Messa Da Requiem Mark Obert-Thorn R DE SA to BA IC T V A

Home , Cesare Siepi, Germaine Lubin, Guido Cantelli, Norman Walker (bass), Oralia Dominguez, Victor de Sabata

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Producer’s Note

The Requiem was transferred from a single set of German LP pressings. The Aida Prelude came from a postwar yellow-label Deutsche Grammophon shellac pressing, while the remaining items were transferred from British VERDI HMV 78s (save for the Respighi, which came from laminated Australian HMVs). The Aida is apparently rather scarce; it was the only one of Sabata’s Berlin recordings to have been omitted from Pearl’s otherwise complete CD reissue of several years ago. Messa da Requiem Mark Obert-Thorn R DE SA TO BA IC T V A

Mark Obert-Thorn

Mark Obert-Thorn is one of the world’s most respected transfer artist/engineers. He has worked for a number of 195 ing specialist labels, including Pearl, Biddulph, Romophone and Music & Arts. Three of his transfers have been 4 Record nominated for Gramophone Awards. A pianist by training, his passions are music, history and working on projects. He has found a way to combine all three in the transfer of historical recordings. Obert-Thorn describes himself as a ‘moderate interventionist’ rather than a ‘purist’ or ‘re-processor,’ unlike those who apply significant additions and make major changes to the acoustical qualities of old recordings. His Elisabeth Schwarzkopf • Oralia Dominguez philosophy is that a good transfer should not call attention to itself, but rather allow the performances to be heard with the greatest clarity. Giuseppe Di Stefano • Cesare Siepi There is no over-reverberant ‘cathedral sound’ in an Obert-Thorn restoration, nor is there the tinny bass and piercing mid-range of many ‘authorised’ commercial issues. He works with the cleanest available 78s, and Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala, Milan consistently achieves better results than restoration engineers working with the metal parts from the archives of the modern corporate owners of the original recordings. His transfers preserve the original tone of the old recordings, Victor de Sabata maximising the details in critical upper mid-range and lower frequencies to achieve a musical integrity that is absent from many other commercially released restorations. 8.111049-50 8 111049-50 bk VdRequiem 6/19/06 9:04 AM Page 2

to compose by this stage. 1868. Verdi wrote to his publisher Ricordi suggesting a What was so special about Victor de Sabata? As number of his fellow Italian composers should each Tito Gobbi remarked in his autobiography My Life contribute a movement for a commemorative Mass. (London, 1979), “De Sabata had an unrivalled talent for Although the work was completed, the performance breaking down the score into its component parts so failed to take place owing to various complications and Great Choral Recordings that he had each group of instrumentalists playing like it would be over a hundred years before a première did individual soloists”. He had acquired a brilliant occur. Verdi’s contribution was the final section, a Giuseppe reputation in both operatic and symphonic repertoire, Libera me. an impassioned and dynamic interpreter who excelled Four years later the distinguished writer VERDI particularly in Verdi and Wagner. Other composers in Alessandro Manzoni died in Milan in May 1873. Verdi (1818-1901) whose music de Sabata excelled included Debussy, had always greatly admired the writer as a symbol who Giordano, Montemezzi, Puccini, Ravel, Respighi, contributed to the unity of Italy and decided to write a Sibelius, Richard Strauss, Tommasini and Wolf- Mass to commemorate the deceased. The composer Messa da Requiem Ferrari. He also had a great fondness for Boito’s took nearly a year to compose his work, which also Mefistofele and Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila. included the earlier Libera me. Rehearsals began in De Sabata was blessed with a fabulously exact and early May 1874 with the first performance taking place Elisabeth Schwarzkopf ...... soprano critical ear, and Herbert von Karajan said of him: “there on 22nd May in the church of San Marco in Milan, one Oralia Dominguez ...... mezzo-soprano was a change in the music without him speaking a year to the day following Manzoni’s death. Variously Giuseppe Di Stefano ...... tenor word”. Fellow musicians have also commented that described as “Verdi’s best opera” and a “monumental Cesare Siepi ...... bass de Sabata was one of the kindliest of men who never opera in seven acts”, it is an intensely dramatic and uttered a disparaging word about any musician. Some moving work with a raw and terrifying edge to it: the Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala, Milan members of the London Philharmonic, however, work could only have been written by an Italian. Vittore Veneziani, chorus master described the conductor as “a cross between Julius The concluding tracks come mainly from Victor de Sabata Caesar and Satan”. nineteenth-century Italian operas, all at that time to be My father, the English bass Norman Walker (1907- heard regularly in Italy. How poignantly de Sabata Recorded 18th-22nd and 25th-27th June, 1954 in the Teatro alla Scala, Milan 1963) who sang in the Verdi Requiem under de Sabata captures the delicacy and morbidezza in the two Matrices: XBX 160 through 163 on a number of occasions, would vividly recall that La traviata preludes. Contrast that with the passion and First issued on Columbia 33CX 1195 and 1196 during the 1951 performance of the work given in York excitement of two dramatic overtures of works set in Minster such was the dynamic level achieved by the Sicily and Switzerland. Respighi’s colourful evocation Reissue Producer and Audio Restoration Engineer: Mark Obert-Thorn conductor, chorus and orchestra in the Dies Irae he was of Rome’s fountains is most evocatively captured. Then Special thanks to Maynard F. Bertolet, Langdon F. Lombard and Don Tait for providing source material convinced the roof of the building would cave in. the sharpness and wit of two delightful Wolf-Ferrari’s Away from music de Sabata loved comedy and bons-bouche are enchanting. It is also interesting to slapstick, thus his love of circus performers and the note that when Toscanini made his final European antics of clowns. He loved films such as Kind Hearts recordings at La Scala in the summer of 1951, he too and Coronets (with its black humour) and Fantasia. should choose the two La traviata Preludes and the The antics of the Marx Brothers and their films were an Overture to I vespri siciliani, the producer should be especial delight. His son-in-law is the Italian conductor none other than Guido Cantelli (1921-1956), the Aldo Ceccato (b. 1934). protégé of these two most distinguished forebears. The origins of the Messa da Requiem germinated following the death of Rossini in Paris in November Malcolm Walker

