Credits:

Herbert von Karajan, Philharmonia Orchestra, Clara Haskil

Description:

Richard Itter (1928-2014) played a valuable role in British recording history. He had always been interested in recording, and recorded the broadcasts of the BBC Wrotham transmitter, a British broadcasting station established in 1951 (VHF/FM broadcasting began in 1955), for his personal use only, using the best equipment available at the time. From 1952 to 1996, approximately 1,500 broadcast recordings were made, and are still treasured today as a valuable collection. In 1959, Itter also established a private label, Lyrita Recorded Edition, which actively introduced "unknown British composers" such as Iceland and Finzi, whose works were not released by major labels (HMV, Decca, etc.). In the 1970s, the label added premiere recordings of symphonic works and concertos by Bax, Moran, Olwyn, Bridge, Rawstone, Lovra, and others, many of which are licensed to and distributed by Nimbus Records as of 2017, After 12 years of negotiations with the BBC, ICA CLASSICS has finally reached an agreement to release 40 titles from Itter's extensive recordings. These are, as mentioned above, rare and never before released on the market. The first release is an archive of recordings with the Karajan/Philharmonia Orchestra from 1955 to 1956; Karajan, who became chief conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in 1948, made many recordings under Walter Legg, the orchestra's founder. However, his appointment as principal conductor and artistic director for life of the Berlin Philharmonic in 1955 led to a sharp decline in his performances in the UK. This 2-CD set includes works by Tchaikovsky, Ravel, and Mozart, all of which are valuable recordings.The Tchaikovsky, recorded just before the U.S. tour, is a lively performance by Karajan of the time, and is as beautiful as the 1953 recording that can be heard today. The "Spanish Rhapsody," which is rarely recorded in the repertoire, is also in excellent form. Also, Mozart with Clara Haskil is known for his virtuosic performance of Concerto No. 20, but it is surprising that a rare performance of No. 23 has survived. The first and third movements are of course innocent, but the melancholy second movement is the highlight of this wonderful performance by the two musicians, who at the time of recording were on different labels but had a good relationship with each other. Both recordings are rare and have never been released on the market. Naxos Japan