Anybody Know Anything About Alfred Scholz or Henry Adolph?
Old 8H
Friends:
I have obtained a number of Pilz and other inexpensive import CDs that
I bought for about $1 each (I collect these things avidly, as my wife
gives them to our music students so that they can familiarize
themselves with new pieces...I am sorry to say that we cannot afford
to give away dozens of Naxos disks each month, or I would prefer to
provide better items!)
On several of them are very fine performances by two conductors I have
not been able to find out anything about: Alfred Scholz (who does an
exquisite Mozart Jupiter with possibly all the repeats, and a very
nice, spacious Beethoven 2nd) and Henry Adolph (who directs an utterly
delightful Gershwin Concerto in F with the original scoring; a fine
American in Paris; and a very powerful 'fast' reading of the Bruckner
4th out of the old Vox/VSO/Klemperer mold, with what is called the
"Philharmonia Slavonica".)
It seems to me that the Scholz recordings originally appeared soon
after CDs were introduced, at full price, on an Interchord label; now
they have migrated to the absolute bottom of the barrel: yet they are
much better than some of the other awful stuff on Pilz et al. by
Lizzio (like the notorious transfer of the Beethoven 9th with the
first measures snipped off.)
Any authoritative biographical info on these two conductors would be
interesting to me, at least.
Yours,
Old 8H
Alrod
>Any authoritative biographical info on these two conductors would be
>interesting to me, at least.
Yes, they are F. Charles Adler and Clemens Dahinden respectively. And
are Wilhelm Loibner and Angelo Questa pissed!
Alrod
Old 8H
Not to mention Argeo Quadri!
That reminds me of a dj fella I knew at a classical station years ago.
Whenever he came upon a recording by a conductor whose name he could
not pronounce, he used the name "Antoine Dumay". We played LOTS of
his records!
Another of his little jokes was saying "Karl Ristenfart". I just
could NOT get him to stop that; amazingly enough (for the straight
laced early 60s) nobody ever called and complained!
Yours,
Old 8H
Alrod
>>>Any authoritative biographical info on these two conductors would be
>>>interesting to me, at least.
>>
>>Yes, they are F. Charles Adler and Clemens Dahinden respectively. And
>>are Wilhelm Loibner and Angelo Questa pissed!
>Not to mention Argeo Quadri!
Aaargh! Of course, Quadri! (Questa, indeed.)
>Another of his little jokes was saying "Karl Ristenfart". I just
>could NOT get him to stop that; amazingly enough (for the straight
>laced early 60s) nobody ever called and complained!
Thank God for loudspeakers with lousy transient response.
But then, I know an oldies announcer who continues to pull a similar
substitution with The Buckinghams - again, never a phone call.
Alrod
Simon Roberts
Old 8H (NOS...@NOSPAM.ARG) wrote:
: Another of his little jokes was saying "Karl Ristenfart". I just
: could NOT get him to stop that; amazingly enough (for the straight
: laced early 60s) nobody ever called and complained!
A friend who worked at Barnes and Noble years ago tells me that when they
were bored his colleagues would answer the phone "Buns and nipples; can I
help you?"; people either didn't notice or were too shocked to know how to
reply.
Simon
MWKluge
In article <357043f9...@nntp.ix.netcom.com>, NOS...@NOSPAM.ARG (Old 8H)
writes:
> Henry Adolph (who directs an utterly
>delightful Gershwin Concerto in F with the original scoring; a fine
>American in Paris; and a very powerful 'fast' reading of the Bruckner
>4th out of the old Vox/VSO/Klemperer mold, with what is called the
>"Philharmonia Slavonica".)
This "Adolph" Fourth on Pilz is actually the Austrian Radio (ORF) Orchestra
conducted by Milan Horvat.
Mark K.
Old 8H
On 31 May 1998 13:46:27 GMT, mwk...@aol.com (MWKluge) wrote:
>In article <357043f9...@nntp.ix.netcom.com>, NOS...@NOSPAM.ARG (Old 8H)
>writes:
>>4th out of the old Vox/VSO/Klemperer mold, with what is called the
>>"Philharmonia Slavonica".)
