I'm pleased to report that this is the most popular thing I've ever posted to the Box site; every few minutes, I get
another notice that it has been downloaded!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Philip Carli" <philip_ca...@pittsford.monroe.edu>
To: "Antique Phonograph List" <phono-l@oldcrank.org>
Sent: Saturday, December 17, 2011 10:34 AM
Subject: Re: [Phono-L] Nutcracker Suite
Nice to hear your good opinion of the Befer transfers; they're done by my friend Bob Hodge, their chief engineer, who's
very particular and works like blazes trueing things up on their Archeophone (as much as the management's time frame and
the cylinders themselves will allow him to be - I've worked with him on cylinder projects, and some BA's just won't
completely true). He also transfers at 1/2 speed for steadiness, then doubles for finishing. I'll pass along the good
word; he's a superb technician with great "ears" who doesn't receive enough positive feedback, and your thoughts will
cheer him considerably.
The DD _Nutcracker_ stayed in the catalogue until at least 1926, if not till the end, as they're in the 1925 catalogue; I
have a paper label copy of the first disc and a quiet late etched copy of the second. The committee at West Orange which
passed on DDs made some strange decisions which affected couplings and completeness (especially later on), but at least
Sodero was the only Edison staffer who was given carte blanche as to repertoire selection. (One coupling was undoubtedly
done for economic and logistical reasons; Sodero's 1916 ASO "Henry VIII" Dances by Edward German are given complete, but
nos. 1 & 3, the most heavily orchestrated, are one side, and the lightly scored pastoral no. 2 on the other. ) Sodero was
often a brisker conductor than his successor Irwin Schloss, who did the electrical Grieg and most electrical Edison
orchestrals. Carlo Peroni also conducted a few electrical DD's, and his are excellent - the other Xmas Edison we play is
his 1928 "Dream Pantomi
me" from _Hansel & Gretel_ coupled with the "Pastoral Symphony" from _The Messiah_. I have 4 of the 5 London Edison NMB
_Nutcracker_ cylinders myself, and enjoy them as well; in case you're wondering, they're conducted by George W. Byng, the
London studio's music director.
A very merry Christmas to you! P. Carli
________________________________________
From: phono-l-boun...@oldcrank.org [phono-l-boun...@oldcrank.org] on behalf of
Dan Kj [ediso...@verizon.net]
Sent: Saturday, December 17, 2011 3:10 AM
To: phonol...@yahoogroups.com; Antique Phonograph List
Subject: Re: [Phono-L] Nutcracker Suite
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/
_______________________________________________
Phono-L mailing list
http://phono-l.org
