Carmen excerpts: 1920 Columbia abridged recording; highlights on LP from Walter Goehr and Erasmo Ghiglia; orchestral and choral excerpts – Weingartner, Pitt, Maclean, Ronald, Sabajno, Matacena, Mackenzie-Rogan, Weissmann, Coates; excerpts from 1911 Pathé recording; other vocal excerpts in French, English, German, Italian and Russian

It has taken a long time to prepare this update, which focuses on Bizet’s Carmen. The centrepiece is the abridged 1920 Columbia set on 10” records. This is complemented by two LPs of excerpts from the 1950s, and then a wide selection of 78s of orchestral and vocal excerpts, whether in more or less their original forms, or as “gems.” The sung languages range from French, via Italian, English and German to Russian. Where Carmen excerpts occupy only one side of a record, the other side is, as usual, given here too. In some cases additional recordings by the same performer are included.

Complete or substantial excerpts:

Bizet – Carmen (abridged)
Orchestra of La Scala, Milan
sung in Italian

1. Prelude
2. Chorus of Cigarette Girls – Suono la campana
3. Habanera – E l’amore
4. Duet – Ah, mi parla di lei
5. Duet – Mio vegga ancor
6. Seguidilla – Presso il bastion di Siviglia
7. Duet – Carmen quest’ ufficiale
8. Bohemian Song – All’ udir
9. Bohemian Song – Or ben Pastia desia
10. Toreador Song – Part 1 (Con voi ber)
11. Toreador Song – Part 2
12. Quintette – Part 1 – Noi s’lia in vista un bell’ affar
13. Quintette – Part 2 – Certo la cosa
14. Duet – Alfin sei qui
15. Duet – Al quartier
16. Flower Song – Il fior
17. Duet – No, tu non m’ami
18. Duet and Finale (Part 1) – No, piu non ti voglio
19. Finale, Act 2 (Part 2) – Dubbio non c’e
20. Trio – Part 1 – Io ci veda
21. Trio – Part 2 – Invan par evitar
22. Ensemble – E nostr’ affar il doganier
23. Aria – Io dico
24. Recit & Duet Part 1 – Ma non m’inganno
25. Duet Part 2 – Per amante ell’ avveva
26. Finale Act 3, Part 1 – Ola! Jose
27. Finale Act 3, Part 2 – Ah! bada a te
28. Finale Act 3, Part 3 – Ah! paventa
29. Duet – Se tu m’ami
30. Duet – Sei tu?
31. Finale Act 4, Part 1 – Piu non m’ama il tuo cor?
32. Finale Act 4, Part 2 – No davver

Fanny Anitua, mezzo-soprano – Carmen
Luigi Bolis, tenor – Don José
Ines Maria Ferraris, soprano – Micaëla
Cesare Formichi, baritone – Escamillo
Lina Garavaglia, soprano – Mercédès
Rosa Garavaglia, soprano – Frasquita
Enrico Spada, bass – Zuniga
Luigi Baldassare, bass – Il Dancairo/Moralès
Carlo Paltrinieri, tenor –  Il Remendado
La Scala Chorus

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 1 – 01 – Overture

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 1 – 02 – Suono la campana

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 1 – 03 – E l’amore (Habanera)

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 1 – 04 – Ah, mi parla di lei

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 1 – 05 – Recit (Micaela, José)

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 1 – 06 – Interlude

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 1 – 07 – Presso il bastion di Siviglia (Seguidilla)

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 1 – 08 – Carmen quest’ufficiale

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 2 – 01 – All’udir (Bohemian song)

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 2 – 02 – Or ben Pastia desia

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 2 – 03 – Hola! Hola! La torero!

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 2 – 04 – Con voi ber (Toreador Song)

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 2 – 05 – Noi s’lia in vista un bell’affar (Quintet)

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 2 – 06 – Recit

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 2 – 07 – Dragon d’Alcala

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 2 – 08 – Alfin sei qui

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 2 – 09 – Tra la la la

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 2 – 10 – Al quartier

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 2 – 11 – Carmen io… Il fior (Flower Song)

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 2 – 12 – Non, tu non m’ami

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 2 – 13 – Hola! Carmen!

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 3 – 01 – Io ci veda

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 3 – 02 – Andiam… Invan par evitar

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 3 – 03 – Ebben!

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 3 – 04 – E nostr’ affar il doganier

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 3 – 05 – Qui de contrabandier… Io dico

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 3 – 06 – Ma non m’inganno

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 3 – 07 – Mio nome e Escamillo

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 3 – 08 – Ola! Ola! Jose!

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 4 – 01 – Se tu m’ami

Bizet – Carmen – 1920 Columbia – Act 4 – 02 – Sei tu? Son io!

Columbia D 5582-97
Matrices 42436, 42381, 42384, 42427, 42398, 42416, 42431, 42412, 42411, 42382, 42383, 42395, 42396, 42413, 42414, 42415, 42420, 42429, 42430, 42406, 42388, 42424, 42426, 42392, 42397, 42389, 42434, 42421, 42385, 42432, 42435, 42433
Recorded 1920

Play at 82.6rpm (1, 19, 31-2), 78rpm (2-5, 7, 10-14, 16-18, 21, 24), 81.6rpm (6, 8, 9, 15, 22-3, 28, 30), 79.6rpm (20, 25-6), 83.4rpm (27), 80.9rpm (29)

Sides in order of matrix number:
2, 10, 11, 3, 29, 21, 26, 24, 12, 13, 25, 5, 20, 9, 8, 14, 15, 16, 6, 17, 28, 22, 23, 4, 18, 19, 7, 30, 32, 27, 31, 1

This recording, though of course publicised as the complete opera, is heavily cut, with substantial omissions at the start of Acts 1 and 4, among others. It’s still an interesting performance, though Luigi Bolis (Don José) tends to pronounce Carmen so that it sounds like Carmeng!

The first record in my copy of this set is broken, and I’ve done my best to repair the sound.

Bizet – Carmen – Concert performance
Orchestra del Teatro Comunale, Firenze, Erasmo Ghiglia

1. Act 1. Habanera: L’amour est un oiseau rebelle
2. Parlez-moi de ma mère
3. Seguidilla: Près des remparts de Séville
4. Act 2. Chanson bohème (abridged, solo)
5. Toreador Song: Votre toast
6. Flower Song: Le fleur que tu m’avais jetée
7. Act 3. Card Scene
8. C’est des contrabandiers… Je dis que rien ne m’épouvante
9. Duet Escamillo/ Don José
10. Act 4. Si tu m’aimes, Carmen… C’est toi! C’est moi!

Franca Sacchi, mezzo-soprano  – Carmen
Eddie Ruhl, tenor – Don José
Alberta Hopkins, soprano – Micaela
Antonio Boyer, baritone – Escamillo

Mediafire link for Bizet – Carmen – concert performance – Ghiglia

(No longer available due to bogus copyright claim)

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

Saga XID 5264
Matrices XID 5264A, 5264B
Recorded 1950s
Play at about 32.7rpm (-2%)

The record label notes “First issued 1965”, but this is likely to have been recorded in the 1950s. Ghiglia is credited as Ghili, and Ruhl as Rhul on the record sleeve. The soloists sing in French, but the chorus sings in Italian throughout.

Bizet – Carmen – Opera in four Acts – a concise version
Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Walter Goehr
(Performers credited on label as:
Orchestra and Chorus of The Opera Classica Society of New York. William Stellar, conductor)

1. Prelude Act 1 (without Coda)
2. Habanera (abridged)
3. Parle-moi de ma mère (abridged)
4. Seguidilla (tenor is a bar behind in final section)
5. Act 2. Chanson bohème
6. Toreador Song (omits L’amour interchange at end)
7. Flower Song
8. Act 3. Smugglers’ march
9. Card Song and Trio
10. Micaela’s aria
11. Act 3. Finale
12. Intermezzo Act 4
13. Act 4. Finale (abridged)

Cora Canne Meyer, Carmen
Leo Larsen, Don José
Corry van Bekkum, Micaëla
Gerard Holthaus, Escamillo
Rick van Veen, Frasquita
Betty de Jong, Mercédès

Mediafire link for Bizet – Carmen – concise version – Goehr

(No longer available due to bogus copyright claim)

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

The Classics Club Rembrandt X64
(Originally issued by The Musical Masterpiece Society)
Matrices X64A1P, X64B1P
Recorded 1953-4
Reviewed in July 1954
Play at about 33.6rpm

This Classics Club reissue is slightly later than the original MMS issue.

Orchestral:

Wagner – Die Walküre – Magic Fire Scene
Bizet – Carmen – Overture and Intermezzo Act IV
Grand Symphony Orchestra, Felix Weingartner

Wagner – Die Walküre – Magic Fire – Weingartner

Bizet – Carmen – Overture, Intermezzo IV – Weingartner

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

Columbia L 1097 (pale blue label)
Matrices 36914-2, 36916-1
Recorded 23rd March 1914
Available from September 1916 to May 1928
(Previously available on D17724 from September 1914 to October 1916)
Play at about 79rpm (though speed is a little variable)

These recordings were among Weingartner’s earliest, made in America.

PREVIOUSLY AVAILABLE:
Bizet – Carmen selection
New Queen’s Hall Light Orchestra, Alick Maclean

Bizet – Carmen – selection – Maclean

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

Columbia L1485
Matrices 76991-2, 76992-2
Recorded 10th May 1923
Available from September 1923 to February 1928

PREVIOUSLY AVAILABLE:
Bizet – Carmen – selection
BBC Wireless Symphony Orchestra, Percy Pitt

Bizet – Carmen – selection – Pitt

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

Columbia 9125
Matrices WAX 1509-1, 1510-1 (6172, 6174)
Recorded 28th April 1926
Available from March 1927 to April 1941

The recordings below contain Landon Ronald’s complete orchestral excerpts from Carmen and almost all of his recordings from Delibes’s Sylvia – only the early 1913 account of the Prelude is missing (recorded on the same day as the Pizzicato)

Delibes – Sylvia – Prelude les Chasseresses
Bizet – Carmen – Intermezzos, Acts 3 & 4
Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, Sir Landon Ronald

Delibes – Sylvia – Prelude les Chasseresses – Ronald

Bizet – Carmen – Intermezzos, Acts 3 & 4 – Ronald

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

His Master’s Voice D 134
Matrices HO 1867ac, 3640af (side numbers 2-0698, 2-0912)
Recorded 27th May 1916, 8th March 1919
Play at 78.1rpm, 77.2rpm

Bizet – Carmen – Prelude
Mascagni – Cavalleria Rusticana – Intermezzo
Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, Sir Landon Ronald
(label for Mascagni “late New Symphony Orchestra”)

Bizet – Carmen – Prelude – Ronald

Mascagni – Cavalleria Rusticana – Intermezzo – Ronald

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

His Master’s Voice D 137
Matrices HO 456 aj, Cc 2755-I (side numbers 0863, 0739)
Recorded 8th February 1913, 27th March 1923
Play at 77.8rpm, 76.5rpm

This is the later of Ronald’s two recordings of the Cavalleria Intermezzo

Delibes – Sylvia – Cortège de Bacchus
Mendelssohn – Spring Song, Bees’ Wedding
Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, Sir Landon Ronald

Delibes – Sylvia – Cortège de Bacchus – Ronald

Mendelssohn – Spring Song, Bees’ Wedding – Ronald

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

His Master’s Voice D 160
Matrices HO 406aj, Cc 2754-I (side numbers 0845, 0738)
Recorded January 1913, 27th March 1923
Play at 76.6rpm, 77.2rpm

Ronald recorded the Mendelssohn pieces on 18th November 1911, but this side was not issued. On 6th January 1912 the side was recorded twice more, with the second attempt being issued. The 1923 remake given here (the first of two takes made on the same day) was his last issued recording of these works.

Delibes – Sylvia – Intermezzo and Valse Lente; Pizzicato
Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, Sir Landon Ronald

Delibes – Sylvia – Intermezzo and Valse Lente – Ronald

Delibes – Sylvia – Pizzicato – Ronald

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

His Master’s Voice D 161
Matrices HO 427af, HO 448aj (side numbers 0849, 0852)
Recorded January 1913, 3rd February 1913
Play at 78.1rpm, 77.5rpm

PREVIOUSLY AVAILABLE:
Bizet – Carmen – Preludes to Act 1 and 2
Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, Landon Ronald

Bizet – Carmen – Prelude Act 1 – Ronald

Bizet – Carmen – Prelude Act 2 – Ronald

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

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

Bizet – The Toreador Song “Carmen”
Band of H.M. Coldstream Guards, John Mackenzie-Rogan

Bizet – Carmen – Toreador Song – Coldstream Guards

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

Gramophone Concert Record G.C.-283
Matrix 2482(b)-WG (side number 283)
Recorded 9th October 1902

Transferred at 78rpm, to play in G minor/major at A452.

Bizet – Carmen – Prelude to Act III (Intermezzo)
Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Carlo Sabajno

Bizet – Carmen – Prelude Act 3 – Sabajno

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

Gramophone Concert Record G.C.-760
Matrix 8121b (side number 760)
Recorded May 1906, Milan

PREVIOUSLY AVAILABLE:
Bizet – Carmen – Selection I
Bizet – Carmen – Preludio Atto I
La Scala Symphony Orchestra, Carlo Sabajno

Bizet – Carmen – Selection I – Sabajno

Bizet – Carmen – Overture – Sabajno

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

Bizet – Carmen – Preludio atto IV
Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Carlo Sabajno

Bizet – Carmen – Prelude Act 4 – Sabajno

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

His Master’s Voice C428
Matrices: 925c, 1045c (side numbers 0548, 05025)
Recorded 1906, April 1907, Milan

No conductor is identified in the recording ledgers for the April 1907 sessions. Fred Gaisberg recorded various solo items with Alice Cuccini, the La Scala Chorus and La Scala Orchestra. Other items from Carmen  were recorded at these sessions. When Gaisberg returned to Milan in May 1907, after recording in Egypt, Sabajno was in the studios, and  identified as such in the ledgers. It remains uncertain, therefore, whether he was involved in the April sessions.

