【古殿唱片音樂故事】從倫敦到巴黎：大衛·歐伊斯特拉夫(David Oistrakh,1908-1974)與英國...

【古殿唱片音樂故事】從倫敦到巴黎：大衛·歐伊斯特拉夫(David Oistrakh,1908-1974)與英國 Columbia 的兩張原版唱片～～布拉姆斯與哈察都良，一位蘇聯小提琴家的西方錄音之路

【古殿唱片音樂故事】從倫敦到巴黎：大衛·歐伊斯特拉夫(David Oistrakh,1908-1974)與英國 Columbia 的兩張原版唱片～～布拉姆斯與哈察都良，一位蘇聯小提琴家的西方錄音之路

古殿殿主

我手邊有兩張英國 Columbia 的原版黑膠。

一張是 1961 年發行的 33CX 1765：黑色封面上，大衛·歐伊斯特拉夫(David Oistrakh,1908-1974)(以下簡稱大歐)低頭拉琴，畫面另一端，戴著黑框眼鏡的指揮家克倫培勒(Otto Klemperer,1885-1973)雙手懸在半空。曲目是布拉姆斯(Johannes Brahms,1833-1897)的小提琴協奏曲。

另一張更早，是 33CX 1303：灰白網點底紋上，一面紅色旗幟般的色塊，右側兩張圓角照片，上面是大歐，下面是作曲家哈察都良(Aram Khachaturian,1903-1978)本人。曲目是哈察都良小提琴協奏曲。

先問一個問題：一位來自奧德薩、在莫斯科音樂院教了一輩子書的蘇聯小提琴家，一生留下最多錄音的協奏曲是哪一首？

直覺的答案是柴可夫斯基(Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky,1840-1893)。但依照目前已出版的錄音統計，大歐的柴可夫斯基小提琴協奏曲只有 17 筆。排在第一的，是布拉姆斯，共 22 筆；第二是貝多芬(Ludwig van Beethoven,1770-1827)，有 20 筆。而截至目前為止，大歐也很可能是這兩首協奏曲存世錄音最多的小提琴家。

拿最有可能超越他的對手來比，就看得出這個領先有多明顯。曼紐因(Yehudi Menuhin,1916-1999)的錄音生涯從 1928 年延續到他去世那年，與 EMI 的合約是唱片史上最長的一份。依尚-米歇爾·莫爾庫(Jean-Michel Molkhou,生卒年待查)編纂、曼紐因基金會公布的完整目錄，曼紐因的貝多芬小提琴協奏曲存世錄音有 15 筆，布拉姆斯只有 7 筆，其中 1971 年與包爾特(Adrian Boult,1889-1983)的那一次，還只錄了第一樂章、始終沒有出版。大歐的 22 筆布拉姆斯，是曼紐因的三倍。

還有一個更少人注意的細節：這兩張唱片，一張 1954 年錄於倫敦，一張 1960 年錄於巴黎，相隔六年、隔著一道英吉利海峽，坐在錄音控制台前的，卻是同一位製作人與同一位錄音師。

這兩張唱片，就從這裡說起。

第一張｜布拉姆斯小提琴協奏曲 Columbia 33CX 1765

一、大歐留下最多錄音的協奏曲

依網路上可查詢的大歐唱片錄音目錄，目前已出版的大歐錄音中，布拉姆斯小提琴協奏曲有 22 筆，貝多芬小提琴協奏曲 20 筆，故鄉俄國的柴可夫斯基只有 17 筆。錄音最多的前兩名，都是德奧作品。

這份統計只算得到「已經被挖掘出版」的錄音。他實際在舞台上演奏這首曲子的次數，必然是這個數字的好幾倍；而冷戰時期東西兩側檔案保存與出版的條件不同，也會影響排名：西方的 BBC、法國 INA 等電台檔案近年被大量發掘，蘇聯國內的演出則未必都被錄下或公開。22 對 20 的差距很小，再出土一兩捲廣播母帶，排名就可能改變。

但數字至少說明了一件事：布拉姆斯是大歐一生最常帶上舞台、也最常被留下聲音的協奏曲。

這 22 筆裡，真正在錄音室完成的只有四份：

或 1952 年，莫斯科，孔德拉辛(Kirill Kondrashin,1914-1981)指揮蘇聯廣播大交響樂團，Melodiya。
年 2 月，西柏林達勒姆區的耶穌基督教堂，康維奇尼(Franz Konwitschny,1901-1962)指揮德勒斯登國家管弦樂團，DG 與東德 Eterna 同步發行。
年 6 月，巴黎，克倫培勒指揮法國國家廣播管弦樂團，英國 Columbia，也就是本張唱片。
年 5 月，克里夫蘭，塞爾(George Szell,1897-1970)指揮克里夫蘭管弦樂團，EMI。

其餘的錄音，除了 1960 年他在莫斯科親自指揮、兒子伊果·歐伊斯特拉夫(Igor Oistrakh,1931-2021)擔任獨奏的一份之外，都是從倫敦、布拉格、盧加諾、維也納、華盛頓到東京的現場演出與影像。克倫培勒版與塞爾版，是四份錄音室版本中僅有的兩份立體聲錄音。

有英文樂評稱本張是大歐此曲「第一份西方錄音」，其實不準確：1954 年的 DG 版就錄於西柏林。比較精確的說法是，這是他為西方唱片公司、與西歐樂團合作的第一份立體聲錄音室錄音。

