A little Brass and with some Woodwind tossed in for good luck!

Some great brass and woodwind music today. First, by request(s), The Modern Age of Brass with Roger Voisin leading a bunch of his BSO colleagues followed by Frank Glazer and the NY Woodwind Quintet in music by Riegger and Poulenc. Both records date from the mid 50's, the Voisin in mono and the woodwind in stereo, though I have seen the latter's recording date as 1953! The stereo here appears natural.

Brass players are so indebted to Roger V for his pioneering recordings and editions of various works for trumpet and brass. Though admittedly, I have never been a great fan of the bright French school of trumpet playing that he was one of the last proponents of, I recognize him as a tireless promoter of the trumpet and music for brass ensembles. And, as I said previously, Roger was completely and utterly dedicated to music in Boston, especially the next generation of brass players. This important record, from MIT, preserves strong, pioneering excursions into great works. In particular is the masterpiece of Ingolf Dahl, his Music for Brass Instruments, a brilliant work of colors and invention. There is some fine playing by Voisin, Armando Ghitalla and Kauko Kahila here. Great stuff.

The woodwind album features two works, Wallingford Riegger's Concerto for Piano and Woodwind Quintet and Poulenc's "Piano" sextet. We all know Poulenc whose star shines pretty bright these days but Riegger is shamelessly neglected, in fact nearly forgotten. Though Riegger primarily composed within the twelve tone system, he was not orthodox enough to make his output difficult to listen to, The concerto, Op 53 and written in 1953(!) is a marvelous piece of imagination and beauty. I think it to be a great display of Riegger's understanding of the instruments and the colors and sounds that they make. Now, if we can only get a recording of his Music for Brass Choir! The Poulenc is delicious in that French 20th century kind of a way and players like Samual Baron and David Glazer eat it up for all its worth. Frank Glazer's piano conributions are insightful and a pleasant reminder of this fine, and underrated, artist.

Both of these lp's add up to a well filled cd. It all works well together, at least I think so.

Personal note: I will be on vacation through the middle of July. More posts will come after I return.
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Piano music of Faure played by Emma Boynet

I found this rather best up old record on a recent trip to the Goodwill. After transferring it and cleaning it up a bit, (Sacqueboutier is sooooo right about the value of ClickRepair!) the resulting product proved quite lietenable and I'm glad for that! This ravishing and lush music receives an exquisite performance by Emma Boynet, a performer that I knew nothing about. A little web search brought up the information that she was associated with Faure during his later years and, was a favorite soloist of Koussevitzky during his tenure in Boston. She also taught here in the States for a number of years.

To my ears, I hear connections to the music of Chopin. The great 19th century Polish composer was the master of the smaller piano art forms and Faure obviously knew, studied and absorbed Chopin's style. The Barcarolle's, in particular, are works of relaxed lyricism that incorporate quieter melodies with precise and gentle harmonies. This is pleasurable listening, however in an urgent way, because Boynet performs with a deep understanding and love for this composer. It is one of those records where the performer gets as close to the composer as one can, maybe even closer to the composer's intention than the composer himself. If you do not know these gems, and admittedly I had a vague recollection, this is the introduction disc to the piano music of Faure. You will play this twice through on the first listening and let me know if you do not, ok?

I am so happy to have acquired this lp. I believe the recordings were made around 1951 or 2.

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Victor Aller joins Felix Slatkin in Shostakovich and Hindemith

Today's lp features strong familial ties along with terrific playing by an orchestra that was for all practical purposes the cream of Hollywood Studio musicians. Pianist Victor Aller joins his brother in law Felix Slatkin and the Concert Arts Orchestra in Shostakovich's Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and Strings and Hindemith's The Four Temperaments.

During the 40's and 50's, Hollywood was home to some of the very best classically trained musicians in the country. Many, were drawn to the optimistic outlook of California, often coming from disparate circumstances in Europe, and others liked the idea of good pay, steady employment and, superb benefits that the studios lavished on their best of the best. Of those working in the studio were the extended Slatkin family, Felix, his wife Eleanor and her brother Victor Aller. Felix and Eleanor would found the Hollywood Quartet, which in its day was one of the finest quartets in the Americas and a pioneer in performing newer works for the string quartet medium.

