HORENSTEIN conducts Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 & 3 Overtures (1953/57) - PASC690

Two of the four items presented in this collection, timed to coincide with the 125th anniversary of Jascha Horenstein’s birth, have previously appeared on the Pristine label. The justification for publishing them again derives from their rarity, their unusual history and their distinction. Recorded in Vienna in April 1957, both the Pastoral Symphony and the Consecration of the House Overture were released on the Vox label (PL10410) but only in their mono versions although both were also recorded in stereo. The stereo versions were never published by Vox and subsequent reissues, including on Vox’s own Turnabout budget label and on Pristine’s restorations of 2017, were also released only in mono. It is unclear what happened to Vox's stereo master tapes, the most plausible assumption being that they were accidentally lost or destroyed either by Vox or when they were licensed out to other labels.

At least three of Horenstein’s Vox recordings in stereo, theRite of Spring, the Pastoral Symphony and the Consecration of the House Overture, appeared on LPs during the 1970s in America on the “Classica” label and under fictitious names, in this case the “Rome Symphony Orchestra” conducted by “Leonardo Scotti”. The LPs were part of a number of older Vox recordings in stereo issued in disguise, but how and why they ended up on the Classica label and not on Vox remains a mystery. The puzzle was partially solved when Classica’s stereo Rite of Spring, correctly identified by Leslie Gerber of Parnassus Records as Horenstein’s 1957 Vox version, was restored and first published by Pristine in 2014 (PASC 418). More pieces were added to the puzzle in 2022 when the two above-mentioned Beethoven items were also identified as the stereo versions of Horenstein’s 1957 Vox recordings. Pristine’s restoration of the Classica LPs used as source material for the present publication marks their first appearance in stereo for over fifty years. Horenstein’s admirers can only applaud the exceptional gain in clarity of detail and spaciousness of sound of the present release when compared to all previously issued mono versions on Vox and other labels.

Structural logic, clear vertical textures and long lyrical lines are particularly satisfying aspects of Horenstein’s Pastoral Symphony, beautifully articulated by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in resplendent form and a recording that can be counted among his finest. The opening Allegro movement, alert with lively rhythms, sharp accents and attention to detail, is followed by a flowing ‘Scene by the Brook’ of gentle, undulating elasticity and delicate phrasing that keeps its sometimes tedious longeurs moving, with the orchestra providing mellow string and woodwind tones. Horenstein injects real trenchancy and humour into the third movement dance of the peasants that leads effortlessly to a storm section of great power, judiciously paced and without eccentricities, whose dissonant tensions are relieved by the poise and warmth of the Allegretto fifth movement. The full, rich orchestral sound achieved in the present restoration, as well as the playing of the VSO throughout, is a delight to the ear.

The overture Consecration of the House, recorded at the same sessions as the symphony, receives a thrilling performance of great majesty and driving, inner thrust, shaped elegantly by orchestral playing of great distinction. Of the other two overtures, recorded and published by Vox only in mono, Coriolan is intense and romantic with a Furtwängler-type climax of monumental, tragic grandeur, while the grieving intensity of Egmont shares many of same characteristics.

Misha Horenstein