Gramophone Concert Record G.C.-50547
Matrix 10383b (50547 IV)
Recorded April 1907

PREVIOUSLY AVAILABLE:
Bizet – Carmen – Intermezzo Act IV
Wagner – Lohengrin – Prelude Act III
Musica della R. Marina Italiana, Mo. Cav. Saba Matacena

Bizet – Carmen – Intermezzo IV – Matacena

Wagner – Lohengrin – Prelude Act III – Matacena

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

Fonotipia 39471, 39470 (Nos. 1927, 1926)
Matrices: XPh 1595m 1594
Recorded 9th February 1906

These performances are certainly spirited, but it is noticeable how ragged  they are, when compared with the much more polished performances by the  Coldstream Guards and the Garde Républicaine from around the same time.

Bizet – Carmen – Orchestral selections
Berlin State Opera Orchestra, Frieder Weissmann

Prelude (Act 1)
First Intermezzo (Avec la garde montante)
Second Intermezzo (Entr’acte Act 3)
Chorus of the Smugglers (Act 3)
Third Intermezzo (Entr’acte Act 4) (Includes extra repeat to fill out disc)
Ballet (Farandole from L’Arlèsienne, Danse bohemienne from La Jolie Fille De Perth)

Mediafire link for Bizet – Carmen – Orchestral selections – Weissmann

(No longer available due to bogus copyright claim)

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

Odeon 5027-9
Matrices C5027A-1, D5027B-1, A5028A-2, A5028B-5, C5029A-4, F5029B-2
Recorded 24th January 1923

Bizet – Carmen – Prelude Act 1, Act 3
Berlin State Opera Orchestra, Frieder Weissmann

Bizet – Carmen – Prelude Act 1 – Weissmann

Bizet – Carmen – Prelude Act 3 – Weissmann

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

Parlophone E 11015
Matrices W 2-20769-2 ab, 2-20768 Bm
Recorded late 1920s

Play at 75.9rpm

French:

Bizet – Carmen – excerpts from complete Pathé recording
Sides 5 and 6 – Choeur des gamins (Suite); Choeur des cigarieres: La cloche a sonné
Sides 15 and 16 – Ou me conduisez-vous… [Seguidille]; Oui mais toute seule
Sides 19 and 20 – Les tringles des sistres; Tra la la la
Sides 31 and 32 – Tu m’entendras [Air de la fleur]; Non tu ne m’aime pas

Chorus and Orchestra of the Opéra Comique de Paris, François Ruhlmann
Marguerite Mérentié, soprano – Carmen
Agustarello Affre, tenor – Don José
Marie Gantéri, soprano – Frasquita
Jeanne Billa-Azéma, soprano – Mercédès
M. Dulac, baritone – Moralès
Pierre Ernest Dupré, baritone – Zuniga

Not heard on these sides:
Aline Vallandri, soprano – Micaëla
Henri Albers, baritone – Escamillo
Hippolyte Belhomme, bass – Le Dancaïre
Paul Dumontier, baritone – Le Remendado

Bizet – Carmen – Pathé sides 5-6 – Ruhlmann

Bizet – Carmen – Pathé sides 15-16 – Ruhlmann


Bizet – Carmen – Pathé sides 19-20 – Ruhlmann

Bizet – Carmen – Pathé sides 31-32 – Ruhlmann

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

Pathé catalogue number No.1652 – Carmen 5/6
Pathé catalogue number No.1657 – Carmen 15/16
Pathé catalogue number No.1659 – Carmen 19/20
(80rpm, 11½”, edge start, paper label)
Recorded 1911. Early 1920s pressings
Play at 76.6rpm, 78.1rpm, 76.4rpm

Pathé Carmen 31/32
(90rpm 11½” centre start etched label)
Recorded 1911. Early pressing.
Matrices 96460 RA, 96554 RA
Play at 87.9rpm

Auber – La Muette de Portici – Amour sacré
Orchestra
Henri Albers, baritone
Albert Vaguet, tenor

Bizet – Carmen – Je suis Escamillo
Orchestra
Henri Albers, baritone
Gaston de Poumayrac, tenor

Auber – La Muette de Portici – Albers, Vaguet

Bizet – Carmen – Je suis Esacmillo – Albers, de Poumayrac

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

Pathé catalogue number 1577
Recording numbers 561, 976
(90rpm 11½” centre start etched label)
Matrices 53632GR, 49578GR
Recorded 1910 – July 1912

Play at 88.0rpm and 88.6rpm

Bizet – Carmen – Couplets du Toréador
Berlioz – La Damnation de Faust – Voici des roses
Maurice Renaud, baritone with piano

Bizet – Carmen – Toreador – Renaud

Berlioz – La Damnation de Faust – Voici des roses – Renaud

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

Pathé recording numbers 3381, 3383
(90rpm 11½” centre start etched label)
Matrices 11844Px, 11846Px
Recorded 1902-3

Play at 87.4rpm and 86.7rpm

Bizet – Carmen – L’amour est enfant; Air des cartes
Marie Delna, mezzo-soprano with piano

Bizet – Carmen – Habanera – Delna

Bizet – Carmen – Air des cartes – Delna

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

Pathé recording numbers 3502, 3514
(90rpm 11½” centre start etched label)
Matrices 7845-B-x, 7866-B-x
Recorded 1903-4

Play at 89.1rpm and 85.2rpm

The opening of the Habanera was not successfully transferred from the Pathé Master Cylinder to this disc, so I’ve reconstructed it from the following bars.

Bizet – Carmen – Habanera
Handel – Célèbre Largo
Orchestra
Alice Raveau, contralto

Bizet – Carmen – Habanera – Raveau

Handel – Largo – Raveau

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

Pathé No.0484 (11½”, edge start, paper label)
Recording numbers 1129, 1135 c
Recorded 1925 (Sides are dated 7th August 1925, 22nd August 1925)

Play at 78.4rpm (Handel transposed down a semitone into E major)

PREVIOUSLY AVAILABLE (new restorations):
Bizet – Carmen – Chanson du Toréador
Victor Orchestra
Emilio de Gogorza, baritone

Victrola 88178
Matrix C-3349-4 (P88178)
Recorded Date 11th June 1906
Plays at 76.2rpm

In this recording (which has only one verse), the chorus members disagree over the language. De Gogorza has been happily singing in French, and most of the chorus follow this with “Toréador, en garde,” but some go for the Italian version “Toreador, attento.” Carmen was still frequently given  in Italian in the early 20th century, and at the Met it was not unknown for the soloists to sing in French while the chorus sang in Italian.

Rossini – Il Barbiere di Siviglia – Largo al factotum
Victor Orchestra, Rosario Bourdon
Emilio de Gogorza, baritone

Victrola 88181
Matrix C-6867-2 (D88181)
Recorded 8th March 1909
Plays at 78.6rpm

In this recording,  at “uno alla volta” de Gogorza and the orchestra disagree over which edition of the score is being used: the singer uses the version which has the pattern F-E-F-E-D#-E, while the orchestra goes for  F-E-D#-E-D#-E.

Bizet – Carmen – Toreador – Gogorza

Rossini – Barbiere – Largo al factotum – Gogorza

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

Bizet – Carmen – Habanera; Seguidilla
Orchestra
Sigrid Onegin, mezzo-soprano

Bizet – Carmen – Habanera – Onegin

Bizet – Carmen – Seguidilla – Onegin

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

Brunswick 15128
Matrices E21530, E21533
Recorded 17th February 1927

Italian:

Bizet – Carmen – Romanza del fiore
Thomas – Mignon – Addio Mignon
Orchestra
Angelo Bendinelli, tenor

Bizet – Carmen – Romanza del fiore – Bendinelli

Thomas – Mignon – Addio Mignon – Bendinelli

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

Columbia-Rena Opera Record D 5503
Matrices 11243, 11266
Recorded c1912
sung in Italian

The Carmen aria is sung a semitone below score pitch, playing at 78rpm. The Mignon aria plays at 79.8rpm.

Bizet – Carmen – Habanera
Donizetti – La Favorita – O mio Fernando
Orchestra
Nini Frascani, mezzo-soprano

Bizet – Carmen – Habanera – Frascani

Donizetti – La Favorita – O mio Fernando – Frascani

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

Columbia D 5505
Matrices 11113, 11115
Recorded c1912
sung in Italian

Play at 81.2rpm

English:

Gounod – Faust – Even Bravest Heart
Bizet – Carmen – Toreador Song
Orchestra
Thomas Chalmers, baritone

Gounod – Faust – Even bravest heart – Chalmers

Bizet – Carmen – Toreador Song – Chalmers

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

Edison Diamond Disc 82060
Matrices 2826-B-5-4, 2997-A-2-1 (82060-L, -R)
Recorded 18th February 1914, 1st May 1914, New York

Play at 80.5rpm (Gounod), 79.6rpm (Bizet)

Bizet – Carmen – My Mother I Behold (Act I)
Orchestra, Sir Hamilton Harty
Elsa Stralia, soprano
Frank Mullings, tenor

Bizet – Carmen – My Mother I Behold – Stralia, Mullings, Harty

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

Columbia 7258
Matrix 74106-2
Recorded c 14th May 1920
Available from March 1922 to April 1924

Plays at 83.7rpm
This was reissued on double sided 7332 in April 1924, coupled with Stralia’s 1920 account of Micaela’s aria.
This was available until January 1925 when the Micaela aria was replaced with a 1924 remake – this new issue was available 22nd January 1925 to August 1930.

Bizet – Carmen – The Toreador Song
Wagner – Tannhäuser – O Star of Eve
Orchestra, Clarence Raybould (Bizet), Robert Ainsworth (Wagner)
Harold Williams, baritone

Bizet – Carmen – Toreador – Williams

Wagner – Tannhäuser – O Star of Eve – Williams

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

Columbia 9873
Matrices WAX 3226-1, 4552-2 (side numbers 8480, 11189)
Recorded 7th August 1928, 15th January 1929

Play at 76.9rpm and 78.0rpm.

Bizet – “Carmen” – Vocal Gems

Intro.: Act1; Habanera; Micaela – Don Jose Duet; Seguidilla; Toreador’s Song, Act 2
Flower Song, Act 2; March, Act 4; Escamillo-Carmen Duet, Finale

Sadler’s Wells Orchestra, Warwick Braithwaite
Noel Eadie, soprano
Nancy Evans, contralto
Webster Booth, tenor
Dennis Noble, baritone

Bizet – Carmen – Vocal gems – Eadie, Evans, Booth, Noble, Braithwaite

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

His Master’s Voice C 3143
Matrices 2EA 8190-I, 8191-I
Recorded 21st December 1939

Bizet – Gems from “Carmen”
Orchestra
Zonophone Operatic Party
Carrie Tubb, soprano
Violet Elliott, mezzo-soprano
Ernest Pike, tenor
Harold Wilde, tenor
Stewart Gardner, baritone
Peter Dawson, bass-baritone

Bizet – Carmen – gems – Zonophone

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

Zonophone The Twin Serial A 50
Matrices z5447f, 5449f (side numbers Z-044509. Z-044510)
Recorded 15th September 1911

Plays at 75.6rpm

Bizet – Carmen – Habanera; Gipsy Song
Orchestra
Edna Thornton, contralto
(credited on label as Madame Violetta)
Eleanor Jones-Hudson, soprano
Ernest Pike, tenor
Peter Dawson, bass-baritone

Bizet – Carmen – Habanera – Thornton

Bizet – Carmen – Gipsy Song – Thornton

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

Zonophone Celebrity Record G.O.9
Matrices 11589e, 11590e (side numbers 43205, X43207)
Recorded 14th April 1910

Plays at about 78.5rpm.

Thornton enters a beat early for the final verse of the Gipsy Song, but somehow she and the orchestra get themselves back together again after some time.

Bizet – Carmen – Toreador Song
Wagner – Tannhäuser – O Star of Eve
Orchestra
Roy Henderson, baritone

Bizet – Carmen – Toreador Song – Henderson

Wagner – Tannhäuser – O Star of Eve – Henderson

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

Broadcast Twelve 5100/3231
Matrices L 0241, L 0245 (5100-A/3231-A, 5100-B X/3231-B X)
Recorded January 1929
Sides play at about 77rpm, and 78rpm

Gounod – Faust – Even bravest heart
Rossini – The Barber of Seville – Room for the City’s Factotum
Orchestra
Roy Henderson, baritone

Gounod – Faust – Even bravest heart – Henderson

Rossini – Barber of Seville – Largo al factotum – Henderson

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

Broadcast Twelve 5089
Matrices L 0242, L 0246 (5089A X, 5089B)
Sides play at about 77rpm, and 78rpm
Recorded January 1929

At these speeds the Bizet and Wagner arias both play in score pitch. The Gounod plays in D flat, putting the introduction at score pitch, and the aria a tone below. The Rossini plays in A, a surprisingly large transposition of a minor third below score pitch.

