Title: Vienna Philharmonic (1952-1957) Label: Andante Running Time: 213:12 Number of Discs: 3

Vienna Philharmonic (1952-1957) "Vienna Philharmonic (1952-1957)" is a lavishly produced 3-CD set from Andante (4988) of 5 Beethoven symphonies (1, 5, 6, 7 & 9) conducted variously by Krauss, Ormandy, Schuricht and Furtwängler. The latter conducts a ninth symphony performance which took place on the 3rd February, 1952 in the Grosser Saal of the Musikverein, with Patzak, Hilde Güden, Rosette Anday and Alfred Poell as soloists. This recording is from the VPO archives (Sendergrüppe Rotwessrot Archive).

Title: Palestrina Label:Myto US Release Date:5/21/2002 Number of Discs: 3

Palestrina "Palestrina" Musical Legend in 3 Acts by Hans Pfitzner. The title role of "Palestrina" is one of Patzak's most illustrious portrayals. Issued for the first time on 3 CDs from Myto is the 1952 WDR recording conducted by Richard Kraus (3CD 021.H060). For this studio recording the radio station assembled a strong cast. Apart from Patzak the roster includes Hotter as Borromeo, a young Fischer-Dieskau as Morrone, Frick as Pius IV, as well as Holm, van Mill, Krebs and Anny Schlemm as Ighino. The recorded sound is a little more immediate than the that of a live performance from the Prinzregenten Theater of the previous year under the baton of Robert Heger (previously released by Myto: 3MCD 975.170). There is no doubt that this role was the perfect vehicle for Patzak at this stage in his career vocally and dramatically. He has the ideal voice for both the lyrical and introspective demands of the role. I particularly admire the monologue in the second half of the first act after Borromeo has left in anger and before the ghosts and angels appear. Patzak himself had a special empathy for the music of Pfitzner, which, privately, he would admit to preferring to that of Richard Strauss. However, it has to be said that this is not a preference shared by many! I can listen to this work for the sake of hearing Patzak's artistry at its peak but, in truth, I find the music rather tedious. I have a friend who witnessed the Munich performance in 1951 and found it a memorable experience. However, the recent Royal Opera House, Covent Garden production left him quite unenthused.

Title: Julius Patzak Sings Arias US Release Date: 5/7/2002 Label: Pearl / Pavilion Running Time: 77:55 Number of Discs: 1 Mastering Type: ADD Click here to view playlist

Julius Patzak   Pearl: GEM 0156 We are particularly pleased to welcome this CD of transfers from mainly pre-war Grammophon Company studio recordings, produced and transferred by Roger Beardsley. Three of the items are new to CD and have not (so far as I know) been reissued previously. These are Felix Weingartner's once popular "Liebesfeier" and its original coupling, Ignaz Brüll's "Sechse, Sieben oder Acht." The third, "La Danza" of Rossini is sung in Italian. I know of only 3 other instances of Patzak recording in that language: Donizetti's "Una Furtiva Lagrima" and two of the "Vier Canzonen" (D688) by Schubert with texts by Vitorelli and Metastasio. In a very intelligent review published in the Winter 2002 edition of "Classic Record Collector", Benjamin Ivry writes that this Rossini "still smacks of the Prater" -- in other words, is very Viennese sounding. The remaining items are to be found elsewhere on CD. Indeed, seven of them appeared on an earlier Pearl recital (GEMM CD 9383), although with transfers from different masters. Included here is the famous 1951 studio recording of Florestan's "Gott, welch' Dunkel hier!" from "Fidelio" with accompaniment provided by the VPO under Karl Böhm. Otherwise, all of the items are also available on the Preiser label's collection: "The Early Operatic Recordings" (Preiser 89233-LCD). I find the sound on this recent Pearl CD to be somewhat more intimate and naturalistic and the packaging is more attrative than Preiser's rather austere presentation. In both cases the text and translation should have been provided with very little more effort!

Release Date: 01/29/2002 Label: Preiser Records Catalog #: 90468 Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven Performer: Gustav Bley, Walter Praetorius, Richard Holm, Lore Wissmann, Georg Wieter, Paula Baumann, Julius Patzak, Gerhard Misske, Georg Hann Conductor: Hans Altmann Orchestra/Ensemble: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Chorus Number of Discs: 2 Recorded in: Mono Length: 2 Hours 21 Mins.

