Ferenc Fricsay, Wiener Philharmoniker – Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 29, 39, 40 & 41 Jupiter by Ferenc Fricsay (2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:49:01 minutes | 1,89 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Alexandre Bak – Classical Music Reference Recording
Ferenc Fricsay’s career lasted barely 20 years, from the period immediately prior to World War II until his incapacity from illness forced him to curtail his musical activities in the early 1960’s. During that time, however, he became one of the most acclaimed conductors of his generation, and left behind a major body of recordings which are still admired more than 30 years after his death at age 50. Fricsay was born in Budapest, Hungary, and studied at the Budapest Academy of Music under both Zoltan Kodaly and Bela Bartok, whose music he later came to champion. He was appointed to his first conducting post in Szeged in 1936, remaining there until 1944.
Read more
Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Ferenc Fricsay – Mozart: Don Giovanni (1959/2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 02:45:46 minutes | 6,15 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
An absolute classic of music history is making a comeback with a carefully restored sound. Performed in the favourable acoustics of the Jesus Christus Church in Berlin in 1958 by Deutsche Grammophon, this recording came right after Josef Krips’ (Decca), and before Giulini’s (EMI), both of which are considered the very best recordings of Don Giovanni. The main hero of this recording is undeniably Ferenc Fricsay. The Hungarian conductor, a great Mozartean, injects this version with tremendous theatrical vibrancy thanks to sharp and fast tempo. The stereophonic sound recording is particularly clear. The casting features some of the greatest voices of the time, such as Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Sena Jurinac, Irmgard Seefried, Maria Stader and Ernst Haefliger, while the style (and pronunciation) for this Italian version remains Germanic. Therefore, the re-release should be recognised above all else for its extraordinary musical direction, a rare testament of the art of a legendary conductor, who died much too young. – François Hudry
Read more
Ferenc Fricsay – Edition Ferenc Fricsay (XI) – G. Rossini: Stabat Mater (Remastered) (2007/2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 58:51 minutes | 362 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © audite Musikproduktion
In the 1950s Ferenc Fricsay was almost the only conductor to perform Rossini’s Stabat mater in Germany. Composed for Paris, this late work by the opera composer held a difficult standing at the other side of the Rhine; its operatic expression was met with considerable aesthetic opposition in the country which had only just found its sacred music ideal in Mendelssohn’s revival of Bach’s St Matthew Passion and Mendelssohn’s own oratorios.
Read more![Ferenc Fricsay - Dvořák: Symphony 9, Smetana: The Moldau, Liszt: Préludes (2007) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download](https://i0.wp.com/imghd.xyz/images/2022/01/18/0002894636502_600.jpg?resize=500%2C500&ssl=1)
Ferenc Fricsay – Dvořák: Symphony 9, Smetana: The Moldau, Liszt: Préludes (2007)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:12:02 minutes | 1,23 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
Only a chosen few can captivate listeners with a work that has been brought out over and over again hundreds of times. But that is what is achieved here with a Symphony “From the New World” byAntonin Dvořák which doesn’t seem to have aged a bit. Recorded in 1959 in Berlin in excellent stereo, this feverish performance also shows the miracle that an invited leader can create. In a few short recording sessions, Ferenc Fricsay was able to bring forth from the Berlin Philharmonic a sound that was the polar opposite to Karajan’s softness. Everything here, with the exception of an irresistibly dreamy Largo is sharp as a knife and whip-smart, in the the style of the Czech Philharmonic. It is the magic of an orchestra that can instantly adapt itself to the personality of a leader who knows how to convince.
(more…)
![Berliner Philharmoniker, Ferenc Fricsay - Beethoven: Symphony No.9, Egmont, Leonore III (2015/2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download](https://i0.wp.com/imghd.xyz/images/2022/09/01/0002894795348_60094e7a1bd49dddef9.jpg?resize=500%2C500&ssl=1)
Berliner Philharmoniker, Ferenc Fricsay – Beethoven: Symphony No.9, Egmont, Leonore III (2015/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:31:50 minutes | 1,75 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
This is simply one of the greatest, most deservedly legendary recordings of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony ever offered to the public. Tempos and dynamics vary widely, with Fricsay always considerate of the works many thematic challenges. His handling of the subtle rhythmic gradations of the Molto vivace is peerless and prepare yourself for one of the most exhilarating Allegro assai finales this side of Toscanini. With a line up of soloists including Irmgard Seefried, Maureen Forrester, Ernst Haefliger, and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau all in their vocal prime as well, it simply doesn’t get any better than this. Deutsche Grammophon’s rich well-balanced sound is very good for it’s vintage. No matter how many performances of this frequently recorded masterpiece you may already own, don’t miss Fricsay’s!
