#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalTimeMachine Week 3
By Ralph Graves
For the month of October, the Classics a Day team turned nostalgic. Classical musicians have been making recordings since the 1890s. So we all have over 130 years of documented performance practices. And we can judge first-hand the artistry of legendary performers.
The challenge is to post classical recordings made before 1949 (pre-LP era). Here are my posts for the third week of the #ClassicsaDay theme #ClassicalTimeMachine.
10/19/20 Richard Strauss – Also Sprach Zarathustra (1944)
Strauss recorded this and other works with the Vienna Philharmonic as part of his eightieth birthday
celebration.
10/20/20 Elgar – Cello Concerto (1920)
Edward Elgar finished this work in 1919. He recorded it a year later, chopping it down from 29 minutes to 15. Elgar conducted a reduced orchestra for the acoustic recording, with Beatrice Harrison soloist.
10/21/20 Mahler-Second Symphony (1934)
This is a transcribed recording of a concert broadcast in 1934. Arnold Schoenberg, Mahler’s friend and early champion of his music, conducts the Cadillac Symphony.
10/22/20 Elgar – Cello Concerto (1920)
Elgar finished this in 1919. He recorded it a year later, chopping it down from 29 minutes to 15. Elgar conducted a reduced orchestra for the acoustic recording, with Beatrice Harrison.
10/23/20 Gershwin – Rhapsody in Blue (1924)
George Gershwin premiered the work with Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra Feb. 12, 1924, and they recorded it four months later. The score was reduced by 1/3 to fit unto the 12-inch discs.