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observing a single breath. At the conclusion the from all his La Scala commitments, as he had by then CD 1 73:41 CD 2 79:15 musicians en masse stood up and applauded in homage. retired to his home at Santa Margherita Ligure where he Examples of his prodigious memory were recalled years died on 11th December 1967. Messa da Requiem 1 VI Lux aeterna 7:01 later by former players who remembered de Sabata De Sabata made his first recordings in December singing the second oboe part accurately and in tune 1933 for the Italian Cetra label [Naxos 8.110589]. Then I Requiem e Kyrie 11:24 VII Libera me 14:13 throughout the rehearsal without a note of music in front followed a series in Berlin for Polydor during April 1 Requiem aeternam 6:36 2 Libera me 2:39 of him. He was also able to correct errors in well-worn 1939 that included Brahms’s Symphony No. 4, Richard orchestral parts in Beethoven’s Eroica and Dvorˇák’s Strauss’s Tod und Verklärung, Respighi’s Feste 2 Kyrie eleison 4:47 3 Dies irae 2:20 New World Symphonies. His seasons with this London Romane, Kodály’s Dances of Galánta, the Prelude and orchestra included memorable cycles of the Beethoven Liebestod from Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde and the II Sequenza 40:25 4 Requiem aeternam 3:35 symphonies, an unforgettable concert performance of Prelude from Aida (included on this CD). The 3 Dies irae 2:13 L’enfant et les sortilèges, and on several occasions, conductor’s only major wartime recording was of 5 Libera me 5:39 incomparably fiery readings of Verdi’s Requiem. Mozart’s Requiem in December 1940 for the Cetra 4 Tuba mirum 1:53 London was indeed fortunate to enjoy the visits of de label. Following de Sabata’s success with the London Sabata in the years 1946 to 1951. Philharmonic Orchestra in April 1946, the Decca 5 Mors stupebit 1:29 In September 1950 de Sabata brought the La Scala Record Company undertook the Eroica Symphony, Company to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Sibelius’s En Saga and Valse triste, Le Carnaval 6 Liber scriptus; Dies irae 5:25 and conducted blazing performances of Otello and romain and Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries from Die Falstaff, as well as the Requiem, all by Verdi, the like of Walküre. EMI, not to be outdone, recorded de Sabata in 7 Quid sum miser 3:47 which had not been heard in that building for many a Rome in January 1947 and February 1948. These year. The brilliance, drama, terror and excitement of the sessions brought forth Debussy’s Jeux and two of the 8 Rex tremendae 3:55 opening Storm Scene in Otello almost had the audience three Nocturnes (Nuages and Fêtes), Beethoven’s cowering in their seats. No wonder it was later said by a Pastoral Symphony (Naxos 8.110859), Respighi’s 9 Recordare 4:25 member of the audience that “we did everything but put Le fontane di Roma and Debussy’s La Mer, together up our umbrellas”! with the various Italian works contained on this CD. 0 Ingemisco 4:10 Victor de Sabata returned in the years 1949, 1950, Then followed a gap of five years before he made his 1952 and 1953 to the United States, where he conducted famous Tosca recording and, finally, the Verdi ! Confutatis maledictis; Dies irae 5:54 in Chicago, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Requiem. Washington DC, Baltimore, St. Louis, Detroit, Los Several reasons lie behind the limited number of @ Lacrymosa 7:14 Angeles and San Francisco. A number of off-air recordings made by de Sabata. He disliked the actual recordings survive from these concerts and add to our process of recording which meant he had to stop every III Offertorio 12:08 knowledge and appreciation of the conductor’s art. In four or so minutes and then continue when making 78 # Domine Jesu Christe 5:28 1953 he was appointed Artistic Director of La Scala but rpm recordings on wax masters. Also at that time Italy in November that year suffered a major heart attack that lacked an international symphonic orchestra which $ Hostias et preces 6:49 brought about the conclusion of his career. He proved a problem with EMI. Furthermore the demands recovered to the extent that he was able to make the de Sabata made upon singers, players, producer and % IV Sanctus 2:36 recording of Verdi’s Requiem in August 1954. He recording team with his striving for perfection meant would appear just once more when he conducted the that some passages of Tosca were recorded more than ^ V Agnus Dei 6:59 slow movement of Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony on thirty times. Then de Sabata had retired from the scene the occasion of the burial ceremony for Arturo by 1954 and despite every entreaty to entice him to Toscanini on 18th February 1957. He then resigned return to the studio, he simply refused. He wanted only 8.111049-50 6 3 8.111049-50 111049-50 bk VdRequiem 6/19/06 9:04 AM Page 4

