I had a look in my catalogue and found only one recording of Pembaur, oddly enough of the same piece: Liszt's second concerto, issued under license by US Decca from Odeon/Parlophone masters, three 78s with catalogue nos. 25449 through 25451 (sold as a group of singles, not a set, as far as I can tell). Frieder Weissman, who was something of a house conductor for Odeon at the time, led an orchestra not otherwise identified, probably a studio group. OK, I did what I should have done before writing the foregoing and had a look at Wikipedia to get an bit more info about him. If the section on recordings there is anything like complete, the reason you don't see much by Pembaur is that he just didn't make many recordings. Born in 1875, he would have been in his early 50s by the time electric recording came along, not old for a pianist but definitely working toward the later part of a career, and before that he seems to have been one of those poor, misguided souls who opted for making reproducing piano rolls rather than phonograph records. From this I see that my concerto records were waxed in 1927. Here's the Liszt, er, list: Recordings[edit] Phonola piano rolls of the Ludwig Hupfeld AG [de] Cie, Leipzig Welte-Mignon piano rolls of the M. Welte & Söhne [de] Cie, Freiburg Disk for Carl Lindström AG (recorded in Berlin, November 1927) Frédéric Chopin: Prélude Nr. 15 Des-Dur "Regentropfen", op. 28 Franz Liszt: Mephisto-Walzer Nr. 1 Waldesrauschen Konzert für Klavier und Orchester Nr. 2 A-Dur. accompanied by members of the Staatskapelle Berlin conducted by Frieder Weissmann Schallplatten für Klankopname Studio's van Wouw, Amsterdam (1938 recording) Frédéric Chopin: Ballade Nr. 3 A flat major, op. 47 Radio recordings Franz Liszt: Konzert für Klavier und Orchester Nr. 2 A-Dur. Es begleitet das Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Eduard van Beinum (recorded 8 September 1935 [Edit] Note that Carl Lindstrom AG was the parent company for the Odeon label. Never heard of "Klankopname Studio's van Wouw," but it must have been a vanishingly obscure label. In 1927, electric recording had been around for only a couple of years.
Someone has the Liszt 78 set listed on eBay in fact. In any event the live performance issued in The Radio Legacy box is extremely good.
Have you received your copy yet? If so, I hope you're enjoying it--I've liked everything I've sampled from mine. One question, though: if it's not too much trouble, would you please check out disc 26, sonatas K. 410-427? I rip everything to hard drive for listening (in the case of Scarlatti, broken down into Kirkpatrick couplings), and that disc has been a real problem for my computer. Several others have been iffy, but on that one tracks 1-3 and 8 simply won't give me a clean rip, and for some others EAC returned "Could not verify as accurate, Copy OK." Even if you don't rip your discs, I'd be interested in whether it plays correctly. I'm wondering if I just got a bad copy or if it's a problem with the general pressing run.
I'd guess the Concertgebouw under van Beinum would easily best a studio pickup orchestra under Frieder Weissman. Not that Dr. Weismann was in any way not a good conductor, but still. I wonder if Pembaur made a specialty of the Liszt 2d? Funny that he would be captured in that same work on both occasions, considering that it's not exactly a "central" part of the literature--not obscure, certainly, but not quite in the "meat and potatoes" class, either. From the Wikipedia article, I have the impression he did perform but was primarily a composer and teacher, so he may well not have maintained a wide performing repertoire. Or I may be entirely off base; pure speculation/"reading between the lines" on my part.
I received my copy the other day. Tracks 1-3 and 8 on disc 26 play correctly on my CD player. However, later tonight or tomorrow I will rip my disc to doublecheck. I use dbpowerAmp for my rips but it also shows if there are bad bits.
Now enjoying this superb set, which arrived over the weekend. The sound is wonderful and I got the 7CD set for only $16.99 new from amazon! For CD 1, I compared it to the EMI SACD and I preferred the more laid back sound on the CD, which was mastered by the great Art & Son. CDs comes in original jackets, but all but one have 50+ minutes of music. And each disc slleve has full fisc contents with recording venues/dates, unlike so many other box sets that give you zero info on the sleeves. https://www.amazon.com/Elgar-Orches...lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
I ripped Disc 26 and it ripped it OK except for track 6 which required two passes and then it had to re-rip 113 frames. It then said track 6 was 'Accurate'. All of the other tracks ripped as 'Accurate' with the first pass.
Tonight’s listen: a 1998 recording of MTT and the San Francisco Symphony performing Mahler’s first symphony. It was a random $2.99 clearance bin find, and when I looked it up later, saw it was never released and was only given to certain donors to SFS. It bogs down less than his recording of performances a few years later, and it is interesting to notice the contrasts. I am very happy with this surprise. Mahler - San Francisco Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas - Symphony No. 1 In D Major
And now. The CD has JS Bach, Concerto for 3 keyboards, Strings and Basso continuo in D minor included. The Beethoven is from 1955, the Bach from 1950. The book indicates that the tapes for the Bach were “unfortunately in a state beyond repair” so they could not improve the sound quality for that piece. Edit: the sound quality for the Beethoven is magnificent.
A quick call-out to Dale, who has helped me fix my "disc 26" problem. Many thanks! More generally, for the benefit of those who may also contemplate buying the set, disc 26 was the only one that I couldn't get to rip cleanly, but my drive found several others challenging to read--lots of preambulatory starting and stopping before it could latch onto the first track, although things always went smoothly enough after that. My advice to those who contemplate buying a copy, at least of the edition I bought (Erato by Warner, picture of Ross on the cover, as depicted in a post I made upstream), would be to check the discs promptly upon receipt.
Further to an earlier discussion of New Grove, I'm using them more than expected. As they sit right next to my favourite armchair I browse quite a bit. Yes, I like physical 'stuff'. So much so that these are on order from the UK: Unfortunately, they have been sitting in a departure area in Coventry for eight days (odd, since they shipped from London). Hopefully they turn up here before Christmas
Currently listening to... SAMUEL BARBER: Music for Solo Piano - Leon McCawley (US Virgin Classics CD)
I listened to this $2 charity store CD purchase last night: The sound and performances were surprisingly good; quite often the 'lesser lights' can provide great enjoyment at a great price.
Now enjoying these lovely works from this lovely set. A kind soul ripped the whole set to youtube (link above.) I have the big Samson Integrale set on EMI.
Barber: Violin Concerto Barber: Piano Concerto Barber: Adagio for Strings Barber: Second Essay for Orchestra Barber: The School for Scandal Overture Isaac Stern NY Philharmonic Leonard Bernstein John Browning Cleveland Orchestra George Szell Eugene Ormandy [Adagio] NY Philharmonic Tomas Schippers Sony,2009 This is a likeable compilation except I prefer the James Buswell version of the Violin Concerto with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Marin Alsop. I don't care for Isaac Stern's intonation.