22 份錄音中最有名的兩份

這 22 份錄音，每一份都是珍貴的歷史檔案。但若以樂迷的喜愛程度，以及後世再版不斷的程度來看，最有名的是兩份：一是 1960 年在歐洲與克倫培勒合作的本張，二是 1969 年在美國與塞爾合作的克里夫蘭版。

從大歐錄音目錄列出的發行紀錄，就看得出這兩份錄音的生命力：

1960 年克倫培勒版：LP 時代有英國 Columbia 33CX 1765／SAX 2411、法國 Pathé FCX 879／SAXF 196、英國 HMV SLS 5004、美國 Angel S 35836、日本 Angel AA-8032，以及 EMI CFP 4398 等再版，共約十種；CD 時代又有 EMI、東芝、Warner 等十餘種版本，日本 Tower Records 還推出了 SACD。
1969 年塞爾版：由 EMI 製作人彼得·安德利(Peter Andry,1927-2019)製作、錄音師 C. Carson Taylor 錄音，LP 有英國 HMV ASD 2525、美國 Angel S 36033、蘇聯 Melodiya、德國 Eurodisc 等約十種，還有卡帶與四軌盤帶；CD 與 SACD 加起來也超過十種。

1950 年的孔德拉辛版在 1950 年代也曾被美國與歐洲的許多小廠牌大量發行，但那主要集中在 LP 初期。真正從 LP、CD 一路再版到 SACD、延續半個多世紀的，是克倫培勒與塞爾這兩份，而它們也正是大歐此曲僅有的兩份立體聲錄音室錄音。一份在歐洲，一份在美國；一位是沉穩如石的德國指揮，一位是以精準著稱的匈牙利裔指揮，兩份錄音剛好構成大歐布拉姆斯的兩座高峰。

二、1960 年 6 月，巴黎 Salle Wagram

1960 年 6 月 17 日至 19 日，大歐在巴黎 Salle Wagram 錄下這份布拉姆斯。製作人是 EMI 的傳奇製作人華特·李格(Walter Legge,1906-1979)，錄音師是哈洛德·戴維森(Harold Davidson,生卒年待查)。

這是一個不尋常的組合：蘇聯小提琴家、德國指揮家、法國廣播樂團，在巴黎為英國唱片公司錄音。

指揮台上的奧圖·克倫培勒(Otto Klemperer,1885-1973)，早年受馬勒(Gustav Mahler,1860-1911)提攜，1933 年因猶太身分離開納粹德國，一生歷經腦瘤手術與多次傷病，晚年常坐著指揮。1960 年的他七十五歲，是李格旗下愛樂管弦樂團的首席指揮，以沉穩如花崗岩的德國風格著稱。獨奏的大歐五十二歲，正值巔峰，琴聲寬厚熾熱。

樂評對這份錄音的評價兩極，焦點正在於兩人的性格反差。欣賞的人認為，大歐外放熾熱、克倫培勒內斂沉穩，這種反差反而讓戲劇性與溫暖取得理想的平衡，有人更把它列為大歐最愛的錄音室版本；保留的人則覺得克倫培勒速度偏慢，開頭的樂團全奏就顯得遲緩，整體聽來有些吃力。

封面照片把這種關係拍得很準：大歐在畫面左下角低頭拉琴，克倫培勒在右上角雙手懸空，兩人分處畫面兩端，各自沉浸在音樂裡。這份錄音保存的，不是誰遷就誰，而是兩種性格各自完整地在場。

巴黎兩部曲

十九個月前的 1958 年 11 月，大歐已經在同一個地方，與同一支法國國家廣播管弦樂團、同一位製作人李格，錄下了貝多芬小提琴協奏曲，指揮是克路易坦(André Cluytens,1905-1967)。那張唱片殿主在〈來自奧德薩的德國魂〉一文介紹過。

同一支樂團、同一個大廳、同一位製作人，大歐在巴黎錄下了他一生最常演奏的兩首協奏曲。指揮的性格卻完全相反：克路易坦帶來法式的鬆弛，克倫培勒是德國式的沉穩。兩張唱片對照著聽，就能聽到同一支法國樂團，在兩種指揮手下托起同一位獨奏家的差異。

三、手上的這張 33CX 1765

我這張是英國 Columbia 的單聲道首版，封面右上角印著「mono」，封底註明「Recording first published 1961」。

抽出唱片，是藍底金字的 Columbia 標籤，上方印著 Magic Notes 雙音符商標，下方寫著「Long Playing Microgroove」與「MADE IN GT. BRITAIN」。標籤矩陣號為 XLX 872 與 XLX 873，同一錄音的立體聲版 SAX 2411 則使用 YLX 1062 與 YLX 1063，兩套編號系列不同，表示單聲道與立體聲是分別刻片的。1960 至 61 年，正是英國 EMI 單聲道與立體聲並行發行的過渡期。

封套上的製作資訊也值得細看。封面攝影是蘿特·邁特納-格拉夫(Lotte Meitner-Graf,1899-1973)，右下角一行小字「After Mercure Ed. Paris – Atelier Jaubert」，暗示英國版的封面設計取自法國版；法國 Pathé 的版本編號為 FCX 879 與 SAXF 196。封底是英國樂評家安德魯·波特(Andrew Porter,1928-2015)撰寫的樂曲解說，從布拉姆斯 1878 年首次造訪義大利寫起，談到這首協奏曲 1879 年元旦由約阿希姆(Joseph Joachim,1831-1907)在萊比錫首演。本張第一樂章使用的，正是約阿希姆寫的裝飾奏。

