Here, the Russian-born maestro leads the Gretchaninov orchestration of the Les Sylphides ballet, drawn from the works of Chopin. The LP also contains the Villa-Lobos symphonic poem Uirapurú. As a bonus, I've added Kurtz's rendition of Hérold's Zampa Overture, taken from a Columbia Harmony compilation LP.
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| Efrem Kurtz |
Kurtz had emigrated to the US in 1944 to become the music director of the Kansas City Philharmonic. I don't believe he made any recordings with that ensemble. The Zampa overture was his first American recording, and the first music he recorded that wasn't drawn from the ballet. His US recordings were all with the New York Philharmonic until he moved to the music directorship of the Houston Symphony in 1948. There, Columbia engaged him to direct suites from South Pacific and Kiss Me, Kate, followed by music from Satie and Auric. I have the LP of the two French suites, and will transfer it at a later date.
After the Chopin/Villa-Lobos sessions, Kurtz began recording for English Columbia, first with the Royal Philharmonic, later with the Philharmonia. He also continued his sessions in New York. He left Houston in 1954, becoming music director in Liverpool from 1955 to 1957. The balance of his career was as guest conductor. Kurtz died in 1995 at the age of 94.
The Chopin is elegantly done, the Hérold is lively, and the mystical Villa-Lobos is impressive, as are all the Kurtz recordings I have heard. The sound is very good.
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28 comments:
Link (Apple lossless):
http://www.mediafire.com/file/j2dtyxrxn94i8fh/Chopin%2C_Villa-Lobos%2C_H%E9rold_%28NY-Kurtz%29.zip/file
Thanks Buster!
Unusual coupling. Can't wait to hear this. Thank you
Gary
I grew up with Kurtz's Columbia Masterworks recordings of Khachaturian and Shostakovich. It was one of the benefits of living in a Leftist home. Other kindred spirits I have met over the years remember the same albums from their pinko childhoods. I hope you post more of this great conductor's recordings. And thanks for this--one I don't believe my father owned.
Thanks so much Buster for this special and rare LP.
Nice and daring program.
Very elegant and balanced conducting.
Thanks also for sharing and hosting all amazing 8H-H posts: so many treasures while all past years has released also dozens of useless recordings.
Useless? Really? So many wonderful recordings, so many MEMORIES! Eve if I have the LP still, I DL your version because it usually sounds better! Please, 8H-H never stop! Have a wonderful day,
Gary
Thanks, all, for the comments!
David - I am sure I have Kurtz recordings of both Khachaturian and Shostakovich.
I "interpreted" Centuri's comments differently--as, in "all past years" as he put it, I have *NEVER* before released ANY other restorations, anywhere, for download. This is my first (and nearly only) public release of old records that passed through my hands and (questionable) historical editing techniques--so Centuri must know that, and surely was referring, in general to "dozens of useless recordings" that anybody and everybody ELSE, beside me, have released! This of course makes me chuckle, as no two collectors or enthusiasts agree on what IS and what IS NOT a good 'useful' record!
8HH
Buster, thanks INFINITELY for the extremely rare record of "Uirapuru", which I've known through Stokowski's marvelous Everest stereo record--but had never known of this historic (now very obscure) Kurtz performance.
Here's a quid pro quo: my friend A. D., an enthusiastic collector of old gramophones in Chicago, sent me his personal transfer of the Columbia 78 set MX-295, the suite from Kabalevsky's The Comedians. This c.1948 recording was also issued on the early 1950 Columbia Masteworks LP ML-4083, coupled with Kurtz's PSNY records of the Mam'zelle Angot ballet suite by Lecoq; see the Discogs page here:
https://www.discogs.com/Efrem-Kurtz-Conducting-The-Philharmonic-Symphony-Orchestra-Of-New-York-Kabalevsky-Lecocq-The-Comedia/master/1017055
I couldn't find an image of the 78 album of Comedians on the Net but did see a scan of the label of one side of the UK-Columbia set, so I embedded it in the mp3 file.
{34 MB, mp3, plus a label image scan; LIMITED TIME AVAILABILITY, as ZS will not guarantee it after about 12/20/18, barring continued DL requests.}
https://www16.zippyshare.com/d/ffYVGGR1/911/Kabalevsky_Comedians_PSNY_EfremKurtz_MX295-1948.mp3
-or-
https://www16.zippyshare.com/v/ffYVGGR1/file.html
8H Haggis
Gary - Venturi is not a native speaker of English. I’ve known him for years - trust me that he’s a very gracious and positive person.
