Review: Böhm's Partially Memorable Philips/Decca Legacy

This box has 38 CDs and one DVD, but a big chuck of it consists of Wagner's Ring, which most collectors already own, along with the Bruckner 3rd and 4th and Strauss' Die Frau Ohne Schatten. The rest of the orchestral stuff duplicates repertoire that Böhm remade later and mostly better in stereo, while the mid-50s Mozart opera sets will appeal to those interested in the singers. In short, good though much of it may be, this is certainly not an essential acquisition--but have a look at the discussion and make up your own mind.

[@markfarrington5183]

Decca didn't release Bohm's Decca FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN in stereo until 1968, but the mono @was@ issued by Decca in 1956. A mono library copy was my first exposure to FROSCH, in my student days. Like several Decca stereo-to-mono mixes in that era, the sound was almost as cold, glassy, and shallow as some early digital recordings. In the US, the stereo version was finally released on the London-Richmond label in 1970. An older collector friend of mine recalled how strange it was - after waiting so long for a good stereo FROSCH - to see the less-expensive stereo version "dumped on the market, while the more expensive mono was still in print." No matter : Bohm's Decca FROSCH is labor of love, recording- and performance-wise, and no one should be without it.

[@bbailey7818]

I was going to post the same correction but you have. And exactly the same experience with the mono library copy, black London labels AND it was 5 lps. The stereo Richmond remastered it to 4. Very odd of Decca not to have issued it in stereo promptly or at least in 1963 when the stereo Keilberth DG came out. Dave's right maybe Strauss' greatest opera. I heard the mono set so many times I still remember the lp side breaks, all nine of them.

[@markfarrington5183]

@@bbailey7818 I've always thought that if Decca had released the stereo version befoe1968, the opera itself might have caught on earlier - which it never really did until after Bohm's 1966 MET production. No doubt the psychedelic aspect appealed to some, starting around that time. ("Far out, man, like - the COLORS.")

[@pauldavidartistclub6723]

I absolutely couldn’t stop laughing at your Ring Blu Ray comment!

[@atomkraftteddy]

I'm a postman from the Netherlands, and even I have a Böhm Ring in a budgie box!

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

You said it!

[@JPFalcononor]

Bohm's Ring spoiled me on so many levels, but none more so than experiencing the finest interpretation of Mime by Erwin Wohlfahrt. No sniveling, whiney, pathetic, "feel sorry for me" character was he, but one of pure malevolent evil. He was also in Das Rhinegold for Karajan, but was not in Siegfried. He died quite young and might have passed before Siegfried was produced, so I am grateful to have his Bohm performance.

[@JPFalcononor]

@@hmhparis1904 You are probably right especially since we would be comparing a live performance against one that is studio bound. However, that would not detract from my interest in the potential performance he would give.

[@marciosr8504]

I'm enjoying this box set very much. The DG box will only ship on Nov.15th. The Bruckner here is outstanding, and so is the Wagner and Strauss. And I don't know what it is yet, but this Requiem hit the spot, in my opinion. I know I will go back to it soon. Maybe I haven't heard the DG recording in a while....🤔

[@markmiller3713]

I just received the DG and am looking forward to hearing it. However, I've been on a spending splurge and Bohm will have to wait. I'm going through the Chandos 40th Anniversary Box, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra Box, and the Britten The performer box, the Ormandy Columbia Legacy box, the Philips Markevitch box. in addition to other things.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Whoa! No rush, then!

[@ashotghantarjyan116]

Are you going to review Solti's Chicago and upcoming London boxes?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Chicago is old, but London, yes. I've been asking for that one for years.

[@bbailey7818]

For my money, the greatest "Central European Conductor" -led Cosi fan tutte is the Jochum DG. All cards on the table, nobody conducts it better on disc, pacing, balance, weighting, a knack for bringing out the best in his cast,at least among the over 23 I've heard. But Bohm is right up there, no question.

