Brahms from the New York Quartet

Alexander Schneider, Mieczysław Horszowski, Frank Miller and Milton Katims

The New York Quartet, comprising four of the outstanding instrumentalists of their time, recorded two of Brahms' three Piano Quartets in the late 1940s. I posted the popular Quartet No. 1 back in 2010, and am now belatedly turning my attention to the tragic Quartet No. 3.

A few words about the New York Quartet, from my first post: Violinist Alexander Schneider had been in the Budapest String Quartet, and would be again in 1956. He also made a good number of records as a conductor. Violist Milton Katims, too, would take up conducting, leading the Seattle Symphony for many years. Frank Miller was the principal cellist with the NBC Symphony when this record was made, and later would hold the same position with the Chicago Symphony. He, too, was a conductor. Pianist Mieczysław Horszowski had an extraordinarily long career, playing well into his 90s.

Now about the Brahms quartet - the reviewer in The New Records had this to say: "The present work has never gained great popularity, perhaps because of its dramatic and somber nature. However, it is considered a finely wrought composition and the discerning music lover will surely find it rewarding. The performance in the present instance is excellent and the reproduction is of the best."

In the 1940s, listeners were not spoiled for choice in the classical repertory. The quartet had been released only twice before the Mercury recording out, and neither was available at the time. Today, one online retailer lists 33 different versions for sale.

The recording was made in 1947, and is well-balanced. The ambient stereo remastering has a striking sense of space. Mercury recordings at the time were made with a single microphone which adds to the sense of a live performance. Some reviewers complained that the label's efforts could sound harsh and wiry - a view I agree with - but here all is well.

Also - I've newly remastered my transfer of Piano Quartet No. 1 in ambient stereo. That quartet is a more genial work, with its last movement a "Rondo alla zingarese" that is both exciting and fascinating. The New York Quartet's performance is excellent. The download link for the first quartet is available both via the original post and in the comments to this post.

Rodgers and Hart's 'Too Many Girls' - the Early Recordings

For this latest in a series of early recordings from 1930s and 40s musicals, we return to Rodgers and Hart from Cole Porter. The subject is the pair's 1939-40 success Too Many Girls, a typically contrived college caper with a typically tuneful score.

Too Many Girls did not have as many hits as some Rodgers and Hart musicals, but it did boast one enduring favorite ("I Didn't Know What Time It Was") and several other songs that achieved some popularity or at least attracted the recording companies. This collection includes 10 selections, two of them in alternative versions.

From the stage production

The show, combined with the subsequent film, made stars of Desi Arnaz and Eddie Bracken. Marcy Westcott, the heiress on stage, turned into Lucille Ball in the film, and Ball and Arnaz turned into a famous couple. The two other main female roles were taken by Mary Jane Walsh and Diosa Costello on Broadway, Frances Langford and Ann Miller in the movie. (Walsh also can be heard here in songs from Cole Porter's Let's Face It!)

Arnaz, Bracken, Richard Kollmar (Richard Carlson in the film) and the wonderful dancer Hal Le Roy played football players who were hired to watch over the heiress while she was at Pottawattamie College. But none of those performers were asked to make records - nor was Marcy Westcott - so it fell to the cast's Mary Jane Walsh and Diosa Costello to do so.

Marcy Westcott, Diosa Costello and Mary Jane Walsh tend to stricken Desi Arnaz

As was common back then, a minority of the musical's songs attracted the attention of the record labels. Seven R&H songs were heard in the stage show before one was selected for a recording - "Love Never Went to College." Westcott sang the tune on Broadway, but Columbia turned it over to Walsh.

The Smoothies - Charlie Ryan, Arlene Johnson, Little Ryan

Walsh's version (with anonymous backing) is a good one, but I also wanted to include the sophisticated Victor recording by Hal Kemp and His Orchestra, with a vocal by the Smoothies. The latter group was earlier known as Babs and Her Brothers, even though there were a series of "Babses" and none of them was a sister to Charlie and Little Ryan, the other members of the group.

Diosa Costello and Desi Arnaz

Diosa Costello, who was Puerto Rican and apparently known as "the Latin Bombshell," had appeared with Arnaz in nightclubs before being cast in Too Many Girls. She performed "All Dressed Up (Spic and Spanish)" on stage as a solo, reprising it with the ensemble. The small Schirmer label engaged her to record it with a band led by Vladimir Selinsky. I don't know for sure if Hart intended the title to be a play on the ethnic slur, but I do believe the term was in use as such back then.