>This "Adolph" Fourth on Pilz is actually the Austrian Radio (ORF) Orchestra
>conducted by Milan Horvat.
>Mark K.
I appreciate this info, and will accept it completely! I have a
number of quite good interpretations by Horvat, though some of the ORF
material is not played too well, sounding a bit unrehearsed. Does
anyone believe that Henry Adolph is a 'nom de disque' like the famous
"Brother Mowrey, directing the Monks of St. Thomas", Thomas Mowrey's
little joke when he re-released an old Gregorian chant recording on
Vox?
And is the Bruckner 5th directed by "Lizzio" with the SWF (on Point CO
1077) correctly attributed, or is in a fooler, too? How about the
Pilz/Point recordings of the Bruckner 2nd?
At least Pilz did not identify that Bruckner Fourth as being conducted
by "Heinrich Adolf Schicklgruber".
Yours,
Old 8H
MWKluge
>>> Henry Adolph ...[directs]...a very powerful 'fast' reading of the Bruckner
>>>4th out of the old Vox/VSO/Klemperer mold, with what is called the
>>>"Philharmonia Slavonica".)
>>This "Adolph" Fourth on Pilz is actually the Austrian Radio (ORF) Orchestra
>>conducted by Milan Horvat.
>>Mark K.
>
>I appreciate this info, and will accept it completely! I have a
>number of quite good interpretations by Horvat, though some of the ORF
>material is not played too well, sounding a bit unrehearsed. Does
>anyone believe that Henry Adolph is a 'nom de disque' like the famous
>"Brother Mowrey, directing the Monks of St. Thomas", Thomas Mowrey's
>little joke when he re-released an old Gregorian chant recording on
>Vox?
>
>And is the Bruckner 5th directed by "Lizzio" with the SWF (on Point CO
>1077) correctly attributed, or is in a fooler, too? How about the
>Pilz/Point recordings of the Bruckner 2nd?
>
>At least Pilz did not identify that Bruckner Fourth as being conducted
>by "Heinrich Adolf Schicklgruber".
>
>
The Pilz/Point Bruckner 2nd is the same performance, despite the differing
pseudonyms. This was once claimed to be the ORF/Melles recording, but is
utterly different (even in text). I have not seen a Bruckner Fifth on Point-
do you have the timings available? The Bruckner Sixth and Ninth on Point are
both Swarowsky recordings, again under pseudonym.
Mark K.
Brendan R. Wehrung
Alrod (nfna...@NOSPAMrocketmail.com) writes:
>>Any authoritative biographical info on these two conductors would be
>>interesting to me, at least.
>
> Yes, they are F. Charles Adler and Clemens Dahinden respectively. And
> are Wilhelm Loibner and Angelo Questa pissed!
>
> Alrod
Could you expand on the above information?
Brendan
Old 8H
On 31 May 1998 23:28:05 GMT, mwk...@aol.com (MWKluge) wrote:
>The Pilz/Point Bruckner 2nd is the same performance, despite the differing
>pseudonyms. This was once claimed to be the ORF/Melles recording, but is
>utterly different (even in text).
worst attempt of same I have ever heard. I take it, then, that even
you do not know the REAL perpetrater? The reproduction seemed just as
coarse and harsh as the old Urania LP by G-L Jochum that served to
introduce me to the work in the late '50s / early '60s.
>I have not seen a Bruckner Fifth on Point-
>do you have the timings available? The Bruckner Sixth and Ninth on Point are
>both Swarowsky recordings, again under pseudonym.
