A couple of things before we begin: no, you’re not seeing
things - it really was a String Simfonietta with an ‘m’. If you
are curious about the name, yes Fabien Sevitzky (1893-1967) was originally
‘Koussevitzky’, and he was a nephew of Serge. He was also later,
in 1937, to become conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony, a position he
held for nearly two decades.
The Simfonietta was drawn from the ranks of the Philadelphia Orchestra,
and that included Sevitzky himself who was a bass player, and the ensemble
gave its first concert in 1925. According to Mark Obert-Thorn’s
note it was claimed to be the world’s first permanent string orchestra.
The electric recordings followed in February 1927, and then another
batch in 1929, after which there was a long gap until the final series
in 1940.
Programming seems to have been arbitrary-to-light. Bozzi’s
Intermezzi goldoniani is a genial affair graced by some sleek
portamenti and expressive weight despite the hall’s dry acoustic. The
Grieg
Elegiac Melodies were recorded at the same time and reveal
strong cantabile qualities and stylistic probity. They espouse Sam
Franko’s famous
Arioso, his arrangement of the Sinfonia from
Bach’s Cantata No.156. Beloved of solo violinists, this sensuous
performance stands up well for its corporate tonal qualities. Dubensky was a
composer much performed in Philadelphia which was presumably where Sevitzky
encountered him; certainly Stokowski was an avowed interpreter of
Dubensky’s music and indeed recorded some of it.
Gossips is a
pizzicato study that evokes the chatter of those talkative people.
Tchaikovsky’s
Elegie from the
Serenade for Strings
offers a small-scaled approach: textually clear but necessarily
underpowered. The two Grainger arrangements are largely non-calorific, but
as in some of the other performances the texture can be slightly dominated
by the first violin. The most important of the ensemble’s recordings
was that of Bloch’s Concerto Grosso No.1, a recording made in May
1929. This was the work’s first ever recording and it wasn’t
until Victor released a set by the Curtis Ensemble under Louis Bailly that
it became supplanted. Charles Linton is the obbligato pianist in this crisp,
warmly textured reading - buoyantly characterised, too.
The last sessions included a trio of Grétry pieces. The most
famous is the one that Beecham loved to play as an encore, the Pantomime
from
Zémire et Azor. Fortunately Sevitzky likes to keep that
pianissimo going as far as it can. Finally, at those same sessions in 1940,
at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, they performed Arensky’s
ingratiating
Variations on a Theme of Tchaikovsky in thoroughly
elegant fashion. The wartime shellac is not great, and thus a bit noisy, and
the last side has some passing thuds, which are pressing faults, but the
performance is well worth hearing.
Finally Pristine, very unusually in my experience, doesn’t provide
any catalogue and matrix numbers on its inlay (see Footnote), but fortunately
this information is available on its website. This is a most enjoyable
release.
Jonathan Woolf
Footnote
From Andrew Rose, Pristine Classical: We do always try and include catalogue
and matrix numbers, as well as anything else we can find of historic
importance, on our CD covers. Alas in one or two cases, especially where
there are a large number of tracks to notate, it has proved impossible
to squeeze everything in at a type size that's legible to the naked
eye! This was one of those instances. As Jonathan rightly points out,
the information is there on our website, on the page from where 99.9%
of orders for this recording will be placed.
