This batch began with the second LP of Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances and overture My Home. Then a treasured disc of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf singing Strauss; we have been unable to agree on whether her performance of the Four Last Songs or Jessye Norman’s is definitive.
Schubert’s Death and the Maiden, played by the Juilliards, was followed by another Viennese piece on a similar theme, Berg’s violin concerto – the only Second Viennese School in our LP collection. I recall buying this recording (by Menuhin, the LSO and Boulez) as a student when it appeared on special offer, and getting my friends to do the same. Despite the fact that Menuhin’s and Boulez’ interpretations can be be at odds with one another, and the disc itself is in a poor state because I played it a lot, I was particularly keen to transfer this because the recording is currently unavailable. [June 2013: I have now remedied this!] I suppose it’s appropriate to have music by Berg right in the middle of batch 23, though I didn’t arrange it so that this would happen. The other side was Bartók’s Rhapsodies for violin and orchestra.
I have quite a few discs of songs still to do, and I moved onto two recordings made by Elly Ameling: a disc of Schubert lieder and a complete recording of Rosamunde. Finally came an assortment of songs with instrumental accompaniment performed by Christa Ludwig and assorted other people, including the second performance of Der Hirt auf dem Felsen in three discs.