|
|
March 14th
Fabien Sevitzky conducts the Philadelphia Chamber String Sinfonietta in Arensky’s Variations on a Theme of Tchaikovsky
Marie Novello plays Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 (abridged)
Thorpe Bates sings the Captain’s Song from HMS Pinafore, with chorus of Ernest Pike, Stanley Kirkby, Peter Dawson
Joseph Batten conducts “March of Victory” for the National Savings Movement, with baritones Thorpe Bates and Walter Saull
Henry Wood conducts Vaughan Williams’s Serenade to Music (improved transfer)
Michael Zacharewitsch plays violin solos
February 19th
Franz André conducts Carnival of the Animals and Daphnis and Chloe Suite No.2
François Ruhlmann onducts Chabrier’s España
Maurice Maréchal plays Lalo’s Cello Concerto, Philippe Gaubert conducting
W.H. Squire plays Saint-Saëns’s First Cello Concerto, Hamilton Harty conducting
Arnold Földesy plays Bruch’s Kol Nidrei, with piano accompaniment
Antonio Janigro plays Dvorak’s Cello Concerto, Dean Dixon conducting
January 27th
Dennis Noble sings for the National Savings scheme
Eugene Goossens conducts Delius in Cincinnati
Andreieff’s Balalaika Orchestra, 1911
Fucik’s Entry of the Gladiators - Coldstream Guards Band, 1905
Horenstein conducts Dvorak’s New World Symphony
Dean Dixon conducts Schumann’s Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4, Schubert’s Symphonies Nos. 3 & 5, and the incidental music to Rosamunde
January 3rd
Franz André conducts Bizet’s Arlèsienne Suites
Ivanov, Gauk and Golovanov conduct Balakirev
Henry Wood conducts Purcell and Mendelssohn
Hamilton Harty conducts Tchaikovsky and Mengelberg conducts Johann Strauss II
The Virtuoso String Quartet play Debussy’s Quartet and a movement from a Mendelssohn Quartet
Robert Carr sings “The trail of the lonesome pine” and “When love creeps in your heart”
December 22nd
November 16th
Rousseau’s “Le Devin du Village” with Micheau, Gedda and Roux, conducted by Louis de Froment
Selections from Rameau operas, conducted by Nadia Boulanger
Renee Chemet plays Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso
Eugene Goossens conducts the RAHO in selections from Tosca
October 25th
Landon Ronald conducts the New World Symphony (abridged acoustic recording from 1919-22)
Albert W Ketelbey conducts Irish Jigs arranged for band (1920)
David McCallum plays traditional Scottish fiddle pieces (late 1920s)
Peter Miles, actor, sings two pop songs from 1958
October 3rd
Georg Schneevoigt and the New Queen’s Hall Light Orchestra in Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suites (1927 and 1928 recordings)
Alick Maclean in movements from Peer Gynt (1923 acoustic recording)
September 6th
Landon Ronald conducts Beethoven’s 5th Symphony (1922 acoustic recording)
Thomas Beecham conducts Berlioz and Johann Strauss II (acoustic recordings)
Carlo Sabajno conducts Elgar (1906 recording)
August 28th
Landon Ronald conducts Glazunov Chopiniana, Mendelssohn Songs without words and Grieg Lyric Suite (1925 and 1933 recordings)
De Greef plays Liszt Piano Concerto 1, Saint-Saens Piano Concerto 2, Landon Ronald conducting
Daisy Kennedy plays Beethoven Romance in G, Hamilton Harty conducting
August 13th
Landon Ronald conducts Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony
Franz André conducts French overtures, Bolero, Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Rhapsodie Dahoméenne by de Boeck, Suites from Coppélia and Sylvia
Theo Olof plays Mozart Violin Concerto No.5, Walter Goehr conducting
Carl Bamberger conducts Mozart Symphony No.32
Frank Titterton sings Schubert Lieder in English
August 3rd
Landon Ronald conducts Tchaikovsky, Schumann, Wagner, Svendsen and Bizet.
Eugene Goossens conducts Tchaikovsky
Mary Law plays operatic fantasias for violin
Excerpts from Il Trovatore with Carrie Lanceley and Gwilym Richards
Daisy Kennedy interviewed on radio
July 24th
Arthur de Greef plays Grieg’s Piano Concerto and Liszt’s Hungarian Fantasia (acoustic and electric versions) conducted by Landon Ronald
De Greef plays solo works by Grieg and Liszt
Thor Johnson conducts Grieg’s Sigurd Jorsalfar
July 10th
Franz André conducts Tchaikovsky, Glazunov and Meyerbeer
Landon Ronald conducts Capriccio Italien
Georg Schneevoigt conducts Grieg’s Norwegian Dances and Sigurd Jorsalfar
June 7th
May 31st
Enrique Jorda conducts Haydn Symphony 88
Leo Blech conducts Haydn Symphony 94 Surprise
Royalton Kisch conducts Haydn Symphony 99
May 26th
Georg Hann sings Verdi, Rossini and Cornelius
Harry Secombe sings operatic arias
Franz André conducts Tchaikovsky’s and Beethoven’s 4th Symphonies, Debussy’s La Mer, Franck’s Le Chasseur Maudit, Saint-Saëns’s Danse Macabre, Mussorgsky’s Bare Mountain
April 23rd
Albert Coates conducts Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Overture (1921)
Paul Kletzki conducts Leonore No.3
André Gertler plays Berg’s Violin Concerto, with Paul Kletzki conducting
April 12th
April 10th
Handel’s Messiah conducted by Walter Susskind
Weber, Liszt and Jarnefelt conducted by Landon Ronald (1911-1915)
March 27th
Benno Moisewitsch plays Mendelssohn’s First Piano Concerto, conducted by Landon Ronald
John Drinkwater reads some of his own poems
March 15th
March 10th
Eleanor Jones-Hudson sings arias by Handel, Haydn and Puccini
March 8th
Goossens conducts Delibes, Auber, Wolf-Ferrari, Sibelius on acoustic Columbias
(many older items removed from site)
February 22nd
Mendelssohn Symphony No.4 (Hamilton Harty)
Shostakovich Symphony No.5 (Vladimir Golschmann)
Mendelssohn Walpurgisnacht (“Mario Bernardi”)
Frank Mullings sings Handel
Salvatore Salvati sings Donizetti and Mascagni
Clarence Raybould conducts overtures to Egmont and Raymond
Eugene Goossens conducts Die Meistersinger overture
Robert Heger conducts the Love Scene from R Strauss’s Feuersnot
February 3rd
Mendelssohn Symphonies No.3 (Malcolm Sargent) and No.4 (Mario Rossi)
Robert Easton sings I am a roamer and Vulcan’s Song
February 1st
Landon Ronald and Henry Gibson conduct German’s Welsh Rhapsody
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf sings Addio del passato from La Traviata
January 26th
January 20th
Three abridged Scheherezades – conducted by Landon Ronald, Eugene Goossens, Philippe Gaubert
January 17th
Mark Hambourg plays Tchaikovsky First Piano Concerto, conducted by Landon Ronald (improved transfer)
Artur Rodzinski conducts Mozart’s Clarinet and Bassoon Concertos, with Wlach and Oehlberger
Howard Barlow conducts Haydn’s Surprise Symphony
Minnie Nast and Eva Plaschke-von der Osten sing duets from Der Rosenkavalier
Vladimir Golschmann conducts Sibelius Symphony No.7 and Mozart Symphony No.38
December 31st and January 1st
Henry Wood conducts Vaughan Williams’s Serenade to Music, Greensleeves Fantasia and Wasps Overture
Malcolm Sargent conducts Mendelssohn’s Ruy Blas Overture
Jascha Horenstein conducts Haydn’s Surprise Symphony
December 24th
Henry Wood conducts Vaughan Williams’s A London Symphony (1936 version)
Eugene Goossens conducts the same work (1920 version)
November 23rd
November 11th
October 19th
September 12th
Leo Blech’s 1927 Schubert Great C major
Konstantin Ivanov conducts the Czech PO in Glazunov’s 5th Symphony
August 15th
Pauline Aubert plays music by the Couperin dynasty
Charles Munch conducts Haydn’s Symphonie Concertante
August 2nd
The Floral Dance and The Lute Player – recordings by Peter Dawson, Frederick Ranalow and Robert Easton (with an extra by Thorpe Bates)
LP transfers still on site
|
|
March 14th 2010 - Check out my blog, for more frequent updates of what I’m working on or listening to.
|
|
The latest selection of recordings is a typically mixed bag.
Firstly, Fabien Sevitzky, who has been heard here before with the .... Orchestra, recorded slightly earlier with his own Philadelphia String Simfonietta. One product of his studio sessions was Arensky’s Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky, an adaptation of the third movement of Arensky’s String Quartet No.2.
The tragically short-lived English pianist Marie Novello managed to record extensively. For Winner she recorded Liszt’s 2nd Hungarian Rhapsody, though it’s somewhat gratingly abridged to fit on two 10” sides.
Thorpe Bates has also appeared here before in recordings from early in his career. The present pair of recordings take us earlier still, and also to the end of his career.
As a regular in the Gramophone Company studios, he featured in numerous ensemble recordings, not always credited on the label. A 1906 recording of the Captain’s Song from HMS Pinafore includes Bates as soloist. The accompanying choir includes Peter Dawson, whose distinctive tones can be heard particularly on each cry of “What never?” as he holds the final note longer than everyone else!
Bates also visited the studios in 1945, to take part in one of those curious patriotic records for the National Savings movement. This one celebrated the work of the British forces in securing victory in Europe, and was recorded after Hitler’s death, but a few days before VE Day. Bates contributes to the first side, and the second features Walter Saull, a baritone who had sung Dr Caius in the third performance of Vaughan Williams's Sir John in Love in 1929 (part of the original run).
And staying with English singers, I’ve just acquired a fine set of original 78s of Vaughan Williams’s Serenade to Music, which provides a much improved transfer compared to the Columbia 7” reissue that I previously transferred.
I’ve been prompted to transfer my latest Edison Bell of the violinist Michael Zacharewitsch, who has also appeared here before. As well as the new disc in my collection, I’ve also improved the transfers of the other Zacharewitsch recordings which have appeared here.
|
|
Mediafire link for Arensky - Variations on a Theme of Tchaikovksy - Sevitzky
(This is an mp3 file – left click the link, download the file)
|
Arensky - Variations on a Theme of Tchaikovsky, Op.35a
RCA Victor Red Seal DM 896 (11-8155/6)
Matrices 056558 7, 056559 1, 056560 1A4, 056561 10 (11-8155/6 auto, 11-8153/4 manual)
Recorded 1942
Part 1 - Variations 1 and 2
Part 2 - Variations 3 and 4
Part 3 - Variations 5 and 6
Part 4 - Variation 7 and Finale
Philadelphia Chamber String Sinfonietta, Fabien Sevitzky conductor
Album notes:
Arensky - Variations on a Theme of Tchaikovsky, Op.35a
Anton Arensky was one of the most distinguished Russian composers of his period. Endowed with a natural facility of musical diction, a tenderness of feeling and a gift for simple and beautiful melody, Arensky soon won the warm friendship of his older and greater contemporary, Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky. A word concerning the cordial relationship between the two men is in order, for it is a melody by Tchaikovsky which forms the basis for the variations by Arensky recorded here. Tchaikovsky found in Arensky "a man of remarkable gifts" (as he expressed it in a letter to Mme. von Meck), not the least of which was an impeccable technical equipment in the craft of composition which, in Tchaikovsky's words, "deserves unqualified praise." As an older and more experienced composer, Tchaikovsky occasionally felt called upon to criticize certain aspects of Arensky's music. The criticism was kindly but firm, and, in one instance at least, reveals perhaps more about Tchaikovsky than it does about Arensky. Arensky had submitted a work (Marguerite Gautier) based on the famous La Dame aux Camelias of Dumas fils - the work which served Verdi as the foundation for his La Traviata. Tchaikovsky disapproved, failing to see how "an educated musician" could have chosen so trivial a work when such authors as Homer, Shakespeare, Dante, Pushkin, Gogol, Tolstoy were available as sources of inspiration. But Tchaikovsky could be extraordinarily kind as well. He put himself to considerable trouble to gain Arensky a hearing. He recommended Arensky's book on musical theory to Jurgenson, the publisher. He wrote to Rimsky-Korsakoff asking as a favor that one of Arensky's works be performed at one of his concerts. The manner in which the favours was asked is unique in the history of the friendship of composers, and indicates how much faith Tchaikovsky had in his friend's talent. He proposed to Rimsky-Korsakoff that his own Rome overture be replaced by a composition of Arensky's, arguing that where all Russian composers find a place, room should be made for Arensky. Arensky indicated his veneration for his friend by dedicating several of his compositions to Tchaikovsky. The present series of variations - originally a part of his string quartet, Op.35 - takes as its theme a song by Tchaikovsky.
In brief, the main outlines of Arensky's biography follow. He was brought up amidst eminently musical surroundings. His father, a doctor, played the 'cello, and his mother was reputed to have been an accomplished pianist. Arensky supplemented his early musical training with a course of study at the Petrograd Conservatory under Rimsky-Korsakoff. Following the completion of his studies - he graduated with honors - he was appointed professor of harmony and counterpoint at the Imperial Conservatory in Moscow in 1882. In 1889 he became a member of the Council of the Synodal School of Church Music at Moscow, a post which he held until 1893. For seven years he was conductor of the Russian Choral Society. In 189 he succeeded Balakirev, upon the latter's own recommendation, as director of the Imperial Chapel at Petrograd. This post he resigned in 1901. He died in Terijoki, Finland, on February 25, 1906 following a long illness.
|
|
Download - Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 - Marie Novello
(mp3 file – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsody (No.2)
The Winner 3599 (10")
Matrices 6849K-3, 6850R-3
Recorded November 1921
Marie Novello, piano
|
|
Download - March of FReddom - Joseph Batten
(mp3 file – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
National Savings Movement presents "March of Freedom"
EMI JG.303 (EMI: A Private Recording)
Matrices CTPX 12923-1, 12924-1
Recorded 3rd May 1945
London Symphony Orchestra, Joseph Batten
Thorpe Bates, baritone (Side 1)
Walter Saull, baritone (Side 2)
Michael Shepley, compere (both sides)
Chorus (both sides)
|
|
Download - Sullivan - HMS Pinafore - Captain’s Song - Thorpe Bates
(mp3 file – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Sullivan - HMS Pinafore - Captain’s song
(My gallant crew good morning... I am the captain of the Pinafore)
Gramophone Concert Record G.C.-4404 (10”)
Matrix 8352b (4404 II)
Recorded 16th June 1906
Orchestra
Sullivan Quartette:
Thorpe Bates, baritone
Peter Dawson, bass-baritone
Stanley Kirkby, baritone
Ernest Pike, tenor
Notes:
Thorpe Bates listed as soloist in Gramophone Company archives. Though the record label notes “Sullivan Quartette”, the ledgers give “Sullivan Operatic Party.” As noted earlier, Dawson is distinctly audible in the chorus. The recording ledgers do not list the chorus members, but Pike, Dawson and Kirkby were all in studio on the same day, recording with Bates and Eleanor Jones-Hudson in various combinations: Kirkby (recording as Walter Miller) was accomapnied by the Minster Singers, comprising Dawson, Bates, Pike and Jones-Hudson), and when Pike was the soloist his place is the same named group was taken by Kirkby.
|
|
Download - Vaughan Williams - Serenade to Music - Henry Wood
(mp3 file – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Vaughan Williams - Serenade to Music
Columbia LX757-8
Matrices CAX 8367-2A, 8368-2A, 8369-1, 8370-1
Recorded 15th October 1938
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Henry J. Wood
Isobel Baillie, soprano - Lilian Stiles Allen, soprano - Elsie Suddaby, soprano - Eva Turner, soprano
Margaret Balfour, contralto - Muriel Brunskill, contralto - Astra Desmond, contralto - Mary Jarred, contralto
Parry Jones, tenor - Heddle Nash, tenor - Frank Titterton, tenor - Walter Widdop, tenor
Norman Allin, bass - Robert Easton, bass - Roy Henderson, baritone - Harold Williams, baritone
|
|
Mediafire link for recordings by Michael Zacharewitsch
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Schubert - Ave Maria
Zacharewitsch - Imagination
Edison Bell Velvet Face 509
80.0rpm
Matrices X1125E-?, X1126N-?
Michael Zacharewitsch, violin with piano
Wieniawski - Legende
Svendsen - Romanze
Edison Bell Velvet Face 517
Matrices X1122D-4, X1123B-4
80.0rpm
Michael Zacharewitsch, violin with piano
Sarasate - Zigeunerweisen (Gipsy Airs)
Edison Bell Velvet Face 525
81.9rpm
Matrices X1171E-1, X1172F-2
Michael Zacharewitsch, violin with piano
|
|
February 19th 2010 - Check out my blog, for more frequent updates of what I’m working on or listening to.
|
|
The themes this month are the cello and French composers. A number of recordings will fall into both categories.
We begin with Franz André conducting Saint-Saëns’s Carnival of the Animals and Ravel’s second Daphnis and Chloe suite. The early 1950s Telefunken sound is generally good, particularly in the Saint-Saëns, with its sparer textures. The Ravel, the earlier of the two recordings, suffers some crumbling of sound in climaxes. Both works receive impressive performances, though the double bass player in Le Carnaval isn’t as secure as one would wish.
From twenty years earlier, François Ruhlmann conducts Chabrier’s España, on a rather noisy Pathé recording.
Recordings of two French cello concertos date from about the same period. Maurice Maréchal plays the Lalo concerto impressively, with solid backing from Philippe Gaubert in a 1932 Columbia recording. There are a few small cuts in the first movement. And from spring of 1926, W.H. Squire plays Saint-Saëns’s Cello Concerto No.1 with equally fine support from Hamilton Harty and the Hallé Orchestra.
Arnold Földesy recorded for the Gramophone company around 1915-19, Odeon in the early 1920s, and again for the Gramophone Company around 1930. Among his HMV recordings were movements from the Lalo concerto, presumably abridged. He was principal cellist of the Berlin Philharmonic for a number of years, before working as a soloist. His cello is now owned by Daniel Müller-Scholl, who has recorded Bruch’s Kol Nidrei on it. It is this work that we can hear Földesy playing (with a minor cut), in an early 1930s Gramophone Company recording with piano accompaniment.
For the final cello recording of this update, we return to the early LP era. Antonio Janigro plays Dvorak’s Cello Concerto, with the support of Dean Dixon and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra.
|
|
Mediafire link for Saint-Saëns and Ravel - Franz André
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Saint-Saëns - Carnival of the Animals
Ravel - Daphnis and Chloe Suite No.2
Telefunken GMA 41
Matrices LPO-65330-3B, LPO-36498-3B
Recorded 5th October 1952, November 1950
L' Orchestre Symphonique de la Radiodiffusion Nationale Belge, Franz André
with Frank Vanbulck and Jeanne Visele, pianos
|
|
Download - Chabrier - Espana - François Ruhlmann
(mp3 file – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Chabrier - España - Rapsodie pour orchestre
Pathé X.5446
Matrices N 8689-1, N 8690-1 (M5-50495, --)
Recorded 1931
Orchestre Symphonique, François Ruhlmann
|
|
Mediafire link for Lalo - Cello Concerto - Maurice Maréchal, Philippe Gaubert
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Lalo - Cello Concerto
Columbia LFX 282-4
Matrices WLX 1619-3, 1620-2, 1621-3, 1622-3, 1623-1, 1624-1 (M6-62012, 62565, 62567, 62569, 62017, 62016)
Recorded June 5 1932 (sides 1 and 2), June 6 1932 (remainder)
Maurice Maréchal, cello
Orchestre Symphonique, Philippe Gaubert
I. 1er Temps (2½ sides)
II. Intermezzo (1½ sides)
III. Final (2 sides)
The first movement has several cuts: bars 7-12 of fig 7; first 8 bars of fig 8; from beat before fig 9 to last beat of 10th bar of fig 9.
|
|
Mediafire link for Saint-Saëns - Cello Concerto No.1 - W.H. Squire, Hamilton Harty
(This is an mp3 file – left click the link, download the file)
|
Saint-Saens - Cello Concerto No.1 in A minor Op.33
Columbia L 1800-2
Matrices WAX 1414-2, 1415-1, 1416-1, 1417-1, 1418-4, 1419-1 (6064, 6066, 6057, 6058, 6067, 6065)
Recorded 25th March 1926
Available from December 1926 to January 1940
W.H. Squire, cello
Hallé Orchestra, Sir Hamilton Harty
All sides run at 80.6rpm, and maintain a consistent speed - this seems a rare occurrence for Columbias of this vintage. The work is in one continous movement, though it is divided into sections.
|
|
Download - Bruch - Kol Nidrei - Arnold Földesy
(mp3 file – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Bruch - Kol Nidrei
His Master's Voice E.H. 15
Matrices Cw 303-I, 304-I (single-side numbers 4-047850/1)
Recorded c1930
Arnold Földesy, cello
Helmut Baerwald, piano
Side 1 runs from the start of the work to the first beat of letter D in the score. The second side picks up at one beat before letter E - thus omitting 11½ bars.
