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.

Bizet – L’Arlèsienne Suites 1 & 2

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)

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

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

Mediafire link for Balakirev – Orchestral works

(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)

Saga Sovereign XID 5101
Matrices XID 5101A, 5101B
Issued 1961
Recorded 1952 (Golovanov), mid 1950s? other items. All in mono

Purcell arr. Henry J Wood – Suite in Five Movements

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)

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”

Mendelssohn – Fingal’s Cave Overture; Two Songs without words

Mediafire link for  Mendelssohn – Hebrides, Songs without words – Wood

(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)

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)

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

Download – Tchaikovksy – Mazeppa – Cossack Dance – Harty

Download – Johann Strauss II _ Perpetuum Mobile – Mengelberg

(mp3 files – right click the link, then select “Save as” or click the play button)

Columbia LX 240

Debussy – String Quartet in G minor Op.10
Mendelssohn – Quartet in Eb major Op.43 – II. Scherzo

Mediafire link for Debussy – String Quartet – Virtuoso Quartet

(This is a zip file – left click the link, download the file, then unzip when downloaded)

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

Bennett Scott – When love creeps in your heart – Ballad (lyrics AJ Mills)
Harry Carroll – The trail of the lonesome pine – Popular song

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” or click the play button)

The Winner 2546
Matrices 1058B-2, 1059W-1 (3901)
Issued February 1914
Orchestra
Robert Carr, baritone

Play in E flat and A flat respectively at 80rpm