Otto Klemperer's recording of Die Zauberflöte
Feb 26, 2019 15:23:42 GMT
Polly1, joem, and 5 more like this
Post by tonyloco on Feb 26, 2019 15:23:42 GMT
In tmesis's thread devoted to Così fan tutte, Otto Klemperer's recording of Die Zauberflöte was mentioned and I thought members might be interested in the story behind what turned out to be something of a cause celebre in the history of operatic recording.
In June 1963, the EMI classical recording producer Walter Legge, who was also the husband of soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and had founded the Philharmonia Orchestra in 1945 immediately after the end of World War II, tendered his resignation to EMI to cover a period of one year on the understanding that he would fulfil all his outstanding recording plans during that year, of which one of the later ones was to have been Die Zauberflöte conducted by Klemperer.
The sessions for Zauberflöte were due to take place starting just before Easter 1964 and involved the Philharmonia Orchestra, of which Klemperer was Principal Conductor, as well as singers like Schwarzkopf, Gedda and Christa Ludwig. In March 1964, Legge issued a press statement that he was closing down the Philharmonia Orchestra once it had fulfilled all its then current engagements. Legge claimed he had consulted Klemperer before making the announcement but Klemperer insisted that Legge had never spoken to him about it. I have it on the authority of one of the EMI senior recording engineers that on the day the announcement appeared in the press, Klemperer arrived at the recording venue Kingsway Hall for a Messiah recording session with the newspaper and declared: "Vot nonsense is this?", making it very clear that he knew nothing about the announcement until he read it in the newspaper. And until the day they both died, Schwarzkopf insisted Legge had consulted Klemperer about closing down the Philharmonia but Klemperer's daughter Lotte maintained that he had not!
An attempt was made to carry on with the Messiah sessions with an uneasy truce between Legge and Klemperer and then a couple of preliminary sessions were held for Zauberflöte to test the microphone set-up for the orchestra and chorus, and to position the soloists. The Easter weekend then arrived and Klemperer had asked the soloists to attend piano rehearsals in his suite at the Hyde Park Hotel, but he told Legge that he was angry about the Philharmonia closure and that he, Legge, was not invited to the piano rehearsals. Legge was furious and demanded he should be present in his role as producer of the recording but Klemperer was adamant and went so far as to send telegrams to the top executives of EMI asking whether contractually he was obliged to let Legge attend his 'private' piano rehearsals and the EMI executives (it was actually Legge who replied to Klemperer's telegram on behalf of the EMI Management) confirmed he was under no such legal obligation, so Legge was barred!
At this point Legge declared he would never again set foot in a building where Klemperer was conducting and he also sent word to EMI that he was no longer working for them, even though his contract had a few more months to run. He was as good as his word and various unfinished projects like Das Lied von der Erde and Messiah were taken over by other EMI producers, although Legge did come back as a free-lance producer for the rest of the recordings that Schwarzkopf made for EMI after that time, apart from Les Contes d'Hoffmann in Paris later in 1964.
Coming back to the ill-fated Zauberflöte, the EMI producer given the daunting task of taking over the recording was my colleague Peter Andry. At the first sessions with the singers after Legge's departure, there were complaints from the principals, led by Schwarzkopf, that the sound was frightful but Andry was able to explain that the microphone set-up was in fact the one arranged by Legge at the preliminary sessions. Then Andry tried to persuade Klemperer to include some of the spoken dialogue (something Legge had already failed to achieve with Klemperer) but the old man was adamant that without seeing the stage action, the dialogue was only a distraction. Schwarzkopf piped up saying that the critics would not like the absence of dialogue, to which Klemperer's response was: "Bugger the critics!". Eventually the sessions got under way, the singers all became immersed in the performance and the recording was generally considered to be a success, even with those critics who might have preferred it to have had some of the dialogue.
Historically it was a pity that Legge did not get to make his third Zauberflöte, having been the nominal producer of the Beecham recording made in Berlin in November 1937 and then he produced it in November 1950 in Vienna with Karajan. The 1964 Klemperer version would have made a distinguished completion to the trio for Legge but it was not to be and what was one of the most illustrious careers in producing classical recordings, alongside Fred Gaisberg and John Culshaw, ended in a petulant row and an unresolved argument as to whether Legge did tell Klemperer in advance about closing down the Philharmonia or not.
As to the Philharmonia Orchestra, somewhat to Legge's surprise, with the support of Klemperer the orchestra immediately reformed itself as a self-governing body under the name New Philharmonia Orchestra and continued its career without interruption. Those who notice such things will see on the labelling of certain recordings like Das Lied von der Erde the names of both the Philharmonia Orchestra and the New Philharmonia Orchestra. In 1977, the orchestra obtained the right to change its name back to the Philharmonia Orchestra, which it retains to the present day.
