The Kindness of Strangers, part 7

I’ve no more nice pictures of the sisters or label scans – so I thought I’d pay homage to these fine Hungarian fiddlers with a different kind of label. I wonder if Jelly and Adila’s father Taksony von Arányi enjoyed a drop of Aszú? Or great-uncle Joseph?

La Grumpy just found this one in an old Sachertorte box at the back of the Cave (she’s been on a bit of a spring clean). The RTWC (with which I have no connection, sadly) has made some of the best Tokaji I’ve had the privilege of drinking. Their ‘ordinary’ 5 Puttonyos is pretty good but the single-vineyard Birsalmás is heavenly. I also have some of their first-growths, behind the dead mammoth. Maturing nicely.

Like the Baroque bonbons which these sisters played so well, sweet wines (except for the sole Sauternes oriental billionaires have heard of) have been out of fashion for a long time. Good! – all the more for us. I’ll drink them any time, with anything.

This first ten-inch disc includes an item by Martin Marsick, teacher of Enescu, Flesch, Thibaud and other famous violinists, as well as a snippet from a keyboard sonata by Mozart’s mentor Padre Martini. Took me ages to check the Galuppi. No idea where in Destouches’ ‘pastorale héroïque’ Issé this passepied comes from. Chrysander confusingly called the Handel No.7.

Once again, I raise a botrytis-beaded bumper to collector Raymond Glaspole, thanks to whose extraordinary assiduity and generosity we can enjoy these rare discs. I’ve left most of the noble mould on – just a light dusting with ClickRepair and some LF filtering. Download these ten mono, fully-tagged FLAC files in a .rar archive here.

Martini arr. Endicott Sonata in D Op.2 No.2 – (i) Allegro
Marsick 2 Morceaux Op.6 - No.2 Scherzando
Jelly d’Arányi (violin), Ethel Hobday (piano)
Vocalion X 9525, issued February 1925

Purcell arr. Lambert The Indian Queen Z.630 –
Act IV, Act Tune (‘Air’) [as ‘Andante maestoso’]
Leclair arr. Sarasate Sonata in D for violin & continuo Op.9 No.3 – (iii) Sarabande, (iv) Tambourin
Jelly d’Arányi (violin), Ethel Hobday (piano)
Vocalion K 05168, issued May 1925

Galuppi arr. Craxton Sonata in a minor
Op.1 No.3 – (i) Largo;
Sonata in C Op.1 No.1 – (ii) Presto [as ‘Allegro giocoso’]
Destouches arr. Dandelot Issé – Passepied
Jelly d’Arányi (violin), Ethel Hobday (piano)
Vocalion K 05203, issued December 1925

Handel Trio Sonata in g minor Op.2 No.6 HWV 391
Jelly d’Arányi & Adila Fachiri (violins),
Ethel Hobday (piano)
Vocalion K 05222-23, issued April 1926

And I wonder if Leclair ever drank anything as good as this? It has kept me pretty happy over the last three evenings…

The Kindness of Strangers, Part 6

Adila Fachiri, c.1908 (courtesy of Tully Potter Collection)

My survey of the recorded legacy of the d’Arányi sisters continues. It includes two discs by Adila Fachiri, who made far fewer solos than her sister Jelly. As before, we can only enjoy all these goodies thanks to the great generosity of collector Raymond Glaspole, who has kindly provided these transfers from originals in his collection. I have merely called on my trusty amanuensis ClickRepair.

We start with a fascinating rarity, a movement from a work originally for flute with harp, horn and strings by an Australian casualty of World War I. In 1934, Oxford University Press published a version for flute or violin with small orchestra or piano, ‘The Violin part ... arranged and edited by J. d’Aranyi’, so perhaps she had a hand in the version she plays here too.

