Lost Feuermann - The Japanese Recordings 1934 & 1936

$19.99
Label
Music and Arts Programs of America
Release Date
October 1, 2009
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      YAMADA, KOSAKU
    • PERFORMER
      Emanuel, Feuermann
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      October 01, 2009
    • UPC
      017685107528
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      MUA1075
    • LABEL
      Music and Arts Programs of America
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Concertos
    Works ⌄

    1. 6 Morceaux, Op. 51: No. 6. Valse sentimentale (arr. for cello and piano)

      Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

      Performer: Emanuel Feuermann, Wolfgang Rebner

    2. Lieder ohne Worte (Songs without Words), Book 5, Op. 62: No. 30 in A Major, "Fruhlingslied" (Spring Song) (arr. for cello and piano)

      Composer: Felix Mendelssohn

      Performer: Emanuel Feuermann, Wolfgang Rebner

    3. From Jewish Life: I. Prayer

      Composer: Ernest Bloch

      Performer: Emanuel Feuermann, Wolfgang Rebner

    4. Jocelyn, Op. 100, Act I: Berceuse (arr. for cello and piano)

      Composer: Benjamin Godard

      Performer: Emanuel Feuermann, Wolfgang Rebner

    5. 3 Gedichte, Op. 29: No. 3. Zigeunerleben (arr. for cello and piano)

      Composer: Robert Schumann

      Performer: Emanuel Feuermann, Wolfgang Rebner

    6. Schwanengesang, D. 957: No. 4. Standchen (Leise flehen meine Lieder) (arr. for cello and piano)

      Composer: Franz Schubert

      Performer: Emanuel Feuermann, Wolfgang Rebner

    7. Her Bright Smile Haunts Me Still (arr. for cello and piano)

      Composer: William Thomas Wrighton

      Performer: Emanuel Feuermann, Wolfgang Rebner

    8. Carnival of the Animals: XII. Le Cygne (The Swan) (version for cello and piano)

      Composer: Camille Saint-Saëns

      Performer: Emanuel Feuermann, Wolfgang Rebner

    9. Sonata No. 10 in E Major, Op. 8: II. Allegro, tempo di gavotta (version for cello and piano)

      Composer: Giuseppe Valentini

      Performer: Emanuel Feuermann, Wolfgang Rebner

    10. 2 Melodies, Op. 3: No. 1 in F Major (arr. for cello and piano)

      Composer: Anton Rubinstein

      Performer: Emanuel Feuermann, Wolfgang Rebner

    11. Nocturne No. 2 in E-Flat Major, Op. 9, No. 2 (arr. for cello and piano)

      Composer: Frédéric Chopin

      Performer: Emanuel Feuermann, Wolfgang Rebner

    12. Kojo No Tsuki (Moon of the Deserted Castle) (arr. for cello and piano)

      Composer: Rentaro Taki

      Performer: Emanuel Feuermann, Fritz Kitzinger

    13. Karatachi no hana (Trifoliate Orange Flowers) (arr. for cello and piano)

      Composer: Kōsaku Yamada

      Performer: Emanuel Feuermann, Fritz Kitzinger

    14. Nabora (arr. for cello and piano)

      Composer: Kōsaku Yamada

      Performer: Emanuel Feuermann, Fritz Kitzinger

    15. Ojoro Takashima (arr. for cello and piano)

      Composer: Kōsaku Yamada

      Performer: Emanuel Feuermann, Fritz Kitzinger

    16. Ave Maria (arr. for cello, piano and organ)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach, Charles Gounod

      Performer: Emanuel Feuermann

    17. Kol nidrei, Op. 47

      Composer: Max Bruch

      Ensemble: Staatskapelle Berlin

      Performer: Emanuel Feuermann

      Conductor: Frieder Weissmann

    18. Cello Concerto No. 2 in D Major, Hob.VIIb:2: II. Adagio. III. Rondo: Allegro

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Staatskapelle Berlin

      Performer: Emanuel Feuermann

      Conductor: Frieder Weissmann


Music and Arts has unearthed what it calls "lost Feuermann," recordings the great cellist made during tours of Japan in 1934 and 1936. The 1936 sessions are mostly fluff, the sort of ear candy that makes for nice encores, and were staples of the 78 rpm era. Feuermann, of course, elevates them to the realm of high art. His seamless legato makes fascinating listening experiences of Mendelssohn's Spring Song and Rubenstein's Melody, and he sings Godard's Berceuse and Schubert's Serenade with bel canto phrasing worthy of a Golden Age tenor. His tonal command is complete, ranging from rich, dark tones in Tchaikowsky's Valse sentimentale to the light and airy in Schumann's Zigeunerleben. Unfortunately, the transfers obscure much of Feuermann's golden tonal resources through aggressive noise-reduction techniques. Compare, for example, the wooden mid-and lower registers in the Spring Song to the multi-colored hues of the same Japanese recording on Pearl 9446. The 1934 sessions sound much better, more vibrant and alive, with unobjectionable 78 surface noise. Those recordings offer real novelties--arrangements of Japanese folk songs, one by a composer named Taki on the back of the jewel box, and three by a man the skimpy booklet notes identify as "eminent Japanese composer and conductor" Kosaku Yamada. These are also of the bob-bon persuasion, and frankly imitative. Yamada"s Karatachi no Hana reminds one of "Old Folks at Home," while Ojoro Takashima sounds more Jewish than Ernest Bloch's Prayer from the 1936 set, making it a perfect choice for a "name the composer" quiz. The disc is filled out with three European recordings made early in Feuermann's tragically brief career--a saccharine Bach--Gounod Ave Maria, a gorgeously played Bruch Kol Nidrei, and the second and third movements of Haydn's Concerto in D disfigured by a scrappy orchestra and a slow movement of such gross sentimentality that its only redeeming features are Feuermann's rich tone and its suitability as a torture device for aficionados of the authentic instruments school. But this interpretation too, is authentic in the sense that it's the way Haydn was done at a certain place and a certain time. There's some wonderful cello playing on this disc and it will be welcomed by all who admire Feuermann's art, both for his playing and for the opportunity to hear some of his most rare recordings.

--Dan Davis, ClassicsToday.com