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Winter Fire

“I enjoyed every word of Winter Fire and congratulate the author on brilliantly evoking the image of Jean Sibelius – the master of the enigma. It is a great thriller, too, and one of those rare books you just simply can’t put down.”
           -- Maestro Lorin Maazel, Music Director, the New York Philharmonic

“Graphic, yet haunting…with a terrifying climax.”
   --The New York Times

“An astonishing performance, full of unparalleled knowledge of music and war, perfectly interpreted into the story with characters that are wonderfully vivid.”
        --Carolyn Kizer, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet

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It wasn’t for lack of interest or trying, but I found it impossible to update the site while I was living in Shanghai (roughly from March 15 to September 10, 2004). WHY was Trotter in China? I’ll get to that in a minute, but first: the reasons why you’ve not heard a peep out of me for so long…

Internet access in the People’s Republic is a sometime-thing, folks. The Beijing government jumps through hoops, turns itself inside-out, and keeps trying to stuff the digital genie back into the bottle, so there are God-knows-how-many layers of filters, spyware obfuscations, and apparently whimsical bureaucratic decisions by the Chinese government, which seem to operate on a post-Marxist version of Chaos Theory. On any given day, SOME stuff gets in and out of the pipeline, but not ALL the stuff on ANY given day. The weekend before I left Shanghai, for example, there was a widely publicized "mass arrest" of four hundred "pornographers" whose Web-based activities had offended the school-marm sensibilities of…of… well, of whoever was making the whimsical decisions at that particular moment. Mind you, the indigenous "porn" sites in China are so wonderfully naïve and innocuous that your reclusive maiden aunt from Lake Woebegone wouldn’t even blush if one popped up on her monitor screen ("Aiee, Deng-Shau-Ping, is that A BARE ANKLE?? Quick, call the Bureau of Standards and Public Morals!!"); I mean, the really hardcore stuff doesn’t even get past the International Date Line, and the home-grown sites, as I said, are about as racy as an old Betty Paige photo-spread from "Sparky Men’s Tales", circa 1950.

So one layer of problems stemmed from the nation-wide confusion about how to cope with the ditzy anarchy that is the Web’s very essence. Add to that the Ft. Knox-level security systems built in to UbiSoft’s internal electronic communications, firewalls within firewalls, PLUS the fact that as far as the Chinese government is concerned America On-Line simply doesn’t exist, and it took me fifteen minutes (on average) to send a quick email to my wife. The convolutions required to add or delete anything from this site were so aggravating that I finally gave up trying. About half the emails I sent never reached the intended recipients, nor was I reliably informed that my wandering communications hadn’t reached anybody (I try not to envision some 250 emails just roaming around forever in cyberspace, little Flying Dutchmen sailing the electronic seas forever…), and the situation was patently hopeless. Except for truly essential emails, the hassles were just too many and too frustrating.

NOW, to pick up the main thread again, what was Trotter doing in Shanghai, China? Short answer: earning a living. My official title was "Assistant Director" for a modest little tactical shooter known as "Ghost Recon II", but I wore numerous hats during that time: sound director, primary writer of "cinematics", dialogue coach, "historical advisor" (neat trick, that one, for a story supposedly taking place in the year 2007!) and sometimes working with the programmers to develop mission-and-level maps that had to be stuffed with "game-play" value while also being fully understandable to the game’s target audience – i.e., Ritalin-addled 13-year-old boys so pumped with thwarted testosterone as to be savagely dangerous. This was my first time working on ANY game from the developer’s point-of-view rather than the cynical been-there, done-that professional reviewer, and I must say it was terrific fun being a digital roustabout.

I couldn’t tell anybody about the job while I was performing it, because one of the stipulations in my contract was a really severe Non-Disclosure Agreement; had I violated the terms of my NDA, UbiSoft was legally entitled to repossess my house, yank out my fingernails with red-hot pincers, and sell my children to slaver caravans in the deserts of Lower Slobovia. (Hmm, come to think of it, I kind of liked the clause about the kids… ). So except for the handful of people who Needed To Know, it appeared as though I’d fallen off the edge of the world (and in a sense, I had, considering how bizarre a place Shanghai can be)

Then, when I returned to the States I was already ninety days late delivering the finished manuscript of Warrener’s Beastie to my editor at Carroll & Graf, so I had to get down inside The Bunker and write my ass off from about September 10 until Friday, November 5, when I finally Fed-Exed the sucker in the form of a whopping 1109-page tome. Those final weeks of work became a writer’s nightmare, a marathon of sleep deprivation, missed appointments, piled-up unpaid bills, and periods of manic hyperactivity alternating with gothic pessimism. However, spurred on by primal fears of contract litigation and fueled by my patented Senior Citizen’s Stress Diet (caffeine, Adderol, cigars and Wild Turkey), I managed to cobble-together a novel I won’t be ashamed to see my name on. But in order to do that, I left the phone off the hook, never opened my mail (at least, not until I began to see the return address of the Pit-Bull Collection Agency on too many envelopes…) and generally turned into a raving sociopath. But now that the ms, has been delivered, I’ve got no more excuses for not cranking up this website to its full potential….whatever that might turn out to be...

Let the update begin!

* * *

Seems incredible that I’ve been futzing around with the content of this site for approximately ten months and it still isn’t officially "open" yet! I just spent 800 words explaining why, so let me now tell you what’ll happen in the next couple of weeks:

Records in the Attic will finally open for business!

Apologies to those who’ve emailed or called and said they were tired of drooling over the downloadable catalogues and wanted to start ordering custom CDs. I feel your pain; and my bank account feels a hollow, empty sensation that can be assuaged greatly by a flood of orders. Everything’s in place now: streamlined dedicated office space, padded mailers and blank CDs, a brand new turntable with a Shure cartridge, an $800 groove-sucking cleaning machine that’s already accomplished near-miraculous restoration of some moldy LPs that I previously thought were unplayable. All that’s missing is a good CD burner that interfaces with my analogue system – those devices turned out to be neither as common nor as inexpensive as I thought they would be. But I’ll have a most excellent Yamaha model installed in about two weeks and will fill back orders according to the date they arrived: first in, first out.

