Bruno Walter, Philharmonic-Symphony Of New York – Bruno Walter conducts Bruckner & R. Strauss (2015)

The two recordings in this programme have remained in private hands since their recording from live Carnegie Hall concerts in the 1950s, and their provenance is unclear. Copies were donated by a private collector for this issue. Of the two, the Bruckner is by far the better, technically speaking: a full-frequency recording of remarkable quality for its age, it appeared at first to be unusually swift for a Walter performance of this work. Frequency analysis forced a revision of this, however - when properly pitched at the A440 used by the Philharmonic in the early 1950s it closely matches other Walter recordings. Nevertheless the collector who passed it to me still regards it as perhaps Bruno Walter's finest recorded performance of Bruckner's 9th Symphony. It was this mis-pitching that led to it being long and incorrectly identified (and initially released by Pristine) as a 1950 performance, rather than a 1953 broadcast that has previously surfaced, albeit in far inferior sound quality. We were quick to correct this after release and would direct readers to the reviews quoted below which cover this subject in more detail.

By contrast, the Strauss is a far rarer recording in the Walter discography (an earlier LA Philharmonic performance was issued on a Nuovo Era CD and a Japanese Bruno Walter Society LP). It appears to have originated on a slightly swishy acetate disc recorded from an AM radio source, hence its limited frequency and dynamic range. Sonic shortcomings notwithstanding, it is a fabulous interpretation, outclassing the Los Angeles recording on a number of performance levels.

It should be noted that neither of these recordings included applause or announcements, and movement joins in the Bruckner were silent, indicating probable 12" acetate side change points - I have preserved all that remains.