It is hard to fully absorb and comprehend the greatness of this recording, it is of such magnificence and engrossing intensity. When I was first studying piano 50 years ago with a great teacher, Arnold Juda, head of the piano department at UC Irvine, on the first steps of my late (18yo) path to playing many concerts, I found this LP in a "bargain bin" at Wherehouse Records in Costa Mesa, CA. Vox and Nonesuch were such a poor student's blessing. Those two were key, then Decca and others. Unforgettable finds. Such a chance discovery, this one, I would listen to it so so many times, and each anew would energize me more and more, deeply. Unbelievable LP. George Malcolm, what a gift! His Brandenburg 5 with Klemperer/Philharmonia on EMI is celestial!
@@peterwatchorn5618 Thanks so much, Peter! I don't seem to see where they were posted. Can you lead my old eyes in that direction?! (The ears still work, thankfully!) Cheers. JE (Apologies it took two whole months to get back on it, but better late than never, except on downbeats.)
I wrote the notes for this re-issue. Recorded October, 1963, in Stuttgart,; released 1964 as Decca SXL 6101. Here is part of what I wrote (pertaining to this particular release): Bach: Harpsichord Concertos in D minor and E major, BWV 1052 - 1053 George Malcolm (harpsichord) Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Karl Münchinger Decca SXL 6101 (1963/4) Special attention should be drawn to what is, in my opinion, George Malcolm’s greatest (and often over-looked) concerto recording, devoted to two Bach works (BWV 1052 & 1053), and recorded in 1963 in Stuttgart with Münchinger’s celebrated chamber orchestra, released the following year as SXL 6101. In the 1970s Malcolm re-recorded these works (along with the remaining concertos for one and two harpsichords with Simon Preston as associate artist) for EMI with his long-time collaborator Yehudi Menuhin and his Menuhin Festival Orchestra. Münchinger would record all of the Bach solo and multiple harpsichord concertos (BWV 1052 - 1065) in the 1970s with (Thurston) Dart’s American student, Igor Kipnis (1930 - 2002) and his students (for Intercord in Germany). None of these quite re-captured the magic of the sessions from October, 1963, recorded under the auspices of one of Decca’s greatest producers, Ray Minshull (who also wrote an excellent set of notes about the music), and graced with Decca’s finest sound. SXL 6101 was a celebrated recording, enthusiastically reviewed in Gramophone and Records & Recording back in 1964. The quality of the performances, the presence of the harpsichord sound and the excellent recording quality exposed listeners for the first time to the unique power of these elusive works. Success in presenting the Bach harpsichord concertos depends on attaining good balance between soloist and orchestra. Most harpsichords (both historical and modern) are drowned out by even a modest-sized modern orchestra in live performance in a concert hall (Bach probably intended the works for single strings, and gut-strung instruments are softer than their modern descendants, while antique harpsichords are louder), so the recording medium makes ideal balance possible, though even then it is rarely attained. SXL 6101 achieved that perfect balance in a way that neither of the subsequent recordings by the same artists quite matched. Malcolm and Münchinger, only two years apart in age and representing the two former antagonist nations of WWII, here achieve the perfect musical synthesis: Münchinger’s famous musical sobriety providing the perfect foil for Malcolm’s well-known exuberance. The string sound is plain, disciplined and focused, the tempos lively but moderate (slower, for example, than Menuhin’s in the same works) and the dynamic sensitivity and careful shaping of the accompaniment are major features of these performances. Münchinger must have been astounded when he heard Malcolm’s signature crescendo effects on the harpsichord (listen to the cadenza in the first movement of BWV 1052 to be similarly amazed). Observe, also, the incredible range of Malcolm’s articulation and the sensitivity of his phrasing, both crystal-clear at Münchinger’s generous tempos, and revealing a sophistication that surprises those who might be inclined to dismiss Malcolm’s approach to the harpsichord as simply outmoded and unhistorical. In the slow movement of BWV 1053, if you listen closely, you will hear that Malcolm is dividing the right-hand melody of the siciliano between the two manuals: sometimes it is played on a solo 8’ register on the upper keyboard, sometimes this is answered on the lower-manual 16’ played an octave high. This approach is all part of George Malcolm’s avowed love of colour, which was so integral to his brilliant musical style. The actual harpsichord used is unidentified (I used to hope that it was the Kirkman pictured on the original LP cover of SXL 6101), but it sounds to my ears like a modern Neupert, although an especially good one, with real character, and with the advantage of being very well recorded. From all I have read about him (and from what people who knew him, including one of my own teachers, Harold Lobb, who boarded with him as a student at the RCM in the 1930s, have told me), George Malcolm was a very private man and, despite his charming and modest exterior, a deeply serious artist. In any case this recording has always held a special place for me, and I believe that something about Münchinger, also a serious artist, must have resonated deeply with Malcolm’s own inner musical spirit. In any case the recording retains its own special magic more than 50 years after it was made. c. Peter Watchorn, Cambridge, MA
It is hard to fully absorb and comprehend the greatness of this recording, it is of such magnificence and engrossing intensity. When I was first studying piano 50 years ago with a great teacher, Arnold Juda, head of the piano department at UC Irvine, on the first steps of my late (18yo) path to playing many concerts, I found this LP in a "bargain bin" at Wherehouse Records in Costa Mesa, CA. Vox and Nonesuch were such a poor student's blessing. Those two were key, then Decca and others. Unforgettable finds.