The Artist-in-Residence, E. A. Lustig, is designing some beautiful full color CD case inserts, and as you can see by scrolling down about half-a-kilometer, I’m kicking off this new collectors’ service with an unusually lengthy and varied selection of New Listings. Remember: the plan is to post 20-25 new items every two weeks, then rotate them into the main catalogues, which will grow in depth and attractiveness as time passes.

Expanding Horizons: We all know the market for esoteric classical music is minuscule and shrinking faster than the Ross Ice Shelf, so I am deep into negotiations now with a gentleman who is internationally known among collectors for having one of the world’s largest privately-owned libraries of blues and early jazz – roughly 7,400 items in his data base, including unspeakably rare small-label Blues, studio air-checks, V-discs, Edisons, etc. I’ll have down-loadable catalogues, monthly new listings, and occasional sales in those fine genres, too. Expect to see a modest but select assortment of rock, soundtracks, and spoken word titles as well. Watch this space for details as this deal ripens.

Return of the Record Reviewer: This is probably the logical spot to mention that I’ve recently been accepted as an affiliated reviewer for MusicWeb International (www.musicweb-international.com), and plan to be reviewing two or three CDs a month for that splendid site. My first efforts were posted last week (Hummel’s Mass in E-flat Minor and a scorching collection of Bernstein’s film and theater music, featuring Maestro Yutaka Sado and the Lamoureux Orchestra of Paris).

Personally-inscribed books make great Christmas presents! I’m gratified to report that, despite the fact that this site’s not been officially "open", I’ve already shipped eleven autographed books that have been ordered for birthday and Christmas presents.

*** GRAND OPENING SPECIAL ***

The bad news is that Design Image Group, one of the best small-press publishers in the horror/dark fantasy scene, is throwing in the towel. Blame this collapse, like so many of the other ills besetting the contemporary publishing industry, on the pitiless and often moronically short-sighted computerized order/ re-order systems that govern the flow of product to Borders and Barnes & Noble. A proper subject for a phobic rant in a future edition of this segment, perhaps, but a golden opportunity for you to acquire the very-well-reviewed vampire-yarn anthology, The Darkest Thirst, at significant savings. I was able to obtain a single crate of copies before Design Image went belly-up, and am hereby offering the book for $12.00 a copy (four bucks off list price); if you wish, I’ll include a personalized inscription, either on the title page or on the first page of my story, "The Bleeding of Hauptmann Gehlen" (Sadistic SS troopers fight for their lives against a ruthless band of Balkan partisans with serious dental problems!).

Among the other genre celebrities whose work appears in The Darkest Thirst are Edo van Belkom, Kyle Marffin, Julie Anne Parks, and the formidable d.g.k. goldberg.

My supply is limited; already sold some by word-of-mouth; the inventory currently stands at 14 copies. And remember, the $12.00 sale price includes not only a personalized inscription of your choice, but postage and handling as well. As this anthology was Design Image’s first commercial book, it’s already becoming a collectors’ item (someone spotted a copy on E-Bay, briefly, for $35) and will appreciate in value significantly faster than most investment portfolios. Once again, the new and permanent address for orders, snail-mail inquiries, and letter-bombs is:

Will Trotter’s Official Website
P.O. Box 14752
Greensboro, N.C., 27401

* * *

The Art Gallery will be open for business within two weeks. Remember, the essence of Ms. Lustig’s dynamic and often spell-binding work is both sublime and simple: Every time you rotate an image forty-five degrees, it seamlessly morphs into a whole new image.

We’re still working on an appropriate price structure and on getting an endorsement from a psychotherapist who has a couple of these "Contemplatives" hanging in his office and reports that they could have therapeutic benefits for certain categories of patients, but these powerful, intimate, one-piece collages are ideally suited to decorating offices and waiting rooms, as letterheads, greeting cards, place mats, or just because they match your color scheme. Until we have a definite system for handling their sale and reproduction, here are a few of Ms. Lustig’s recent works for you to, um, contemplate:

New Records Listings (for period Nov. 29 – January 1)

Let me remind you again of how this works. Below are the new listings; complete downloadable catalogues are hot-linked in the "Records" section (the total number of listed items now runs to just under 600 – approximately 8 % of what I plan to offer eventually).

The cost of an 80-minute CD dub, including shipping & processing, is $12.00, until January 1^st (and maybe thereafter, too, it all depends on the volume). Send check or cash to the P.O. box along with a list of what you want on the CD (timings are given, where available, in the categorical listings). I burn a CD of those selections, from the cleanest, best-sounding Source I have, and mail it to you. That’s all there is to it (see FAQS for further discussion of copyright and technical issues).

Bruckner: Symphony No. 1, C Minor. w/ Japan Philharmonic. No timings or date given by Source; sounds to me like a live broadcast, before a gratifyingly silent and awe-struck audience. Asahina wrings more poetry and drama from the score than any conductor I’ve heard, with the possible exception of F. Charles Adler’s impossible-to-find Sienna LP. (Ah, but you’ll find it HERE, in the appropriate catalogue!)]

Brahms: Symphony No. 1. w/ London Philharmonic Orch.

Grieg: Piano Concerto. w/ Shura Cherkassky, piano; L.P.O.

Schumann: Concerto for Piano & Orch. w/ Shura Cherkassky, piano; L.P.O.

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5. w/ London Philharmonic Orch.

" : Symphony No. 6. w/ London Philhasrmonic Orch.

BROTT: Spheres in Orbit. w/ USSR "Greater Radio & TV Sym. Orch". Live, 1956

RESPIGHI: Pines of Rome. w/ " " " " " " Live, 1956

Faure: Requiem. Source IDs this only as "London, live, mid-late Sixties". There IS a "BBC Legends" edition of Boulanger conducting this piece with the BBC Symphony & Chorus, but as of this writing it’s NOT been released in the U.S. Since I’m dubbing from a reel-reel tape sent me in good faith, and without detailed info, I don’t feel like Long John Silver offering you one-half of that concert (the rest is Lili’s music, which means I’ll buy it as soon as I see a copy, so nobody’s losing royalties here.) Any-damn-how, Nadia of course knew Faure well and has this music in her blood. It’s as deeply stirring and spiritual a reading as you’ll ever hear. Good sound, though stereo spread and depth are minimal. A magnificent interpretation.

