More Sibelius from Stockholm and Ehrling

This third disc of Sibelius symphonies from Stockholm and conductor Sixten Ehrling provides the best yet performances and recordings from that source. The previous entries had been characterized by cogent interpretations, but also muzzy sound and wildly wayward pitching.

I was able to (eventually) overcome those issues with the previous set, and today I think (hope?) that I am on target with my transfer - aided by a new and more well-behaved turntable than I have utilized in the past. More on that transition later.

The previous symphonies from Ehrling were recorded in 1952. These two are from the next year, so perhaps the engineers were getting more accustomed to working in the auditorium of the Stockholm Music Academy. The problem with tape speeds is not as severe as before - although the first movement of the Fifth Symphony was still a quarter-tone sharp.

These also are the best performances, to my ear, in the set, at least the ones I have heard. The Symphony No. 5 is famously dramatic, which is meat to the lion-maned virtuoso conductors of the world. Ehrling does not turn up the heat nearly as much as some, so the work's peroration is not as cataclysmic as it could be, or, arguably, should be.

The young Sixten Ehrling

That said, let's keep in mind that the Stockholm Orchestra only had about 70 members, so it could not provide the roof-raising splendor of such ensembles as the Berlin Philharmonic. Nor could the relatively small quarters of the Stockholm Academy accommodate such an approach.

The conductor, orchestra and hall are better suited to the more intimate and inward Symphony No. 6, discmate to the fifth. Here Ehrling's control works nicely and the piece comes off at least as well as others I have heard, not that I have made a study of the matter.

The contemporary critics (reviews are enclosed) were impressed by the disc and largely in sync with my comments above. Writing in High Fidelity, Paul Affelder noted that Ehrling's readings "are clear and forthright; everything is in its proper place. His smooth, even approach is well suited to the somewhat reticent Sixth. The first and particularly the last movement of the Fifth could stand a bit more tension and dramatic impact."

The critic of the New York Times added, "After a few hearings and mental readjustments ... the listener should fall completely in line with Ehrling's approach."

The Tale of the Turntable

There is no lack of turntables in my house. There are two in the den and several more in the basement. Years ago, I was an object of curiosity at work because I had one in my office. People used to bring other people by and say, "See, I told you he has a record player!"

Even so, it's been many years since I had the dubious pleasure of setting up a turntable, and there is nothing in modern life quite like it. You turn on a CD player and it plays. You push a button on your phone and Frank Sinatra springs to life (his voice, anyway).

But if you are addicted to old records, nothing will do other than a properly functioning turntable. And mine had become increasingly unreliable. A vintage (and remarkably heavy) Yamaha and a Technics modified to play 78s were both developing speed problems, presumably because the motors were wearing out.

So, after a long time dallying, I invested in a new machine, a Audio-Technica 1200 modified to accommodate 16-inch records (largely transcriptions from long ago). It will play all formats, and being direct drive, it comes up to speed immediately.

So far so good, but as you may know, turntables are the opposite of plug-and-play. More like scream-and-swear. You see, if you don't want to use the cartridge supplied with the machine, you have to take the headshell apart and replace its motive part. This entails removing the old cart and putting in the new one.

Sounds simple, but not for me! For one thing, the AT uses a universal type headshell, which neither the Yamaha nor the Technics did. This means that I had to disassemble one of the two Stanton cartridges I had installed on the other machines and install it on the new rig.

If you have never done this, it involves removing tiny screws and even tinier signal leads without breaking anything. I've been around long enough to have made every possible mistake while doing this, so I am very careful.

Me and my new rig

The disassembly of the old cart was relatively painless - but the new one was aggravating. I've encountered this before, but the AT cartridge was held in place by screws anchored by tiny round nuts. Trying to loosen those little devils was just the beginning of my troubles. At my advanced age, I don't see very well and my manual dexterity is approaching non-existent.

Putting the Stanton onto the new headshell was the real problem. My Stantons don't have little wings at the top for affixing to headshell screws and bolts. So I had to use an adapter. The problem is that these adapters extend the depth of the cartridge. So while I was able to attach one Stanton model to the headshell, it created a problem with the tone arm geometry. I had to take it apart and use the other model instead.

