ANTON BRUCKNER 1824 – 1896
71:01 Symphony No. 4 in E flat ‘Romantic’ (Haas Edition)
01 02 03 04
20:41 17:11 10:29 22:15
Ruhig bewegt (Allegro molto moderato) Andante Scherzo: Bewegt Finale: Mässig bewegt
bruckner symphony no. 4 in e flat ‘ROMANTIC’
KLAUS TENNSTEDT conductor London Philharmonic Orchestra David Nolan leader
klaus tennstedt conductor LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Recorded live at Royal Festival Hall London
LPO – 0014
A BBC recording
‘You have to have taken some blows in life in order to understand the great composers’ Klaus Tennstedt once said, in words that pre-empted the tragedy that beset his own life towards its conclusion. During these final years of his career in the late 80s and early 90s – conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall whilst struggling with illness and seeming to reflect the great Romantic struggle with his own – there arose a legend around this particular musician which has endured long and travelled far since his death in 1998. The story is the same whoever one asks: Tennstedt’s concerts with the London Philharmonic Orchestra were so infused with the conductor’s emotion and the audience’s empathy that they reached an unprecedented plane of expression. Framed by the tragedies of exile, self-doubt and illness, Tennstedt gave performances which seemed astonishingly frank and impassioned to audiences – the affectionately nicknamed ‘demented stork’ appearing so drained at a concert’s conclusion that he could barely acknowledge the thunderous applause which brought even ushers and critics at the Royal Festival Hall to their feet.
John Willan knew Klaus Tennstedt better than most. Willan produced most of the conductor’s celebrated studio recordings for EMI, managed the London Philharmonic Orchestra as it flourished under Tennstedt’s baton; and cared personally for the musician in the final days of his illness. With a career straddling the contrasting worlds of commercial recording and live concert promotion, Willan is better placed than many to reflect on the realities of the ‘Tennstedt effect’ – to explore just how much of this conductor’s reputation was forged on the anvil of his tragic life and offbeat appearance, and how much of it was commanded by an extraordinary musical mind. ‘Initially at EMI we had no idea who he was’ says Willan. ‘In came this man who had no tact, no social graces, and who was completely unknown in the West. There was a reluctant attitude about him – he was seen as something of a risk and the German wing of the company thought we were mad for taking him on.’ But whilst the men in the control rooms were still to be convinced that Tennstedt was the kind of musician whose portrait would one day adorn the corridors of EMI, Willan soon forged a strong partnership with the conductor through a mutual sense of humour, a similarly direct approach to work and colleagues, and a common quest for nicotine in the quiet corners
of Abbey Road Studios. ‘One day we had some spare session time’ recalls Willan, ‘and Klaus decided to record some Prokofiev. Here was a man with no technique and no precision, wanting to record Prokofiev. We all thought it a complete joke – staff, producers and musicians. And of course, the result was brilliant. From then on I knew that we’d been wrong about this guy. I knew he was going to be fantastic.’ In fact, he was fantastic enough to unite the notoriously factious London orchestral scene as critics, agents, artists, managers and audiences joined unanimously in respect for a clumsy, outspoken East German whose English was as awkward as his company could be. ‘When he was conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra, it was simply untouchable’ says Willan. ‘He knew how the Orchestra worked. We were aware that he wasn’t the most precise conductor. In a detailed passage he wouldn’t conduct every semi-quaver like some would – but those passages were always spot on because he knew how these instrumentalists listened and moved together. He’d played in orchestras himself and knew their intensity and nerves, knew their instincts. The Orchestra and Klaus understood each other completely. He had respect and admiration for every single one of them, and they for him. They were one unit.’