Brahms: Symphony No. 1, Op. 68. w/ Milan RAI Symphony T. 46:18

Brahms: Symphony No. 2, Op. 73. w/ " " " T. 40:57

Brahms: Symphony No. 3, Op. 90 w/ " " " T. 35:45

Brahms: Symphony No. 4, Op. 98. w/ " " " T: 41:36

Franck: Symphony D Minor. w/ RAI Symphony of Turin. Rec. 12/1/62, mono)

Wagner: Siegfried Idyll. w/ Stuttgart R.S.O. Nov. 20, 1960 (stereo)

" : "Tristan & Isolde" Prelude. w/ Stuttgart R.S.O. Nov. 11, 1966

Brahms: Violin Concerto. w/ Endre WOLF, violin; Sinfonia of London [Here’s another disc that got limited or NO commercial release, and appears to have been issued as a "bonus" disc for members of the U.K. branch of the Columbia Record Club. I honestly can’t say as how I’ve heard of Mr. Wolf before now, but his interpretation is fully competitive and the under-appreciated Collins provides robust accompaniment. Source has minor blemishes, no stylus-crackers, and the sonics are clean, honest mono. A "sleeper" performance, for sure, and a pleasant surprise to hear.]

Schat, Peter: Symphony No. 1, Op. 27. w/Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Live 1979 (T. 38:18) Davis takes a whack at Dutch avant-garde music and both survive. Not a bad piece, really, and Sir Colin infuses it with warmth, even charm.

Cowell: Symphony No. 5. w/ "American Recording Society Orchestra"

Piston: Symphony No. 2. w/ American Recording Society Orchestra (In decent shape)

Beethoven: Symphony No. 5, 1^st movement, abridged.

" : " " 3, 3^rd movement.

Brahms: Symphony No. 1, 4^th movement, abridged

Dvorak: New World Sym., 2^nd movement

Franck: Symphony in D Minor, 2^nd movement, abridged

Schubert: "Unfinished" Sym, 1^st movement

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4, 3rd Movement abridged

" : " " 5, 2^nd movement, abridged

Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 23, K. 491. w/ Danish Chamber Orch. T. 31:42

" : Symphony No. 35, "Haffner". w/ Danish Chamber Orch. T. 21:52

Mozart: Serenade for 13 Winds, K. 361. w/ Vienna Philharmonic Winds. T. 48:56

Shostakovich: Festive Overture, Op. 96. w/ "Grand" Symphony Orchestra of the State Radio, live, Sept. 11, 1959. T. 5:37. [Sure, it’s noisy claptrap, but Gauk gets down!]

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8, Op. 65. w/ "Grand" Symphony Orchestra of State Radio; live, Oct. 7, 1959. T: 60:18. [The rough-as-a-cob ensemble playing, the braying-oxen horns, the fat wobbly trumpets, the T-34 string sections, all those bad ol’ Soviet-era trademarks are here, but somehow they actually enhance Gauk’s storm-the-barricades approach. He conducts for the jugular and that works for me in Shostakovich’s wartime works. Not many Gauk performances have appeared since the days of Parliament and MK Records, so if you collect Russian conductors and/or Shostakovich, this is self-recommending. Sound is appropriately blasty in the climaxes, but on the whole it’s a good specimen of "StalinSound"]

Borodin: Polovtsian Dances. w/ National Philharmonic Orch. T. 13:14 [Good as it gets, dude; good as it gets!]

Gliere: Russian Sailor’s Dance. w/ National Philharmonic Orch. T. 4:11

Liszt: Mephisto Waltz. w/ National Philharmonic Orch. T. 10:56

Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture. W. National Philharmonic Orch. & Chorus. T. 15:28

Van Baaren, Kees: Musica per Orchestra. w/ Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orch., live, 1968 (T. 17:18)

Ketting, Otto: Symphony for Saxophones & Orchestra. w/ Amsterdam Sax Quartet & Concertgebouw Orch. (T. 31:40) Live, Holland Festival, 1979

De Leeuw, Ton: Music for Strings. w/ Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orch, (T. 10:35)

Berg: Three Excerpts from "Wozzeck". w/ Hanne-Lure Kuhse, sop.; Leipzig Radio S.O. T. 28:02

Weill: The Three-Penny Opera. w/ Lotte Lenya & Berlin State Opera forces, rec. 1932. [Once-famous "hi-lights" album doesn’t seem readily obtainable now in the U.S., so here’s a better-than-decent transfer on to tape from a British source. About 38 minutes altogether. :Lenya, of course, is incomparable; Klemperer captures the Weimar Republic zeitgeist better than anyone before or since.]

Beethoven: Romance No. 2, Op. 50. w/ Kulenkampff & Berlin Phil.; 1932; T. 8:25

Kern, Jerome: "Mark Twain": A Portrait for Orchestra. w/ New York Philharominic personnel masquerading as "His Symphony Orchestra". Jerome Kern’s concert suites was commissioned, by Kostelanetz, at the same time as Copland’s Lincoln Portrait, but has faded utterly from sight. I think it’s a delight, and this appears to be its only recording.

Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf w/ Arthur Godfrey narrator. Strictly for Godfrey fans.

Berlioz: Harold in Italy. w/ William Primrose, viola; Rec. in 1944. T. 41:28

" : Roman Carnival Overture. w/ Boston Symphony, rec. 1936. T. 8:37

Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances, Op. 45. w/ Rochester Philharmonic [Leinsdorf could be the deadest stick in town, but he was so insanely uneven that once in a while he’d knock one out of the park – his Prokofiev with the Boston Symphony, for instance, or this visceral romp through one of Eachy’s best, as well as his last, orchestral pieces. Don’t expect velvet tone from the Rochester band, but they’ve got energy to burn.]

Wagner: Prelude & Liebestodt from "Tristan & Isolde". w/ Wurttemberg State Orch. Source is another rare 10-inch Deccas, in reasonably clean condition. Leitner was another one of those guys like Keilberth and Konwitschny who were solid, dependable, and sometimes memorable, but never flashy, never Box Office. Sort of like Karl Bohm without the great press agent (OK, OK, before Bohm fans fire-bomb my house – just kidding! Mostly…)

Kodaly: Peacock Variations. w/ Amsterdam Concertgebouw; world premiere, 1939!

