Antonín Dvořák – Cello Concerto in B minor Op. 104
with symphony orchestra, Malcolm Sargent

Joseph Haydn – Cello Concerto in D major Op. 101
with Berlin State Opera Orchestra, Michael Taube


Naxos Historical 8.110908

Emanuel Feuermann was only about 25 when he made this, the first ever recording of Dvořák’s cello concerto. In many ways it is unsatisfactory – the orchestra (the Berlin State Opera) is really terrible, in the first movement especially it’s not at all up to the technical demands of the music. The conductor makes nonsense of the orchestra exposition, and much of it is characteristic of the “bad old days” of music, no matter how good the soloists were then. Any provincial orchestra now would be able to play much better than the Berlin State then.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that Emanuel Feuermann’s playing is so stunning that you might be tempted to overlook all the above caveats. Feuermann was dubbed the Wieniawski of the cello by an English reviewer in the Strad, but I’d be more inclined to compare him with Heifetz. If Heifetz played the cello instead he’d probably sound like Feuermann in terms of temperament, and facility with the instrument.

Listen to his many forays into the top registers of the instrument, thumb position and far beyond, and you’ll see what I mean. He was reputed to have been able to even play the Mendelssohn violin concerto on the cello with no difficulty whatsoever. Listening to the Dvořák, you’d believe this -- he plays like the devil on his Tecchler cello – warmth is not the first thing you notice, but with plenty of fireworks. Some may find his tempi too frenetic -- in fact, I did in several parts, but his technical chops are undeniable.

In terms of tone, Feuermann's was far more ingratiating (than Heifetz's). Smooth but richly textured, his facility with the left hand is matched by his right. Listen in particular to the spiccato technique and ease and cleanness of his string crossing.

In the Haydn, the unnamed symphony orchestra, under the underrated Malcolm Sargent, is a lot better behaved than its counterpart in the Dvořák. Listen here, though, not for the orchestra, but for Feuermann’s incredibly facile playing – not a single weakness can be spotted. Again it is fast, though not to the extent of the Dvořák.

In the middle movement the playing is stylish and controlled, the tone always singing and beautiful – something that people who have problems with Casals’ groaning tone (especially in his Bach suites) will appreciate.

It is a pity that Feuermann died at such an early age – in 1942 before he could have been represented in better sound. He was inspired by Casals, and Casals was the first who made the modern cello what it was, but from a purely technical standpoint, Feuermann was probably superior.

When Feuermann died he was only 39, and Toscanini was one of his pall-bearers. Others were Eugene Ormandy, Rudolf Serkin, Mischa Elman, Bronislaw Huberman, Artur Schnabel, and Georg Szell. Some say that if Feuermann hadn’t passed away so young (due to an infection after a haemorrhoids operation.) he would have eclipsed Casals. All we have now in his memory are his recordings. Let’s hope that this won’t be the last of Feuermann from Naxos. This is a definite must-buy, for anyone interested in Feuermann's art or the cello.

The transfers, as we have come to expect now from Mr Obert-Thorne, are excellent and sound much better than their time.

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365: 12.12.1998 © Chia Han-Leon

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