I meant centuri of course.
Aha! On one of my old HD's, I found the *other* side of the LP by Kurtz mentioned above (ML-4083), in the original 78 rpm edition: Lecoq's Ballet Suite "Mam'zelle Angot", with Kurtz and the PSNY. This was an item I found some years ago when I first started poking around some Russian language blogs and sites. I added the cover image from the 78 set, which I *believe* I found on the Discogs site.
It's a good, clean transfer which no doubt was "stolen" without giving credit to one of the American blogs (could "Neal" have been responsible, originally?) but as usual, the Russians stripped away all provenance.
{18 MB zipped mp3s, plus cover image and track info; LIMITED TIME AVAILABILITY and will *probably* not be available after about 12/20/18.}
https://www27.zippyshare.com/d/Cxn9900k/314/Lecocq%20Mamzelle%20Angot%20Suite%20-PSNY%2c%20Efrem%20Kurtz.zip
-or-
https://www27.zippyshare.com/v/Cxn9900k/file.html
8H Haggis
...And, speaking of Villa-Lobos...
I found this the other day on YT: it was identified as a live 1944 performance by the PSNY under Rodzinski in the VL Little Train of the Caipira from Bachianas Brasileiras Suite No. 2, presumably from a CBS Network radio broadcast.
https://www100.zippyshare.com/v/Lzmiq4Sv/file.html
Limited time; not necessarily going to be available after 12/20/18.
8H Haggis
Thanks so much! I believe I have the Columbia LP.
BIG APPLE BASH: A NEW YEARS MUSICAL NARRATIVE
If you think there's a crisis in Christmas music, then there's an absolute catastrophe in New Years music. This mix is the first attempt of two to remedy this cultural malady. And it has been prepared especially for Big Ten-Inch Record by yours truly (and truthfully), David Federman. The mix is called, "Big Apple Bash: A New Years Musical Narrative," and takes us through one festive night in NYC anytime, but most times, in the 1930s, when songs associated with nights on the town could be harnessed for any occasion that might call for some high-stepping and forgetfulness of cares. In this case, of course, we're talking about New Year's Eve 2019, most of (mine, at least) which will be spent in an American-made time machine that resembles a Wurlitzer juke box that plays 78s. The mix pretty much follows the hands of the clock from early evening until dawn of the next day--the first day of the year. I'm going to assume that the couple (or couples) we're keeping company with are on a first or early date and are likely to feel love-promptings throughout the night. Of course, they intend to hit all the right night spots in NYC, which means Harlem (presumably the Cotton Club) and swanky locales in Manhattan. So get ready for mad cab rides all over town and please dress classy. Because most of the spirit of this New Years stems from the 1930s, I've kept the time parameters between 1929 and 1955--a span of one depression, two wars and brief durations of prosperity). Hard times taught people to play hard on or with next to nothing. The incredible utilitarianism of this music is what lends to its permanent relevance. As with my other mixes, this download is available for a week at WeTransfer--unless given more permanent residence. A second New years mix, "In One Year And Out The Other" is in the planning stages. Enjoy!
https://we.tl/t-GaErAK6YuX
Thanks, David - sounds delightful!
All - here is a more permanent link:
https://mega.nz/#!fMk3FaKQ!oPAm3tXAMMJ1q6Zb3Tuy_ZRajeQncQuatjiP5W-E_Bw
Thanks dear Buster. for your additional comment...I try to do my best in English...I am a big fan of your blog and all extra posts by 8H.
So many treasures to discover all the time.
centuri - Of course! Your English is excellent.
{Part 1 of 2 Parts, from 8H Haggis}
Let me take a pause from my Forgotten Ormandy extravaganza, which you may find here:
https://big10inchrecord.blogspot.com/2017/04/bartok-from-sandor-and-ormandy-plus.html?showComment=1542775787998#c9211962129963659946
...in case Ormandy-haters are losing interest. I know they exist, because I have two great email friends who are both musically literate. One of them holds Ormandy records in absolute esteem; he's a modern audiophile who won't listen to virtually ANY old mono records--unless they are one of those Ormandy gems from the 40s-50s that I uncover. The other fellow would, when presented with a huge banquet, stuff himself with every form of goodie--save Ormandy, which he shuns utterly. (I'm somewhere in the middle.)
