Hans Rosbaud’s vaunted skill at presenting 20th-century music also served him in interpreting the classical repertoire, as indicated by these stirring Haydn performances, which thrive on the conductor’s acute ear for detail as well as his ability to project a work’s essential energy. The same holds true in Beethoven, where Robert Casadesus joins Rosbaud in a muscular yet probing rendition of the Emperor Concerto. Mozart shows Rosbaud to be just as capable of cultivating elegance, as in this engaging reading of the Violin Concerto No. 4 with Wolfgang Schneiderhan.
Crossing the divide into the 20th century finds the conductor similarly adept at the late-romantics–an unusually taut and bracing Rachmaninov Second Piano Concerto (handsomely played by Julian von Karolyi) and a potent and persuasive set of Sibelius tone poems–though when it comes to ferocity conjoined with beauty, these must yield to Karajan’s later renditions (also with the Berlin Philharmonic). Stravinsky’s Petrouchka gains from Rosbaud’s penchant for clarity, though it lacks the fantastic whimsy of the best versions.
Boris Blacher’s music may be unfamiliar to many listeners, but Rosbaud’s vital and brilliantly executed performances make clear that both the Concertante Musik and the Piano Concerto No. 2 are highly enjoyable masterworks that deserve a place on today’s concert programs. The final disc of the 5-CD set features Berg’s Three Pieces and Webern’s Six in incendiary performances with the SWF Symphony, Baden Baden, an ensemble that makes up in earnestness and all-out commitment what it lacks in tonal accuracy and rhythmic exactitude. Many subsequent recordings of this music (most notably Karajan’s) have offered superior execution and polish, but few come close to this one in capturing this music’s raw vehemence. Finally, Stravinsky’s ascetic Agon sounds about as close to charming as it can get under Rosbaud’s devoted direction.
For the most part the recordings are in clear mono sound, with respectable dynamic range. The stereo items (the Emperor solid and spacious, Petrushka a touch over-bright and bit claustrophobic) come as a bonus. The booklet lists the Berg, Webern, and the Stravinsky Agon as stereo, but even a brief listen to these dim and somewhat harsh recordings proves this to be false. Nonetheless, the music-making remains enthralling, and the collection as a whole is an engaging and rewarding introduction to a master conductor.