One of the best known songs from the score is "I Like to Recognize the Tune," which Mary Jane Walsh cut for Columbia, again with anonymous backing. On stage this was done by an ensemble that included Walsh.

Costello and Arnaz handled "She Could Shake the Maracas" on Broadway, but Costello recorded it for Schirmer solo, again with the orchestra of Vladimir Selinsky.

Margaret Whiting

The best song in the score is surely "I Didn't Know What Time It Was," sung in the show by Marcy Westcott and Richard Kollmar, but for Columbia by Mary Jane Walsh. Over the years the number has attracted many good recordings, and was interpolated into the Sinatra film of Pal Joey along with three other Rodgers and Hart favorites. One of the best readings is Margaret Whiting's 1946 single for Capitol. If anything, the Whiting aircheck in this collection, from a 1949 Carnation Contented Hour, is even better. She is backed by Ted Dale's orchestra. (The single version is available on this blog in her Rodgers and Hart collection.)

Mary Jane Walsh and ensemble

The final song from the stage production in this set is "Give It Back to the Indians," which Walsh introduced on stage and then cut for Columbia.

Too Many Girls ran on Broadway for six months, then its director, George Abbott, turned it into a film, where Diosa Costello somehow turned into Ann Miller, and Mary Jane Walsh into the well-known vocalist Frances Langford.

Frances Langford serenades Lucille Ball and Richard Carlson 

Rodgers and Hart added one enduring song to the filmed version - "You're Nearer," introduced by Trudy Erwin dubbing Ball, and reprised by Langford and others. Langford's label, Decca, asked her to record the song, backed by Victor Young.

Ann Miller and Desi Arnaz

I've also added the Arnaz-Miller version of "All Dressed Up (Spic and Spanish)" from the soundtrack. This is for archival purposes only - Desi really could not sing.

Hal Le Roy

Finally, I did want to draw attention to the great dancer Hal Le Roy, even though he recorded nothing from the score. He can be seen in a clip from the film online. All his films are worth seeking out - his dancing in them, anyway.

The sound on these items, remastered mainly from Internet Archive needle-drops, is good. The download includes more production photos and ephemera, along with Brooks Atkinson's New York Times review. He found the show "humorous, fresh and exhilarating," but was less impressed by Mary Jane Walsh and Diosa Costello.

Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers

Solomon Plays Tchaikovsky and Chopin

The pianist Solomon made many great records - a number of which have appeared on this blog recently. But none, to my ears, are quite as dazzling as his 1949 version of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, made with Issay Dobrowen and the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Today's post combines that performance with most of Solomon's Chopin recordings from the 1940s.

Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1

Issay Dobrowen was an exceptional accompanist and was often used in that role by HMV. He and Solomon had a rare rapport, never so much as in this recording of the Tchaikovsky.

Issay Dobrowen

I will admit that I had my fill of this particular concerto about 40 years ago, but the work of Solomon and Dobrowen made me rethink my prejudice against it. Solomon handles the insane difficulties of the piece with such aplomb - always in perfect concert with Dobrowen - that one's only reactions can be fascination and admiration. The entire work proceeds in such a manner.

This 1949 edition was the pianist's second go at the concerto in the recording studio, although he had been performing it regularly since he was 12. In 1929 he traveled to Manchester for a Tchaikovsky session with Hamilton Harty and the Hallé Orchestra. This was Solomon's first concerto recording, following a few Liszt pieces made a week or so beforehand. He was to record no more concertos until the Bliss in 1943, followed by the Beethoven third in 1944, both with Boult. The Brahms Concerto No. 2 with Dobrowen came in 1947, the Liszt Hungarian Fantasia with Walter Susskind in 1948, and the Scriabin and Tchaikovsky concertos in 1949.

Solomon's biographer Bryan Crimp noted, "[Producer Walter] Legge was particularly keen to have a brand new recording of the Tchaikovsky concerto for HMV's entry into the LP market while the release of a recording of the Scriabin concerto would in all probability, have resulted in a premiere recording. The Tchaikovsky recording did indeed become the first HMV ‘plum label' LP record."

The Scriabin concerto remained unissued until 1991. Solomon undertook it as a favor to Legge, although neither he nor the conductor had played it before. According to Crimp, "the reservations of both pianist and conductor are, regrettably, plain for all to hear." My own view is that it is well worth a listen, although the transfer that has been issued is below pitch and screechingly bright, not flattering either to the Philharmonia strings or the pianist. Rebalanced, it sounds fine. (Anyone interested in my redo of a lossy copy of the concerto can leave a note in the comments.)

