Best known for his gripping conducting in the fabled EMI Callas/La Scala Tosca, Victor de Sabata made pitifully few discs of purely orchestral repertoire, all of which were recorded before the advent of the LP. In April, 1939, he led Furtwängler’s Berlin Philharmonic in a handful of sessions that sound better than ever via these excellent transfers by David Conti. More significantly, the recordings totally justify the Italian maestro’s legendary reputation. The Brahms Fourth crackles with tensile rhythms and songful phrasing, capped with a disciplined yet flexibly paced fourth movement passacaglia. Kodaly’s Galanta Dances come off with lean, idiomatic flair. The lush opulence of Respighi’s Roman Festivals benefits both from De Sabata’s crisp accentuations and stellar horn playing. If you can get past the rather heavy surface noise at the outset of Death & Transfiguration, you’ll be rewarded by a remarkable, intense reading. The conductor’s heartfelt lyricism in the Tristan Prelude contrasts with Furtwängler’s mystical introspection two years ealier with the same orchestra. Fifteen poorly recorded minutes of live excerpts from a 1930 La Scala Tristan performance fill out the collection. Some listeners will find it difficult to reconcile mesmerizing singing with the unmistakable sonic limitations. And why didn’t the producer include the Prelude from Verdi’s Aida, which easily would have fit onto the second disc? Then we’d have all the De Sabata/Berlin recordings together for the first time in one collection. But nooooooooooo…!
