Artur Bodanzky is well-remembered for his years spent conducting at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. His 1937 broadcast of Wagner's Siegfried (PACO 139) is rightly regarded as one of the greatest ever - a "once-in-a-lifetime" performance, according to Fanfare magazine.
Here we present a forgotten side of the conductor, away from the live opera broadcasts, with a series of studio recordings made in Berlin in the late 1920s of music by, yes, Wagner, but also other composers, such as Mozart, Strauss and Berlioz.
Bringing together a collection of Bodanzky's studio recordings for the first time, Mark Obert-Thorn's expert touch ensures the finest possible transfers of these 90-year-old discs. He writes: "Bodanzky’s complete commercial recordings of Wagner, which are presented here in their entirety, come from these sessions. Throughout, the hallmarks of Bodanzky’s approach – generally rapid tempi and tight ensemble playing – are as apparent here as in his much-admired Met broadcasts."