Le label WHRA va publier prochainement un coffret d'enregistrements historiques (enregistrements publics ou studios s'étalant entre 1938 et 1960, quoiqu'il y en a un de 1973...) d'oeuvres de Barber, comprenant des premières mondiales (Toscanini, Spalding/Ormandy, Koussevitzky, Munch...), parfois même différentes moutures d'une même oeuvre (concerto pour violon p. ex.), bref des comparaisons passionnantes en perspective, miam ! :
ADAGIO FOR STRINGS, Op. 11. NBC Symphony Orchestra, cond. Arturo Toscanini; 11/5/38*.
CAPRICORN CONCERTO, Op. 21, Harry Freistadt, trpt., Julius Baker, fl., Mitch Miller, ob., CBS Symphony members, cond. Barber, “Invit. To Music” progr. WABC, 6/20/45*;
COMMANDO MARCH, Koussevitzky, BSO 10/30/43*.
CONCERTO FOR VIOLIN AND ORCHESTRA, Op. 14, Albert Spalding, vln; Philadelphia Orchestra, cond. Eugene Ormandy 2/7/41 (orig. version)*;
CONCERTO FOR VIOLIN AND ORCHESTRA, Op. 14, BSO, Ruth Posselt, vln, Koussevitzky 1/7/49 (revised version).
CONCERTO FOR VIOLONCELLO AND ORCHESTRA, Op. 22, Zara Nelsova, vlc; New Symphony, cond. Samuel Barber, London Decca LPS 332;
DIE NATALI, Op. 37, Boston Symphony Orchestra, cond. Charles Munch, 12/23/60*.
DOVER BEACH, Op. 3, Samuel Barber, bar; Curtis String Quartet (Jascha Brodsky, Charles Jaffe, vlns; Max Aronoff, vla; Orlando Cole, vlc), Victor-8998, 5/13/35;
ESSAY (NO. 1) FOR ORCHESTRA, Op. 12, N.B.C. Symphony Orchestra, cond. Arturo Toscanini, 11/5/38*;
ESSAY (NO. 2), Op. 17 NYPSO, B. Walter 4/16-19/42*.
EXCURSIONS, Op. 20, Rudolf Firkusny, pf. Columbia ML- 2174 (1951);
KNOXVILLE: SUMMER OF 1915, Op. 24, Eileen Farrell, sop; CBS Symphony Orch., cond. Bernard Herrmann, CBS broadcast, WCBSFM, 6/19/49 (orig. version)*;
KNOXVILLE: SUMMER OF 1915, Op. 24, Eleanor Steber, sop; Edward Biltcliffe, pf. Eleanor Steber in Concert (live, Carnegie Hall, October 1958), VAI Audio 1005 (piano accomp. version);
KNOXVILLE: SUMMER OF 1915, Op. 24, Leontyne Price, soprano, New York Philharmonic, cond. Thomas Schippers, 11/15/59 (revised version)*.
MEDEA, Op. 23: Orchestral Suite, 1947: New Symphony Orchestra, cond. Barber, Decca LX-3049 (1951);
MEDEA’S MEDITATION AND DANCE OF VENGEANCE, Op. 23a, NYPSO, Mitropoulos, 3/16/58*;
OVERTURE TO THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL, Op. 5, Janssen Symphony Orchestra of Los Angeles, cond. Werner Janssen, Victor 11-8591 (1944).
PRAYERS OF KIERKEGAARD, Op. 30, Price (s), Kraft (ms), E. Munro (t), Cecilia Society Chorus, BSO, Ch. Munch, 12/3/54*;
SONATA FOR VIOLONCELLO AND PIANO, OP. 6, Orlando Cole, Vlc; Vladimir Sokoloff, pf. Weston Sound (from a recital at Curtis Hall, Philadelphia, 1/28/73, with spoken intro by Cole)*.
ORCHESTRATED SONGS: I Hear an Army, Op. 10, No. 3; Sure on this Shining Night, Op. 13, No. 3; Nocturne, Op. 13, No. 4; J. Tourel, CBS orch. cond. Barber, “Invit. to Music” progr. WABC, 6/20/45*
STRING QUARTET IN B MINOR, Op. 11, Curtis Quartet (Jascha Brodsky and Charles Jaffe, Max Aronoff, Orlando Cole), at Curtis Institute 3/14/1938 (orig. version)*
SYMPHONY IN ONE MOVEMENT, Op.9, NBC Symphony, cond. Artur Rodzinski 4/2/38 (original version)*;
SYMPHONY IN ONE MOVEMENT, Op.9, NYPSO, B. Walter 3/12/44 (revised version)*;
SYMPHONY NO. 2 (“Flight Symphony”), Op. 19, Koussevitzky, BSO 3/4/44 (WP) (orig. version);
SYMPHONY NO. 2 (“Flight Symphony”), Op. 19, New Symphony, cond. Samuel Barber, Decca LX-3050 (1950), (revised version)
SYMPHONY NO. 2 (“Flight Symphony”), Op. 19, BSO rehearsal cond. Barber 6/23/51 b/cast (revised version)*;
VANESSA, Op. 32, MET, Mitropoulos, Vanessa: Eleanor Steber; Anatol: Nicolai Gedda; Erika: Rosalind Elias; Baroness: Regina Resnik; Doctor: Giorgio Tozzi; Nicholas: George Cehanovsky. 2/1/58 live.*
*=previously unissued.