Mahler: Symphony No. 4. w/ Jo Vincent, sop; Amsterdam Concertgebouw, 1939; T 57:34

Brahms: Symphony No. 3. w/ Amsterdam Concertgebouw; Salzburg,1959; T.33.01.

Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra. w/ Orchestra of the Cologne Radio; live, Sept. 7, 1959 T. 32:15

Srauss: " " " . w/ Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orch; Live, Salzbug Festival, 1958. T. 33.08

Strauss: Don Quixote, Op. 35. w/ Alwin Bauer, cello; Cologne Radio S. O. Live, Sept. 7, 1959 T. 42:35

Strauss: "Elektra", monologue from. w/ Astrid Varnay, sop.; Cologne Radio Symphony Orch., Live, Sept. 7, 1959 T. 10:16 [Essential for Mitropoulos collectors; seasoned, passionate interpretations; not a cool or perfunctory measure in all three scores. At the time this stunning all-Strauss concert was broadcast, Dimitri had 13 months to live. The grisly irony of it: once he was liberated from the punishing work-load and critical savagery of New York, D.M. deepened and refined his conception of his core repertoire pieces; that’s why the Cologne performances, especially the searing, soul-slashing Mahler Sixth, sound so much finer than the earlier ones. The German musicians were second-rate compared to the NY Philharmonic, but they cared and D.M. compelled them to play their hearts out for him. I repeat: essential additions to ANY Mitropoulos collection, and currently not available in the U.S.]

Mozart: "Coronation" Mass, K. 317. w/ Vienna Symphony; Walter Berry, bass; Vienna Boys Choir.

Mozart: Missa Brevis, K. 275. w/ Vienna Symphony; Vienna Boys Choir & soloists.

Rachmaninoff: 3 Preludes (Op. 3/5; Op. 32/5; Op. 23/5). w/ Philadelphia Orch. (Highly interesting orchestrations by the fabled Lucien Caillet; never recorded again by Ormandy, as far as I know. The early LP Sibelius performances are top-notch, too. Source is 10-inch Columbia

Sibelius: Finlandia. w/ Philadephia Orch (Source: early 10-inch Columbia; good)

" : Swan of Tuonela. w/ John Minsker, English horn; Philadelphia. (Same disc)

Mahler: Symphony No. 5. w/ Vienna State Opera Orch.

" : Symphony No. 8. Live, 1951; soloists: Elsa Maria Mathgeis, Daniza Ilitsch, Rosette Anday, Erick Majkut, George Oeggl, Hugo Wiener; Vienna Symphony Orchestra; Vienna Kammerchor; Vienna Singakademie & Sangerknaben. [Pity he never recorded this one again; you can hear enough to tell it’s a great reading, but it’s generally like listening to a short wave broadcast. That being said, however, it IS the first Mahler 8^th ever issued; it IS Scherchen; it IS worth having.)

Mahler: Symphony No. 10 (1^st movement only). w/ Vienna State Opera Orch.

SCHUECHTER, Wilhelm (I dunno who he was, either, but he made a shit-pot full of records for MGM & other early labels, so somebody must collect him. This version’s as good as most and better than some I could name.):

Ippolitov-Ivanov: Caucasian Sketches, Op. 10. w/ Philharmonia Orch. (from 10" MGM)

Khachaturian: Gayne Suite w/ Indianapolis Symphony Orch

" : Masquerade Suite. " " "

Liszt: Tasso; Lament & Triumph. w/ Philharmonia Orchestra, c. 1958; T. 19:12

Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements. w/ Philharmonia Orech., c. 1960-61; T. 21:57

Beethoven: Violin Concerto. w/ Kulenkampff & Berlin Phil; 1936; T. 43:25

Schumann: Viloin Concerto. " " " " " ; 1937; T. 27.50

Beethoven: Symphony No. 6. w/ American Symphony Orch, live, 1966

Brahms: Symphony No. 4. w/ All-American Youth Orch. c. 1942

" : " " " w/ Philadelphia Orch., c. 1934

Cowell: Concerto for Koto & Orch. w/ Philadelphia, live 1964

Klemperer: Merry Waltz. w/ Philharmonia, London. Live, 1974

Schubert: "Unfinished" Symphony. w/ All-American Youth Orch. c. 1941

Sibelius: Symphony No. 2. w/ Philadelphia Orch., Live, 1962

Strauss: Death & Transfiguration. w/ All-American Youth Orchestra, c. 1942

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6, "Pathetique". w/ American Symphony Orch, live 1966

Webern: Passacaglia. w/ Philadelphia Orch. Live, 1962

Apollo, complete ballet. w/ Rome RIA Symphony Orchestra

Concerto Grosso for Strings. w/ Rome RIA Symphony Orchestra

The Firebird, complete ballet. w/ Rome RIA Broadcast Symphony Orch.

Scherzo a la Russe. w/ Rome RIA Symphony Orchestra

Bruckner: Symphony No. 8. w/ Amsterdam Concertgebouw; live, June 28, 1951; T. 71:33. [The Concertgebouw brought out the best in Szell; he KNEW the orchestra would play splendidly, no need to fuss too much over that stuff, and often turned in more spacious, spontaneous-sounding readings with them than with any other orchestra. So it is here: light-years more expressive than his tight-assed Cleveland studio recording. Sound is agreeable, too.]

Berlioz: Roman Carnival Ovt. w/ Vienna Symphony Orch.

Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. w/ Vienna Symphony Orch.

Mozart: Overture to "The Magic Flute" w/ Vienna Symphony Orch.

Offenbach: Gaite Parisienne "Can-Can" w/ Vienna Symphony Orch

Rimsky-Korsakov: Flight of the Bumble-Bee. w/ Vienna Symphony Orch.

Rossini: Overture to "The Barber of Seville". w/ Vienna Symphony Orch.

Saint-Saens: "Samson & Delilah", Bacchanal. w/ Vienna Symphony Orch.

Schumann: "Traumerei". w/ Vienna Symphony Orch.

Verdi: "Aida": Grand March From. w/ Vienna Symphony Orch.