Frederick Septimus Kelly arr. d’Arányi?
Serenade [as ‘Suite’] Op.7 – (v) Jig
Schumann arr. Anon. 12 Klavierstücke Op.85 –
(iii) Gartenmelodie
Jelly d’Arányi (violin), Ethel Hobday (piano)
Vocalion R 6141, issued April 1924

Brahms arr. Joachim Hungarian Dance No.2 in d minor
Weber arr. Kreisler Violin Sonata in F Op.10
[aka Op.17] No.1 – (ii) Romanze: Larghetto
Adila Fachiri (violin), Ivor Newton (piano)
Vocalion R 6138, issued March 1924

Couperin arr. Slatter 4ème Livre de pièces de clavecin,
20ème Ordre – (iii) Les Chérubins ou l’aimable Lazure
Kreisler 3 Variations on a Theme of Corelli,
in the style of Tartini
Adila Fachiri (violin), Ethel Hobday (piano)
Vocalion X 9494, issued December 1924

Gluck arr. Kreisler Orfeo ed Euridice –
Dance of the Blessed Spirits [‘Melodie’]
Kreisler Rondino on a Theme of Beethoven
Jelly d’Arányi (violin), Coenraad Bos (piano)
Columbia 5427, issued August 1929

Download the above 8 mono, fully-tagged FLACs files here.

The Idiocy of Corporations, Part 1

I wouldn’t normally tread on the toes of the British Library’s magnificent online Archival Sound Recordings collection, which includes a transfer of the following recording. But some supplicants at the Cave-mouth live in jurisdictions in hock to behemegamoromediamoths^©®TM which suffer from chronic dog-in-the-manger complex, and so can’t stream the BL’s files. To you, I make this offering – but don’t say the ‘content owners’ didn’t warn you when they shut up shop and refuse to invest in the next ‘great’ ‘band’. One mono FLAC file (please note: sides have not been joined up).

Bach Violin Concerto in d minor BWV 1043
Jelly d’Arányi & Adila Fachiri (violins),
orchestra, Stanley Chapple
Vocalion A 0252-53, issued February 1926

The Idiocy of Corporations, Part 2

This simple post has cost me hours. About four days ago, without warning, Blogger stopped formatting text as it has done ever since I first yawned, scratched my breech clout and peeked out of my antre 18 months ago. Line-breaks were ignored, vast spaces yawned between paras. After wasting time trying to correct things by hand, I visited the Blogger ‘help’ forum, where I read that others have the same problem. But I couldn’t post there. Closed to non-members. I’m a Blogger blogger, dammit. I applied to join, three days ago. No response. Maybe they’re trying to amend their meddling.

Then I read that Windows Live Writer works well with Blogger. To install that, though, I needed to install Windows Vista Service Pack 2 and Platform Update. (No, if I’d known, I’d never have bought a laptop with Vista. Why do you think I’m Grumpy?) SP2 took 45 minutes to download, on a 1MB(ish) broadband connection, and something approaching 3 hours to install. Various ‘vital’ updates followed, more hours. Then: create a Windows Live account. Then, more time, choosing not to install various messengers, syncers and swymmers, not uploading all my and my friends’ personal details and mugshots, and ticking boxes so as not to receive e-mails, telephone calls and SMSs about Microsoft’s ‘products’ and ‘services’, thank you.

Live Writer does seem to work quite well, though. So far.

The Kindness of Strangers, Part 4

(scan: courtesy of CHARM)

I don't really know where to start. What have we done to deserve this bounty? Never mind, let's just sit back and enjoy it.

Tully Potter has written an article for The Strad about the d’Arányi sisters, Jelly and Adila (later Fachiri). He needed somewhere to park some audio examples for readers - but, obviously, he’s got better things to do than arse about on the web like your servant. I offered to post them for him. So he only just flipping goes and dumps 5 CDRs’ worth of inestimable treasures on the muddy sward outside the Cave...

They contain just about the complete commercially recorded legacy of these Hungarian-born siblings, grand nieces of Joachim and pupils of Hubay. (There's an interesting post about Jelly on Peter Sheppard Skaerved’s blog; otherwise, it's Wikipedia).