The Tchaikovsky was set down May 26-28, 1949 in Abbey Road Studio No. 1. The sound is very good, with this transfer coming from the HMV LP issue of the 1950s (cover above), from my collection. I also have a later LP reissue with marginally cleaner sound, but the engineer had added unnecessary reverb to that disc, so I went with the earlier edition. The concerto and the Chopin pieces discussed below have been mastered in ambient stereo.

Nine Pieces by Chopin

"Those familiar only with Solomon’s work in the post-World War Il years, an era in which he was recognised as the pre-eminent Beethoven interpreter, might find this earlier reputation as an incomparable Chopin player something of a surprise," wrote Bryan Crimp, "though proof, if needed, can be readily found in his recordings for Columbia made during the first half of the 1930s and for HMV during the early- and mid-1940s."

Solomon began his Chopin recordings with two Polonaises, a Fantasie and an Ėtude in 1932, none of which are repeated in this set from the 1940s. In late 1934, he took up two F major Ėtudes, Op. 10, No. 8 and Op. 25, No. 3, the latter of which he remade in 1942, and which is included in this collection.

The earliest Chopin recording here also dates from 1942, the Nocturne in E flat major, Op. 9, No. 2. Later in September, he began recording three Ėtudes - the F major Ėtude mentioned above, along with two Ėtudes in F minor - Op. 10, No. 9, and Op. 25, No. 2, completing them in October.

Solomon's final Ėtude disc was the Op. 10, No. 3 in E major, made in June and July 1945. He concluded the recordings in this set in early April 1946 - the Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52, the Waltz No. 14 in E minor, Op. Posth., and the Mazurka No. 48 in A minor, Op. 78, No. 2.

Abbey Road Studio 3

All these recordings come from Abbey Road Studio No. 3 and have good sound. These transfers were cleaned up from 78 needle-drops found on Internet Archive.

Solomon recorded no additional Chopin works after 1946, and for the final decade of the pianist's career, he and HMV focused on the works of Beethoven and Mozart. Crimp observed, "By the late-40s Solomon’s repertoire became more concentrated. There was less Schumann and certainly less Chopin. Beethoven began to dominate."

The Beethoven concerto cycle has been posted here (1 and 3, coupled with Grieg and Schumann) and here (2, 4 and 5). Mozart's Concerto No. 15 was packaged with the second set of Beethoven concertos. A post with more Mozart concertos and sonatas is forthcoming.

Gordon MacRae in 'New Moon' and 'Vagabond King'

A few years ago I posted two LPs worth of highlights from four operettas, all made in the early 1950s and featuring baritone Gordon MacRae. Over the next few posts I'll complete the set, with two more albums and four more sets of operetta excerpts.

Today's post presents the first two operettas that Capitol produced - The New Moon and The Vagabond King, both recorded in 1950. In the near future I'll offer the remaining two - The Red Mill and Naughty Marietta. They are the last in the series, dating from 1954.

Capitol offered each operetta on its own 10-inch LP, then combined two of them onto one 12-inch record. My posts come from the 12-inch versions.

The New Moon

Sigmund Romberg's The New Moon and Rudolf Friml's The Vagabond King were both hits on Broadway in the 1920s, and as such were among the last of the species to become popular in this country. But while musicals took over the stage, operettas maintained popularity in films (Nelson Eddy, Jeanette MacDonald, etc.), radio and to a degree on records. This lasted well into the 1950s (e.g., the rise of Mario Lanza) and even the 60s, when MacRae himself re-recorded four operetta sets in stereo. Even today, community groups and some professional ensembles stage these enduring favorites.

For this first pair of Capitol productions, MacRae was joined by the superb mezzo-soprano Lucille Norman. They were co-stars on radio's Railroad Hour, where the duo presented highlights from musicals and operettas much as these LPs do. The back cover mentions the radio show, and has a drawing of their giant heads trundling by, pulled by an old locomotive.

The New Moon had book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Frank Mandel, and Laurence Schwab, and was the third in a series of popular successes for Romberg. The other two, The Student Prince and The Desert Song, also appear in this series and have been featured on this blog (links below).

Listening to the New Moon selections is pure pleasure, at least after you get past "Stout Hearted Men." The songs are memorable - "Marianne," "One Kiss," "Wanting You," "Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise" (always preferable to an evening sunrise), and "Lover, Come Back to Me." "Wanting You" demonstrates that MacRae and Norman had the same rapport as the baritone and Jo Stafford, who often recorded together. "Lover" is a fine showcase for Norman. These recordings usually include the verses, which are enjoyable to hear.

