RAFAEL KIBELIK - Complete Deutsche Gramophone Recordnmgs This fine new issue is of major interest as it contains most of Kubelik's recordings for Deutsche Gramophone—it seems odd they omitted the conductor's superb 1964 Stockholm recoding of Stenhammar's Serenade. We have all of his Dvorak recordings, the symphonies of Beethoven, Schumann and Mahler. Also there are works of Hartmann, Janacek, Martinu, Pfitzner, Schoenberg, Tcherepnin and many other composers. There also are three complete operas: Lohengrin, Oberon and Rigoletto, as well as Orff's Oedipus. Má vlast was a specialty of Kubelik, He first conducted it in Prague in 1945, and recorded it with the Chicago Symphony, the Vienna Philharmonic, and the Boston Symphony. Most exciting of all is his 1984 Bavarian Radio performance available on DVD (REVIEW). This DVD offers an emotionally-charged reading beautifully played and well-presented in video. There is an 11-minute "bonus" with an unidentified narrator giving an illustrated lecture on this music and the tragic life of its composer—with brief comments by Kubelik. This is a rather basic issue, with 64 CDs (with original jacket artwork, and 2 DVDs. There is a 120-page booklet that gives track and recording information, but no program notes or libretti, with a few photos. One brief CD (33:09) offers Kubelik discussing Maher and his music. DVD 1 offers videos of Kubelik rehearsing and performing music of Mozart and Beethoven; DVD 2 contains Bruckner's Symphony No. 4 with the Vienna Philharmonic and brief videos of the conductor. These videos are available either stereo or 5.1. It is said that for years DGG has been recording in four-track, and doubtless all of these recordings were made that way. None of these CDs are muli-channel, which is unfortunate. Pentatone has licensed from DGG the original multi-track masters of Kubelik's Beethoven symphonies and Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra, reviewed on this site—check the Surround Sound Index. These are not new digital remasterings, but audio is always excellent. This is an excellent issue as far as it goes, and the price is modest. But check the many other Kubelik issues on other labels for a more comprehensive view of the Czech conductor's repertory. RE.B. (June 2018)
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