Why not just use the supplied cartridge, you might ask. It's because I have an array of styluses for the Stantons that won't fit on the AT. Stereo LPs use a different stylus width than monos. The old 78s use a much broader tip - and they differ in size depending on the age of the record (among other considerations).  

Once all this came together - and believe me, this is oversimplified - I had to check it out and see how it worked. It was fine except for two things. One, the stylus body I use for mono LPs bottomed on the record - again because of the tone arm geometry. Fortunately, I have a backup that doesn't have that problem.

Second, there was a dull 60hz hum in the left channel. Hum can be induced at several steps along the way - power wires too close to the sound wires, loose cable connections, etc. But the most likely source is at the cartridge head.

Not wanting to believe that I had to fiddle with the tiny cartridge wires again, I chose to eliminate the other potential culprits - the ground wire, the cable orientation and so on. None of them worked. So I took apart and reseated the cartridge wires. The hum is still there, but it's of a level that I can filter easily.

Despite this long tale of fumbling and frustration, I am very pleased with the turntable! I hope you enjoy this first attempt at putting it to use.

I don't usually go into the details of my methods - you are here to listen to and perhaps read about old records. But my great pal Ernie thought some of you might be interested in what goes on behind the scenes. 

The Young Buddy Clark, Plus a Glenn Miller Bonanza

Today we take a deep dive into the early recordings of Buddy Clark, a favored singer around these parts, and an even deeper dive into the Glenn Miller catalogue, the latter courtesy of our friend David Federman. 

For Clark, we have his complete 1934-36 output with the Lud Gluskin orchestra - 25 songs in all. The Miller trove includes both volumes of the his "Limited Editions" - 1950s sets of commercial recordings and airchecks that haven't been reissued in that form.

Buddy Clark with Lud Gluskin (1934-36)

Buddy Clark

Buddy Clark was just 23 when he first entered the recording studio in 1934. Although his mature manner was not fully in evidence at that point, it was only a matter of months before he was sounding very much like the Buddy of his 1940s hits.

Clark was a singer for hire in those days, and appeared with several bandleaders on their records during this early period - Freddy Martin, Eddy Duchin, Xavier Cugat, Joe Moss, Ruby Newman, Nat Brandwynne and Archie Bleyer. He even made a few records under his own name for Melotone. But most of his sessions were with Lud (Ludwig) Gluskin, one-time partner with Jimmy Durante, and then a Paul Whiteman drummer who decided to remain behind in Paris following a European tour. Gluskin became a popular and much recorded bandleader there, until returning to the states circa 1934.

Gluskin called the American ensemble his "Continental Orchestra," presumably a nod to his European popularity. I haven't been able to discover who was in the band - or even if it had a existence outside the studio, but I will say that the musicians are experts and the arrangements are pleasingly elaborate in the mid-30s style - bouncy two-beat, chalumeau-register clarinet, fruity saxes, rat-a-tat or tightly-muted trumpets, strings, harp and ringing piano figures. Also as was the practice back then, the singer is limited to a chorus or two in the middle of the arrangement.

Blue shellac, blue label

At first, Gluskin and Clark recorded for Columbia, back in its blue shellac and blue label days. Their initial date was in October 1934, when they took up two songs from a Broadway revue called Continental Varieties. On the stage, Lucienne Boyer sang both "Speak to Me with Your Eyes" and the very popular "Hands Across the Table" in French. As he often did throughout his career, Mitchell Parish was on hand to provide English lyrics, in this case for the Jean Delettre music. Those are the versions that Clark sang.

At this early stage, Buddy had adopted some of the more dramatic mannerisms of his contemporary Bing Crosby. He soon was to moderate them (as did Crosby), but there is no doubt who was his inspiration.

Lud Gluskin

Buddy's next assignment, in November, was the title song of the film Sweet Music, where it was introduced by Rudy Vallée. Harry Warren and Al Dubin were the authors.

Calling All Stars, from whence came an ode to Gigolo Joe ("Just Mention Joe") was a short-lived Broadway revue produced by Lew Brown, with a cast that included Gertrude Niesen, who I believe introduced this song. As they often were, Gluskin and Clark were surprisingly persuasive in this Latin number. Indeed on that same November date, they recorded an early Raymond Scott number called "Tia Juana." The backing of that song was another Jean Delettre-Mitchell Parish outing, "Dancing with My Darling."