Lucille Norman

A word about Lucille Norman (1921-98). Although she had appeared in a few films and on Broadway in the 1940s, her primary fame came from her radio shows, both with MacRae and on her own. In 1951, she returned to films to appear with Dennis Morgan in Painting the Clouds with Sunshine. Capitol issued a "songs from the film" LP (right) featuring her and Morgan, which I posted here years ago and have now remastered in ambient stereo, with new scans. In 1952, she took on a dramatic role with Randolph Scott in the western Carson City.

For The New Moon, Capitol's competition in the market was a 1949 RCA Victor recording led by Al Goodman, who had co-orchestrated and conducted the 1928 Broadway production. Victor's principal voices were Earl Wrightson and Frances Greer. In 1953, Decca countered with a Lee Sweetland-Jane Wilson recording conducted by Victor Young. (I have that record if anyone is interested.)

The Vagabond King

The Vagabond King is another operetta with the usual formula of nobility, conflict and romance. The 1925 show had music by Rudolf Friml, with book and lyrics by Brian Hooker and William H. Post. It was based on Justin Huntley McCarthy's novel and play If I Were King.

10-inch LP cover

As with The New Moon, Capitol's Vagabond King recording comes out of the overture with a hearty number, "The Song of the Vagabonds," and as with The New Moon, that isn't where the song appeared in the stage show. 

The record then provides a specialty for Norman ("Some Day") and for MacRae ("Only a Rose"). Here, the baritone betrays a tendency to croon, which shows up in both shows. My guess is that he was tired, having a full schedule of films (both Tea for Two and The West Point Story were issued in 1950), radio (The Railroad Hour) and records (Capitol was having him wax such tunes as "You Dyed Your Hair Chartreuse" and "Hongi Tongi Hoki Poki").

The two stars then combine for "Love Me Tonight" and, appropriately, "Tomorrow." "Nocturne" is a feature for the choir, with the men rather thin-toned. Oddly, the gorgeous "Huguette Waltz" is not sung by Norman but by the choir. As with The New Moon, the selections conclude with a finale, and mercifully MacRae and Norman reappear.

For both operettas, Paul Weston led the orchestra and chorus, and presumably supplied the smooth arrangements.

As with The New Moon, Capitol's Vagabond King had competition from RCA Victor's Al Goodman, Earl Wrightson and Frances Greer, via a 1949 album. In 1951, Decca would counter with its own production led by Victor Young and starring Alfred Drake and Mimi Benzell. The latter LP was featured on this blog a few years ago, packaged with nine of Drake's solo recordings. That collection is still available here.

The Student Prince, Merry Widow, Desert Song and Roberta in Ambient Stereo

Previously in this MacRae series, we've enjoyed (I hope) excerpts from four operettas - The Student Prince, The Merry Widow, Desert Song and Roberta. (The last is a musical, but is in the operetta tradition.) I've now remastered them all in ambient stereo - links to the original posts are below; download links can also be found in the comments to this post.

The Student Prince and Merry Widow. The Student Prince was another deservedly popular operetta by Sigmund Romberg, dating from 1924. For its 1953 disc, Capitol paired MacRae with the excellent Dorothy Warenskjold. For Franz Lehar's The Merry Widow of 1905, the label again turned to the reliable Lucille Norman to appear opposite MacRae. That LP dates from 1952. George Greeley was the conductor for both operettas.

The Desert Song and Roberta. For The Desert Song, we finally move from Ruritania to Morocco, presumably for its exotic allure. This is the third Romberg score in the set of six, with McRae again paired with Norman, and with Greeley handling the arrangements and conducting. The Desert Song came out when MacRae was starring in a filmed version with Kathryn Grayson. RCA issued a competing LP version with Grayson and Tony Martin, which I posted in 2008 and remastered not that long ago. Roberta, too, brought together MacRae, Norman and Greeley for a pleasing version of the Kern-Harbach musical from 1933. Alfred Drake's 1944 set of Roberta songs, made with Kitty Carlisle, is available here.

Carl Davis Conducts Walton

Carl Davis and William Walton

Here is a tribute to the late composer-conductor Carl Davis in the form of his 1986 LP devoted to the music of William Walton. Davis is known primarily for his film music and Walton for his concert works, but each were active in both realms. In his LP, Davis concentrated on Walton's scores for the screen, with the addition of one brief interlude from an opera.

The disc opens with Walton's music for the 1944 film Henry V, in a suite compiled by Malcolm Sargent. This contains some of Walton's best known film music - the beautiful passacaglia "Death of Falstaff" and the exquisite "Touch her sweet lips and part" - along with the less familiar title music.

