Saturday, January 26, 2013

Mozart: Jupiter Symphony (Bruno Walter, 1945)

Cover design by Alex Steinweiss
(restored by Peter Joelson)
In honor of Mozart's 257th birthday tomorrow, here's one of the rarer recordings of the "Jupiter" Symphony, the second of four that Bruno Walter was to make, and the first of two with the New York Philharmonic.  At the time of its issue, its competition would have been included Beecham on Columbia, as well as Walter's earlier recording with the Vienna Philharmonic on Victor.  Two years later came Toscanini's version on Victor.  All three of the competing sets turn up rather more frequently than this one does:

Mozart: Symphony No. 41 in C Major, K. 551 ("Jupiter")
and
Mozart: Cosi fan tutte, K. 588 - Overture
Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York conducted by Bruno Walter
Recorded January 23, 1945
Columbia Masterworks set MM-565, four 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 81.42 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 44.18 MB)

9 comments:

  1. How fascinating - Dumbarton Oaks just put up the 33 transfer of this recording (here), it will be fascinating to compare the 2 different formats/publications! (I wouldn't dare compare the transfers :-) ) Thank you!!

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    Replies
    1. Great minds think alike, is all I can say...

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  2. Thanks for the Jupiter with its glorious, mind-blowing finale. Which even if you don't know Thing One about counterpoint is still
    glorious and mind-blowing MUSIC! You're big on anniversaries; how
    about an anti-anniversary for Arschbischof Colloredo I mean, how would youo like to be remembered by history only because you treated one of the great musical geniuses of all time like sso much [shinola]? [Admittedly Wolfie was probably pushing his lluck asking
    for so much leave, but not to recognise genius when it stares you in the face.... Post a rec of Wolfie's naughty aongs, aand we'll
    all join in heaping execration on his head and wishing him in helll
    -- where his particular punishment would be to listen to Lang Lang play the Yellow River Cto for all eternity.

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  3. Thank you a lot Bryan for sharing this recording in the original format, yesterday I was looking for it to have a reference of how this recording sound on 78.

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  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  5. And now all Bryan's wonderful files are suspended.
    I see that the FBI is threatening tho shut down all
    such file sharing services. Is there anything that
    can be done to help Bryan? His blog is the most
    honest and honorable I have ever seen. I cannot
    imagine how anyone could think he was violating
    copyright. As an example, all the metadata is clearly
    detailed. This is a great injustice by the influence
    of the affluent to deprive the ordinary citizen right
    to the music and arts of culture and civilization.

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  6. Hope you get this Arschlocherei with the copyright gestapo sorted soon! If the industry
    goons have their way, nothing that was ever published any time, any where will be P.D.
    copyright will be retroactive to The Creation, and will be for eternity plus 3000 years,
    renewable automatically without further application for 15 consecutive like terms. Andthe gummints of the world are netting them get away with it - nay, they're aiding and
    abetting them!

    Mike in Plovdiv

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  7. Thanks for this gem, and for your quick thinking. Great work, Bryan.

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