By January 1935, Clark was fully recognizable as the singer who was to become popular in the 1940s. The first recording on the January date was one of Oscar Levant's tunes, "Pardon My Love," with words by Milton Drake. But the prize of the session - and one of my favorites from this collection - was "It's You I Adore," by William Livingston and J. Russell Robinson, who also wrote "Margie," "Singing the Blues" and "A Portrait of Jennie."

Clark and Gluskin moved right back into the Latin repertoire with "The Rhythm of the Rumba," bringing along Joe Host as a faux-Cuban for the occasion. "Host" was actually Joe Hostetter, ex-Glen Gray trumpeter. "Rhythm of the Rumba" and its disc mate, "The Magic of You," were written by Ralph Rainger for the film Rumba, starring George Raft. I suspect you can see Raft, who was a dancer, do the r[h]umba in that film.

That January session closed out Gluskin's contract with Columbia. He and Clark were on to Brunswick for new recordings starting in September 1935.

The first song they set down was "Rhythm and Romance" by George Whiting, "Nat Schwartz" (Nat Burton) and J. C. Johnson, which also was recorded by Ella Fitzgerald. Its backing was the far more famous "Red Sails in the Sunset," with music by "Hugh Williams" (Wilhelm Grosz) and lyrics by Jimmy Kennedy, which emanated from Broadway's Provincetown Follies. Bing had the bigger hit version, but Buddy's was a good one.

The next coupling came from the 1935 musical, Here's to Romance, which starred operatic tenor Nino Martini, for a short time also a crossover star in films. First was the title song, backed with "Midnight in Paris."

Better remembered than either of those tunes was "Moon Over Miami" by Joe Burke and Edgar Leslie. These days it is mostly known for being used in the 1941 film of the same name, but it was written in 1935, and recorded by Gluskin in December. Buddy's reading is very fine. The flip side did not have a Clark vocal, unusually.

On the same date, Clark and Gluskin set down two songs from the film King of Burlesque, introduced by two very different singers - "I've Got My Fingers Crossed" by Fats Waller and the wonderful "I'm Shooting High" by the equally wonderful Alice Faye. These Ted Koehler-Jimmy McHugh songs are well suited to Clark's optimistic style.

We move on to an April 1936 session that included four songs, three of them English. "She Shall Have Music" and "My First Thrill" came from the Jack Hylton film She Shall Have Music. The writers were Maurice Sigler, Al Goodhart and Al Hoffman.

Another bandleader who became famous in England (although he was actually American) was Carroll Gibbons. His contribution to this set is "On the Air," written with James Campbell and Reginald Connelly. The lyrics are best suited to broadcast use, but the song is pleasantly melodious and perhaps appropriate for the performers - Clark was often on radio and Gluskin would soon became CBS music director. The B-side is "Sunshine at Midnight" by the eminent lyricist Edward Heyman and the talented bandleader Matty Malneck.

Clark's final session with Gluskin was in November 1936. "Rainbow on the River" comes from the film of the same name, with songs by Paul Francis Webster and Louis Alter, whose work has appeared here before. The song was written for the 10-year-old Bobby Breen, who had a brief vogue. It was backed by "You're Too Good to Be True" by Bud Green and Jesse Grier.

For their final recording, Clark and Gluskin again turned to the English film industry, plucking two songs from Head Over Heels, both introduced by Jessie Matthews - "Head Over Heels in Love" and "May I Have the Next Romance with You?" The songwriters were Americans Mack Gordon and Harry Revel (the latter was born in England).

The sound from these 78s is generally exceptionally vivid, showing both Clark and Gluskin's band to good effect. The source materials are from Internet Archive, cleaned up (at times laboriously) by me.

Special thanks to friend of the blog and discographer Nigel Burlinson, whose Buddy Clark discography was invaluable in researching and dating these recordings. The discography is enclosed in the download; the Gluskin recordings are in red.