行情：這份錄音在收藏市場最受追捧的是立體聲 SAX 2411 首版。在網路上可查的拍賣紀錄中，藍銀標首版、品相近全新的頂級成交落在 427 至 549 英鎊之間，2018 到 2023 年大致持平，其中一筆還是非賣品的工廠樣本盤。相比之下，單聲道 33CX 1765 的行情可以用遠低於立體聲首版的價格，擁有同一場錄音的英國首版。

但行情高低，不等於聲音價值的高低。1954 年到 1960 年，單聲道仍是唱片錄音的主導主流，英國 Columbia 的藍金標單聲道，正是技術最成熟、最穩定可靠的時期。1960 年的這份布拉姆斯雖然同時錄了立體聲，但製作人李格本人對初期的立體聲一直抱持保留態度。在他看來，最好的錄音藝術應該忠於聲音在實體空間中的呈現，而單聲道仍是最接近人們在音樂廳裡真實聽到的聲音。從這個角度來看，藍金標單聲道 33CX 1765 不只是立體聲首版的平價替代品，而是一份反映製作人本意、非常值得收藏與聆聽的版本。

走出鐵幕：大歐的歐洲之路與英國 Columbia

要理解這兩張唱片，得先回到 1950 年代初。

在此之前，大歐的名字早已在西方流傳。1937 年他在布魯塞爾的伊薩依國際小提琴大賽奪冠，他的蘇聯錄音也經由授權管道，零星出現在美國與法國的小廠牌上。但西方聽眾聽得到他的聲音，卻見不到他的人。

1953 年史達林(Joseph Stalin,1878-1953)去世，蘇聯藝術家出國的管制開始鬆動。大歐終於獲准在蘇聯境外錄音，而最早為他搭起這座橋的，是英國 EMI 的製作人李格。

李格是 1950 年代歐洲古典唱片界最有權勢的人物之一。他在 1945 年創立愛樂管弦樂團，手上握有卡拉揚(Herbert von Karajan,1908-1989)、克倫培勒、卡拉絲(Maria Callas,1923-1977)、施瓦茲柯芙(Elisabeth Schwarzkopf,1915-2006)等巨星，以英國 Columbia 為主要品牌發行錄音。大歐為李格錄下的第一批錄音在瑞典斯德哥爾摩完成，是與西克斯頓·埃爾林(Sixten Ehrling,1918-2005)合作的西貝流士(Jean Sibelius,1865-1957)與貝多芬小提琴協奏曲；接著，1954 年 11 月他首次訪英，在倫敦由作曲家哈察都良親自指揮，錄下本文的第二張唱片。同一時期的 Columbia 錄音還包括布魯赫(Max Bruch,1838-1920)第一號、普羅高菲夫(Sergei Prokofiev,1891-1953)第一號小提琴協奏曲，以及與傅尼葉(Pierre Fournier,1906-1986)合作的布拉姆斯雙重協奏曲。

從那以後，大歐與李格、英國 Columbia 的合作延續了好幾年：

年：斯德哥爾摩，西貝流士、貝多芬（Ehrling 指揮）。
年 11 月：倫敦 Kingsway Hall，哈察都良（作曲家指揮），33CX 1303。
年 2 月：倫敦 Abbey Road，塔替尼(Giuseppe Tartini,1692-1770)《魔鬼的顫音》（楊波斯基(Vladimir Yampolsky,1905-1961)伴奏），33CX 1415。
年 11 月：巴黎 Salle Wagram，貝多芬（克路易坦指揮）。
年 6 月：巴黎 Salle Wagram，布拉姆斯（克倫培勒指揮），33CX 1765。

而在這段期間，1955 年秋天，大歐也首次踏上美國，同時替 RCA 與美國哥倫比亞兩家公司錄音，那段故事殿主在〈兩個秘密〉〈鐵幕之聲〉與蕭士塔高維契協奏曲的文章裡介紹過。

這裡要特別分清楚一件事：英國 Columbia 與美國哥倫比亞，是兩家不同的公司。英國 Columbia 屬於 EMI 集團，使用 Magic Notes 雙音符商標；美國哥倫比亞則屬於 CBS，使用 Masterworks 品牌。兩家雖然同名，1950 年代已分屬不同集團。大歐在大西洋兩岸，分別為這兩家「Columbia」錄音。

第二張｜哈察都良小提琴協奏曲 Columbia 33CX 1303

四、一首為他而寫的協奏曲

1940 年夏天，亞美尼亞作曲家哈察都良(Aram Khachaturian,1903-1978)在莫斯科近郊老魯扎(Staraya Ruza)的鄉間住所，只用兩個月就寫完了一首 D 小調小提琴協奏曲，題獻給大歐。

創作期間，他曾向大歐請教小提琴的技術細節，聽大歐試奏。兩人是好友，大歐在整個過程中提供意見，最後更以自己寫的裝飾奏，取代了作曲家原本的版本。同年 11 月，這首協奏曲在莫斯科首演，由大歐獨奏、高克(Alexander Gauk,1893-1963)指揮，並為作曲家贏得史達林獎。

