Re: Vaughan-Williams Concerto with Jacobs


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Posted by Brian Frederiksen on January 22, 2003 at 00:25:26:

In Reply to: Vaughan-Williams Concerto with Jacobs posted by Frank on January 20, 2003 at 21:12:51:

The story about the Jacobs/Barenboim VW recording happened to take place in 1976-78. At that time I was a student and was working on the VW with him myself. The school I was going to at that time was located on the same floor as Mr Jacobs' studio. Here is what happened:

The concerto was scheduled the previous season but canncelled as Barenboim'e wife, cellist Jaquilin DePre, suffered a serious illness and passed away. A recording was scheduled with DGG but cancelled. The next season they scheduled the VW for recording but no concert. Traditionally, the CSO would perform a work at a subscription concert prior to recording, recording without a performance is a rarity.

When they finally did the recording, the CSO was reading the accompiment. I have never heard how many readings they did but prior to the recording, Mr Jacobs played alone in the hall. It was here they turned on the recorders (analog,as in tape) and started recording as he was playing the cadenzas. If you listen carefully you can hear the splice (remember, this is analog, not digital). They rushed through the entire session.

I talked to Mr Jacobs within a day of the recording and he was not a happy camper. He wished that the recoding would never be released but this was out of his hands. It came out and he was given a lot of comp copies. They sat in his basement, I doubt if he gave any away as they were there after he died. The next season he finally performed the VW in a subscription concert with Henry Mazer conducting. This reecording was released by the CSO during the mid 80's and has been out of print since. Please, don't bother the Symphony Store asking for this - they don't have any and will not have any. Personally, I have not heard the Barenboim recording since the Mazer recoding came out.

Jump ahead to 1998 at the Jacobs Tribute. During Barenboim's "Talk to the Infield," (when he speaks without a microphone and only the first 3 rows can hear), Barenboim mentioned that as a young conductor he learned from Jacobs from the mistakes made during a recording. If Barenboim would have used a mike, maybe we all could have heard what was said but I believe Barenboim was refering to the VW recording twenty years earlier. For the slide show slide presentation, we used the Mazer VW recording. I am using this in my Jacobs presentation at some of the regionals. Don't ask, I will not send any copies of this recording to anyone.

So, here it is in a nutshell. No concerts prior to the recording, CSO sightreading the part, Soloist not a happy camper and the conductor appearing to be apologetic. Is Jacobs' playing bad? Not really. Recording flawed? Definetly. Jacobs, Barenboim and the CSO at their best? No way! The definative recording of the VW? Not as long as Fletcher's is around. Worth having a copy of? If you find it in the bargain rack for a buck but nowhere near $40 on e**y. Should it be re-released? Mr Jacobs didn't want it out the first time but had nothing to say. Guess if they think it will sell, they'll do it. Will I buy a copy? That's a good one. Will I sell them? Even better.





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