Anton Bruckner (Royal College of Music, London)
Passion and Pain: Klaus Tennstedt in London
On Thursday 14 December 1989 the Orchestra presented a performance of Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony (coupled with Beethoven’s First) at the Royal Festival Hall as part of its International Concert Series – a performance which was carried live on BBC Radio 3. In Bruckner’s often mysterious and silhouetted musical language (in this case a reflection of the allegorical romanticism of Austrian terrain) Tennstedt shone. Admiration and commitment is apparent from the symphony’s
opening ‘Alpine landscape’. The Orchestra’s then Principal Horn Nicholas Busch (himself, as the Orchestra’s Chairman, responsible for Tennstedt’s appointment as Principal Conductor in 1983) initiating a remarkable finesse of tone and quiet intensity at the work’s opening that is reflected soon after by the strings and thence the ensemble as a whole (alongside an altogether otherworldly solo from Busch in the Finale). But Tennstedt is remembered for his intensity; his galvanizing of up to a hundred musicians into one voice; his extraordinary ability to conjure an atmosphere – heard in the exuberance of the symphony’s towering Finale. ‘He had a lot of feeling for Bruckner’ says Willan; the brass avalanches of the Ruhig bewegt and unpredictable eccentricities of the Scherzo are full of Tennstedt’s trademark character and colour and demonstrate that innate feeling for and faithfulness to Bruckner (the Haas edition heard here has largely rendered previous unfaithful editions of Bruckner’s symphony obsolete), whose self-critical struggle to revise and eventually complete his work in 1880 was doubtless in Tennstedt’s mind. ‘Klaus was at his best when performing live’ is Willan’s opinion, ‘he’d even approach a studio recording as if it were a live performance. You couldn’t say to him, “Klaus, calm down, this
is only a studio session”. And as with the best performers, the role of producer was made easy. There was no way in which I interfered with the end product of a recording – it was all Klaus. I was just there to make sure that the conditions were right, and the most I would do was suggest he come into the control room and listen to something. Like the best artists, he knew what he wanted.’ By the time of this performance, produced by the BBC’s Misha Donat, Tennstedt had resigned as Principal Conductor due to increasing frailty. His appearances in London were sporadic and subject to cancellation; an adoring public clambering to witness his performances as if any could be his last. But amidst the hype there was a consistent bedrock of quality musicianship. ‘Inevitably Klaus’s illness and his struggle fed into his performances to some extent. We’re gruesome as human beings, we like a spectacle’ says Willan, ‘but I’m certain that if he hadn’t been ill, if he had continued to appear every couple of months with the Orchestra, then he’d still have been a draw, he’d still have sold out and he’d still have drawn exceptional performances from the ensemble. He was the most tremendous catalyst on and off stage, and it led to success all round.’ Decades on and Tennstedt is still spoken about – a man who was unknown in the West until his mid-forties but who achieved something
utterly extraordinary in London. ‘Of course, what was special about Klaus was in many ways indefinable, very much an ‘x’ factor. He was unique: clumsy and unassuming, yet concurrently imposing and impressive. But it was the music that made him special, and that’s one reason why he has such a broad appeal.’ Willan truly believes that for all the character curiosity, astute audiences around the world recognised that Tennstedt was foremost a great musician. ‘This was a man who gave many thousands of people a great deal of pleasure and excitement’ Tennstedt’s former friend and colleague says, ‘and we’re extremely fortunate that so many recordings exist. They are tremendous yardsticks and they still have huge relevance. All the great qualities we talk about are present in them. They’re unmistakable.’ Andrew Mellor
Klaus Tennstedt at EMI Studios, Abbey Road, London
KLAUS TENNSTEDT conductor Born in East Germany, Klaus Tennstedt studied at the Leipzig Conservatory and conducted throughout his native land, but it was not until he moved to the West in 1971 that he started to achieve world recognition. He made his American debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1974 and his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1977. He had an instant rapport with the London Philharmonic Orchestra which resulted in return invitations and his appointment as the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor and Music Director in 1983. This developed into a unique and remarkable relationship until illness finally brought it to a premature end some ten years later. Klaus Tennstedt died in 1998. Tennstedt was particularly renowned for his performances of the German repertoire, particularly Mahler whose symphonies he conducted regularly at the Royal Festival Hall and on disc for EMI to huge public acclaim. His energy, musicianship and emotional involvement combined with a rare humility endeared him to audiences and musicians alike.
Also available from the London Philharmonic Orchestra
LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA The London Philharmonic Orchestra has long established a high reputation for its versatility and artistic excellence. These are evident from its performances in the concert hall and opera house, its many award-winning recordings, its trail-blazing international tours and its pioneering education work. Kurt Masur was appointed the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor in September 2000, extending the line of distinguished conductors who have held positions with the Orchestra since its foundation in 1932 by Sir Thomas Beecham. These have included Sir Adrian Boult, Sir John Pritchard, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Franz WelserMöst. Vladimir Jurowski was appointed the Orchestra’s Principal Guest Conductor in
March 2003, succeeding Kurt Masur as the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor in 2007. The London Philharmonic Orchestra has been resident symphony orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall since 1992 and there it presents its main series of concerts between September and May each year. In summer, the Orchestra moves to Sussex where it has been the resident symphony orchestra at Glyndebourne Festival Opera since the early 1960s. The Orchestra also performs at venues around the UK and has made numerous tours to America, Europe and Japan, and visited India, Hong Kong, China, South Korea, Australia and South Africa.
The London Philharmonic Orchestra with Klaus Tennstedt
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