Bizet – Gems from “Carmen”
Soloists, full chorus and orchestra
with Constance Willis, mezzo-soprano

Bizet – Carmen – gems – Willis

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

Broadcast Twelve 5018
Matrices L070X, L071X
Recorded c1929
Plays at about 76.0rpm

Saint-Saëns – Samson and Delilah – Softly awakes my heart
Bizet – Carmen – Habanera
Orchestra
Constance Willis, mezzo-soprano

Saint-Saëns – Samson and Delilah – Softly awakes my heart – Willis

Bizet – Carmen – Habanera – Willis

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

Broadcast Twelve 5114
Matrices L 0208X, L 0247X
Recorded 1929
Plays at about 77.5rpm

Constance Willis is perhaps best remembered (if at all) for her impressive performance as Katisha in the 1939 film of The Mikado. She was an experienced singer both in concert and in opera by this time, and was known for her Carmen. Surprisingly she appeared only once at the Proms, in 1930, singing “Amour! viens aider ma faiblesse!” from Samson and Delilah, and two Rachmaninov songs. The second of her records listed here prompted the following from Herman Klein in the December 1929 issue of The Gramophone:

Constance Willis’s experience with the B.N.O.C. has made a dramatic singer of this artist and taught her to bring some of her stage instincts with her into the recording studio. In such cases let me assure the Broadcast Twelve operator that there is no need for indiscriminate over-amplifying; the voice and the style are quite big enough without his artful aid. The only other criticism I would make concerns the descending chromatic phrases of the Habanera; and there Miss Willis is too inclined to “slither” down from note to note when a clean scale is absolutely essential.

Earlier recordings for Vocalion were warmly received.

Bizet – Carmen – Flower Song
Gounod – La Reine de Saba – Lend me your aid

Orchestra
Frank Titterton, tenor
(credited on labels as Francesco Vada)

Bizet – Carmen – Flower Song – Titterton

Gounod – La Reine de Saba – Lend me your aid – Titterton

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

Broadcast Twelve 5062
Matrices L 072, L 094 (5062A X, 5062B)
Recorded c 1929
Plays at about 77.4rpm. This record is very worn and scratched, particularly at the start of each side.

Puccini – La Boheme – Your Tiny Hand is Frozen
Bizet – Carmen – The Flower Song
Orchestra, Leslie Heward (Puccini), Julian Clifford (Bizet)
Frank Titterton, tenor

Puccini – La Boheme – Your tiny hand is frozen – Titterton

Bizet – Carmen – Flower Song – Titterton

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

Decca K505
Matrices MA 486-2A, MA 746-1A
Recorded 24th September 1929, 6th December 1929
Play at about 78.5rpm and 78.9rpm.

Together, these two records provide a rare chance to hear an artist recording the same aria for two different companies around the same time.

PREVIOUSLY AVAILABLE:
Bizet – Carmen – March Act IV
Gounod – Faust – La Kermesse
Sung in English
Chorus and Symphony Orchestra, Albert Coates

Bizet – Carmen – March Act IV – Coates

Gounod – Faust – La Kermesse – Coates

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

His Master’s Voice D 1047
Matrices Cc 7063-II, 7065-II (single side numbers 4-0749, 4-0750)
Recorded 26th October 1925, Hayes

This was recorded in a session at Hayes which also included the Boris Godunov coronation scene with Chaliapin and the Church Scene from Faust, with Chaliapin and Austral. The baritone who has a brief solo in the Faust chorus is unnamed. There is a possibility that it is Edward Halland, who was in studio with Coates the following day when some Wagner excerpts were recorded.

The sound is somewhat recessed, as these are fairly early examples of electrical recording of pieces for chorus and orchestra. Indeed, on the same day that these recordings were made at Hayes, the pianist Max Darewski was being recorded acoustically in another of the Hayes studios.

German:

Saint-Saëns – Samson et Dalila – Printemps qui commence
Bizet – Carmen – Ja, die Liebe hat bunte flügel (Habanera)

Berlin State Opera Orchestra, Leo Blech
Maria Olszewska, contralto

Saint-Saëns – Samson et Dalila – Printemps qui commence – Olszewska

Bizet – Carmen – Habanera – Olszewska

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

His Master’s Voice D1386
Matrices CWR 1291-I, 1295-II (side numbers 2-043085, 2-044029)
Recorded 27th and 28th February 1927, Berlin

Saint-Saëns – Samson et Dalila – Mon coeur s’ouvre a ta voix
Handel – Rinaldo – Lascia ch’io pianga

Berlin State Opera Orchestra, Fritz Zweig
Maria Olszewska, contralto

Saint-Saëns – Samson et Dalila – Mon coeur s’ouvre – Olszewska

Handel – Rinaldo – Lascia ch’io pianga – Olszewska

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

His Master’s Voice D 1465
Matrices CLR 3961-III, CLR 3962-II (side numbers 2-033131, 2-033132)
Recorded 15th March 1928, Berlin

Across these two records Olszewska shows off her command of languages: the Saint-Saëns arias are in French, the Carmen is in German, and the Handel is in Italian.

Russian:

Bizet – Carmen – La fleur que tu m’avais jetée
Meyerbeer – Les Huguenots – Plus blanche que la blanche ermine

Orchestra
Dmitri Smirnov, tenor

Bizet – Carmen – Flower song – Smirnov

Meyerbeer – Les Huguenots – Plus blanche – Smirnov

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

Historic Masters HMB 7
Matrices 2689c, 2857c (022312, 022338)
Recorded 21st October 1912, 15th October 1913, St. Petersburg

The sides play at about 78.6rpm and 75.2rpm respectively. This repressing from original matrices was among the earliest issues by Historic Masters.

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by on October 25, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Opera
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted by Damians78s on October 25, 2011

https://music.damians78s.co.uk/2011/10/25/carmen-excerpts-1920-columbia-abridged-recording-highlights-on-lp-from-walter-goehr-and-erasmo-ghiglia-orchestral-and-choral-excerpts-weingartner-pitt-maclean-ronald-sabajno-matacena-macken/

Ernest Macmillan – first 4 movements of Holst’s Planets; Adrian Boult – Elgar’s Imperial March; Gustav Holst – Saturn – two acoustic versions (1923 & 1925)

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 Imperial March was used as a filler.

Holst – The Planets Op.32

No.1 Mars (The Bringer of War)
No.2 Venus (The Bringer of Peace)
No.3 Mercury (The Winged Messneger)
No.4 Jupiter (The Bringer of Jollity)

Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Sir Ernest Macmillan

Elgar – Imperial March Op.32
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Adrian Boult

Mediafire link for Holst – Planets – excerpts – Macmillan

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

Victor album DM929, 11-8303/6 (auto-coupling)
(Standard coupling on 11-84121/5)

Holst:
Matrices ??
Recorded 1942

Elgar
Matrix 2EA-1054-1A
Recorded 16th April 1937

Holst’s recordings as a conductor are well-known. In particular his acoustic and electrical recordings of The Planets have both been reissued more than once. However, as is typical for English Columbia, the subject of the acoustic recordings has some complications. As originally issued, the complete set, recorded from 1922 to 1923 (with the filler side in 1924) was issued on the following records, with the matrix and take numbers as shown:

L1459 – Jupiter 75204-2, 75205-3 (Recorded 27th October 1922 – Issued February 1923)
L1499 – Venus AX 136-2, AX 137-4 (Recorded 23rd August 1923 – Issued November 1923)
L1509 – Uranus AX 138-2, AX 139-3 (Recorded 24th August 1923 – Issued December 1923)
L1528 – Mars AX 197-2, AX 198-2 (Recorded 30th October 1923 – Issued February 1924)
L1532 – Saturn AX 199-1, AX 200-2 (Recorded 30th October 1923 – Issued March 1924)
L1542 – Neptune AX 205-1, AX 206-1 (Recorded 6th November 1923 – Issued April 1924)
L1543 – Mercury AX 135-3 (Recorded 23rd August 1923) and Marching Song AX 303-1 (Recorded 14th February 1924 – Issued May 1924)

However, for whatever reason (besides Columbia’s common practice), Jupiter and Saturn were re-recorded acoustically in 1925:

L1532 – Saturn AX 199-3, AX 200-3 (Recorded 19th February 1925 – Issued April 1925)
L1459 – Jupiter 75204-8, 75205-6 (Recorded 15th September 1925 – just a month later Columbia UK were making electrical recordings – Issued October 1925)

All of the acoustic versions were replaced in December 1926 with the electrically recorded remake (for which the catalogue numbers have an R appended.)

I’m fortunate to have both acoustic versions of Saturn in my collection. As usual on English Columbia, the take numbers are not visible on the records, so it becomes more difficult to determine which version is the earlier. The two issues are distinguished by a different width of playing surface and different copyright stamps.

Quicker performance:

4½d copyright stamp of “The Copyright Protection Society (Mechanics Rights) Ltd.”
Playing surface 3 1/16 inch on side 1 and 2 14/16 inch on side 2 (measuring from the start of the groove). It’s sadly in a rather battered condition.
This has a total playing time of 7:01

Slower performance:

4d “Mecolico” copyright stamp.
Playing surface 3 11/16 inch on side 1 and 3 5/16 inch on side 2.
This has a total playing time of 8:22

Mecolico was founded slightly earlier than the CPS, but they did coexist. However, my records from the electrical set also have a 4d Mecolico stamp, suggesting that the lower copyright price with Mecolico is later.

Thus the 1925 recording is more than a minute slower than the 1923 recording – a vast difference, and one which sheds interesting light on Holst’s performance practice.

My copy of Jupiter, also has a 4½d CPS copyright stamp, and a large gap between the end of the groove and the label. The playing surface is 3 1/16 inch on side 1 and 2 9/16 on side 2. Given the common features with the earlier Saturn recording, this would suggest that this is the earlier recording of Jupiter, total time about 6:50. This would appear to be the oft-reissued version, unsurprisingly, as it was available for 2 years and 8 months, while the 1925 remake was available for only 1 year and 2 months.

I’ve not managed to find a copy of the 1925 version of Jupiter yet, but I’m ever hopeful. I can’t help but wonder whether the two versions of Jupiter will be as different as the two of Saturn.

I suppose we should be thankful that these Holst acoustics had a rather less convoluted history than some English Columbias – most of Henry Wood’s acoustics seem to have 2 distinct versions (occasionally up to 4), and one Frank Mullings recordings went through five phases of issue!

Holst – The Planets Op.32 – No.5 Saturn

1923 and 1925 recordings

London Symphony Orchestra, Gustav Holst

Holst – Saturn (1923) – LSO, Holst

Holst – Saturn (1925) – LSO, Holst

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

Columbia L1532
Matrices AX 199-1, AX 200-2
Recorded 30th October 1923
Issued March 1924

Columbia L1532
Matrices AX 199-3, AX 200-3
Recorded 19th February 1925
Issued April 1925
Replaced with electrical version in December 1926

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by on June 25, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Orchestral
Tagged , , , , , , ,
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 last two movements of Mozart’s Symphony No.39.

Mozart – Symphony No.39 in E flat major K543

Menuetto (3rd Movement)
Allegro (4th Movement – Finale)

Orchestra of La Scala Milan, Arturo Toscanini

Mozart – Symphony No.39 – III – Toscanini 1920

Mozart – Symphony No.39 – IV – Toscanini 1920

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

Victrola 6303
Matrices C-24738-4, C-24740-3
Recorded 18th and 21st December 1920, Victor Church Building Studios, Camden, New Jersey

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by on June 4, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Orchestral
Tagged , ,
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 the set that has appeared here previously (though he does perform some of the same excerpts.)

Today is also the anniversary of the birth of the conductor Albert Coates, so I present here his 1926 recording of Siegfried’s Funeral March from Götterdämmerung.

Shakespeare – As You Like It: Rosalind’s Speech, Act III, Scene V
Miss Margaret Littlefair, actor
Shakespeare – Twelfth Night: Garden Scene Duologue, Olivia and Viola, Act III, Scene 1
Miss Winifred Cain, actor
Miss Bronwen Rees, actor

Shakespeare – As You Like It: Rosalind’s Speech – Littlefair

Shakespeare – Twelfth Night: Garden Scene – Cain, Rees

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

Columbia 4396
Matrices WA 3717-3, 3715-2 (23549, 23547)
Recorded 1927
Available from June 1927

Paul Berton, BA, BCI, FGSM, Professor of Dramatic Art and Declamation at the Guildhall School of Music, with the aid of some of his students, made the following 8 recordings demonstrating his principle of “Logical-Rhetorical Dissection of Speech”

This is the third of four records. This set was roundly demolished in a review in Gramophone in August 1927:

You all know the lines about little victims heedless of their doom, and here have I been sitting hard at work to-day quite unaware of the doom in store for me in a little heap of unplayed records. This afternoon the blow fell. I have played them all through, and if I say that they are more depressing than any recent weather forecast I shall actually be understating their effect. These records, four in number from Columbia, are announced as follows :–” TRAINING FOR SPEAKING. A Series of Columbia Records of Declamatory Art Demonstrating the Logical-Rhetorical Dissection of Speech by the Students of Paul Berton, B.A., etc., Professor of the Guildhall School of Music.”

…I find in these four records every fault of the professional elocutionist. It is all very well to dissect Shakespeare, but there is surely no reason why he should be murdered first, for murdered he is by these pupils of Mons. Paul Berton. Miss Winifred Cain has a really good voice; if she were properly taught she might make a good Shakespearian actress, and I am not sure that something might not be made of Miss Bronwen Rees. But no amount of logical-rhetorical dissection can compensate for the monotonous two notes, which is all that Mons. Berton seems to allow his pupils. I am aware that most Rosalinds rebuke their Phoebes in the style of a coy governess, but this particular version of the speech by Miss Margaret Littlefair outdoes all previous Rosalinds.

