Haydn, Schubert, Mendelssohn: Symphonies - Josef Krips (2 CDs)

Born in Vienna in April 1902, the cheery-looking Josef Krips seems to have been pre-destined to achieve eminence in the Viennese classics. He recorded with both, the Wiener Philharmoniker and the key London orchestras for Decca in the 1940s, 50s and 60s and the interpretations have genuine expressive power while remaining devoid of exaggeration or affectation.

What could be more enjoyable than spending an hour or two in the company of Haydn, Schubert and Mendelssohn in their sunniest moods, especially when our guide is the amiably expert Viennese conductor Josef Krips? The recordings here take in two London orchestras as well as the Vienna Philharmonic and span nearly ten years (1948-1957). They are especially notable for bringing together all of Krips’s Haydn recordings for Decca. The notes for this issue are by Tully Potter and it forms part of a series of five reissues devoted to the art of Josef Krips.

HAYDN
CD1
Symphony No. 94 in G major ‘Surprise’
Wiener Philharmoniker
Symphony No. 92 in G major ‘Oxford’
London Symphony Orchestra
Symphony No. 104 in D major ‘London’
London Philharmonic Orchestra

CD2
Symphony No. 99 in E flat major
Wiener Philharmoniker

SCHUBERT
Symphony No. 6 in C major, D. 589

MENDELSSOHN
Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90 ‘Italian’
London Symphony Orchestra

Josef Krips