Victor de Sabata - Selected Discography

Selected Discography

See also Victor de Sabata discography

The recordings that de Sabata made in the studio are, with some exceptions, considered less gripping than the best of his work in the concert-hall and opera-house. (This may be related to the fact that he is said to have hated making recordings). Fortunately there are now several unauthorized "live" recordings that demonstrate how exciting de Sabata could be on the podium (although the sound quality can be problematic). This contrast comes through in the two different versions of Richard Strauss's Death and Transfiguration and Verdi's Requiem listed below.

• Beethoven, Fifth Symphony, live performance with the New York Philharmonic, New York, 1950 (currently available on Urania and Tahra: Urania is superior)
• Beethoven, Eighth Symphony, live performance with the New York Philharmonic, New York, 1951 (currently available on Istituto Discografico Italiano)
• Brahms, Fourth Symphony, studio recording with the Berlin Philharmonic, Deutsche Grammophon 1939 (currently available on Pearl)
• Debussy, Jeux, studio recording with the Orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Rome, HMV, 1947. The premiere recording of this work. (currently available on Pristine Audio and Testament)
• Debussy, La mer, studio recording with the Orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Rome, HMV 1948 (currently available on Testament)
• Puccini, Tosca, studio recording with Callas, HMV 1953. De Sabata's and Callas's most famous recording. (currently available on EMI and Naxos Records)
• Respighi, Feste Romane, studio recording with the Berlin Philharmonic, Deutsche Grammophon, 1939 (currently available on Pearl)

This recording was described as "quite simply, sensational, definitive...The piece blazes with colour" in Gramophone magazine.

• Respighi, Fountains of Rome, studio recording with the Orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Rome, HMV, 1947 (currently available on Testament)
• Respighi, Pines of Rome, live performance with the New York Philharmonic, New York, 1950 (currently available on Urania)
• Schumann, Piano Concerto, live performance with Claudio Arrau and the New York Philharmonic, Carnegie Hall, New York, 1951
• Sibelius, First Symphony, live performance with the New York Philharmonic, New York, 1950 (currently available on Urania and Nuova Era)
• Richard Strauss, Death and Transfiguration, studio recording with the Berlin Philharmonic, Deutsche Grammophon 1939 (currently available on Pearl)
• Richard Strauss, Death and Transfiguration, live performance with the Vienna Philharmonic, Salzburg, 1953 (currently available on IDI and Nuova Era)
• Verdi, Falstaff, live performance with Tebaldi and Stabile, La Scala, Milan, 1951 (currently available on Music and Arts, and Urania)
  • "ne of the most remarkable performances of anything by Verdi ever captured on a disc." De Sabata "creates a performance of electric immediacy with an extraordinary attention to the score's detail and architecture."
• Verdi, Macbeth, live performance with Callas, La Scala, Milan, 1952 (currently available on EMI)
  • Callas and de Sabata "bring an almost supernatural tension to Lady Macbeth's disintegration." "Despite the poor recorded sound, this comes close to dramatic perfection."
  • "Victor De Sabata's inspired baton makes this performance a gem. Unfortunately, while De Sabata and most of the principals are perfectly fine, there is a severe stature gap in the title role. Mascherini is simply not adequate either to his colleagues or to Verdi's demands. Consequently, for much of the performance, Callas interprets alone. But her brilliant collaboration with De Sabata pays rich dividends."
• Verdi, Requiem, live performance with Tebaldi, La Scala, Milan, 1951 (currently available on Urania)
  • "A total view of the work can be felt, also a keen ear for relevant detail... Here is the only representation of Renata Tebaldi's fervent, soaring soprano in music that ideally suited her, a poised 'huic ergo', finely floated 'sed signifer', electrifying, as is De Sabata, in the Libera me... All in all, this version takes a very high place in the discography of this work."
• Verdi, Requiem, studio recording with Schwarzkopf, HMV 1954 (currently available on EMI)
  • Speeds are "positively grotesque... All are far below Verdi's metronome marks with disastrous results on the work's structure."
• Wagner, Tristan und Isolde, live performance with Gertrude Grob-Prandl and Max Lorenz, La Scala, Milan, 1951 (currently available on Archipel)

" staggering performance in spite of its cuts, and the primitiveness of the recording". The Prelude to Act Three "is one of the most powerful interpretations of this heart-breaking music on record".

• Wagner, miscellaneous operatic excerpts, live performance with Eileen Farrell and the New York Philharmonic, New York, 1951 (currently available on Urania)