Glenn Miller - The Limited Editions

Our great friend David Federman has finished a very worthy project - reassembling the two Glenn Miller "Limited Editions" that came out in 1953 and 1954, which have never been reissued in their original form.

The Limited Editions were both five-LP sets covering 1939-42: the first included commercial recordings and broadcasts; the second was entirely airchecks. They show the Miller band at its commercial zenith, before World War II intervened, and eventually ended Miller's life in 1944. All your favorite performers are on hand: Ray Eberle, Marion Hutton, the Modernaires and Tex Beneke. 

David justifiably calls it "a Glenn Miller treasure trove." He writes, "Miller was the first hero of my musical life after I saw the 1954 biopic of his life. I was 12 and Miller was like a Damascus Road." Strangely, I had the same reaction to the bandleader at about the same age, but the occasion was the release of his two movie soundtracks.

One note - for Vol. 1, if the performance date is preceded by a "B", it is taken from a broadcast; if "R," it is a studio recording. 

"This offering is both a labor and a gift of love," David tells us. His work is much appreciated. Links are in the comments.

Foerster - Easter Symphony Corrected Files

My apologies again - the Foerster symphony files were again off-pitch. A new set of files is available in the comments to this post and the original post.

It turns out that my turntable is off speed. A new turntable is on order. I am stuck, however, with the same operator.

I discovered the problem by checking the pitch of the transfer with a recent commercial issue. I am told that a best practice is to check the speed before posting, and I will be adopting that procedure in the future.

An Easter Symphony from the Czech Composer Josef Bohuslav Foerster

Josef Bohuslav Foerster

Josef Bohuslav Foerster (1859-1951) is not a name that has appeared here before. Among composers, he is not as well known as his Czech forebears Bedřich Smetana and Antonin Dvořák, or even his younger contemporary Otakar Ostrčil, who like Foerster had evolved Czech music in the direction of late Romanticism.

Even so, Foerster's music is well constructed and highly enjoyable, and today we have what I believe to be the only recording of his best-known work, the Symphony No. 4 in C minor, the "Easter" symphony.

The composer began work on the symphony on Good Friday, 1904, and soon began to incorporate Easter themes in his work. Foerster himself said that the first two movements reflected meditations on Easter as seen by a child and an adult, with the third movement a prayer, and the fourth a celebration of the Resurrection. However, the subtitle "Easter" was dropped upon publication, although it is generally designated as such today.

The symphony is in the Czech lineage, with the influence of Dvořák evident but with traces of Mahler in the final movement, including the ending, which is reminiscent of Mahler's first symphony. Foerster was a friend of the German composer, and the symphony was composed in part in Vienna, where Mahler was director of the Imperial Opera. Foerster's wife, Berta Foersterová-Lautererová, was among the singers at the Opera.

Václav Smetácek

The performance here - a good one - is led by Václav Smetácek, who recorded several of Foerster's works for the Czech company Supraphon. Smetácek conducts what is called the Prague Symphony Orchestra on the label, but in other contexts has the more elaborate name "Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK (Film-Opera-Koncert)." Smetácek was the conductor of the orchestra for 30 years. They have appeared here before in the music of Jan Malát and Charles Gounod.

The recordings were made in Prague's Rudolfinum in 1968. This transfer comes from a 1972 US pressing on the Nonesuch label. The sound is good. The download includes scans, of course, but I've chosen to show one of the Supraphon covers here in place of the Nonesuch, which is too garish.

The US reviews for this unfamiliar music were generally good. R.D. Darrell said the music reflects "the piquant freshness of the Czech folk spirit" and that the work is "heartwarmingly voiced here by the Prague Symphony under Smetácek in Supraphon engineers' ungimmicked, robust recording."

Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae - Sunday Evening Songs (and Much More)

One of my favorite posts from long ago is the 10-inch LP of Sunday Evening Songs by two of Capitol's leading singers, Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae. To me, this selection of eight 19th century songs by these superb vocalists is pure pleasure.

Stafford and MacRae often recorded together in the late 1940s and up until Stafford and arranger Paul Weston decamped for Columbia Records in fall 1950.