英國版封底的解說者馬爾康·雷蒙特(Malcolm Rayment,生卒年待查)寫到，哈察都良 1922 年十九歲到莫斯科時還不會讀譜，先在 格涅辛音樂學校(Gnessin School of Music)學大提琴，後來才進作曲班，進步神速。他也引述作曲家自己說過的話：無論是否用上真正的民謠，他都忍不住寫出亞美尼亞的音樂。

依現存可查詢的大歐錄音目錄，大歐此曲共有四份錄音：

年 11 月，莫斯科，高克指揮蘇聯國家交響樂團，78 轉唱片。（後有轉錄的LP版本）
年 5 月，布拉格，庫貝利克(Rafael Kubelík,1914-1996)指揮布拉格廣播交響樂團，現場。
年 11 月，倫敦，作曲家本人指揮愛樂管弦樂團，也就是本張唱片。
年 8 月，莫斯科，作曲家本人指揮蘇聯廣播交響樂團。

本張是四份錄音裡唯一在西方錄音室完成的一份。第一份錄音在西方再版時標示相當混亂，有的美國 LP 甚至誤把指揮標成作曲家本人；而真正由作曲家親自指揮的，是本張與 1965 年版，相隔十一年。

在這四份錄音中，最具權威性與代表性的，無疑是大歐與作曲家親自合作的 1954 年與 1965 年兩份，堪稱此曲的決定盤。

1965 年版是蘇聯 Melodiya 的立體聲錄音，原版就是蘇聯 Melodiya 的唱片。殿主曾收藏過這份錄音的蘇聯首版，聲音真的非常好，演奏也同樣精彩，十一年後的大歐與作曲家，把這首曲子拉得更加從容成熟。這份錄音後來也由英國 HMV（ASD 2472）、美國 Angel 等廠牌發行，這些版本都會冠上與 Melodiya 合作的標示，基本上是由 Melodiya 提供母帶與授權的出版。

但若以全世界樂迷的普遍認知，以及後世出版傳播與再版的影響程度來選一份，應該就是 1954 年這份在歐洲錄下的版本。它經由 EMI 的全球發行網，以英國 Columbia、法國 Pathé（FCX 511）、美國 Angel（35244）同步推出，之後 EMI、東芝、Warner 的 CD 再版從未間斷，成為西方樂迷認識這首協奏曲的起點。作曲家與受題獻者同在錄音現場，又是大歐第一次訪英的見證，1954 年版的決定盤地位，至今無可取代。

五、1954 年 11 月，倫敦 Kingsway Hall

1954 年 11 月 26 日至 27 日，倫敦 Kingsway Hall。指揮台上站著作曲家本人，獨奏的是這首曲子的受題獻者，第一樂章的裝飾奏是獨奏者自己寫的。樂團是李格一手創立的愛樂管弦樂團，製作人是李格，錄音師是哈洛德·戴維森(Harold Davidson,生卒年待查)。

從 1940 年夏天老魯扎的鄉間創作、大歐的試奏與意見，到十四年後倫敦的錄音室，這份錄音把一首作品誕生時的兩個人，完整地留在同一張唱片上。

封底有一張照片，是這次錄音時的非正式側拍：哈察都良穿著吊帶褲、捲起袖子，左手高舉，神情專注。圖說寫明，這是作曲家在錄製自己的小提琴協奏曲時的留影。這張封套因此不只是包裝，也是錄音現場的物證。

這一年，大歐四十六歲，第一次踏上英國。一年後，他才首次訪美；六年後，他才在巴黎與克倫培勒錄下布拉姆斯。而坐在控制台前的李格與戴維森，六年後也將出現在巴黎 Salle Wagram 的錄音現場。本文的兩張唱片，就這樣被同一組人串在了一起。

六、手上的這張 33CX 1303

這張是英國 Columbia 的單聲道早期版本，深藍底金字的 Magic Notes 標籤，兩面都印著「MADE IN GT. BRITAIN」。標籤上寫著「Cadenza by David Oistrakh」，下方印有出版商 Hawkes（Boosey & Hawkes）與 BIEM 版權標記，溝尾刻印為 XAX 653-3N 與 XAX 654-3N。

封套本身也很有 1950 年代英國 Columbia 的味道：封面與封底照片都出自德瑞克·艾倫(Derek Allen,生卒年待查)。

行情：網路上歷來 33CX 1303 共有 73 筆成交紀錄。一般首版成交價約 125 至 150 英鎊（或美元）之間；能明顯拉高價格的只有兩種特殊品：一張測試壓片成交 227 英鎊。

這張的行情仍遠低於布拉姆斯立體聲 SAX 2411 首版的四、五百英鎊。差距來自技術規格：1954 年的錄音只有單聲道，而立體聲首版正是後世發燒友收藏英國 EMI 古典唱片的價格主力。換句話說，這是一張能用平實價格擁有的歷史首版：作曲家親自指揮，受題獻者親自演奏，裝飾奏也出自獨奏者之手。

而且 1954 年正是單聲道錄音的全盛期。這張藍金標 33CX 1303 沒有立體聲版本可比，它就是這份錄音唯一、也是最原始的樣貌。

最後

今天，一位頂尖小提琴家要錄一張唱片，只需要訂好錄音室。

但 1954 年，一位蘇聯小提琴家要走進倫敦的錄音室，得先等一位獨裁者去世、等一道鐵幕鬆開一條縫，再由一位英國製作人一趟趟安排，才能在西方的麥克風前拉琴。一首蘇聯協奏曲要在西方由作曲家親自指揮錄音，作曲家本人也得跨出國門，站上倫敦的指揮台。一位七十五歲、歷經傷病的德國指揮家，與一位五十二歲的蘇聯小提琴家，要在巴黎一支法國樂團面前合作，背後是一整套冷戰年代的文化外交。

