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.
Saint-Saëns – Carnival of the Animals
Ravel – Daphnis and Chloe Suite No.2
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)
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
Chabrier – España – Rapsodie pour orchestre
Download – Chabrier – Espana – François Ruhlmann
(mp3 file – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
Pathé X.5446
Matrices N 8689-1, N 8690-1 (M5-50495, –)
Recorded 1931
Orchestre Symphonique, François Ruhlmann
Lalo – Cello Concerto
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)
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.
Saint-Saens – Cello Concerto No.1 in A minor Op.33
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)
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.
Bruch – Kol Nidrei
Download – Bruch – Kol Nidrei – Arnold Földesy
(mp3 file – right click the link, then select “Save as”)
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.
Dvorak – Cello Concerto in B minor Op.104
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)
World Record Club T 342 (Westminster recording)
Matrices W 7904-1N, 7905-1N
Recorded 1953/4
I. Allegro
II. Adagio ma non troppo
III. Allegro moderato
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.