Horenstein on Mahler, Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, Bartok, Janacek, Nielsen and Strauss - Part 2of2

Source: 'Jascha Horenstein talks to Alan Blyth', Gramophone, xlviii (1970--71), 768 only

Jascha Horenstein

(b Kiev, 24 April - 6 May 1899; d London, 2 April 1973). Russian-Austrian conductor, naturalized American. He left Russia for Konigsberg at the age of six and studied there with Max Brode. In 1911 he moved to Vienna (his mother was Austrian), where he studied philosophy at the university, the violin with Adolf Busch and, from 1917, music theory with Joseph Marx and composition with Schreker at the Music Academy. In 1920 he followed Schreker to Berlin, where he conducted choral societies, and became assistant to Furtwangler. His orchestral debut was with the Vienna SO in 1923. After guest appearances with the Berlin PO and the Bluthner Orchestra he became conductor of the Berlin SO in 1925. In 1928 he became chief conductor and later director of music at the Dusseldorf Opera, where his repertory included Wozzeck, given in 1930 under Berg's supervision. Horenstein remained at Dusseldorf until the Nazis forced him to leave in 1933. For some years he led a wandering existence, conducting in France, Belgium, Poland, the USSR, Australia and New Zealand (1937), Scandinavia (with the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, 1937) and Palestine (1938).




He went to the USA in 1940, conducting the New York PO and other orchestras in both the Americas; subsequently he took American citizenship. After the war, his widespread activity included some notable concert performances of modern operas: in this way he introduced Wozzeck (1950) and Janacek's From the House of the Dead (1951) to Paris, and Busoni's Doktor Faust to the USA (American Opera Society, 1964). He conducted at the Stadtische (later Deutsche) Oper in West Berlin and at Covent Garden (Fidelio in 1961 and Parsifal shortly before his death in 1973). During the last years of his life he lived in Lausanne.

Although he disliked being labelled a specialist, Horenstein was an admired interpreter of Bruckner and Mahler. The programme of his Viennese debut included Mahler's First Symphony; his performance of the Eighth with the LSO in 1959 (Royal Albert Hall) remains a landmark in the recognition of Mahler in Britain. To this composer's music Horenstein brought sharp intensity and burning clarity. He started making recordings in the late 1920s, and his gramophone repertory (which included early recordings of Bruckner and Mahler) reveals a versatility he did not always have the opportunity to show in the concert hall.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
A. Blyth: 'Jascha Horenstein talks to Alan Blyth', Gramophone, xlviii (1970--71), 768 only
R. Osborne: ' Horenstein and Mahler: a Conversation', Records and Recording, xiv-3 (1970--71), 44 only
J. Diether: ' The Recorded Legacy of Jascha Horenstein', High Fidelity-Musical America, xxiii-10 (1973), 76--81, 83 only [with discography]
J. Lazar: 'Horenstein at Work', High Fidelity-Musical America, xxiii-10 (1973), 82 only
D. Barber: The Horenstein Legacy: a Discography (n.p., 1995)




RONALD CRICHTON

(www.grovemusic.com)

Category:

Music

Tags:

• horenstein
• blyth
• mahler
• schoenberg
• berg
• webern
• bartok
• janacek
• nielsen
• furtwangler
• strauss

[Varese13]

Had Horenstein met Debussy he would have found him equally "provincial", opinionated and dismissive of music which had nothing to do with what was most important to his own personal development as a composer (see his "Monsieur Croche; Dilettante Hater"). Generally, composers tend to focus in on those things which assist them in their own creative activity and unless they are performers themselves, tend not to be as open-minded as performers.

[LadyRavenhaire]

Horenstein was a much underrated conductor. His conducting of Brahms 1st Symphony is beyond magnificent. No other conductor, not even Bruno Walter nor Furtwangler compare. A true storm and stress performance. Listening to the 1st movement makes one feel as if one were overcome by a tempestous storm where you feel so overwhelmed you feel there is no option but to give up and at that very moment all of a sudden you see above you the sun about to break between the clouds and feel saved.

[CaptainBluebear08]

Very, very interesting talk of one of my most favorite musicians. F.ex. what he says about the great Alban Berg vis a vis the modern Scandinavian composers...

Nice and quite spot on what he says about Bartok and Janacek qua human beings, come to think of it.

Thanks cluster.

PS. 2:34 "...this is a moment where my vocabulary is deserting me..." : )))