那些條件，今天都已不復存在。正因為它們都消失了，這兩張唱片留下的聲音，才顯得格外珍貴。

這兩張都是英國 Columbia 的歷史首版。它們不是後來的回顧或重製，而是在那個時代的當下，由當時的製作人、錄音師與壓片廠，用當時最成熟的技術保存下來的聲音。

＊＊＊＊＊

【Gudian Music Stories】From London to Paris: David Oistrakh (1908–1974) and Two Original UK Columbia LPs—Brahms and Khachaturian: A Soviet Violinist’s Western Recording Path

Resting before me are two original UK Columbia vinyl pressings.

The first is 33CX 1765, released in 1961: against a stark black jacket, David Oistrakh (1908–1974) leans deeply over his violin; across the frame, conductor Otto Klemperer (1885–1973), in heavy horn-rimmed spectacles, holds his hands suspended in mid-air. The repertoire is Johannes Brahms’s (1833–1897) Violin Concerto.

The other is an earlier issue, 33CX 1303: on a grey-and-white halftone background stands a bold, red banner; along the right margin, two round-cornered portrait photographs feature Oistrakh above and the composer Aram Khachaturian (1903–1978) below. The repertoire is Khachaturian’s Violin Concerto.

Let us start with a fundamental question: for a Soviet violinist born in Odessa who spent his entire career teaching at the Moscow Conservatory, which violin concerto accounts for the largest number of surviving recordings across his lifetime?

The intuitive guess would be Tchaikovsky (1840–1893). Yet according to currently documented and published discographical records, Oistrakh’s surviving recordings of the Tchaikovsky concerto number only 17. Holding the crown in first place is Brahms, with 22 entries; second is Beethoven (1770–1827), with 20. As matters stand, Oistrakh very likely holds the record for the highest number of surviving recordings of both concertos among all violinists in history.

Comparing him to his closest contemporary rival highlights just how pronounced this lead truly is. Yehudi Menuhin’s (1916–1999) recording career spanned from 1928 until his death, secured by the longest recording contract in the history of EMI. According to the complete catalogue compiled by Jean-Michel Molkhou and published by the Menuhin Foundation, Menuhin left 15 surviving recordings of the Beethoven Violin Concerto, and only 7 of the Brahms—one of which, a 1971 session with Sir Adrian Boult (1889–1983), broke off after the first movement and was never commercially released. Oistrakh’s 22 accounts of Brahms triple Menuhin’s tally.

There is another, far less noticed historical detail: one of these records was cut in London in 1954; the other in Paris in 1960. Separated by six years and the English Channel, the figures seated at the mixing console were the very same producer and the very same recording engineer.

That is where the story of these two records begins.

Record One: Brahms Violin Concerto (Columbia 33CX 1765)

I. Oistrakh’s Most Frequently Recorded Concerto

According to comprehensive discographical archives, among all published recordings left by Oistrakh, the Brahms Violin Concerto accounts for 22 entries, the Beethoven Violin Concerto 20, and Tchaikovsky from his Russian homeland only 17. His two most recorded concertos are both Austro-German cornerstones.

Naturally, this inventory tallies only recordings that have been unearthed and commercially issued. The actual number of times he mounted this work on stage was certainly many times that figure. Cold War archival politics also shaped these numbers: Western broadcast archives like the BBC in London and INA in France have been systematically unsealed and published in recent decades, while Soviet domestic broadcast tapes were not always archived or released. The gap between 22 and 20 is narrow; the discovery of one or two unreleased broadcast reels could easily shift the balance.

Yet the ledger establishes one incontrovertible fact: Brahms was the concerto Oistrakh brought to the concert stage most consistently, and the work whose acoustic footprint he preserved most generously throughout his life.

Of those 22 recorded accounts, only four were tracked inside a commercial recording studio:

1950 or 1952, Moscow: Kirill Kondrashin (1914–1981) conducting the USSR State Radio Symphony Orchestra (Melodiya).
February 1954, Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin-Dahlem: Franz Konwitschny (1901–1962) conducting the Staatskapelle Dresden, issued jointly by Deutsche Grammophon and East Germany’s Eterna.
June 1960, Paris: Otto Klemperer conducting the Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française (RTF), for UK Columbia—the very record before us.
May 1969, Cleveland: George Szell (1897–1970) conducting the Cleveland Orchestra, for EMI.

Apart from a 1960 Moscow document where Oistrakh mounted the podium to conduct his son Igor Oistrakh (1931–2021) as soloist, every other surviving entry comprises live concert airchecks, broadcast transcriptions, or films gathered across London, Prague, Lugano, Vienna, Washington, and Tokyo. The Klemperer and Szell accounts stand as the sole two stereo studio documents among the four.

Certain Western reviews have described this 1960 Paris session as Oistrakh’s "first Western recording" of the Brahms, but that is technically inaccurate: the 1954 DG session with Konwitschny was recorded in West Berlin. The precise distinction is that this Paris session was his first stereo studio recording of the work produced for a Western record label in collaboration with a Western European orchestra.

