Marco BOSSI (1861-1925)
Intermezzi goldoniani, Op.127 [7:15]
Edvard GRIEG (1843-1907)
Two Elegiac Melodies, Op.34 (1881) [7:33]
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
Sinfonia from Canatata No.156 (‘Arioso’) arr. Sam Franko [3:53]
Arcady DUBENSKY (1890-1966)
Gossips [2:34]
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
Serenade for Strings: Elegie, Op. 48 (1880) [6:25]
Arr. Percy GRAINGER
Londonderry Air [2:56]
Molly on the Shore [3:58]
Ernest BLOCH (1880-1959)
Concerto Grosso No.1 (1925) [18:54] ¹
André-Ernst-Modest GRÉTRY (1741-1813)
Pantomime from Zémire er Azor (1771) [3:50]
Marche from La caravane du Caïre (1783) [1:44]
Tambourin fropm Denys le tyran (1794) [1:17]
Anton ARENSKY (1861-1906)
Variations on a theme of Tchaikovsky, Op.35a (1894) [16:52]
Philadelphia Chamber String Simfonietta/Fabien Sevitzky
Charles Linton (piano obbligato) ¹
rec.1927-40, Philadelphia
Mono recordings
PRISTINE AUDIO PASC 375 [77:17]
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
A most enjoyable release.
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.