Westminster Legacy - The

This box arrived and I was instantly hooked. There are many recordings included that I have owned for a long time on vinyl, so it was like meeting old friends. One of the most dear to me is the 1964 recording of Handel's "Rodelinda". I lived in the Netherlands at the time and it took me five long months to receive it from the States. There were not many Handel opera recordings at that time, so this was a major find in 1967. I know the recording is now quite old and the style is dated, but the enthusiasm of the artists is palpable. Theresa Stich-Randall was not a Handel singer and is clearly past her best, but never mind. Then there is the Beethoven 9th under Monteux, the 3rd and 6th under the very modern sounding Scherchen.Bruckner under Knappertsbusch, Clara Haskil in Mozart, the great Erica Morini in Tchaikovsky and Brahms. The list goes on and on. Beautiful presentation in the booklet, and complete recording information in the booklet as well as on the sleeves. Obviously a lot of thought went into this project and I cannot thank Universal enough for making these treasures available to a wide public. Buy it before it disappears!

Heartily agree with all of the previous reviews! This set of Westminster recordings is an absolute treasure! It has a few recordings that haven't stood up to the years well -- Monteux's interpretation of Berlioz's "Romeo and Juliet" Symphony gets a bit muddy in the louder choral passages, probably due to the age of the source tapes -- but overall, I'd say that you'd be hard-pressed to find a better all-around collection of mono and pre-digital stereo recordings at such a great price

Musicianship and Interpretation are probably great (based on the expert reviews).However I am disappointed with the sound quality. Sounds like what you would expect from recordings from the late 40s early 50s. In comparison to modern day hi-rez recordings, these CDs are dynamic range limited, extended high frequencies gone, deep bass gone, not great "sound-stage", vocals a bit muted.

please give us now affordable boxes of the remainder of this legacy, and first the thechamber music treasure. o for another kurt list.

excellent performances from the past beautifully restored. nicely packaged in there original jackets and boxed and numbered for easy access.