The Twin Summits Among Twenty-Two Accounts

While each of the 22 surviving documents represents a vital historical artifact, two stand above the rest in terms of enduring affection among collectors and continuous reissue histories: the 1960 European collaboration with Klemperer, and the 1969 American partnership with George Szell in Cleveland.

Their respective discographical footprints illustrate the sheer vitality of these two documents:

The 1960 Klemperer Account: In the vinyl era, it saw roughly ten distinct releases, including UK Columbia 33CX 1765 (mono) / SAX 2411 (stereo), French Pathé FCX 879 / SAXF 196, UK HMV SLS 5004, US Angel S 35836, Japanese Angel AA-8032, and EMI Classics for Pleasure (CFP 4398). The CD era brought well over a dozen editions from EMI, Toshiba-EMI, and Warner Classics, culminating in SACD remasters from Tower Records Japan.
The 1969 Szell Account: Produced by EMI’s Peter Andry (1927–2019) and engineered by C. Carson Taylor, its vinyl issues encompassed UK HMV ASD 2525, US Angel S 36033, Soviet Melodiya, and German Eurodisc, across roughly ten editions, along with commercial cassettes and 4-track open-reel tapes; CD and SACD editions likewise exceed a dozen releases.

The 1950 Kondrashin account circulated widely across various budget labels in the United States and Western Europe during the early microgroove era of the 1950s, but that dissemination remained tied to the opening years of the LP format. The two readings that have lived uninterrupted across LP, cassette, CD, and SACD for well over half a century are the Klemperer and Szell accounts. They represent Oistrakh's only two stereo studio traversals of the concerto: one born in Europe, the other in America; one anchored by an unyielding titan of the German school, the other sculpted by a Hungarian-born architect of orchestral precision. Together, they form the twin summits of Oistrakh’s recorded Brahms legacy.

II. June 1960: Salle Wagram, Paris

Between June 17 and 19, 1960, Oistrakh entered the Salle Wagram in Paris to tape this Brahms concerto. Producing the sessions was EMI’s legendary impresario Walter Legge (1906–1979); balance engineer at the console was Harold Davidson.

It was an extraordinary alignment of forces: a Soviet violin virtuoso, a German maestro, and a French broadcast orchestra, gathering in Paris to cut master tapes for a British gramophone company.

On the podium stood Otto Klemperer. Championed in his youth by Gustav Mahler (1860–1911), Klemperer had fled Nazi Germany in 1933 due to his Jewish heritage. Having survived brain tumor surgery, partial paralysis, and severe physical trauma, he frequently conducted seated in his later years. In 1960, at seventy-five years of age, he was the principal conductor of Legge’s Philharmonia Orchestra, revered worldwide for an architectural, granite-hewn German style. Standing opposite him was Oistrakh, fifty-two years old, at the absolute zenith of his powers, wielding a tone of deep resonance and warmth.

Critical response to this recording has historically been divided, pivoting entirely on the stark temperamental contrast between the two men. Admirers observe that Oistrakh’s expansive, expressive lyricism and Klemperer’s granite austerity generate a rare aesthetic tension, striking an ideal equilibrium between dramatic weight and inward warmth; several critics have singled it out as their favorite among Oistrakh's studio traversals. Detractors counter that Klemperer’s deliberate pacing makes the opening orchestral ritornello feel unyielding, lending an air of heavy-footed effort to the overall proceedings.

The cover photograph captures this dynamic: Oistrakh, head bowed in concentration in the lower-left foreground, bows his instrument; Klemperer, arms held aloft in the upper-right corner, presides over the orchestra. Occupying opposite corners of the frame, both men are immersed in the score. The recording does not document one musician bending to the other; it captures two artistic wills meeting on equal terms.

A Paris Diptych

Nineteen months earlier, in November 1958, Oistrakh had gathered in this exact hall with this exact ensemble—the Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française—and the same producer, Walter Legge, to tape the Beethoven Violin Concerto under the baton of André Cluytens (1905–1967).

Same orchestra, same acoustic space, same producer: in Paris, Oistrakh committed his two most cherished concertos to tape. Yet the podium temperaments could not have been more divergent. Cluytens brought a supple, French lyricism; Klemperer imposed a monument of German architecture. Listening to both records back-to-back illustrates how the same French orchestra could support the same soloist in two radically distinct musical worlds.

III. A Close Reading of Columbia 33CX 1765

The copy in my hands is the original UK Columbia monaural first pressing. The upper-right corner of the front sleeve bears the printed text "mono," while the rear jacket notes: "Recording first published 1961."

Withdrawing the disc reveals the dark blue Columbia label with gold lettering, crowned by the Magic Notes dual-semiquaver trademark, with "Long Playing Microgroove" and "MADE IN GT. BRITAIN" along the perimeter. The stamped matrix numbers are XLX 872 and XLX 873. By contrast, the stereo equivalent (SAX 2411) carries matrices YLX 1062 and YLX 1063—two separate numerical runs confirming that the mono and stereo lacquers were cut independently. The years 1960 to 1961 marked the golden transitional era of British EMI, when mono and stereo releases were manufactured and issued side by side.