Bruckner 5th; identified as "Alberto Lizzio, South German Philharmonic
Orchestra"; on 'The Classical Collection, Vol. 77", a single disk
bearing the mfr. info 'Point Classics, pub. 1995; Distributed by Smith
Alster Retail Sales.' The release number is CO 1077-A; the UPC is
7 14151 10722 2. I purchased it for 99 cents at a Circuit City chain
store (home appliance/audio/computer/tv/hi-fi dealers) along with a
large variety of other volumes in the series. Fancy covers, much
nicer than Vienna Master Classics; reasonably well done notes ('John
Field' wrote them for the Bruckner.) The entire production is well
worth a buck or two, and is good for beginners' collections.
Timings:
19:29 - 18:10 - 12:29 - 22:40.
Real stereo, slightly coarse sound.
Regarding the Point Sixth: it is a totally defective recording, and
one must NOT purchase it, even for $1!
In the third movement, the original source appears to be monaural, but
the sound eminates first from the left channel, and then about 100 to
150 milliseconds later, from the right channel, and then continues
that way: all the way thru there is a continual ping-pong that creates
a completely confused jumble which totally destroys the sound and the
sense of the music. I believe that it is the SINGLE worst defect in
production that I have ever heard on a CD. As I recall, in general
the whole thing is probably fake stereo anyway, but that bizarre echo
is what stands out in my recollection.
I bought one 3 yrs. ago and immediately returned it. A few weeks ago,
at another store (a Blockbuster, whose classical manager is an
acquaintance of mine) I was shown a batch of the Points, priced $3.99.
I asked the fellow to open and play the Sixth, and he did: the defect
is still there. He listened on the auditioning headphones for about a
minute, and took the cans off, staring ahead into space with his mouth
hanging open. "I've never heard anything like that in my life!" he
cried, and took the title out of the store's stock. Good for him! I
could never get past the boo-boo, and can't judge the performance.
Yours,
Old 8H
Simon Roberts
Old 8H (NOS...@NOSPAM.ARG) wrote:
: Regarding the Point Sixth: it is a totally defective recording, and
: one must NOT purchase it, even for $1!
: In the third movement, the original source appears to be monaural, but
: the sound eminates first from the left channel, and then about 100 to
: 150 milliseconds later, from the right channel, and then continues
: that way: all the way thru there is a continual ping-pong that creates
: a completely confused jumble which totally destroys the sound and the
: sense of the music. I believe that it is the SINGLE worst defect in
: production that I have ever heard on a CD. As I recall, in general
: the whole thing is probably fake stereo anyway, but that bizarre echo
: is what stands out in my recollection.
You may want to try the 9th, which has an engagingly different defect;
looking at the timings one's suspicions are aroused by the fact that the
outer movements have almost identical timings -- for which the remarkably
simple explanation is that instead of the first movement they play the
last movement; it then follows in the usual place. Does anyone know
(not that it really matters, though the second movement is refreshingly
exciting) if this performance was ever issued with all three movements?
Simon
Old 8H
On 1 Jun 1998 01:43:39 GMT, si...@dept.english.upenn.edu (Simon
Roberts) wrote:
>...instead of the first movement they play the last movement; it then follows in the usual place.
No, silly, that is the LERNER & LOWE edition! It was introduced by
Sir Rex Harrison conducting the Broadway Pit Band in 1956, and
published by Boozey.
Yours,
Old 8H
Eric Schissel
(As I've said before) my experience with the Pilz Bruckner 2, soundwise
and performancewise, was quite positive...
-Eric Schissel
--
schi...@lightlink.com
http://www.lightlink.com/schissel ICQ#7279016
standard disclaimer
Norman M. Schwartz
Simon Roberts <si...@dept.english.upenn.edu> wrote in article
<6kt10b$8bo$1...@netnews.upenn.edu>...
> Old 8H (NOS...@NOSPAM.ARG) wrote:
> You may want to try the 9th, which has an engagingly different defect;
> looking at the timings one's suspicions are aroused by the fact that the
> outer movements have almost identical timings -- for which the remarkably
> simple explanation is that instead of the first movement they play the
> last movement; it then follows in the usual place. Does anyone know
> (not that it really matters, though the second movement is refreshingly
> exciting) if this performance was ever issued with all three movements?
