Vaughan Williams and Tansman with the Zimbler Sinfonietta and Joseph Fuchs

One final shot in my fusillade of Fuchs recordings: this recording of the Vaughan Williams Violin Concerto (usually called the "Concerto Accademico") with the Zimbler String Sinfonietta accompanying Joseph Fuchs.

Joseph Fuchs

The coupling is "Triptych" from the Russian-French composer Alexandre Tansman (1897-1986), a most attractive work that is well played by the Zimbler strings.

Alexandre Tansman

Such judgments are entirely subjective, but I have to say this is the best recording of the Vaughan Williams work I have heard, including the roughly contemporary Louis Kaufman edition I posted here three years ago.

The Zimbler ensemble was formed by Josef Zimbler, a Boston Symphony violinist. It consisted substantially or entirely of BSO members, including on this recording assistant concertmaster George Zazofsky, principal violist Joseph de Pasquale, and principal cellist Samuel Mayes. The notes to this LP say it worked without a conductor, but I believe there are later recordings that designate Lukas Foss as conductor for the occasion.

Speaking of Foss and his association with the Zimbler group, nine years ago I transferred the US Decca 10-inch LP of Hindemith's "The Four Temperaments" with that ensemble and Foss as pianist. I've now remastered the recording and it is newly available here.

The sound is very good on both LPs.

Lukas Foss Plays Hindemith

A short while ago, I featured Lukas Foss as composer, in a tribute to him following his recent death. Here is the second post I promised at that time, which involves him solely as performer.

In this recording, Foss takes the piano part of Hindemith's The Four Temperaments, performing with the Zimbler String Sinfonietta, a Boston ensemble of the period that I believe was composed of Boston Symphony members.

The performance itself is quite good and well recorded, although the Sanguine variation could have been less po-faced. The recording was made in May 1950 at an unknown location, presumably in Boston. This was one of American Decca's first classical LPs.

The liner notes quote Virgil Thomson as saying of Foss, who was then 25: "He is a musician of rare and authentic accomplishments; he cannot fail to raise the standard of musical achievement in this generation." Quite a weight of expectation for someone so young; if he did not fulfill all the evident hopes of the musical establishment, nonetheless his achievements were real and considerable.