The sleeve production credits are equally revealing. Cover photography was shot by Lotte Meitner-Graf (1899–1973), with a line in the lower-right corner reading: "After Mercure Ed. Paris – Atelier Jaubert," indicating the British jacket design was adapted from the French Pathé release (FCX 879 / SAXF 196). On the rear, British music critic Andrew Porter (1928–2015) provides analytical notes tracing Brahms’s first journey to Italy in 1878 through to the concerto's premiere on New Year’s Day 1879 by Joseph Joachim (1831–1907) in Leipzig. For this recording, Oistrakh performs Joachim’s original first-movement cadenza.

Market Value: Within collector circles, the primary object of pursuit is the stereo first pressing on Columbia SAX 2411. Public auction records show that pristine, near-mint copies of the turquoise-and-silver label SAX first edition consistently realize between £427 and £549, remaining steady from 2018 through 2023, with one notable sale involving an unplayed factory sample. By contrast, the mono 33CX 1765 can be secured for a fraction of that cost, offering an original British first-pressing artifact of the exact same performance.

Yet commercial prices do not dictate sonic or historical worth. Between 1954 and 1960, mono remained the dominant recording standard; UK Columbia’s blue-and-gold mono pressings represent that technology at its absolute peak of stability and mechanical refinement. While stereo microphones were active during these 1960 Paris sessions, Walter Legge himself maintained a cautious skepticism toward early stereo. In his view, recording art was meant to preserve sound as it actually behaved in a physical acoustic space, and a well-engineered mono cut remained closest to what a listener experienced in an auditorium. Seen through this lens, the blue-and-gold mono 33CX 1765 is not merely a budget alternative to a SAX pressing; it is an authentic document reflecting the producer's acoustic intentions.

Stepping Across the Iron Curtain: Oistrakh’s European Breakthrough with UK Columbia

To understand these two LPs, one must return to the political realities of the early 1950s.

Before that time, Oistrakh’s name was already whispered with reverence in the West. He had won the inaugural Eugène Ysaÿe International Competition in Brussels in 1937, and licensed pressings of his Soviet tapes appeared occasionally on small labels in France and the United States. Western music lovers could hear his playing, but they could not see him in person.

Following Stalin’s death in March 1953, the Soviet Union's restrictions on overseas travel for elite artists began to loosen. Oistrakh was finally permitted to perform and record outside the Eastern Bloc. The primary architect who built that bridge into Western studios was EMI’s Walter Legge.

Legge was the preeminent power broker of European classical recording in the 1950s. Having founded the Philharmonia Orchestra in 1945, his roster featured Herbert von Karajan (1908–1989), Otto Klemperer, Maria Callas (1923–1977), and his wife Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (1915–2006), utilizing UK Columbia as his flagship label. Oistrakh’s maiden sessions for Legge took place in Stockholm, Sweden, yielding the Sibelius (1865–1957) and Beethoven concertos alongside Sixten Ehrling (1918–2005). In November 1954, Oistrakh made his historic debut in Great Britain, heading into London’s Kingsway Hall to record our second featured LP, with Aram Khachaturian conducting his own concerto. Other Columbia sessions from this period yielded Bruch’s (1838–1920) First Concerto, Prokofiev’s (1891–1953) First Concerto, and the Brahms Double Concerto with cellist Pierre Fournier (1906–1986).

From that point forward, Oistrakh’s partnership with Legge and UK Columbia unfolded across several years:

1954: Stockholm, Sibelius and Beethoven (conducted by Ehrling).
November 1954: Kingsway Hall, London, Khachaturian (conducted by the composer), 33CX 1303.
February 1956: Abbey Road Studios, London, Tartini’s (1692–1770) Devil’s Trill Sonata (accompanied by Vladimir Yampolsky, 1905–1961), 33CX 1415.
November 1958: Salle Wagram, Paris, Beethoven (conducted by Cluytens).
June 1960: Salle Wagram, Paris, Brahms (conducted by Klemperer), 33CX 1765.

Amidst this run, in the autumn of 1955, Oistrakh undertook his celebrated maiden tour of the United States, recording simultaneously for both RCA Victor and American Columbia.

A vital distinction must be maintained here: UK Columbia and American Columbia were two entirely separate corporate entities. UK Columbia belonged to the British EMI Group, operating under the Magic Notes trademark; American Columbia belonged to the American CBS network, operating under the Columbia Masterworks banner. While they shared an ancestral name, by the 1950s they were corporate rivals. Oistrakh made historic recordings for both Columbias on opposite shores of the Atlantic.

Record Two: Khachaturian Violin Concerto (Columbia 33CX 1303)

IV. A Concerto Written for Him

In the summer of 1940, Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian took up residence at a retreat in Staraya Ruza, near Moscow. In a span of just two months, he completed his Violin Concerto in D minor, dedicated to David Oistrakh.

Throughout the composition, Khachaturian consulted Oistrakh closely on violin technique, listening to his friend try out thematic sketches. The two enjoyed a warm friendship; Oistrakh offered suggestions and ultimately composed his own extended first-movement cadenza, which replaced the composer’s original score. In November of that year, the concerto was premiered in Moscow by Oistrakh with Alexander Gauk (1893–1963) conducting, winning Khachaturian the prestigious Stalin Prize.

On the reverse of the UK sleeve, annotator Malcolm Rayment writes that when Khachaturian arrived in Moscow in 1922 at age nineteen, he could not even read music; he began cello studies at the Gnessin School of Music before transitioning to composition, progressing with astonishing speed. Rayment quotes the composer’s own words: whether borrowing genuine folk tunes or not, he could not help but write music saturated with the Armenian spirit.

