BUSCH conducts Haydn in Copenhagen (1934-51) - PASC622

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BUSCH conducts Haydn in Copenhagen (1934-51) - PASC622

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Overview

HAYDN Symphony No. 88
HAYDN Sinfonia Concertante
HAYDN The Creation - excerpts
HAYDN The Seasons - rehearsal

Live & studio recordings, 1934-1951
Total duration:  79:28 

Erna Berger, Irmgard Seefried  soprano
Julius Patzak, Erik Sjöberg  tenor
Einar Nørby  baritone
Alexander Kipnis  bass

Statsradiofoniens Symfoniorkester
conducted by Fritz Busch

This set contains the following albums:

The music of Joseph Haydn accompanied Fritz Busch all through is conducting life, although it was in total only an exceedingly small portion of Haydn’s output. And the number of recorded Haydn works by Busch is even smaller, consisting of performances and studio recordings from Copenhagen and Vienna (the latter recording of Symphony No. 101 see PASC 614).[1] The oratorios Die Schöpfung and Die Jahreszeiten were recorded only in extracts, and it was to take until the introduction of the LP that complete recordings were released commercially. Busch was not to profit from this development – only few extracts from Die Schöpfung and Die Jahreszeiten have survived in the Danish Radio archives (with copies in Busch’s private archive and elsewhere). It was customary in the 1930s in Copenhagen to record but extracts from larger works – only fairly few complete live recordings from the early time have survived. In both cases it is interesting to look into the choice of soloists. For Die Schöpfung Busch chose soloists who had been part of his Dresden operatic ensemble or with whom he had collaborated at Salzburg, Glyndebourne or Buenos Aires. Soprano Erna Berger had been one of the few members of staff supportive of Busch’s upon his dischargement from the Dresden State Opera, and Alexander Kipnis was a well-loved bass singer who took all major roles in the Buenos Aires seasons of German opera. Julius Patzak, who became a famous Bach evangelist and has sung Uriel in two complete recordings of Die Schöpfung (conducted by Clemens Krauss and Jascha Horenstein respectively), was scheduled to perform in Buenos Aires in 1937. Irmgard Seefried was Busch’s Susanna in Vienna in October 1950, while Erik Sjøberg, who premiered Britten’s Peter Grimes in Copenhagen in 1947 and who was appointed a kammersanger in 1951, was a tenor highly esteemed by Birgit Nilsson. Baritone singer Einar Nørby, who had made his debut in 1928 at the Copenhagen Royal Opera, had become a kammersanger in 1938; in 1955 he sang (in Danish) in Sir Thomas Beecham’s recording of Frederick Delius‘ Arabesque.

Busch had settled in Denmark in 1934 but fled from the Nazis in 1940 in a haste, leaving much of his musical scores behind. In 1946 he returned to Denmark in order to continue his working with the Statsradiofoniens Symfoniorkester. The new concert hall in the Radiohuset had been completed by 1945, being one of the first of its kind to open after the war. On 4 and 6-7 November 1949 Busch was to record Haydn’s Symphony in G major Hob. I:88 (plus Mozart’s ‘Linz’ Symphony K425, which Busch had already recorded previously with the BBC Symphony Or chestra in March 1934) for the Skandinavisk Grammophon A.B., the Danish branch of His Master’s Voice. The recordings made in 1949 were so successful that all copies had been sold out in the US before Christmas; additional recording sessions were scheduled for 26 and 27 January 1951, when next to Haydn’s Sinfonia concertante (with orchestral soloists) three Contre-Dances by Mozart were recorded.

Jürgen Schaarwächter

Max-Reger-Institut with BuschBrothersArchive, Karlsruhe



[1] An ‘Italian Overture’, the ‘Military’ Symphony and the Trumpet Concerto which occasionally were issued as Busch recordings in Italy can now definitively be re-allocated to Hans Swarowsky.


NB. Due to excess length a short extra track, Heil! O Sonne Heil!, was omitted from the CD versions of this release. It is available as a bonus track for all downloads, including the free MP3 download included with CD purchases.

FRITZ BUSCH conducts Haydn in Copenhagen


HAYDN  Die Schöpfung (The Creation) Hob. XXI:2 excerpts
1. Und Gott sprach - Auf starkem Fittiche  (7:38)
2. Und Gott sprach - Gleich öffnet sich  (4:15)
3. Und Gott schuf den Menschen - Mit Würd’ und Hoheit angetan  (4:15)
Erna Berger (soprano),
Julius Patzak (tenor),
Alexander Kipnis (bass)
Statsradiofoniens Kor
Live concert performance, Odd Fellow Palæets store Sal, Copenhagen 6 December 1934

HAYDN  Symphony No. 88 in G major Hob. I:88
4. 1st mvt. - Adagio - Allegro  (7:00)
5. 2nd mvt. - Largo  (6:44)
6. 3rd mvt. - Minuet - Trio  (4:25)
7. 4th mvt. - Finale. Allegro con spirito  (3:33)
Skandinavisk Grammophon A.B. studio recording performance, Statsradiofonien, Koncertsalen, Copenhagen 4 & 6-7 November 1949

HAYDN  Sinfonia Concertante in B flat major Hob. I:105
8. 1st mvt. - Allegro  (9:13)
9. 2nd mvt. - Andante  (4:57)
10. 3rd mvt. - Allegro con spirito  (6:45)
Waldemar Wolsing (oboe)
Carl Bloch (bassoon)
Leon Hansen (violin)
Alberto Medici (violoncello)
Skandinavisk Grammophon A.B. studio recording performance, Statsradiofonien, Koncertsalen, Copenhagen 26-27 January 1951

HAYDN  Die Jahreszeiten (The Seasons) Hob. XXI:3 rehearsals
11. Rehearsal Introduction  (0:17)
12. Wo sind sie nun, die Wonnetage  (1:49)
13. Rehearsal interlude 1  (0:27)
14. Dann bricht der große Morgen an  (5:57)
15. Rehearsal interlude 2  (0:20)
16. Erhört ist unser Flehn  (1:02)
17. O wie lieblich ist der Anblick  (10:51)

BONUS TRACK (Downloads only)
18.  Heil! O Sonne Heil! (1:08)

Irmgard Seefried (soprano)
Erik Sjöberg (tenor)
Einar Nørby (baritone)
Radio-Koret
Statsradiofonien, Koncertsalen, Copenhagen rehearsal for live concert performance, 8 February 1951

Statsradiofoniens Symfoniorkester    
conducted by Fritz Busch

XR Remastered by  Andrew Rose
Cover artwork based on a photograph of Fritz Busch taken in Copenhagen, c.1940
Special thanks to Dr. Jürgen Schaarwächter
Produced in co-operation with the Max-Reger-Institut/BuschBrothersArchive, Karlsruhe, Germany

Total duration:  79:28