Elgar: Enigma Variations. w/ NBC.S.O.; live, 1951; T. 27:50

" : Introduction & Allegro. w/ NBC S.O.; Live, 1940; T. 14:24

Vaughan-Williams: Fantasia…Thomas Tallis. w/ NBC.S.O. Live, 1938. T. 15:04

Escher, Rudolf: Universe of Rimbaud. w/ Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orch., live, 1977; Eric Tappy, tenor. (T. 21:49)

Vriend, Jan: "Huantan" for Organ & Winds. w/ Winds of Netherlands Broadcasting Ensemble, Live 1971 (T. 13:00)

Enescu: Romanian Rhapsody No. 1. w/ Los Angeles Philharmonic

Smetana: Die Moldau. w/ Los Angeles Philharmonic Orch. [Source is a very rare Decca 10-inch disc; unlike many Decca 12-inchers from this period, it was pressed on honest-to-God vinyl instead of dried modeling clay that turned gray after you played it ten times. That said, however, the condition is good to good + only, some blemishes and bumps, but no canyon-deep scratches. My groove-sucking machine made it downright listenable. If you’re one of the 16 people in the world who collect Alfred Wallenstein rarities, don’t hesitate!]

Musica per Orchestra. HAITINK; Concertgebouw of Amsterdam, Live, 1968 (T. 17:18)

BERG: Three Excerpts from "Wozzeck". Herbert Kegel; Hanne-Lohe Kuhse, sop. w/ Leipzig Radio Sym. T. 28:02

Sacred Service. Geoffrey Simon; Soloists unidentified; London Symphony & Chorus (rec. circa 1977) (T. 50:43)

Suite Hebraique for Vioila & Orch. Marcus Thompson, viola; David Epstein; M.I.T. Symphony Orchestra (T. 13.45)

"Vrijheidlied" ("Song of Victory"). Ensemble "Perseverance", live, 1978. T. 1:55 [Please, God, don’t let anyone write one that lasts MORE than two minutes!]

Fantasy for Oboe & Strings, Op. 2. w/ Harold Gomberg, oboe; Galimer Quartet

String Quartet No. 1, Op. 25. Galimer Quartet. [World premiere recordings, both, I think, and never bettered. Gomberg was a sublime reed player – as well as an absolute bastard to deal with – and the quartet includes Felix Galimer and Leon Zawisza, violin; Kasren Tuttle, viola; Seymour Barab, cello – all sterling artists lopng associated with either the NBC Symphony or the NY Philharmonic. Source LP dates from about 1957, mono only, but holds up wonderfully; as performances, these remain unsurpassed. If you’re unacquainted with Britten’s charming chamber works, this is an ideal starting point. If you already know and love this music, you simply owe it to yourself to hear these gleaming yet warm interpretations. One of my Desert Island discs.]

Spheres in Orbit. w/ USSR "Greater Radio & TV Sym. Orch". Live, 1956

" " " " " " Live, 1956

Concerto for Koto & Orch. Soloist unknown to me; Philadelphia Orch, live, 1964

Symphony No. 5. Dean Dixon; American Recording Society Orchestra

Universe de Rimbaud. w/ Eric Tappy, tenor; Hans VONK; Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orch., Live, 1977. (T. 21:49)

Requiem. w/ Nadia BOULANGER; possibly BBC Symphony; no date or time given.

Between Two Worlds. Ed Spanjaard, cond.; Hilversum Radio Chamber Orch., live, 1978 T. 28:20 [Remember "Third Stream" music? Well, here’s a paradigm of the good, the bad, and the ugly.]

Konzertmusik for Piano, Brass, & 2 Harps. Libor Pesek; Harmony Wind Ensemble of Prague

"Der Schwanendreher", Cto for Viola & Orchestra. Marcus Thompson, viola; David Epstein; M.I.T. Symphony Orch. (T. 26:25). [I’ve always thought the only remotely entertaining thing about this turgid little pot-boiler was the title, but I know some esteemed musicians and collectors who listen with beatific smiles and one professional violist who insists it’s really the bee’s-knees and that perhaps Hindemith’s rollicking sense of humor is just too subtle for me. I concede he might be right, but after dutiful listenings stretching back to the late Fifties, I still hear about two minutes’ worth of enjoyable music in the whole piece. If you feel differently, this version’s as good as any, and the M.I.T. ensemble plays just fine, thank you.]

The Circus Suite. John Hollingsworth; Royal Philharmonic Orch. [Only known American release of this scintillating confection. Movements are: Acrobats; Clowns’ Dance; Bacchanal; Love Duet; Variations; Clock Dance; Consolation and Finale. Timing, I’d guess 16-17 minutes; Hollingsworth’s ballet-pit experience tells, here, for the performance is all sparkle and gaiety. Source is extremely rare MGM LP, which I chanced upon recently in near-mint condition; recording dated 1958.].

Music for Six Woodwinds. Amsterdam Student Chamber Orch. (T. 6:52)

Symphony for Saxophone & Orchestra, Bernard HAITINK; Netherlands Saxophone Quarter; Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orch. (T. 31:40) (Live, Holland Festival, 1979)

Music for Violin, Clarinet & Piano. Pheminos Trio, Live, 1977 (T. 7:54)

Cors et cordes. Lucas Vis, cond; Netherlands Chamber Ensemble, live, 1978. T. 9:13

Merry Waltz. Stokowski; Philharmonia Orch. Live, 1974

Peacock Variations. MENGELBERG; Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orch., world premier, Nov. 11, 1939. T. 28:31. [Rich-sounding and vital; shows what a superb colorist Mengelberg could be. Source derived from copy of "official" Radio Nederland aircheck and aside from a slightly low dynamic level, it’s really very fine.]

Five Impromptus. Paul Hupperts; Hilversum Radio S.O., live, 1968 (T. 4:10)

Music for Strings. Jean Fournet; Netherlands Broadcasting Symphony, live, 1971 (T. 10:30)

Spatial Music No. 1. Paul Hupperts; Hilversum Radio S.O., Live, 1968 (T. 24:25) No, sir, they just don’t write ‘em like this any more. Nostalgic for the days when rooms full of otherwise intelligent people bowed down when Milton Babbitt entered the room? Here ya go!

MAHLER: Symphony No. 5. Vaclav Neumann; Czech Philharmonic Orch.(T.63:17)

Sinfonia for 13 Strings. Paul Hupperts; Hilversum Radio Chamber Orch. (T. 6:15)

Sonata di Chiesa for Viola d’Amore & Strings. Marcus Thompson, viola d’amore; David Epstein; M.I.T. Symphony Orchestra (T. 16:30)

Symphony No. 4. Martin Turnovsky; Czech Philharmonic Orch.

