# Wolfgang Sawallisch



## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

I don't know much about this late German conductor, but I know that every recording of his that I've heard has just blown me away. His Schumann cycle with the Staatskapelle Dresden is phenomenal, as is his Schubert cycle, by which I first learned these symphonies several years ago. 

Are you a fan of Sawallisch? What are your favorites among his recordings? If I'm not mistaken, he has been chief conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden (surely one of the greatest orchestras in Europe), the Vienna Symphony, & the Philadelphia Orchestra. Do you rank him as one of the greats?


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I have just a few recordings including the Schumann, and Brahms symphonies, but my favorite recording is the 1962 performance of Wagner's Lohengrin. http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/l/lon70592a.php


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## NLAdriaan (Feb 6, 2019)

Sawallisch also made some nice recordings as a pianist/accompanist, I like his recordings with Peter Schreier in Lieder of Wolf and Schumann. He also recorded songs with DFD and Hermann Prey.
I don't know his beloved Schumann recordings in Dresden nor the Wagner recordings he is loved for. 

As a conductor, I wouldn't rank him as one of 'the greatest'. He was a skilled and disciplined Kapellmeister, who would never casue problems with anyone. You might call it dull. To rank with the greatest, you need more.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I may well be wrong but I think he might be the only conductor who recorded every single one of Schubert's sacred choral works, a total of seven discs which I enjoy very much. By him I also have excellent performances of Orff's _Die Kluge_ and _Der Mond_. Other than that, the only recording that immediately springs to mind is his Bruckner 1 on Orfeo - a really good rendition if memory serves, but it's been so long since I last dug it out.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

His recordings of the Schubert masses are second to none. 
I just remember that we had attend a concert in Amsterdam on Sunday 4 October 1992 when he conducted the R.C.O , when we went home a airplane came down in Amsterdam well know as the Bijlmer ramp


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

I don't react favorably to Sawallisch's performances...too stodgy, laid back....like Bernard Haitink on quaaludes....this applies to live concerts - a sleepy, pedestrian Brahms sym #2 with ViennaSO, to recorded releases...I recently caught a YouTube performance on Schubert #9 with VPO....the orchestra played well, but it was....just.....TOO.....SLOW....it went on forever with the endless thematic repetition, esp in mvt IV, becoming tedious and plodding in the extreme....I also had a Mendelssohn Sym LP that I jettisoned years ago, for essentially the same reasons.


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

Heck148 said:


> I don't react favorably to Sawallisch's performances...too stodgy, laid back....like Bernard Haitink on quaaludes....this applies to live concerts - a sleepy, pedestrian Brahms sym #2 with ViennaSO, to recorded releases...I recently caught a YouTube performance on Schubert #9 with VPO....the orchestra played well, but it was....just.....TOO.....SLOW....it went on forever with the endless thematic repetition, esp in mvt IV, becoming tedious and plodding in the extreme....I also had a Mendelssohn Sym LP that I jettisoned years ago, for essentially the same reasons.


Thanks for your thoughts. Have you heard his Dresden Schumann cycle? I wonder if your thoughts on it are similar to your reactions to that Brahms, Schubert, and Mendelssohn.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

flamencosketches said:


> Thanks for your thoughts. Have you heard his Dresden Schumann cycle? I wonder if your thoughts on it are similar to your reactions to that Brahms, Schubert, and Mendelssohn.


No, I've not heard his Schumann performances...for me, it's rather like Leinsdorf or Karajan....why bother?? So many others are, for me, far more interesting...maybe I can catch some on YouTube...??


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Brilliant Schumann (it really is a fantastic cycle) , so-so Beethoven, stodgy Schubert, nice late Dvorak, I like some of his Brahms (his London 4th is excellent) but agree with Heck that he's on the slow side. However I like his Bruckner a lot and the 1st and 5th are superb.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Merl said:


> Brilliant Schumann (it really is a fantastic cycle) , so-so Beethoven, stodgy Schubert, nice late Dvorak, I like some of his Brahms (his London 4th is excellent) but agree with Heck that he's on the slow side. However I like his Bruckner a lot and the 1st and 5th are superb.


From what I've heard, the Schumann and Wagner are great, the Beethoven, Schubert, and Dvorak much less good. I also like his Strauss.


