I have the 2 Edison discs, but they are rather noisy pressings; it would
be nice to find later paper-label pressings - if they were in the catalogue
long enough. I recently bought (and overpaid, but I didn't know) an
electric Edison of the Peer Gynt Suite, and although 2 discography sources
showed it to be similar to the acoustic Edison with 2 parts on each side, it
actually has just "Morning" and "Ase's Death" played so slowly and
lugubriously that they almost fill each side! They did something similar
a couple of years earlier, with Victor Herbert's Suite of Serenades - even
though all 4 parts would easily fit on 2 Edison sides, only 2 parts were
recorded with a lot of wasted blank space.
Back to the Nutcracker: 5 decent Edison cylinders from the London branch.
Although played by the "National Military Band", the harp part was wisely
retained in Waltz of the Flowers. My copy of Flowers looks new, but has a
waver that makes the harp unpleasant to hear; the Syracuse University
Belfer Lab people have overcome most wavering on most of their transfers, so
this is quite enjoyable. All in one zipped folder, for your convenience:
http://www.box.com/s/xjg5yibnpno8sygv561y
Do check the Belfer site - the transfers are excellent, and you are allowed
to download all of them. No telling when anything on the Internet might
disappear, so save save save.
http://library.syr.edu/splash/cylinders/
----- Original Message -----
From: "Philip Carli" <[email protected]>
To: "Antique Phonograph List" <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, December 16, 2011 10:25 PM
Subject: Re: [Phono-L] Nutcracker Suite
A happy choice in many formats and performances in the acoustic and early
electric era. If you don't have the Long Play version, the original 10"
DD sides from 1918 offer a really colorful and energetic performance as
well (indeed led by Sodero - he gets really tight playing from the strings
in the Overture Miniature), lacking the March, which was subsequently
issued by Edison in 1920 in a version by Conway's Band. We have two
versions for the season: four sides of Herman Finck and the Palace Theatre
Orchestra's second recording of the suite, done in 1914 for English
Columbia (brilliantly recorded, with the slowest yet most precise version
of the March I've heard), and Percy Pitt leading the B.B.C. Wireless
Symphony Orchestra in 1927 on six sides (stylish and brightly colored in
the manner of 1920s English orchestras - those narrow-bore piston-valve
French horns and straight-toned double-reeds really cut). Also, the Pryor
Band's 1912 Victor recording of the Overture is re
ally wonderful - as finished woodwind playing as has ever been recorded,
and rather startlingly delicate. P. Carli
________________________________________
From: [email protected] [[email protected]] on
behalf of Jim Cartwright [[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, December 16, 2011 9:37 PM
To: 'Antique Phonograph List'
Subject: [Phono-L] Nutcracker Suite
Since World War II, Tschaikowsky's Nutcracker Ballet , always a popular
concert item has become a Holiday Season favorite. I just cranked up my
Edison C-2 Long Playing
Phonograph & listened without record change interruptions to the slightly
abridged Edison long-playing diamond disc record (30004) of Casse-Noisette
(Nutcracker) Suite performed by Edison's "house" orchestra, the American
Symphony Orchestra, no conductor listed on the label but no doubt directed
by Cesare Sodero. At this time of year I recommend this record to all
collectors of antique phonographs despite its low volume level & the
occasional skip or repeat but be sure to fully wind the phonograph before
starting since the music lasts almost 20 minutes. Merry Christmas!
Jim Cartwright
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