Elaine Shaffer in Mozart Flute Concertos

This is another in a series of recordings by Efrem Kurtz that I have been uploading periodically over the past 18 months. Here he accompanies his distinguished wife, Elaine Shaffer, in the Mozart flute concertos. The LP also includes the Andante, K. 315 that some think was a less-demanding replacement for the first concerto's slow movement. The cadenzas in the concertos are by Franz Reizenstein.

Elaine Shaffer

The conductor and flutist worked together both with the Kansas City and Houston symphonies. They married in 1955.

Shaffer left Houston in 1953 and went on to become a well-known soloist, although she is little remembered today. Composer Ernest Bloch dedicated two works to her, and she premiered compositions by Aaron Copland and Virgil Thomson, among others.

Shaffer did not make many solo recordings, and few of them are available today. I don't believe this record has been in the catalogue since a reprint on the Seraphim label in the 1970s. It is nonetheless impressive. The flutist has a beautiful liquid tone and both her playing and that of the orchestra are stylish, at least for the period.

At the recording session: Elaine Shaffer and Efrem Kurtz
flanked by Peter Andry and Victor Olof of EMI

EMI made this recording in late 1957 in Abbey Road Studio No. 1. The orchestral sound is atmospheric, but the stereo effect is vague, as these early stereo efforts sometimes are.

The download includes the usual high-res scans of the covers, plus reviews from Gramophone, High Fidelity, HiFi Review and Billboard.

 

Kurtz, Sevitzky, Golovanov and Rodziński Conduct Music from Khachaturian's Gayane

I am of two minds about the music of Aram Khachaturian (1903-78), the composer of Armenian descent. I enjoy some of his music (the Violin Concerto in particular), but can't stand much of it (the symphonies, the piano concerto). His ballet suites are uneven - individual dances can be enchanting or ear-splitting.

Today I want to examine his best-known ballet, Gayane (also transliterated as Gayaneh and Gayne), presenting it in four versions.

• The first was the initial recording of music from the ballet, with Nikolai Golovanov conducting a radio orchestra. 
• The second (Efrem Kurtz and the New York Philharmonic) was the first Western recording, which helped to start the mania that formed around Gayane's most notorious and noisiest piece - the Sabre Dance - in the postwar era. 
• Another, recorded by Artur Rodziński during his short tenure as Chicago Symphony music director, was issued to capitalize on the Sabre Dance vogue. 
• The final recording, from Fabien Sevitzky and the Indianapolis Symphony, didn't come out until several years later.

Kurtz, Rodziński and Sevitzky were all talented conductors who have appeared on this blog a number of times. This is the first time I have featured Golovanov, who was the leading Russian conductor of the day.

Background of the Ballet

The young Khachaturian

Khachaturian initially wrote the Gayane music for a ballet called Happiness in 1939. That ballet soon morphed into a drama taking place on a collective farm, where the protagonist Gayane must chose between what is right and her feelings for her husband, who turns out to be a traitor. That original scenario has apparently changed a number of times since its first production, in 1942.

The composer extracted three suites from the ballet as early as 1943, although I believe their contents may have changed over time. This makes little difference for our discussion. As often happens with ballet music, conductors like to construct their own sets of excerpts - as is the case with the four represented here.

Recording History
 

Label from one of the Golovanov 78s

As far as I have been able to trace, the first recording of music from Gayane was in 1945, led by Golovanov, who conducted the All-Union Radio Orchestra in five selections from the ballet. I've been able to locate three of those selections for the download.

Efrem Kurtz took the Sabre Dance into the studio that same year, but Columbia chose not to issue it. Undaunted, Kurtz returned to the microphones in April 1946 to record what he called the Suite No. 1, although it differed from the composer's own conception. It started off with the Sabre Dance, which Khachaturian had slotted into the third suite. Columbia issued the Kurtz-led excerpts as 78 set M-664, right after Morton Gould's String Time, featured here recently.