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## DaddyGeorge (Mar 16, 2020)

Wolfgang Sawallisch's Schumann Symphonies was one of my first CDs. And for me he was the only guide to Schumann's symphonic music for a really long time. To this day, I consider his recordings of 4 Symphonies to be one of the most amazing.
I will also pick up his recordings of Dvořák (Requiem & Stabat Mater) and his live recording of Janáček's Glagolitic Mass (part of his set "Wolfgang Sawallisch in Prague"). And back to your question. Yes, I'm a fan and I rank him as one of the greats.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

I really only like his Schumann set.
His Brahms and Beethoven are blah.
His Strauss is pretty good and his Wagner operas are very good.


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## Simplicissimus (Feb 3, 2020)

I got into Sawallisch in 2009 when I was living in Frankfurt am Main. My interest in R. Strauss's music was expanding into his operas, and one of my German friends told me that Sawallisch was a specialist in these. I bought Sawallisch's recordings of Die Frau Ohne Schatten, Intermezzo, and Arabella. I didn't have any other conductors' work to compare to these, but I thought they showed that Sawallisch was extremely interesting and adroit.

More recently I bought the 14-CD set on Decca of "The Art of Wolfgang Sawallisch" in order to spiff up my collections of the Brahms, Mendelssohn, and Schubert symphonies. The set does not contain any Schumann, unfortunately.

I'd say that Sawallisch's Brahms is very interesting but somewhat tedious. It's like he's dissecting the symphonies (ohne Narkose!). You can hear everything; it's amazingly transparent. However, it's thin sounding compared to the forcefull and full sound of the versions I like best (Walter and Ormandy). The Wiener Symphoniker (not Philharmoniker) plays the music well. The recordings are from the early 1960s and don't sound so great, not as good as Living Stereo or Living Presence, for example, though they are stereo.

I really give Sawallisch a lot of credit for his Mendelssohn symphonies and especially for Elias (Elijah), which takes up two CDs. This is really special. Sawallisch was with the Gewandhausorchester und Rundfunkchor Leipzig in 1968, featuring some impressive vocal talent: Elly Ameling (soprano), Peter Schreier (tenor), Theo Adam (bass), and some other interesting singers. The symphonies were recorded in 1967 with the New Philharmonia Orchestra in London. For the popular Nos. 3, 4, and 5, I would place Sawallisch second after Munch or Skrowaczewski, I think because the orchestra was not all that great. But it's very good Mendelssohn, stately most of the time but brisk in the right spots. The Symphony No. 1 is the only recording I have, but I think it's good. Symphony No. 2 "Lobgesang" is very interesting and enjoyable though the vocal talent is not distinguished.

Sawallisch's Schubert is superb. There are recordings of Symphonies No. 1-6, 8, and 9. He is with the Staatskapelle Dresden in 1967. The recording engineering is adequate but not outstanding, yet I like all of these performances even better than my other favorites by Skrowaczewski and Munch (for some of the symphonies). Sawallisch is not very dramatic, but it's with music like Schubert's that I feel a conductor needs some restraint lest it veer into over-the-top range. What he delivers are sensitive readings with much tenderness at times and at other times expression of angst and suffering. It feels just right to me.

My takeaway idea is that Sawallisch excels at vocal music. He's basically an opera conductor, I would say. He never rubs me the wrong way, though he doesn't deliver many performances that are my favorites. I consider him a valuable and important part of my collection and I look forward to checking out his Schumann.


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## GraemeG (Jun 30, 2009)

Have the Schumann symphony CDs, and they are very good, yes. And a couple of Schubert masses. Few of his other recordings. But I heard him twice in 1989; the final Meistersinger at the Munich festival (standing ticket!) which was excellent, and at the Concertgebouw where he conducted a Dvorak 7 that fair knocked you socks off. Funny, I don't remember especially the first half of the program. (checks) ... Leonore 2 and Strauss Horn no 1.
Ha - I check my catalogues - I have a recording of him with Dennis Brain in that concerto!

Tell you what, in these conductor-poor times we'd take him back again in a heart-beat!
Graeme


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## perdido34 (Mar 11, 2015)

I always thought of him as a routinier. However, on YouTube I ran across a set of Beethoven symphonies he and the Philadelphia Orchestra recorded while on tour in Japan. The best of them is #6: Beethoven 6

I liked it so much that I got a copy of his performance of that piece with Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, which is nearly as good.

Then I heard his Schumann symphonies on EMI, and I also liked them.

