It’s been almost two weeks since I updated my website, and I’ve not posted about it here. So it’s about time for the details.

Gordon Jacob: William Byrd Suite – Coldstream Guards Band, Mackenzie-Rogan, 1925

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. At 78rpm the record playes at A=452Hz, which was the standard pitch for British military bands at the time, slightly more than a semitone sharper than modern pitch. It wasn’t until a change to the King’s Regulations in 1927 that A=439Hz was adopted.

Brahms: Hungarian Dances Nos.1&2; Elgar: Pomp and Circumstance No.1 – Stanley Chapple and the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra

Chapple (1900-1987) was music director for the Aeolian Company, and conducted frequently for them, though his 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, London Again; Elgar: Pomp and Circumstance No.1; Gershwin: An American in Paris – Franz André and L’ Orchestre Symphonique de la Radiodiffusion Nationale Belge, Franz André

Franz André needs no introduction for those who visit my site regularly. It’s interesting to hear him in English and American music, and the Elgar provides a nice comparison with Chapple’s version.

Richard Strauss: Tod und Verklärung – Frieder Weissmann with Philharmonic Orchestra

My first attempt at remastering this was about four years ago, before my website and blog were even born. This is a completely new transfer, in much improved sound.

Thalberg: Home Sweet Home; Ascher: Alice, Where Art Thou? – Arthur Meale, piano

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”.

The 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: The Song of the Flea; Traditional: Drinking (In cellar cool) – Capiton Zaporojetz, bass with Orchestra

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 Zaporojetz.

Early recordings by Julie Andrews

Gounod’s Je veux vivre and Easthope Martin’s Come to the fair have appeared on my site before, but again these are new transfers. In the Martin, teenager Julie Andrews is heard in duet with her step-father Ted. Barbara, her mother, plays the piano.
The other record is of the Ah! vous dirai-je mama variations and Benedict’s The Wren.

Damian’s 78s

I hope to have more new transfers soon, including more from Franz André, and possibly some Hermann Scherchen and Henry Wood.

On the recordings side of things, there will soon be updates to my site. These will include Franz André conducting Elgar, Coates and Gershwin, and a much improved transfer of Frieder Weissmann’s recording of Rihard Strauss’s Tod und Verklärung. There will also be Elgar and Brahms from Stanley Chapple, 19th century show pieces played on the piano by organist Arthur Meale. There will also be some of the 78s recorded by the teenaged Julie Andrews. There are one or two other items that I’m considering, but that will have to wait.

I’ve still been trying to find time to keep up with CDs, including the recent Marston issue of French singers in Russian repertoire, which was a great pleasure, in impeccable transfers. I’m also attacking the Mendelssohn box from Brilliant Classics, which has given me a much wider view already of his younger works. “Legends of the Piano”  – a recent Ward Marston contribution to Naxos Historical – proved an interesting compendium of acoustically recorded pianists including Saint-Saens and Grieg.

As ever, there’s so much to listen to, and so little time

http://www.damians78s.co.uk

In other musical news, I purchased the Historic Masters repressing of Francesco Tamagno’s 10” recordings. These were an absolute joy to listen to, his voice ringing out clearly more than a century after the recordings were made.

I’ve also had the pleasure of the final instalment of Marston’s Conchita Supervia edition. There’s very much a Spanish focus on the recordings included, apart from some Lehar in French. Even greater joy than listening to Tamagno. In addition, the package included the latest Lagniappe disc, a bonus to subscribers. This time it was a selection of recordings by Paul Payan. This wonderful French bass displayed great flexibility and variety of colour. There were times when his timbre reminded me of Ezio Pinza.

I’ve been working through the EMI Classics 10CD Stokowski box. Of course, it includes some less familiar works, which make a great impression, but it’s when you get to the more familiar stuff that Stokowski’s choices can be frustrating. There are tweaks to the orchestration of Holst’s Planets, and his Carmina Burana cuts out middle verses of many parts of the score, and plays around with tempos and pauses outrageously. There are some tender and affecting parts, but as a whole it was disappointing.

I’ve also enjoyed Reginald Goodall’s EMI recording of Parsifal, though I think I prefer my Parsifals a little brisker than his.

There are still piles of 78s, LPs and CDs which I haven’t listened to. Among those that reached my turntable today were another National Savings promotional record, recorded just a few days before VE Day (when the outcome of the war in Europe was pretty much known) and paying tribute to all of the British armed forces and volunteers who contributed to the war effort. It’s a fascinating snapshot, with solos from baritones Thorpe Bates and Walter Saull. Joseph Batten conducts the London Symphony Orchestra. I hope to get this transferred soon. I’ve also just listened to Marie Novello’s recording of Liszt’s 2nd Hungarian Rhapsody, somewhat abridged on two sides of a 10” Winner disc. It’s an unusual performance – it isn’t the hackneyed barnstorming approach, and is perhaps the most rhapsodic version of the rhapsody I’ve heard. I’ve also listened to the violinist Daniel Melsa (on Broadcast Twelve), Stanley Chapple conducting Brahms and Elgar (again Broadcast Twelve), Virgilio Ranzato in two violin solos (Pathé), and assorted other things that may make it to my site soon. But my half-term holiday has just finished, so it’s back to work next week, with less time for transferring recordings.

The National Savings record is probably the next item on my list for restoration, though, for its unusualness.

Damian