According to surviving discographical entries, Oistrakh committed the Khachaturian concerto to tape on four separate occasions:

November 1946, Moscow: Alexander Gauk conducting the USSR State Symphony Orchestra (originally on 78 RPM shellac; later transferred to LP).
May 1947, Prague: Rafael Kubelík (1914–1996) conducting the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra (live broadcast).
November 1954, London: Aram Khachaturian conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra—the album before us.
August 1965, Moscow: Aram Khachaturian conducting the USSR Radio and Television Large Symphony Orchestra.

The 1954 London recording stands as the only studio account Oistrakh set down in the West. Western reissues of the 1946 Gauk performance were notoriously mislabeled, with several American budget LPs falsely crediting the composer on the podium. The authentic recordings conducted by Khachaturian himself are solely this 1954 London session and the 1965 Moscow reading, separated by eleven years.

Between these four accounts, the most authoritative interpretations are naturally the two conducted by the composer himself. They represent the definitive documents of this work.

The 1965 reading is a stereo recording made by Soviet Melodiya and issued on its native label. I once held an original Soviet Melodiya first pressing of this 1965 document in my collection: the audio fidelity was exceptional, capturing Oistrakh and Khachaturian eleven years later, rendering the work with mature command and rhythmic swagger. That tape was licensed to UK HMV (ASD 2472) and US Angel, carrying the joint Melodiya branding.

Yet in terms of global cultural footprint, historical impact, and continuity of reissues, the 1954 European recording remains singular. Disseminated across EMI’s global network—appearing simultaneously on UK Columbia, French Pathé (FCX 511), and US Angel (35244)—its reissue history on CD via EMI, Toshiba, and Warner has remained unbroken. It introduced this concerto to generations of Western music lovers. With both the composer and his dedicatee sharing the studio, and standing as a physical testament to Oistrakh's maiden visit to Great Britain, this 1954 account holds an irreplaceable place in the catalog.

V. November 1954: Kingsway Hall, London

On November 26 and 27, 1954, the artists assembled in Kingsway Hall, London. On the podium stood the composer; holding the solo violin was the work's dedicatee, performing his own first-movement cadenza. The orchestra was Walter Legge’s Philharmonia; the producer was Legge; the balance engineer at the console was Harold Davidson.

From the summer of 1940 in Staraya Ruza—with Oistrakh testing passages for the composer—to a London studio fourteen years later, this recording reunited the two men who had brought the work into the world.

The rear sleeve features an informal candid photograph taken during the sessions: Khachaturian, wearing trousers with braces, shirt sleeves rolled up, raises his left hand in concentration. The caption notes that this is the composer directing his own Violin Concerto. The jacket is not merely packaging; it is a primary historical document of the event.

Oistrakh was forty-six years old, setting foot on British soil for the first time. His American debut was still a year away; six years remained before he would record Brahms with Klemperer in Paris. And seated at the mixing console were Walter Legge and Harold Davidson—the very team that would reconvene at the Salle Wagram in 1960. These two recordings are linked across time by the same creative hands.

VI. A Close Reading of Columbia 33CX 1303

The copy before me is an early UK Columbia mono pressing, featuring the deep blue label with gold lettering and the Magic Notes dual semiquaver, reading "MADE IN GT. BRITAIN" on both sides. The label explicitly credits: "Cadenza by David Oistrakh," accompanied by the publisher credit "Hawkes" (Boosey & Hawkes) and the BIEM copyright stamp. The stamped run-out matrices are XAX 653-3N and XAX 654-3N.

The jacket reflects the aesthetic of 1950s British Columbia: both front and rear photographs were credited to Derek Allen.

Market Value: Historical auction registries record 73 confirmed sales of 33CX 1303. Clean first-issue copies typically trade between £125 and £150 (or equivalent USD). Only two exceptional entries reached higher tiers, led by a factory test pressing that realized £227.

This pricing remains well below the £400 to £500 commanded by the Brahms stereo SAX 2411. That price disparity is driven by format history: the 1954 Khachaturian was recorded solely in mono, whereas original stereo pressings form the financial summit of British EMI classical collecting. In other words, this is an original first pressing that can be acquired at a realistic price: the composer conducting, the dedicatee performing, playing a cadenza of his own invention.

Furthermore, 1954 marked the golden age of balanced mono engineering. Because no stereo version exists, this blue-and-gold 33CX 1303 remains the sole and definitive form of the recording.

Final Thoughts

Today, a world-class violinist wishing to cut a record needs only to book studio time.

In 1954, however, for a Soviet violinist to walk into a London studio, a dictator had to die, the Iron Curtain had to open a crack, and an enterprising British producer had to orchestrate diplomatic permissions just to place a musician before a Western microphone. For a Soviet concerto to be recorded in the West under the composer's baton, the composer himself had to be granted leave to step onto a podium in London. For a seventy-five-year-old German conductor, bearing the physical scars of illness, to collaborate in Paris with a fifty-two-year-old Soviet violinist before a French broadcast orchestra, an entire geopolitical matrix of Cold War cultural diplomacy had to align.

Those conditions belong to a vanished world. And because that world has disappeared, the sound etched into these two discs carries exceptional historical weight.

Both are original UK Columbia first pressings. They are not modern retrospectives; they are the living voice of that era, captured by the producers, balance engineers, and pressing plants of the day, preserved through the finest analog technology of their time.