The Autumn 2011 issue of
Classical Recordings Quarterly features an excellent article (the first of two) on recordings of works by the Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959) made during his own lifetime. As it happens, one of these première recordings, that of the Sinfonietta Giocosa, which for me is one of Martinů's most delightful scores, is one that I had transferred and uploaded back in 2007. It features the work's dedicatee, pianist Germaine Leroux (pictured above, with the composer on the right and Leon Barzin, the conductor at the work's first performance in New York in 1942, on the left). The piece is essentially a piano concerto, one of at least nine that Martinů wrote - there are, besides the Sinfonietta Giocosa, five numbered piano concertos, two concertinos (one for left hand), and a concerto for two pianos.
Martinů: Sinfonietta Giocosa, for piano and small orchestra (1940)
Germaine Leroux, pianist, with the
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jaroslav Krombholc
Recorded April 21 and 27, 1947
Supraphon G 14905-07, three 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 62.88 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 30.27 MB)
My transfer is derived from a cassette copy that I made from the 78s in 2003, shortly before having to dispose of all the 78s I then owned for financial reasons.