[@davidaiken1061]

Thanks for reviewing the Decca/Phillips "Boom Box." Not much of a temptation for me, since I have most of Böhm's later DG recordings, plus the Mozart and Wagner operas in the aforementioned box. The earlier versions of the same repertoire, in mono, don't really interest me. I have always enjoyed this conductor's no-nonsense approach to music making. Yes, he was a curmudgeon, but could crack a smile now and then. I did want to mention a possible mistake the producers of this box made when the touted the Decca "Cosi" as the "first issue in stereo." I have owned this recording on a Decca"twofer" for at least a decade, and I have no reason to believe it isn't stereo. It sure sounds like stereo. Ditto the Decca "Magic Flute," which was released as a twofer about the same time as the "Cosi." These two do indeed sport dream casts ahd have been among my favorite Mozart opera recordings over the years.

[@vinylarchaeologist]

David, I‘ve heard that the Böhm Ring recording was actually made by and for DG, but moved over to Philips because they didn‘t want to impact the sales on the Karajan Ring which was scheduled to appear around the same time. I checked who produced it and I remember the DG connection being accurate, but I can‘t find that info anymore. Do you know anything about this? -Cristian

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Nope. Never heard that.

[@vinylarchaeologist]

@@DavesClassicalGuide From Gramophone: Philips belatedly put out the first official Bayreuth Ring in 1973, issuing DG-recorded performances from 1966‑67 under Karl Böhm.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

@@vinylarchaeologist Well then, you answered your own question!

[@RudieVissenberg]

where was the tie when you mentioned THE 9TH?

[@vinylarchaeologist]

At least we got the Bruckner Horse!

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

At the cleaners. Too many Ninths lately.

[@pascalrousseau1]

These Heavy Duty Conductors, as You call them, aren't too adventurous. They stick to the standard German repertoire, which they record several times. When they tackle something else, it is without too much conviction to such a point that we almost hoped, that these deviations from their usual repertoire didn't exist. I know thar the Sony's Szell box was the most consistent for this repertoire and it's no more available. However, the Bruno Walter sony box is still available at a very reasonable price. Do you consider that to cover this type of repertoire it would be, in terms of consistency, a better alternative than Dg's Bohm box set considering that my collection is already good for Mahler and BRUCKNER (i like the sound effect - You should have one for the period instrument guru) and Beethoven (but too much Beethoven will not kill You).

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Watch the videos (when they are both available) and make up your own mind! I think the two sets are quite different.

[@mancal5829]

The music of the Magic Flute is beautiful; I just ignore the text and the story. On a side not, I'm so annoyed by all these opera releases that do not include libretti. It can be a bargain, but I miss the days when you got a libretto alongside the recording.

[@corgansow7176]

you've said it, its a bargain. So why should the record company incur additional costs printing a libretti booklet?

[@mancal5829]

@@corgansow7176 They could include an additional disc with them in PDF format or make them available as downloads. The cost (to them) would be negligible.

[@RudieVissenberg]

but I totally agree that the first DG recording of THE 9TH is one of the best ever.

[@marciosr8504]

@@hmhparis1904👍 you're not.

[@marciosr8504]

@@hmhparis1904 I agree. The Requiem was also a surprise. Everything about this recording feels very intimate. The 9th on the other hand, felt young and full of some sort of weird, almost marginal... great energy (sorry for my lack of better words)...I loved both.

[@djquinn4212]

Böhm had the two greatest Taminos: Simoneau and Wunderlich. Shall wait for wunderlich in the DG box. The ring cycle, the two BrrrrrrrUCKner symphonies….my god the man could conduct. Dermota is better in Cosi than the horrid kazoo tenor Alfredo Kraus in the EMI recording. The Frau is AMAAAAAZZZZZIIIINNNGGG I love it!!!! The Böhm ring is the best Walküre, Rysanek is the best. Windgassen is less accurate than he is on Solti.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

The DG was issued long ago in the Böhm DG opera box.

[@djquinn4212]

@@DavesClassicalGuide mea culpa

[@charlespowell9117]

Really snarky comment on Alfredo Kraus!