(more…)
![Géza Anda, Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Pierre Fournier, Janos Starker, Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Ferenc Fricsay - Beethoven: Triple Concerto / Brahms: Double Concerto (1961/1962/2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download](https://i0.wp.com/imghd.xyz/images/2022/08/26/0002894796351_600.jpg?resize=500%2C500&ssl=1)
Géza Anda, Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Pierre Fournier, Janos Starker, Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Ferenc Fricsay – Beethoven: Triple Concerto / Brahms: Double Concerto (1961/1962/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:11:24 minutes | 1,35 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
Fricsay conducts concertos by Beethoven and Brahms: Friendship is the connecting link between the two works here. Beethoven is thought to have written his Triple Concerto in 1803 – 04 for his favorite pupil, the Archduke Rudolph. Brahms composed his Double Concerto in 1887 as a peace offering, to heal a breach with his friend the violinist Joseph Joachim. It seems to have done the trick; and it was canny of Brahms, who conducted the first performance (Cologne, October 1887), to have the cellist of the Joachim Quartet, Robert Hausmann, sharing solo hon- ours – it would have been difficult for Brahms and Joachim to have a row with a third party present. I do not know how friendly the soloists on these two famous recordings were, but I recall what a strong “house style” manated from Deutsche Grammophon productions in the 1950s and early 1960s.
(more…)
![Berliner Philharmoniker, Ferenc Fricsay - Beethoven: Symphony No.9, Overtures Egmont & Leonore III (1958/2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download](https://i0.wp.com/imghd.xyz/images/2022/08/25/jG5JX6l.jpg?resize=500%2C500&ssl=1)
Berliner Philharmoniker, Ferenc Fricsay – Beethoven: Symphony No.9, Overtures Egmont & Leonore III (1958/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:31:50 minutes | 1,75 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
This is simply one of the greatest, most deservedly legendary recordings of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony ever offered to the public. Tempos and dynamics vary widely, with Fricsay always considerate of the works many thematic challenges. His handling of the subtle rhythmic gradations of the Molto vivace is peerless and prepare yourself for one of the most exhilarating Allegro assai finales this side of Toscanini. With a line up of soloists including Irmgard Seefried, Maureen Forrester, Ernst Haefliger, and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau all in their vocal prime as well, it simply doesn’t get any better than this. Deutsche Grammophon’s rich well-balanced sound is very good for it’s vintage. No matter how many performances of this frequently recorded masterpiece you may already own, don’t miss Fricsay’s!
(more…)
![Geza Anda, Ferenc Fricsay, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra - Bartok - The 3 Piano Concertos (2013) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz] Download](https://i0.wp.com/imghd.xyz/images/2022/08/23/PASC388-large.md.jpg?resize=500%2C500&ssl=1)
Geza Anda, Ferenc Fricsay, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra – Bartok – The 3 Piano Concertos (2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:18:47 minutes | 806 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Pristine Classical
At very long last we have a worthy recording of the Bartok Second Concerto, a work whose previous interpreters (including the admirable Andor Foldes, whose performance received Bartok’s own blessing) have all suffered from recording qualities ranging from indifferent to abysmal. This will be valuable in helping to spread a knowledge of an important work in Bartok’s output which is rarely heard in the concert hall, probably because of the ferocious difficulty of the solo part – Bartok seems to have had in mind huge hands with permanent built-in octave and thirds mechanisms. The music does not deserve this neglect, and though it is “tougher” in idiom than the more mellow Third Concerto it has in fact had a consistently successful reception ever since its first performance (by the composer) in 1933. A bravura, lithe work, it abounds in motor energy and in contrapuntal vigour and resource (much of the material of the first movement – which is played entirely without the strings – reappears in inversion, or even in retrograde inversion, in the finale): the central part of the Adagio is a brilliantly fantastic delicate scherzo which looks forward to the Sonata for two pianos and percussion. Soloist and orchestra co-operate in exemplary fashion in a performance remarkable for its precision of ensemble, clarity and exactness of detail: Gcxa Anda in pardcular is to be congratulated for the way he romps through all the difficulties. The recording is excellent, the stereo even better than the mono.
— L. S. The Gramophone, May 1961 – excerpt, review of DGG UP issue of Concertos 2 & 3
(more…)