Excellent George, I'm glad I'm not the only one who appreciates this wonderful symphony. The Karajan may well be an example of imprinting. From hazy memory it was the second classical CD I bought after a free Klemperer fifth (Vienna Symphony) on a magazine cover convinced me that this classical stuff wasn't too bad .
This morning from the Ballets Russes box set. So far this is an excellently curated box set. H @@@, I even like the Simon Rattle Petroushka and Prelude… which are on this CD. The Le Peri conducted by Martinon is a rare treat.
Of late I've been slowly playing through a large assortment of pre-1925 (i.e., acoustic, vertical cut) Pathe records that I bought a few weeks back, and tonight I came to one on which baritone Gabriel Soulacroix sings two selections from something billed simply as "RIP." At first, I wondered if it might be something funereal, but come to find out, it's a three-act operetta by 19th c. French composer Robert Planquette, to an English libretto, based on Washington Irving's "Rip van Winkle," of all things. Truly, there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy!
The orchestral Mozart Sinfonia Concertante by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra is very fine. Perhaps the viola player could have used a closer microphone. Her playing lacks a bit of volume sometimes. The same piece is also treated very well in the Jaime Laredo and Cho-Liang Lin performance. I thought Raymond Leppard and the English Chamber Orchestra were noteworthy.
I'm in the throes of another marathon dupe sifting project. Reader's Digest condensed version: I have fallen heir to the 78 collection of a friend who, sadly, needed to shed it for health reasons. It's overwhelmingly acoustic operatic/classical vocal, but it does contain a modest block of instrumental records, and it's to those that I've turned my attention in the past day or two. Today I came to the three 10" blue label records Victor issued of ("Master") Shura Cherkassky in the middle 1920s. Two of them claim that he was 11 years old when he recorded them, but the recording dates appearing in the Discography of American Historical Recordings suggest that was a bit of a fudge; he would have been just-turned-14 for the earliest 3 acoustically recorded sides and a few months older for the 4th. The other two sides are very early electric recordings made a couple of years later. Here are the selections: Beethoven: Ecossaises, WoO 85. Victor 45394-B (1923) Cherkassky: Prelude Pathetique. Victor 45394-A (1924) Mendelssohn: Prelude in e, op. 35 no. 1. Victor 45378-B (1923) Mendelssohn: Scherzo in e, op. 16 no. 2. Victor 45378-A (1923) Mendelssohn: Songs Without Words -- no. 3 in A, op. 19 no. 3 (Hunting Song). Victor 45508-A (electric recording, 1925) Rameau: Tambourin (arr. Godowsky). Victor 45508-B (electric recording, 1925) Note: "Victor" here is the Victor Talking Machine Co., before the merger that yielded RCA Victor. Cherkassky made his electric recordings only a matter of three months or so after Victor first installed this cutting-edge new technology in its New York studios. What I found interesting was that even at that tender (if understated!) age, even heard through the limitations of acoustic recording, Cherkassky was recognizably, indubitably Cherkassky: the lovely, singing piano tone; the deft, quicksilver fingerwork; and, yes, the refusal to adhere squarely to a score at the expense of the music are all there, loud and clear. He plays around with tempos in the Beethoven in a way no modern pianist would even consider, much less dare to execute, and of course if one did happen to do so, a veritable phalanx of tutting critics would charge from the wings to put him in his place. For Cherkassky, though, such legerdemain came naturally and, for the duration of his performances, just seems right. A capital-R-Romantic through and through, in the very best sense of the word.
I thoroughly enjoyed both the music and the playing. In fact, my satisfaction was one of the factors in buying this box a few months back (price in AU$): I have also been listening to more Rachmaninov via this one:
I found these in the clearance section at 2nd & Charles today. (This had protective foam inserts inside but past experience told me to toss them out immediately before they became trouble.)
That foam is the bane of my classical music collecting experience. Coincidentally, one such experience was with a Karajan opera, Carmen, where both discs from a charity store purchase were wrecked. I liked what I heard on the bit of the first CD that was playable, so ended up buying it from another charity store. Online this time, and sans 'protective' inserts. I also lost some CDs from my own (incomplete) Philips Complete Mozart Edition - which is now even more incomplete
Listening to some Violin Concertos this afternoon. Berg's Violin Concerto, Sibelius' Violin Concerto (probably the one which has affected me the most), John Zorn's Contes De Fees, Ligeti's Violin Concerto.
This morning the start of a 5 CD section, in the large Masur box set, featuring Liszt orchestral works.