First issue of the Kurtz recording

Columbia finally got around to issuing the Kurtz set in March 1947. The following month, the album showed up on Billboard's best-selling classical list for the first time. It kept appearing there periodically for many months. Columbia promoted the album with a giant photo of Kurtz in Life's October 13, 1947 issue.

Life magazine ad (click to enlarge)

Other record companies took note. In 1947, EMI paired Nikolai Malko with the Philharmonia, M-G-M brought in Macklin Marrow to record with a studio band, and, in November and December, RCA Victor had Artur Rodziński record four excerpts with the Chicago Symphony.

Cover of Rodzińsk's set

By March 1948, the Sabre Dance was becoming increasingly popular. On Billboard's March 12 classical singles chart, it held down the first four spots, in versions by Oscar Levant, Kurtz, Rodziński and Arthur Fiedler. Kurtz's set was the top-selling album.

Popularity of the Sabre Dance and More Recordings

Much of this popularity was fueled by the pop versions of the Sabre Dance that began appearing as 1947 turned into 1948. There were big band arrangements from Freddie Martin and Woody Herman, and Levant recorded his piano and orchestra transcription for Columbia. I cover all these records in a Sabre Dance round-up on my singles site, along with a vocal adaptation from the Andrews Sisters and a Yiddish version from Mickey Katz ("You're gonna plotz!").

UK cover for Kurtz's LP of his two suites

Over time, the Rodzinki faded into obscurity, but the Kurtz recording just kept on being reissued. In preparation for the imminent launch of LP, Columbia had him return to the studio in December 1947 to record a second suite. It then coupled the two suites on ML-4030 in its first flight of LP recordings in 1948. Eventually it was issued in many countries - the download shows the artwork used in France, South Africa and Argentina, along with the UK and various US covers. Amusingly, the Argentines took Columbia's cover for Mitropoulos' record of the Ippolitov-Ivanov Caucasian Sketches, threw out the typography and substituted Kurtz, Khachaturian and Gayane. Also amusingly, in 1955 US Columbia reissued the Kurtz LP with a cover that labeled it "Sabre Dance" in big type and "Gayne Suites" in small type, with no mention of the composer, conductor or orchestra, at least on the front.

The recordings have continued through the years. Khachaturian himself first set down a piano version in 1950, followed by orchestral suites with the Philharmonia in 1954. I have the latter LP, but chose instead the Sevitzky-Indianapolis version from 1953, which couples Gayane excerpts with a suite from the ballet Masquerade, which also has attained much popularity via its memorable Waltz.

Sevitzky LP cover

Comparing Kurtz, Rodziński, Golovanov and Sevitzky

Three of the four conductors here were Russians by birth - Golovanov, Kurtz and Sevitzky, but I am not sure that gives them more of a feel for the music than the Polish Rodziński. The composer drew upon Ukrainian, Georgian, and Russian music along with Armenian for Gayane - and even incorporated a Polish mazurka into Masquerade. The Sabre Dance may be the best-known piece, but there are several dances that are reminiscent of Tchaikovsky and especially Rimsky, and memorable in their own right.

The only selection chosen by all conductors was the Sabre Dance, as you might expect. Here are a few thoughts about how the four sets compare in the excerpts they share.

Dance of Ayshe

First a slight clarification: what Rodziński presents as the "Awakening and Dance of Ayshe" is actually just the Dance. Sevizky does include the Awakening. Kurtz does not.

Rodzinski and Kurtz are both very well played. Rodziński is the most strongly characterized, although the orchestral balances can be strange. Sevitzky's ensemble is not as polished as the mighty Chicago and New York orchestras, the finest of the day along with Boston. Apparently trying to provide a stronger profile for the music, Sevitzky takes a more symphonic approach than the others. But simpler is better - the music is repetitious, but very beautiful.

Dance of the Rose Maidens

This is another luscious piece that Rodziński does well; his reading is controlled and strongly profiled, but still lovely.

Kurtz takes a much faster tempo than Rodziński, which the New Yorkers sustain beautifully.