Földesy also recorded this work in August 1920 for Odeon.
|
|
Mediafire link for Dvorak - Cello Concerto - Antonio Janigro, Dean Dixon
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Dvorak - Cello Concerto in B minor Op.104
World Record Club T 342 (Westminster recording)
Matrices W 7904-1N, 7905-1N
Recorded 1953/4
Antonio Janigro, cello
Vienna State Opera Orchestra, Dean Dixon
The original Nixa release of this recording was reviewed in Gramophone in June 1954. It was described as “first-class in every way.” It is compared favourably against versions by Zara Nelsova and Rostropovich.
The original release had the first two movements on the first side, and the third movement on the second side. On this World Record Club reissue, the 2nd movement is moved onto the second side.
|
|
January 27th 2010 - Check out my blog, for more frequent updates of what I’m working on or listening to.
|
|
The second update of 2010 brings my typical mixed bag of recordings.
The first is an unusual recording by the wonderful British baritone Dennis Noble. It is not listed in the discography of Noble which appeared in The Record Collector in 2004. The record label is a private EMI pressing made to promote the National Savings scheme. The songs on one side are a “Silver Lining Medley”, and on the other “Look for the Silver Lining.” These were presumably chosen to tie in with the film “Look for the Silver Lining”, a 1949 biopic of Marilyn Miller. In the medley, Noble sings two songs, and C Wright (a very English tenor crooner) sings another. A fourth is assigned to the chorus. The second side has Noble singing with the chorus. Both sides are introduced by actor Norman Shelley.
Next, from around the same time, a British conductor in the US - Eugene Goossens with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in Delius’s The Walk to the Paradise Garden.
Some decades before, a Russian conductor made recordings in the US - Vassily Andreyev took his Balalaika Orchestra on tour there in 1911. One of the sides he made has appeared here before, when it was a coupling for Landon Ronald’s abridged recording of Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony.
An altogether different sound comes from an early single-side Zonophone of Fucik’s “Entry of the Gladiators”, recorded a little before it acquired its circus connotations. The Zonophone Military Band credited on the label are actually the Band of H.M. Colstream Guards.
Maintaining the Czech theme, Dvorak’s New World Symphony receives a compelling performance from Jascha Horenstein on a Vox LP. The tempi are perhaps slow in places, but the conductor’s attention to detail makes for a highly satisfying account.
Finally, making a long overdue appearance here, the American conductor, Dean Dixon. I have more recordings by Dixon than can be given here - many are still in copyright, as he continued recording into the 1970s. The three LPs here include two symphonies by Schumann, two by Schubert, and Schubert’s Rosamunde music.
|
|
Download - Silver Lining Medley - Dennis Noble, etc.
Download - Look for the silver lining - Dennis Noble, etc.
(mp3 files – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Silver Lining Medley:
Trad. - Roll away, clouds
Milton Egan - Song of the Dawn
Jack Ager - Over on the Sunny Side
Irving Berlin - Blue Skies
Jerome Kern - Look for the silver lining
EMI JG.367
Matrices CTPX 14690-1, 14691-1
Recorded 1948?
Commentary by Norman Shelley
Dennis Noble, baritone
C Wright, singer
Chorus
National Savings Symphony Orchestra, Cecil Woods
|
|
Mediafire link for Delius - Paradise Garden - Goossens
(This is an mp3 file – left click the link, download the file)
|
Delius - The walk to the Paradise Garden (Intermezzo from A Village Romeo and Juliet)
RCA Victor 11-9493
Matrices D6-RC-5139, 5140
Recorded 14th February 1946, Cincinnati
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Eugene Goossens
|
|
Mediafire link for Andreieff’s Balalaika Orchestra
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Traditional - Serenade Falet
Rubinstein - Bal Costumé - Toreador et Andalouse
Victrola 18058
Matrices B9996-1, 9978-1
Recorded 20th, 21st February 1911
Andreieff's Balalaika Orchestra, Vassily Vassilievich Andreyev
Top half of label has a replacement stuck over it:
SPECIAL RECORD
Manufactured for
THE GRAMOPHONE CO., LTD.
HAYES,
MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND
Made in U.S.A.
|
|
Download - Fucik - Gladiators - Coldstream Guards
(mp3 file – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Fucik - Entry of the Gladiators
Zonophone X-40168
Matrix 2293e (X40168V)
Recorded 19th July 1905
Band of H.M. Coldstream Guards, John Mackenzie-Rogan
(credited on label as Zonophone Military Band)
This recording plays just sharp of A major at 78rpm and, in A flat major at 73rpm. Transposition up to B flat major seems unnaturally fast, and A is an unlikely key for a military band. The piano score of the piece is in C major.
|
|
Mediafire link for Dvorak - New World Symphony - Horenstein
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Dvorak - Symphony No.9 in E minor Op.95
Vox PL 7590
Matrices XTV 17222-1D, 17223-1B
Recorded c1952, Vienna
Issued 1953
Vienna State Philharmonia, Jascha Horenstein
Reviewed in Gramophone, November 1953, where it was found to be better than recordings by Jorda and Kubelik.
|
|
Mediafire link for Schumann - Symphonies - Dean Dixon
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Schumann - Symphony No.3 in E flat major Op.97 "Rhenish"
Schumann - Symphony No.4 in D minor Op.120
Westminster WL 5285
Matrices XTV 20239-1B, 20240-1A
Issued 1954
Vienna State Opera Orchestra, Dean Dixon
|
|
Mediafire link for Schubert - Symphonies - Dean Dixon
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Schubert - Symphony No.4 in C minor ("Tragic")
Schubert - Symphony No.5 in Bb major
Nixa NLP 913
Issued 1954
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Dean Dixon
(credited on label as Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of London)
|
|
Mediafire link for Schubert - Rosamunde - Dean Dixon
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Schubert - Rosamunde - incidental music
Whitehall, WH 20069
Matrices M-18483-A-XTV-19105-IU, M-18483-B-XTV-19106-IU
Issued 1954
1. Overture (Alphonso and Estrella) (Andante - Allegro)
2. Entr'acte (Allegro molto moderato)
3. Ballet (Allegro moderato - Andante un poco assai)
4. Entr'acte (Andante)
5. Romance (Andante con moto) (a)
6. Chorus of Spirits (b)
7. Entr'acte (Andante)
8. Shepherd's Melody (Andante)
9. Shepherd's Chorus (Allegro) (b)
10. Hunting Chorus (Allegro moderato) (b)
11. Ballet (Andantino)
Vienna State Opera Orchestra, Dean Dixon
(a) Hilde Rössl-Majdan, mezzo-soprano
(b) Vienna Akademie Kammerchor
|
|
January 3rd 2010 - Check out my blog, for more frequent updates of what I’m working on or listening to.
|
|
To begin the New Year, I’m looking back as well as forwards. Mendelssohn and Purcell had anniversaries in 2009, so you can hear works by them, conducted by Henry Wood. There’s also a movement from one of Mendelssohn’s String Quartets, as a filler for the Virtuoso Quartet’s recording of the Debussy String Quartet. There will be more from this quartet and from Wood in 2010. Also I hope to make more recordings by Hamilton Harty available here - so as a sort of teaser, one of those odd Columbia couplings, of Harty conducting Tchaikovksy and Mengelberg conducting Johann Strauss II (which serves as a late acknowledgement of the New Year’s Day Concert). From the LP era, comes a delightful sounding recording of Bizet’s Arlèsienne Suites from Franz André, and three Balakirev works, probably recorded in the early to mid-1950s, but here remastered from a Saga LP.
And as a curio, and a continuation of unusual vocal recordings, the widely recorded bass Robert Carr sings two songs on a Winner record, including an early recording of the Trail of the Lonesome Pine - rather more lugubrious than the version with Stan and Ollie.
|
|
Mediafire link for Bizet - L’Arlèsienne Suites - Franz André
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Bizet - L'Arlèsienne Suites 1 & 2
Telefunken LGX 666021
Matrices LP037096-1B, 037097-1B
Recorded 1st October 1953
Issued 1954
L' Orchestre Symphonique de la Radiodiffusion Nationale Belge, Franz André
Suite No.1 - I. Prelude
Suite No.1 - II. Minuetto No.1
Suite No.1 - III. Adagietto
Suite No.1 - IV. Carillon
Suite No.2 - I. Pastorale
Suite No.2 - II. Intermezzo
Suite No.2 - III. Minuetto No.2
Suite No.2 - IV. Farandole
|
|
Mediafire link for Balakirev - Orchestral works
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Balakirev - Russia
Soviet Radio Symphony Orchestra, Konstantin Ivanov
Balakirev - Overture on Three Russian Themes
Soviet Radio Symphony Orchestra, Alexander Gauk
Balakirev - Tamara
Soviet Radio Symphony Orchestra, NikolaI Golovanov
Saga Sovereign XID 5101
Matrices XID 5101A, 5101B
Issued 1961
Recorded 1952 (Golovanov), mid 1950s? other items. All in mono
|
|
Mediafire link for Purcell-Wood - Suite in Five Movements - Wood
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Purcell arr. Henry J Wood - Suite in Five Movements
Decca K.975/6
Matrices TA 2967-II, 2968-II, 2969-II, 2970-III
Recorded 2nd April 1937
Available from October 1941
The Queen's Hall Orchestra, Sir Henry J. Wood
George Stratton, leader
No.1. Prelude from Act 3 "Dioclesian" (Molto maestoso)
No.2. Minuet from "Distressed Innocence" (Tempo di minuetto)
No.3. Largo from "5th Sonata for Strings, in three parts"
No.4. Song of the Birds (Allegro from "Timon of Athens") No.5. Vivace from "1st Sonata for Strings"
|
|
Download - Mendelssohn - Hebrides, Songs without words - Wood
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Mendelssohn - Fingal's Cave Overture; Two Songs without words
Columbia 9843-4
Matrices WAX 4731-2, 4732-2, 4733-2, 4734-2 (S 808, 810, 811, 807)
Recorded 4th March 1929
Available from mid-September 1929 to February 1948
The New Queen's Hall Orchestra, Sir Henry J. Wood
All sides run at about 76.8rpm
Fingal's Cave Overture ("The Hebrides") (3 sides)
Two Songs without Words - (1) Spring Song; (2) Bee's Wedding (1 side)
|
|
Download - Tchaikovksy - Mazeppa - Cossack Dance - Harty
Download - Johann Strauss II _ Perpetuum Mobile - Mengelberg
(mp3 files – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Tchaikovksy - Mazeppa - Cossack Dance
Matrix CAX 6279-1
Recorded 12th February 1932
Hallé Orchestra, Sir Hamilton Harty
Johann Strauss II - Perpetuum Mobile
Matrix 6428-1
Recorded 11th May 1932, Concertgebouw, Amsterdam
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam, Willem Mengelberg
Columbia LX 240
|
|
Mediafire link for Debussy - String Quartet - Virtuoso Quartet
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Debussy - String Quartet in G minor Op.10
Mendelssohn - Quartet in Eb major Op.43 - II. Scherzo
His Master's Voice D 1058-1061
Matrices Cc 6690-II, 6691-V, 6692-VII, 6711-IIII, 6712-IIII, 6713-II, 6891-IV, 7021-I (single side numbers 08218/9, 08220/5)
Recorded 14th September 1925 (side 1), 18th September (side 4, 6) 4th December 1925 (side 2, 3, 5, 7), 21st October 1925 (Mendelssohn)
No.1. First Movement - Animé et très décidé (First Record)
No.2. First Movement - Animé et très décidé (Second Record)
No.3. Second Movement - Assez vif et bien rythmé
No.4. Third Movement - Andantino doucement expressif (First Record)
No.5. Third Movement - Andantino doucement expressif (Second Record)
No.6. Fourth Movement - Très modéré (First Record)
No.7. Fourth Movement - Très modéré (Second Record)
String Quartet in Eb major Op.44, No.3 - II. Scherzo: Assai leggiero vivace
Virtuoso String Quartet
Marjorie Hayward, violin
Edwin Virgo, violin
Raymond Jeremy, viola
Cedric Sharpe, cello
|
|
Download - When love creeps - Robert Carr
Download - The trail of the lonesome pine - Robert Carr
(mp3 files – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Bennett Scott - When love creeps in your heart - Ballad (lyrics AJ Mills)
Harry Carroll - The trail of the lonesome pine - Popular song
The Winner 2546
Matrices 1058B-2, 1059W-1 (3901)
Issued February 1914
Orchestra
Robert Carr, baritone
Play in Eflat and Aflat respectively at 80rpm
|
|
December 22nd 2009 - Check out my blog, for more frequent updates of what I’m working on or listening to.
|
|
I’ve now acquired a better source for Susskind’s Pye recording of Handel’s Messiah, which I present here in rather better sound than its previous appearance. I repeat below the full details of this recording:
This Pye recording from 1958 is announced on the blue folder it was issued in as “Handel’s Messiah - the original manuscript.” This is perhaps misleading - while the performance observes the traditional cuts for the period (with Part III particularly abbreviated), Susskind has removed the two centuries of orchestral accretions to the score, giving us an early attempt at Handel’s original scoring. It’s still very much a mid 20th century account of the work though, with nothing in the way of double-dotting, ornamentation or the fast tempos to which we are now more accustomed.
|
|
Mediafire link for Messiah Part 1 - Susskind
Mediafire link for Messiah Part 2 - Susskind
Mediafire link for Messiah Part 3 - Susskind
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Handel - Messiah
Pye Golden Guinea GSGL 10062
Matrices GSGL 10062 A-1L, B-2L, C-2L, D-2L, E-1L, F-1L
Recorded 1958
The London Orchestra, Walter Susskind
London Philharmonic Choir (Choirmaster Frederick Jackson)
April Cantelo, soprano
Helen Watts, contralto
Wilfred Brown, tenor
Roger Stalman, bass
George Malcolm, harpsichord
Harold Darke, organ
This set of three stereo LPs (auto coupling) was in rather variable condition, with side 4 being particularly noisy. There are one or two places where the stereo focus drifts. I have corrected occasional pitch variations (in particular at an edit in “But who may abide.”) “The London Orchestra” is so named on the records, and is likely to be the London Philharmonic.
This recording was reviewed in Gramophone in November 1960, and its reissues on Pye’s budget Marble Arch label (both in full and as a single disc of highlights) were reviewed more briefly in February 1966.
More details
|
|
There’s more from Daisy Kennedy this month. Several of the raw transfers here were provided by Cheniston Roland of Violinland , and one disc comes from my collection.
|
|
Mediafire link for Daisy Kennedy - more acoustic Columbias
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Drdla - Dance Op.96
Ethel Barnes - Swing Song (L’Escarpolette)
Columbia 2697
Matrices 35882, 35885
Recorded 1916
Available from September 1916
Daisy Kennedy, violin
with piano
Kosloff - Idylle Finnoise
Zimbalist - Slavonic Dance No. 2 (Hebrew song and dance)
Columbia 2698
Matrices 65490, 65492
Recorded 1916
Available from October 1916
Daisy Kennedy, violin
with piano
(from the collection of Cheniston Roland)
d’Ambrosio - Canzonetta
Kosloff - Melodie tartare
Columbia D1371
Matrices ??
Recorded c1917
Daisy Kennedy, violin
with piano
(from the collection of Cheniston Roland)
Kreisler - Liebesfreud
Zimbalist - Russian Dance
Columbia D1373
Matrices ??
Recorded c1917
Daisy Kennedy, violin
with piano
(from the collection of Cheniston Roland)
|
|
November 16th 2009 - Check out my blog, for more frequent updates of what I’m working on or listening to.
|
|
La Guerre des Bouffons reaches my site today, with works from opposing sides of the French operatic conflict. Rousseau is better known as a philosopher, but fancied himself as something of a musician, and his “Le Devin du Village” was extremely influential in its day. It was later parodied by Mozart in “Bastien und Bastienne.” Rousseau was a proponent of Italian operatic style as exemplified by Pergolesi’s “La serva padrona,” and wrote articles supporting the Italian as opposed to the French style espoused by Rameau. Rousseau’s own amateur attempt at opera, though hugely popular at the time, sounds somewhat trite and pedestrian now, though it is given as good a performance as one could hope for in the recording below. Gedda is perhaps too strong for the role of Colin sometimes. The Rameau excerpts, to me, win out easily, directed by Nadia Boulanger.
|
|
Mediafire link for Rousseau - Le Devin du Village - de Froment (1956)
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Rousseau - Le Devin du Village
Columbia 33CX 1503
Matrices XPTX 394 21, 395 21 (M6 176329/30)
Recorded April 1956
Issued February 1958
Orchestre de Chambre Louis de Froment, Louis de Froment
Nicolai Gedda, tenor (Colin)
Janine Micheau, soprano (Colette)
Michel Roux, bass (Le Devin)
Choeurs Raymond Saint-Paul
|
|
Mediafire link for Rameau - Operatic excerpts - Boulanger
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Rameau - Operatic Excerpts
Brunswick AXTL 1053
Matrices MC 3135-1B, MC 3136-3B
Issued 1954
Instrumental Ensemble, Nadia Boulanger
Dardanus - Act 2. Introduction - Tout l'avenir... Suspends ta brillante carrière... Hâtons-nous!... Nos cris ont pénétré
Doda Conrad, baritone with vocal ensemble
Castor et Pollux - Prologue: Minuet... Naissez, dons de Flore
Paul Derenne, tenor
Jean Maciet, tenor
Nadine Sautereau, soprano
Flore Wend, soprano
Hippolyte et Aricie - Act 5. Rossignols amoureux
Flore Wend, soprano
Dardanus - Act 3. O jour affreux!
Irma Kolassi, mezzo-soprano
Les Indes Galantes - Entrée 2. Clair flambeau
Bernard Demigny, baritone with vocal ensemble
Hippolyte et Aricie - O disgrâce cruelle - Overture and Fanfare
Irma Kolassi, mezzo-soprano with vocal ensemble
Hippolyte et Aricie - Ballet figuré
Castor et Pollux - Act 4. Séjour de l'éternelle paix
Paul Derenne, tenor
Les Fêtes d'Hébé - Prologue: Volons sure les bordes de la seine;
Acanthe et Céphise - Entr'acte;
Les Fêtes d'Hébé - Entrée I. Je vous revois
Nadine Sautereau, soprano
Flore Wend, soprano
Platée - Chantons Bacchus!