Appendix: WOLF-FERRARI: I quattro rusteghi Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) Victor de Sabata Conducts 0 Intermezzo, Act 2 4:31 Messa da Requiem Orchestra Stabile Dell’Accademia VERDI: Aida di Santa Cecilia, Rome In an era of great Italian-born or Italy-domiciled with filtered influences of French and Russian music. 6 Prelude to Act 1 4:45 Recorded 27th February, 1948 conductors who were born in the second half of the The composer himself recorded the work in 1933 Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in the Teatro Argentina, Rome nineteenth century, one recalls Pietro Mascagni (1863- [Naxos 8.110859]. Recorded 12th April, 1939 Matrix: 2BA 6463-2 1945), Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957), Ettore Panizza Encouraged by Toscanini, de Sabata began a in the Alte Jacobstrasse Studio, Berlin First issued on HMV DB 6786 (1875-1967), Tullio Serafin (1878-1968), Antonio parallel career as composer and conductor, and in 1918 Matrix: 1104 gs IX Guarnieri (1880-1952), Vittorio Gui (1885-1975) and conducted La traviata at the Monte Carlo Opera. Such First issued on Grammophon 68395 WOLF-FERRARI: Il segreto di Susanna Gabriele Santini (1886-1964). To these must be added was his success that he was engaged as an assistant ! Overture 3:04 the youngest of this group Victor de Sabata (1892- (later principal) conductor the following season, VERDI: La traviata Orchestra Stabile Dell’Accademia 1967). His career was much shorter than any of the remaining there for a period of twelve years. It was here 7 Prelude to Act 1 4:16 di Santa Cecilia, Rome above, being curtailed by ill-health at the age of 61. He that he conducted the world première of Ravel’s opera Orchestra Stabile Dell’Accademia Recorded 27th February, 1948 also made comparatively few commercial recordings, L’enfant et les sortilèges in 1925 as well as the first di Santa Cecilia, Rome in the Teatro Argentina, Rome being ill-suited to the process, but his reputation will local performances of La Rondine, Sadko, Der Recorded 1st March, 1948 Matrix: 2BA 6462-3 remain permanently etched into posterity with his Rosenkavalier, Il trittico and Turandot. By 1922 in the Teatro Argentina, Rome First issued on HMV DB 6786 unique interpretation of Puccini’s Tosca, made in 1953, Toscanini intended to engage de Sabata as his assistant Matrix: 2BA 6457-5 with Maria Callas, Giuseppe Di Stefano and Tito in Milan but ultimately felt that their interpretative First issued on HMV DB 6855 ROSSINI: William Tell Gobbi. It continues to remain the yardstick by which all differences were too marked to allow such a @ Overture 13:15 subsequent recordings have to be measured. collaboration to flourish. VERDI: La traviata Orchestra Stabile Dell’Accademia Born in Trieste on 10th April 1892 and christened It was in 1927 that de Sabata first visited the United 8 Prelude to Act 3 4:18 di Santa Cecilia, Rome Vittorio, Victor de Sabata was the son of a chorus- States when he undertook concerts in both New York Orchestra Stabile Dell’Accademia Recorded 27th February, 1948 master of the Teatro alla Scala, Milan. At the age of and Cincinnatti. His long delayed début at La Scala in di Santa Cecilia, Rome in the Teatro Argentina, Rome nine he was enrolled at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Milan took place on 8th February 1930 directing La Recorded 1st March, 1948 Matrices: 2BA 6458-5, 6459-2, 6460-4 and 6461-3 Verdi in Milan, studying counterpoint and fugue with fanciulla del West and he returned in December the in the Teatro Argentina, Rome First issued on HMV DB 6880 and 6881 Michele Saladino and composition with Giacomo same year for Tristan und Isolde, for which he received Matrix: 2BA 6456-5 Orefice. He learnt the piano which he would later play great acclaim. During the 1930s de Sabata began to be First issued on HMV DB 6855 RESPIGHI: The Fountains of Rome 14:44 with considerable élan in addition to the violin, cello, seen as the house’s principal conductor and as such he # I The Fountain of Valle Giulia at Dawn 4:10 clarinet, oboe and bassoon, and was also blessed with a took the company to Berlin and Vienna in 1937. Two VERDI: I vespri siciliani remarkable memory. Aged eighteen, he composed a years later he conducted concerts with the Berlin 9 Overture 9:08 $ II The Triton Fountain at Morning 2:31 Suite for Orchestra which he submitted for his diploma. Philharmonic Orchestra and also made a series of Orchestra Stabile Dell’Accademia In fact it was as a composer that he first came to be recordings with them. He then made his Bayreuth di Santa Cecilia, Rome % III The Fountain of Trevi at Midday 3:14 known to a wider audience when his opera Il Macigno Festival début directing an outstanding and memorable Recorded 7th February, 1947 was first given at La Scala on 30th March 1917. interpretation of Tristan und Isolde with the French in the Teatro Argentina, Rome ^ IV The Villa Medici Fountain at Sunset 4:49 Subsequently revised and renamed Driada for a revival soprano Germaine Lubin as Isolde. Matrices: 2BA 6117-3 and 6118-2 Orchestra Stabile Dell’Accademia in Turin in 1935, the score was destroyed during the In April 1946 de Sabata was engaged by the First issued on HMV DB 6444 di Santa Cecilia, Rome Second World War. This was followed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra as the first conductor Recorded 23rd and 24th January, 1947 symphonic poem Juventus in 1919, a work which both to visit Britain from a former enemy country. His first in the Teatro Argentina, Rome Toscanini and Richard Strauss took up. The piece was rehearsal with the orchestra caused a sensation. He took Matrices: 2BA 6119-2, 6120-4, 6121-3 and 6122-1 felt to combine youthful romantic Italian fervour with the players through a blistering reading of Berlioz’s Le First issued on HMV DB 6448 and 6449 lyrical and dramatic episodes in equal measure, together Carnaval romain Overture in what seemed to those 8.111049-50 4 5 8.111049-50 111049-50 bk VdRequiem 6/19/06 9:04 AM Page 4