Today's post expands on Sunday Evening Songs by adding 12 more items from the same period. These include the four additional songs that Capitol later included on the 1956 LP Memory Songs - a retitled expansion of Sunday Evening Songs. Also included are the flip sides of those four songs when they were first issued as singles, plus a promotional record that Capitol issued to plug one of them, the duo's version of "Wunderbar." That promo also included pitches for solo singles by both artists, so I've added those songs and their B-sides to the mix as well.

Hopefully all this will become clear below, but if not, the tunes will still sound as good.

Jo and Gordon

Both Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae were stars when they began recording together. Stafford had been the lead singer of Tommy Dorsey's Pied Pipers before she went solo in 1944. She immediately began recording as a single for the young Capitol Records company. Starting in 1945, she was a host of radio's Chesterfield Supper Club, alternating with Perry Como.

Jo Stafford in 1947

MacRae had his own radio show in 1945, and later became the lead personality on The Railroad Hour, sponsored by the Railroad Association. He quickly became popular in Hollywood, first in a few dramatic roles, then in musicals, such as Look for the Silver Lining and The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady, where he introduced "As We Are Today," one of the songs in this collection. He recorded for Musicraft before moving to Capitol in 1947.

Both MacRae and Stafford were on ABC radio in 1949

Sunday Evening Songs

This is a new transfer of Sunday Evening Songs. Here is what I said about the LP in 2010:

"Two of the favorite artists of this blog and many of its readers are Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae, who frequently recorded together while at Capitol.

"In this 10-inch LP from 1950, they present what they call 'Sunday evening songs.' The liner notes tell us that in the early years of the 20th century members of the household would gather around the piano for a group sing of sweet, familiar songs. Stafford and MacRae, aided by Paul Weston's apposite arrangements, present eight of these songs in straightforward, but infinitely pleasing renditions.

"None of this material would have been new even at the turn of the 20th century. It dates from as early as 1833. The notes tell us that such songs were enjoying a renaissance in the postwar world; would that there would be such a renaissance today. But this music is as passé as the green piano cloth on the spectacular album cover."

All the recordings come from August 1950, near the end of Stafford's tenure at Capitol. The other items in this collection are from 1948 and 1949.

Promoting "Wunderbar" and Solo Songs

You didn't need much of a memory to recall most of the other "memory songs" that Capitol included on its 12-inch version of Sunday Evening Songs. Three of the four were not old, and "Wunderbar," the subject of the promotional disc presented here, dated back only to 1949.

MacRae and Stafford had recorded the number when it was new and was being featured in Cole Porter's giant Broadway hit, Kiss Me, Kate. In about April 1949, Capitol sent a two-record set of promotional discs to the nation's disc jockeys to plug their "Wunderbar" duet, along with their current solo singles of "Kisses and Tears" (Gordon) and "Open Door, Open Arms" (Jo). The promo disc I have in hand (courtesy of Internet Archive) has spoken introductions to these three recordings. The idea was that the disc jockey would conduct a fake interview with Stafford and MacRae, reading from a script (which I don't have), and the artists would lead into their discs. As you might expect, the results are stiff and strained - which has its own charm, of course.

Among Capitol's most important artists

This collection also includes the B-sides to those three numbers: "I'll String Along with You" (a duet), "As We Are Today" (Gordon) and "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" (Jo). The latter is associated with Marilyn Monroe, who vamped her way through it in the 1953 film version of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, but this record was in conjunction with the 1949 stage production, where Carol Channing introduced the song.

"Wunderbar" also ended up in a 1950 Stafford-McRae album of Kiss Me, Kate songs. That collection also included six solo numbers from the score, equally split between Jo and Gordon, plus a choral version of "Too Darn Hot." While only "Wunderbar" is included in this post, the duo's Kiss Me, Kate LP has appeared on this blog and is available here in newly remastered form.

The Remaining Memory Songs and B-Sides

Although most of the numbers added to Memory Songs were not old, only "Wunderbar" wasn't a stylistic fit with the 19th-century compositions on the earlier 10-inch LP.

"Beyond the Sunset" is a beautiful sacred song that Virgil and Blanche Brock wrote in 1936, and the MacRae-Stafford duo recorded in 1950. It's B-side is "Near Me," a cover of a Johnny Lee Wills song that had appeared on the flip side of his 1950 "Rag Mop" single. (Jo and Gordon didn't attempt "R-A-G-G M-O-P-P, Rag Mop!")

