Digression No. 25

I was very pleased that this blog was named one of the best sites for classical music downloads by Nick Morgan of the magazine Classical Recordings Quarterly (previously Classic Record Collector). In fact, Big 10-Inch was the only blog named that isn't exclusively devoted to classics. Most of the other sites named have been cited here before - including Vinyl Fatigue, Serenata in Vano, The Music Parlor, Neal's Historical Recordings, Quartier des Archives, Bill Anderson's posts at RMCR, Sacqueboutier's at symphonyshare, and Bryan Bishop's shares, now available at his new blog, The Shellackophile. If it had been me, I would have added Fred's Random Classics, Satyr's 78 Toeren en LP's, and Pablo's El baul del coleccionista. (Hope I am not forgetting anyone.)

Speaking of Satyr's and Pablo's blogs, I want to mention that they continue to post wonderful Cor de Groot recordings for everyone to enjoy. Pablo has offered a Chopin recital and Satyr has presented Beethoven's second and third piano concertos (with the VSO and Otterloo). Highly recommended.

1917 record cover

Switching subjects - longtime readers may remember a 2008 discussion of the supposed "first record cover design" - a 78 album of music by Richard Rodgers with a cover by Alex Steinweiss. At that time, both your host and a reader named Jeff expressed extreme skepticism about the claim that this was indeed the first such cover, citing items in our own collections that predate the Columbia cover. It turns out we were quite right. The 2010 Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) conference presented a long and profusely illustrated talk by Mike Biel that explodes the claim that Steinweiss was first. Designed covers go back to 1917 (above right), and there were literally hundreds of them issued before the first Steinweiss cover - several of them in my own basement. My friend Mel mentioned a Pinocchio album that he had as a child that included an integrated design not just of the cover but of the end papers, record pockets and labels. This is one of Biel's exhibits. You can find both the recording of his fascinating talk and a slide show with hundreds of images on the ARSC site. I urge anyone interested in the topic to seek it out.

The ARSC presentations for the past few years are on line, and many of them are fascinating. I listened to Peter Muir's discussion of the early blues industry, including a convincing demonstration of how a good bit of the musical content of W.C. Handy's St. Louis Blues of 1913 was borrowed from a 1908 ragtime song. There are many other worthwhile subjects - just the thing for a record nut!

One More from George Enescu

A very late addition to the series of recordings that George Enescu made of his own music - here he tackles his "Romanian Rhapsody No. 2" in a good recording from one of the Parisian orchestras, issued by Remington.

I almost didn't transfer this LP because it has a radial crack that makes the pressing look like it was hit by a ball peen hammer. But with some careful handling and digital refurbishing, it doesn't sound too bad.

The performance of Smetana's "The Moldau" on the other side - a spirited one - is from the so-called Austrian Symphony under George Singer. Michael Gray's website tells us this is the Vienna Tonkunstler Orchestra. NOTE (December 2018): the Smetana is a new transfer that eliminates the sonic problems on the original.

The cover is by Alex Steinweiss, post-Columbia. (I used to have a hat like that, but mine had a red plume.)

Mary Martin Sings for You

I recently saw the outstanding revival of South Pacific at New York's Lincoln Center. As a tribute to the original cast, I'm preparing posts featuring 10-inch LPs from the show's leads, Mary Martin, Ezio Pinza, and Juanita Hall.

Here is the first one, Mary Martin Sings for You, which was recorded while South Pacific was in rehearsals in February 1949. The dated sounding arrangements are by Broadway orchestrator Ben Ludlow.

This is quite a good record in better sound that Columbia usually offered. The cover is by Alex Steinweiss.

The first Mary Martin record featured here was quite popular, and I suspect this one will be as well.

NEW LINK (remastered)

Rodzinski Conducts Bizet

When we last heard from Artur Rodzinski on this blog, he was conducting the New York Philharmonic in Prokofiev. I said he would return with the Cleveland Orchestra.

Since then, I've discovered that all the Cleveland/Rodzinski recordings in my collection are already available online here. So I've returned to his NYPO recordings for this 10-inch LP of Georges Bizet's early symphony, a work that was not performed until 1935

The recording was made in Carnegie Hall on the same January day in 1945 on which these forces incised the Rachmaninoff symphony featured here earlier. It first appeared on 78s then on this LP with cover by Alex Steinweiss.

Rodzinski and Bizet may not be an intuitive match - and truthfully this does not erase the sonic memories of other performances - but it is a spruce affair that is sure to give pleasure.

REMASTERED VERSION - JANUARY 2015

Manhattan Moods by Gould

In the first easy listening post, I mentioned Morton Gould, so here he is with one of his innumerable easy listening records, and a very enjoyable one at that.

Called Manhattan Moods, it contains music inspired by the city, but even more so, by George Gershwin. Two ("Manhattan Serenade" and "Manhattan Moonlight") are by songwriter Lou Alter, who wrote many pieces with a New York theme.

Morton Gould

The Nocturne is by Thomas Griselle. "Park Avenue Fantasy," by songwriter-bandleader Matty Malneck, became known as "Stairway to the Stars" after it acquired lyrics. Gould wrote "Big City Blues."