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Producer’s Note

Mark Obert-Thorn

Ꭿ Messa da Requiem 06NxsRgt nentoa t.Made in the EU 2006 Naxos Rights International Ltd. Victor de Sabata is remembered today as Elisabeth Schwarzkopf ...... soprano one of the greatest conductors of opera, Oralia Dominguez ...... mezzo-soprano especially Verdi and Puccini, and orchestral music from the 19th and 20th Giuseppe Di Stefano ...... tenor centuries. His famous 1954 recording of VERDI: VERDI: Cesare Siepi ...... bass Verdi’s terrifying Requiem boasts an unrivalled quartet of soloists. Made five Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala, Milan years after Tullio Serafin’s searingly (Vittore Veneziani, chorus master) intense Rome Opera House recording (Naxos Historical 8.110159), de Sabata’s Messa da Requiem Messa da Requiem Victor de Sabata interpretation is notable for its expansive Recorded 18th-22nd and 25th-27th June, 1954, Milan speeds and reverential approach. His brilliance in symphonic repertoire can be heard in the Appendix to Disc 2, which includes an evocative Fountains of Rome and the rare 1947 recording of the Prelude to Aida. CD 1 73:41 CD 2 79:15 1-2 1 Requiem e Kyrie 11:24 1 VI Lux aeterna 7:01 3-@ II Sequenza 40:25 2-5 VII Libera me 14:13 #-$ III Offertorio 12:08 Appendix: Victor de Sabata Conducts % IV Sanctus 2:36 6-@ Orchestral excerpts from Italian operas 43:17 ^ V Agnus Dei 6:59 by Verdi,Wolf-Ferrari and Rossini #-^ RESPIGHI:The Fountains of Rome 14:44 8.111049-50 8.111049-50 Reissue Producer and Restoration Engineer: Mark Obert-Thorn Special thanks to Maynard F. Bertolet, Langdon F. Lombard and Don Tait Cover photo: Victor De Sabata (The Tully Potter Collection)