Unlike the others, Sevitzky includes the Introduction, which opens the first suite and is followed by the Dance. Here, some of the solo playing is not up to the standards of the other orchestras. While his basic tempo seems fine, but he can't resist a distracting tendency to change speeds and dynamic levels.

Lullaby

An extraordinarily lovely piece, the Lullaby was strongly influenced by Scheherazade, and is related to the Dance of Ayshe. It is beautifully done by Rodziński. Here Kurtz begins by underplaying the gorgeous melody, perhaps emphasizing the nocturnal quality of the lullaby.

Russian Dance

Only Golovanov and Kurtz include the Russian Dance in their selections. Kurtz's orchestra is much more refined than the Russian radio band.

Sabre Dance

In the Sabre Dance, Rodziński adopts a fast tempo, which extremely well executed by his musicians. It's not really a dance tempo, though. The Chicago horns are fantastic.

Rodziński, February 1947

My guess is that Rodziński wanted to outdo the Kurtz reading that was already in the market. Kurtz's tempo is not as fast as Rodziński's. He underplays the contrasting trio, but does comes roaring out of that section.

Sevitzky sets a good tempo, also underplays the trio, but his reading is generally nicely done.

Seated are Shostakovich, Khachaturian and Golovanov, 1945

Golovanov's recording is notable in that he has what sounds like a saxophone lead the trio section theme, while the others give the theme to the strings. The trio usually sounds too muted in comparison with the raucous main section; the pungent saxophone sound helps avoid this.

Conclusion

Overall, I prefer the virtuosic Rodziński recording, even though it includes only four of the dances. His conducting is always apt, and the orchestral playing is remarkable.

Among the pop recordings of the Sabre Dance discussed on my other blog, Mickey Katz is far and away my favorite, even though I don't understand Yiddish. His manic presentation is perfect for the music.

Note about sources: I transferred the Kurtz from the UK Columbia pressing (cover shown above). The Sevitzky transfer is from the original Capitol release. The Rodziński and the Golovanov selections are courtesy of needle drops found on Internet Archive. The sound ranges from boxy (Golovanov) to excellent (Rodziński).

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Kurtz Conducts Rodgers and Porter Suites

Let's return to the 10-inch LP format and to conductor Efrem Kurtz for today's selection. This is the other album resulting from Kurtz's six-year tenure as the music director in Houston - suites from the mega-musicals South Pacific and Kiss Me, Kate.

Efrem Kurtz with members of the Houston Symphony

Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate had appeared on Broadway in late December 1948, with Richard Rodgers' South Pacific in April 1949. Kurtz and the Houston Symphony recorded the two suites from these tremendously popular scores on December 14, 1949, the day all the Kurtz-Houston records were made. Their coupling of Satie and Auric ballets appeared here in February of this year. The only other work taped that day was Fauré's brief Pavane. The latter work became, incongruously, a fill-up for the 78 set of the Rodgers and Porter suites, but was jettisoned for the LP release.

Robert Russell Bennett

Robert Russell Bennett, the orchestrator of both shows, assembled the suites contained on this LP. He called the Kiss Me, Kate suite a "Selection for Orchestra," but grandly titled the South Pacific potpourri a "Symphonic Scenario," whatever that might mean. Both are smoothly done, as you might expect from Bennett, and well handled by the Houston Symphony and by Kurtz, who could not have had much experience with this type of material.

Columbia had issued the original cast albums for both South Pacific and Kiss Me, Kate, and may have seen this 10-inch LP as an attractive alternative for those who didn't want or couldn't afford the full albums.

Columbia's sound is good. The album sports a characteristic cover by Alex Steinweiss.

A reader requested this LP a few months ago - I didn't have it then, but, as sometimes happens, I stumbled across a nice copy not long ago.

The Houston Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, 1949

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Kurtz Conducts Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky

In the late 1940s, Dmitri Shostakovich's music had come under attack for formalism in the wake of the 1946 Zhdanov decree. It demanded that he and other composers write only music for the masses.

To comply, and to support himself, Shostakovich and his colleague Lev Avtomian came up with the idea of repackaging lighter music from the 1930s into suites. The first such Ballet Suite was published in 1949. It was followed by a second in 1951, and third and fourth suites in 1953.