Felix Slatkin was the longtime concertmaster of the Twentieth Century Fox Orchestra and often conducted this fine band, which many considered the best studio orchestra and, even a better ensemble then the famed Los Angeles Philharmonic. Slatkin had developed a relationship with Capitol through the Hollywood Quartet and during the early 50's, Capitol sought to offer a "pops" type series to rival RCA's Boston Pops and Columbia's Andre Kostelanetz. Capitol settled on Felix Slatkin to conduct larger works with Carmen Dragon directing the "lollipop" type offerings. Mostly Slatkin was put to work with overtures and ballet suites but here he is with a full scale recording of two serious and contemporary works.

Both the Shostakovich and Hindemith are well played and ideally interpreted. Aller and Slatkin are truly of one mind and what is beautiful about the performances is that Aller does not view these as solo concertos but rather as works for orchestra with a "leading" piano part. I really like this approach as I view the works in this way. The Shostakovich is a marvelous and colorful piece, probably one of the five best concertos of the last century. The Hindemith, not heard often enough, is a strong work and this performance softens ever so slightly Hindemith's often spiky manner in a beneficial way. Though very different composers with styles that are hardly congruent, this pairing makes sense and flows naturally under Slakin's able direction.

These recordings date from 1953 and were well recorded by Capitol.

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Music of Jacques Ibert led by Henry Swoboda

An early Westminster issue from 1951 with Henry Swoboda conducting a program of music by Jacques Ibert. Leading the Winterthur Symphony, Swoboda directs energetic performances of Divertissement and Capriccio and with the Vienna SO and women of the Akademie Chorus, he conducts an enjoyable Suite Elizabethaine.

This has to be one of the very first records ever to focus solely on Ibert and the program is a great window into this composer's varying styles. Swoboda, impresario, record producer, conductor was extremely adept at crafting recorded programs that were unique not to mention in some cases, premiere recordings. Though imaginative, Swoboda was not considered a great conductor but rather a competent, workaday one. However, I think that he rises above the typical assessment of his abilities on this Ibert record. This music is lively, with first class orchestral writing and its, well, all very "snappy." One cannot imagine why musicians would not like playing this fare. And, I would think that many of the musicians here were playing Ibert for the first time making the session a sense of discovery in which Swoboda rises to the occasion, much in a way we would expect from Munch, Ansermet or Monteux.

I will call your attention to the Suite Elizabethaine which is Ibert's delicious recollection of music from another time albeit with a marvelous modern twist.

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Walter Hendl conducts Copland and Barber for the American Recording Society

Today, American Recording Society Number 26  featuring Walter Hendl and the "American Recording Society" Orchestra in Copland's Appalachian Spring Suite and Barber's Overture to the School for Scandal and Music for a Scene from Shelley.

This is a very persuasive offering by an American  born conductor who has all but disappeared from the musical radar. Though Hendl would rerecord with Copland with the formidable Chicago SO, this earlier effort from Vienna captures beautifully the spirit of Copland's great rural ballet with surprisingly alive and alert orchestral playing. I will echo the same for the Barber pieces as they positively come to life with great energy and virile excitement. Considering that this was the first time these Viennese ever saw the music and, recorded with minimal rehearsal time, the results are simply astonishing, at least for this listener's ears. Hendl was known as a conductor who could work under extreme conditions and this record  is a testament to his excellence as an orchestral coach with solid interpretive skills, second to none.

You will love Hendl's Appalachian Spring. What gorgeous music!

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Luboshutz and Nemenoff perform Brahms, Schumann and More

A wonderful rescue from the trash heap here. Though the cover slipcase was waterlogged and ruined, this Camden reissue cleaned up quite nicely (once I removed pieces of cardboard that had adhered to the vinyl). The husband and wife piano duo of Pierre Luboshutz and Genia Nemenoff play Brahms, Saint Saens, Schumann and Mendelssohn.

I never tire of the Brahms' Haydn Variations in any shape or form and it was good to make the acquaintance of this record. Luboshutz and Nemenoff play in a very direct, almost willful way, but what is most stunning is the unity of interpretation. If there is a definition of harmony in marriage, I would say this performance is the musical equivalent. Listen and you will swear that this is one artist and not two, it is that cohesive. This is unsentimental playing, hardly heart on the sleeve, and the artists let the music speak for itself. I was surprised that there is little reflection at the end of each variation, one seems to march into another almost in a brusque way, though it is not to the point of annoyance or is it damaging to the structure of the piece. Again, I want to stress the unity of the presentation is what sells me here.

Very much the same approach holds forth in the Beethoven Variations of Saint Saens, the Allegro Brilliant of Mendelssohn and the Schumann Andante and Variations. The Saint Saens, in particular, is tossed off in a brilliant tour de force - it is simply a delight and reminder of what a creative, and at at his best, inspired composer Saint Saens indeed was.