But, for the moment, back to Random Fixes. These are items I generally used to have in my old broadcast-career personal vinyl collection of over 13,000 LPs, which were all disposed of in 1992. I did not have time to try to save the alleged "indispensible" items; it was too daunting a task. But, over time, I found amateur-rips on the Net, in various degrees of usefulness. I saved them in bulk, and am taking my time to try to evaluate them and, if possible, apply band-aids to the ones that are at least ONE small step above being merely trashbin-worthy. The "blog whose name shall not be mentioned" supplied dozens and dozens; and virtually EVERY one was botched. Yet, it constantly received accolades and encouragement from persons whose names and posts were familiar from their usenet contributions. WHY? If a nearly incompetent doofus with NO ability, discernment, nor appropriate gear, ruins a perfectly decent record, does it make sense to ENCOURAGE THEM? I think not. Despite my forty yearts of experience as a professional audio engineer, I've been ridiculed and pilloried in public over the TINIEST NUANCES and BARELY MEASURABLE differences of opinion amongst experts--yet they pat the blogspot miscreants on the head for their abominations (whose existence only discourages COMPETENT workers from presenting proper versions.)
Here are a few items that, after begin run through my shredder and wood-chipper, emerged in a form that could, at least, be used as background fodder.
1. CPE Bach program, by Pierre Boulez, with Jean-Pierre Rampal & Robert Bex. This Vox stereo LP (STPL 514.470) from the late sixties seems now to be a collectors' item in its original analogue form; I've seen listings of it on record sale websites at prices exceeding HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS per copy. I am not sure *why* this is the case; it makes no sense whatsoever, as there are now higher-quality and more scholarly performances available. However, it's a nice record that I, too, bought in its original release form. The random version sounded just like that--an automatic, senseless process, devoid of any human discernment, cranked out some digits that will dribble out of one's media player, occasionally actually resembling a vague simulacrum of music. I hope that I've narrowed that difference at least a LITTLE bit.
{End of Part 1 of 2}
{Part 2 of 2}
2. I used to own a European Philips full-priced (mint) copy of the following issue: Charles Mackerras conducting the LSO in two suites, (a) from Rameau's opera "Castor and Pollux"; and (b) Gluck's Orfée. I considered it a 'desert island disk' which is one reason I've been so frustrated not to find a CD reissue; it's one of the inimitable Mackerras's greatest discographic achievements, a PERFECT record! So it was with dismay that I found the wretched sounding American cheapie Philips World Series issue on that, um, rrrr-andom blog: butchered in dim, fuzzy sound lacking in definition. "This HAS to be set right!" I muttered decisively; and set to work. The result is the contents of my next folder. I've used covers taken from the Discogs website for two of the commercial releases.
3. From the Japanese equivalent of the random blooper blog, comes a marvelous recital of Schumann's chamber pieces for piano with clarinet or viola: a 1971 Victrola stereo LP release entitled "Schumann Fanfares and Fantasy Pieces". It first perked up my attention because the pianist was a musical figure then better known as a highly opinionated critic: Harris Goldsmith. One cannot listen to his artistry without having an even greater appreciation for his aesthetical point of view! The collaborators are the world-class violist Nobuko Imai (also known for the Colin Davis Philips record of Berlioz' Harold in Italy) and clarinetist Harold Wright, a legendary American virtuoso who made many recordings for Columbia. The disk copy used for this unfortunate original upload was virtually trashed; and the processing and encoding were substandard. I think I wiped away enough grease and goo to make it bearable, if not equal to a PROPER digitization of an immaculate platter: an important task, as I've NEVER heard any modern CD performances by other artists that can truly compare to this masterpiece.
{460 MB, mp3s, with covers & track info; LIMITED TIME AVAILABILITY, due to ZS's policy of *possibly* deleting uploads after 30 days, unless there are consistent DL requests. Initially offered on 11/24/18.}
https://www40.zippyshare.com/d/P0JFpkuy/38670/Randomfix%20bucket%201.zip
-or-
https://www40.zippyshare.com/v/P0JFpkuy/file.html
8H Haggis
{Part 1 of 4 Parts, from 8H Haggis}
Here is today's second tranche of items that I term Random Fixes; but they are not from merely one blundering blog, but THREE which provide, quote, "work", unquote, that will befuddle and infuriate any music professional or dedicated audio- and phono-phile. There is but ONE excuse for uploading trashed records in defective digitizations: to make the recording industry complacent, figuring that such junk is "no threat" and that they needn't make spurious claims of infringement that cast a too-wide net, while at the same time KEEPING their treasures locked away, intact and unavailable.
