Selmar Meyrowitz was one of the most exciting conductors of the early 20th century. In 1920s Berlin, he was a star in the opera pit, on the conductor’s podium, and on the air as one of European radio’s first “superstar” maestros – until the Nazis came to power. He fled to Paris, where he rebooted his career in the mid-1930s with frequent concert and radio appearances and a string of technologically superb recordings for Pathé, including the world premiere recording of Liszt’s Faust Symphony. It is heard here with his high-voltage recording of Liszt’s Les Preludes, in new transfers effected and restored by Urlicht AudioVisual’s Gene Gaudette from near-mint 78rpm discs. This is the first in a series of Meyrowitz’s complete Liszt and Berlioz recordings for Pathé.
