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The Radio 3 Boards > Collectors Resource > The Vinyl and Shellac Knowledge Bank > the olde Shellac Shoppe
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Author Topic: the olde Shellac Shoppe  (Read 720 times)
John W
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« on: 21:58:21, 27-08-2007 »
I've collected 78s for many years, mainly jazz and dance band, and always picked up the occasional interesting 'classical' music. With rather large donations form neighbours I have more than the occasional classical 78 now and I've been flicking through racks of those un-listened-to oldies, what wonders there are.

The references I have (Brian Rust) allow me to date most of my jazz and popular/variety records but I am struggling with the classical discs. Hoping there are some knowledgable souls here to help.

For the Wilhelm Backhaus record below I think I have a good estimated date of 1911 but maybe someone has a bit more knowledge to put me right.



From Rust's Record Labels book (1978) this black single-sided HMV record 05533 would seem to be before the D-series which started in 1918, and since Backhaus was German this recording (made in London?) would be before the start of WW1. The matrix number, bottom, is 5072f and, if this fits with the guide list in Rust, that number is from 1911 (matrices 4735 to 5847).

This also ties in with the 'LONDON' on the label which suggests the recording was made at the City Road studio (which closed in 1914) and the label indicates the pressing was made at Hayes which had operated since 1908.

Can anyone confirm my date?


John  W
« Last Edit: 22:04:03, 27-08-2007 by John W » Logged
John W
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« Reply #1 on: 23:21:32, 27-08-2007 »
Many of you will have no access to 78rpm records so thought I'd make a short recording of the Backhaus so you all can hear this near-100 year old disc. The diamond styli I have aren't suitable for this disc, they have too small radii, so I've resorted to a portable wind-up gramophone and a microphone into the PC.

The result, without any noise-reduction, is listenable if you have shellac-adjusted ears like mine  Smiley you may need to turn up your volume:

Backhaus


John W
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pim_derks
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« Reply #2 on: 08:40:14, 28-08-2007 »
Many thanks for that fragment, John. It's beautiful.  Smiley
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"People hate anything well made. It gives them a guilty conscience." John Betjeman
Reiner Torheit
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WWW
« Reply #3 on: 08:52:43, 28-08-2007 »
What a lovely timbre the instrument has, too  Smiley  Without the over-edged brightness of modern grands.  Or is that just because some of the upper harmonics have gone missing amid the shellac, I wonder?
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"I was, for several months, mutely in love with a coloratura soprano, who seemed to me to have wafted straight from Paradise to the stage of the Odessa Opera-House"
-  Leon Trotsky, "My Life"
John W
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« Reply #4 on: 12:43:34, 28-08-2007 »
Glad you enjoyed the clip Pim.

Quote from: Reiner Torheit on 08:52:43, 28-08-2007
What a lovely timbre the instrument has, too  Smiley  Without the over-edged brightness of modern grands.  Or is that just because some of the upper harmonics have gone missing amid the shellac, I wonder?

I wondered that too. A recording of that era (pre-1925) is acoustic, no microphones, the studio would have just had a big horn set up to capture the sound onto the wax. Acoustic recordings would lose some frequencies. I'm not well-read on the subject of acoustic recordings.

I expect the piano was HMV's studio instrument so other artistes recorded at that time would have played the same instrument. I'm sure there's a history of the City Road studios somewhere, must do a search.


John W
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John W
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« Reply #5 on: 22:33:19, 28-08-2007 »
I have a modest collection of 78s featuring tenor Enrico Caruso, I think about 50. Nothing particularly rare in that lot, none of his Milan recordings - he sold millions of Victor/HMV records after his Met debut in 1903 - and most of the records I have are re-issues after his death (1921) on HMV or Victrola (USA).

With a bit of research it's clear that a number of the records I have are pressings made while Caruso was still alive and I suppose they have some added value and are more sought after by collectors.