…It is dreadful to think what may be going on under our ears all the time without our being aware of it. I don’t know how long Mons. Berton has been a professor of declamation and dramatic art at the Guildhall School of Music, but he has evidently been there long enough to write a book about it, and a fine nonsensical piece of work it seems to be, to judge by the extracts. I had never thought of the Guildhall School of Music as a dangerous institution until I played through these records to-day.

….these elocutionary records are not a success, and I shall not send any of my young friends to the Guildhall School of Music. Does Shakespeare pay ? No, and he never will pay until we can get somebody to act him. Mr. Basil Maine the other night read three or four lines from Shakespeare so well that I wish he would record John of Gaunt’s glorious speech. Then there is the chief announcer of the B.B.C. He knows how to read. It is all very fine to have a Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, but we shall soon have to start a Society for the Protection of Ancient Poetry, with appeals to The Times signed by Mr. J. C. Squire, etc., calling on the public to help in preserving Hamlet’s soliloquies from logical rhetorical dissection. Columbia ! Columbia ! Why did you publish these records ?

The Gramophone reviewer’s request was soon answered, as Basil Maine made a number of recordings, both for HMV in 1929, and for Parlophone a little later, including John o’Gaunt’s speech from Richard II.

Shakespeare – Richard II – John o’Gaunt’s Speech
Shakespeare – Macbeth – The Dagger Speech
Basil Maine, actor

Shakespeare – Richard II – John o’Gaunt –  Maine

Shakespeare – Macbeth – Dagger – Maine

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

Parlophone E5987
Matrices W1549, W1550
Recorded c1930

Around 1930, John Gielgud recorded a number of Shakespearian excerpts for Linguaphone. These were issued on five 78s, and have been available on this site before, but they are available to download again below. Some years later, Gielgud recorded again for Linguaphone, another set of five 78s. He is named as Sir John Gielgud on the labels, which places the records no earlier than 1953. There are a few overlaps with the earlier set, but most selections are new. In both sets, the records are numbered only by matrix – there are no disc numbers.

Shakespeare – excerpts from plays and Sonnets – Sir John Gielgud

Mediafire link for Shakespeare – excerpts – Gielgud (c1953)

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

Linguaphone – Shakespeare Series A
Matrices given below
Recorded c1953

ENG 242-2 – Much Ado About Nothing (Act 2, Scene 3)
ENG 243-2 – King Richard the Second (Act 3, Scene 2); Sonnet XXX
ENG 244 – King Richard the Second (Act 3, Scene 3); King Henry the Fifth (Act 1, Scene 1)
ENG 245 – Romeo and Juliet (Act 1, Scene 4)
ENG 246-2 – Romeo and Juliet (Act 5, Scene 3); Cymbeline (Act 4, Scene 2)
ENG 247 – Hamlet (Act 2, Scene 2)
ENG 248 – Hamlet (Act 4, Scene 4); Measure for Measure (Act 2, Scene 2)
ENG 249-2 – Richard II (Act 3, Scene 3)
ENG 250-2 – Henry V (Act 4, Scene 1)
ENG 251-2 – Macbeth (Act 1, Scene 7); Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 5); The Tempest (Act 4, Scene 1)

Shakespeare – excerpts from plays and Sonnets – John Gielgud

Mediafire link for Shakespeare – excerpts – Gielgud (c1930)

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

Linguaphone – Shakespearian Records by John Gielgud
Matrices given below
Recorded c1930

EEG.28E – The Merchant of Venice – Gratiano’s Speech (Act 1, Scene 1); As You Like It – Jaques’ Speech (Act 2, Scene 7)
EEG.29E – King Richard the Second – John of Gaunt’s Speech (Act 2, Scene 1); Sonnet CXVI
EEG.30E – As You Like It – Jaques’ Speech (Act 2, Scene 7); The Tempest – Prospero’s Speech (Act 4, Scene 1)
EEG.32E – King Henry the Fifth – King Henry’s Speech (Act 2, Scene 1); King Henry the Fourth – Hotspur’s Speech (Act 1, Scene 3)
EEG.33E – Othello – Othello’s Speech (Act 1, Scene 3)
EEG.34E – Hamlet – Hamlet’s Speech (Act 2, Scene 2)
EEG.35E – Hamlet – Hamlet’s Speech (Act 4, Scene 4); Sonnet XVIII
EEG.36E – Richard II – King Richard’s Speech (Act 3, Scene 3)
EEG.37E – Henry V – King Henry’s Speech (Act 4, Scene 3)
EEG.38E – Midsummer Night’s Dream – Oberon’s Speech (Act 3, Scene 1); Oberon’s Speech (Act 3, Scene 2); Puck’s Speech (Act 3, Scene 2)

Albert Coates is without doubt one of my favourite conductors, though I haven’t featured him here very much at all. To celebrate his birthday, I’ve remastered his 1926 recording of Siegfried’s Funeral March from Wagner’s Götterdämmerung.

Wagner – The Twilight of the Gods – Siegfried’s Funeral March
Symphony Orchestra, Albert Coates

Wagner – The Twilight of the Gods – Funeral March – Coates

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

His Master’s Voice D1092
Matrices CR 217-II, 141-III (4-0837/8)
Recorded 26th March, 25th January 1926, Queen’s Hall, London

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by on April 23, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Opera, Orchestral, Spoken word
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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 Fethi Kapuz, recorded by the BBC in 1950 with Clarence Raybould as accompanist, playing two movements by the Turkish composer Hasan Ferit Alnar.

Beethoven – String Quartet No.12 in E flat major Op.127

I. Maestoso – Allegro (2 sides)
II. Adagio ma non troppo – Andante con moto – Adagio molto espressivo  (3 sides)
III. Scherzando, vivace (2 sides)
IV. Finale (2 sides)

Dittersdorf – Minuet from Quartet in E flat major

Virtuoso String Quartet:
Marjorie Hayward, violin
Edwin Virgo, violin
Raymond Jeremy, viola
Cedric Sharpe, cello

Mediafire link for Beethoven – String Quartet Op.127 – Virtuoso Quartet

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

His Master’s Voice Album Series No.35, D1183-7
Matrices Cc 7022-V, 7023-VI, 7059-II, 7060-II, 7503-I, 7506-II, 7507-III, 7552-I, 7553-II, 8517-I (single side numbers 08293, 08294, 08260, 08268, 08298, 08256, 08261, 08269, 08257, 08272)
Recorded 12th October 1926 (sides 1, 2), 26th October 1925 (sides 3, 4 at 79rpm), 14th December 1925 (sides 5, 6, 7), 17th December 1925 (sides 8, 9), 6th September 1926 (side 10), Hayes

Grieg – Violin Sonata No.3 in C minor Op.45

I. Allegro molto ed appassionato (2 sides)
II. Allegretto espressivo alla Romanza – Allegro molto – Allegretto espressivo alla Romanza (2 sides)
III. Allegro animato (2 sides)

Marjorie Hayward, violin
Una Bourne, piano

Mediafire link for Grieg – Violin Sonata No.3 in C minor Op.45 – Hayward and Bourne

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

His Master’s Voice C 1388-90
Matrices Cc 6812-IV, 6813-VI, 6814-VIII, 7008-V, 7009-V, 7010-III (single side numbers 08254, 08258, 08266, 08267, 08255, 08259)
Recorded 11th November 1925 (side 1), 19th November 1925 (sides 2 to 6), Hayes

Mozart – Violin Sonata in B flat major K.378

I. Allegro (2 sides)
II. Andante sostenuto e cantabile (1 side)
III. Allegro (Rondo) (1 side)

Marjorie Hayward, violin
Una Bourne, piano

Mediafire link for Mozart – Violin Sonata in B flat K378 – Hayward and Bourne

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

His Master’s Voice C 1247-8
Matrices Cc 7233-I, 7234-IV, 7492-II, 7493-III (single side numbers 08234/7)
Recorded 11th November 1925 (sides 1 and 2), 10th December 1925 (sides 3 and 4), Hayes

The next item is a BBC library recording, with that stalwart of the Columbia catalogues, Clarence Raybould providing the accompaniment for the Turkish violinist Fethi Kapuz in two of the three pieces from Suite for Violin and Piano by Hasan Ferit Alnar.

Hasan Ferit Alnar – Three Pieces from Suite for Violin and Piano

Side 1. Adagio
Side 2. Taksim

Fethi Kapuz, violin
Clarence Raybould, piano

Alnar – Adagio from Suite for Violin and Piano – Kapuz, Raybould


Alnar – Taksim from Suite for Violin and Piano – Kapuz, Raybould

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

BBC Lib. No. 15484
Matrices 12RH 64450, 64452
Recorded 21st June 1950

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by on February 23, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Chamber, Instrumental
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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, Marie Stone Langston, Mrs James Price
Tenors: Franklyn Baur, Richard Crooks, Charles H Hart,  Lambert Murphy
Baritones: Royal Dadmun, Elliott Shaw
Basses: Frank Croxton, Wilfred Glenn

Light Opera Orchestra, Rosario Bourdon

Balfe – The Bohemian Girl – Vocal gems – Bourdon

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

His Master’s Voice C 1382
Matrices CVE-17507-01, 17508-10 (HMV sides 2-04606, 2-04607)
Recorded 25th August 1926, Victor Church Building Studio, Camden, New Jersey

Score references to Boosey The Royal Edition vocal score (1899)
Side 1:
Intro.: – Away to Hill and Glen – I dreamt that I dwellt (Eb, p96-98, on pitch) – Heart bow’d down – Silence (D, p82-84, 87, semitone down) – Fair Land of Poland – Happy and light (Eb, p114-117)

Side 2
Intro.: – In the gipsy life (G, p32-35 – on pitch) – Come with the Gypsy Bride – Bliss for ever past – What is the spell – Then you’ll remember me (Db, p178-9) – Oh what full delight

 

Brahms – Intermezzo Op.119 No.1 and Intermezzo Op.117 No.1
PM Ireland, piano

Brahms – Intermezzo Op.119 No.1 – PM Ireland

Brahms – Intermezzo Op.117 No.1 – PM Ireland

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

Private Recording by Levy’s Sound Studios Ltd, London W.1. England
73 & 101 New Bond St., W.1 – Mafair 8521/2
Lacquer on aluminium disc
Unnumbered, no matrix numbers. Probably recorded around 1950

I have been unable to trace any information about the pianist PM Ireland who is heard on these two sides.

 

Charles Shadwell – Lulworth Cove
Queen’s Hall Light Orchestra, Charles Williams

Shadwell – Lulworth Cove – QHLO, Williams

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

Chappell C.163 (single sided)
Matrix CTP 12319-1
Recorded 1942-5

This piece of British light music is inspired by Lulworth Cove, on the south coast of England.

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by on January 17, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Opera, Orchestral, Piano/Keyboard
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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 of London (Westminster). Actual recording of BIG BEN and traffic noises. St. Margaret’s Chimes and Organ (“The Old 100th”)
Stanley Roper, organ

St Margaret’s Chimes. “O God, our help” – Roper

Impressions of London. “The Old 100th” – Roper

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

His Master’s Voice B 2398
Matrices BR 868-III, 869-I (9764, 9765)
Recorded 24th November 1926, St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster, London

New Year’s Day itself brings the concert from Vienna, with waltzes, polkas, galops and so on, usually by the Strauss family. The four recordings presented here are dances of the same type, but by a wider range of composers, and ensembles.

Warschawsky (or Vasily S. Varshavsky) recorded for a number of different labels (Beka, Columbia, Favorite, Gramophone Co., Zonophone) with his “Harmonia Orchestra”. This was in fact an accordion ensemble. He conducted accompaniments for choirs and solos. More details can be found at Russian Records.

Warschawsky Polka
W. Warschawsky’s Orchester

Warschawsky Polka

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

G&T Gramophone Concert Record G.C.-20596
Matrix 1556z (20596 II)
Recorded 1903, Moscow

This plays in G major at 78rpm (with concert pitch of A440). My copy of this record is very worn, particularly at the start.

Chris Chapman was an American percussionist who recorded for Victor from 1905 to 1909, playing mainly bells or xylophone. In this recording he plays a Gavotte by Charles W Kremer, about whom I can find no further information. This is the only recording of one of his works to appear in the Victor acoustic catalogues.

Charles W Kremer – Southern Girl Gavotte
Chris Chapman, bells with Orchestra

Kremer – Southern Girl Gavotte – Chris Chapman

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

Gramophone Concert Record G.C.-9383
Matrix B-4764 (Victor master – English pressing gives A4764 (9383 IV))
Recorded 5th August 1907

This plays in F major at 78rpm.

Although named on the label as “Clarkes London Concert Band,” this recording was issued in the French catalogue as being played  by the Musique de la Garde Républicaine, and its use of the o-series matrix number also suggests a French recording.

Waldteufel – Toujours ou jamais Waltz
“Clarkes London  Concert Band” – Musique de la Garde Républicaine

Waldteufel – Toujours ou jamais – Garde Republicain (G flat major)


Waldteufel – Toujours ou jamais – Garde Republicaine (G major)

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

G&T Gramophone Concert Record G.C.-2-145
Matrix 4397o (2-145)
Recorded 1904-5, Paris

Curiously, after the end of the Waldteufel, there is a gap in the grooves, and then another track – a few seconds of a steady single note on a trumpet.

