For those not in the know, Ferenc Fricsay (9 August 1914 – 20 February 1963) was a Hungarian conductor who from 1960 until his death, was an Austrian citizen.

Fricsay was born in Budapest in 1914 and studied music under Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, Ernst von Dohnányi, and Leo Weiner. With these and other faculty at the Budapest Academy of Music he studied piano, violin, clarinet, trombone, percussion, composition and conducting.

Fricsay made his first appearance as a conductor at age 15, substituting for his father at the podium of the Young Musicians Orchestra of Budapest. In 1930, at the age of 16, he succeeded his father as conductor of the Young Musicians Orchestra.

On graduating in 1933, Fricsay became repetiteur for the chorus of the Budapest Opera, then, from 1933 to 1943, he was music director of the Szeged Philharmonic Orchestra in the third largest city in Hungary; he also served as director of its military band from 1933.

In 1942, he was court-martialed by the government of Miklós Horthy for wanting to employ Jewish musicians, and for having "Jewish blood" himself (according to reliable reports, his mother was Jewish).

When the Nazis occupied Hungary in 1944, the chief editor of the Szeged daily newspaper warned Fricsay that the Gestapo planned to arrest him; he and his wife, Marta (nee Telbisz) and three children Marta, Ferenc and Andras, avoided this fate by going underground in Budapest.

Fricsay was known for his interpretations of the music of Mozart and Beethoven, as well as that of his teachers Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály. His 1958 recording of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 is featured in the movie A Clockwork Orange.

He conducted without a baton, according to the entry in New Grove, but "confounded the adverse critics of this technique by the extreme clarity and precision of his performances," to which it also ascribes "a dynamic spirit" and "vividness of character in familiar classics."

Symphony no 1 in E flat major, K 16 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conductor: Ferenc Fricsay
Orchestra/Ensemble: RIAS Symphony Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1764; London, England

Symphony no 4 in D major, K 19 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conductor: Ferenc Fricsay
Orchestra/Ensemble: RIAS Symphony Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1765; London, England

Symphony no 5 in B flat major, K 22 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conductor: Ferenc Fricsay
Orchestra/Ensemble: RIAS Symphony Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1765; Netherlands

Symphony no 6 in F major, K 43 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conductor: Ferenc Fricsay
Orchestra/Ensemble: RIAS Symphony Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1767; Vienna, Austria

Symphony no 7 in D major, K 45 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conductor: Ferenc Fricsay
Orchestra/Ensemble: RIAS Symphony Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1768; Vienna, Austria

Symphony no 8 in D major, K 48 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conductor: Ferenc Fricsay
Orchestra/Ensemble: RIAS Symphony Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1768; Vienna, Austria

Symphony no 9 in C major, K 73 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conductor: Ferenc Fricsay
Orchestra/Ensemble: RIAS Symphony Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1772; Salzburg, Austria

Symphony no 23 in D major, K 181 (162b) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conductor: Ferenc Fricsay
Orchestra/Ensemble: RIAS Symphony Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1773; Salzburg, Austria

Symphony no 27 in G major, K 199 (161b) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conductor: Ferenc Fricsay
Orchestra/Ensemble: RIAS Symphony Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1773; Salzburg, Austria

Concerto for Bassoon in B flat major, K 191 (186e) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conductor: Ferenc Fricsay
Orchestra/Ensemble: RIAS Symphony Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1774; Salzburg, Austria

Sinfonia concertante for Winds in E flat major, K 297b (K Anh 9) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conductor: Ferenc Fricsay
Orchestra/Ensemble: RIAS Symphony Orchestra
Written: 1778

Cassation in G major, K 63 "Final-Musik" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conductor: Ferenc Fricsay
Orchestra/Ensemble: RIAS Symphony Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1769; Salzburg, Austria

Serenade for Winds no 11 in E flat major, K 375 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conductor: Ferenc Fricsay
Orchestra/Ensemble: RIAS Symphony Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1781; Vienna, Austria

Eine musikalischer Spass, K 522 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conductor: Ferenc Fricsay
Orchestra/Ensemble: RIAS Symphony Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1787; Vienna, Austria

Serenade no 6 in D major, K 239 "Serenata notturna" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conductor: Ferenc Fricsay
Orchestra/Ensemble: RIAS Symphony Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1776; Salzburg, Austria

Divertimento for 2 Horns and Strings no 10 in F major, K 247 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conductor: Ferenc Fricsay
Orchestra/Ensemble: RIAS Symphony Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1776; Salzburg, Austria

Divertimento for 2 Horns and Strings no 17 in D major, K 334 (320b) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conductor: Ferenc Fricsay
Orchestra/Ensemble: RIAS Symphony Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1779-1780; Salzburg, Austria

Le nozze di Figaro, K 492: Sull' aria...Che soave zeffiretto by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performer: Suzanne Danco (Soprano), Rita Streich (Soprano)
Conductor: Ferenc Fricsay
Orchestra/Ensemble: RIAS Symphony Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1786; Vienna, Austria

by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performer: Suzanne Danco (Soprano)
Conductor: Ferenc Fricsay
Orchestra/Ensemble: RIAS Symphony Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1787; Prague, Czech Republic

Fricsay considered Mozart to be ”the greatest musical thinker ever to have lived”, and used his radio broadcasts to lay the foundations for a better understanding of his music. Hence this incredible, truly incredible work of musical art to the great man himself, The Unreleased Mozart Radio Broadcasts.

Spread lovingly over 4 CDs, and inclusive of two bonus arias with Suzanne Danco and Rita Streich, this previously unreleased collection is a gem to behold, of that have no doubt.

The discs feature radio broadcasts (1951-1954) uncovered in the archives of Deutschlandfunk Kultur now newly remastered and made available for the first time since the '50s, and features the RIAS (Radio in the American Sector) Symphony Orchestra Berlin; the first orchestra to be founded in post-war Berlin.

Overall, given that all these recordings were not only made back in the early to mid-'50s, but that they were recorded over the air, so to speak, I have to honestly say my expectations for sound quality were not too high.

But boy, was I genuinely surprised and proved wrong as right from the off, the sound is polished, crisp even and as I progressed they never once faltered. Yes, color me genuinely and thoroughly impressed by these previously-unreleased recordings, that's for darn tootin' sure!

For me personally, I kind of enjoyed the early Mozart symphonies more than the latter ones. Again, that's just my own humble opinion, but maybe you think differently. Regardless, there's a lot of Mozart via Fricsay to go around on these 4 discs, believe me.

• 4-CD hardback presentation (notes in E/G/F) including:
1. A short text by Fricsay himself, providing insight into his connection to Mozart and his music.
2. A new note from Wolfgang Stähr “Difficult But Wonderful Years: Fricsay In Berlin” about the founding of the RIAS Symphony Orchestra and Fricsay’s special relationship with them.

www.deutschegrammophon.com