Symphony No. 6. Michael Bialoguski; New Philharmonia Orch

Tre Ricercari for Chamber Orch. Turnovsky; Czech Philharmonic Orch.

Symphony for Wind Instruments. Libor Pesek; Harmony Wind Ensemble of Prague.

Flexio. Richard Dufallo; Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orch; (T. 20:15) Live, 1978 [Sounds exactly like you’d expect a piece entitled "Flexio" to sound…]

Requiem. Composer; Amsterdam Percussion Ensemble. Live, 1971 (T. 9:40)

Summer Day Suite, Op. 65. Alois Klima; Prague Chamber Orch. (T. 15:32)

A Winter’s Camp Fire. Klima; Prague Symphony Orch. (T. 18:56)

RACHMANINOFF: Three Preludes (Op. 3/2; Op. 32/5; Op. 23/5) in orchestrations by the fabled Lucien Cailliet. Ormandy; Philadelphia. (Source: rare 10-inch Columbia)

Gaspard de la nuit. Beveridge Webster, piano. T. 22:00

Jeux d’eau. " " " (Timing estimated @ 4:00)

Le Tombeau de Couperin. " " " T. 19:54

Pines of Rome. Boris Brott, w/ USSR "Greater Radio & TV Symphony Orchestra", live concert, c. 1956. [Gutsy reading; wooly sound; ursine tones a-plenty from the Muscovite orchestra. You’ve heard "Pines" a lot worse than this one.]

Symphony No. 1, Op. 27. Colin DAVIS; Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orch. (T. 38:18) [One of the few Dutch avant-garde-ists with a sense of humor, Schat’s music strikes me as always worth listening-to, even if it’s ultimately a fur-lined teacup joke. This, however, is a serious, but not grim, symphony in one movement, through-composed variations on a three-note cell (C-G-B); neither too hermetic nor too facile, it doesn’t wag its tail in friendliness, but it sticks to the ribs. You may find it grows on your after 2-3 hearings. In any case, here’s a rare example of Sir Colin Davis conducting fare one would not normally associate him with and doing so with lots of energy and commitment.]

Theme for Oboe, 18 Winds & Electronic Ensemble. Han de Vries, oboe; composer cond.; Netherlands Wind Ensemble; Live, 1971 (T. 13:15)

Festive Overture, Op. 96. GAUK; USSR "Grand" Radio S.O. T. 5:37

Symphony No. 8, Op. 65. GAUK; USSR "Grand" Radio S. O. T. 60:18. [See my comments under "Gauk" in the Conductor’s List.]

Finlandia. Ormandy; Philadelphia. Source: rare 10-inch Columbia; quite fine.

Swan of Tuonela. w/ John Minsker, Eng. Horn. Ormandy; Philadelphia (Source: rare 10-inch Columbia)

Intervals II, Music on (sic) War and Peace; Kerry Woodward; Anne Haenen, mezzo; Netherlands Chamber Choir; Ensemble of percussion, trumpets & Piano. (T. 13:15) Yeah, I know – I usually run the other way when I see a composition entitled "Intervals" or "Matrixes" or anything like that . You’ve heard worse; you’ve heard better. The performers certainly give it their all. Another avant-garde gem from the 1979 Holland Festival.

Apollo, complete ballet. w/ Rome RIA Symphony Orchestra

Concerto Grosso for Strings. w/ Romer RIA Symphony Orchestra

The Firebird, complete ballet. w/ Rome RIA Broadcast Symphony Orch.

Scherzo a la Russe. w/ Rome RIA Symphony Orchestra

Octet for Winds. Libor Pesek; Harmony Chamber Orch. of Prague

"Moeilijkeden" ("Difficulties"). De Volharding Wind Ensemble, live, 1976. T. 9:50 [With an ensemble called "The Perseverance" and a piece called "Difficulties", I’ll bet you, like me, already figured out what this would sound like. It does! Aren’t we both smart? THIS, people, is where and how the classical music audience began to answer Milton Babbitt’s "Who cares if you Listen?" question by simply no longer giving a damn – or a dime – for and to the whole cause.]

Passacaglia. Stokowski, w/ Philadelphia Orch., Live, 1962

BEETHOVEN: Romance No. 2, Op. 50. Georg Kulenkampff, violin; Paul Kletzki; Berlin Philharmonic; 1936; T. 8:25.

BEETHOVEN: Violin Concerto. w/ Kulenkampff; Schmidt-Isserstedt; Berlin Philharmonic; Recorded in 1936; T. 43:25

Symphony No. 1 in C Minor (Haas version). Takashi Asahina; Japan Philharmonic; live, no date given. T. not given.

Symphony No. 8. SZELL; Amsterdam Concertgebouw, live, 6/28/51. T. 71:33

Introduction and Basque Aire from "L’Augerge de Bargneres". Marcel Couraud; Paillard Chamber Orchestra. [Premiered in 1805, to great acclaim, this opera-comique, like its composer, has pretty much vanished from sight. Pity – this is catchy stuff.]

Overture to "Les Deux Aveugles de Tolede". Marcel Courand; Paillard Chamber Orch.

"Ba-ta-clan", A Musical Chinoiserie in One Act. Marcel Couraud, conductor; Huguette Boulangeot, sop.; Raymond Amade, tenor; Remy Corazza, tenor; Rene Terrasson, bass; The Pailliard Chamber Orchestra & Chorus [Supposedly an elaborate musical satire on Meyerbeer (!), the jokes and musical parodies are largely unintelligible to anyone not a Meyerbeer specialist, but there’s plenty of Marx Brothers buffoonery that works even without the madcap stage action; great tunes, too!] No timings given on Source]

3 Pieces for Violin & Piano, Op. 79d. Erich Keller, violin; Elisabeth Schwearz, piano.

Prelude & Fugue for Violin, Op. 117/7. Erich Keller, violin.

Suite in the Old Style, Op. 93. Erich Keller, violin; Jurgen Wolf, cello; Werner Floor, viola.

Suite in G Major for Violin, Op. 131d/No. 1. Erich Keller, violin.

Suite in G Major, for Cello, Op. 131c/No. 1. Jurgen Wolf, cello.

