All posts in category Instrumental

Heinrich Grünfeld plays cello solos

One early recording by the cellist Heinrich Grünfeld (brother of pianist Alfred Grünfeld) has appeared previously on this site. This has now been revisited, and a later recording by added as well. A full discography for Heinrich Grünfeld can be found on my discographies site. Handel’s Largo (from Serse) Heinrich Grünfeld, cello with piano (mp3 […]

Boult’s early Humperdinck and lighter fare for 2013

As the festive season passes, it’s time for some of Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, in early acoustical recordings by Adrian Boult. To follow this, in the spirit of the New Year Concert, if not the letter, some very light fare indeed: two entertaining bassoon solos from E W Hincliff and two numbers performed by the […]

Virtuoso String Quartet – Beethoven Op.127, a movement by Dittersdorf; Marjorie Hayward & Una Bourne – Grieg’s Violin Sonata in C minor, Mozart K.378; Fethi Kapuz plays Alnar

The major project continues, so I’ve again transferred some other items, with the focus on violinists. Marjorie Hayward is heard as the first violinist of the Virtuoso Quartet in a Beethoven Quartet, and then as soloist in Grieg’s Third Sonata, with Una Bourne at the piano. The additional curiosity item is of the Turkish violinist […]

Works by Lumbye, Warschawsky, Kremer and Waldteufel on early Gramophone Concert records; Chimes and sounds of London, with Stanley Roper, organ

Here in London, it’s traditional that the chiming of Big Ben rings in the New Year. The following recordings, from November 1926, includes that distinctive bell, and other bells of Westminster, together with Stanley Roper playing the organ of St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster. St. Margaret’s Chimes, Westminster. “O God, our help in ages past” Impressions […]

Albert Sammons – Vieuxtemps’s Ballade et Polonaise; Adela Verne – Chopin’s Polonaise in A flat major Op.53

Albert Sammons (1886-1957) was a much loved violinist, nicknamed the English Kreisler. He made several concerto recordings which are still highly regarded. The recording below was the first orchestrally accompanied version of Vieuxtemps’s Ballade et Polonaise, though with wind band accompainment. British military pitch at this time was A=452Hz, so this is the standard I’ve […]

Landon Ronald conducts Berlioz’s Hungarian March; Joszka Szigeti plays Sibelius’s Valse Triste

The latest addition to my collection of 78s is one of those peculiar couplings that one sometimes finds on early double-sided records. This Indian pressed His Master’s Voice disc contains two 1912 recordings. On one side is the Hungarian March from Berlioz’s Damnation of Faust, performed by he New Symphony Orchestra conducted by Landon Ronald. […]

Fabien Sevitzky – Arensky’s Variations on a Theme of Tchaikovsky; Marie Novello – Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No.2; Thorpe Bates – Captain’s Song from HMS Pinafore; Joseph Batten – “March of Victory” for the National Savings Movement; Henry Wood – Vaughan Williams’s Serenade to Music (improved transfer); Michael Zacharewitsch – violin solos

The latest selection of recordings is a typically mixed bag. Firstly, Fabien Sevitzky, who has been heard here before with the Indianapolis Symphony 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 […]

Franz André – Carnival of the Animals, Daphnis and Chloe Suite No.2; François Ruhlmann – Chabrier’s España; Maurice Maréchal, Philippe Gaubert – Lalo’s Cello Concerto; W.H. Squire, Hamilton Harty – Saint-Saëns’s First Cello Concerto; Arnold Földesy – Bruch’s Kol Nidrei; Antonio Janigro, Dean Dixon – Dvorak’s Cello Concerto

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, […]

Susskind’s Messiah (improved transfer); Daisy Kennedy

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 […]

Rousseau – “Le Devin du Village” with Micheau, Gedda and Roux, conducted by Louis de Froment; Selections from Rameau operas, conducted by Nadia Boulanger; Renee Chemet – Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso; Eugene Goossens – selections from Tosca

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.” […]

Landon Ronald – New World Symphony (acoustic recording,1919-22); Ketelbey – Irish Jigs; David McCallum – traditional Scottish fiddle pieces; Peter Miles, actor, sings two pop songs

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 […]

Landon Ronald – Glazunov Chopiniana, Mendelssohn Songs without words,Grieg Lyric Suite (1925 & 1933); Arthur De Greef, Landon Ronald – Liszt Concerto No.1, Saint-Saens Concerto No.2; Daisy Kennedy, Hamilton Harty – Beethoven Romance in G

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 […]

Landon Ronald – Tchaikovsky 5; Franz André – French overtures, Bolero, Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Rhapsodie Dahoméenne, Coppélia, Sylvia; Theo Olof – Mozart Violin Concerto No.5, Walter Goehr; Carl Bamberger – Mozart Symphony No.32; Frank Titterton – Schubert Lieder in English

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 […]

Landon Ronald – Tchaikovsky, Schumann, Wagner, Svendsen Bizet; Eugene Goossens – Tchaikovsky; Mary Law; Il Trovatore – Carrie Lanceley & Gwilym Richards; Daisy Kennedy interviewed

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. Schumann – Carnaval Mediafire link […]

Albert Coates conducts Wagner, Kletzki’s Beethoven and André Gertler in the Berg Violin Concerto

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, […]

Mark Hambourg’s Tchaikovsky 1st Concerto, Rodzinski conducts Mozart concertos, Howard Barlow conducts Haydn’s Surprise, creators of Der Rosenkavalier, Vladimir Golschmann conducts Sibelius and Mozart

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 […]

Charles Munch conducts Haydn’s Symphonie Concertante

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 […]