Thursday 24 March 2011

The Kindness of Strangers, Part 5


(Scan: courtesy of Mr. Julian Futter)

The bonanza continues!

As before, originals and transfers are by the great courtesy of Mr. Raymond Glaspole, with further denoising in The Cave; and the label scan has kindly been made available by Mr. Julian Futter.

This first record includes the Paganini Caprice (with piano) mentioned by Tully in his article in The Strad but overlooked in my first post.

Mozart arr. anon. Divertimento in D K.334 – (iii) Menuetto
Paganini arr. anon. 24 Caprices Op.1 –
(xxiv) Tema con variazioni: Quasi presto
Jelly d’Arányi (violin), Ethel Hobday (piano)
Vocalion D 02103
issued September 1923

The next two records make up an almost complete recording of a lovely Trio Sonata by Pugnani (there was clearly no room for the third movement Minuet) - hardly common fare today, let alone in 1924! And I'm pleased to have identified the delicious Boccherini excerpt, with the aid of Yves Gérard’s invaluable thematic catalogue.

Bach arr. anon. Concerto in c minor BWV 1060 – (iii) Allegro
Pugnani arr. Moffat Trio Sonata in C Op.1 No.6 – (i) Andante
Jelly d’Arányi & Adila Fachiri (violins), Ethel Hobday (piano)
Vocalion K 05110

issued October 1924

Boccherini arr. Moffat Trio in c minor G.125 [Op.7 No.1] –
(ii) Andante [expressivo]
Pugnani arr. Moffat Trio Sonata in C Op.1 No.6 –
(ii) Allegro assai, (iv) Caccia: Allegro
Jelly d’Arányi & Adila Fachiri (violins), Ethel Hobday (piano)
Vocalion K 05142

issued January 1925

Vivaldi arr. Nachéz Concerto in a minor Op.3 No.6 RV.356 – (i) Allegro
Hubay Scènes de la csárda Op.33 – (v) Hullámzó Balaton
Adila Fachiri (violin), Ethel Hobday (piano)
Vocalion K 05226
issued May 1926

This record includes what seems to be only solo side by either of the sisters:

Mozart arr. anon. Divertimento in D K.131 – (ii) Adagio
Adila Fachiri (violin), Ethel Hobday (piano)
Bach Partita in E BWV 1006 – (iii) Gavotte en rondeau
Adila Fachiri (violin)
Vocalion K 05247
issued September 1926

Never heard of Norman Fraser? Nor had I. There’s a useful section on him in this article by Philip Scowcroft. The Cueca is a Latin American dance and the national dance of Chile, where Fraser was born. I believe he rewrote what had originally been a solo with piano as a duet, specially for the sisters. This is the sole electrical record in their Vocalion discography - see the label above, crediting the Marconi Company’s Process, which Vocalion started using in August 1926. The Fraser sounds rather plummy here, though, so below you'll find a link to a version re-EQd by a friend.

Fraser Cueca
Jelly d’Arányi & Adila Fachiri (violins), Ethel Hobday (piano)
Spohr Duet in d minor Op.39 No.1 – (ii) Adagio
Jelly d’Arányi & Adila Fachiri (violins)
Vocalion K 05292

issued April 1927

Download the above as 12 mono FLACs, fully tagged, in a .rar file, from here.

Download a re-EQd version of Vocalion K 05292 here. There’s more ‘roar’ from the surface but the sound is more plausible, I think. The Fraser was short on higher frequencies to start with, I fear.

6 comments:

  1. These have been in the cave so long they have Spohrs growing on them!
    Seriously, chap (I like to use these kinds of words when talking to brits, I hope it doesn't make you feel awkward) I really must sit down and explore all this. Unknown repertoire to me!

    Sincere thanks to you and your kind benefactors!
    Squirrel

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  2. I've listened to the first 2 tracks so far...WOW! That Paganini number, such wild, frenzied playing there, it's just so very unseemly for a WOMAN! (snicker) Jelly d’Arányi was definately a lady ahead of her time! Greetings from the USA!

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  3. Dear Marie, Thank you so much for visiting and for your comment! That's one of the great things about old records - they keep shooting prejudices down in flames. But I feel embarrassed that I haven't finished posting this series of d'Arányi & Fachiri records - I really must pull my finger out and get it done. Thing is, is (as people now say) I'm buying so much interesting stuff... the Cave is plumbing new depths of squalor and chaos. Are you a player or a listener or a collector or all three? Best wishes, G

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  4. Just a listener, and "collector" of mp3s found on blogs like yours and others like Shellackophile, a 30-something raised on rock and pop, who's been developing an appreciation for classical and "older" popular music in the past 5 years or so, ('70s "progressive" rock was a gateway drug to classical for me, heh, heh!)

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  5. Dear Marie, A self-taught listener, then - just like me! I started as a teenager, listening to my father's LPs, records from our school library and the radio, and reading magazines and books about music. You've stolen a march on most of us, I'd say, by getting into music via the mainly historical recordings we share. I wish you as many years of discovery and pleasure as I've had (and hope I will continue to have) - and that your house will not get as cluttered as my Cave! G

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