Probably the best known composition is "Street Scene," from the music that Hollywood's Alfred Newman produced for the 1931 film of the Elmer Rice play, which is set in New York.

The recording was made in June 1950, possibly in Columbia's 30th Street studio in New York. It is quite resonant. I wonder if this in an example of "stairwell reverb."

The cover is by Alex Steinweiss.

LINK (June 2024, new remaster in ambient stereo)

More Morton Gould

We've encountered Morton Gould here before, both as a composer and conductor. This time, he performs both functions.

All these compositions were recorded in June 1946 with the Robin Hood Dell Orchestra, which either is the Philadelphia Orchestra, or a variant of it.

These compositions are generally based on familiar tunes. The Cowboy Rhapsody includes both Home on the Range and a melody very familiar to those who know their Copland. The American Salute, composed during the Second World War, is based on When Johnny Comes Marching Home. There also are two homages to other Allied forces, the Red Cavalry March and the New China March. And finally two settings of spirituals.

I don't think these recordings have been reissued since the 1940s or shortly thereafter, when they came out in 78 and 45 rpm albums and a 10-inch LP. This dub is based on an unplayed old store stock 45 box. I want to add, though, that "unplayed" does not mean "perfect." There is some minor pressing noise. The set has a nice Alex Steinweiss cover.

I wish that Gould were better remembered. He produced excellent music in a variety of genres - these sides included.

Elie Siegmeister

What you are seeing above is actually not the cover of the 10-inch LP that contained Elie Siegmeister's Ozark Set. It is the cover of the original 78 rpm album that came out in 1945, and is a much better example of cover artist Alex Steinweiss' work than the LP. It also is more evocative of the somewhat idealized version of rural America celebrated by this music – and other conservative music of the time.

Like Aaron Copland, who was eight years older, Siegmeister was born in Brooklyn and studied in Paris under Nadia Boulanger. It's too bad that Siegmeister's music is largely forgotten today. This is quite well done, and the quieter moments are very beautiful and evocative. There is much to enjoy here for enthusiasts of Copland's Americana pieces, even though the performances by Dimitri Mitropoulos and his Minneapolis troupe are neither subtle not especially well played. With this ensemble providing the music, "Saturday Night" in the Ozarks seems quite a hectic experience. One wonders if the barn survived the barn dance. A harsh recording and typically rough pressing are not helpful, either.

Also included on the 10-inch LP is the overture to Lalo’s opera Le Roi d'Ys, which sounds less like Ys and more like Liszt in this performance.

The cover of the LP that yoked the yokels with the Ysians is below. As you can see, the Ozark mountain on the 78 set has been reduced to a Ozark pimple down in the right-hand corner of the LP. Another interesting difference is that the liner notes for the 78 set quote an enthusiastic Russian review of the music, but by the time the LP came out in 1950, the Cold War had begun and the Russian commentary is nowhere to be found. Possibly a coincidence – who knows.

NEW LINK

Morton Gould by Mitropoulos; Stoki Does Billy

The connecting tissue on this issue is the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York (as the NY Phil was then titled) performing American music. Morton Gould, who made an appearance earlier on the blog as a conductor, shows up again, this time as both composer and conductor.

Gould's terrific Philharmonic Waltzes were written for the NY bunch, and this is a remarkable performance under Dimitri Mitropoulos, either right before or early in his tenure as the Philharmonic music director, which began in 1949. For the first two years, he co-led the operation with Leopold Stokowski. (Now there was a contrast.)

Stoki also appears on this record. The old cowpoke takes two of Copland's Billy the Kid pieces for a ride, then changes gears and genres for the impressionist Griffes item.

It's amazing to hear the mid-century Phil handle the Gould Quickstep march, then the languid White Peacock, both perfectly in style. These recordings are now largely forgotten - they shouldn't be.

One final note - this item has another cover by Alex Steinweiss.

NEW LINK

Gershwin by Levant and Gould

Most Gershwin fans are aware that there was and is a Second Rhapsody (the first being Rhapsody in Blue). Many have heard it and even may have a recording. I doubt that they will have heard this version by the wit/actor of sorts/author/pianist/Gershwin associate Oscar Levant with a Morton Gould led band. It is witty, scintillating (that's one of those words you write but never use in conversation), and fantastically well played by Gould's group.

If anything, the I Got Rhythm Variations are even better done. This is just great stuff, and the Three Preludes are a classic performance of one of Gershwin's finest pieces. Too little known for such a famous composer.

Like Levant, Morton Gould had many talents. He wrote concert pieces in a mostly accessible vein, light music, musical comedy, and film music, and conducted a long string of easy listening records. He also was president of ASCAP for several years. We'll be linking to some of his own music in a little while.

This item has a cover by Alex Steinweiss, one of the most famous LP designers. This one uses the contrasts of typeforms and the posteresque techniques characteristic of his work. He used the cover as a point-of-sale ad; that is one of the LP's most endearing features and one reason why they will continue to be collected when CDs are dumped into bioundegradable piles of silver and plastic.

LINK to 2026 remaster