[@djquinn4212]

@@charlespowell9117 you’re welcome. :)

[@clavichord]

However great a conductor Böhm was, he is no longer my go-to conductor of Mozart, especially his symphonies. As is typical of conductors of his generation, his Mozart interpretation is layered thick with post-Mozartian Romantic tradition, his orchestration, especially of Mozart's earlier less mature symphonies are string heavy, smothering the lighter almost chamber orchestral writing originally intended in Mozart's day. Böhm often repeats and phrases are ignored, intentionally or simply because of the sources available at the time. More modern Historically Informed Performances of Mozart's symphonic output, scrapes away all the romantic interpretation to reveal much more of the intended instrumental colour, correct instrumental balance and stylistic sensibility of the Classical Period and accurate interpretation. For me personally, this wins hands on to the Romanticised performances of both Mozart and Haydn symphonies, of Bohm as well as many other conductors of his generation.... so Böhm as conductor of music from the Classical Period... not for me.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Good, like what you like, but please don't repeat the HIP BS about the composer's intentions and that nonsense about "accurate interpretation." That's all just PR, nothing more. Everything depends on the specific performance, and some of Böhm's are markedly more transparent and "accurate" than many HIP versions.

[@clavichord]

@@DavesClassicalGuide Well, I wouldn't say I prefer all HIP attempts at Mozart. I often find Mozart's piano concertos just sound better using a modern piano than the often weak early, underwelming out of tune fortepiano sound... however interesting the HIP attempt is. Nevertheless, although I don't necessarily fault Böhm or other conductors of his generation on their interpretation of Mozart or Haydn symphonies, the composers simply didn't write for, nor had the forces of a "modern" symphonic orchestra available to them. I'd not say I always personally preffer HIP performances, but certainly with some of the better HIP performances of, at least, the (early) symphonies, in my opinion, a completely different sound world emerges to the stale, stuffy and underwelming sound of what Böhm and his generation knew or were used to... specifically regarding early Mozart and Haydn. It's not really a criticism of Böhm as conductor, but a statement of fact regarding the pitfalls of his generation of conductors when it comes to pre-Romantic music... and I haven't even started on Herr Dr Furtwängler and his romantisized Bach, Handel, Haydn and Mozart..... So, do I always preffer HIP recordings, no. I prefer non HIP Beethoven performances, for example. Is Böhm always the best interpreter of Mozart, not really. Has Böhm made good and enjoyable recordings of Mozart, yes. Has Böhm performed the early symphonies of Mozart well... I've personally not heard examples of this. We'll have to agree to disagree.

[@nicolasbrochet2147]

This time I think DG is preferable than Decca/Phil. But after that I put an embargo on any box buying until they finally reissue Szell/Cleveland box. Enough with that companies dictatorship! Give the people what they want!

[@markstenroos6732]

Sony gave the people what they wanted a couple of years ago when they issued their Szell set and then issued a second pressing as well. Companies are under no obligation to issue anything, let alone keep titles active in perpetuity. Sorry, but you missed your shot at acquiring the Szell set, at least at a reasonable price (I’m sure you can find a set for sale from some price gouger). Pouting and threatening an embargo doesn’t change a thing.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Very true!

[@michelangelomulieri5134]

Interesting only for those who were not yet acquainted with Bohm

[@paskhare1]

Böhm had a nice sense of humour, maybe not in his musical output, but he sure knew how to entertain on the side. Whenever he visited Sweden, he ran as quickly as possible to the nearest bookshop to buy a whole bunch of so called "Fickkalender" which he eventually gave away as gifts to his friends. For english speaking people, a Swedish "Fickkalender", is a pocket-size calender. However, for german speaking people a "Fickkalender" is a good, and nasty, joke.

[@paskhare1]

@@hmhparis1904 The humor is in the translation: the Swedish word for pocket is "ficka". However, the word "ficka" in German language is the infamous f-word (the f-word is almost the same in English as in German language, just switch the vowel from I to U).