This latest update contains a selection of Planets, prompted by an email I received recently. Sir Ernest Macmillan recorded just four parts of Holst’s Planets Suite with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for Victor in 1942 – Mars, Venus, Mercury and Jupiter. As Mercury required only one side, Adrian Boult’s BBC Symphony Orchestra recording of Elgar’s […]
Ernest Macmillan – first 4 movements of Holst’s Planets; Adrian Boult – Elgar’s Imperial March; Gustav Holst – Saturn – two acoustic versions (1923 & 1925)
Posted by Damians78s on June 25, 2011
https://music.damians78s.co.uk/2011/06/25/ernest-macmillan-first-4-movements-of-holsts-planets-adrian-boult-elgars-imperial-march-gustav-holst-saturn-two-acoustic-versions-1923-1925/
Toscanini conducts the last two movements of Mozart’s Symphony No.39 (Recorded 1920)
Things have been going slowly here, but I’m still working on assorted transfers. There should be a big update in the next month or so, but in the meanwhile, I’ll try to post occasional smaller updates, such as this one. One of Toscanini’s acoustic sides has already featured here, but here are another two, the […]
Posted by Damians78s on June 4, 2011
https://music.damians78s.co.uk/2011/06/04/toscanini-conducts-the-last-two-movements-of-mozarts-symphony-no-39-recorded-1920/
Shakespeare recordings by pupils of the Guildhall School of Music, Basil Maine and John Gielgud; Albert Coates conducts Siegfried’s Funeral March
Today marks the anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth and death, and is also St. George’s Day. To mark the first of these, there are two quite different Shakespeare recordings from 78s, which are linked by a review in Gramophone magazine. Then there’s a set of Linguaphone recordings of John Gielgud performing Shakespeare. This is different to […]
Posted by Damians78s on April 23, 2011
https://music.damians78s.co.uk/2011/04/23/shakespeare-recordings-by-pupils-of-the-guildhall-school-of-music-basil-maine-and-john-gielgud-albert-coates-conducts-siegfrieds-funeral-march/
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 […]
Posted by Damians78s on February 23, 2011
https://music.damians78s.co.uk/2011/02/23/virtuoso-string-quartet-beethoven-op-127-a-movement-by-dittersdorf-marjorie-hayward-fethi-kapuz-plays-alnar/
Brahms Intermezzi played by PM Ireland; Vocal gems from Balfe’s The Bohemian Girl; Lulworth Cove – Queen’s Hall Light Orchestra – Charles Williams
While a big project slowly progresses, I’ll be posting occasional smaller updates. This latest includes three very different records, embracing opera, orchestra and piano. Balfe – The Bohemian Girl – Vocal Gems: Light Opera Company: Sopranos: Della Baker, Helen Clark, Erva Giles, Emily Stokes Hagar, Olive Kline, Lucy Isabelle Marsh, Gladys Rice Contraltos: Edna Indermauer, […]
Posted by Damians78s on January 17, 2011
https://music.damians78s.co.uk/2011/01/17/brahms-intermezzi-played-by-pm-ireland-vocal-gems-from-balfes-the-bohemian-girl-lulworth-cove-queens-hall-light-orchestra-charles-williams/
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 […]
Posted by Damians78s on January 1, 2011
https://music.damians78s.co.uk/2011/01/01/works-by-lumbye-warschawsky-kremer-and-waldteufel-on-early-gramophone-concert-records-chimes-and-sounds-of-london-with-stanley-roper-organ/
Albert Whelan – Dickens; Bransby Williams – Dickens and others; Wilhelm Backhaus – Chopin, Schubert, Beethoven, Brahms, Bach; Vladimir de Pachmann – Chopin; Mark Hambourg – Chopin, Schubert; Irene Scharrer – Chopin; Moritz Rosenthal – Chopin 1st Piano Concerto
This Christmas update brings a batch of Dickensian spoken word recordings and related items. A few of these have appeared here before, but are presented here in new transfers. There are more items for the Chopin anniversary from various pianists, and some recordings by the same pianists of other composers, including a little festive Bach. […]
Posted by Damians78s on December 24, 2010
https://music.damians78s.co.uk/2010/12/24/albert-whelan-dickens-bransby-williams-dickens-and-others-wilhelm-backhaus-chopin-schubert-beethoven-brahms-bach-vladimir-de-pachmann-chopin-mark-hambourg-chopin-schubert-irene-sch/
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 […]
Posted by Damians78s on December 12, 2010
