‘Cast from the Past: Deryck Cooke on an “Authentic” Mahler Tradition

Shortly after the 1962 release of Otto Klemperer’s EMI/Columbia (UK) recording of Mahler’s Symphony No.4, musicologist Deryck Cooke recorded a program for the BBC Third Programme comparing Klemperer’s recordings to others, particularly Bruno Walter and Willem Mengelberg, in search of an “authentic” interpretive approach to Mahler.

Here is that complete 49-minute program, restored and remastered for your listening pleasure. (A tip of the baseball cap to Jerry Bruck [via Tom Carlson] and Lisa Tully for providing copies of the source material.)

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ON EDIT: Via a forwarded e-mail, Douglas Cooksey points out an error on my part – Klemperer’s Mahler 4 was originally issued on EMI/Columbia (UK), not HMV. Additionally, audiophile producer/engineer Jerry Bruck provided additional information on the provenance of one copy of the program in my collection.)

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