Paul Derenne, tenor with vocal ensemble
|
|
In the early years of his recording career, Eugene Goossens frequently recorded operatic pots-pourris, though it was something he did more often for Columbia than for HMV as here with the Royal Albert Hall Orchestra
|
|
Download - Puccini/Tavan - Tosca - selection - Goossens
(mp3 file – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Puccini arr. Tavan - Tosca - Selection
His Master’s Voice D 913
Matrices Cc 2668-IV, 2669-II (single side numbers 4-0592/3)
Recorded 19th January 1924, 7th March 1923, Hayes
Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, Eugene Goossens
|
|
The French violinist Renée Chemet is a virtually unknown name to most, but she did record extensively for the Gramophone Company. Her recorded repertoire consists mostly of minor works which were the staple fare for violinists on record at the time. She did however record a number of sonata movements, an arrangement of a Vivaldi concerto, a Mozart concerto with Goossens conducting (albeit the doubtful No.6, K268), and this favourite Saint-Saens work.
|
|
Download - Saint-Saens - Introduction et Rondo Capriccioso - Chemet
(mp3 file – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Saint-Saens - Introduction et Rondo Capriccioso
His Master’s Voice DB 887
Matrices Cc 6789-I, 6790-II (single side numbers 4-07955/6)
Recorded 28th September 1925, Hayes
Renée Chemet, violin
Harold Craxton, piano
|
|
October 25th 2009 - Check out my blog, for more frequent updates of what I’m working on or listening to.
|
|
This latest update brings a rather mixed bag of recordings, and some departures from my usual fare.
The series of Landon Ronald recordings continues with his acoustic account of Dvorak’s New World Symphony. The recording amounts to just 8 sides, two for each movement. All except for the Scherzo are cut slightly:
First Movement: Bars 76-83, 106-113, 285-288, 301-308, 335-342
Second Movement: Bars 5-6, 27-35, 53-63, there is also a slight omission at the very end. (Only about twenty bars in all.)
Fourth Movement: Bars 1-9, 49-59, 100-114, 128-167.
Percy Scholes gives a detailed study of this work and recording in his Second Book of the Gramophone Record.
It is worth noting that two different takes of the first part of the Slow movement were issued - my set contains the later version. Scholes notes that in the earlier version the A flat on the Cor Anglais hoots noticeably (possibly due to recording horn resonance, though Scholes blames the instrument!). This defect is not apparent in the later take. There is, however, a fluff in the triplet flute passage in the second side of the movement which was not re-recorded. On the whole the cuts do not have a major impact, except in the final movement where the loss of the first 9 bars makes for a startling opening after the Scherzo.
|
|
Mediafire link for Dvorak - New World - Landon Ronald (1919-22)
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Dvorak - Symphony No.5 (No.9) in E minor Op.95 “From the New World”
First Movement - Adagio - Allegro molto (2 sides)
Second Movement - Largo (2 sides)
Third Movement - Scherzo - Molto vivace (2 sides)
Fourth Movement - Allegro con fuoco (2 sides)
His Master’s Voice D 536, 537, 587, 613
Matrices HO 4065af, HO 4068af, Cc 2248-II, HO 4064af, Cc 454-III, Cc 455-IV, Cc 723-I, Cc 724-I (single side numbers 3-0589/92, 3-0669/70, 3-0712/3)
Recorded 1st November 1919 (sides 1, 2, 4), 7th October 1921 (sides 5, 6), 29th November 1921 (side 7, 8), 6th December 1922 (side 3), Hayes
Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, Landon Ronald
The originally issued take of the first part of the first movement was HO 4063af, recorded at the same session as the rest of the first two movements.
The first side of the first movement ends with emphatic cadential chords to round out the side. This ending is included as an extra in the folder containing these files.
|
|
Albert Ketelbey was to the Columbia Graphophone Company what Landon Ronald was for the Gramophone Company. However, as a composer of light music, his recorded repertoire is very different to that of Ronald. As well as recordings of his own music, he conducted numerous brass band arrangements - in this case of a selection of Irish jigs. It may be that Ketelbey arranged these himself.
|
|
Download - Irish Jigs - Ketelbey
(mp3 files – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Traditional - Irish Jigs
Part 1 (Introducing: Hunting the Hare; Rory O'More; Sprig of Shillelagh; Paddy's Brallagann; Irish Washerwoman)
Part 2 (Introducing: Haste to the Wedding; Rakes of Mallow; Paddy O'Rafferty; Dublin Lasses; Drops of Brandy; St. Patrick's Day)
Regal G 7585 (10” 78rpm)
Matrices 35807, 35808 (9798, 9799)
Recorded 1920
Available from December 1920 to January 1943
Silver Stars Band, Albert W Ketelbey
|
|
Mention of the name David McCallum is more likely for most people to conjure up images of the actor, star of The Men from U.N.C.L.E., Sapphire and Steel and other cult TV shows. While he has made recordings, as singer, conductor and arranger, he inherits his musical interest and ability from his violinist father. David McCallum senior was the leader of the Scottish Orchestra in the 1930s before Beecham approached him to replace Paul Beard at the LPO from 1936. During the war McCallum lead the National Symphony Orchestra, and after it Beecham approached him to lead his new RPO. The present record, however, is from the early years of McCallum’s career - a disc of Scottish fiddle pieces and Auld Robin Gray, recorded for Vocalion in the late 1920s and issued on their Broadcast label.
|
|
Download - Scottish fiddle pieces - David McCallum
Download - Auld Robin Gray - David McCallum
(mp3 files – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
(a) Inverness gathering (b) Deil among the Tailors (c) East Neuk o’ Fife
Auld Robin Gray
Broadcast S.6 (8” 78rpm, “long-playing”)
Matrices Z309, Z310
Recorded late 1920s
David McCallum, violin
George Short, piano
|
|
A complete change of pace comes with a “pop” record. This curiosity was recorded in 1958 by Peter Miles, a young British actor, singer and guitarist of the time. The reason I came to buy it is that Miles appeared several times in my favourite television programme, “Doctor Who.” His most famous role was as Nyder, the Kaled Security Commander in the story “Genesis of the Daleks.” Nyder is a nasty piece of work, as were Miles characters in “The Silurians” and “Invasion of the Dinosaurs.” So it’s startling to hear him singing these songs so charmingly in a lovely falsetto. One of the sides is a song he wrote himself.
|
|
Download - Peter Miles - My Little Girl
Download - Peter Miles - Goodnight, God bless, sleep tight
(mp3 files – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Peter Miles - My Little Girl
Roberts - Goodnight, God bless, sleep tight
Columbia DB 4117 (10” 78rpm)
Matrices CA 24380-1, 24381-1
Recorded 1958
Peter Miles, singer
Tony Osborne and his Orchestra
with the Rita Williams Singers
|
|
October 3rd 2009
|
|
Georg Schneevoigt’s Grieg recordings have appeared here already, and his 1925 recordings of the Norwegian Dances and Sigurd Jorsalfar Suite can be found further down this page. It’s more than two and a half years though, since I posted my transfers of the Peer Gynt Suites which Schneevoigt recorded for English Columbia a few years later with the New Queen’s Hall Light Orchestra. At the time I only had 1 set of these recordings, and due to the lack of matrix numbers, I was unsure whether these were the 1927 takes originally issued in April 1928, or the 1928 re-recordings which replaced seven of the eight sides in November 1928. Since then I’ve acquired two more sets of the Suites, allowing me to collect all issued versions of the Suites. It appears that my previous transfers were of the earlier version (which is as I suspected given the source of the recordings - unsold stock from a shop that closed in the late 1920s). Thankfully, the last two movements of the first Suite had matrix numbers in two of my sets, as did the last three sides of Suite No.2 in one of my sets. These allowed me to identify the respective records as the 1928 recordings. Some comparison of labels, recording speeds and sound quality was necessary to confirm which versions of the other items were from 1927 and which from 1928.
There are differences between the two recordings, but there does not appear to be any obvious sonic reason for the re-recordings. In fact, the earlier recordings, apparently made in the Scala Theatre in London, according to the labels, have, to me, a more pleasing sound, with clearer balance. The later recordings do not mention a recording location on the label, so I presume they were made elsewhere. There are variations in tempo between the early and later recordings, and one or two imperfections in ensemble at various points. The bass drums used in the Arabian Dance are quite different between performances.
|
|
Mediafire link for Grieg - Peer Gynt Suites (1927) - Georg Schneevoigt
Mediafire link for Grieg - Peer Gynt Suites (1928) - Georg Schneevoigt
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Grieg – Peer Gynt Suite No.1
Grieg – Peer Gynt Suite No.2
Part 1. Der Brautraub (Ingrids Klage)
Part 2. Arabian Dance
Part 3. Return of Peer Gynt
Part 4. Solveig’s Song
New Queen’s Hall Light Orchestra, Georg Schneevoigt
Columbia 9309-12, recorded 1927 and 1928.
First version:
Matrices WAX 2775-2, 2776-2, 2777-2, 2778-1, 2779-1, 2780-1, 2781-1, 2782-2
Recorded May 27th 1927, Scala Theatre, London
Available from April 1928 to November 1928.
Second version:
Matrices WAX 2775-3, 2776-4, 2777-4, 2778-4, WAX 2779-4, 2780-3, 2781-5.
Recorded May 24th 1928.
Available from December 1928 to February 1948 (1st Suite) and April 1941 (2nd Suite). The final side, Solveig’s Song, was not replaced in the 1928 re-recording.
It is interesting to note that the re-recordings were made within two months of the original recordings being issued. It seems possible that the replacements were made due to some defect coming to light soon after the original issues. On several of the 1927 sides, particularly in the second Suite, Schneevoigt starts his performances unusually quickly after the record begins. With no run-in groove, this could make it awkward to catch the very beginning of each piece. However, this also occurs in Solveig’s Song, which was not replaced. It is also possible that the original matrices were damaged in some way soon after the records were first issued, and with such popular music, a re-recording may have been necessary to cater for demand.
|
|
As a companion to the late 1920s recording of Peer Gynt with Schneevoigt conducting the New Queen’s Hall Light Orchestra, it seemed fitting to hear an acoustic recording of some of the same pieces, made just a few years earlier, with Alick Maclean conducting. Maclean trims the second repeat from Anitra’s Dance, ending at the first time bar, allowing the Hall of the Mountain King (or Dance of the Imps as the label has it) to fit onto the same side. This means the fourth side of the set can be used for Solveig’s Song (which is taken slowly enough that the coda, a repeat of the opening, is omitted.) The orchestra is clearly smaller, to fit into the Columbia acoustic studio, and there is substantial rescoring to allow for the acoustic process. Anitra’s Dance has noticeable added woodwind, and the Mountain King gains a rather effective bell! Some of the string lines in Solveig’s Song receive woodwind support (including a lovely oboe solo.)
|
|
Mediafire link for Grieg - Peer Gynt Suite (1923) - Alick Maclean
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Grieg – Peer Gynt Suite
New Queen’s Hall Light Orchestra, Alick Maclean
Columbia L 1516-7
Matrices 75010-6, 75011-3, 75012-6, 75023-6 (3896/9)
Recorded 9th May 1923, London
Available from January 1924 to February 1928
|
|
September 6th 2009
|
|
A varied selection of acoustic orchestral recordings to start the autumn now. Landon Ronald’s 1926 recording of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony has already appeared at this site, so it’s interesting to hear his 1922 acoustic recording of the same work. There’s very little difference in the performance, though the French style bassoons are more obvious in this early recording.
Thomas Beecham has not appeared here before, though his recorded legacy is well known. His acoustic recordings, however, have had little attention on CD. A Symposium double CD issue from 1991 included a selection of them, including the Fledermaus overture given here, and focusing on material that Beecham did not re-record. The Berlioz sides, superseded in the 1930s, have therefore had limited circulation.
The coupling for HMV’s double sided issue of Beecham conducting the overture to Die Fledermaus is of particular interest. It provides a rare chance to hear an Italian conducting Elgar in 1906. Carlo Sabajno was the Gramophone Company’s house conductor in Italy. Salut d’amour was not the only Elgar work that Sabajno recorded. In 1909 he recorded a single sided version of “In the South”, the first recording of the work (or at least of its final section). In Salut d’amour the extensive use of portamento may be startling to modern listeners!
|
|
Mediafire link for Beethoven - Symphony No.5 - Landon Ronald
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Beethoven - Symphony No.5 in C minor Op.67
First Movement - Allegro con brio (2 sides)
Second Movement - Andante con moto (2 sides)
Third Movement - Allegro (Scherzo) (1½ sides)
Fourth Movement - Allegro (Finale) (2½ sides)
His Master’s Voice D 665/8
Matrices Cc 1812-IV, 1813-III, 1814-IV, 1815-I, 1948-II, 1949-I, 1950-II, 2017-I (single side numbers 3-0798/0804)
Recorded 24th October 1922 (sides 1, 2, 8), 10th October 1922 (sides 3, 5, 6, 7), 12th September 1922 (side 4), Hayes
Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, Landon Ronald
|
|
Mediafire link for Berlioz and Strauss - Beecham, with Elgar - Carlo Sabajno
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
Mediafire link for previously available recordings by Carlo Sabajno
|
Berlioz - A Roman Carnival - Overture (abridged)
Berlioz - Damnation of Faust - March
Columbia L1105
Matrices 6907-1, 6924-1
Recorded 1916
Available from December 1916 to May 1928
The Beecham Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Beecham
The overture is substantially abridged, shorn of its first part. The recording contains bars 78-157 and 255-440 (the end of the work), and is very dimly recorded at the beginning. Details of matrix 6906 in Beecham’s 1916 sessions are not available, leading the suggestion that it may have contained the first part of the overture, which remained unissued. The March from Faust is given complete.
The two sides play at 82.5 and 81rpm respectively.
|
|
Strauss II - Die Fledermaus - Overture (abridged)
Beecham’s Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Beecham
Elgar - Salut d’amour
La Scala Symphony Orchestra, Carlo Sabajno
His Master’s Voice C431
Matrices 381ac (4360f-II, 0627), 921c (0546)
Recorded London 28th July 1910 (Beecham), Milan 1906 (Sabajno)
Available from September 1915
The overture is heavily cut. The recording contains bars 1-11, with bar 12 changed to unison B rather than E, to lead to b200-208, then b225-420 (the end of the overture). In the run out area of the record, an attempt has been made to scratch out the matrix number 4360f II. This is because 4360f was also assigned to an unpublished Evan Williams recording, This Beecham recording, when the duplication was realised, was renumbered 4360f-II, and later (May 1911) as 381ac.
The Beecham plays at 80rpm and the Sabajno at 74rpm.
|
|
August 28th 2009
|
|
The flurry of Landon Ronald recordings continues, again with accompaniments for Belgian pianist Arthur de Greef (1862 - 1940). De Greef’s recording of Liszt’s 1st Piano Concerto was not the first ever (that honour fell to Anderson Tyrer on Edison Bell Velvet Face, with Adrian Boult conducting), but is important as a recording of a significant work by a pupil of Liszt, despite the acoustic recording. After Liszt’s death, de Greef worked with Saint-Saens in Paris, so it is also significant that he recorded the 2nd Piano Concerto. The present transfer is of de Greef’s 1928 electrical recording. De Greef in fact made the first recording of this work, with Landon Ronald, on just four sides. A few years before, Ronald had conducted the 2nd movement on record for Irene Scharrer.
As well as these concerto recordings, there are several purely orchestral recordings here by Landon Ronald. He recorded Grieg’s Lyric Suite 3 times - the first was an acoustic recording in 1912, and he then recorded it twice electrically. These electrical recordings are from 1925 and 1933, both to be heard here. Also presented below is a 1933 recording of movements from Glazunov’s Chopiniana - orchestral arrangements of well-known works of Chopin, which became the basis for the ballet Les Sylphides. These are coupled with recordings of two of Mendelssohn’s Songs without words, also in orchestral guise. The Spring Song and Spinning Song were a popular combination - Ronald also recorded these same pieces acoustically in 1912 and 1923. The latter of these will appear here in due course.
|
|
Mediafire link for Glazunov - Chopiniana, and Mendelssohn - Landon Ronald
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Glazunov - Chopiniana Op.46
Mendelssohn - Spring Song Op.62 No.2; Spinning Song (Bees’ Wedding) Op.67
His Master’s Voice C 2638/9
Matrices 2B 4639-IIIA, 4641-II, 4642-II, 4643-I (single side numbers 32-3919/22)
Recorded 1933
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Landon Ronald
|
|
Mediafire link for Grieg - Lyric Suite - Landon Ronald 1933
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Grieg - Lyric Suite Op.54
His Master’s Voice C 2642/3
Matrices 2B 4638-I, 4636-II, 4640-I, 4637-II (single side numbers 32-3917, 3915, 3918, 3916)
Recorded 1933
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Landon Ronald
|
|
Mediafire link for Grieg - Lyric Suite - Landon Ronald 1925
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Grieg - Lyric Suite Op.54
His Master’s Voice D 1081/2
Matrices Cc 7229-II, 7230-II, 7254-II, 7255-I (single side numbers 4-0813/6)
Recorded 10th November 1925 (Nos. 1 & 2) and 13th November 1925 (Nos. 3 & 4), Hayes
Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, Sir Landon Ronald
|
|
Mediafire link for Saint-Saens Concerto - De Greef, Ronald
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Saint-Saens - Piano Concerto No.2 in G minor Op.22
1st movement - Andante sostenuto (2½ sides)
2nd movement - Allegro scherzando (1½ sides)
3rd movement - Presto (2 sides)
His Master’s Voice D 7458/60 (issued on standard coupling as D 1590/2)
Matrices CR 2110-I, 2111-IA, 2112-IIIA, 2114-I, 2113-IA, 2115-IIA (single side numbers 2-05644, 05645, 05646, 05648, 05647, 05649)
Recorded 26th June 1928, Queen’s Hall, London
Arthur de Greef, piano
New Symphony Orchestra, Sir Landon Ronald
|
|
Mediafire link for Liszt Concerto No.1 - De Greef, Ronald
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Liszt - Piano Concerto No.1 in E flat major
1st movement - Allegro maestoso (1¾ sides)
2nd movement - Quasi adagio (1¼ sides)
3rd movement - Allegretto vivace - Allegro animato (1½ sides)
4th movement - Allegro marziale animato (1½ sides)
His Master’s Voice D 890/2
Matrices Cc 1804-III, 1805-III, 1806-III, 1810-IV, 1822-V, 1823-V (single side numbers 05803/8)
Recorded 7th November 1922 (sides 1, 3), 11th September 1922 (side 2), 21st November 1922 (sides 4, 6), 21st September 1923 (side 5), Hayes
Arthur de Greef, piano
New Symphony Orchestra, Sir Landon Ronald
|
|
Another recording of the Australian violinist Daisy Kennedy, again with orchestra. This was the first recording, and the only acoustic one, of Beethoven’s Romance No.1 in G major for violin and orchestra. The recording is conducted by Hamilton Harty. Many thanks to Cheniston Roland of Violinland for providing the source for this recording.