Quick delivery. Top quality

This is a review of the new 40 CD Europe/North American edition:  Westminster Legacy: The Collector's Edition Not the 124 CD Korean edition released last year.Amazon has confused the situation by combining reviews for two different products.The new box was released on February 18, 2014 - any review dated before then is for the Korean box (wish I could afford it).This is the most maddening review I have ever written.Westminster Records was an independent American record label, in business from 1949 to 1965.They had a reputation for High Fidelity sound and terrible LP pressings.Universal now owns the rights to the Westminster catalog.The performances are uniformly wonderful and deserving of 5 stars.- some of the Scherchen performances are weird, but still wonderful.My complaint is with Universal Classics home office.Back in 2013, the Korean branch of Universal Classics issued the (almost) complete Westminster Legacy:Volume 1 = 59 CDs: Chamber Music -  Westminster Legacy Volume 2 = 65 CDs: Orchestral Music -  Westminster Legacy Orchestral Recordings Collectio Insanely expensive.I decided to wait for the North American release. Based on past experience, I assumed it would be more affordable.Now its here, and yes, it is more affordable.It has the same artwork as the original boxes, minus the Korean writing.BUT - instead of 124 CDs in two boxes, we are given 40 CDs in one box - the North American box is a sampler:Of the 23 orchestral CDs in this box, 17 have already been issued - either by DG, or in an earlier incarnation, by MCA.Whenever possible, Universal chose the LEAST sought-after recordings for inclusion.ORCHESTRAL RECORDINGS ( * = first official CD release):- Bach: Mass in B minor - Scherchen- Beethoven: Symphonies 2*,3,4*,6,8 - Scherchen (2,4,8 mono)- Beethoven: Symphony 9 - Monteux- Beethoven: Wellington's Victory * - Scherchen (plus 24 minutes of rehearsal)- Beethoven: Christus am Ölberge * - Scherchen (w/ Maria Stader and Jan Peerce)- Berlioz: Roméo et Juliette - Monteux- Berlioz:Symphonie fantastique - Leibowitz- Brahms: Violin Concerto - Erica Morini, Rodzinski- Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 - Knappertsbusch- Gabrieli: Canzona primi toni a 8 * - Scherchen- Glière: Symphony 3 "Ilya Murometz" * - Scherchen, really special (mono)- Haydn: Symphonies 45,100 - Scherchen- Holst: The Planets - Boult- Mahler: Symphonies 1,2 - Scherchen (1= mono)- Mozart: Symphony No. 39,40,41 * - Leinsdorf (mono)- Mozart Piano Concerto 20 - Haskil, Swoboda (mono)- Mozart Piano Concerto 22 * - Barenboim, Somogyi- Requiem - Scherchen- Orff: Intrata * - Scherchen- Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto 2, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini * - Lewenthal, Abravanel (Rhapsody = mono)- Tchaikovsky: Symphony 4 - Rodzinski- Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker Ballet - Rodzinski- Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto - Erica Morini, Rodzinski- Vaughan Williams: Fantasias on Greensleeves and Thomas Tallis - Boult- Wagner: Orchestral excerpts - KnappertsbuschHermann Scherchen (1891-1966) was Westminster's principal conductor.One of the Greats. His interpretations could sometimes be eccentric, but never boring.He made his reputation as an interpreter of Modern Music, but most of his recordings were of the Classics: Bach, Beethoven and Haydn.The closest Westminster let him come to the Twentieth Century was Reinhold Gliere.A complete box of Hermann Scherchen's Westminster recordings alone would have come to about 50 CDs.Westminster's second conductor was Artur Rodzinski (1892-1958), another of the Greats, and probably insane (he was rumoured to carry a loaded pistol at rehearsals).In a five year period, 1943 to 1948, he went from being Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra to the New York Philharmonic to the Chicago Symphony to the Unemployment Line.Westminster Records came along at just the right time.Westminster's orchestras were Beecham's Royal Philharmonic (without Beecham) - renamed the "Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of London" - and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra.The "Vienna State Opera Orchestra" has a roster of about 300 musicians - the first 100 constitute the "Vienna Philharmonic", one of the world's great orchestras.It is unlikely that many Philharmonic members played in Westminster's recordings.Famous guest conductors:- Sir Adrian Boult recorded Holst and Vaughan Williams in Vienna. These are in this box, but NOT his hard-to-find recording of Mozart's G Minor Symphony and Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. Aargh!.- Erich Leinsdorf made the first complete set of Mozart Symphonies with the Royal Philharmonic (the last three are included).- Rene Leibowitz, apostle of Arnold Schoenberg and Offenbach, recorded Berlioz Symphonie fantastique in Vienna.- Hans Knappertsbusch recorded Bruckner and Wagner with the Munich Philharmonic.- Pierre Monteux recorded Beethoven and Berlioz with the London Symphony.Great performances, but they have been continuously available on CD for the past thirty years.CHAMBER MUSIC + INSTRUMENTAL RECORDINGS:- Beethoven String Quartets, Op18,No.4 / Op59,No.3 - Smetana Quartet / Op59,No.2 - Janacek Quartet- Beethoven Piano Sonatas 8,23,29 - Egon Petri- Dvorak: Quintet, Op.97 / Sextet, Op.48 - European String Quartet- Faure and Franck: Piano works - Jorg Demus (mono)- Mendelssohn: Octet - Janacek and Smetana Quartets- Mozart: String Quartet k590 / Quintet k516 - Amadeus Quartet (mono)- Mozart Piano Sonatas k310 / k570 - Daniel Barenboim- Scarlatti: 11 Keyboard Sonatas - Clara Haskil (mono)- Schubert: String Quintet D956 / Octet D803 - Vienna Konzerthaus Quartet (mono)- Schubert: Fantasie D760 'Wanderer' / Moments Musicaux D780 / Impromptus D899 - Paul Badura-Skoda (mono)- Guitar Recital - Julian Bream, rec.1955, before he was famous (mono)A bit more thought went into this selection.Westminster's chamber music recordings were made in Vienna.The Vienna Konzerthaus Quartet actually included Philharmonic members.Nice, but they made many more recordings than are in this box.Guest appearances by the Amadeus Quartet (early), and the Janacek and Smetana Quartets (in their prime).- House pianists were Paul Badura-Skoda and Jorg Demus.Also some recordings by the venerable Clara Haskil and Egon Petri, plus the youthful Raymond Lewenthal and Daniel Barenboim.- Violinist Erica Morini and guitarist Julian Bream (age 22) complete an impressive roster.VOCAL RECORDINGS -- GREAT SINGERS -- NO TEXT OR TRANSLATIONS -- NO PLOT SUMMARY -- NO PROGRAM NOTES -- AARGH!- Duparc: Melodies - Leopold Simoneau- Handel: Rodelinda - Theresa Stitch-Randall, Maureen Forrester etc. (3 CDs)- Mozart: Lieder - Maria Stader- Respighi: Il tramonto - Sena Jurinac, Barylli Quartet (mono)- Schumann: Frauenliebe und leben, Liederkreis - Sena Jurinac (mono)- Beverly Sills Aria RecitalOriginal jacket format for LP covers, but no program notes on the back. They are missed.To end on the plus side, the box and booklet are very attractive.P.S. Deutschegrammophon.com provides a link to an English translation of the "Wellington's Victory" rehearsal,but not to the vocal works. Aargh indeed.P.P.S. Universal also owns the back catalog of Command Records.Command's 1960s recordings of William Steinberg and the Pittsburgh Symphony, engineered by Enoch Light, were highly sought after by audiophiles, despite the snap, crackle and pop of their LP pressings.Maybe Universal will follow this up with a box of the "Command Legacy"?This time I hope they give us everything.