and it was a thrilling performance. The audience, most of whom I safely assume had never heard it, reacted like it was the Tchaikovsky 5th - explosive applause. The 2nd I still have never heard live! A year from now Ashkenazy is doing it in San Francisco. Have already made travel plans. He may not be Barbirolli, Boult, or Handley, but heck it's Elgar!

I was fortunate to play with a conductor and his amateur (but accomplished) orchestra for several years and he was a devout Elgar fan. Over those years I got to play Froissart, Cockaigne, In the South, the P&C marches, Crown of India, Enigma. But never touched a symphony. But I did get to play contrabassoon in the Arizona (and US) premiere of the Elgar/Payne 3rd symphony. That was a memorable experience.

[eschiss1]

Judging from Elgar.org non-standard (or at least non-P&C 1/non-Enigma) Elgar seems to have done ok this year in the USA, with performances of Cockaigne (In London Town), Dream Children and The Wand of Youth (excerpts) and Sea Pictures in March, The Light of Life, In The South (Alassio) and Sea Pictures (again - in two places, Illinois and Pennsylvania- ok, that was early May) in April, Froissart Overture in May, Cello Concerto (in my state, yet; but missed it... "Performing Arts Center, Purchase NY") in June, The Kingdom coming up in August in Illinois, In the South and Sea Pictures coming up again in September, etc.

But this year's probably unusual.

[eschiss1]

Anyhow, as to Europe, I think one of the few conductors to play any English music in Europe in the late 19th century/very early 20th may have been a fellow named Giuseppe Martucci, and he doesn't really seem to have started a trend, though Hans Richter played some more with the VPO (that Cowen symphony...) I see.
(Re "hard to take" - well.. .of course, _we_ here in the provinces - states - whatever-the - are actively surprised (well, ok, ok, _I_ am) when music composed here is taken up across the pond. Unless it's some sort of neo-eclectic/Romantic-Rock stuff, and I'm trying not to think about that.)

[eschiss1]

btw, those in the US wanting to hear Elgar Sym 1 and living near Chicago have only to wait until March 3 2016, I see. (http://bachtrack.com/concert-listing/chicago-symphony-center/vaughan-williams-elgar/03-march-2016/20-00)
(And the piano quintet will be given in NYC in April 2016, @ Zankel/Carnegie Hall (Takács Quartet/Garrick Ohlsson).)

[Alan Howe]

...but note the conductor, Eric. It's Sir Mark Elder - a Brit. Until, say, Yannick Nézet-Séguin does Elgar 2 in Philadelphia, Ilja's original point stands...

[eschiss1]

True. Given that Howard Williams is conducting Copland 3 in London rather soon (today, now that I look at the listing... ok, that is rather soon) (not even anywhere near my favorite American symphony, even) I readily admit it's unfair (and not balanced by Ohlsson taking the piano part in the quintet- easier arranged, a chamber work, and again, the string players are Hungarian, not American...)

[eschiss1]

Off-topic, I realize, but how's Gil Shaham's Chicago Symphony/Zinman recording of Elgar's concerto (2008)?
(Have branched-off the topic. And now have to branch off to work, or... something. Thanks for your patients, as the doctor...)