Violin Concerto. Kulenkampff, violin; Schmidt-Isserstedt; Berlin Philharmonic, 1937. T. 27:50. [This is ostensibly a washed-out, written-after-he-went-nuts piece, and to be sure, the melodic inspiration is rather thin, but I’d just as soon listen to this as the Cello Concerto, which has always given me the hives…and I like Schumann. Anyway, you’re not hear a more persuasive case made for the music than in this, it’s FIRST recording.)

REPERTOIRE, 18^TH CENTURY

Adagio from Adagio & Fugue in C Major. Sydney Symphony Orch. T. 4:06

Chorale from Easter Cantata. Sydney Symphony Orch. T. 3:53

Fugue in G Minor ("The Little"). Sydney Symphony Orch. 4:03

"Komm, susser Tod" w/ Sydney Symphony Orch. T. 3:53

Passacaglia & Fugue in C Minor. w/ Sydney Symphony Orch. T. 13:10

Tocatta & Fugue in D Minor. w/ Sydney Symphony Orch. T. 9:58

Fugue in A Minor, BWV 1000. Narcisso Yepres, guitar. T. 6:03

Lute Suite in Minor, BWV 995. Narcisso Yepes, guitar. T. 24:46.

Lute Suite in E-flat Minor, BWV 1006-a. Narcisso Yepes, guitar. T. 19:34

"Coronation" Mass, K. 317. Rudolf MORALT; Walter Berry; Vienna Symphony & Vienna Boys Choir..

Missa Brevis. Rudolf MORALT; Vienna Symphony & Vienna Boys Choir.

Piano Concerto No. 24, K. 491. w/ Edwin Fischer, piano & cond. Danish Chamber Orchestra. T. 31:42 [Date & Provenance unknown, but wonderful performance.]

Violin Concerto in A, K. 219 ("Turkish"). Kulenkampff, violin; Artur Roher; Orch. of the German Opera; 1932; T. 28:43

Serenade for 13 Winds, K. 361. Furtwangler; Vienna Philharmonic. (Sheer Heaven.)

Symphony No. 35 "Haffner", K385. w/ Edwin Fischer/ Danish Chamber Orch. T. 21:32.

Suite in C Major, "La Buffonne". Kapp; Philharmonia Virtuosi; T. 19:05.

17^TH CENTURY REPERTOIRE AND EARLIER

Notre Dame Mass. John McCarthy, cond.; Vienna Renaissance Players & London Ambrosian Singers. No timings given

CHAMBER MUSIC & SOLO VIRTUOSI

Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition. Elgar Howarth, transcription. T. 37:49

Bach: Lute Suite in A Minor. T. 24:06

Bach: Lute Suite in E major. T. 19:34

Bach: Fugue in A Minor, BWV 1000. T. 6:03

CELLO

Bach: Suite No. 2 in a Minor. T. 16:08

Bach: Suite No. 5 in c Minor. T. 23:47

OBOE & RELATED WINDS

GOMBERG, Harold (First chair of the NY Philharmonic forever and a day, his playing could be awesome, and IS, here; but a really, really, ornery human being. His open disdain for Dimitri Mitropoulos, whom he denigrated in public as "the Greek fruit", eventually helped undermine D.M.’s authority over the whole orchestra. Now that I’ve reminded you of what an s.o.b. Gomberg was, try to put it out of your mind and just savor his incomparable oboe playing):

Britten: Fantasy for Oboe & Strings, Op. 2. w/ Galimir Quartet. [First, best, version]

PIANO

Grieg: Piano Concerto, w/ BOULT / London Philharmonic

Schumann: Piano Concerto, w/ Adrian BOULT/ London Philharmonic. [I can’t track a commercial US release of these fascinating and dynamic interpretations; there may not have been one, in which case Cherakassky fans will want to gobble these up, as they are prime examples of his art. Source is a good-to-good-plus condition LP pressed, apparently, solely for members of the Columbia Record Club living in the U.K.

Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit. T. 18:08

" : Le Tombeau de Couperin. T. 22:00

" : Jeux deau T. 4.02

VIOLIN, VIOLA & CELLO

Dvorak: Cello Concerto in B minor. w/ Leon Barzun; National Orchestral Association, live, 1940. T. 35:29

Reicha: Cello Concerto in A, Op. 4. w/ Barzun; National Orchestral Association, live, 1940 T. 24:21

Lalo: Symphonie Espagnole. w/ George SZELL; Vienna Philharmonic. Rec. 1943 (T. 24:58

Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto. w/ William STEINBERG; Berlin State Opera Orch. Rec. 1929. T. 27:50 [Perhaps THE most romanticized interpretation you’ll ever hear. Drown in the portamento, swoon at the half-and-half tone of his legato; giggle like a naughty schoolboy leering at the bits underlined in red ink! It’s TOO MUCH, really, but once a year or so, I bring this out and play it to remind myself of how "romantic" music was played BY the Romantics, for audiences of Romantics – and it’s revelatory.]

KULENKAMPFF, Georg [If you know him at all, it’s probably through his sensational Sibelius with Furtwangler. The same combination of technical agility and enormous, cello-dark tone can be enjoyed on these, his earliest and virtually his only commercial recordings. The war, of course, interrupted his career, which was just starting to take off again in 1948, when sudden terminal illness struck him down. The sound on these pre-war Telefunkens is excellent for its day, and I would stack the Beethoven against any other violinist’s – helped by Schmidt-Isserstedt’s classically poised conducting. This is the first-ever version of the newly reconstructed Schumann concerto and makes an eloquent case indeed for this unjustly neglected work.]:

Beethoven: Violin Concerto. w/ Schmidt-Isserstedt; Berlin Philharmonic; 1936; T. 43:25

" : Romance No. 2, Op. 50. w/ Paul Kletzki; Berlin Phil; 1932; T. 8:25

Mozart: Violin Concerto K. 219 ("Turkish"). w/ Artur Roher; Berlin State Opera Orch., 1939; T. 28:43.

Schumann: Violin Concerto (first recording). w/ Schmidt-Isserstedt; Berlin Phil; Rec. 1937; T. 27.50.