Such a chance discovery, this one, I would listen to it so so many times, and each anew would energize me more and more, deeply.
Unbelievable LP. George Malcolm, what a gift! His Brandenburg 5 with Klemperer/Philharmonia on EMI is celestial!
John: I posted the notes I wrote for this release..cheers, PW
@@peterwatchorn5618 Thanks so much, Peter! I don't seem to see where they were posted. Can you lead my old eyes in that direction?! (The ears still work, thankfully!) Cheers. JE (Apologies it took two whole months to get back on it, but better late than never, except on downbeats.)
Wonderful! I first heard this recording one summer afternoon in an English country house in rural Essex in 1964. Keith, Melbourne
Beautiful performance and recording! I really enjoyed listening to this. Thanks for creating and sharing this video.
superbe!
¡¡¡¡¡¡¡ Que compositor....Que solista.....que orquesta!!!!!!!
Gracias Ria por seguirnos deleitando con estas obras maestras.
You are always welcome, Ruben Corona!
Grande..... Grazie 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
I wrote the notes for this re-issue. Recorded October, 1963, in Stuttgart,; released 1964 as Decca SXL 6101. Here is part of what I wrote (pertaining to this particular release):
Bach: Harpsichord Concertos in D minor and E major, BWV 1052 - 1053
George Malcolm (harpsichord) Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Karl Münchinger
Decca SXL 6101 (1963/4)
Special attention should be drawn to what is, in my opinion, George Malcolm’s greatest (and often over-looked) concerto recording, devoted to two Bach works (BWV 1052 & 1053), and recorded in 1963 in Stuttgart with Münchinger’s celebrated chamber orchestra, released the following year as SXL 6101. In the 1970s Malcolm re-recorded these works (along with the remaining concertos for one and two harpsichords with Simon Preston as associate artist) for EMI with his long-time collaborator Yehudi Menuhin and his Menuhin Festival Orchestra. Münchinger would record all of the Bach solo and multiple harpsichord concertos (BWV 1052 - 1065) in the 1970s with (Thurston) Dart’s American student, Igor Kipnis (1930 - 2002) and his students (for Intercord in Germany). None of these quite re-captured the magic of the sessions from October, 1963, recorded under the auspices of one of Decca’s greatest producers, Ray Minshull (who also wrote an excellent set of notes about the music), and graced with Decca’s finest sound. SXL 6101 was a celebrated recording, enthusiastically reviewed in Gramophone and Records & Recording back in 1964. The quality of the performances, the presence of the harpsichord sound and the excellent recording quality exposed listeners for the first time to the unique power of these elusive works.
Success in presenting the Bach harpsichord concertos depends on attaining good balance between soloist and orchestra. Most harpsichords (both historical and modern) are drowned out by even a modest-sized modern orchestra in live performance in a concert hall (Bach probably intended the works for single strings, and gut-strung instruments are softer than their modern descendants, while antique harpsichords are louder), so the recording medium makes ideal balance possible, though even then it is rarely attained. SXL 6101 achieved that perfect balance in a way that neither of the subsequent recordings by the same artists quite matched. Malcolm and Münchinger, only two years apart in age and representing the two former antagonist nations of WWII, here achieve the perfect musical synthesis: Münchinger’s famous musical sobriety providing the perfect foil for Malcolm’s well-known exuberance. The string sound is plain, disciplined and focused, the tempos lively but moderate (slower, for example, than Menuhin’s in the same works) and the dynamic sensitivity and careful shaping of the accompaniment are major features of these performances. Münchinger must have been astounded when he heard Malcolm’s signature crescendo effects on the harpsichord (listen to the cadenza in the first movement of BWV 1052 to be similarly amazed).
Observe, also, the incredible range of Malcolm’s articulation and the sensitivity of his phrasing, both crystal-clear at Münchinger’s generous tempos, and revealing a sophistication that surprises those who might be inclined to dismiss Malcolm’s approach to the harpsichord as simply outmoded and unhistorical. In the slow movement of BWV 1053, if you listen closely, you will hear that Malcolm is dividing the right-hand melody of the siciliano between the two manuals: sometimes it is played on a solo 8’ register on the upper keyboard, sometimes this is answered on the lower-manual 16’ played an octave high. This approach is all part of George Malcolm’s avowed love of colour, which was so integral to his brilliant musical style. The actual harpsichord used is unidentified (I used to hope that it was the Kirkman pictured on the original LP cover of SXL 6101), but it sounds to my ears like a modern Neupert, although an especially good one, with real character, and with the advantage of being very well recorded. From all I have read about him (and from what people who knew him, including one of my own teachers, Harold Lobb, who boarded with him as a student at the RCM in the 1930s, have told me), George Malcolm was a very private man and, despite his charming and modest exterior, a deeply serious artist. In any case this recording has always held a special place for me, and I believe that something about Münchinger, also a serious artist, must have resonated deeply with Malcolm’s own inner musical spirit. In any case the recording retains its own special magic more than 50 years after it was made.
c. Peter Watchorn, Cambridge, MA
Can you get the liner notes anywhere online? Chapeau!
Buenìsima orquesta;excelente el clavecìn.
Multumim!! Thank you!!
You are always welcome, Viorica!
¡Don Antonio, diletto estraordinario!
Me equivoque de Don! Se dice que Bach es la "reconvencion del señor" y Vivaldi " su alegria" Gracias Ria, otra vez!
@@rosaluciacincuegrani205 You are very welcome!
Adagio 8:00
thx