|
|
Mediafire link for Beethoven Romance No.1 - Daisy Kennedy, Hamilton Harty
(This is an mp3 file – left click the link, download the file)
|
Beethoven – Romance No.1 in G major Op.40
Columbia L1340
Matrices 76560-2, 76561-2
Recorded 1919
Available from August 1920 to July 1924
Daisy Kennedy, violin
Orchestra, Hamilton Harty
|
|
August 13th 2009
|
|
Thanks to a recent email containing a substantial, though unfinished Franz André discography, I now know that a number of his stereo recordings are out of copyright, so it seemed apt to post a selection of mainly French music. Also, there’s more Tchaikovsky from Landon Ronald, a Mozart Violin Concerto with Theo Olof, and two Schubert songs by Frank Titterton, accompanied by Lev Pouishnoff
|
|
Mediafire link for French overtures - Franz André
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Hérold - Zampa - Overture
Adam - Si j’étais Roi - Overture
Auber - La Muette de Portici (Masaniello) - Overture
Berlioz - Le Carnaval Romain - Overture
Thomas - Mignon - Overture
Auber - Fra Diavolo - Overture
Telefunken SMA 13 (12” stereo LP)
Matrices STE-010355-2D, 010356-2D
Recorded October 1955 (Zampa, Muette de Portici), 15th July 1956 (Carnaval Romain, Fra Diavolo), 16th July 1956 (Si j’étais Roi), 17th April 1957 (Mignon), Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels
L’Orchestre Symphonique de la Radiodiffusion National Belge, Franz André
|
|
Mediafire link for Ravel, Dukas de Boeck - Franz André
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Ravel - Bolero
Dukas - L’apprenti sorcier
De Boeck - Rhapsodie Dahoméenne
Telefunken SLB 12001 (12” stereo LP)
Matrices XLP - Ste - 10168-IV, 10217-VI
Recorded 2-7 April 1958, Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels
L’Orchestre Symphonique de la Radiodiffusion National Belge, Franz André
|
|
Mediafire link for Delibes ballet suites - Franz André
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Delibes - Coppélia Suite
Delibes - Sylvia Suite
Telefunken TCS 18006 (12” stereo LP)
Matrices STE-010393-1, 010392
Recorded 16th (Sylvia) and 17th (Coppélia) April 1957, Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels
L’Orchestre Symphonique de la Radiodiffusion National Belge, Franz André
|
|
Mediafire link for Tchaikovsky - Symphony No.5 - Landon Ronald
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Tchaikovsky - Symphony No.5 in E minor Op.64
His Master’s Voice D 1511-16 (Album 73)
Matrices CR 1773-IA, 1774-I, 1775-III, 1776-IA, 1777-I, 1778-I, 1779-III, 1780-I, 1770-IA, 1781-II, 2006-IIA, 2007-I (single side numbers 5-0848/9, 5-0879, 5-0850/1, 5-0986, 5-0881, 5-0852, 5-0853, 5-0880, 5-0981/2)
Recorded 18th April 1928 (sides 1, 2 and 4), 19th April 1928 (sides 5, 6, 8 and 9), 2nd May 1928 (sides 3, 7, 10, 11 and 12) Queen’s Hall, London
I. Andante - Allegro con anima (4 sides)
II. Andante cantabile con alcuna licenza (3 sides)
III. Valse: Allegro moderato (2 sides)
IV. Finale: Andante maestoso - Allegro vivace - Andante maestoso - Moderato assai e molto maestoso (3 sides)
New Symphony Orchestra, Sir Landon Ronald
There was some slight variation in recording speed (particularly on the 2nd day).
|
|
Mediafire link for Mozart - Violin Concerto - Theo Olof
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Mozart - Violin Concerto No.5 in A major K219
Theo Olof, violin
Classics Club Symphony Orchestra, Walter Goehr
Mozart - Symphony No.32 in G major K318
Frankfurt Opera Orchestra, Carl Bamberger
The Classics Club: Collector 67
Matrices CCHN 67 A-1P, B-1P
Recorded early 1950s
|
|
Mediafire link for Schubert songs - Titterton
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Schubert - On the water (Auf dem Wasser)
Schubert - The Erl King (Erlkönig)
Columbia 9431
Matrices WAX 3250-4, 3251-1 (8512/3)
Recorded 4th April, 13th February 1928, London
Available from mid-August 1928 to August 1934
Frank Titterton, tenor
Lev Pouishnoff, piano
|
|
August 3rd 2009
|
|
People are probably starting to wonder just how many Landon Ronald recordings I have. There are still plenty more to come, and a few early transfers which I’m keen to revisit. So, for the summer, a selection of Tchaikovsky, Svendsen, Wagner and Bizet, including a bonus side by Eugene Goossens.
|
|
Mediafire link for Schumann - Carnaval - Landon Ronald
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Schumann - Carnaval
His Master’s Voice D 1840/2
Matrices Cc 18734-III, 18735-I, 18736-III, 18745-III, 18746-II, 18747-II (single side numbers 32-1373/8)
Recorded 8th (sides 1 and 2) and 11th (sides 3 to 6) April 1930, Kingsway Hall, London
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Landon Ronald
Side 1: (1) Preambule (2) Pierrot (3) Arlequin
Side 2: (4) Valse Noble (5) Eusebius (6) Florestan
Side 3: (7) Coquette (8) Papillons (9) Lettres dansante (10) Chiarina
Side 4: (11) Chopin (12) Estrella (13) Reconnaissance
Side 5: (14) Pantalon et Colombine (15) Valse Allemande (16) Paganini (17) Aveu
Side 6: (18) Promenade (19) Pause (20) Marche des Davidsbundler contre les Philistins
Schumann’s piano suite is orchestrated variously here by Glazunov, Rimsky-Korsakov, Liadov, Tcherepnin and Arensky. After Coquette, Replique is omitted, and Paganini includes the reprise of the Valse Allemande
|
|
Mediafire link for Tchaikovsky - Theme and Variations, Chanson sans paroles - Landon Ronald
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Tchaikovsky - Theme and Variations from Suite No.3 in G
Tchaikovksy - Chanson sans paroles (Song without words)
His Master’s Voice D 1798/1800
Matrices Cc 17901-II, 17902-I, 17904-III, 17903-II, 17905-IA, 17906-IIA (single side numbers 32-1028/33)
Recorded 3rd December 1929, Kingsway Hall, London
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Landon Ronald
Side 1: Theme (Andante con moto) & Variations 1, 2, & 3
Side 2: Variations 4, 5, 6 & 7
Side 3: Variations 8, 9, & 10
Side 4: Variations 11 & 12 (First Record)
Side 5: Variation 12 (Second Record)
Side 6: Chanson sans paroles
The Chanson sans paroles may well be Ronald’s own orchestration.
|
|
Mediafire link for Svendsen - Carnival in Paris, Tchaikovsky - Polonaise - Landon Ronald, Eugene Goossens
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Svendsen - Carnival in Paris
Tchaikovksy - Eugene Onegin - Polonaise (Act 3)
His Master’s Voice DB 1759/60
Matrices Cc 19735-II, 19736-II, 19737-II, 2B 598-I (single side numbers 32-1767/9, 32-2303)
Recorded 17th September 1929, Kingsway Hall, London (Svendsen)
Recorded 24th June 1931, Kingsway Hall, London (Tchaikovsky)
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Landon Ronald (Svendsen)
London Symphony Orchestra, Eugene Goossens (Tchaikovsky).
|
|
Mediafire link for Bizet - Carmen - Preludes Act 1 & 2 - Landon Ronald
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Bizet - Carmen - Preludes to Act 1 and 2
His Master’s Voice E 461
Matrices BR 936-IA, 937-II (single side numbers 6-830/1)
Recorded 21st January 1927, Queen’s Hall, London
Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, Landon Ronald
|
|
Mediafire link for Wagner - Die Meistersinger Overture - Landon Ronald
(This is an mp3 file – left click the link, download the file)
|
Wagner - Die Meistersinger - Overture
Opera Disc Company 65365
Matrices ac6117f, ac6119f (single side numbers 040760/1)
Recorded 2nd March 1912, London
New Symphony Orchestra, Landon Ronald
This recording has appeared here before, but is now presented in an improved transfer.
|
|
Mary Law was a young British violinist, born 1889, died 1919, possibly from tuberculosis. She recorded a number of sides for Zonophone in 1915, primarily of operatic fantasias - those arrangements that provided audiences the tunes they knew. In November 1915 she began a tour of Australia. The Melbourne Argus of November 23rd 1915 contains the following:
Just Arrived, Direct from London, Under Special Engagement and First Appearance in Australia of Miss MARY LAW, The Notable English Violinist. Miss Law has been honoured with Royal Commands galore, and can claim the distinction of having played before most Members of the Royal Family.
|
|
Mediafire link for operatic fantasias with Mary Law
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Verdi - Rigoletto, Fantasia
Rossini - William Tell, Fantasia
Zonophone Record The Twin - Serial A 187
Matrices z8393f, z8398f (single side numbers 047922/1)
Recorded 5th August 1915, London
Mary Law, violin with piano
|
|
The next item is the very traditional coupling on record of Ai nostri monti and the Miserere from Il Trovatore. This is a record on the short lived Pioneer label, which came into being in 1914, and lasted only until 1915. It’s on an earlier black label pressing, making 1914 the likely date. The two soloists are Australian soprano Carrie Lanceley and Welsh tenor Gwilym Richards. For more information on each, go to their respective pages.
|
|
Mediafire link for Verdi - Il Trovatore - duets with Lanceley and Richards
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Verdi - Il Trovatore - Home to our mountains; Miserere
Pioneer 135
Matrices 2522, 2523
Recorded 1914, London
Carrie Lanceley, soprano
Gwilym Richards, tenor
with Orchestra
|
|
Daisy Kennedy, the Australian violinist has already appeared here, playing Saint-Saens. The present recording, is somewhat of a departure. This is an interview with Daisy Kennedy, broadcast on the BBC as the interval feature for a concert by Rafael Kubelik. The dates of the concert or the original interview are unknown. Many thanks to to Cheniston K Roland for providing a copy of this interview. Kennedy reflects on how she began to learn the violin, playing for Jan Kubelik, studying with Sevcik, and working with Landon Ronald, Percy Pitt and Henry Wood.
|
|
Mediafire link for Daisy Kennedy interview
(This is an mp3 file – left click the link, download the file)
|
Daisy Kennedy, interviewed by Irene Slade
A full transcript can be found on my Daisy Kennedy page.
|
|
July 24th 2009
|
|
Yet more from Landon Ronald now - this time conducting accompaniments for the Belgian pianist Arthur de Greef (1862 - 1940), in music by Liszt and Grieg. As a bonus there’s also a disc of two De Greef solos, by the same composers. The recordings are of some significance, as De Greef was one of Liszt’s pupils, and was a friend of Edvard Grieg, who endorsed his performances.
|
|
Mediafire link for Grieg’s Piano Concerto - Arthur de Greef, Landon Ronald (electrical recording)
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Grieg - Piano Concerto in A minor Op.16
His Master’s Voice D 1237-40
Matrices CR 918-I, 919-II, 920-I, 921-IA, 922-II, 923-IA, 924-IA, 925-IA (single side numbers 05982/9)
Recorded 18th January 1927 (except side 2, 21st January) Queen’s Hall, London
I. Allegro molto moderato (4 sides)
II. Adagio (1½ sides)
III. Allegro moderato molto e marcato (2½ sides)
Arthur de Greef, piano
Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, Sir Landon Ronald
Side 2 was noticeably off pitch compared to the other sides, beginning somewhat below speed for a fraction of a setting, before rising to 80rpm and slowly returning to 78rpm.
|
|
Mediafire link for Grieg’s Piano Concerto - Arthur de Greef, Landon Ronald (acoustic recording, and solo items)
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Grieg - Piano Concerto in A minor Op.16 (abridged acoustic recording)
His Master’s Voice D 551-2
Matrices Cc 78-I, 79-I, 80-II, 81-II (single side numbers 05663/6)
Recorded 19th April 1921, Hayes, Room 1
I. Allegro molto moderato (2 sides)
II. Adagio (1 side)
III. Allegro moderato molto e marcato (1 side)
Arthur de Greef, piano
Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, Sir Landon Ronald
This recording is cut to about half of its original length to fit on just four sides, rather than the eight of the electrical version.
Side 1 starts at bar 1, runs to 12 after A, then cuts to 21 after E (Animato), continuing through to the pause before the cadenza. The cut is from the Animato section of the Exposition to that in the Recapitulation.
Side 2 runs from the cadenza through to the end of the movement. Curiously, de Greef adds an extra half bar in the cadenza in bar 8, just before the descending octave passage leading to the fff repeat of the main theme. He does not do this in the electrical recording, so it must be a slight memory slip.
Side 3 starts 2 before A and runs to the end of the movement
Side 4 runs from the beginning(!) through to C, cuts to 8 before H, runs to 27 after H, cuts the 3/4 section, and resumes at K, continuing to the end of the movement.
|
|
Grieg - Norwegian Bridal March (Pictures from Folk Life Op.19 No.2)
Liszt-Schubert - Soirée de Vienne S247/6
His Master’s Voice D 1412
Matrices Cc 11773-II, 11800-I (single side numbers 2-05561, 2-05577)
Recorded 7th and 10th November 1927, C Studio, Small Queen’s Hall
Arthur de Greef, piano
The Liszt is played without repeats, and with cuts to both A major sections. The Grieg is uncut, and in fact, De Greef slightly extends the final cadence, by repeating the E major chord an octave higher, followed by a low E in the bass.
|
|
Mediafire link for Liszt - Hungarian Fantasia - Arthur de Greef, Landon Ronald (electrical recording)
(This is an mp3 file – left click the link, download the file)
|
Liszt - Hungarian Fantasia
His Master’s Voice D 1306-7
Matrices CR 914-III, 915-II, 916-IA, 917-III (single side numbers 05978/81)
Recorded 21st January 1927 (except side 3, 18th January) Queen’s Hall, London
Arthur de Greef, piano
Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, Sir Landon Ronald
|
|
Mediafire link for Liszt - Hungarian Fantasia - Arthur de Greef, Landon Ronald (acoustic recording)
(This is an mp3 file – left click the link, download the file)
|
Liszt - Hungarian Fantasia (acoustic recording, slightly abridged)
His Master’s Voice D 523, 528
Matrices HO 4573af, 4574af-II, 4575af, 4576af-III (single side numbers 05654, 05655, 3-0582, 3-0583)
Recorded 27th October 1920, Hayes
Arthur de Greef, piano
Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, Sir Landon Ronald
This acoustic recording omits one of the first three bars. As they’re identical, it’s hard to say which. It seems a bizarrely pointless cut - the side runs to just over 4 minutes, and could easily have accommodated the few extra seconds required.
De Greef elaborates slightly on the solo part, when compared to the score.
|
|
Thor Johnson was the youngest American-born conductor to be music director of an American orchestra when he took over the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. He recorded three LPs for English Decca (through its London label in the USA) in 1951, before moving on to record for Remington in 1953 and 1954.http://soundfountain.org/rem/remjohnson.html
|
|
Mediafire link for Grieg’s Sigurd Jorsalfar Suite - Thor Johnson
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Grieg - Sigurd Jorsalfar
DECCA LW 5124 (10” LP)
Matrices TRL 275-1B, 276-1B
Recorded c1951
No.1 - In the King’s Hall (Prelude)
No.2 - Borghild’s Dream (Intermezzo)
No.3 - Homage March (Triumphal March)
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Thor Johnson
|
|
July 10th 2009
|
|
Georg Schneevoigt has appeared on this site before, with recordings of Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suites. The present recording were his earliest in London, with the LSO.
|
|
Mediafire link for Grieg’s Norwegian Dances and Sigurd Jorsalfar Suite - Georg Schneevoigt
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Grieg - Norwegian Dances Op.35
American Columbia Viva-Tonal 7128/9-M
Matrices WAX 1214-2, 1215-2, 1216-2, 1217-1
Recorded 21st December 1925, London
Available from May 1926 to April 1945 on UK Columbia L 1733/4
No.1 in D minor (Allegro marcato)
No.2 in A major (Allegretto tranquillo)
No.3 in G major (Allegro moderato alla marcia)
No.4 in D major (Allegro molto)
London Symphony Orchestra, Georg Schneevoigt
Grieg - Sigurd Jorsalfar
Columbia L 1748/9
Matrices WAX 1218-2, 1219-1, 1220-2, 1221-1 (5774/7)
Recorded 22nd December 1925, London
Available from August 1926 to June 1942
London Symphony Orchestra, Georg Schneevoigt
All sides begin at 80rpm and end at about 81rpm
|
|
Yet more from Franz André - the contents of two mid 1950s 10” Telefunken LPs, with music by Tchaikovsky, Glazunov and Meyerbeer.
|
|
Mediafire link for Tchaikovsky, Glazunov and Meyerbeer - Franz André
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Tchaikovksy - Capriccio Italien Op.45
Tchaikovksy - Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture
Telefunken LGM 65005
Matrices LP 36720-1A, 36721-1B
Recorded 12th and 14th April 1952, Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels
Released 1955
Le Grand Orchestre Symphonique de L’I.N.R. Belge, Bruxelles, Franz André
Meyerbeer - Fackeltanz No.1 in B flat major
Glazunov - Valse de Concert No.1 in D major Op.47
Telefunken TM 68014
Matrices MRL 28-1B, 27-1B
Recorded 2nd October 1953, Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels
L’Orchestre Symphonique de la Radiodiffusion Nationale Belge, Franz André
These two LPs are in poor condition, so there is a significant amount of noise and distortion.
|
|
To give another view on one of the scores recorded by Franz André, and a welcome return to one of my favourite conductors, here is Landon Ronald’s abridged 1917 recording of Capriccio Italien.
|
|
Mediafire link for Tchaikovsky - Capriccio Italien - Landon Ronald
(This is an mp3 file – left click the link, download the file)
|
Tchaikovksy - Capriccio Italien Op.45
His Master’s Voice D 124
Matrices HO 2891af, 2892af (single side numbers 2-0837, 2-0842)
Recorded 29th September 1917, Hayes
Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, Landon Ronald
The sides run at various speeds - the first side runs from about 80 down to 77rpm, while the second is around 75rpm
|
|
June 7th 2009
|
|
Today brings another recording by the little remembered Franz André - his mid 1950s recording of Beethoven’s 7th Symphony.
|
|
Mediafire link for Beethoven - Symphony No.7 - Franz André
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Beethoven - Symphony No.7 in A major Op.92
Telefunken LT 7023 (Uruguayan issue)
Matrices LP 036847, 036848-IIV
Recorded 3rd October 1952, Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels
Released February 1954
L' Orchestre Symphonique de la Radiodiffusion Nationale Belge, Franz André
The pressing I worked from is a little worn and battered, so there is some noise, particularly in the second movement. The French sounding woodwinds add a distinctive colour to this recording.
|
|
May 31st 2009
|
|
Today is the 200th anniversary of the death of Joseph Haydn. To commemorate this day, and one of my favourite composers, here are three symphony recordings, all from Decca 78s.
|
|
Mediafire link for Haydn - Symphony 88 - Enrique Jorda
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Haydn – Symphony No.88 in G major
I. Adagio – Allegro (2 sides)
II. Largo (2 sides)
III. Minuet (Allegretto) and Trio (1 side)
IV. Allegro con spirito (1 side)
DECCA AK.1472 - 74 (auto coupling)
Matrices AR 9972-2, 9973-2, 9974-3, 9975-2, 9976-1, 9977-2
Recorded 9th January 1946, Kingsway Hall, London
National Symphony Orchestra, Enrique Jorda
|
|
Mediafire link for Haydn - Symphony 94 Surprise - Leo Blech
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Haydn – Symphony No.94 in G major “The Surprise”
I. Adagio cantabile – Vivace assai (2 sides)
II. Andante (2 sides)
III. Menuetto (Allegro molto) and Trio (1 side)
IV. Allegro di molto (1 side)
DECCA AK.2204 - 06 (auto coupling)
Matrices SAR 249-1, 250-1, 251-1, 252-2, 253-1, 254-1
Recorded 2nd July 1947
L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Leo Blech
|
|
Mediafire link for Haydn - Symphony 99 - Royalton Kisch
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Haydn – Symphony No.99 in E flat major
I. Adagio – Vivace assai (2 sides)
II. Adagio (2 sides)
III. Minuet and Trio (Allegretto) (1 side)
IV. Vivace (1 side)
DECCA AX.340 -42 (auto coupling)
Matrices AR 14496-1, 14497-1, 14498-1, 14499-1, 14500-1, 14501-1
Recorded 17th January 1950, Kingsway Hall, London
London Symphony Orchestra, Royalton Kisch
|
|
May 26th 2009
|
|
The Viennese bass, Georg Hann, was born in 1897, and died in Munich in 1950, still at the height of his powers. He left a substantial recorded legacy.
|
|
Mediafire link for Georg Hann singing Verdi, Rossini, Cornelius
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Cornelius - Der Barbier von Bagdad:
Mein Sohn, sei Allahs Frieden (Auftrittslied des Abul)
Er lebt, er lebt (Schluß-Szene)
Deutsche Grammophon 72012 (variable micrograde 78)
Matrices 01838LKK, 01839LKK (dated 30.5.50 and 5.6.50)
Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Robert Heger
Lorenz Fehenberger, tenor
Georg Hann, bass
Karl Hoppe, baritone (only in Er lebt, er lebt)
Verdi - Falstaff - Die Ehre, Gauner!
