Denis Fodor ([log in to unmask]) wrote:

>Deryk Barker posted contesting Denis Fodor's favorable opinon of
>Karajan's 1962 LP recording of the Pastorale.  He insisted it is:
>
>Too fast, febrile and *OMITS THE REPEAT IN THE SCHERZO DAMMIT!*
>
>Moreover, he was unimpressed by H.H. Stuckenschmidt's recommendation of
>the recording--hinting that this was his attitude toward Stuckenschmidt,
>tout court.

Denis, I think you read too much into a flip one-liner.  I've long had
a high regard for HHS, based on reading his book on 20th century music,
which I must have bought over 30 years ago.

I was merely suggesting that, as with all of us, his judgement wasn't
infallible.

>Now, it is likely that DG's Elsa Scheller, who oversaw the production of
>the set (aided by Otto Gerdes and Guenter Hermanns) ran into a variety of
>problems that may have entailed fitting time to space.  The nine symphonies
>are packed into eight 33-r.p.m.records.  Karajan did, of course, cut one
>repat, and he may have done so, it occurs to me, to accomodate Prof.
>Schiller.  ...

Except that I don't think Karajan takes any major repeats anywhere in his
Beethoven cycle(s).

Moreover, I still have the original LP set and the Pastoral is on a disc by
itself and side 2 (peasants, storm, finale) runs to just 15:23, which even
in 1963 wasn't generous.

Deryk Barker
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