I am glad that Naxos is continuing to record Gabriel Schwabe, cellist. I enjoyed hearing the Frank Bridge Oration (Concerto elegiaco). Elgar Cello Concerto in E minor (1919) Bridge Oration (Concerto elegiaco) (1930) Gabriel Schwabe ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra Christopher Ward Naxos, 2021
A nice collection of Berlioz overtures. Good sound. Berlioz Overtures Alexander Gibson Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Intersound, 1996
I continue, as time permits, working my way through the large 78 RPM collection that started landing in my lap late last year. (Still haven't take possession of all of it; I need to clear space by processing what I already have before adding more.) Today took a listen to a single record that offered a piano transcription of Wagner's "Magic Fire Spell Music" from Walkure on one side and Grieg's "Butterfly" from the Lyric Pieces (op. 43 no. 1) and Sinding's obligatory "Rustle of Spring" on the other, all played by one Julius Schendel. The record is a black label issue (that is, not from the exalted Red Seal series) dating to the mid-19teens or so. Not knowing anything about the pianist, I did a bit of Google searching and found that while he hasn't yet made the big time of a Wikipedia article, a little bit does appear on Discogs, and I thought it interesting/amusing enough to pass along here. And so: Concert pianist and piano teacher. Schendel made his debut in Steinway Hall in 1896. His career continued at least through the 1920s, frequently as an accompanist. He made a small handful of records for the Victor Talking Machine Co. and recorded numerous piano rolls for Duo-Art. Nathaniel Shilkret, in his autobiography Sixty Years in the Music Business, recalled Schendel as “a fine pianist, but he was a very strange man – almost a mystic. He was emaciated and very nervous.” He and Shilkret (clarinet) were playing in an ensemble, and Schendel proclaimed that as it was Brahms’ birthday, he would only play his music. “We (the ensemble) compromised: We would change some pieces to Brahms compositions, providing he would play some pieces by another composer. Schendel shut his eyes, went into sort of a trance, and finally said, ‘The Master will allow me to play other composers, if you will play four Brahms pieces this session.’ We agreed.” I should add that the "handful of records" actually extended to something over 20 pieces, all short (as was typical of the period, when generally things were limited to the duration of a single 3- or 4-minute record side). For the time, not a bad discography for a classical artist who wasn't a headliner. Afterthought: Is "Rustle of Spring" even played any more? It was definitely "obligatory" for maybe the first half of the 20th c., but now that I think about it I don't remember hearing of anyone playing it in years and years.
Odd Bedfellows Dept.: in the same batch of 78s I'm slowly processing, I came across a 10" Columbia record that, on one side, offers a Serenade by Pierne performed by one "J. Kocian." A bit of Google digging revealed that was Jaroslav Kocian, and according to Wikipedia, along with Jan Kubelik he was the most important representative of the Sevcik classical violin school and the teacher of Joseph Suk, who likely will be familiar to those of us who have Supraphon records (or reissues on such domestic labels as Crossroads). The Discography of American Historical Recordings further reveals that my disk was recorded in 1903 or 1904 (but it's a later pressing) and that Kocian made only two or three others, at least that are listed there. OK, so far, so good. What of the other side? One might expect another selection by Kocian, or at least another classical or at least light classical work. One would be wrong. What's actually there is Septimus Winner's "The Mocking Bird," yes, the maudlin "Listen to the mocking bird, listen to the mocking bird" song, performed by an anonymous whistler with an anonymous pianist banging away in the background. According to DAHR, the culprit for this thing is Joe Belmont, a well-known birdie-tweeter of the day, recorded between 1901 and 1904. To which I can only say: For what it's worth, the Kocian side is beautifully played, as best I can tell, but kinda dim; the violin sometimes is just barely audible. I'd be tempted to say, "Well, what do you expect for 1903?" except that the next recording I tried was of similar vintage but on Victor, an arrangement for violin with, of all things, organ accompaniment of Handel's largo from Xerxes, and that's as clear and clean as you please. The violinist there is Charles d'Almaine, a pioneering violin recording artist who held positions not only with the Victor and Edison house orchestras but also in the Metropolitan Opera orchestra. He also was an early exponent of fiddle tunes on record. He and his wife both studied chiropractic and eventually became successful chiropractors. A colorful character. More here: Charles D'Almaine - Wikipedia I also have him in that same Pierne serenade on Victor and in a Shepherd's Dance by Edward German on an Edison cylinder.
The Berg recording started off as a set of 78s, Columbia Masterworks 465. I expect you know this already, but Krasner commissioned that work, and he gave the premiere performances of both.
I'm going to say this qualifies as "classical" fare because the music goes back to ca. 1800. One of tonight's records was by a male quartet on Victor, recorded in the 19-teens, of "Hail to the Chief." Yes, the thing that gets played when the US President is present. Looking up the composer (for the benefit of cataloguing the record), I stumbled across this tidbit from Wikipedia: Verses from Sir Walter Scott's 1810 narrative poem The Lady of the Lake, including "The Boat Song" ("Hail to the Chief") with which the clan welcomes the arrival by boat of their chieftain Roderick Dhu, were set to music around 1812 by the songwriter James Sanderson (c. 1769 – c. 1841); a self-taught English violinist and the conductor of the Surrey Theatre, London, who wrote many songs for local theatrical productions during the 1790s and the early years of the 19th century. Learn something new every day!
1954. Sounds great so far. First time I am hearing this recording in any format. Edit: exciting readings.
