Having been, and remaining, enthused about the recordings made by Lovro von Matačić with the Czech Philharmonic, recently boxed by Supraphon, I returned to Matačić’s tapings found on the admirable Testament label, founded by the late Stewart Brown, a storehouse of commercial and concert recordings expertly refurbished and annotated, on CD and (re-pressed) LP to keep in touch with important artists of yesteryear. Invaluable for, say, Klemperer, Haendel, the Hollywood String Quartet, and many more.
Matačić’s conducting of Russian repertoire (as on Supraphon) is vivid, vibrant, dramatic and swaggering, this charismatic conductor making no distinction between masterworks by Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky and what might be thought lesser pieces by Balakirev. On SBT1329-1331, available separately if recommendable as a ‘set’, Matačić conducts either the Philharmonia Orchestra (usually) or the Orchestra of La Scala in these composers in excellent, mostly stereo, sound. True, percussion can be a little crude, and tempos are unpredictable, Matačić keeping listeners on their toes for incident-packed music-making full of individuality and distinct personality.
Matačić’s Czech recordings include three Bruckner Symphonies (5, 7 and 9). Testament adds No.4 (Romantic) in an edition (“Loewe/Schalk”) now discredited if interesting as part of the Bruckner publication minefield; better than that, Matačić’s conducting is broad yet impulsive, magnetic, and he brings ardour and eloquence to Bruckner’s wonderful Overture in G-minor, the Philharmonia magnificent in both, captured stereophonically in the latter.
I commend these recordings by an insightful and inspirational conductor and congratulate Testament (with thanks to Louise there) for issuing them and retaining in its extensive catalogue.
https://testament.co.uk/?product_cat=&s=lovro+von+matacic&post_type=product