Also in the collection is "Need You," a new but antique-sounding tune that was popular in 1949. Its flip side is "'A' You're Adorable." This Stafford-MacRae single was popular, but not as much as the big hit version by Perry Como and the Fontane Sisters. 

The final tune added to Memory Songs was a precursor to Sunday Evening Songs in that it dates from the 19th century. "Whispering Hope" did well for the duo in 1949. The song has a strange history, at least according to one source. The composer was Septimus Winner ("Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone," "Listen to the Mockingbird") under the name of Alice Hawthorne. "Whispering Hope" was published in 1868, but Winner had written it during the Civil War under the name "Give Us Back Our Old Commander," a plea to return Gen. George McClellan to service. McClellan had broken with Lincoln and in fact ran against the President in 1864. Winner's song was supposedly considered treasonous, resulting in his being jailed until he repudiated it. The tune that ended up as "Whispering Hope" is now often considered a gospel song.

I can't imagine how the lovely melody of "Whispering Hope" could have been used to promote Lincoln's antagonist, but regardless, it makes for a beautiful record. Paul Weston apparently had recalled the 1920s recording of the song by Louise Homer and Alma Gluck, and suggested it to Stafford and MacRae. The result did very well.

1949 Billboard ad

The B-side of "Whispering Hope" - "A Thought in My Heart" - is included here as well.

These recordings, which come from my collection and Internet Archive, generally have excellent sound. I have tracked the promotional bits to that they can be removed from your playlist when Gordon and Jo's remarks lose their charm.

Stafford and MacRae were again Capitol artists in the early 1960s, and recorded two additional LPs together, both of sacred material. The first, Whispering Hope, included both that song and "Beyond the Sunset" from this collection, in new renditions.

As a companion to this post, I've uploaded a rare promotional single that MacRae produced in about 1950 for the benefit of Community Chest, the forerunner of today's United Way in the US. It's on my singles blog.

Constant Lambert Conducts 'Coppélia'

Constant Lambert by Gordon Anthony

The 1946 productions of the Sadler's Wells Ballet, in its new home at Covent Garden, have been featured several times here, all in recordings led by Constant Lambert - Sleeping Beauty, The Rake's Progress, Miracle in the Gorbals and Giselle. Today we have recordings made in conjunction with a staging of the ballet Coppélia, with music by Léo Delibes.

The 1946 production was, I believe, a revival of the 1940 staging. It opened on October 25, 1946, and Lambert and the Royal Opera House Orchestra were in the studio the following February for these recordings. Actually two studios - the music from Act III was recorded in Kingsway Hall February 7, with the Act I and II sessions moving to Abbey Road Studio 1 on March 25. The resulting recording contains about a third of the complete score. One note: the composer Gordon Jacob is listed as orchestrating Act III; I haven't found a description of the work he did.

Publicity photo of Margot Fonteyn as Swanilda

Coppélia set design by William Chappell

Delibes' captivating music influenced Tchaikovsky. The performance does full justice to the score; Lambert's clarity and incisiveness are everywhere in evidence. The Royal Opera House Orchestra was not a virtuoso ensemble, but you will not notice much amiss, except for some insecure horn playing in the Prelude. That passage soon gives way to the wonderful Mazurka and the rest of the score is handled well. (The Mazurka's tempo is swift; I suspect that Lambert used a more moderate tempo for the stage production.)

Naturally, not all the critics agree with my assessment of the performance. The Gramophone's reviewer sneered that the playing was "of a good routine order," complained of a missing diacritic on the label, and was bored with the music: "It is all rather faded, for me, but these amiable things have a place in the corner of most hearts." But then the critic of The Spectator, reviewing the opening night performance, had this to say: "The music, delightful in its melodiousness and piquant rhythms, was particularly well played by the orchestra under Constant Lambert, and the audience was wildly and justly enthusiastic."

UK Columbia issued its 78 set in 1947, with US Columbia following the next year. This transfer is from my pressing of the 1949 US LP (cover below). The sound is good. The download includes many production stills and reviews.