Berlioz: Harold in Italy. w/ KOUSSEVITZKY; Boston Symphony Orch. T 41:39

Brahms: Violin Concerto. w/ Sir Anthony COLLINS; Sinfonia of London (no timing)

OPERA, CHORAL, SOLO VOCAL

COLLECTIONS & ANTHOLOGIES

The Alexandrov Song & Dance Ensemble of the Soviet Army. Boris Alexandrov, conducting. [Look, you don’t really want me to type out all 14 cuts on this sucker, do you? Some are familiar chestnuts ("A Birch Tree Stood in a Field", "Kamarinskaya", etc.). Others not so over-done: "We’re the Fine Don Fellows" (no Mafia jokes!), "Poem of the Ukraine", etc. I just dig the hell out of albums like this, and if you do, too, here’s a vivid-sounding, genuine stereo, compilation that runs about 37-38 minutes, and dates from 1978. If you’re really picky, just email me and I’ll send you a complete listing of content]

*** PARTY RECORD ALERT ***

"Rites of the Pagan: Mystic Realm of the Ancient Americas" Arranged & Conducted by Elizabeth Waldo. [Yeah, it sounds like Yma Sumac’s back-up band, but Ms. Waldo took her musicological studies very seriously, after becoming interested in the subject while she was playing in the All-American Youth Orchestra under Stokowski, during its 1941 South American tour. The cuts have titles that don’t disappoint ("Procession of the Penitents", "Chant of the Sun", "Ritual of Human Sacrifice".etc.), and the assorted rattles, gongs, clay flutes, and "animal bone rasps" make a wonderful racket. Back in the late Fifties, early Sixties, this GNP Records album was a wildly popular cult hit, and Source copy is in good to very good condition. C’mon, you know you’d love to have this one, wouldn’t you? Like, at your next party, you can slip it in between the disco-nostalgia CDs and f**k with everybody’s head!]

"Ba-ta-clan", A Musical Chinoiserie in One Act. Marcel Couraud, conductor; Huguette Boulangeot, sop.; Raymond Amade, tenor; Remy Corazza, tenor; Rene Terrasson, bass; The Pailliard Chamber Orchestra & Chorus [Supposedly an elaborate musical satire on Meyerbeer (!), the jokes and musical parodies are largely unintelligible to anyone not a Meyerbeer specialist, but there’s plenty of Marx Brothers buffoonery that works even without the madcap stage action; great tunes, too! No timings given on Source]

Le Testament de Villon. Robert Hughes, cond; Ensemble of the Western Opera Theater. (T. 49:55). [Oh, boy, what does one make of this? One of America’s greatest poets turned loose in the composers’ toyshop to indulge his esoteric if not downright dotty theories of musical-poetics. This is Paris-in-the-Twenties experimentation at its most deliciously nutty. Composed 1920-21, but not performed professionally until 1958 (while Pound was residing in St. Elizabeth’s Asylum in Washington, and was lucky to be in a loony bin instead of being stood against a wall and shot because of his crypto-socialist, anti-semetic ravings on Fascist radio during the war, it sounds….um…like medieval French troubadour poetry as set to Spartan instrumental accompaniment by Harry Partch on Thorazene. Expect no Orffian neo-primitive rhythmic excitement, here, but on the other hand, it’s not unpleasant music, and Villon’s words are ever-ingratiating. It sounds like what it is: an amateur composer with a good ear and some novel, if peculiar ideas, about musical theory, laboring mightily to produce a work that would be utterly forgotten today if Ezra Pound hadn’t composed it. The performers are surely dedicated; the late-mono sound is clean and crisp; my Source is in near-mint condition. If you’ve ever been curious (this is a work much written-about but rarely performed), go ahead. There’s not likely to be an alternative recording any time soon, if ever. (Or Naxos could bring one out tomorrow…]

WEILL: The Three-Penny Opera. w/ Otto KLEMPERER; Lotte Lenya & Berlin State Opera forces, rec. 1932. [Once-famous "hi-lights" album doesn’t seem readily obtainable now in the U.S., so here’s a better-than-decent transfer on to tape from a British source. About 38 minutes altogether. :Lenya, of course, is incomparable; Klemperer captures the Weimar Republic zeitgeist better than anyone before or since.]

FILM SCORES, THEATER MUSIC, ETC

"Ring Around the Rosy" [Invitation to the Dance] composer conducting the MGM Studio Orchestra [Here’s a FIND! This may have been young Previn’s first soundtrack assignment; for a 1956 feel-good Technicolor splurge entitled Invitation to the Dance", directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly, partnered in the big dance numbers with Tamara Toumanova. My source is a near-mint, extremely rare MGM LP; I estimate the playing time for Previn’s segment to be about 24 minutes & change. Not a widely circulated record; I imagine also a highly desirable one for soundtrack collectors and/or Previn fans, among whom I count myself. The music – well, honestly, I haven’t played it yet, having acquired the disc only recently, but one expects it to be appropriate for what the notes describe as a "gay, ultra-sophisticated story". Does it matter? The intrinsic collectability of this LP is huge. I’ll throw in a nice color copy of the album cover with all orders, OK?]

SPOKEN WORD, COMEDY, POETRY, ETC

Woody Allen, The Night Club Years (1964-68). Well, here’s where some of his best and most recycled schtick came from. A little goes a long way, but here’s about two hours of prime material. Source has some light scratches; nothing gross … so to speak.

[Yes, you read that right. All the Gargantuan Greek’s biggest hits, including "This I know – That I know Nothing", "Immortality of the Soul", and, um, that bit about living in a cave!! No one will accuse you of sophistry when you slap this disc on at your next MENSA get-together! Sonorous, thoughtful interpretations, subtly backed up by West Coast Jazz legend, Fred Katz and his combo!!]

Badfinger: "Magic Christian" Music. T. 45:19. [Arguably one of the worst films of the Seventies, The Magic Christian helped nail Marlon Brando into his professional coffin, and probably finished off what was left of Terry Southern’s short literary career, too. That said, I saw it five or six times when it came out; always laughed my ass off; and still find portions of it hysterical. The director’s patent incompetence, and the phoned-in cameos by a dozen major stars, actually work in the movie’s favor. It’s worth watching just to see Richard Burton lurching drunkenly through a Dylan-Thomas-style poetry reading and Yul Brenner in High Drag trying to pick up guys at a bar. Oh, the music? It’s a lot better than the movie, actually, if you like Beatles’ parodies…).