Laurence Olivier as Henry V

Next, Davis resurrected the music that Walton wrote for the 1969 film The Battle of Britain, most of which was not used. It was unheard until the composer Colin Matthews prepared a suite from the score, containing one of Walton's typically Elgarian marches. In his Gramophone review, Edward Greenfield commented, "The big melody itself is first cousin to the one in 'Orb and Sceptre' (as indeed is the one in the English Speaking Peoples March) but after its first repetition a trio section is provided by using the music Walton wrote to represent the German pilots. Partly as a dig at Wagner - a composer Walton did not enjoy - he took Siegfried’s horn theme and turned it into a tripping, elegant waltz, almost French in style. It provides an unexpected but delightful contrast before the big tune returns in full grandeur."

The sole work on the LP not from a film is the Act II Interlude from Walton's opera Troilus and Cressida. As Greenfield commented, it is "almost as explicit in its musical representation of love-making as the Prelude to Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier."

The album also includes the first recording of music from Paul Czinner's 1936 adaptation of As You Like It. The music is not dissimilar to Walton's later film music, while showing some obvious influences. The "Waterfall Scene" sounds like Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe crossed with Ferde Grofé. As with Henry V and The Battle of Britain, Laurence Olivier was the lead in the film.

The final selection on the LP is a March from A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, a television series based on Churchill's book. It too was not used, although the music is delightful. In his sleeve notes, Christopher Palmer says it is more reminiscent of Eric Coates than Elgar, but it is easy to detect the influence of Walton's Elgarian "Orb and Sceptre" March.

Carl Davis in the studio

The early digital sound on the LP, recorded at Abbey Road, is quite good, and the performances by the London Philharmonic are excellent. The 1986 recording was issued on CD as well as LP, but my transfer is from the latter. The cover of my LP was damaged, so there is some patching involved on the back cover to make it readable. The download includes several reviews.

Carl Davis (1936-2023) was an American-born British composer who wrote scores for a huge number of television programs and films, e.g., Pride and Prejudice for TV and The French Lieutenant's Woman for the big screen. He also wrote much concert music, including several ballet scores.

Gramophone, July 1987

Brahms from Sir Adrian and Dame Janet

Dame Janet Baker and Sir Adrian Boult

Two of the most distinguished and beloved British musicians of the 20th century - mezzo-soprano Dame Janet Baker and conductor Sir Adrian Boult - combined to produce this 1970-71 LP of Brahms' compositions.

On this record, Baker is heard in the Alto Rhapsody, while Boult conducts the second symphony. For Sir Adrian, it was the the second installment in his second cycle of the Brahms symphonies, succeeding his 1954 set. Dame Janet would go on to record a program of Brahms lieder with André Previn at the piano in 1978.

Original and reissue covers

Discussing the Alto Rhapsody, Trevor Harvey wrote in his Gramophone review, "Turgid Brahms, you may think. Yet How can anyone resist Janet Baker’s superb singing and vocal colouring, from a wonderfully veiled tone to great, thrilling outbursts, full of warmth and feeling. Sir Adrian knows exactly how to accompany his soloist with understanding."

Dame Janet, now retired at age 89, is a mezzo-soprano and the work was, after all, written for contralto. But the music is within her range and more importantly she brings great sensitivity to the part. To hear the Rhapsody sung by a true contralto, please look into previous posts by Marian Anderson (newly remastered in ambient stereo) and Aafje Heynis.

Recordings by Marian Anderson and Aafje Heynis

Boult takes a characteristically unfussy approach to the symphony. It may not glow with the radiance of Bruno Walter's late-career recording, but it is cogent in its own way, beautifully balanced and judged. George Jellinek wrote in Stereo Review, "For my taste, the finale does not quite move with the excitement toward which such a finely controlled interpretation should build, but the overall performance displays a maturity, sense of proportion, and delicacy of detail hard to find fault with."

The Alto Rhapsody recording is from a late December 1970 date in Abbey Road Studio No. 1. The symphony comes from January and April 1971 sessions split between Abbey Road and Kingsway Hall. The sound is very good. The excellent performances are relatively closely miked, and any sonic differences between the venues were not noticeable to me. 

The download includes scans from both the first and reissue pressings (the transfer is from the reissue). Along with several reviews, I've included an article about the Alto Rhapsody recording session, along with texts and translations (which HMV did not supply).

This was another of the recordings on non-English music that Sir Adrian undertook in the last years of his career. Earlier we heard from him in Mozart symphonies. Unlike those performances, Boult's Brahms symphonies were issued in the US, but this transfer is from a UK pressing.

HMV ad in the October 1971 Gramophone