For those who would like to learn more about the dramatis personae in my story, the principal sources are:
Otto Klemperer, his life and times Vol 2 by Peter Heyworth (Cambridge University Press)
Inside the Recording Studio by Peter Andry (Scarecrow Press)
On and Off the Record A Memoire of Walter Legge by Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (Faber & Faber)
In June 1963, the EMI classical recording producer Walter Legge, who was also the husband of soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and had founded the Philharmonia Orchestra in 1945 immediately after the end of World War II, tendered his resignation to EMI to cover a period of one year on the understanding that he would fulfil all his outstanding recording plans during that year, of which one of the later ones was to have been Die Zauberflöte conducted by Klemperer.
The sessions for Zauberflöte were due to take place starting just before Easter 1964 and involved the Philharmonia Orchestra, of which Klemperer was Principal Conductor, as well as singers like Schwarzkopf, Gedda and Christa Ludwig. In March 1964, Legge issued a press statement that he was closing down the Philharmonia Orchestra once it had fulfilled all its then current engagements. Legge claimed he had consulted Klemperer before making the announcement but Klemperer insisted that Legge had never spoken to him about it. I have it on the authority of one of the EMI senior recording engineers that on the day the announcement appeared in the press, Klemperer arrived at the recording venue Kingsway Hall for a Messiah recording session with the newspaper and declared: "Vot nonsense is this?", making it very clear that he knew nothing about the announcement until he read it in the newspaper. And until the day they both died, Schwarzkopf insisted Legge had consulted Klemperer about closing down the Philharmonia but Klemperer's daughter Lotte maintained that he had not!
An attempt was made to carry on with the Messiah sessions with an uneasy truce between Legge and Klemperer and then a couple of preliminary sessions were held for Zauberflöte to test the microphone set-up for the orchestra and chorus, and to position the soloists. The Easter weekend then arrived and Klemperer had asked the soloists to attend piano rehearsals in his suite at the Hyde Park Hotel, but he told Legge that he was angry about the Philharmonia closure and that he, Legge, was not invited to the piano rehearsals. Legge was furious and demanded he should be present in his role as producer of the recording but Klemperer was adamant and went so far as to send telegrams to the top executives of EMI asking whether contractually he was obliged to let Legge attend his 'private' piano rehearsals and the EMI executives (it was actually Legge who replied to Klemperer's telegram on behalf of the EMI Management) confirmed he was under no such legal obligation, so Legge was barred!
At this point Legge declared he would never again set foot in a building where Klemperer was conducting and he also sent word to EMI that he was no longer working for them, even though his contract had a few more months to run. He was as good as his word and various unfinished projects like Das Lied von der Erde and Messiah were taken over by other EMI producers, although Legge did come back as a free-lance producer for the rest of the recordings that Schwarzkopf made for EMI after that time, apart from Les Contes d'Hoffmann in Paris later in 1964.
Coming back to the ill-fated Zauberflöte, the EMI producer given the daunting task of taking over the recording was my colleague Peter Andry. At the first sessions with the singers after Legge's departure, there were complaints from the principals, led by Schwarzkopf, that the sound was frightful but Andry was able to explain that the microphone set-up was in fact the one arranged by Legge at the preliminary sessions. Then Andry tried to persuade Klemperer to include some of the spoken dialogue (something Legge had already failed to achieve with Klemperer) but the old man was adamant that without seeing the stage action, the dialogue was only a distraction. Schwarzkopf piped up saying that the critics would not like the absence of dialogue, to which Klemperer's response was: "Bugger the critics!". Eventually the sessions got under way, the singers all became immersed in the performance and the recording was generally considered to be a success, even with those critics who might have preferred it to have had some of the dialogue.
Historically it was a pity that Legge did not get to make his third Zauberflöte, having been the nominal producer of the Beecham recording made in Berlin in November 1937 and then he produced it in November 1950 in Vienna with Karajan. The 1964 Klemperer version would have made a distinguished completion to the trio for Legge but it was not to be and what was one of the most illustrious careers in producing classical recordings, alongside Fred Gaisberg and John Culshaw, ended in a petulant row and an unresolved argument as to whether Legge did tell Klemperer in advance about closing down the Philharmonia or not.
As to the Philharmonia Orchestra, somewhat to Legge's surprise, with the support of Klemperer the orchestra immediately reformed itself as a self-governing body under the name New Philharmonia Orchestra and continued its career without interruption. Those who notice such things will see on the labelling of certain recordings like Das Lied von der Erde the names of both the Philharmonia Orchestra and the New Philharmonia Orchestra. In 1977, the orchestra obtained the right to change its name back to the Philharmonia Orchestra, which it retains to the present day.
For those who would like to learn more about the dramatis personae in my story, the principal sources are:
Otto Klemperer, his life and times Vol 2 by Peter Heyworth (Cambridge University Press)
Inside the Recording Studio by Peter Andry (Scarecrow Press)
On and Off the Record A Memoire of Walter Legge by Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (Faber & Faber)
