In this week's newsletter:

• The Flonzaley Quartet - Mark Obert-Thorn's excellent transfers complete the Flonzaley electrics
  
• FREE DOWNLOAD - The highlights of 2009 in a free CD-quality near-77-minute download

Editorial - Season's greetings

Whether or not you'll be celebrating Christmas tomorrow - and with a worldwide audience of over 3600 there'll be a lot of people receiving this e-mail for whom everything won't grind to a halt over the next few days - we at Pristine Classical wish you all the very best at this time of year. For those 'down under' I hope your summer is going well, for those in the northern hemisphere, I hope recent harsh weather in Europe and North America hasn't caused too many problems for you.

This week we're taking it "easy" with just a single release, but it's a cracker:  Mark Obert-Thorn's excellent Flonzaley Quartet transfers bring to a close his project to release (or to see released) all of the Quartet's electrically-recorded output in a digital format somewhere or somehow, and it's astonishing that recordings of this quality have had to wait so long for a CD reissue. There'll be more from Mark next week, as we see in the New Year with two excellent new releases on 1st January 2010.

Meanwhile take a visit to our website to download the free Ambient Stereo FLAC of our 2009 Collection, nine excellent XR-remastered recordings which have featured here in recent newsletters as either bestsellers or personal favourites of the year. If you've not downloaded before and have a little time on your hands over the festive season here's an ideal opportunity to have a go at transferring CD-quality music to your computer via the Internet.

So wherever you are and whatever the next few days hold for you, enjoy the rest of 2009 - and see you on New Year's Day, 2010!

Andrew Rose, Pristine Audio

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New release today:

The Flonzaley Quartet - Smetana, Dohnányi etc.
Pristine Audio PACM 068

The Flonzaley Quartet
Adolfo Betti, Violin I
Alfred Pochon, Violin II
Nicolas Moldavan, Viola
Iwan d’Archambeau, Cello 
Recorded 1926-1929

Cover artwork based on a photograph of The Flonzaley Quartet c.1918.

Total duration: 70:20 
©2009 Pristine Audio.

For more download and CD options, see our website

The downloads:

The first great string quartet of the 20th Century

Mark Obert-Thorn completes the digital transfer of their electrical catalogue

 

 

• SMETANA: String Quartet in E Minor, “From My Life”
  Recorded 19th – 20th March, 1929 in Victor Studio No. 1, Camden 
  Matrix nos.: CVE-51035-4, 51036-6, 51037-4, 51038-6, 51039-4 and 51040-4 
  First issued on Victor 7130 through 7132 in album M-63 
  
  
• DOHNÁNYI: String Quartet No. 2 in D Flat Major, Op. 15
  Recorded 20th – 21st October, 1927 in Victor Studio No. 1, Camden 
  Matrix nos.: CVE-40702-1, 40703-2, 40704-6, 40705-3, 40706-4 and 40707-4 
  First issued on Victor 7354 through 7356 in album M-90 
  
  
• SPIRITUALS (arr. Alfred Pochon)
  Go down, Moses; Swing low, sweet chariot
  Recorded 11th February, 1926 in the Victor Studios, Camden 
  Matrix no.: CVE-31389-13 First issued on Victor 6594 
  
  Deep River 
  Recorded 4th January, 1927 in Victor Studio No. 3, Camden 
  Matrix no.: BVE-31388-2 First issued on Victor 1276 
  
  
• POCHON: Irish Cradle Song
  Recorded 10th February, 1926 in the Victor Studios, Camden 
  Matrix no.: CVE-31384-10 First issued on Victor 6594 
  
  
• TRADITIONAL (arr. Alfred Pochon): Irish Reel
  Recorded 4th January, 1927 in Victor Studio No. 3, Camden 
  Matrix no.: BVE-37400-5 First issued on Victor 1276 
  
  
• TRADITIONAL (arr. Pochon): Sally in our alley (Old English Tune)
  Recorded 3rd May, 1929 in Victor Studio No. 1, Camden
  Matrix no.: BVE-51840-5 First issued on Victor 1569
  
  

• TRADITIONAL (arr. Pochon): Turkey in the straw
  
  Recorded 30th April, 1929 in Victor Studio No. 1, Camden 
  Matrix no.: BVE-51841-4 First issued on Victor 1569
  
  
  

"...These are vintage Flonzaley laid down before the break-up of that excellent organisation, and left to mature till now in the cellars at Hayes. Like all dated "vintages " they have the virtue of preserving something that would otherwise have been lost irretrievably—and a performance by the Flonzaley was well worth preserving. On the other hand, an old wine is often inclined to lack "body," and these two Flonzaley samples sound strangely light and ethereal beside the full-blooded modern recordings of the Budapest. The Schumann [Quartet in A minor, Op. 41, No. 1, not included here], indeed, cannot be regarded as entirely satisfactory; the extreme notes at both ends of the gamut do not actually disappear, but there are times when they do undoubtedly "fade." And there is a curious haze over a good deal of the part-writing that occasionally makes it impossible to distinguish all the detail. The Smetana is distinctly better, and the sensationally high B, long held by the first violin towards the end of the Finale, is quite able to make its presence felt. On the whole, this is the quartet I prefer; the " cuts " are regrettable, but not of paramount importance..."

from "Additions to the HMV Connoisseur Catalogue", The Gramophone, August 1932 - note that the UK issues being reviewed came out there several years after their original US releases.

 

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