Leonore Anyone hearing the 1805 version of Leonore, especially Act III (which concerns us here), will note the familiarity of the music, as well as its differences. What strikes us about this earlier version is that it is more expansive. It becomes clear how Beethoven cut the original material quite ruthlessly when making the final revisions for the 1814 reformulation re-named Fidelio. This gives rise to a commonly held belief that the first version (which was famously unsuccessful at its premiere, managing only three performances) is less dramatic--less symphonic. John Elliot Gardiner in an essay accompanying his own recording takes issue with this view. He argues that the Beethoven of 1804-5 is "more spontaneous and immediate" and the two versions represent different eras, different facets of the composer's creative endeavors and philosphical outlook. What this means for the Patzak devotee is that we get to hear differences in music that is already known to us from his recordings of the more familiar score, and a lot of new music besides. In the opening Recitative and Aria Gott! Welch Dunkel hier!, for example, the Poco Allegro section, Ach es waren -- which is a reminiscence of Florestan's early love for Leonora with justification for the moral stand that caused his imprisonment and their separation -- replaces the now familiar Und spür ich nicht linde. And not only do we hear more music but were given a generous helping of dialogue, too. What of the performance recorded here by Bavarian Radio in 1952? Patzak appears, apart from a few lapses and a certain roughness, to be in good voice and comfortable with the unfamiliar music, although the role-portrayal is not as vivid as with Furtwängler at the helm. The Rocco of Georg Wieter and the Pizzaro of Gerhard Misske are more than adequate. Unhappily, the Leonora of Paula Baumann is not a pleasant listen, with lots of wobble and an irritating habit of pushing vocally on every held vowel. Hann, as Don Fernando, is not the commanding presence he must once have been when his big resonant voice was in its prime. The orchestra are ill-tuned and scrappy at times and Altmann's direction little better than routine. We must be indebted to him, nonetheless, for mounting a performance at this time of a score that was neglected by all but scholars. For Patzak enthusiasts like myself, these discs are a "must" but for this intriguing and rewarding version of Beethoven's single operatic opus, superior performances and recordings are available.

Title: Strauss: Die Fledermaus/Lehar: Der Zarewitsch Label:Pearl/Pavilion Running Time:2:24:57 US Release Date:2/26/2002 Number of Discs:2

Strauss: Die Fledermaus/Lehar: Der Zarewitsch This is Patzak in his element at his best, with wonderfully idiomatic conducting from Clemens Krauss and playing from the VPO. The remainder of the cast, if not perfect, is as fine as could be assembled at the time, and the recording, which at times suffers from a less than ideal balance between singers and orchestra, is as vivid as one could hope for from this vintage. The ensemble is a little scrappy at times but one tends to overlook this for the overall sense of authenticity and Schadenfreude. One of the highlights is the Act 2 duet, Dieser Anstand, so manierlich, with Hilde Gueden. Alec Robertson in his review in The Gramophone (1951) praises Patzak as “very good” and adds: “Incidentally, the best sung phrase in the whole opera comes in this duet where Julius Patzak triumphantly bursts out with “Ha schon meldet sich die Liebe” (“Truly I’ve been prophesying, love at last its power asserts”). The way he does this is something indeed to remember.” Robertson laments the fact that none of the dialogue is included. Some (not too much!) even in German – with a translation supplied – would have helped English-speaking listeners, as the succession of musical numbers does detract from the sense of a recorded performance of the operetta, even when most of the singing is characterful.

Title:Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 Label:VOX Legends US Release Date:10/16/2001 Number of Discs:1

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 This recording boasts the distinction of being the first Beethoven 9th to be squeezed onto a 12” LP (all 65:08 minutes-worth). This was certainly a big selling point at the time (1956) and those of us who remember side breaks in the 78 rpm era didn’t find it too much of a hardship to have to turn over in the middle of the slow movement. One hopes that the aim to accommodate the whole piece onto one disc was not a factor in the tempo Horenstein adopts for this movement which is more purposeful and less languishing than many. This performance has always been admired, and rightly so. It exhibits the sterling qualities of this conductor, which work so well for him in his Bruckner and Mahler recordings also: integrity, an ear for orchestral sonorities and a sense of musical structure and shaping. I wonder why the Vox company persists in labeling the players as the “Pro Musica Symphony of Vienna” when everyone knows it was the overworked Vienna Symphony Orchestra, (see Mark W. Kluge, “Tales from the Vienna Studios.” International Classical Record Collector, v.3 No. 11 (Winter 1997)). Many of his recordings for Vox during the 1950’s give the impression that sessions were under-rehearsed and the result not representative of the wonderful things Horenstein could do with less than first rate orchestras (I am thinking of his work with the BBC Northern which can be heard on the BBC Legends series, for example). However, this is not the case here; the playing for this “Choral” is adequate, and often more than that. I have always considered the second movement to be quite thrilling. The Finale is full of good things although the Singverein are pushed to the limit towards the end as Horenstein drives his forces relentlessly and the recorded sound becomes congested and distorted (which the Vox engineers’ remastering has not been able to do much about). But the conclusion is that it was all worthwhile because it amounted to a very thrilling and moving performance. Patzak’s contribution is good, relying as he so often did on correct vocal placement and projection, although not on a par with his 1947 recording with Karajan. The other soloists, too, are in good form. Alfred Poell gives a well crafted version of the opening recitative and Wilma Lipp soars magnificently on “Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.” This performance has been available on a cheap CD for a number of years but none of the soloists were credited.