Rossini - Der Barbier von Sevilla - Die Verleumdung sie ist ein Lüftchen
Deutsche Grammophon 68396
Matrices 01244KK, 2125-GE 9 (dated 15.6.49 and Mechan Copt. 1943 respectively)
Bavarian State Orchestra, Walther Knör (Verdi)
Orchester des Deutschen Opernhauses Berlin, Arthur Rother (Rossini)
Georg Hann, bass
|
|
Harry Secombe is well remembered in English speaking countries as one of the Goons, star of film musicals, and here in the UK, for presenting religious choral programmes on television. His tenor voice is well remembered, and he recorded extensively, including an LP of operatic arias and duets.
|
|
Mediafire link for Harry Secombe sings operatic arias
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Harry Secombe sings operatic arias
Bizet - Carmen - Flower song
Puccini - Tosca - Strange harmony of contrasts
Verdi - Rigoletto - La donna e mobile
Leoncavallo - I Pagliacci - On with the motley
Verdi - La Traviata - The Drinking Song (Brindisi)
Flotow - Martha - M'appari
Meyerbeer - L'Africaine - O paradiso
Puccini - Turandot - None shall sleep
Puccini - Tosca - When the stars were brightly shining
Verdi - Il Trovatore - Miserere
Wing (Philips) WL1220
Matrices WL 1220 1L, 2L
Recorded 1957 (solos) and 1958 (duets)
Orchestra, Emmanuel Young
Orchestra, Wally Stott (Strange harmony and On with the motley)
Adele Leigh, soprano (in Brindisi and Miserere)
Harry Secombe, tenor
|
|
Recordings by Franz André (1893-1975) have appeared here on two occasions. He recorded extensively for Telefunken with L' Orchestre Symphonique de la Radiodiffusion Nationale Belge, of which he was the founder in 1935, and remained their principal conductor until 1957. However, he did also record with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in the 1940s, and is represented on microgroove 78s and 45rpm albums..
|
|
Mediafire link for Franck, Mussorgsky and Saint-Saens conducted by Franz André
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Franck - Le Chasseur Maudit
Decca X 10079/80 (Issued on English DECCA K1485/6)
Matrices AR 10191-2, 10192-2, 10193-2, 10194-2
Recorded 2nd April 1946
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Franz André
Mussorgsky - Night on the Bare Mountain
Saint-Saëns - Danse Macabre
Telefunken Füllschrift VSK 9012 (Microgroove 78)
Matrices 9-036712-IV, 9-036713-III
Recorded 9th April 1952, Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels
L' Orchestre Symphonique de la Radiodiffusion Nationale Belge, Franz André
|
|
Mediafire link for Debussy - La Mer - Franz André
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Debussy - La Mer
Capitol Telefunken KCM 8010 (album of three 45rpm 7” discs)
Matrices 45-8049-ID3, 8050-ID4, 8051-ID1, 8052-ID2, 8053-ID4, 8054-ID2
Recorded 17th November 1941
L' Orchestre Symphonique de la Radiodiffusion Nationale Belge, Franz André (credited as Brussels Radio Symphony Orchestra)
|
|
Mediafire link for Tchaikovsky - Symphony No.4 - Franz André
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Tchaikovsky - Symphony No.4 in F minor Op.36
Telefunken GMA 6
Matrices LP0-36726-2A, 36727-3A
Recorded 9th April 1954, Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels
Released October 1954
I. Andante sostenuto
II. Andantino in modo di canzone
III. Scherzo (Pizzicato ostinato)
IV. Finale (Allegro con fuoco)
L' Orchestre Symphonique de la Radiodiffusion Nationale Belge, Franz André
|
|
Mediafire link for Beethoven - Symphony No.4 - Franz André
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Beethoven - Symphony No.4 in Bb major Op.60
Telefunken TW 30149
Matrices LP-36959-III, 36960-IV
Recorded 2nd October 1953, Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels
Released March 1954
L' Orchestre Symphonique de la Radiodiffusion Nationale Belge, Franz André
|
|
April 23rd 2009
|
|
I couldn’t let Albert Coates’s birthday pass without a transfer of at least one of his recordings, and rather than go for his more common early electrical recordings, I’ve chosen his acoustic recording of the Meistersinger Overture. The other items for this update feature the conductor Paul Kletzki: his recording of Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No.3, and his accompaniment to André Gertler’s performance of the Berg violin concerto - the first LP era recording of this work, and one “long awaited in this country” according to the original Gramophone review.
|
|
Mediafire link for Wagner - Die Meistersigner Overture - Albert Coates
(This is an mp3 file – left click the link, download the file)
|
Wagner - Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg - Overture
His Master’s Voice D 590
Matrices Cc 606-II, 607-II (single side numbers 3-0680, 3-0679)
Recorded 28th October 1921, Hayes, Room 1
Symphony Orchestra, Albert Coates
|
|
Mediafire link for Beethoven - Leonore Overture No.3 - Paul Kletzki
(This is an mp3 file – left click the link, download the file)
|
Beethoven - Leonore Overture No.3 Op.72a
Columbia LX 1069-70
Matrices CAX 10101-1, 10102-1, 10103-2, 10104-2
Recorded 13th October 1947, Abbey Road Studio No.1, London
Philharmonia Orchestra, Paul Kletzki
|
|
Mediafire link for Berg - Violin Concerto - Gertler & Kletzki
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Berg - Violin Concerto
Columbia 33C 1030 (10” LP)
Matrices XA 361-1N, 362-2N
Recorded 17th - 19th August 1953, Kingsway Hall, London
Philharmonia Orchestra, Paul Kletzki
André Gertler, violin
|
|
April 12th 2009
|
|
To maintain my quota of acoustic orchestral recordings, and to mark the 60th anniversary of the death of Joaquin Turina, this weekend I’m making available the earliest recording of any of his orchestral works. The Danzas Fantasticas were completed in 1919, with the score published in Madrid in 1921. Sir Henry Wood recorded them for Columbia in December 1922. Not only was this the first orchestral record of music by Turina, it was the only one to be made by the acoustic process. Wood notes in his autobiography, “My Life of Music,” that he gave the first English performance of this suite.
|
|
Mediafire link for Turina - Danzas Fantasticas - Henry Wood
(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Turina - Danzas Fantasticas
Columbia L 1467-8
Matrices 75239-2. 75240-2, 75241-2, 75242-2
Recorded 13th December 1922, London
Available from April 1923 to July 1927
New Queen's Hall Orchestra, Sir Henry J. Wood
This was the premiere recording of this work, and in fact the only acoustic recording of Turina's orchestral music. This piece was completed in 1919, and the score published in Madrid in 1921 - Wood was most definitely conducting modern music here.
The record labels state the speed as 80rpm, but all sides run at around 81rpm.
Curiously, there is an overlap of approximately 1 minute and 20 seconds between sides 1 and 2. In the files for download I’ve included both edited and unedited versions of the first dance.
This set was reviewed enthusiastically in an early issue of Gramophone magazine, from April 1923. Half the review is taken up with a grumble about the repetition of recorded repertoire (how things change!), particularly Coppelia, Sylvia, Midsummer Night’s Dream and Peer Gynt :
Both Sir Henry Wood and the Columbia company are to be commended for these records of a composer almost unknown in this country. It is a relief to find conductors deserting the beaten track, even when they give its less charming things than these dances. ... The “Danzas Fantasticas" are unlike anything else that has been recorded. The Spanish idiom is unfamiliar in England, and these two excellent records of dances, which are really fantastic and really Spanish, should be in every representative collection of orchestral records. It is difficult to choose between the two, but on the whole I think I prefer the "Exaltacion."
|
|
April 10th 2009
|
|
As the Easter weekend approaches, and soon after that, the 250th anniversary of Handel’s death, it seemed to be time for a Messiah recording. This Pye recording from 1958 is announced on the blue folder it was issued in as “Handel’s Messiah - the original manuscript.” This is perhaps misleading - while the performance observes the traditional cuts for the period (with Part III particularly abbreviated), Susskind has removed the two centuries of orchestral accretions to the score, giving us an early attempt at Handel’s original scoring. It’s still very much a mid 20th century account of the work though, with nothing in the way of double-dotting, ornamentation or the fast tempos to which we are now more accustomed.
|
|
Replaced with improved transfer
|
Handel - Messiah
Pye Golden Guinea GSGL 10062
Matrices GSGL 10062 A-1L, B-2L, C-2L, D-2L, E-1L, F-1L
Recorded 1958
The London Orchestra, Walter Susskind
London Philharmonic Choir (Choirmaster Frederick Jackson)
April Cantelo, soprano
Helen Watts, contralto
Wilfred Brown, tenor
Roger Stalman, bass
George Malcolm, harpsichord
Harold Darke, organ
This set of three stereo LPs (auto coupling) was in rather variable condition, with side 4 being particularly noisy. There are one or two places where the stereo focus drifts. I have corrected occasional pitch variations (in particular at an edit in “But who may abide.”) “The London Orchestra” is so named on the records, and is likely to be the London Philharmonic.
This recording was reviewed in Gramophone in November 1960, and its reissues on Pye’s budget Marble Arch label (both in full and as a single disc of highlights) were reviewed more briefly in February 1966:
Gramophone November 1960
The extent of that most flourishing of all musico-industrial concerns, Handel's Messiah, may be gauged by the juxtaposition of the five complete casts now available: only one artist (Jennifer Vyvyan) appears in two sets - the Decca and RCA versions. Otherwise, the casts are completely independent. The newest one, which makes its appearance on an inexpensive label, is oddly enough one of the best balanced of all these quartets. The singers are English, and they have been around for many years. Their interpretations of Messiah are known to audiences and congregations all over Britain. Now they make their recorded debut in this taxing oratorio, and the four of them acquit themselves brilliantly.
April Cantelo, whose singing of the soprano arias is splendidly forthright and confident, is more heedful than many of her possibly more flexible sisters to the underlying drama of the text. The upper range of her voice is more than clear: it has a silvery edge to it that she uses with uncommon intelligence, so that even a short passage like "And suddenly there was with the Angel..." remains fixed in the mind as a moment of genuine biblical drama. Her "Rejoice greatly" and "I know that ray Redeemer liveth" are also magnificent and afford ready proof of sheer technique as well as a remarkable control of timbre.
Helen Watts, in her deeply-felt interpretation of "He was despised", gives what is (for me) the best performance on record. Her voice is rich without being overopulent; it has all the qualities of a fine contralto without any loss of mobility. "O thou that tellest" is beautifully sung, although there are places where individual notes in a run are half-aspirated.
Wilfred Brown adds lustre to the tenor solos in a unique and personal way. The timbre of his voice is neither heroic nor lachrymose, but it has individual qualities that add up to something far more impressive than those. His intonation is rocksteady, and his upward range so well developed that the high notes in "Thou shalt break them" emerge almost effortlessly, whereas one senses strain in the performances of Vickers, Maran and Herbert. Brown's vivid performance of this aria is one of the most praiseworthy in the entire set, for he sings the words as if he really meant them; indeed, I found myself moving subconsciously a few feet further from the speakers when he arrived at "Thou shalt dash them in pieces". My equipment, unlike the potter's vessel, remains happily unharmed but my mental impressions of this aria were almost tactile, and I think that many singers could learn a lot from listening to it. "Every valley" is beautifully phrased and evokes a verdant pastoral picture which Handel was surely aiming at.
Roger Stalman's fine bass voice is heard to advantage in "But who may abide". In "The people that walked in darkness" it is again strong and sonorous, though I felt that some variation in timbre might have helped to bring out more vividly the meaning of the words. "Why do the nations", with all its ferocious roulades, holds no terrors for this singer. He has great powers of sostenuto as well as ample flexibility, but I felt that in "The trumpet shall sound" he fell a little below his own high standard.
The orchestra plays well, the chorus does its best but is often poorly balanced, and Susskind seems to have little idea of Handelian style.
The stereo version improves the chorus balance to some extent, but accentuates the heaviness of the orchestral basses. Those who benefit most are the four soloists.
Gramophone February 1966
First the single disc of selections. Two months back I was writing about a similar record issued by Saga for half a crown less. The contralto and bass soloists were the same, and so were the orchestra and chorus, and the conductor was Frederick Jackson. Both discs are astonishingly good value. The Susskind one under review offers the more conventional selection in the more conventional performance. This tends to be in the beefy old-fashioned style, whereas the Jackson is a little more 'musicological'. But there is not all that difference, and both are good of their kind. I prefer Susskind's tenor, as also his soprano; the solo singing is extremely and consistently good. Against this is the fact that you can't get the Susskind in stereo, and you can the Jackson.
But if you want the Susskind, there does seem every reason to go a splash (it's a very tiny one) and get the lot for 30s. Well, not actually every item. As so often where Messiah is concerned, the word 'complete' means that the lesser-known numbers are left out; you hear what you normally hear in the concert hall. I mustn't enthuse too much about this enjoyable performance. The choral singing is nothing like as good as it is on the new Klemperer discs (and the "Amen" chorus at the end is taken much too slowly) but the Klemperer discs do cost nearly four times as much.
|
|
As a complete change of repertoire, and medium, I present four more sides conducted by Landon Ronald. These again are acoustic recordings, and include all of his issued recordings of music by Weber and Jarnefelt, and the only recording he made of a Liszt work not featuring piano!
|
|
Download - Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsody - Landon Ronald
Download - Weber - Invitation to the Waltz - Landon Ronald
Download - Weber - Oberon overture - Landon Ronald
Download - Jarnefelt - Praeludium - Landon Ronald
(mp3 files – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsody No.2
Weber - Invitation to the Waltz
His Master's Voice D 144
Matrices ac 5597f, al 8042f (single side numbers 0726, 2-0518)
Recorded 27th October 1911, 11th July 1914
New Symphony Orchestra, Landon Ronald
The Weber is credited on label as Royal Albert Hall Orchestra (late New Symphony Orchestra) and plays at 84rpm. It was the second of Ronald’s two attempts at the score on this date - an earlier attempt in January 1912 was not issued. The Liszt side was Ronald’s one and only take of this work.
Weber - Oberon Overture
Jarnefelt - Praeludium
His Master's Voice D 154
Matrices Ac 5829f, HO 1061ac (single side numbers 0724, 2-0551)
Recorded 16th December 1911, 18th September 1915
Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, Landon Ronald
The Oberon overture is substantially cut.. The following bars are included: b23-82, b91-122, b162-182, b207-221(end). It was Ronald’s only account of this score.
Ronald made two unissued attempts at the Jarnefelt in May 1915, before two attempts on the 18th September 1915, of which the second was issued
It is worth noting again here the comments of Filson Young:
The two most typically fine interpretations of his that I know owe practically nothing to any conductor that I have ever heard; they are the Elgar Symphony in A Flat and Weber's "Oberon" overture. I have heard the Elgar Symphony conducted by Richter, by Wood, by Nikisch, and by Elgar himself; but I have no hesitation in saying that the broadest, loftiest, and most sympathetic interpretation of that work is Landon Ronald's. And in the "Oberon" overture he displays a poetic sense quite startlingly unlike what only a casual appreciation might have led one to expect. The remote, dreamy entrance of the horns at the beginning, floating in as from another world, the light and rapid series of crescendi at the end, are wonderful; they have a true quality of fairy music such as I have not found so happily achieved in the rendering of any other conductor.
|
|
March 27th 2009
|
|
Regular visitors to this site will not be surprised to find a recording conducted by Landon Ronald. In this case, for the anniversary year, it’s Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No.1 with Benno Moiseiwitsch. The other item is a spoken word recording - the poet and playwright John Drinkwater reading some of his own works. The two men are connected by violinist Daisy Kennedy (of whom I have only a single recording, which appeared here some time ago.) Moiseiwitsch was her first husband, and Drinkwater was her second.
These recordings are included in a single zip file together with Kennedy’s recording of Saint-Saens Rondo Capriccioso, conducted by Hamilton Harty.
|
|
Mediafire link for Moiseiwitsch, Drinkwater and Kennedy
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Mendelssohn - Piano Concerto No.1 in G minor Op.25
His Master's Voice D 969-71
Matrices Cc 5655-III, 5656-II, 5657-I, 5658-I, 5659-II, 5660-II (single side numbers 05832/7)
Recorded 27th January 1925
I. Molto allegro con fuoco (2 sides)
II. Andante (2 sides)
III. Presto: Molto allegro e vivace (2 sides)
Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, Landon Ronald
Benno Moiseiwitsch, piano
|
|
|
Lecture 70: John Drinkwater reading his own poems
Part 1: Mystery; Vagabond; Moonlit Apples; Birthright
Part 2: Cotswold Love; Anthony Crumble; Mrs. Willow; Mamble
Columbia D 40140
Matrices WAX 4608-1, 4609-2 (11340, 11330)
Recorded 30th January 1929
The sides are labelled as:
Made in England & Published by
Columbia Graphophone Co. Ltd.
Sole Official Publishers for
International Educational Society.
The address is given on side 1 as 26, Buckingham Gate, Westminster, S. W. 1, and on side 2 as 98, Clerkenwell Road, E.C. 1
JOHN DRINKWATER (1882-1937)
Associated with Barry Jackson in the formation of the company that developed into the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, in and for which his plays up to and including "Abraham Lincoln" were written. Published New Numbers in conjunction with Lascelles Abercrombie, Rupert Brooke and Wilfrid Wilson Gibson, and was a contributor to the five volumes of Mr. Marsh's Georgian Poetry. In addition to his poetry and plays, he has written various critical studies, including volumes on Byron, Charles II, and Charles James Fox.
The texts of these poems are available on the John Drinkwater page on this site.
|
|
March 15th 2009
|
|
Jules Gressier conducted a number of abridged French operetta recordings for Pathé in the early 1950s, and the one given here is undoubtedly the best known from this repertoire.
|
|
Mediafire link for abridged Orphée aux enfers - Gressier
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Offenbach - Orphée aux enfers
Pathé DTX 30143
Recorded 22nd to 24th December 1952
Orchestre de l'Association des Concerts Lamoureux, Jules Gressier
Choeur Raymond Saint-Paul
Liliane Berton (soprano), Diane
Fréda Betti (soprano), L'Opinion Publique
Claudine Collart (soprano), Euridice
Deva Dassy (mezzo-soprano), Vénus & Junon
Claude Devos (tenor), Orphée
Aimé Doniat (baritone), Pluton-Aristée & Mercure
Pierre Germain (tenor), Mars
Andrée Grandjean (soprano), Cupidon
Huguette Prudhon (soprano), Minerve
Michel Roux (baritone), Jupiter
Georges Alès, solo violin
1 Introduction
2 Act I - Duo de Concerto (Ah! C'est ainsi... C'est déplorable, c'est affroyable)
3 Act II - Choeur du sommeil (Dormons, que notre somme) - Couplets (Je suis Cupidon, Je suis Vénus)
4 Act II - Le réveil des dieux (Par Saturne! Quel est ce bruit?)
5 Act II - Couplets de Diana (Quand Diane descend dans la plaine)
6 Act II - Rondeau des métamorphoses (Pour séduire Alcmène la fière)
7 Act II - Final (Il approche! Il s'avance)
8 Act III - Duo de la mouche (Il m'a semblé sur mon épaule)
9 Act IV - Choeur infernal et Hymne à Bacchus (Vive le vin! Vive Pluton!)
10 Act IV - Menuet et Galop Infernal (Maintenant, je veux... Ce bal est original)
11 Act IV - Final (Ne regarde pas en arrièrre)
|
|
March 10th 2009
|
|
Eleanor Jones-Hudson (1874-1946), the Welsh soprano and wife of the flautist Eli Hudson has appeared here in a number of ensemble recordings, so it seems time to present some of her solo work. In this anniversary year, it’s somehow appropriate to hear her in two of the best known soprano arias by Handel and Haydn. As an extra, there’s an example of her operatic singing, with Musetta’s waltz song in English.
|
|
Download - Handel - Messiah - I know that my Redeemer liveth - Eleanor Jones-Hudson
Download - Haydn - The Creation - With verdure clad - Eleanor Jones-Hudson
Download - Puccini - La Bohème - Musette’s Song - Eleanor Jones-Hudson
(mp3 files – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Handel - Messiah - I know that my Redeemer liveth
Haydn - The Creation - With verdure clad
Zonophone The Twin Serial A 10
Matrices 4366f, 4365f (single side numbers Z-043014, Z-043017)
Recorded 31st July 1910
Orchestra
Eleanor Jones-Hudson, soprano
(credited as Madame Deering)
In the Handel aria bars 1- 14, 40-91, 154-160 are omitted.