Because I sold off my professional broadcast library of 13,000 albums in 1992, when I retired, I cannot go to clean source material directly, in most cases. So, since it's impossible to turn off enthusiasm for great old musical performances, once you've succumbed to the infection, I -- like many others -- scour the web for uploads from fellow enthusiasts. I find that about half are next to useless, as-is. They are NOT like the careful work by the distinguished artisan -- Buster -- who runs the present Big Ten Inch blog. No; they are naive rubes, who obviously can BARELY make a computer function.
Here's what I typically have to do:
a. The files are often encoded with LOW bit rates, causing loss of air, clarity, detail, and some high frequencies (while introducing intermodulation distortion.) I've found that quite often, if you convert directly to WAV (lossless PCM) format, *they actually sound slightly better*: and I *believe* this is caused by the typical Media Player on most machines. The high decompression, in real-time, is not very linear. If you give certain types of converter programs, using LAME parameters, a chance to decompress SLOWLY, then there is a closer resemblance to the original uncompressed signal. I know this may be laughed at by the typical folk who castigate what they call, dismissively, "conspiracy theories"; but I, for one, have tested and confirmed this MANY times.
2. If their files are "stereo" (i. e., two channel) while at the same time containing MONO information, often one can actually separate and SUBTRACT miniscule differences between the two channels: and they contain artifacts introduced by nonlinear compression algorithms (especially IM distortion components.)
{End of Part 1 - 8H Haggis}
{Part 2 of 4}
3. Once transferred into a lossless PCM format, the files can be PROPERLY declicked (which sometimes requires a 2-pass filtering process BEFORE and AFTER declicking, boosting treble first, to exaggerate the amplitude of noise transients, and then cutting it back to normal afterward.)
4. Then either broadband or selective spectral denoising can be applied, to remove the horrible turntable rumble and mains hum of POOR GEAR. Extreme high and lowpass filtering, cutting off anything below 20 Hz and above about 16 kHz, can remove some "junk" that is NOT musical content.
5. Further editing is nearly ALWAYS required: fixing short or long pauses and noisy 'blank groove' leads; repairing record needle sticks that repeat sections of music while adding huge transient noises; adjusting inconsistent levels. Some records are not transferred with EXACT compliance with the RIAA curve, universal since about 1954-55 everywhere. This is due to bad preamps and bad cartridges, which abound. Sometimes the sound is just awful, because the original record was simply POOR: shrill, distorted on peaks, or boomy in the bass. A *slight* adjustment of spectrum, here and there, can make a WORLD of difference. (I always use a combination of ear-judgment, based on many years of experience doing LIVE classical music recording, and measurement from a real-time spectral analysis readout in order to see how the balance differs from the normal 1/f "acoustical curve" of musical instruments in real space.)
5. PROPER re-encoding, either by lossless FLAC or LAME-parameter high resolution (320 kbs) mp3, can now be done for public uploading. Sometimes the total amount of work extends, per album, to 3 or 4 hours, or even more than ONE DAY. Do not expect to do a quick one-time pass via your Big Lots $79 USB turntable, directly into mp3 mode, and think you are doing justice to the precious signals on the marvelous cultural artifacts we call "phonograph records". It requires a LOT MORE care and loving expenditure of time!
{End of Part 2}
{Part 3 of 4}
1. First item in this grouping is Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2, with Gyorgy Sandor. Buster has uploaded his very fine transfer of the splendid Sandor/Ormandy collaboration in the Bartok PC 3, here:
https://big10inchrecord.blogspot.com/2017/04/bartok-from-sandor-and-ormandy-plus.html
...and I am second to none in admiration for this fine pianist's artistry. Here is a stereo version of the Brahms Second, with the accompaniment of the Südwestfunkorchester, Baden-Baden, directed by Rolf Reinhardt. I was unprepared, 40 years ago when I first encountered this album, for the torrent of splendid sound and music-making that emerged; I'd heard too many frankly lousy old mono Reinhardt records from Vox to expect very much. Well, the decade between those items of the early fifties, and this one from ten years later, obviously revealed a HUGE improvement in the orchestral scene in Germany (to be expected); but the magnitude of leap forward shocked me. This is a magnificent recording in nearly every way, measured by industry standards of that time. I found it on a screwy Russian site that has aggregated obviously amateur rips and plastered them with new ugly covers. I had to remove a 'few layers' of junk by such means as described above, and then find the original documentation from Discogs. Enjoy!
