Like many other German composers active circa the 1940s,
Joseph Keilberth led a vast number of different orchestras as much for his innate musical talents as from being shuffled around the continent as war and politics dictated. Much of his experience led to a legacy most closely tied to his opera performances, although he was active as a frequent guest conductor to many of Germany's and Austria's finest orchestras. The present album features one of the few surviving recordings of his leadership of the
Vienna Symphony Orchestra, originally recorded for radio broadcast. In this particular performance, the orchestra does not deliver the same level of precision to which modern audiences may be accustomed. From the opening chords of
Brahms' Third Symphony, the brass chords are surprisingly out of tune, and there's a fair amount of imprecision on the strings as well. The
Schumann Piano Concerto finds conductor and soloist
Friedrich Gulda at odds with one another for the reigns of the orchestra; while when they do happen to agree on issues of interpretation and tempo, their playing together is quite lovely, there are too many power struggles to make it a consistent performance. The overall sound quality of the recording is also not as rich and well balanced as recording technology in 1955 should have allowed. Fans of historic recordings will still welcome this album into their collections as a rare example of
Keilberth's conducting with Vienna, but it is not generally suited for casual listeners.