In the Haydn aria bars 64-82 are omitted
These two sides are very worn, and suffer from blasting on Madame Jones-Hudson’s high notes.
Puccini - La Bohème - Musette's Song
His Master's Voice G.C.-3770
Matrix 8837e (single side number 3770)
Recorded 1908
Orchestra
Eleanor Jones-Hudson, soprano
|
|
March 8th 2009
|
|
I’ve been busy tidying up the site, so haven’t done much transfer work recently. But, finally to welcome March, yet more acoustic recordings by Eugene Goossens, all with the London Symphony Orchestra.
|
|
Mediafire link for Wolf-Ferrari, Sibelius, Auber, Delibes - LSO, Goossens
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Wolf-Ferrari - Il Segreto di Susanna - Overture
Sibelius - Scènes Historiques No.3 - Festivo
Columbia 908
Matrices 75139-1, 75148-1 (4048, 4057)
Recorded 5th, 7th July 1922, Columbia’s Petty France Studio, London
London Symphony Orchestra, Eugene Goossens
Auber - Crown Diamonds - Overture
Columbia 918
Matrices 75141-1, 75142-1 (4050, 4051)
Recorded 5th July 1922, Columbia’s Petty France Studio, London
London Symphony Orchestra, Eugene Goossens
Delibes - Le Roi l'a Dit - Overture
Columbia 923
Matrices 75137-1, 75138-1 (4046, 4047)
Recorded 5th July 1922, Columbia’s Petty France Studio, London
London Symphony Orchestra, Eugene Goossens
The Sibelius work is a premier recording, and was in fact the only acoustic recording of this work. It has several small cuts, removing bars 7-10, 5 after D to 9 before E, 13 after F to H, 7 after I to 6 before L.
|
|
February 22nd 2009
|
|
This latest update sees a site redesign, and a number of new transfers on site. In the orchestral arena, we have Harty’s sparkling account of Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony (afflicted by swish), Golschmann’s early 1950s LP recording of Shostakovich’s 5th Symphony, overtures conducted by Clarence Raybould (on Regal), and Eugene Goossens (on Edison Bell), and a Strauss excerpt under the baton of Robert Heger.
Vocal music comes in the form of two Handel arias from Frank Mullings (with Raybould conducting), two operatic arias from the tenor Salvatore Salvati, and a performance of Mendelssohn’s Die erste Walpurgisnacht, from a probably pseudonymous Everest LP.
|
|
Mediafire link for Mendelssohn - Symphony No.4 Italian - Hamilton Harty
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Mendelssohn - Symphony No.4 in A major Op.90 "Italian"
Columbia DX 342-4
Matrices WAX 6054-2, 6055-2, 6056-1, 6-57=2, 6058-1, 6059-1 (14899, 14902, 14901, 14900, 14912, 14916)
Recorded 10th April 1931
I. Allegro vivace (1½ sides)
II. Andante con moto (1½ sides)
III. Con moto moderato (1 side)
IV. Finale: Saltarello-Presto (2 sides)
Hallé Orchestra, Sir Hamilton Harty
|
|
Mediafire link for Shostakovich - Symphony No.5 - Vladimir Golschmann
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Shostakovich - Symphony No.5 in D major Op.47
Capitol Classics CTL.7077
Matrices P1.8268Y-1B, P2.8268Z.1B
Recorded 1953
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Golschmann
|
|
Mediafire link for Mendelssohn - Walpurgisnacht
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Mendelssohn - Die erste Walpurgisnacht Op.60
Everest 3229 (Electronic Stereo)
Recorded ?
Overture: The Change of Winter to Spring
1. A Druid and Chorus of the People
2. An Aged Woman and Chorus of the People
3. A Druid Priest and Chorus of Druids
4. Chorus of Druid Guards and People
5. A Druid Guard
6. Chorus of Guards and People
7. A Druid Priest and Chorus
8. A Christian Guard and Chorus of Guards
9. A Druid Priest and Chorus of Druids and People
“Lorenzo Bernardi and Chorus and Orchestra of the Leipzig Bach Festival”
This recording, presumably from a German or Austrian radio source, leaves its soloists (soprano, tenor and bass) unnamed. The conductor and other performers seem to be pseudonymous. Although the first side of the record is roughly at correct pitch, the second side drifts downwards until a horrendous edit about a minute from the end, where the pitch and ambience are suddenly hugely different. This final section may even come from a different performance. I have endeavoured to fix the pitch, and reduce the jarring effect of the change of sound quality. I’ve also mixed the sound back to mono.
I’ve included the closing passage of the work prior to pitch adjustment, so that the grating effect of this awful edit can be fully appreciated.
If any recognises any of the soloists or indeed the whole performance, do let me know!
|
|
Download - Donizetti - La Favorita - Una vergine - Salvati
Download - Mascagni - Cavalleria Rusticana - Brindisi - Salvati
(mp3 files – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Donizetti - La Favorita - Una vergine
Mascagni - Cavalleria Rusticana - Brindisi
Phonycord Flexible Nr 151
Matrices 8235, 8241
Recorded 1930
Orchestra
Salvatore Salvati, tenor
These are taken from a flexible disc recording, which was badly warped, and not easily persuaded to lie flat. They therefore had to be recorded below speed to ensure the stylus tracked the groove, and this has had an effect on the level of surface noise.
|
|
Download - Handel - Semele - Where’er you walk - Mullings
Download - Handel - Jephtha - Deeper and Deeper Still - Mullings
(mp3 files – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Handel - Semele - Where’er you walk
Handel - Jephtha - Deeper and Deeper Still
Columbia 9350
Matrices WAX 1898-1, 1900-1 (6585, 6583)
Recorded 13th September 1926
Available from 12th February 1928 to January 1937
Orchestra, Clarence Raybould
Frank Mullings, tenor
This was a reissue of L1344, available from October 1926 to February 1928. An earlier version of L1344 was available from February 1920 to October 1926 - with recordings made on 5th May 1919, with Hamilton Harty conducting.
Curiously, although the Semele aria maintains correct pitch, the Jephtha increases speed slightly. The Jephtha aria is also notable for the variety of tone colour used by Mullings.
|
|
Download - Beethoven - Egmont - Raybould
Download - Thomas - Raymond - Raybould
(mp3 files – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Beethoven - Egmont Overture
Regal G1084
Matrices WAX 5186-1, 5187-2 (12757/8)
Recorded 3rd October 1929
Available from February 1930 to March 1941
Classic Symphony Orchestra, Clarence Raybould
Thomas - Raymond - Overture
Regal MX8
Matrices WAX 5318-1, 5319-2 (13162, 13161)
Recorded 4th January 1930. Recorded in a concert hall
Available from June 1930 to March 1941
Classic Symphony Orchestra, Clarence Raybould
All of the above sides play at slightly below 78rpm.
|
|
Download - R. Strauss - Feuersnot - Love Scene - Heger
(mp3 file – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
R. Strauss - Feuersnot - Love Scene
His Master’s Voice C1841
Matrices CW 2161-IA, CW 2162-II (6-0659/60)
Recorded January 1929
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Robert Heger
The recording session was between the 9th and 25th January 1929.
|
|
Download - Wagner - The Meistersingers - Overture - Goossens
(mp3 file – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Wagner - The Meistersingers - Overture
Edison Bell Velvet Face 523
Matrices X1163K-1, X1164F-2
Recorded 1921
Available from October 1922
Goossens Orchestra, Eugene Goossens
Both sides play at slightly at almost 82rpm.
There is a gap of several bars between the two sides. The first side finishes on the first beat of bar 96 (with an E major chord), and the second starts at bar 122 (with an E flat major chord). This prevents an adequate side join.
|
|
February 3rd
|
|
As Mendelssohn’s 200th birthday arrives, it seems apt to provide a few more items by this wonderful composer. Thus we have two symphonies, and a wonderful bass aria which was much loved by English speaking singers, yet seems sadly neglected now.
|
|
Download - Mendelssohn - Son and Stranger - I am a roamer - Robert Easton
Download - Gounod - Philemon and Baucis - Vulcan’s Song - Robert Easton
(mp3 files – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Mendelssohn - Son and Stranger - I am a roamer
Gounod - Philemon and Baucis - Vulcan's song
Columbia 9210
Matrices WAX 2330-1, 2331-1 (7116/7)
Recorded 7th April 1927
Available from September 1927 to January 1946
Orchestra, A W Leggett
Robert Easton, bass
The Mendelssohn plays in C major at 80rpm, the Gounod in A minor (a semitone below score pitch).
This recording was reviewed in The Gramophone, September 1927:
Robert Easton. – The two records on this disc present a singular contrast – the same fine bass voice in both pieces, but a difference of style and effect that is simply astonishing. It is, however, no mystery, no problem beyond solution. The singer knows how to make every point in I'm a roamer. He gets away with it from the starting-gate, and from that point is a winner as well as a roamer – tone, rhythm, words, humour, everything pat and perfect to the finish. With Vulcan's Song it is otherwise. Here too slow, there too fast; now too deliberate and heavy; nearly always too lugubrious – the true significance of Vulcan's allusive remarks and the satire of his own ugliness and deformity, showing what a mistake it is for him to quit Venus and his own fireside to go on nocturnal adventures – the humour of all this is utterly lost, thanks partly, perhaps, to the fatuity of the English translation. That, I suppose, is why Santley always insisted on singing this song in French.
|
|
Mediafire link for Mendelssohn - Symphony No.4 Italian - Mario Rossi
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Mendelssohn - Symphony No.4 in A major Op.90 "Italian"
Vivaldi - Olimpiade - Andante
Decca AK 1974-7
Matrices AR 11730-1, 11731-1, 11732-1, 11733-1, 11734-1, 11735-1, 11736-1, 11737-2
Recorded 1947
I. Allegro vivace (2 sides)
II. Andante con moto (1½ sides)
III. Con moto moderato (1½ sides)
IV. Finale: Saltarello-Presto (2 sides)
Turin Symphony Orchestra, Mario Rossi
This recording received a detailed review in The Gramophone, December 1948:
Turin Symphony Orchestra (Mario Rossi): Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90, "Italian" (Mendelssohn); Andante from "L'Olimpiade" (Vivaldi arr. Mortari). Decca AK1974-7 (12 in., 27s. 4d.).
I cannot imagine why Decca have decided to withdraw the Unger version in six months' time in favour of this new one. It is true that Unger took the first movement rather deliberately and was altogether too perfunctory about the Andante; but he was well recorded, and on points his version wins hands down over this new competitor. Perhaps the idea was that it would be interesting to have an Italian orchestra playing a work which owed all its inspiration to Italy – for this is not one of your made-up titles stuck on afterwards by a publisher. Mendelssohn had started off at the age of 25 for an extended tour of Austria, Italy and Switzerland, and his sketches and letters vividly record the impressions made on his naturally vivacious mind: in 1831 he wrote from Rome, "The Italian Symphony makes rapid progress: it will be the gayest piece I have yet composed, especially the last movement. I have not yet made up my mind about the Adagio (sic), and think I shall reserve it for Naples." He finished the work on his return home, and conducted the first performance himself in 1833 for a concert of the Philharmonic Society of London. The curious thing is that this symphony, for all its seeming spontaneity and the sunny freshness of its writing, caused Mendelssohn exceptional difficulty, and right up to the year of his death he was still considering making alterations to it.
W.R.A., writing of the recent Barbirolli recording of the Italian, said that it achieved “high clarity at the expense of warmth.” Here almost the reverse is true: there is plenty of spirit, even if the orchestra is not particularly well disciplined, but far greater definition, both of playing and recording, is necessary. Rossi starts off at an impetuous speed; the woodwind repeated chords are a mere indistinct background; the strings, when they enter with their exuberant tune, skitter over the quavers and clip the rhythm. It is all, clearly, just too fast for the players' comfort: phrases are snatched, and there is frequently little continuity of the melodic line. But there is interesting perspective and plenty of vitality. If the staccato string passage leading to the second subject is untidy, the second subject itself is treated with the most delicious lightness and grace. It is a pity that the exposition is not repeated: it is becoming a bad habit to alter Mendelssohn's carefully-calculated proportions by cutting the repeat.
After the first movement the rot begins to set in. The Andante is played sympathetically, but (especially at the end) oh! so slowly. This seems to have depressed the orchestra so much that it plays the third movement without much conviction, and the Trio is dreary in the extreme – it is taken very slowly, the horns ignore the phrasing (which is clearly marked in bar-lengths), and the violins' dancing figure is laborious and leaden-footed. By contrast, in the Saltarello, the Roman carnival seems to have gone to the players' heads, and the rhythm is none too stable (notice how the woodwind soloists jump their fourth beats at letter C, side 7). This movement certainly cannot compare with Unger's version.
The fill-up is interesting: a gracious elegiac Andante from one of the 38 operas of Vivaldi, the red-headed priest on whose music Bach drew so much. L'Olimpiade, one of Metastasio's most popular libretti, was set by about a dozen composers, and Vivaldi's opera was revived in 1939 at the Siena Festival.
The LP issue was reviewed briefly in The Gramophone, September 1950:
*MENDELSSOHN. Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90, "The Italian." Turin Symphony Orchestra (Mario Rossi). Decca LX3004 ( 10 in., 29s. 6d.).
In December, 1948, my colleague L.S. devoted nearly a column to a review of the 78 version or this symphony. He wrote with no great enthusiasm, and I agree with all his strictures. Indeed, as a whole, it is a poor performance, and therefore I cannot understand why Decca has bothered to issue it on L.P. There is certainly no improvement in the quality of the recording. L.S. said that "far greater definition, both of playing and recording, is necessary." It still is. R.H.
|
|
Mediafire link for Mendelssohn - Symphony No.3 Scotch - Malcolm Sargent
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Mendelssohn - Symphony No.3 in A major "Scotch"
Columbia DX 1451-4
Matrices CAX 10080-2, 10081-1, 10082-1, 10083-2, 10084-1, 10085-2, 10086-2, 10087-1
Recorded 1947
I. Andante con moto - Allegro (3 sides)
II. Scherzo (1 side)
III. Adagio (2 sides)
IV. Allegro vivacissimo (2 sides)
Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Malcolm Sargent
This recording was reviewed extensively in The Gramophone, February 1948
Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (Sargent); Symphony No. 3, in A minor, "Scotch" (Mendelssohn). Columbia DX 1451-4 (12 in., 21s. 4d.). Auto. DX8304-7. Score, Hawkes, Eulenburg.
Recording excels in clarity, virility. Softer tones not so fine. The strings tell better, on the whole, than the wind. Not quite the finest wood-wind playing, I think. That start is a difficult one. Mendelssohn spread himself in this Scottish album. It is very much the German tourist's Scotland, with rather a lot of padding to the scenery and history. He began it at Edinburgh in midsummer, 1829, and finished it in 1842. He wanted the movements to run without break, but applause spoiled that aim. It shows his strength and some of the weaknesses, in the latter category, particularly that of starting well and tailing off, in both melodies and phrases. One strength is the sense of the springing foot on the heather. Moodiness exhales, at first: the sense of the past invaded him. There is a touch of native song in an augmented interval in the second phrase. The preparation for the Allegro is deft: after the slight lift; then the flutes' echo of the fiddles' cry, distantly.
The first theme of this is pervasive; the key-changes are fine. The lower strings have free play, and record particularly well. The violoncello in particular has a good solo bit. Pretty dovetailing where the development merges into the recapitulation. The coda is particularly good: stormy seas? (cf. Hebrides, and think of Scott's Pirate, perhaps). A touch of the early Andante leads into the
Scherzo – It is said to be "after" the Highland Games at Braemar, but I trow that this was also the native heath of the M.N.D. fairies. The staccato scherzo style at bar 72 is very much our hero's own. The clarinet has a few tasty bits. How the Romantics loved it! Perhaps this hints at Scots piping, but in a spirit, as well as a tonal compass, soaring, I think, beyond the pipe's range. The form of all four movements is "sonata," but in the two middle ones it is condensed. Here, after development (at 105), the recapitulation is much shortened. The jumping arpeggio figure (214 et seq.) leads on to the coda. Orchestra and recorders are here alike excellent.
Slow Movement – A song without words, rather a flop in Scotland, I think. The horns have a hint, at the start, of the second subject. The varied presentation of the two themes is the main dish; development is slight. The wind colour in the scoring is richly conveyed. Indeed, I enjoy the scoring more than the thematic matter.
Finale – Originally marked "Allegro guerriero." Note themes at 55 (five A's to start), and 37 – flew march-like strain. The latter is developed in a fugato (182: Second subject, 67: oboe. Its second section has a fine brief blaze. At 137, note the octave "calls " already heard in the first movement. The fugato is beautifully placed, as relief (towards end of side), and so is the splendid device that leads up the recapitulation at 245, which comes a little before the end of this side. It is in such building that Mendelssohn was always at his best. His master was Beethoven. The recapitulation is shortened, to make way for the long coda. The calls are capital, the sense of suspense superb. The introduction of a phrase used elsewhere (in the Reformation symphony, and the Hymn of Praise one, etc.) is striking. Perhaps it may be meant to suggest the composer's idea of the triumph of the Highlanders, in the religious sense: the Covenanter's struggles, maybe? In such music our players triumph gallantly. One could not wish a firmer-based recording, and scarcely a better-balanced one. In the finest details of full-pace rhythmic precision we allow a percentage of defection.
|
|
February 1st
|
|
There are just a few items today, with more to follow later in the week. Edward German’s “Welsh Rhapsody” was, surprisingly, not one of the many works that German himself conducted for the Gramophone Company. Pioneering acoustic versions were left to Dan Godfrey (on one side), Henry Gibson and the Mayfair Orchestra (2 sides) and Bainbridge Robinson with Boosey’s Concert Orchestra (4 sides). Electrical recordings followed from Landon Ronald with the LSO and Basil Cameron with the Hastings Municipal Orchestra in 1930, and the City of Birmingham Orchestra under George Weldon came later. The July 1931 issue of The Gramophone had the following to say about Ronald’s recording:
German is always likeable, because he knows his job inside out - the job of inventing good tunes, working them up into not-too-complex patterns, and orchestrating them in firm, bright colours (with a special ear to the values of the wind, as you may notice in this Rhapsody, which he wrote for the Cardiff Festival in 1904). This time he did not invent the tunes, but took them from the splendid folk store of Wales. The first movement builds on the air to "Loudly proclaim o'er land and sea This is the home of liberty" a capital, lusty opening. About a third of the way on side 2 we run right into the scherzo section, beginning with the fleet “Hunting the Hare” and using secondly “The Bells of Aberdovey” (with some neat combinations of the two). A minor-key reminiscence of the Bells tune, an inch in on side 3, changes the scene reflectively for the third movement, in which oboes and lower strings give out “David of the White Rock”, which is briefly treated, and ends pp; directly, we know what is going to happen, for the instruments hint excitingly at “Men of Harlech”, and then we sit back and, if we are not too blasé, feel a touch of the old patriotic thrill as the grand old march recalls the pageant of stormy history. All very simple and ol-fashioned, you may say; but it is done by a man who, I repeat, knows his job inside out, and there are too few who have learnt their job as German did, graduating in the most valuable of all arenas, that of the theatre. Without over-smiting, the L.S.O. paints warmly and well, and no one could keep the thing in perspective better than Ronald. The tunes on which the movements are based should have been noted on the labels.