Recently I found this exquisite performance of Strauss 4 Last Songs with Jessye Norman and Orchestra de la Suisse Romande, which in some ways is even more beautiful than her recording with Mazur: Strauss Vier Letzte Lieder


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

DaddyGeorge said:


> I will also pick up his recordings of Dvořák (Requiem & Stabat Mater)


I forgot about these two recordings - both among my favorites of these works.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Sawallisch was a terrific conductor who seemed more interested in making great music than being in the limelight. His recordings are all "honest". Well done, musical, and respectful of the composer. Some people think he was dull, but not to me. The Wagner operas recorded live at Bayreauth on Philips are exciting, dramatic and show a side of him most people don't know. In his last year with Philadelphia he took the orchestra to Carnegie Hall and played something else not associated with him much: Franz Schmidt's 2nd Symphony. They played the daylights out of the thing. Sawallisch had full measure of the difficult score and led a blazing performance. One which should have (and still could) be released on CD.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Itullian said:


> I really only like his Schumann set.
> His Brahms and Beethoven are blah.
> His Strauss is pretty good and his Wagner operas are very good.


I take back what I said about his Brahms.
I received this today and it's great!


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## Simplicissimus (Feb 3, 2020)

Itullian said:


> I take back what I said about his Brahms.
> I received this today and it's great!


Interested in any impressions you have of these in comparison to other Brahms symphony performances you like. In #13 I wrote that I find Sawallisch's transparent but comparatively thin. I do like them and go back to them as interesting and enjoyable alternatives to the more lush versions. I agree with what mbhaub wrote in #17, so I believe any Brahms lover would profit from listening to Sawallisch's interpretations of the symphonies.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Simplicissimus said:


> Interested in any impressions you have of these in comparison to other Brahms symphony performances you like. In #13 I wrote that I find Sawallisch's transparent but comparatively thin. I do like them and go back to them as interesting and enjoyable alternatives to the more lush versions. I agree with what mbhaub wrote in #17, so I believe any Brahms lover would profit from listening to Sawallisch's interpretations of the symphonies.


I didn't find them thin at all. I heard good forward momentum, powerful horns and plenty off power. The Wiener Symphoniker are brilliant. Sawallisch holds the perfectly together. Not as idiomatic as Klemperer or Levine (2 of my favorites,or as rich as the digital Abbado, but definitely high on my list. I'm thrilled to own it.


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## Bigbang (Jun 2, 2019)

Itullian said:


> I take back what I said about his Brahms.
> I received this today and it's great!


Funny thing I bought for less than a dollar and put it away. I pulled it out tonight and plan to listen to all of the symphonies. I am listening to the 1st and so far so good.


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## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)

I enjoy his Schumann symphonies, Schubert masses, and especially his wonderful Mendelssohn Elijah which is my favorite version after the unforgettable 1947 Sargent recording.

I got bored by his Beethoven and sold it back. I believe I once had his Wagner orchestral music a while back that I also sold back in favor of Karajan EMI for modern sounding versions.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Itullian said:


> I take back what I said about his Brahms.
> I received this today and it's great!


I have this set and the LPO set and interpretively they are quite different. The VSO set is more consistent, energetic and alive but not as well recorded as his later set. All the symphonies come off pretty well but lack weight. The LPO set is on the slower side and theres a pretty boring symphony 2 and a tedious symphony 1 in that set. 3 is much better and 4 is superb.


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## Simplicissimus (Feb 3, 2020)

Merl said:


> I have this set and the LPO set and interpretively they are quite different. The VSO set is more consistent, energetic and alive but not as well recorded as his later set. All the symphonies come off pretty well but lack weight. The LPO set is on the slower side and theres a pretty boring symphony 2 and a tedious symphony 1 in that set. 3 is much better and 4 is superb.


Interesting. I've never heard the LSO set. As for the VSO, my impression tracks closely with yours: energetic and consistent, lacks weight, and not terribly well recorded. I feel the lacking weight is a byproduct of the search for transparency.


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## Bigbang (Jun 2, 2019)

Merl said:


> I have this set and the LPO set and interpretively they are quite different. The VSO set is more consistent, energetic and alive but not as well recorded as his later set. All the symphonies come off pretty well but lack weight. The LPO set is on the slower side and theres a pretty boring symphony 2 and a tedious symphony 1 in that set. 3 is much better and 4 is superb.


I am listening to the second symphony (Weiner) and I was surprised how good it was (60s sound and all). To my ears the lack of weight is not noticeable but I think 2 fares better than 1 or 3. Plan to hear 4 later. I never heard the other set.


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## Bigbang (Jun 2, 2019)

Or maybe I should ask that the 60's sound is the reason for the lack of weight?


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

i do find #2 to be lighter in weight than the others.


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