Thursday, May 19, 2016

Schubert: Rosamunde (Harty)

The great Sir Hamilton Harty (1879-1941) contributed to Columbia's centennial celebrations of both Beethoven and Schubert in 1927-28 with major recordings of works then new to Columbia's catalogue. Of Beethoven he recorded the Fourth Symphony, and of Schubert the "Great C Major." Both of these have been professionally restored by Mark Obert-Thorn, working for Pristine Classical, but I am unaware of any reissue of Harty's other Schubert Centennial recording, this set of excerpts from "Rosamunde":

Schubert: Incidental Music to "Rosamunde" (Op. 26)
(with Overture to "Die Zauberharfe")
Hallé Orchestra conducted by Sir Hamilton Harty
Recorded May 2, 1927 (Overture) and April 27, 1928 (Incidental Music)
Columbia Masterworks set MM-343, four 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 84.86 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 53.98 MB)

This set has a curious issue history. It didn't appear in the USA until 1938, and then with a different overture than the one in the 1928 British issue. There are two overtures associated with "Rosamunde" (Schubert not having written one specifically for the Helmina von Chézy play), the other one being that for "Alfonso and Estrella" - and Harty recorded both, the latter one on the same day as the incidental music. Both overtures were, in fact, issued as single records by American Columbia before this set appeared.
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10 comments:

  1. BryanMay 19, 2016 at 3:46 PM

    Alternate links:

    FLAC:
    http://www.mediafire.com/download/uf73hum442eug4t/Harty_-_Schubert_Rosamunde_FLACs.zip

    MP3:
    http://www.mediafire.com/download/m8tbp3tes1z2572/Harty_-_Schubert_Rosamunde_MP3s.zip

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    Replies
    1. Tin EarMay 24, 2016 at 2:45 PM

      Columbia L 1998 - WRAX2654/5 was @ 80rpm - stated on the UK labels...the 4 disc set is @ 78rpm. So, presumably, CBS/Columbia somewhere added a note to that effect?

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    2. BryanMay 24, 2016 at 3:53 PM

      No note, nothing. I had to figure it out by ear with an electronic tuner!

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  2. NickMay 19, 2016 at 4:26 PM

    Thank you - I look forward to hearing this! Best wishes, Nick

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  3. GrahamMay 19, 2016 at 11:21 PM

    Thank you - I also look forward to hearing this.

    I hope one day you can find the premier recording of Kurt Atterburg's 6th symphony, which was the winner of the notorious competition Columbia Records sponsored initially to 'complete' the Unfinished Symphony and after much outcry simply to 'evoke' Schuberts era, Wikipedia has a good summary of the goings on:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1928_International_Columbia_Graphophone_Competition

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    Replies
    1. BryanMay 24, 2016 at 3:56 PM

      Swedish EMI, about 30 years ago, reissued the Atterberg symphony on one side of an LP, the other side of which contained other Atterberg works conducted by the composer. This is the form in which I have that recording, and it's not a bad transfer, either.

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    2. BryanMay 29, 2016 at 2:55 PM

      P.S. - should clarify - that's Beecham's Royal Philharmonic recording of the Atterberg 6th on the Swedish LP, recorded in 1928, Atterberg himself conducted the Berlin Philharmonic in a second recording the same year for Polydor. I don't think it's ever been reissued.

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  4. PhillipMay 21, 2016 at 2:09 AM

    Many thanks Bryan. I had no idea Harty recorded this music.

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  5. centuriMay 24, 2016 at 5:18 AM

    Thanks Bryan for that post. A rarity indeed ! I totally agree with you when you write "the great Sir Hamilton Harty".....

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  6. AnonymousMay 25, 2016 at 2:59 PM

    These recordings, plus Gaspar Cassado's orchestration of the Arpeggionne Sonata as a Concerto in A minor, were issued as a CD on the Hallé's own CD label in 2004. They were digitally remastered by Simon Haram at Digital Age Sound. The reference for the CD is HLT 8003. The booklet with the CD has six pages on Harty and his recordings with the Hallé.

    Bob McIntyre

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