Otto Klemperer in Philadelphia: Volume I

Occasionally when delving deep into the archives of recorded music, archivists come up with some real gold. This, in my view, is the case with a double CD issue by Andrew Rose at Pristine Audio of Otto Klemperer conducting Bach, Brahms and Beethoven in Philadelphia in the Autumn of 1962. As far as I know, these superb performances are here made publicly available for the first time since then (when I was a second-year student at Oxford University).

It is good to hear the Philadelphia orchestra under the baton of a great conductor, for a change. The sound as massaged by Pristine Audio is thoroughly acceptable; better listened to through good headphones rather than loudspeakers, I found – particularly where the Bach was concerned, where the various strands of the music need to be heard clearly.

Klemperer, Furtwängler, Knappertsbusch, Bruno Walter, Günter Wand were traditional and authoritative in the mainstream German symphonic repertoire and dominated much of the twentieth century. Bach's first Brandenburg concerto with Klemperer and a (slimmed-down) Philadelphia orchestra may sound a little strange to 21^st century ears (as well as to 18^th century ears, I would imagine). But, famously, you can play Bach almost any way you like – even with a brass band – as long as there is rhythmic integrity and the counterpoint is clearly delineated. No problem with Otto here; it is one of those performances where you start listening to just a sample, and then find yourself being drawn in and listening to the whole work. I loved it. Klemperer loved Bach's music and knew more about it than a whole slew of period performance experts and harpsichordists put together.

The performance of Brahms' third symphony here is an all-time classic. The sound of the Philadelphians comes into its own. Not too many conductors get this symphony right, apart from Klemperer, Furtwängler, Günter Wand, Bruno Walter and maybe a handful of others. But, to my ears, Klemperer gets it 100% right. Of the Brahms symphonies, my personal favourites are the third and the fourth, and I loved this performance of the third.

Beethoven's Egmont overture could have been written for Klemperer; the performance here does not disappoint and has probably never been surpassed. I have been listening to Beethoven's third symphony since around 1953 (by now, my favourite Beethoven symphonies are numbers three, six and seven). My reaction on listening to this current performance was to forget about Andrew Rose, the Philadelphia orchestra, and Otto Klemperer and to marvel at how incredible is Beethoven's third symphony. I am sure that Klemperer would be happy with this epitaph to this performance. Prima la musica. No one has ever equalled Klemperer in the Eroica.

This is billed by Pristine Audio as Volume 1 of Klemperer in Philadelphia. I'll be first in line for Volume 2 with my €18 ready in my hand. Beethoven's seventh symphony? Brahms' fourth? Here is hoping.