Emanuel Feuermann: Complete Acoustic 78s & Selecte

Label: WHRA
Catalog: WHRA6042
Format: CD

Emanuel Feuermann, cello

Featuring 18 CD premieres; includes all 1922-26 Parlophone, Telefunken, etc. 78s of works by Bach, Haydn, Dvorak, Schumann, Popper, et al. Also includes these rare live performances: Dvorak: Concerto op.104, Chicago S.O., Hans Lange 1-9-41; Bloch: Schelomo. National Orchestral Assoc., Leon Barzin 11-10-40; D'Albert: Concerto op.20 National Orchestral Assoc., Leon Barzin 4-22-40 Reicha: Concerto in A op.4 no.1 Live, National Orchestral Assoc., Leon Barzin 1-27-40 Beethoven: Son. in D op.102 no.2 (exc.) Town Hall, New York, Albert Hirsch, piano 2-2-41 Dvorak: Concerto op.104 National Orchestral Assoc., Leon Barzin 1-27-40 Strauss: Don Quixote op.35 Studio 8H, New York, NBC S.O., Arturo Toscanini (Mischa Mischakoff, vn, Carlton Cooley, va) 10-22-38. Sound restoration: Lani Spahr. Producer & note writer: Terry King.

Feuermann was born in Galicia, Poland in 1902 and died in New York City in 1942. In his short life he was recognized as one of the greatest cellists of his time; his pall bearers included Toscanini, Ormandy, Serkin, Elman, Huberman, Schnabel, and Szell. From 1929-33, Feuermann taught at the Berlin Hochschule and collaborated with violinists Carl Flesch, Bronislaw Huberman, Szymon Goldberg, Joseph Wolfsthal and composer-violist Paul Hindemith--the latter three having formed a very successful string trio. The rise of Nazism in 1933 led to Feuermann's dismissal from the Hochschule. He then moved to London, along with Goldberg and Hindemith, and toured Japan and the United States (New York City); he then returned to Europe where he married Eva Reifenberg in 1935. After the premiere of Arnold Schoenberg's Cello Concerto with Sir Thomas Beecham, Feuermann moved to Zürich. He happened to be in Vienna at the time of the Anschluss, but fortunately, Huberman was able to help Feuermann and his family escape to Palestine; from there they moved to the United States. In 1938 he played with the NBC Symphony. Soon he was under contract with RCA Victor, and made several timeless trio recordings with Heifetz, Rubinstein and Primrose as well as recital repertoire--a body of work closely associated with his legacy which has been repeatedly reissued. He taught privately and at the Curtis Institute of Music for a few short months--from the fall of 1941 until his death in May 1942.
These CDs bring together Feuermann's rarest commercial recordings, many not available since their original production in the 1920s--those from the acoustic era, i.e., before the advent of the microphone. All of Feuermann's acoustic discs are here, including five with orchestra. In all, 18 pieces are new to CD, some of which represent Feuermann's first versions of familiar repertoire he went on to record electrically. It also gives us an insight into the daring and simplicity of his performances in his twenties, altogether spontaneous and direct. - During the 1937-38 concert season, Feuermann launched an unprecedented series of concerts with the National Orchestral Association, America's professional training orchestra under Leon Barzin, which continued through 1940. Several of these public performances were recorded and are issued here in greatly improved sound.

Price: $63.98