The French military had already adopted diapason normal by this time and this recording plays in G flat major at 75.9rpm. At this speed, this trumpet tone appears as A440. A speed of around 80.4rpm would put the work in G major, with the test tone as a B flat, this would put result in many of the transposing instruments playing in A major and E major, which may be less likely than playing in A flat major and E flat major. However, I’ve provided transfers at both pitches, and leave it to the listener to decide which sounds more likely. The original orchestral key of E major is unfeasible!

As with the Warschawsky, there is a great deal of wear and distortion, particularly near the start of this record.

The label for the following record of music by Lumbye names “Elite Orkester”, then København, Danish Orchestra. However, the matrix listings name the Black Diamonds Band, the Gramophone Company’s house band. At the same session they recorded several other works by Lumbye, Lund, Eriksen and Wenrich, likely for the Danish catalogue.

H.C. Lumbye – Salut for August Bournonville, Galop
“Elite Orkester” – Black Diamonds Band

Lumbye – Salut for August Bournonville – Black Diamonds Band

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

Gramophone Concert Record V.*70659
Matrix 11414e (V*70659)
Recorded 4th March 1910, London

On the basis that standard military band pitch at the time was A452, I’ve transferred this at 80rpm, which puts it in B flat for this pitch standard. The original orchestral version is in D, which would give a turntable speed which is unfeasibly fast for Gramophone records of this period. It would however give the piece at a speed comparable to modern recordings of this galop!

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by on January 1, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Instrumental, Military Band, Piano/Keyboard, Sound effects
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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.

Albert Whelan (1875-1961) is remembered as a music hall entertainer, emigrating to England from his native Australia fairly early in his career. Given the nature of his career, it becomes hard to be sure whether these Dickens performances are intended sincerely or not. Certainly, The Death of Little Nell is worked for every ounce of sentimentality, and the orchestral backing carries it literally into the realms of melodrama as originally understood. This kind of performance makes one appreciate the reasons for Oscar Wilde’s withering put down of the scene, and is not easy to listen to after hearing more modern acting styles.

Dickens – The Old Curiosity Shop: The Death of Little Nell
Dickens – David Copperfield: Little Emily
Albert Whelan, actor
with Orchestra

Mediafire link for Dickens Monologues – Albert Whelan

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

Zonophone The Twin Serial 268
Matrices 2211e, 7263e
Recorded 4th July 1905, 1907

Based on pitch of orchestral accompaniments, these have been transferred at 77.0rpm and 75.7rpm respectively.

Bransby Williams (1870-1961) is another music hall entertainer, born and bred in London. He was known very much for his impersonations (including a fine imitation of Henry Irving, the great Shakespearean), but also performed many characters from Dickens. He was particularly known for his Scrooge, and he recorded his Scrooge monologues for various companies. In  1928 he played the role in a short sound film, and also in a 1950 BBC TV production. He appeared in a number of silent films of works by Dickens. His recorded repertoire included many Dickens roles, and a number of other dramatic monologues and recitations, several of which are given here.

Mediafire link for Dickens and other recitations – Bransby Williams

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

Dickens – A Christmas Carol – Scrooge No.3 The Awakening
Dickens – A Tale of Two Cities – Sydney Carton’s Farewell
Bransby Williams, actor
His Master’s Voice C 500
Matrices 3704f, 2636f (01031, 01014)
Recorded 7th October 1909, 9th October 1908

Recorded at about 81rpm and 80rpm respectively

Dickens – David Copperfield: Micawber and Uriah Heep
Cuthbert Clarke & Charles H Taylor – Devil May Care
Bransby Williams, actor
His Master’s Voice C 501 (first side also on Gramophone Monarch 01011)
Matrices 2631f, 2634f (01011, 01021)
Recorded 9th October 1908

Both sides recorded at about 80rpm

Dickens – A Christmas Carol – Scrooge: Before the Dream; After the Dream
Bransby Williams, actor
The Winner 2533
Matrices 1033D, 1034K
Recorded 1913
Available from January 1914

Milton Hayes – The Green Eye of the Yellow God
Chas J Winter – The Caretaker
Bransby Williams, actor
Columbia 388 (80rpm)
Matrices 6352-3, 6353-3 (1054/5)
Recorded 2nd May 1924
Available from June 1924 to May 1926

These sides were recorded 3 times. First in 1913 (6352-1, 6353-2), available from July 1913 to June 1924. They were then replaced with versions recorded on 2nd May 1924 (6352-3, 6355-3). These were in the catalogues until May 1926, when the electrically recorded remakes of 1st April 1926 replaced them (WAX 1400-1, 1401-1). These were deleted from the catalogue in February 1943

Dickens – The Pickwick Papers – Tony Weller
Dickens – Oliver Twist – Bill Sykes
Bransby Williams, actor
Columbia-Rena 400
Matrices 6354-1 or -2, 6355-2
Recorded 1913
Available from September 1913 to June 1924

Columbia 400
Matrices 6354-4, 6355-4 (1056/7)
Recorded 23rd and 21st May 1924
Available from June 1924 to July 1929

These two versions of the same “Dramatic Recitals” show how Williams’s performances varied. The broad outline of each version is the same, but there are differences in the details. Another, slightly cut, version of the Tony Weller scene was filmed for British Pathé

Dickens – A Christmas Carol – Scrooge: Before the Dream; The Dream; After the Dream
Dickens – David Copperfield: Micawber’s Advice to Copperfield
Bransby Williams, actor
Columbia 347 (81.8rpm)
Matrices WAX 1397-2, 1396-2 (6043, 6042)
Recorded 31st March 1926
Available from May 1926 to February 1944

Columbia 348 (80rpm)
Matrices 6277-1, 6278-1
Recorded 1912
Available from December 1923 to May 1924

This set was recorded 3 times. First in 1912 (6275-2, 6276-2, 6277-1, 6278-1), available from December 1912 to May 1924. It was then replaced with versions recorded on 14th and 4th April 1924 (6275-3, 6276-3, 6277-4, 6278-3). These were in the catalogues until May (347) and June (348) 1926, when the electrically recorded remakes of 31st March 1926 replaced them (WAX 1397-2, 1396-2, 1398-1, 1399-1). These were deleted from the catalogue in February 1944

Dickens, Lee, Weston – A Charles Dickens Christmas
Bransby Williams, actor
with various other performers
Columbia DX 554
Matrices CAX 6971-1, 6972-1
Recorded October 1933, London

The pianist Mark Hambourg has already featured on this site. The latest item is one of his earlier acoustic recordings, of Chopin and Schubert.

Download – Chopin – Polonaise in A – Mark Hambourg

Download – Schubert-Tausig – Marche Militaire – Mark Hambourg

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

Chopin – Polonaise in A major Op.40 No.1 (“Military”)
Schubert-Tausig – Marche Militaire
Mark Hambourg, piano
His Master’s Voice D 486
Matrices HO 4160af, 4162af (05646, 05647)
Recorded 15th December 1919, London

Wilhelm Backhaus (1884-1969) is without doubt one of the most famous of recorded pianists, with a studio career stretching from acoustic recordings in the first decade of the twentieth century through to stereo recordings in the 1960s. The recordings below show him in core repertoire from 1913 to 1934.

Mediafire link for Chopin, Schubert, Beethoven and Brahms – Wilhelm Backhaus

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

Chopin – Etude in E major Op,10 No.7; Waltz in D flat major Op.64 No.1 (“Minute”)
Schubert – Moment Musical Op.94 No.3; Hark, hark the lark
Wilhelm Backhaus, piano
His Master’s Voice D 170 (81rpm)
Matrices z7358f, z7360f (05553, 05550)
Recorded 20th May 1913, London

Brahms – Variations on a Theme by Paganini Op.35 Book 1 (Theme and Variations 1-8; Variations 9 -13)
Wilhelm Backhaus, piano
His Master’s Voice D 1019
Matrices Cc 5437-II, 5438-III (05855, 05856)
Recorded 5th December 1924, London

Chopin – Fantaisie Impromptu in C sharp minor Op.66
Chopin – Prelude in C major Op.28 No.1; Etude in C major Op.10 No.1
Wilhelm Backhaus, piano
His Master’s Voice DB 2059
Matrices 2B 5391-II, 5392-IV (32-4189, 32-4190)
Recorded 7th and 10th October 1933, London

Beethoven – Piano Sonata in C sharp minor Op.27 No.2 (“Moonlight”)

I. Adagio sostenuto (1 side)
II. Allegretto (½ side)
III. Presto agitato (1½ sides)

Bach arr Lucas – Pastorale from “Christmas Oratorio”
Wilhelm Backhaus, piano
His Master’s Voice DB 2405-6
Matrices 2EA 518-II, 519-III, 520-III, 516-II
Recorded 6th (sides 1 and 4) and 8th (sides 2 and 3) November 1934, Abbey Road Studio No.3, London

Vladimir de Pachmann (1848-1933) was highly regarded for his wonderful Chopin playing. The odder aspects of his platform behaviour carried into the recording studio, and his comments can be heard on several of the recordings here.

Mediafire link for Chopin – Vladimir de Pachmann

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

Chopin – Prelude in B minor Op.28 No.6; Etude in G flat major Op.67 No.1
Chopin – Etude in G flat major Op.10 No.5
Vladimir de Pachmann, piano
His Master’s Voice DA 1302
Matrices Bb 6258-I, 11763-I (30-10220, 30-10221)
Recorded 26th June 1925, Hayes, Studio B and 3rd November 1927, C Studio, Small Queen’s Hall, London

Chopin – Nocturne in B major Op.32 No.1
Chopin – Impromptu in F sharp major Op.36 No.2
Vladimir de Pachmann, piano
His Master’s Voice DB 859
Matrices Cc 6259-II, 6261-I (05854, 05853)
Recorded 26th June 1925, Hayes, Studio B

Chopin – Nocturne in D flat major Op.27 No.2
Chopin – Etude in F major Op.25 No.3; Valse in C sharp minor Op.64 No.2
Vladimir de Pachmann, piano
His Master’s Voice DB 860
Matrices Cc 6253-I, 6260-I (05859, 05860)
Recorded 26th June 1925, Hayes, Studio B

Moritz Rosenthal (1862-1946) was a pupil of Liszt, and recorded extensively.

Chopin – Piano Concerto No.1 in E minor Op.11

Mediafire link for Chopin – Piano Concerto 1 – Moritz Rosenthal, Frieder Weissmann

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

I. Allegro maestoso
II. Romanza
III. Rondo vivace

Moritz Rosenthal, piano
Berlin State Opera Orchestra, Frieder Weissmann

Parlophone R 902-4, E 11113-4 (3 10” and 2 12” records)
Matrices W 38839, 38840, 133019, 133020, 133021, 133026, W 2-21695-3, 21696-2, 2-21697, 2-21698
Recorded 1st May 1839m 26th November 1930, 2nd March 1931, Berlin

Several sides of this recording are afflicted with a high pitched whistling noise, which I have done my best to ameliorate. Additionally, there is a twenty-six bar overlap between sides 3 and 4, so I have given two versions of the first movement, with the edit at the start and end of the overlapping section.

The recording is also somewhat cut:

1st movement:
Side 1: b1-24, b139-221
Side 2: b221-333
Side 3: b333-434
Side 4: b408-510
Side 5: b510-588
Side 6: b589-689

2nd movement:
Side 7: b12-71 (orchestral introduction omitted)
Side 8: b72-126

3rd movement:
Side 9: b1-47, b88-260
Side 10: b260-295, b327-520

Irene Scharrer (1888-1971) was one of the UK’s best known pianists. While perhaps best remembered for her recording with Henry Wood of the Litolff Scherzo, she was in fact a regular in the recording studios from around 1909 onwards. She made concerto recordings with Landon Ronald, and even attempted the Litolff Scherzo with him in 1915, though it was never issued.

Chopin – Scherzo No.2 in B minor Op.31
Irene Scharrer, piano

Download – Chopin – Scherzo No.2 – Irene Scharrer

(mp3 file – right click the link, then select “Save as”)

Columbia DX 433
Matrices CAX 6604-3, 6605-2
Recorded 5th December 1932, London

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by on December 24, 2010  •  Permalink
Posted in Orchestral, Piano/Keyboard, Spoken word
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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 adopted in this transfer, giving a speed of 83.6rpm.

Vieuxtemps – Ballade & Polonaise
Albert Sammons, violin
Band of H.M. Grenadier Guards, Dr Albert Williams

Download – Vieuxtemps – Ballade & Polonaise – Sammons (A-452)

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

Columbia L1165
Matrices 6964-2, 6963-2
Recorded 1916, London
Available from May 1917 to March 1926

The Ballade is given complete on the first side. The 31 bar transition to the Polonaise is omitted, and the second side starts with the Tempo di polacca. A number of cuts are made (b10 to 1 before E, 14 after G to 18 after G, 21 after G to I, 8 after M to R, S to W in the piano score)

Adela Verne (1877-1952) was a member of a musical family. She was acknowledged as one of the greatest pianists of her era, and a successor to Teresa Carreño. Her sister Mathilde, was one of the greatest piano teachers, and a pupil of Clara Schumann. Although Adela played for Clara, she did not have the opportunity to study with her, but was taught by Mathilde, who also taught Solomon, Lympany, and Harold Samuel. She made her debut in the Tchaikovsky first concerto aged 13. She studied Chopin with Paderewski, and also played a number of his works. She performed extensively at the Proms, and in 1902 played a Liszt Rhapsody in the Grand Coronation Concert, in which Clara Butt sang the first performance of Land of Hope and Glory. Other soloists were Santley, Albani, Kennerley Rumford and Lady Hallé.