I've mentioned before that I have come to really enjoy the two hand and two piano art form especially when the artists subordinate their solo will to the fine art of collaborative dialogue. Luboshutz and Nemenoff are the benchmark in this regard.

I believe that the recordings are all mid to late 40's, Camden provides no information.

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Gliere's Horn Concerto in its World Premiere Recording

An interesting, and quite historical, edition from Classic Edition. The world premiere of Reinhold Gliere's Horn Concerto with the great horn soloist Valeri Polekh and the composer conducting. Along with the horn concerto are orchestral works of Prokofiev, Glinka and Amirov led by the underrated Samuil Samosud.

The Gliere work is an extensive piece at nearly a half hour in length and unabashedly romantic in its conception. Polekh commissioned this piece in 1951 and it is probably one of the last compositions by Gliere. It is tuneful, masterfully orchestrated and the horn part is highly interesting. I love these old Russian small bore horns, I swear at times the horn sounds like a viola! If you are a horn afficionado, this is a great and amusing listen, both for Polekh's superb musicianship and as a recollection of an instrument design which has all but disappeared as Eastern Europe's musicians have adopted the best from the west as their weapons of choice. Gliere and Polekh work very well together, needless to say.

The orchestral fillers are tossed off in the best Soviet style with Glinka's Jota Aragonesa sounding like one Russian's recollection of a Spanish holiday. Amirov's Azerbajian specialty is highly atmospheric and was made for Leopold Stokowski. It's really all quite enjoyable and Samosud displays a deft leadership of the Bolshoi and USSR State Orchestras. I love this music played by the natives!

Admittedly, the sound is rather constricted and lacking much depth or ambiance. This is Melodiya of the early 50's when their state of the art was the US recording industry circa 1935. This all doesn't bother me since I feel priviledged to listen and learn from one of the great brass players of the last century.

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A Virtual Concert with the Stadium Concerts Symphony Orchestra

Fredell Lack

Recently, I came a number of items destined for the great mound of garbage at the transfer station. These records were Music Appreciation and Musical Treasures of the World issues. Released beginning in the 50's, these records were sold by subscription, club membership and in places like the local supermarket and Woolworth's. Some were older recordings relabeled with pseudonyms while others were fresh new recordings cut by musicians looking to make a couple bucks outside of their normal concertizing. Today, I offer two records from the Music Appreciation series, released by the Book of the Month Club. Both feature the "Stadium Concerts Symphony Orchestra" aka the Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of New York. The Mendelssohn Violin Concerto is performed by Oklahoma born violinist  Fredell Lack with radio conductor Alexander Smallens conducting and the Tchaikovsky Symphony No 5 is led by famed resident conductor at the Met and former Cincinnati SO director, Max Rudolf.

Alexander Smallens

Prior to this recording, I had never heard of Fredell Lack. Ms Lack appears to have had a relatively short career in the limelight, primarily as a soloist and member of the Little Orchestral Society in New York City. By the age of 30, she had relocated to Texas where she would spend many years as a distinguished professor of music at the University of Houston and, as leader of the Lyric Arts Quartet. On evidence of this recording, she is strong soloist with a sweet tone and impeccable finger work. Lack is ably supported by noted radio conductor and arranger, Alexander Smallens. The latter was one of these musicians who could apparently step in to a scene quickly and coax fine results by musicians with little preparation for producers whose eyes were constantly on the clock.

Max Rudolf

Max Rudolf is a name familiar to most, a conductor of impressive stature who spent his earlier years in the opera pit but emerged later as a conductor who could lead convincing performances in the concert hall minus the trappings of the operatic stage. Rudolf's Tchaikovsky is taut, no nonsense and almost businesslike but not in a way that would denote boredom or indifference. This is Tchaikovsky for people that do not want over exaggeration but rather prefer the music to speak for itself. In essence, this is performance by an operatic conductor who has to regularly bring differing performing styles together and have them coalesce into a work that is interpretively consistent. I find Rudolf refreshing and he coaxes some very good playing from an orchestra that is probably recording late into the evening or into the wee hours of the morning.

These mono records were a bit of a challenge to work with. Again, I would guess that there were not many takes as time and money dictated that a product had to be produced quickly, efficiently and cheaply.  Consequently, I don't believe that recording conditions were at all ideal. Even so, its nice to have these recordings available as they are a fond remembrance of musicians that left their individual imprints on the music of the day.

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