Efrem Kurtz

It didn't take long for conductor Efrem Kurtz,  experienced in ballet and of Russian descent, to discover the music. When he did, he concocted his own version of music from the first two suites into what he called a Ballet Russe, which he and a New York studio orchestra recorded for Columbia in December 1952. As far as I can tell, this was the first recording of this music.

For whatever reason, the conductor changed the titles of most of the pieces from the published scores, and neither he nor Columbia saw fit to denote their sources.

With a little detective work, I was able to assemble a table (included in the download) that shows the names that Kurtz used, Shostakovich's names and the suite derivation, and the source material that Avtomian used for the music. For Kurtz's Ballet Russe, all of the source material dated from 1934, most of it from the ballet The Limpid Brook. From my spot checks, it appears that Kurtz employed Avtomian's arrangements.

Kurtz used five of the six pieces from Ballet Suite No. 1, eliminating the Romance, and five of the six from Ballet Suite No. 2, dropping the Spring Waltz.

Shostakovich (right) with East German leader Walter Ulbricht and wife Lotte, 1950.

The liner notes, while less than clear about the music's provenance, aptly describe it as "direct and simple and immediately appealing." The reading by Kurtz and his forces is light and sparkling. The conductor underplays any parody that Shostakovich intended in the work.

Young Bernard Greenhouse is the soloist in the "Serenade for Cello," and Robert Nagel in the "Romance for Trumpet." Nagel, then a freelancer, would found the New York Brass Quintet a few years later.

Gjon Mili's stroboscopic photo of Kurtz in action.
Sorry if this induces a headache.

Kurtz maintained his light touch even in the more brooding music of Tchaikovsky found on the second side of the LP. First up is the Sérénade mélancolique. Most often heard in violin and orchestra form - although it has been arranged for everything from cello to theremin - here it is performed in an orchestral arrangement of uncertain origin. Kurtz himself might be responsible; regardless of parentage, it works well.

The conductor follows this by programming the second movement of Tchaikovsky's First Symphony. (I believe it is somewhat cut.) The composer's early symphonies were not heard often at the time. Only Sevitzky (available on this blog), Rachmilovich and Ivanov had recorded the First at the time.

To add to the confusion that seems to be a theme on this record, Kurtz calls the work "Andante," even though the movement is marked Adagio and the composer titled it "Land of desolation, land of mists."

Just as the conductor's Sérénade is not overly mélancolique, his Andante is more contemplative than desolate. Tchaikovsky called the symphony "Winter Dreams" or "Winter Daydreams," so perhaps Kurtz's approach isn't too far off the mark.

Columbia's sound is pleasant, although it doesn't have much dynamic range and is over-reverberant. It may be an example of the "stairwell reverb" technique that Columbia engineers were using at the time. That involved playing the tapes in a stairwell and adding the reverb created to the final mix. It was not an unusual practice, but it worked better for pop music than orchestras. Note below that in 1956 Columbia promoted this record as one of its "Hi-Fi Landmarks!", so at least they were proud of it.

Click to enlarge

To return to Shostakovich, to my knowledge Kurtz recorded the composer's music three times - the Ninth Symphony with the New York Philharmonic, the Tenth with the Philharmonia, and this Ballet Russe. [Update: reader David Gideon notes that he also recorded the First Symphony for EMI, published by Capitol in the US.]


If you are interested in more of his Shostakovich, please visit my friend Bryan's Shellackophile blog. He hasn't published anything for the past year, but his previous posts are still on line, including his transfer of the Shostakovich Ninth mentioned above. Even though Bryan's item dates back to 2010, the links still work.

Kurtz Conducts Prokofiev

My previous post of selections from Prokofiev's ballet Cinderella reminded me that I wanted to feature this record presenting music from the composer's greatest ballet, Romeo and Juliet.

Directing matters is a veteran dance conductor, Efrem Kurtz, who has appeared here a few times before.

