Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Rafael Kubelik
06. - 09. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Serenade for Strings in C major, op.48 [27'24]
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Georg Solti
10. - 13. Edward Elgar - Serenade for Strings in E major, op.22 [11'55]
14. Peter Warlock - Serenade for Strings [7'42]
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields conducted by Neville Marriner
Decca Eloquence Australia 466665-2 (recorded: Dvorak- April 1957, Tchaikovsky- May 1958, Elgar- November 1967, Warlock- June 1977; this CD issued 2000)
(flacs, cover, booklet and inlay scans)
Dvorak and Tchaikovsky: Recording venues: Tifferet Cinema, Rishon-le-Zion and Fredric R. Mann Auditorium, Tel Aviv
Engineer: James Brown; Producer: John Culshaw
Elgar:Recording venue: Kingsway Hall, London
Engineer: Kenneth Wilkinson; Producer: Michael Bremner
Warlock: Recording venue: St John's, Smith Square, London
Engineer: Stanley Goodall; Producer: Chris Hazell
This disc from Universal Music's Australian branch brings together a convenient grouping of String Serenades from the Decca back catalogue. The original LP coupling (in the UK) of the Dvorak and Tchaikovsky is now supplemented with the Elgar and the less well-known Serenade by Peter Warlock (aka Philip Heseltine).
Fine interpretations of the Dvorak and Tchaikovsky Serenades are somewhat compromised by the unhelpful Israeli hall acoustics and some ragged playing by the Israel Philharmonic (although Solti appears more adept at handling them than Kubelik). The recorded sound and orchestral playing improves noticeably with the Elgar and Warlock works.
Nevertheless, this is a valuable reissue of early stereo recordings by Kubelik and Solti. (Kubelik's better known recording of the Dvorak with English Chamber Orchestra is from 1969.)