The photo here is the oldest of the Caruso disc pressings I have, and it's the only one I have that credits the artist as Sig. Caruso. 'Magiche Note' from Goldmark's Regina di Saba (Queen of Sheba). There's a good discography published which tells me this HMV Gramophone Concert Record was the first issue in UK of that recording which was made in New York in March 1908.



The pink colour label was assigned to Caruso at that time. Here's a clip:

Caruso

An attempt at noise reduction could be quite successful with this disc, it's near mint and the hiss is at a fairly constant level throughout. There's a fault in my recording as Caruso hits the loud note, I could likely improve on that with mic placement (yes it's the wind-up gramophone again).

I have several earlier recordings which were re-issued on double-sided discs in the 1920s.

John W
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Reiner Torheit
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« Reply #6 on: 17:31:35, 29-08-2007 »
Thanks for the clip, John!  Smiley  We don't hear enough Goldmark these days, imho Smiley
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"I was, for several months, mutely in love with a coloratura soprano, who seemed to me to have wafted straight from Paradise to the stage of the Odessa Opera-House"
-  Leon Trotsky, "My Life"
John W
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« Reply #7 on: 21:54:14, 31-08-2007 »
Quote from: Reiner Torheit on 17:31:35, 29-08-2007
We don't hear enough Goldmark these days, imho Smiley

Indeed. The only other Goldmark I have is the Naxos CD 8.550745 with a 'Rustic' Symphony and a couple of overtures which I haven't played for a year or more. So will put that to right some time this weekend.


John
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John W
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« Reply #8 on: 23:41:06, 31-08-2007 »
While rummaging through the 78rpm collection given to me I had hoped to find early Yehudi Menuhin, especially the recordings he made of Bach, but instead I found this:



and astonishingly a quick surf suggests that this record is the UK release of Menuhin's first ever recording, made in California in 1928, at the age of 12.

Why an obscure piece Allegro by Fiocco should have been his first recording (matrix PB42091) I don't know; the other side of the disc Menuhin plays La Capricciosa by Ferdinand Ries (matrix PB42092).

Some information:
http://web.utk.edu/~wmorgan/tat/record.htm

although there is a sound clip at that site I've made my own clip for the forum, hoping it sounds better  Smiley possibly not as it is mp3.

Fiocco clip

Surfing today reveals earliest Menuhin recordings are available on Biddulph CDs.


John W
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Reiner Torheit
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« Reply #9 on: 11:59:42, 01-09-2007 »
There are some extremely nice Lieder by Goldmark, by the way.  Rather than hunt around for recordings, I'd instead recommend getting the sheet music (it's easily available in Peters Edition) and singing them for yourself, with the assistance of a friendly pianist - this is music for performing and enjoying yourself, primarily.  Pianists will find this music equally rewarding  Wink
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"I was, for several months, mutely in love with a coloratura soprano, who seemed to me to have wafted straight from Paradise to the stage of the Odessa Opera-House"
-  Leon Trotsky, "My Life"
richard barrett
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« Reply #10 on: 12:05:39, 01-09-2007 »
Quote from: Reiner Torheit on 11:59:42, 01-09-2007
Pianists will find this music equally rewarding  Wink
Not if it's me singing they won't.
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ahinton
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« Reply #11 on: 14:10:35, 01-09-2007 »
Quote from: richard barrett on 12:05:39, 01-09-2007
Quote from: Reiner Torheit on 11:59:42, 01-09-2007
Pianists will find this music equally rewarding  Wink
Not if it's me singing they won't.

Now that definitely ISN'T Michael Berkeley...

Best,

Alistair
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John W
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« Reply #12 on: 15:18:51, 01-09-2007 »
Reiner,

This collection of 78s I'm working my way through contains a significant amount of operatic arias, and maybe lieder. I'm familiar with most of the names on HMV (Met stars and UK artistes) but there are a lot of Columbia and Parlophone records by artistes I've never heard of and are completely or almost non-existent if googled. If I examine the matrix numbers and find unfamiliar number series then they might indicate European recordings. I'll see if I can choose something particularly interesting to put on here.

John W
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