2. I had mixed feelings about this next item: a Columbia release of 1970 of Ruggiero Ricci in the Paganini VC No. 4 and full orchestration of the Witches' Dance; and Luigi Bottesini's Grand Duo For Violin, Double Bass And Orchestra (with Piero Bellugi directing the RPO.) This disk was much heralded at its debut, as the music was under-represented; and Ricci, since the 1950's, had become, then, *the* acclaimed Paganini specialist. I got the first pressing series release and while enjoying the playing, was mildly disappointed by the midrangy, thin, "congested" sound with harsh, yet weak, climaxes (the typical work of engineer Robert Augur, one of my least favorites.) BUT...*this* copy used for the amateur blog upload was also TRASHED: it's noisy, and as the music plays on, becomes more and more distorted and "clotted". I intuit that this was transferred by one of those lousy pickups like the first-generation Shure V15, whose stylus shape unerringly collected dirt and gradually worked its way out of the groove. THAT is why they very soon introduced the "Type II" and so forth, each one becoming better and more reliable. I suspect that the stylus is the cause of the "increased clotting"; and while I did a few things to try to mask that, it's still present. Ah, me. This certainly does not deserve FLAC, so I offer merely mp3s, hoping that we call can find a BETTER transfer soon, and erase them. The music, however, is delectable and entertaing.
{End of Part 3}
{Part 4 of 4, and DL links}
3. Finally, the second American issue in the Angel Melodiya series (first one, SR40000, was DS's Execution of Stepan Razin; this one -- Berlioz' Harold in Italy, with David Oistrakh as CONDUCTOR (!), was SR-40001.) For years, this was virtually my No. 1 favorite version of the great Berlioz work; I couldn't stop playing it! SO musical, SO insightful...SO SATISFYING. And the sound was not wincingly-shrill and nasty, like that awful Stepan Razin album. I found this laughably bad job on the infamous Japanese blog that uses the USB turntable. EVERYTHING that could be wrong WAS wrong, and it took me a few hours to crank out some *slight* repairs. I had originally intended to post my finished FLAC but did not have enough free file space from ZS, which has a limit of 500 MB per post; I re-encoded as high res mp3 and -- frankly -- can't hear the slightest difference. I am sure I *COULD* if the original job had been PURE AND CLEAN. C'est la vie.
{433 MB, FLACs and mp3s, with covers & track info; LIMITED TIME AVAILABILITY, due to ZS's policy of *possibly* deleting uploads after 30 days, unless there are consistent DL requests. Initially offered on 11/24/18.}
https://www12.zippyshare.com/d/5dsG1Hi4/15809/RandomFix%20bucket%202.zip
-or-
https://www12.zippyshare.com/v/5dsG1Hi4/file.html
8H Haggis
Absolutely fascinating reading from the venerable loquacious 8H Haggis - I could read your postings all (and night), containing such riveting information.
The lengths you go to in order to achieve the perfect sound is absolutely mind-blowing.
You must have been born in August/September?
You may have noticed that I recently completed my FINAL traversal of all my 5,000 vinyls - some of which I would like to have digitised, but I realised that this would involve such a hell of a lot of work,and would probably have sub-optimal results, so just didn't start.
If only there was a UK based dedicated audiophile (but music appreciating) nearby, to whom I could donate my vinyl collection - I would be mighty happy.
In fact the 5,000 LP's will be given to a second hand dealer of classical LP's in order to ensure that they stay in circulation for others to enjoy (as I have done for over 40 years).
8H Haggis - I always look forward to your contribution to Buster's blog and cannot wait to hear your latest contributions,
Many thanks for keeping an old man very happy,
AND
Many thanks to Buster for allowing you share his blog.
Cheers,
Douglas (UK)
My apologies to centuri. I can be an idiot. Ask my wife. 8H keep on posting to Buster's blog please, that's what I meant when I said downloads. O boy, just gettin old I guess.
Thanks, Gary
Gary - No problem whatsoever. Thanks for your comments!
Thanks - can't wait to hear Oistrakh conduct Harold!
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