The true source of this cornucopia is renowned collector Raymond Glaspole - originals in fine condition, excellent dubs (lightly whipped by me through the default declick and decrackle settings for 78s on ClickRepair), discographical data and all. Amazing. Our deepest gratitude to him.

It’s going to take many posts, so I'm starting with single-disc items recorded by Jelly, which Tully Potter has mentioned in his article:

Vitali ed. Charlier Chaconne in g minor
Jelly d’Arányi (violin), Arthur Bergh (piano)
Columbia 9875
recorded 20 March & 4 April* 1929, USA
[*or 6 & 20 March - there’s some disagreement]
(Review in the October 1929 issue of The Gramophone here)

Brahms arr. Joachim Hungarian Dance No.8 in a minor
de Falla arr. Kochanski 7 Canciones populares -
(vi) [orig. No.4] Jota
Jelly d’Arányi (violin), Coenraad Bos (piano)
Columbia 2061 M
recorded 6 & 7 February 1928, USA
(Review of British issue of the Brahms side
in the February 1930 issue of The Gramophone here)

Joachim Romance in C
Dienzl* Spinnlied Op.46
[*Apologies, I have misspelled his name as Dienzi in the sound-file name and tags]
Jelly d’Arányi (violin), Ethel Hobday (piano)
Vocalion K 05118
issued November 1924
(Somewhat dismissive review
in the December 1924 issue of The Gramophone here)

Hubay Six Poèmes hongrois Op.27 - No.6 Allegro molto
Anon.* arr. Craxton Fitzwilliam Virginal Book - Alman
[‘played with mutes’; *anyone know the composer?]
Jelly d’Arányi (violin), Ethel Hobday (piano)
Vocalion X 9981
issued May 1927; despite the late date, an acoustical record
(Review - or mention, really - in the May 1927 issue of The Gramophone here)

Download the 7 fully tagged mono FLAC files, in a .rar file, here

Plus one set, which especially appeals to me:

Mozart Violin Concerto in G K.216
Serenade in D K.250 ‘Haffner’ - (ii) Menuetto; Trio

Jelly d’Arányi (violin),
Aeolian Orchestra, Stanley Chapple
Vocalion A 0242-44
issued November 1925
(Review in the November 1925 issue of The Gramophone here)

Download the 2 fully tagged mono FLAC files, in a .rar file, here

Please note that sides have not been joined up in the Mozart Concerto or the Vitali Chaconne.

In addition, public institutions have made freely available several recordings by Jelly and her sister Adila Fachiri.

On the British Library’s Archival Sound Recordings site you will find:

Bach Violin Concerto in d minor BWV 1043
Jelly d’Arányi, Adila Fachiri (violins),
orchestra, Stanley Chapple
Vocalion A 0252-53
issued February 1926
Listen to a streamed .wma (or download an .mp3
if you are registered at an academic institution) here
(Review in the February 1926 issue of The Gramophone here)

CHARM transferred two more lovely Vocalion records of the sisters:

attrib. J.S. Bach [Goldberg?]
Trio Sonata in C BWV 1037 - (iv) Gigue
Spohr Duet in D Op.67 No.2 - (iii) Larghetto
Jelly d’Arányi, Adila Fachiri (violins), Ethel Hobday (piano)
Vocalion D 02146
issued April 1924
(Review - of sorts - in the April 1924 issue of The Gramophone here)
Download each side as a FLAC file here and here

Purcell ed. Moffat Sonata in Four Parts No.9 in F Z.810 ‘Golden’
Jelly d’Arányi, Adila Fachiri (violins), Ethel Hobday (piano)
Vocalion K 05177
issued July 1925
(Review in the August 1925 issue of The Gramophone here)
Download each side as a FLAC file here and here

(Again, as with all CHARM transfers, the Purcell Sonata has not been joined up.)

(scan: courtesy of CHARM)

Please revisit the Cave for more over the next few days and weeks.