https://music.damians78s.co.uk/2010/12/12/albert-sammons-vieuxtempss-ballade-et-polonaise-adela-verne-chopins-polonaise-in-a-flat-major-op-53/
Ferdinand Grossmann conducts two masses by Palestrina (1956)
I mentioned to Nick Morgan a litle while ago that I had a Vox LP of 2 Palestrina masses. As he’s uploaded some 1950s Palestrina, it prompted me to get on with completing the restoration of this recording. Ferdinand Grossmann has featured here as a conductor before – with the Viennese Men’s Singing Club in […]
Posted by Damians78s on December 1, 2010
https://music.damians78s.co.uk/2010/12/01/ferdinand-grossmann-conducts-two-masses-by-palestrina-1956/
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. […]
Posted by Damians78s on November 21, 2010
https://music.damians78s.co.uk/2010/11/21/landon-ronald-conducts-berliozs-hungarian-march-joszka-szigeti-plays-sibeliuss-valse-triste/
Dolores Wilson – Lucia di Lammermoor, sextet and mad scene; Joan Sutherland – Lucia mad scene; Toscanini conducts Bizet’s Farandole (La Scala Orchestra, 1921)
Today would have been Dame Joan Sutherland’s 84th birthday. It is also exactly four weeks after her death. It seems apt to mark this with one of her earliest discs. Her Lucia di Lammermoor mad scene from 1959 was issued as part of a recital disc, but also was issued on a mono 45rpm record. […]
Posted by Damians78s on November 7, 2010
https://music.damians78s.co.uk/2010/11/07/dolores-wilson-lucia-di-lammermoor-sextet-and-mad-scene-joan-sutherland-lucia-mad-scene-toscanini-conducts-bizets-farandole-la-scala-orchestra-1921/
Vocal Gems from the Bohemian Girl
Balfe’s “The Bohemian Girl” was a popular light opera on the English stage from the nineteenth century. Various popular arias from the work were a staple of the record catalogues in the 78rpm era, and its overture remained a favourite. The present recording is a typical “vocal gems” compilation, including three of the most popular […]
Posted by Damians78s on June 13, 2010
https://music.damians78s.co.uk/2010/06/13/vocal-gems-from-the-bohemian-girl/
Dan Godfrey – Mozart’s Jupiter (new transfer); Hamilton Harty – Mozart Divertimento No.17; Jean Witold – Eine kleine Nachtmusik; Pauline Aubert – Rondo alla turca; Robert Veyron-Lacroix – Piano Concertos K107 (after JC Bach), with Roland Douatte; Lener Quartet – Eine kleine Nachtmusik; Don Giovanni excerpts in English – Tudor Davies, Peter Dawson, Eleanor Jones-Hudson
The focus this time is on Mozart, with a new transfer of Dan Godfrey’s recording of Symphony No.41 “Jupiter” K551, and a selection of orchestral and keyboard items, including Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, from the 1950s as presented on a French “Mode disques” LP from some time later. For a different take on Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, […]
Posted by Damians78s on April 12, 2010
https://music.damians78s.co.uk/2010/04/12/dan-godfrey-mozarts-jupiter-new-transfer-hamilton-harty-mozart-divertimento-no-17-jean-witold-eine-kleine-nachtmusik-pauline-aubert-rondo-alla-turca-robert-veyron-lacroix-pian/
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 […]
Posted by Damians78s on March 14, 2010
https://music.damians78s.co.uk/2010/03/14/fabien-sevitzky-arenskys-variations-on-a-theme-of-tchaikovsky-marie-novello-liszts-hungarian-rhapsody-no-2-thorpe-bates-captains-song-from-hms-pinafore-joseph-batte/
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, […]
Posted by Damians78s on February 19, 2010
https://music.damians78s.co.uk/2010/02/19/franz-andre-carnival-of-the-animals-daphnis-and-chloe-suite-no-2-francois-ruhlmann-chabriers-espana-maurice-marechal-philippe-gaubert-lalos-cello-concerto-w-h-squire-ham/
Dennis Noble sings for the National Savings scheme; Eugene Goossens – Delius in Cincinnati; Andreieff’s Balalaika Orchestra; Fucik’s Entry of the Gladiators – Coldstream Guards Band; Horenstein – Dvorak’s New World Symphony; Dean Dixon – Schumann and Schubert Symphonies, incidental music to Rosamunde
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 […]
Posted by Damians78s on January 27, 2010
https://music.damians78s.co.uk/2010/01/27/dennis-noble-sings-for-the-national-savings-scheme-eugene-goossens-delius-in-cincinnati-andreieffs-balalaika-orchestra-fuciks-entry-of-the-gladiators-coldstream-guards-band-h/