Efrem Kurtz

Despite his experience in ballet, I doubt that Kurtz ever conducted a staged performance of this ballet. He left the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo in 1942, before the work was widely known in the West.

Although Prokofiev finished the ballet in the mid-1930s, it had a prolonged gestation period before reaching the stage. There were concerns about the ending (happy or not) and about the music (undanceable?), along with severe political machinations - it was the time of Stalin's Great Purge. The first performance - in truncated form - was not in Russia but in Brno, in 1938. Finally, it came to the Kirov Ballet in complete form in 1940. (This is an oversimplified account - see here for a more complete version.)

The original Juliet (Galina Ulanova) and Romeo (Konstantin Sergeyev) at the Kirov

The first recording of music from the ballet was by Prokofiev and the Moscow Philharmonic in 1938, followed by the Boston Symphony and Serge Koussevitzky in 1945 and the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra and Yuri Fayer in 1946.

Prokofiev himself derived three orchestral suites from the complete score, along with a piano suite. The present recording is in effect the second orchestral suite, along with a few pieces from the first suite. It is a satisfying selection, and Kurtz skillfully balances the balletic and dramatic aspects of the score. The music itself is remarkable; I well remember hearing it for the first time and being overwhelmed by its power and poetry. Prokofiev's masterly use of the orchestra is fully on display, and has been a source of inspiration - and sometimes more than that - for other composers, notably such movie artisans as Bernard Herrmann and John Williams, and even pop musicians.

Original cover

This recording is from June 1963 and EMI's Abbey Road Studio No. 1. My transfer comes from a later reissue. The Philharmonia Orchestra plays beautifully for Kurtz, who often recorded with the ensemble. The sound is clear and well balanced.

I have not included any production photos from the ballet itself in the download because this recording was not associated with any particular staging. I did locate four diverse reviews of Kurtz's reading, which is called elegant and effective, but also lacking thrust, vitality and poignancy, depending on who you read. If you believe me, both the music and the performance are treasurable.

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Efrem Kurtz Conducts Satie and Auric

This is a follow-up to my post of last November presenting a Columbia LP of ballet music conducted by Efrem Kurtz. That post contains an introduction to the career of this talented conductor who made many records with the New York Philharmonic and the Philharmonic Orchestra.

Efrem Kurtz

I mentioned then that Kurtz was the music director of the Houston Symphony from 1948-54, but had recorded only a few items with that ensemble. Today we are concerned with his Houston recording of two pieces of French ballet music, Erik Satie's Parade (Realistic Ballet) and a suite from Georges Auric's Les Matelots ballet. The sessions were held in Houston's City Auditorium in December 14, 1949. It was a busy day for Kurtz and his charges - all their Columbia recordings were made during that session, including suites from Kiss Me, Kate and South Pacific, plus Fauré's Pavane, used as a filler on the Kiss Me, Kate 78 set.

Auric by George Hoyningen-Huene; Satie by Man Ray

Kurtz was particularly well suited to conducting the Satie and Auric ballets. Before coming to the US, he had been the conductor of the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo for a decade. That was the successor troupe to Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, which premiered those works. Kurtz worked directly with Léonide Massine, who choreographed both ballets.

Satie and Auric were connected through an association with what became known as "Les Six." In 1917, Satie had assembled a group of younger composers he dubbed "Les nouveaux jeunes," including Auric. That group later became the basis of Les Six, with Jean Cocteau as guiding light rather than Satie.

This 10-inch LP is well played and recorded, and the music is delightful.

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Kurtz's dog endorsed Calvert Reserve liquor

Kurtz Conducts Chopin, Villa-Lobos and Herold

The Alex Steinweiss cover above is particularly appropriate for this recording - conductor Efrem Kurtz made his name as a ballet conductor, principally with the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo.

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.

Efrem Kurtz

Kurtz conducts the excellent Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York in all three recordings. The Chopin and Villa-Lobos pieces date from an October 1949 recording session in Columbia's 30th Street studios. The Hérold comes from an April 1945 session in Carnegie Hall.

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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