Chopin – Polonaise in A flat major Op.53
Adela Verne, piano

Download – Chopin – Polonaise Op.53 – Verne

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

Columbia L1213
Matrices 75979-2, 75980-2
Recorded 1917, London
Available from December 1917 to May 1928

The first side of this record begins at 78.9rpm and rises to 79.8rpm, while the second rises from 80.9 to 81.0rpm if we take A-440Hz

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by on December 12, 2010  •  Permalink
Posted in Instrumental, Orchestral, Piano/Keyboard
Tagged , , , , , , ,
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 a 1928 recording of The Blue Danube. He was director of the Vienna Boys’ Choir from about 1940 to 1963, and directed several other choirs. This recording with the Pro Musica Choir was not favourably reviewed in Gramophone.

Palestrina – Missa Papae Marcelli; Missa Assumpta est Maria
Pro Musica Choir, Vienna, Ferdinand Grossmann

Mediafire link for Palestrina Masses – Ferdinand Grossmann

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

Vox PL 10020
Matrices XTV 25089-1B, 25090-1C
Recorded 1956, Vienna

Both works are in six sections

I. Kyrie
II. Gloria in excelsis Deo
III. Credo in unum Deum
IV. Sanctus
V. Benedictus
VI. Agnus Dei I and II

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by on December 1, 2010  •  Permalink
Posted in Vocal/Choral
Tagged , , ,
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. This is in fact the only issued example of Ronald condcuting Berlioz – he made another two attempts at the same work in 1923, but these were unissued. The other side of the disc, is Sibelius’s Valse Triste, played by the young violinist Joszka (later Joseph) Szigeti, with an unnamed piano accompanist. Szigeti was just 19 at the time of this recording.

Berlioz – Marche Hongroise (from La Damnation de Faust)
New Symphony Orchestra, Landon Ronald
Sibelius – Valse Triste
Joszka Szigeti, violin with piano

Download – Berlioz – Marche Hongroise – Landon Ronald

Download – Sibelius – Valse Triste – Joszka Szigeti

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

His Master’s Voice M 203 (Indian pressing from Calcutta plant)
Matrices Ai 5867f, Ai 6217f (single side numbers 0746, 07971)
Recorded 6th January 1912, 3rd April 1912, London

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by on November 21, 2010  •  Permalink
Posted in Instrumental, Orchestral
Tagged , , , , , , ,
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. Less than two weeks before Dame Joan’s death, the American coloratura soprano Dolores Wilson died aged 82. She had recorded Lucia in 1951, and part of the mad scene and the sextet were issued on an ARC 33rpm 7 inch record in the early 1960s. This seemed an ideal opportunity to remaster both recordings by way of tribute and comparison.

Donizetti – Lucia di Lammermoor – excerpts
Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Franco Capuana

Sextet: Chi mi frena

Dolores Wilson, soprano
Ebe Ticozzi, contralto
Mario Carlin, tenor
Gianni Poggi, tenor
Anselmo Colzani, baritone
Silvio Maionica, baritone

Mad scene: Ardon gl’ incensi

Dolores Wilson, soprano
Guglielmo Fazzini, tenor
Silvio Maionica, baritone

Download – Donizetti – Lucia – Sextet – Dolores Wilson

Download – Donizetti – Lucia – Mad scene – Dolores Wilson

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

ARC 31 7″ 33rpm
Matrices HOC 31A, HOC 31B
Recorded 1951
(Taken from 1951 complete recording, though label claims “First published 1963”)

Donizetti – Lucia di Lammermoor – Mad Scene:
Il dolce suono mi corpi di sua voce!…  Ardon gl’ incensi
L’Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Paris, Nello Santi
Paris Opera Chorus
Joan Sutherland, soprano

Donizetti – Lucia di Lammermoor – Mad scene – Joan Sutherland

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

Decca CEP 614 (45rpm 7″)
Matrices EFF-1979-1A, EFF-1980-1A
Recorded 1959

Arturo Toscanini made his earliest recordings for Victor with the orchestra of La Scala, Milan during its 1920-21 tour of the USA. These included the following record of Bizet’s Farandole.

Bizet – L’Arlèsienne Suite No.2 – Farandole
Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Arturo Toscanini

Download – Bizet – Farandole – Toscanini

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

Victrola 64986
Matrix B-24984-1 (2B 64986)
Recorded 11th March 1921, Victor Church Building Studios, Camden, New Jersey

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by on November 7, 2010  •  Permalink
Posted in Opera, Orchestral
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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/

Ted Andrews and his Canadian Singing Sisters – Come to the fair and What can the matter be; National Symphony Orchestra (with George W Byng?) – Barber of Seville overture

While other projects are ongoing, I want to try and get a few small items onto this site with some regularity. So there are just two items for ths latest update.

Ted Andrews was stepfather to Dame Julie Andrews, and accompanied her on some of her early 78s. This disc was privately recorded at the Star Sound Studios (just off Baker Street in London), on an unknown date, and features “Ted Andrews and his Canadian Singing Sisters.” They perform upbeat renditions of Easthope Martin’s “Come to the Fair” (which Andrews recorded with young Julie in more sedate fashion on a Columbia 78) and “Oh dear, what can the matter be?”

Easthope Martin – Come to the fair
Traditional – Oh dear, what can the matter be

Ted Andrews and his Canadian Singing Sisters

Download – Two Songs – Ted Andrews

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

Star Sound Studios – private recording without catalogue number or matrix number
Recorded 1940s?

Perhaps a more traditional offering for this site is a 10” slightly abridged electrical Zonophone recording of the overture to The Barber of Seville. This was recorded in London in 1929 with the “National Symphony Orchestra”. No conductor is named on the label or in the matrix listings, though George W Byng was the most frequent conductor for other sessions with this group.

Rossini – The Barber of Seville – Overture
National Symphony Orchestra

Download – Rossini – Barber of Seville – Overture – NSO

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

Zonophone 5569
Matrices Yy 16727-II, 16728-II (30-777/8)
Recorded 27th August 1929, Kingsway Hall, London

Side 1: bars 1-5, 11-19, 22-90 + 1st beat of bar 91
Side 2: bars 92-250, 255-264

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by on October 31, 2010  •  Permalink
Posted in Orchestral, Vocal/Choral
Tagged , , , , , , , , ,
Posted by Damians78s on October 31, 2010

https://music.damians78s.co.uk/2010/10/31/ted-andrews-and-his-canadian-singing-sisters-come-to-the-fair-and-what-can-the-matter-be-national-symphony-orchestra-with-george-w-byng-barber-of-seville-overture/

Aida excerpts and other items with Sydney Rayner, Eva Turner, Giovanni Inghilleri, Tina Poli-Randaccio, Agustarello Affre, Jane Marignan, Frank Mullings, Elsa Stralia, Andreina Beinat, Vincenzo Bettoni, Valentina Bartolomasi, Guido Fernandez, Rosita Pagani, Enrico Trentini, conducted by Beecham, Haarth, Albergoni, Barbirolli, Sabajno, Harty; Mackenzie-Rogan, Coldstream Guards Band – Orth, Tchaikovsky; Stanley Chapple – excerpts from Stravinsky’s Firebird; Franz André – Liszt, Richard Strauss

When you have a lot of free time, it sometimes turns out that the things you planned to use it for just don’t happen. Such was the case with my summer holidays. This is why it’s been two and a half months since the last update. I hope the new selection proves interesting. I’ve been exploring recordings of Aida, and this has included branching out into one or two other recordings by some of the same artists, and occasionally other recordings on the same labels. This diversification brings us several excerpts from Tosca and Cavalleria Rusticana. The recordings are presented roughly in score order for the selections from Aida (and are annotated with the pages of the vocal score.) And just to round things off, there’s some Stravinsky from Stanley Chapple, and some Richard Strauss and Liszt from Franz André.

Verdi – Otello – (Tu! Indietro! Fuggi!…) Ora e per sempre
Verdi – Aida – (Se quel guerriero io fossi…) Celeste Aida
(VS pp6-11)

Orchestra
Sydney Rayner, Premier Tenor of the Opera Comique, Paris

Mediafire link for Otello and Aida arias – Sydney Rayner

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

Decca T.204
Matrices GA 5380-1D, GA 5382-11D
Issued April 1933
Recorded 20th December 1932

Verdi – Aida – Ritorna vincitor
Aida – Ritorna vincitor. Part 1 (VS pp52-56)
Aida – Ritorna vincitor. Part 2 (VS pp56-59)
(3½ bar overlap between sides)
Orchestra, Sir Thomas Beecham
Eva Turner, soprano
Columbia L 2150
Matrices WAX 3931-3, 3932-2 (9956, 9958)
Recorded 19th July 1928
Available from mid October 1928 to August 1949

Puccini – Tosca – Vissi d’arte
Mascagni – Cavalleria Rusticana – Voi lo sapete
Orchestra, Sir Thomas Beecham
Eva Turner, soprano
Columbia L 2118
Matrices WAX 3929-3, 3930-2 (9952, 9951)
Recorded 18th July 1928
Available from November 1928 to April 1950

Mediafire link for Verdi, Puccini, Mascagni arias – Eva Turner, Thomas Beecham

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

Verdi – Aida – Ballet music
Side 1: a) Tanz der Priesterinnen (VS pp65-67) b) Tanz der Mohrensklaven (VS pp85-87)
Side 2: Ballettmusik a. d. 2. Akt (VS pp122-131)
Berlin State Orchestra, Herbert Haarth
Siemens Polydor 57270
Matrices 2281½ GS9, 2280½ GS9
Recorded 1943 (Depositato 10.8.43 (on both sides))

Verdi – Aida – Triumphal March Act 2
Side 1 (VS p111-117,120-122)
Side 2 (VS p121 line 4 -122, 132-141, 196-203)
Berlin State Opera Orchestra, Frieder Weissmann
Parlophone E 11041
Matrices XXB 8479/80
Recorded probably 31st March 1930

Plays at 75.1rpm

Mediafire link for Aida Ballet music and Grand March – Herbert Haarth, Frieder Weissmann

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

Verdi – Aida – Act 3 Duet


Side 1: Ciel! mio padre (VS pp215-223)
Side 2: Su, dunque, sorgete egizie coorti (VS pp223-233)
Grand Symphony Orchestra, Angelo Albergoni
Giovanni Inghilleri, baritone – Amonasro
Tina Poli-Randaccio, soprano – Aida
Parlophone Odeon Series R 20141
Matrices XXPh 6405/6
Recorded 20th October 1928

Puccini – Tosca:
Tre sbirri, una carrozza


La povera mi cena fu interrotta (… Gia mi dicon venal)


Orchestra , John Barbirolli
Giovanni Inghilleri, baritone
Octave Dua, tenor
His Master’s Voice D 1701
Matrices CR 2422-I, CR 2423-I (2-052426/7)
Recorded 19th June 1929

Verdi – Un Ballo in Maschera – Eri tu che macchiavi quell’ anima


Orchestra, John Barbirolli
Verdi – Rigoletto – Pari siamo!


Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Carlo Sabajno
Giovanni Inghilleri, baritone
His Master’s Voice D 1823
Matrices CR 2424-II (2-052424), CF 2359-IV (2-052394)
Recorded 19th June 1929, 10th December 1928

This record has a small chunk chipped from the rim, affecting the start of the groove on both sides.

(These are mp3 files – left click the link and download the file, or press play)

Verdi – Aida – Je te revois enfin – Duo
(Pur ti riveggo) – (VS pp233-235, 245-247, 248-249)
Verdi – Aida – Mourir ô toi si belle – Duo final
(Morir, si pura e bella) – (VS pp298-300, 303-304, 308-309)
Orchestra
Agustarello Affre, tenor – Radames
Jane Marignan, soprano – Aida

Mediafire link for Aida duets – Agustarello Affre, Jane Marignan

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

Pathé AGPA P1503 (25) [88.6rpm, 28cm diameter, centre start]
Matrices 54579 GR, 60516 GR
Recorded c1906-11

Verdi – Aida – Nile Duet. From Finale, Act III
Aida – Nile Duet. From Finale, Act III. Part I (VS pp239-244)
Aida – Nile Duet. From Finale, Act III. Part II (VS pp244-249)
Orchestra, Hamilton Harty
Frank Mullings, tenor – Radames
Elsa Stralia, soprano – Aida

Mediafire link for Aida – Nile Duet – Frank Mullings, Elsa Stralia – Hamilton Harty

(This is an mp3 file – left click the link, download the file)

Columbia 7248/9
Matrices 74063-2, 74064-2
Recorded about 3rd May 1920, 80rpm
Available from January 1921 to April 1924

This duet was reissued on double sided Columbia 7334 in April 1924, and was available in this form until August 1930

Verdi – Aida – Judgment Scene (Act IV)
Aida – Judgment Scene (Act IV) Pt.1. – Spirto del Numo (Heavenly Spirit) (VS pp279-281(last line), 284-285)
Aida – Judgment Scene (Act IV) Pt.2. – Radames e deciso il tuo fato (We thy fate have decided) (pp285-295 (final bars omitted))
Orchestra
Andreina Beinat, mezzo-soprano – Amneris
Vincenzo Bettoni, bass – Ramfis

Mediafire link for Aida – Judgment Scene – Vincenzo Bettoni, Andreina Beinat

(This is an mp3 file – left click the link, download the file)

Columbia-Rena Opera Record D 5540 (10”)
Matrices 41851, 41852
Recorded c1912

These sides form part of the abridged Columbia Aida, issued on 17 double sided records, though this particular issue is not from the main run of either the Italian or English issues.