The two recordings given below are Henry Gibson’s abridged 1916 account, and Landon Ronald’s 1930 recording. In addition to these, a little opera: a test pressing of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf’s 1950 Addio del passato, included as an extra in a recent record order, as one of the other discs in the order had a rim flake that the seller hadn’t previously spotted.
|
|
Download - German - Welsh Rhapsody - Henry Gibson
Download - German - Welsh Rhapsody - Landon Ronald
(mp3 files – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
German - Welsh Rhapsody
His Master's Voice C 701
Matrices HO 1453ac, 1455ac (2-0654/5)
Recorded 27th January 1916
Issued September 1916
Mayfair Orchestra, Henry Gibson
German - Welsh Rhapsody
His Master's Voice D 1939-40
Recorded 17th September 1930
Matrices Cc 19731-II, Cc 19732-II, Cc 19733-I, Cc 19734-1 (32-1763/6)
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Landon Ronald
|
|
Download - Verdi - La Traviata - Addio del passato - Schwarzkopf
(mp3 file – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Verdi - La Traviata - Addio del passato
Columbia one-sided test pressing (issued on LX 1370)
Matrix CAX 10947-2
Recorded 1950
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, soprano
Philharmonia Orchestra, Alceo Galliera
|
|
January 26th
|
|
Today brings another two brief updates, because I’ve been busy. There’s an early LP of Rodzinski conducting Pictures at an Exhibition. The record I’ve taken this from is in terrible condition, so there is a considerable amount of noise that could not be removed. The other item is Henry Wood conducting an arrangement of a Handel overture – as “inauthentic” a performance as one could wish for.
|
|
Mediafire link for Mussorgsky-Ravel - Pictures at an Exhibition - Rodzinski
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Mussorgsky-Ravel – Pictures at an Exhibition
Columbia Masterworks ML 4033
Matrices F XLP 254 3A, F XLP 255 3C
Recorded 1945
Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of New York, Artur Rodzinski
1. Promenade
2. Gnomes
3. Promenade
4. The Old Castle
5. Promenade
6. Tuileries
7. Bydlo
8. Promenade
9. Ballet of chicks in their shells
10. Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle
11. The market place at Limoges
12. Catacombs
13. Cum mortuis in lingua mortua
14. The hut on Fowls' Legs
15. The great gate at Kiev
Tracks 11 and 12 are combined into one mp3 file to avoid a break in sound. The gap between tracks 14 and 15 is as on the LP
|
|
Download - Handel - Berenice - Overture - Henry Wood
(mp3 file – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Handel - Berenice - Overture
Decca K.819
Matrices TA 2041-II, 2042-II
Recorded 7th November 1935
Released May 1936
The Queen's Hall Orchestra, Sir Henry J. Wood
Charles Woodhouse, leader
The minuet from this overture can also be heard in a performance by Reginald Jacques, further down this page.
|
|
January 20th
|
|
Because I’ve been busy, here’s yet another update. This time there are three Scheherezades – two are highly abridged, one only slightly. Landon Ronald’s acoustic account takes one side for each movement. The early electrical version by Eugene Goossens adopts the same principle, and contains only a little more music, evidently being intended as a replacement for the acoustic version. The “complete” version recorded by French Columbia is conducted by Philippe Gaubert on 11 sides, including a cut between the end of side 10 and the start of 11. I don’t know why it wasn’t simply recorded complete on 12 sides.
|
|
Mediafire link for Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherezade (abridged) - Ronald
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherezade (Suite Symphonique) Op.35
His Master's Voice D 131-2
Matrices HO 2985af, HO3635af, Cc 2693-1, Cc 2694-II (2-0802, 2-0866, 2-0869, 2-0875)
Recorded 24th November 1917 (side 1), 8th March 1919 (side 2), 13th March 1923 (sides 3, 4)
Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, Sir Landon Ronald
As noted above, this acoustic recording of Scheherezade is substantially abridged, and omits the openings of the first and fourth movements, and finishes the finale movement early. Ronald attempted the last three movements in May 1916, before making issued versions of the third and fourth movements in July 1916. Successful takes of the first and second movements followed in 1917 and 1919 (as given here), and the last two movements were remade in 1923 (also as given here).
The parts of the score included in the recording are given below. Page references are to Hawkes Pocket Score – section letters appear common to all scores.
Part 1: bar 14 to 17 (p4); E (p19) to 6 after F (p26); 5 after H (p30) to M (p38); 11 after M (p39) to end (p41)
Part 2: start to bar 4 (p42-3); A (p44) to B (p45); C (p47) to D (p50); H (p62) to 16 after I (p68); 6 before L (p73) to L (p74); N (p79) to P (p87); R (p92) to end (p96)
Part 3: start (p97) to 8 after A (p100); 5 before B (p101) to B (p101); C (p105) to H (p116); I (p119) to K (p120); P (p133) to end (p134)
Part 4: 24 before A (p140) to A (p141); B (p142) to bar before E (p147); K (p158) to N (p168); P (p173) to bar before Q (p176); 12 before X (p203) to 10 after X (p213); 15 after X (p216) to 10 after Y (p221); Z (p222) to 6 after Z (p224)
|
|
Mediafire link for Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherezade - Goossens
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherezade Op.35
His Master's Voice C 1287-8
Matrices CR 561-IIA, 562-II, 563-IV, 564-I (4-0868/71)
Recorded 13th (parts 1, 2, 4) and 15th (part 3) July 1926
Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden, Eugene Goossens
This abridged recording by Eugene Goossens uses almost the same cuts as Landon Ronald’s account, simply adding one or two extra passages that Ronald decided wouldn’t fit on. These include the opening twelve bars of the first movement, a section between A and B in the third movement, and in the fourth movement, the section between A and B, and from W to a little before X.
The parts of the score included in the recording are given below. Page references are to Hawkes Pocket Score – section letters appear common to all scores.
First Record: start (p3) to end (p4); E (p19) to 6 after F (p26); 5 after H (p30) to M (p38); 11 after M (p39) to end (p41)
Second Record: start to bar 4 (p42-3); A (p44) to B (p45); C (p47) to D (p50); H (p62) to 16 after I (p68); 6 before L (p73) to L (p74); N (p79) to P (p87); R (p92) to end (p96)
Third Record: start (p97) to B (p101); C (p105) to H (p116); I (p119) to K (p120); P (p133) to end (p134)
Fourth Record: 24 before A (p140) to bar before E (p147); K (p158) to N (p168); P (p173) to bar before Q (p176); W (p197) to 10 after X (p213); 15 after X (p216) to 10 after Y (p221); Z (p222) to 6 after Z (p224)
|
|
Mediafire link for Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherezade - Philippe Gaubert
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Scheherezade - Suite Symphonique Op.35
Columbia Masterworks Album 156 (DBX 1-6)
Matrices WLX 418, 419, 420, 476-2, 477-2, 478-1, 375, 376, 377, 416, 417 (9722, 9723, 9724, 10559, 10560, 10561, 9529, 9528, 9527, 9728, 9706
Recorded 6th July 1928, April 1929
I. The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship (3 sides)
II. The Story of the Kalandar Prince (3 sides)
III. The Young Prince and the Young Princess (2 and a half sides)
IV. Festival of Bagdad: The Sea – The Ship is Wrecked (2 and a half sides)
L'Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Paris, Philippe Gaubert
Bizet - L'Arlesienne Suite - Adagietto No.1 for Strings
Matrix WAX 5048 (12368)
Recorded 11th to 15th June 1929
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam, Willem Mengelberg
Gaubert’s account of Scheherezade is substantially complete, and demonstrates the excellent sound obtained by French Columbia (though the noise level is high on some sides). Curiously, side 10 ends 28 bars after V and side 11 starts at W, an omission of 44 bars. Given that the work was going to be issued on 6 double sided records, it’s unclear why 12 sides were not used, rendering the cut unnecessary, along with the unusual filler side. The French Columbia issue of this set was coupled with Gaubert's account of the Menuet from Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin.
|
|
January 17th
|
|
There’s quite a mixture of items for mid-January. Firstly, I’ve had another attempt at Mark Hambourg’s recording of the Tchaikovsky First Piano Concerto – the HMV surfaces are rough, and the recording isn’t the easiest to deal with, but I’ve certainly improved on my previous attempt. It also brings the name of Landon Ronald to my site – there’ll be much more to follow. In addition, I’ve transferred a Westminster LP with Artur Rodzinski conducting Mozart’s Clarinet and Bassoon Concertos. Then it’s back to two of this year’s anniversary composers. Haydn’s Surprise symphony has already appeared on this site in versions by Horenstein, Weissmann and Sargent. The next account is with Howard Barlow conducting the Columbia Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra. And as a little nod to the sixtieth anniversary of the death of Richard Strauss, two of the sides recorded by Minnie Nast and Eva Plaschke-von der Osten, the creators of Sophie and Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier. Finally, I’ve transferred an early LP of Vladimir Golschmann conducting Sibelius’s 7th Symphony and Mozart’s Prague.
|
|
Mediafire link for Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No.1 - Hambourg, Ronald
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Tchaikovksy – Piano Concerto No.1 in B flat minor Op.23
His Master’s Voice D 1130-33
Matrices CR 736-IA, 737-I, 738-IA, 739-I, 732-IIA, 733-IA, 734-IA, 735-IA (single side numbers 05951/4, 05947/50)
Recorded 28th September 1926, Kingsway Hall, London
Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, Sir Landon Ronald
Mark Hambourg, piano
|
|
Mediafire link for Mozart concerti - Rodzinski
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Mozart – Clarinet Concerto in A major K.622
Mozart – Bassoon Concerto in Bb major K.191
Whitehall WH20060
Matrices XTV 21725/6 (M18287A/B)
Recorded June 27th to July 11th 1954, Vienna Konzerthaus, Mozartsaal
Vienna State Opera Orchestra, Artur Rodzinski
Leopold Wlach, clarinet
Karl Oehlberger, bassoon
|
|
Mediafire link for Haydn - Surprise Symphony - Howard Barlow
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Haydn – Symphony No.94 in G major “The Surprise”
I. Adagio cantabile – Vivace assai (2 sides)
II. Andante (2 sides)
III. Menuetto (Allegro molto) and Trio (1 side)
IV. Allegro di molto (1 side)
Columbia (UK) DX 929-931
Matrices XCO 24147/52
Recorded 20th February 1939, New York
Columbia Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra, Howard Barlow
This UK Columbia set has a very high level of surface noise and crackle, and proved much more difficult to restore than other UK Columbias of a similar vintage, despite the good recording quality.
|
|
Download - R Strauss - Rosenkavalier - Mit ihren Augen - Nast, Osten
Download - R Strauss - Rosenkavalier - Ist ein Traum - Nast, Osten
(mp3 files – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Richard Strauss – Der Rosenkavalier:
Mit ihren Augen voll Tränen (Act 2)
Ist ein Traum, kann nicht wirklich sein (Act 3)
His Master’s Voice D 1002
Matrices 2305½c, 2304c (single side numbers 044184, 044183)
Recorded 25th August 1911, Berlin
Minnie Nast, soprano
Eva Plaschke-von der Osten, soprano
with Orchestra
Der Rosenkavalier was premiered in Dresden on January 26th 1911. These two sides were part of a group made seven months later in Berlin. Eva von der Osten and Minnie Nast created the roles of Octavian and Sophie. Margarethe Siems, the creator of the Marschallin, also took part in the session, recording solo and ensemble pieces.
“Mit ihren Augen” runs from 2 bars before fig 115 to fig 129
“Ist ein Traum” runs from 2 bars before fig 297 to fig 300, then has a transition section, before running fig 303 to 2 bars after fig 305
|
|
Mediafire link for Sibelius and Mozart - Vladimir Golschmann
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Sibelius – Symphony No.7 in C Op.105
Mozart – Symphony No.38 in D major “Prague”
RCA Victor Bluebird Classics LBC-1067
Matrices E3RP-5266-1S, 5267-1S
Recorded 1942 (Sibelius), 1945 (Mozart)
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Golschmann
This very early American LP was in poor condition, with considerable surface noise, and suffers some blasting in bass-heavy passages.
|
|
December 31st and January 1st
|
|
To round off this Vaughan Williams anniversary year, here are the remainder of Henry Wood’s recordings of Vaughan Williams’s music: The Serenade to Music, The Wasps Overture and the Fantasia on Greensleeves. To complement these, there is another recording of the Greensleeves Fantasia from around the same time, this one conducted by Reginald Jacques, who also leads us into 2009 with some anniversaries – 70 years since the death of John Faulds, 250 years since Handel’s death and 350 years since Purcell’s birth.
And finally, two more anniversaries being celebrated in 2009 – the bicentenary of Mendelssohn’s birth, for which we have Malcolm Sargent conducting Ruy Blas, and the bicentenary of Haydn’s death, with Jascha Horenstein conducting the Surprise Symphony. Both recordings are 80 years old in 1929.
|
|
Mediafire link for Vaughan Williams - Serenade to Music, Wasps, Greensleeves - Henry Wood
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Vaughan Williams – The Wasps – Overture
Vaughan Williams – Fantasia on Greensleeves
Originally issued on Decca K.821/2
Matrices TA 2136, 2137, 2138 (The Wasps), TA 2139 (Greensleeves)
Recorded 22nd April 1936
The Queen's Hall Orchestra, Sir Henry J. Wood
George Stratton, leader
The present transfers are made from the Decca Ace of Clubs LP reissue, ACL 255.
Vaughan Williams – Serenade to Music
Originally issued on Columbia LX 757-8
Matrices CAX 8367, 8368, 8369, 8370
Recorded 15th October 1938
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Henry J. Wood
Isobel Baillie, soprano - Lilian Stiles Allen, soprano - Elsie Suddaby, soprano - Eva Turner, soprano
Margaret Balfour, contralto - Muriel Brunskill, contralto - Astra Desmond, contralto - Mary Jarred, contralto
Parry Jones, tenor - Heddle Nash, tenor - Frank Titterton, tenor - Walter Widdop, tenor
Norman Allin, bass - Robert Easton, bass - Roy Henderson, baritone - Harold Williams, baritone
The present transfer is made from the Columbia 7” 45rpm reissue on SED 5553.
|
|
Download - Mendelssohn - Ruy Blas Overture - Malcolm Sargent
(mp3 files – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Mendelssohn – Ruy Blas - Overture
His Master’s Voice C 1813
Matrices Cc 17933-II, 17934-I (32-1065/6)
Recorded 16th December 1929, Kingsway Hall, London
London Symphony Orchestra, Malcolm Sargent
(The orchestra is credited on the record labels only as “Symphony Orchestra”)
|
|
Mediafire link for Haydn - Surprise Symphony - Jascha Horenstein
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Haydn – Symphony No.94 in G major “The Surprise”
I. Adagio cantabile – Vivace assai (2 sides)
II. Andante (2 sides)
III. Menuetto (Allegro molto) and Trio (1 side)
IV. Allegro di molto (1 side)
Polydor 66914-6
Matrices 132, 133, 134½, 135, 136, 137½ BV VI (B 21217/22)
Recorded 1929, Berlin
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Jascha Horenstein
|
|
December 24th
|
|
As we approach the end of the year, it’s time to remember a composer who died fifty years ago: Ralph Vaughan Williams. There have been many reissues in connection with this, including, from Symposium, Dan Godfrey’s premiere recording of A London Symphony – both his earlier recording of the first (abridged) and third movements, and the “complete” recording that followed. The abridged first movement was one of the records recommended by “”Percy Scholes in his Second Book of the Gramophone Record. Godfrey’s recording used the 1920 version of the score. Vaughan Williams published an updated version of the score in 1936, and it is this that was used by Sir Henry Wood in his recording the same year. However, by a curious quirk, when Eugene Goossens recorded the work in 1941 with the Cincinatti Symphony Orchestra, he used the 1920 version. It is also noteworthy, that both Wood and Goossens omit the repeat of the first section of the Scherzo, which Godfrey included in both his acoustic recordings of the movement. There can be no doubt that both conductors would have had room for it: Wood’s side lengths are fairly short, and breaks between movements occur during sides; and Goossens’s recording takes 9 sides, with the 10th taken up by a 1938 recording with the LSO of Bizet’s Farandole!
These recordings, then, by Wood and Goossens provide an opportunity to compare the two versions of the work. It’s also an instructive comparison of recording styles. Wood rarely approaches a true pianissimo, particularly where the lower instruments are concerned, perhaps continuing the habits from around 1916 when he started conducting for records. Goossens for Victor has a much more natural recorded sound, allowing for a wide dynamic range.
|
|
Mediafire link for Vaughan Williams - A London Symphony - Henry Wood
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Vaughan Williams – A London Symphony
I. Lento – Allegro risoluto (3½ sides)
II. Lento (2 sides)
III. Scherzo (Nocturne) (1½ sides)
IV. Andante con moto – Maestoso alla Marcia. (2 sides)
Epilogue – Andante sostenuto (1 side)
Decca X.114-8
Matrices TA 2126-III, 2127-II, 2128-II, 2129-II, 2130-II, 2131-III, 2132-I, 2133-III, 2134-2, 2135-II
Recorded 21st April 1936
Issued June 1936
The Queen's Hall Orchestra, Sir Henry J. Wood
George Stratton, leader
There is a deterioration in sound quality for the last two sides, as the final disc in my copy of the set of 78s has a crack from label to rim. I have done my best to alleviate the effects of this.
|
|
Mediafire link for Vaughan Williams - A London Symphony - Eugene Goossens
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Vaughan Williams – A London Symphony
I. Lento – Allegro risoluto (3 sides)
II. Lento (2 sides)
III. Scherzo (Nocturne) (1 side)
IV. Andante con moto – Maestoso alla Marcia. (1½ sides)
Epilogue – Andante sostenuto (1½ sides)
RCA Victor Red Seal DM-916 (11-8253/7)
Matrices 062506/14
Recorded 19th and 20th February 1941, Cincinatti
Cincinatti Symphony Orchestra, Eugene Goossens
Bizet – L’Arlésienne Suite No.2 – 4. Farandole
RCA Victor Red Seal 11-8253
Matrix 2EA 6311-II, 073028
Recorded 9th May 1938, Abbey Road Studio 1, London
London Symphony Orchestra, Eugene Goossens
|
|
November 23rd
|
|
Luella Melius is a far from well known singer.
“Luella Melius, soprano, born 21st August 1892, Appleton, Wisconsin. Date of death unknown. Her actual name was Mrs. W. Fulton Melhuish. She began her training in Chicago as a child, and then studied under Jean de Reszke in Paris. She debuted at the Vienna Volksoper under Weingartner at the start of the 1920s and gave guest appearances in Paris, Madrid, Naples and Berlin, including Gilda at the Paris Opera in 1924. In the 1925/6 season she was at the Chicago opera as Gilda in “Rigoletto” and as Rosina in “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” (alongside Schipa and Bonelli). She guested in 1926 at the San Francisco Opera as Lucia di Lammermoor and as Gilda. As her career developed she broadcast for the BBC, and then American radio. She took part in numerous opera broadcasts in the 1920s. In 1926-27 she was a guest artiste at some German houses. In 1932 she created a vocal school in New York, at which such important figures as Marguerite Sylva, Adamo Didur, Carolina Lazzari and EH Gauthier taught. Records: First acoustics in England with HMV (1925); later in the USA early electrical Victors. All show a technically confident coloratura soprano.”