Verdi – Aida – Sacerdoti, compiste un delitto (Scena del Giudizio, Act IVo) (VS pp288 – 295)
Verdi – Aida – La fatal pietra (VS pp296 – 298)
Grande Orchestra, Carlo Sabajno
Valentina Bartolomasi, soprano – Aida
Guido Fernandez, bass – Ramfis
Rosita Pagani, mezzo-soprano – Amneris
Enrico Trentini, tenor – Radames
Gramophone Concert Record S 5178
Matrices 1013Aj (2-20254147), 971Aj (2-0254148)
Recorded 3rd November 1919, 27th October 1919
Issued 1920
These are sides 37-38 of a 40 side complete recording of Aida

Mascagni – Cavalleria Rusticana – Scena Ia
Parte Ia – “Gli aranci olezzano” (VS p11 – 20.2.2)
Parte IIa – “Cessin le rustiche opre” (VS p20.2.3 – 26)
La Scala Chorus
Grande Orchestra, Carlo Sabajno
Gramophone Concert Record S 5094
Matrices 3017c, 3018c (2-0524500, 2-0254501)
Recorded 6th April 1915
80.8rpm
These are sides 3-4 of a 20 side complete recording of Cavalleria Rusticana

Bizet – Carmen – Preludio atto IV
Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Carlo Sabajno
Gramophone Concert Record G.C.-50547 (10”)
Matrix 10383b (50547 IV)
Recorded April 1907

Donizetti – Don Pasquale – Coro dei servitori (complete)
Gounod – Faust – Kermesse (VS pp29-41, 44-46)
CORI DELLA SCALA
Aristide Venturi, chorus master
Orchestra, Carlo Sabajno
Gramophone Monarch Record 054502/054503
Matrices 570c (054502 III), 629c (054503L)
Recorded October-December 1905 (approved 19/3/06), May 1906 (approved 17/9/06)

Mediafire link for Aida, Cavalleria, Carmen, Don Pasquale, Faust – Carlo Sabajno

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

 

Orth – In a Clockmakers Shop
Band of H.M. Coldstream Guards, John Mackenzie-Rogan
Gramophone Concert Record G.C.-2-178 (10”)
Matrix 3393e (2-178 II)
Recorded 19th January 1906
Issued 1906

Tchaikovsky – Finale 4th Symphony
Band of H.M. Coldstream Guards, John Mackenzie-Rogan
Gramophone Monarch Record 0185 (12”)
Matrix 2758f (0185-1*)
Recorded 17th December 1908
Issued 1909

Mackenzie-Rogan is not named on the record label.
This recording is likely to be transposed a tone down from Tchaikovksy’s original, like the Safranek arrangement for band. The recording plays in E flat at 78rpm. However, at this time, British military pitch was around A-452, so the record should probably be played at 80rpm, to be in E flat for the appropriate pitch standard.

Mediafire link for Orth, Tchaikovksy – Mackenzie-Rogan & Coldstream

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

Stravinsky – L’oiseau de feu:
Danse Infernale du roi Kastchei
Opening Key A minor, Full score p118-155
Finale
Opening Key B, Full score p166-172
Aeolian Orchestra, Stanley Chapple

Mediafire link for Stravinsky – Firebird excerpts – Stanley Chapple

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

Vocalion K-05288
Matrices M.0169, M.0168
Released April 1927
R. Strauss – Der Rosenkavalier – Waltzes
Liszt – Les Preludes
L’ Orchestre Symphonique de la Radiodiffusion Nationale Belge, Franz André

Mediafire link for Richard Strauss, Liszt – Franz André

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

Capitol Telefunken L 8173
Matrices L-8173-Y1, L-8173-Z1 (8-52)
Recorded 12th April 1952, 9th April 1952, Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels

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by on October 10, 2010  •  Permalink
Posted in Military Band, Opera, Orchestral
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted by Damians78s on October 10, 2010

https://music.damians78s.co.uk/2010/10/10/aida-excerpts-and-other-items-with-sydney-rayner-eva-turner-giovanni-inghilleri-tina-poli-randaccio-agustarello-affre-jane-marignan-frank-mullings-elsa-stralia-andreina-beinat-vincenzo-betton/

Gordon Jacob’s William Byrd Suite – Coldstream Guards Band (1925); Stanley Chapple – Brahms Hungarian Dances, Elgar Pomp and Circumstance No.1; Franz André – Eric Coates, Elgar, Gershwin; Frieder Weissmann – Strauss’s Tod und Verklärung; Arthur Meale – Thalberg’s “Home Sweet Home”, Ascher’s “Alice, Where Art Thou?”; Capiton Zaporojetz – The Song of the Flea, Drinking (In cellar cool); Early recordings by Julie Andrews

It’s been more than a month since my last update, so there are quite a number of items to add this time. The recordings range from acoustic 78s through to mono LP, and include military band, orchestra, piano and vocal recordings.

Gordon Jacob – Suite by William Byrd

Mediafire link for Jacob – William Byrd Suite – Coldstream 1925

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

No.1 – The Earle of Oxford’s Marche (¾ side)
No.5 – Wolsey’s Wilde (¼ side)
No.6 – The Bells (1 side)

His Master’s Voice C 1215
Matrices Cc 5982-II, 5983-I (single-side numbers 2-0419/20)
Recorded 2nd April 1925
Band of H.M. Coldstream Guards, Lieut. R.G. Evans

Gordon Jacob’s arrangement of a number of keyboard pieces by William Byrd was made for Military Band in 1923 and orchestra in 1924. It is likely that this late acoustic recording was the earliest recording of these three movements.

Between 1909 and 1927, A=452Hz was the standard pitch for British military bands. A change to the Kings Regulations in 1927 adopted modern pitch of A=439Hz. At 78rpm the record plays at about the expected A=452Hz, slightly more than a semitone sharper than modern pitch.

Brahms – Hungarian Dances Nos. 1 and 2
Elgar – Pomp and Circumstance March No.1

Download – Brahms – Hungarian Dances Nos. 1 and 2 – Stanley Chapple

Download – Elgar – Pomp and Circumstance March No.1 – Stanley Chapple

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

Broadcast Twelve 5033
Matrices Lo.104x, LO.103
Recorded c1929
Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Stanley Chapple

Chapple (1900-1987) was music director for the Aeolian Company, and conducted frequently for them, though the recordings are hard to find now. These  Broadcast Twleve sides are badly affected by the persistent whistle which seems so common a feature of records on this label. I have done my best to alleviate this problem, so when you notice the remnants of it, bear in mind that it was originally much worse than it sounds now. As the whistle oscillates in pitch, whilst also gradually decreasing pitch and increasing amplitude until the end of the record, correcting it proved to be a major task!

 

Coates – London Suite

I. Covent Garden (Tarantelle)
II. Westminster (Meditation)
III. Knightsbridge (March)

Coates – London Bridge
Elgar – Pomp and Circumstance March No.1 in D major Op.39
Gershwin – An American in Paris

Mediafire link for Coates, Elgar, Gershwin – Franz André

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

Telestar 10049
Matrices LP-071621-I, LP-038079-III
Recorded 2nd to 7th April 1958 (Coates), 20th April 1957 (Elgar), 19th April 1957 (Gershwin)
L’ Orchestre Symphonique de la Radiodiffusion Nationale Belge, Franz André

 

R. Strauss – Tod und Verklärung – Symphonic Poem Op.24

Download – Strauss – Tod und Verklärung – Weissmann

(This is an mp3 file – left click the link, download the file)

American Decca 25350/2
Matrices 2-21619-2, 21620, 21621-2, 21622-2, 21623, 21624 C
Recorded c1930
Philharmonic Orchestra, Frieder Weissmann

I originally transferred this recording about four years ago, before this website was born. The present file is a completely new transfer, in much improved sound.

 

R. Thalberg – Home, Sweet Home
Ascher – Alice, Where Art Thou?

Download – Thalberg – Home, Sweet Home – Arthur Meale

Download – Ascher – Alice, Where Art Thou? – Arthur Meale

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

His Master’s Voice B 3166
Matrices Bb 17255-III, 17256-III (single-side numbers 30-833/4)
Recorded 19th August 1929, London, Small Queen’s Hall, Studio C
Arthur Meale, piano

Arthur Meale was the regular organist of the Queen’s Hall. He made many organ recordings in a light and popular classical vein. This record gives us the rare opportunity to hear him as a pianist, in two nineteenth century virtuoso salon pieces. For UK comedy fans, Ascher’s melody is the one that was used as the title music for the Ronnie Barker and David Jason sitcom “Open All Hours”.

This record is in very poor condition, with a serious fracture, and a noisy surface with significant distortion – it’s still a fun listen, though.

Mussorgsky – Song of the Flea
Traditional – Drinking (In cellar cool)

Download – Mussorgsky – Song of the Flea – Capiton Zaporojetz

Download – Trad – Drinking (In cellar cool) – Capiton Zaporojetz

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

Columbia L 1991
Matrices WAX 2739-1, 2740-1 (7664/5)
Recorded 12th May 1927
Available from October 1927 to April 1941
Capiton Zaporojetz, bass with piano

I was prompted to transfer this after seeing Zaporojetz’s name mentioned in a couple of places recently. Firstly, in the booklet notes for “Firebirds of Paris”, a Ward Marston CD of French recordings of Russian repertoire from around 1930. Zaporojetz is noted as singing Prince Yuri in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Kitezh in 1926 in Paris, then in 1929 in the premiere of Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex. He also sang the same role in Kitezh in 1935.

A few weeks after reading this, I was reading the June 2010 issue of “The Record Collector”, and the article on Marguerite D’Alvarez mentioned a concert on 2 October 1927 in London, where Thomas Beecham conducted “An Afternoon of Grand Opera” at the Royal Albert Hall. with Austral, Burke, D’Alvarez and Zaporojets.

 

Gounod – Romeo  & Juliet – Je veux vivre
Easthope Martin – Come to the fair (from “Songs of the Fair”)
Columbia DB 2470
Matrices CA 20923-2, 20924-1
Recorded c1948
Julie Andrews, soprano
Ted Andrews, baritone (Come to the fair)
Barbara Andrews, piano

Mozart-Adam – Ah! vous dirai-je mama
Benedict – The Wren
Columbia DB 2553
Matrices CA 21114-1, 21115-1
Recorded c1948
Julie Andrews, soprano
Orchestra, Ted Andrews

Mediafire link for Julie Andrews – early recordings

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

The first of these records has appeared here previously. It has been retransferred to be presented here with another of Julie Andrews early 78s.

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by on July 23, 2010  •  Permalink
Posted in Military Band, Opera, Orchestral, Piano/Keyboard, Vocal/Choral
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted by Damians78s on July 23, 2010

https://music.damians78s.co.uk/2010/07/23/gordon-jacobs-william-byrd-suite-coldstream-guards-band-1925-stanley-chapple-brahms-hungarian-dances-elgar-pomp-and-circumstance-no-1-franz-andre-eric-coates-elgar-gershwin-frie/

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 solos and some ensemble passages. Licette and Noble remain fairly familiar names, though Russell (who sang Calaf) and Brindle (a stalwart of the Moody-Manners opera company) are barely remembered now.

Mediafire link for – Balfe – The Bohemian Girl – Vocal gems

(This is an mp3 file – left click the link, download the file)

Balfe – The Bohemian Girl – Vocal Gems
Part 1:
Happy and light of heart (p114-117); I dreamt that I dwellt (p96-98); When other lips (p178-179); Silence (p82-84, 87, transposed down a semitone)
Part 2:
The heart bowed down (p161-162, transposed down a semitone to F); Thou who in might supreme (p75-77); In the gipsy life (p32-35)
Score references to Boosey The Royal Edition vocal score (1899)

Columbia 9579
Matrices WAX 4343-2, 4344-1 (10737/8)
Recording Date 27th November 1928
Available from Jan 1929 to March 1942

Orchestra and Chorus, Charles Prentice
Miriam Licette, soprano
Francis Russell, tenor
Dennis Noble, baritone
Harry Brindle, bass

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by on June 13, 2010  •  Permalink
Posted in Vocal/Choral
Tagged , , , , , ,
Posted by Damians78s on June 13, 2010

https://music.damians78s.co.uk/2010/06/13/vocal-gems-from-the-bohemian-girl/

Lilian Stiles Allen; Hamilton Harty and Henry Wood – Schubert; winners of Columbia’s Schubert competition; Lilac Time

The first selection of recordings this time is of the soprano Lilian Stiles-Allen. She was widely respected in her day, though her performances were confined to the concert platform and broadcasting as she was “not suited to the operatic stage.” She was one of the original sixteen soloists in Vaughan Williams’s Serenade to Music, and went on to teach Dame Julie Andrews. She recorded a number of sides for the Edison Bell company, with the recordings appearing on various of its labels. The recordings have only rarely been reissued, and having gathered a number of them, seeing Julie Andrews perform in London prompted me to transfer these recordings of her teacher.

Mediafire link for Lilian Stiles Allen – Edison Bell recordings

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

Handel – Messiah – Rejoice greatly
Handel – Theodora – Angels ever bright and fair
Edison Bell Velvet Face 700
Matrices X1663B-1, X1664E-1
Recorded c1922
Lilian Stiles Allen, soprano
Orchestra

Verdi – Aida – Act 2. Neath the chances of battle… Tremble, thou art discovered
Edison Bell X546
Matrices X1840J, X1841D
Recorded c1930
Lilian Stiles Allen, soprano. Edith Furmedge, contralto
Orchestra

Verdi – Il Trovatore – Miserere
Edison Bell Winner L5397
Matrix 13747F-2
Recorded c1930
Lilian Stiles Allen, soprano. Hardy Williamson, tenor
Orchestra, Orazio Fagotti

Mascagni – Cavalleria Rusticana – O rejoice that the Lord has arisen
Edison Bell Winner L5397
Matrix 13746E-2
Recorded c1930
Lilian Stiles Allen, soprano
Orchestra

Mascagni – Cavalleria Rusticana – Santuzza’s Song
Edison Bell X523
Matrix X1763D
Recorded c1930
Lilian Stiles Allen, soprano
John Barbirolli’s Symphony Orchestra

Puccini – Madam Butterfly – Act 1. Love duet, finale
Edison Bell X523
Matrix X1762F
Recorded c1930
Lilian Stiles Allen, soprano.  Dan Jones, tenor
John Barbirolli’s Symphony Orchestra

Puccini – Madam Butterfly – Act 2. Flower duet: Shake the cherry tree… Not a flower left
Edison Bell Electron 0282
Matrices 11963N-1, 11964A-1
Recorded c1930
Lilian Stiles Allen, soprano. Edith Furmedge, contralto
Orchestra

Puccini – Madam Butterfly – Act 2. One Fine Day
Edison Bell Electron 0178
Matrix 11142A-1
Recorded c1930
Lilian Stiles Allen, soprano
Orchestra

Gounod – Faust – Finale Trio
Edison Bell Electron 0178
Matrix 11143F-2
Recorded c1930
Lilian Stiles Allen, soprano. Edward Leer, tenor. Edward Halland, bass
Orchestra

HG Pelissier – Awake (Ballad)
Maude Craske Day – Arise, O sun (Ballad)
Edison Bell Winner 5199
Matrices 12845B-1, 12846A-1
Recorded c1930
Lilian Stiles Allen, soprano with piano

Monckton – A Country Girl (excerpts) (Rhajah of Bong; Under the Deodar; Two Little Chicks; Farewell; Pink Hungarian Band; Try It On Johnnie; Yo Ho Little Girls; Coo; My Own Little Girl; Speak And Tell)
Edison Bell Winner L5379
Matrices 13786F-2, 13787F-2
Recorded c1930
Lilian Stiles Allen, soprano. Tessa Deane, mezzo-soprano. Anthony Quorn, tenor
London Concert Orchestra

Lehar – Frederica – Why did you kiss my heart awake
Edison Bell Winner 5171
Matrix 13001F-2
Recorded c1930
Lilian Stiles Allen, soprano
Orchestra

Lehar – Frederica – O maiden, my maiden
Edison Bell Winner 5171
Matrix 13002B-2
Recorded c1930
Hardy Williamson, tenor
Orchestra

The remaining recordings here focus around Schubert and English Columbia. Sir Hamilton Harty, as well as recording a stunning account of Schubert’s Great C major Symphony, also recorded substantial parts of the Rosamunde music, including both the Alphonso and Estrella overture, and the Zauberharfe one.

Mediafire link for Schubert – Rosamunde music – Sir Hamilton Harty

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

Schubert – Rosamunde – Overture (Die Zauberharfe)
Columbia L 1998
Matrices WAX 2654-1, 2655-2 (7526, 7530)
Recorded 2nd May 1927
Available from December 1927 to June 1947
Hallé Orchestra, Sir Hamilton Harty

As is common with many UK Columbias from this period, the stated 80rpm, turns out to be unreliable, with both sides starting at that speed and ending about  81.2rpm. The recording is somewhat cut, with side 1 containing bars 1-83 and 104-185, and side 2 containing bars 206-375 and 396 to the end.

Schubert – Rosamunde Incidental Music

Overture (Alphonso and Estrella) (2 sides)
Entr’acte No.1 (2 sides)
(a) Entr’acte No.2; (b) Shepherd’s Melody (for Clarinet, Bassoon and Horn)
Entr’acte No.3 (in B flat major) (without repeats)
Ballet Music No.1 – Andantino (in G major) (without repeats)
Ballet Music No.2 – (a) Allegro Moderato; (b) Andante un Poco Assai (without repeats)

Columbia L 2122-5
Matrices WAX 3549-2, 3550-2, 3551-1, 3552-1, 3554-3, 3555-2, 3556-2, 3553-2 (9230, 9228, 9229, 9248, 9239, 9240, 9235, 9238)
Recorded 27th April 1928
Available from September 1928 to August 1946
Hallé Orchestra, Sir Hamilton Harty

Sir Henry Wood recorded Schubert’s Unfinished symphony in a very abridged acoustic version, before making two electrical versions in 1926 and 1933.

Mediafire link for Schubert – Unfinished Symphony (1926 & 1933) – Henry Wood

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

Symphony in B minor (Unfinished)

I. Allegro moderato (3 sides – no repeat)
II. Andante con moto (3 sides)

Columbia 9513-5
Matrices WAX 1490-1, 1491-2, 1492-2, 1493-2, 1494-2, 1495-2 (S654, 653, 657, 658, 652, 655)
Recorded 23rd April 1926
Originally issued on L1791-93 available January 1927 to October 1928
This issue available October 1928 to December 1933 (when it was replaced by the 1933 recording)
The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra, Sir Henry J. Wood

All sides play at the stated 80rpm

Symphony No.8 in B minor (Unfinished)

I. Allegro moderato (3 sides – no repeat)
II. Andante con moto (3 sides)

Columbia DX 551-3
Matrices CAX 6975-1, 6976-1, 6977-1, 6978-2, 6979-2, 6980-1
Recorded 30th October 1933
Available from December 1933
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Henry J. Wood

Frank Merrick’s Two Movements in Symphonic Form and John St.Anthony Johnson’s Pax Vobiscum were the English Prize Works in the Schubert Centenary – Columbia International Composers Contest.

Mediafire link for Merrick & Johnson – Schubert competition winners – Stanford Robinson

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

Frank Merrick – Two Movements in Symphonic Form (A completion of Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony)

1. Scherzo (2 sides)
2. Poco Allegro (2 sides)

Columbia 9562-3
Matrices WAX 4180-2, 4181-1, 4249-1, 4250-3 (10437, 10436, 10575, 10574)
Recorded 20th October 1928 (sides 1,2), 3rd November 1928 (sides 3,4)
Available from January 1929 to March 1942
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Stanford Robinson

This plays in the expected key of B minor at 76rpm.

Based on the deliberately Schubertian structure of the Scherzo, I’ve surmised that a section of music at the end of the first side is repeated at the start of the second. I’ve included two versions of the movement, one with the repeated section edited together as I believe it should be played, and one with all the music as recorded.

John St.Anthony Johnson – Pax Vobiscum
Columbia 9564
Matrices WAX 4178-2, 4179-2 (10438, 10435)
Recorded 20th October 1928
Available from January 1929 to March 1935
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Stanford Robinson

This plays in C sharp minor at 76rpm, the same speed as the Merrick piece recorded at the same session.

Finally some Schubert of a rather different style – as arranged by Clutsam for the musical Lilac Time.

Download – Schubert-Clutsam – Lilac Time – selection – George W Byng

(mp3 file – right click the link, then select “Save as”)

Schubert-Clutsam – Lilac Time – Selection
His Master’s Voice C 1098
Matrices Cc 2373-II, Cc 2376-II (3-0812/3)
Recorded 12th January 1923
Mayfair Orchestra, George W. Byng

Lilac Time – Selection, Part 1 (Just a little ring; The Flower; The Golden Song; Yours is my heart)
Lilac Time – Selection, Part 2 (My Sweetest Song of all; Maiden, try to smile; Girls and Boys)

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by on June 7, 2010  •  Permalink
Posted in Orchestral, Vocal/Choral
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted by Damians78s on June 7, 2010

https://music.damians78s.co.uk/2010/06/07/lilian-stiles-allen-hamilton-harty-and-henry-wood-schubert-winners-of-columbias-schubert-competition-lilac-time/

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, there is also the Lener Quartet’s 1926 recording. There are also some acoustic items from Don Giovanni, sung in English.

Mozart –Symphony No.41 in C major (“Jupiter” Symphony)

Mediafire link for Mozart – Jupiter Symphony – Dan Godfrey

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

Columbia L1938-41
Matrices: WRAX 2432-2, 2433-1, 2434-2, 2435-2, 2436-2, 2437-2, 2438-2, 2439-2
Recorded 4th February 1927
Available November 1927 to April 1934
Symphony Orchestra, Sir Dan Godfrey

This recording has a substantial overlap between sides 2 and 3. The first movement spreads over 3 sides, despite lasting only a little over 8 minutes. The first side contains the exposition (which could therefore be repeated by playing the record twice.) The second side carries through into the recapitulation, up to bar 243. The third side begins at bar 212, therefore overlapping 32 bars with the previous side, a fact acknowledged (but not explained) in the notes of the original record album.

It’s a shame that Godfrey chose this unusual side arrangement – if he’d squeezed the first movement onto 2 sides, he could have included a filler on the 8th side.

Mozart – Divertimento No.17 in D major K334

Mediafire link for Mozart – Divertimento No.17 – Hamilton Harty

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

Columbia LX 350-52
Matrices: CAX 7302-2, 7303-1, 7304-2, 7305-1, 7306-2, 7307-1
Recorded 1934

I. Allegro (1½ sides)
II. Theme and 6 Variations (1½ sides)
III. Menuetto & Trio
VI. Rondo: Allegro

London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Hamilton Harty

Harty omits the fourth and fifth movements. In the second, repeats are played only in the theme and the final variation. The finale is somewhat cut, omitting bars 127-134, 1702-1861, 2072-2151, 269 and 3362-3441.

Mozart – “Petite Musique de Nuit; Marche Turque; Concerti No.2 et 3 pour piano et orchestre”

Mediafire link for Mozart – Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Rondo alla Turca, Piano Concertos after JC Bach – Various

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

Mode Disques MDINT 9 073
(disques vogues)
Matrices MD1396-A/B
Recorded 1957

Serenade in G major K525 “Eine kleine Nachtmusik”

I. Allegro
II. Romance: Andante
III. Menuetto: Allegretto
IV. Rondo: Allegro

Ensemble Instrumental Sinfonia, Jean Witold

Piano Sonata in A major K331 – III. Rondo alla turca
Pauline Aubert, harpsichord

J.C. Bach arr. Mozart: Piano Concerto K.207 No.2 in G major

I. Allegro
II. Allegretto con variazioni

J.C. Bach arr. Mozart: Piano Concerto K.207 No.3 in E flat major

I. Allegro
II. Allegretto

Collegium Musicum de Paris, Roland Douatte
Robert Veyron-Lacroix, piano

Mozart – Serenade in G major K525 “Eine kleine Nachtmusik”

Mediafire link for Mozart – Eine Kleine Nachtmusik – Lener Quartet

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

Columbia L 1729-30
Matrices WAX 1125-6, 1126-6, 1127-6 or 7, 1128-7
Recorded 19th February 1926
Available from Jun 1926 to July 1943 (Side 3 take 6 replaced by take 7 on 3rd March 1927)

I. Allegro (1 side)
II. Romance: Andante (1½ sides)
III. Menuetto: Allegretto (½ side)
IV. Rondo: Allegro (1 side)

Lener String Quartet

Mozart – Don Giovanni – On her contentment (Dalla sua pace)


Mozart – Don Giovanni – To her I love (Il mio tesoro)


His Master’s Voice D 957
Matrices Cc 4572-II, 4573-II (single side numbers 2-02073/4)
Recorded 5th May 1924
Tudor Davies, tenor
Orchestra, George W Byng

Mozart – Don Giovanni – Give me thy hand, Oh fairest (La ci darem la mano)


Zonophone X-44130
Matrix 10142e (X-44130-IV)
Recorded 19th May 1909
Peter Dawson, bass-baritone
Eleanor Jones-Hudson, soprano (credited on label as Alvena Yarrow)
Orchestra

(mp3 files – left click the link and download the file, or press play)

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by on April 12, 2010  •  Permalink
Posted in Orchestral, Piano/Keyboard, Vocal/Choral
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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 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.

Arensky – Variations on a Theme of Tchaikovsky, Op.35a

Mediafire link for Arensky – Variations on a Theme of Tchaikovksy – Sevitzky

(This is an mp3 file – left click the link, download the file)

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.

Liszt – Hungarian Rhapsody (No.2)

Download – Liszt – Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 – Marie Novello

(mp3 file – right click the link, then select “Save as”)

The Winner 3599 (10″)
Matrices 6849K-3, 6850R-3
Recorded November 1921
Marie Novello, piano

National Savings Movement presents “March of Freedom”

Download – March of Freedom – Joseph Batten

(mp3 file – right click the link, then select “Save as”)

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)

Sullivan – HMS Pinafore – Captain’s song
(My gallant crew good morning… I am the captain of the Pinafore)

Download – Sullivan – HMS Pinafore – Captain’s Song – Thorpe Bates

(mp3 file – right click the link, then select “Save as”)

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

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.

Vaughan Williams – Serenade to Music

Download – Vaughan Williams – Serenade to Music – Henry Wood

(mp3 file – right click the link, then select “Save as”)

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

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by on March 14, 2010  •  Permalink
Posted in Instrumental, Orchestral, Vocal/Choral
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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, 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.

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by on February 19, 2010  •  Permalink
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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/

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