Time Magazine notes in October 1923 that she was heading to Europe for a year of concerting, including Gilda in Paris. On November 30th 1925, Time had this to say:
“It is rapidly becoming a convention for the critics of Chicago to hail every week as a great artist some singer hitherto ungraced by U.S. laurels. Two weeks ago it was Baritone Bonelli. Last week it was Luella Melius, coloratura singer, born in Appleton, Wis. She made her debut in Rigoletto. Staid people have been foolish enough to believe that a modern audience could not be more than politely moved by the graceful insipidities of the old score - that the days were past when a perfect trill was a signal for young men in evening clothes to unhitch the horses of a prima donna's carriage and pull her home themselves. The Chicago enthusiasts stopped short of this. But they held up the performance after she had sung the "Caro Nome," and gave Luella Melius ten curtain calls at the end of the act. Old Critic Glenn Dillard Gunn declared that he remembered only three such scenes in the last 25 years; others compared Miss Melius with Gali-Curci. Even the most reserved could not help agreeing that her voice is very good.”
There are notes of concerts in various parts of the USA in the late 1920s.
It may be that Melius’s visit to Europe was longer than planned, or that she returned in 1925. Certainly the Gramophone Company made a number of recordings with her, starting with tests in May of that year, and six issued sides in August.
- 8th May 1925: LUELLA MELIUS with Mme ADAMI, piano
Cc 6101-1, -2 Verdi - La Traviata: Ah, fors’è lui (in Italian)
Cc 6102-1, -2 JB Wekerlin - Fleur des Alpes (Swiss echo song) (in French)
(Test matrices)
- 5th August 1925: LUELLA MELIUS, with Orchestra conducted by George W Byng
Cc 6439-1▲?, -2▲? Delibes - Lakmé: Pourquoi dans les grands bois
Cc 6444-1▲?, -2▲? Delibes - Lakmé: Bell song - Where is the young Hindu maid
- 6th August 1925: LUELLA MELIUS, with Orchestra conducted by George W Byng [B Studio]
Cc 6452-1▲?, -2▲? JB Wekerlin – Les fleurs des Alpes, Swiss echo song (in French)
Cc 6453-1▲?, -2▲? Benedict – La capinera (in French) with GORDON WALKER, flute
- 6th August 1925: LUELLA MELIUS, with Orchestra conducted by George W Byng [Room 1]
Bb 6454-1, -2 JB Wekerlin – Les fleurs des Alpes, Swiss echo song
Take 2 issued on 7-33071 DA722
Bb 6455-1, -2 Benedict – La capinera with GORDON WALKER, flute
Take 1 issued on 7-33072 DA722
- 10th August 1925: LUELLA MELIUS, with Orchestra conducted by George W Byng [Room 1]
Cc 6474-1, -2 Delibes - Lakmé: Pourquoi dans les grands bois
Take 2 issued on 2-033103 DB883
Cc 6475-1, -2, -3 Delibes - Lakmé: Where is the young Hindu maid (Où va la jeune hindoue)
Take 3 issued on 2-033102 DB883
Bb 6476-1, -2 Mozart - Il Flauto Magico: Aria di Pamina - Ah lo so
Take 1 issued on 7-53091 DA723
Bb 6477-1, -2 Mozart – Il Flauto Magico: Aria della Regina della Notte - Gli angui d‘inferno
Take 1 issued on 7-53092 DA723
It’s curious that in these last days of acoustical recording at Hayes, Melius attempted four items electrically, but that her issued HMV recordings were ultimately made acoustically – and in fact the acoustic recordings of the Wekerlin and Benedict items were preferred over the electrical versions recorded the same day. On Melius’s final HMV recording day, Noel Coward was recording electrically at Hayes, as were Jack Hylton's Kit Kat Band. And it appears that Melius was followed into the studio by tenor Tudor Davies who made 4 unissued acoustic sides, before going into Studio B and recording two of the same items electrically, one of which was issued.
Melius also made at least two issued sides for Victor – 1927 Polonaise from Mignon and Valse from Mireille (takes 54 and 34 respectively!).
|
|
Download - Luella Melius sings Ach, ich fühl's
Download - Luella Melius sings Der Hölle Rache
(mp3 files – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Il Flauto Magico - Ah! lo so, piu non m'avanza (Pamina's Aria)
Il Flauto Magico - Gli angui d'inferno (Queen of the Night Aria)
His Master's Voice DA 723
Matrices Bb 6476-1, 6477-1 (7-53091/2)
Recorded 10th August 1925 in Room 1 at Hayes
Orchestra, George W. Byng
Luella Melius, soprano
Pamina’s aria plays in score pitch at 78rpm, and the Queen of the Night Aria plays in C minor (a transposition of a tone downwards) at the same speed, so that Melius produces a string of top E flats, rather than top Fs.
Pamina’s aria has the following text visible under the label, inscribed into the was master:
BB6467
10 Aug 25
I
5/6/25
Palmina's Aria
Magic Flute
Luella Melius
(And “Palmina” is what actually appears there, it’s not my misprint!)
|
|
November 11th
|
|
Safford Cape and the Pro Musica Antiqua of Brussels recently appeared on this site on an Anthologie Sonore 78 of works by Dufay and Isaac. Cape and his group returned to the Dufay in 1950 – it was one of thirteen items on an LP of Dufay’s secular works which he recorded for Elaine Music Shop.
|
|
Mediafire link for Dufay secular works directed by Cape
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Guillaume Dufay – Secular Works
Elaine Music Shop EMS206
Matrices E1-LQC-15052-1A, 15053-1B
Recorded in the Fall of 1950
Pro Musica Antiqua (Brussels), Safford Cape
Maria Ceuppens, soprano
Jeanne Deroubaix, contralto
Louis Devos, tenor
Franz Mertens, tenor
Albert van Ackere, baritone
Charles Koenig, recorder
Rachel van Hecke, treble viol
Jean-Christophe van Ecke, tenor viol
Alphonse Bauwens, tenor viol
Suzanne Bouquette, minstrel's harp
Michel Podolski, lute
(only Bauwens features on the early Anthologie Sonore recording)
Side 1:
- Resvelons-nous, amoureux
- Pouray-je avoir vostre mercy
- Hé! Compaignons
- La belle se sied au pie de la tour
- Adieu, m'amour
- Ce moys de May
Side 2:
- Je donne a tous les amoreux
- Bon jour, bon mois
- Par droit je puis bien complaindre et gemir
- Ce jour de l'an
- Mon cuer me fait tousdis penser
- Je languis en piteux martire
- J'atendray tant qu'il vous playra
This early LP is rather worn and noisy in places, but I’ve tried to remove the most obvious thumps and bumps.
|
|
October 19th
|
|
Landon Ronald needs no introduction to regulars of this site. The recording presented here is one of the earliest recordings of a great orchestral showpiece – Dukas’s L’Apprenti Sorcier. It is a fine testament to Ronald’s work with the Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, even in a slightly abridged acoustic recording. The earliest account of this work on disc was a single-sided version conducted by Henry Wood in 1917 (backed by the Flying Dutchman Overture). Ronald’s version was the first 2-sided recording. It is curious that on the same day, the French arm of the Gramophone Company recorded the same work, also on 2 sides, with L’Orchestre Symphonique des Concerts Touche under the baton of Francis Touche. This version, however, needed another session in 1920 to complete the recording – it may be that one of the 1919 sides was unsatisfactory. Ronald’s version was made with 2 takes of each side, all recorded on November 15th 1919. Both recordings were released around May 1920.
Two further acoustic recordings were made of this work – by Camille Chevillard and the Lamoureux Orchestra on four sides in 1922, and George Szell on three sides for Odeon in early 1926.
|
|
Download - Dukas - L’Apprenti Sorcier - Ronald
(mp3 files – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
|
Dukas – L’Apprenti Sorcier (Scherzo Symphonique)
His Master's Voice D 461
Matrices HO 4108af, 4110 af (2-0960/1)
Recorded 15th November 1919, Hayes
Issued May 1920
Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, Landon Ronald
This recording has a number of cuts.
Side 1:
- First 7 bars of fig 1
- From fig 6, bars 3-6, 10-12, 16-27 (this trims down the passage where the brooms slowly come to life)
- 6 bars immediately before fig 11
- The side concludes at fig 30 (with the bar before and chord at 30 replaced with the final 2 bars of the piece, to give a "satisfactory" end to the side)
Side 2:
- Start 3 before fig 38
- Cut fig 38 bars 19-24
- Cut fig 39 bars 13-18
- One player enters a bar early for fig 42
- Cut fig 56 bars 5-6
The cuts are mainly concerned with trimming down repeated sections of music, and also include Ronald’s common choice of omitting a significant chunk of music between the 2 sides of a recording – in this case 120 bars. This obviously removes the possibility of an adequate side join. I have tried to ensure the gap between side 1 and 2 follows the 3 bar rhythm of the piece, in order not to make the break too jarring.
|
|
September 12th
|
|
A few recordings by Leo Blech have appeared previously on this site, and it seemed time for another – his 1927 account of Schubert’s Great C major Symphony with the London Symphony Orchestra.
|
|
Mediafire link for Blech’s 1927 Schubert C major
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Schubert – Symphony No.7 in C major “Great”
His Master's Voice D1390-5 (Album Series No.59)
Matrices CR 1587-I, 1588-IA, 1589-IIA, 1590-II, 1591-IA, 1592-II, 1593-IA, 1594-IA, 1595-IIA, 1596-IA, 1597-IA, 1598-IIA (5-0735, 5-0693/9, 5-0714, 5-0711/3)
Recorded 15th November 1927, Queen’s Hall, London
London Symphony Orchestra, Leo Blech
I. Andante - Allegro ma non troppo (3 sides)
II. Andante con moto (4 sides)
III. Scherzo - Allegro vivace (2 sides)
IV. Finale - Allegro vivace (3 sides)
The first record in my copy of this album is cracked right across, being held together mainly by the record label. I have done my best to remove the resultant heavy clicks.
It’s curious to note that in this set, record 1 contains sides 1 and 2, and record 2 contains sides 3 and 12. This ensures that the next two records can include the slow movement, and that the two sides of the scherzo fit on one record. There is, however, a significant cut in the reprise of the scherzo.
|
|
Konstantin Ivanov’s 1963 EMI/Melodiya recording of Glazunov’s Symphony No.5 is well-regarded, but his earlier account for Supraphon with the Czech PO is little known. This issue appears in the WERM 1951-2 supplement as a reissue, so the LP would appear to be from around 1950, and the timing of one or two conspicuous edits suggest a 78rpm source.
|
|
Mediafire link for Ivanov’s Glazunov 5
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Glazunov - Symphony No.5 in Bb major Op.55
Supraphon D LPM-18 (matrices MM43/4)
Recorded c1950
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Konstantin Ivanov
|
|
August 15th
|
|
Pauline Aubert has appeared here already in a number of Anthologie Sonore recordings. The present set is slightly later, probably about 1950, on a Classics Club LP. Aubert plays music of “The Couperin Dynasty”.
|
|
Mediafire link for Pauline Aubert recordings of Couperin dynasty
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
The Couperin Dynasty
The Classics Club – Counterpoint X52
Matrices CCHN52A1, 52B1 (CPTM 30053A, 30053B)
Recorded c1950
Pauline Aubert, harpsichord
Armand-Louis Couperin:
Les cacqueteuses
The Four Nations: Italy
The Four Nations: England
The Four Nations: Germany
The Four Nations: France
Gervase François Couperin:
Variations on "Ah! ça ira"
Jacques Champion de Chambonnières:
Pavan
Louis Couperin:
Fantaisie
The Tomb of Monsieur Blancrocher
François Couperin:
8 Preludes to the Art of Playing the Harpsichord
|
|
Haydn’s wonderful Symphonie Concertante in C was recorded by L’Oiseau-Lyre, and provides another chance to hear the French bassoon sound of Fernand Oubradous, and an early example of Charles Munch conducting.
|
|
Mediafire link for Haydn - Symphonie Concertante - Munch
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Haydn – Symphonie Concertante in C major for Violin, Cello, Oboe and Bassoon
L’Oiseau-Lyre OL.83-85
Matrices PART 1285-1, 1286-1, 1287-1, 1288-1, 1289-1, 1290-1 (M6-96308/9, 96311/4)
Recorded October 1938
Myrtil Morel, oboe
Fernand Oubradous, bassoon
Roland Charmy, violin
André Navarra, cello
Orchestra, Charles Munch
|
|
August 2nd
|
|
Katie Moss’s 1911 song “The Floral Dance” was first recorded by Peter Dawson in 1912, and its popularity has endured. Dawson recorded four commercially released versions of it, and two broadcasts survive. The first recording of September 1912 was followed by a 10” version on the cheaper Zonophone label before the end of the year. His later electrical version was coupled with Frances Allitsen’s “The Lute Player” in 1927, a coupling that was repeated in 1934. The pairing of the two songs seems to have been so popular on HMV that other labels emulated it – Frederick Ranalow on Metropole, and Robert Easton (under the nom de disque Graham Stewart) for Broadcast Twelve.
When Dawson’s first recording of the Floral Dance was released it was coupled with Slaughter’s “The Dear Homeland,” sung by the baritone Thorpe Bates. Thomas Thorpe-Bates, FRAM, FGSM (London, 11th February 1883 – London, 23rd May 1958). Bates studied at the Guildhall and the Royal Academy of Music. He married Edith Helena Leech, and by 1935 they had a son and a daughter. He sang as principal baritone at provincial Music Festivals, Choral Societies, Promenade Concerts and the Hallé and Brand Lane Concerts, Manchester. He played in “The Yankee Princess” in New York in 1922. He also appeared in “The Maid of the Mountains,” “The Rebel Maid” and many other plays. As of 1935 he lived at Westerley, 10 Salmon St, London NW9. Bates’s daughter was the actress Peggy Thorpe-Bates, perhaps best remembered as one of three actresses who played Hilda Rumpole in the TV adaptations of John Mortimer’s “Rumpole of the Bailey” novels.
Frederick Baring Ranalow, FRAM (Dublin, 7th November 1873 – London, 8th December 1953) was taken to England at a young age, becoming a chorister at St. Paul’s. He was educated at the Royal Academy of Music. He married Lilian Mary Oates, with whom he had, by 1935, produced a son and a daughter. He became a professor at the RAM with a focus on opera. He appeared at the Queen’s Hall and the principal festivals of the UK and at the Royal Albert Hall. He also composed light songs. He took many parts in the Beecham Opera Company, and played Macheath in the Beggars’ Opera over 1400 times. He toured Australia and New Zealand with Nellie Melba. He also appeared in several films including Autumn Crocus (1934). His recreations are listed as golf and motoring, and he was a member of the Garrick club. He lived at 12 Argyll Road, Kensington W8.
Ranalow’s recordings, though extensive, are little remembered now. He recorded for HMV, Columbia, Edison Bell, Vocalion and Metropole. He was Sharpless in the complete English Madam Butterfly with Rosina Buckman, and took part in the acoustic recording of the Beggars’ Opera under Richard Austin. He recorded excerpts from Ethel Smyth’s “The Boatswain’s Mate” with Rosina Buckman – they had been in the premiere together. He also took part in the complete acoustic HMS Pinafore of 1922-3 singing part of Sir Joseph Porter’s role.
Ranalow’s operatic repertoire included Prince Igor, Figaro, Sachs, Papageno and roles in La Boheme, Falstaff, Segreto di Susanna, Tannhauser and Tristan. After his marathon run in the Beggars’ Opera from 1920, he turned more to light opera.
Robert Easton (Sunderland, June 8th 1898 – 26th May 1987) was a British bass of the mid–twentieth century. As a boy, he sang in his local church choir. He joined the BEF in 1915, and was severely wounded while on service in Flanders. He had a long convalescence, and had a leg amputated. After that he wore an artificial leg. He claimed to have drifted into singing, eventually studying in London with Bozelli, Norman Notly, Harry Plunket Greene and Dinh Gilly.
In 1922 he sang in several concerts with the National Sunday League. He made his Prom debut in 1926, where one of the items he sung was “I am a roamer” from Mendelssohn’s "Son and Stranger" – this was to become a regular feature of his concert programmes. His range enabled him to cope with ease in the wide two-octave leaps and even at a rapid speed his impeccable enunciation made the words clear. In 1929 he replaced Harold Williams in the annual Crystal Palace performance (under Beecham) of "Messiah". Between 1933 and 1939 he sang at Covent Garden, appearing as Sparafucile, Titurel, the King in Aida, the Father in "Louise", Colline and Fafner. In 1938 he was chosen as one of the 16 soloists in Vaughan Williams's "Serenade to Music."
Easton was a versatile singer, equally successful in opera, oratorio, recitals and as a concert artist. He was a true basso profondo, with a highly individual, instantly recognisable, dark timbre and rapid flickering vibrato. His range was from F# above middle C, down to a low Bb below bottom C. He was one of Columbia’s exceptional trio of 'profondos' in the inter-war years, along with Norman Allin and Malcolm McEachern. He recorded for Vocalion between 1923 and 1925 and then for Broadcast and Regal Zonophone. For these labels he had to use pseudonyms, so he also appears as Robert Merlyn, Robert Raymond and Graham Stewart.
In 1930 he was chosen by Beecham to sing Mephistopheles in the English language recording of Gounod’s "Faust" with Licette and Nash. He also sang in Stanford Robinson’s complete recording of Stainer's "Crucifixion." In 1938 he was involved in the famous “Lisa Perli” deception, and featured as Colline in Beecham’s recording of Act 4 of La Boheme.
After 1940 Easton confined himself to broadcasts, concerts and oratorios and during the 2nd World War made concert tours with ENSA and CEMA, appearing in France, Belgium and Germany, as well as in Britain. A 1969 broadcast showed him to have lost no vocal quality over the years and he continued to make occasional concert appearances as late as 1985, mainly for the Council of Music in Hospitals. He was a frequent festival adjudicator, on one occasion according a prize to Janet Baker.
He spent his later years at his home in Haslemere, Surrey with his wife of 60 years, and his daughter Margaret.
|
|
Mediafire link for Floral Dance and Lute Player recordings
(These are zip files – left click the link, download the files, then unzip when downloaded)
|
Slaughter – The Dear Homeland
Thorpe Bates, baritone with anonymous pianist
Matrix Ai 6268f (single-side number 02394)
Recorded 13th May 1912, 81rpm in Eb major
Moss – The Floral Dance
Peter Dawson, bass-baritone, with Kennedy Russell, piano
Matrix z 6557f (single-side number 02426)
Recorded 10th September 1912, 81rpm in Db major
Both from His Master’s Voice C 441
Moss – The Floral Dance
Allitsen – The Lute Player
His Master’s Voice C 1313
Matrices Cc 8106-X, Cc 8101-VA (single-side numbers 2-02207, 2-02208)
Recorded 14th January 1927, 78rpm in Db major and C minor respectively
Peter Dawson, bass-baritone
Gerald Moore, piano
Moss – The Floral Dance
Allitsen – The Lute Player
Broadcast Twelve 5032
Matrices LO116X, LO117
Recorded September 1928, 78rpm in Bb major and B minor respectively
Robert Easton, bass (credited as Graham Stewart)
with harp, piano and violin accompaniment
Moss – The Floral Dance
Allitsen – The Lute Player
Metropole 1126
Matrices 1538-2, 1539-2
Recorded c1930, 78rpm in C major and C minor respectively
Frederick Ranalow, bass-baritone
with Orchestra
|
|
|
|
|
Recordings digitized using Stanton ST.150 turntable with Stanton 500 cartridge. Various styli supplied by Expert Stylus Company. Digital sound processing, including equalization, filtering to remove rumble and hum, speed adjustments and dehissing, using DC6, by Diamond Cut productions. Declicking and decrackling using ClickRepair. Re-equalisation using HarBal.
All recordings remastered from original analogue recordings, out of copyright in the UK (1959 or earlier), and hosted in the UK.
|
|