I don't know if we are describing a Pilz op.125, by my copy 160 155,
performed by "Eugen Duvier and the Philharmonia Slavonica" is identical to
another disc in my collection; World Famous Masterpieces' DM-2-1034 said to
be performed by Alberto Lizzio and the London Festival Orchestra, Festival
Choir and soloists: Paloczaj, Bandova, Kottwald and Bacek. There are no
defects present in either disc, and while the performance is not first
rate, I found the players enthusiastic and the sound pleasing.
Norman
audio "engaging"
Old 8H
On 1 Jun 1998 13:23:19 GMT, "Norman M. Schwartz">> Old 8H wrote:
>> You may want to try the 9th, which has an engagingly different defect...
>>[third movement, followed by second, followed by third again]...
>I don't know if we are describing a Pilz op.125...
No, Norman, and perhaps one can see how you got mixed up from some
comments I made earlier about the truncated "Lizzio" Beethoven Ninth.
We are referring here to the Point Classics recording of the BRUCKNER
Ninth.
I have heard several different copies of what appears to be the same
rather mundane recording of the Beethoven 9th, on Vienna Master
Classics, on Musique d'Or, and on some other label (perhaps Point)
that were attributed to Lizzio and, I seem to recall, Duvier. All of
them were missing several measures of the misterioso opening. I
purchased these for one dollar or even less, in order to include them
in the CDs we give to our music students as 'studio prizes' to
encourage them to listen to the classics...when I found the editing
defect, I stopped getting this performance, since I felt a bit guilty
about perpetuating the blunder. It is a small point for sure, but one
of the most glorious (and influential) aspects of the Ninth: that
cosmic opening ushers in Bruckner, surely!
Yours,
Old 8H
B. Korstvedt
> > Old 8H (NOS...@NOSPAM.ARG) wrote:
>
> > You may want to try the 9th, which has an engagingly different defect;
> > looking at the timings one's suspicions are aroused by the fact that the
> > outer movements have almost identical timings -- for which the remarkably
> > simple explanation is that instead of the first movement they play the
> > last movement; it then follows in the usual place. Does anyone know
> > (not that it really matters, though the second movement is refreshingly
> > exciting) if this performance was ever issued with all three movements?
>
The first recording of Bruckner 9 I ever heard was a 99 cent LP of this
performance (on some cheapo label, identified as Swarowsky with the
Bamberg Symphony as I recall). It too had the Adagio in the first and
third places and left out the first movement. Not knowing how the piece
was *supposed* to go, it really puzzled me, as you might imagine . . . .
cheers, Ben
**************************************************************************
* Benjamin M. Korstvedt * kors...@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu * (319) 358-1047 *
* *
**************************************************************************
* So many books, discussions, systems, subtle distinctions, methods *
* did not stop her from saying "I like," "I don't like," *
* "I accept," "I refuse." *
* Someone thought of her as an innocent. . . *
* --Goffredo Palluccini *
**************************************************************************
Old 8H
>The first recording of Bruckner 9 I ever heard was a 99 cent LP of this
>performance (on some cheapo label, identified as Swarowsky with the
>Bamberg Symphony as I recall). It too had the Adagio in the first and
>third places and left out the first movement. Not knowing how the piece
>was *supposed* to go, it really puzzled me, as you might imagine . . . .
According to a conversation overheard by the SS at the interval of a
Vienna State Opera performance of Siegfried Wagner's "Der
Baerenheiter" in 1939 (a muttered exchange over Sachertorte between
the musicologist and Berlioz specialist Martin "Duckbreath" Kosleck
and the retired Metropolitan Opera repetiteur Oldwell Eight Aitch), in
1929, Swarowsky's mother received a crumpled piece of manuscript from
her butcher: it had been used to wrap a slightly grey lamb cutlet.
Wiping off the blood and spreading it out, she -- and her young son --
were thrilled to behold a note from the old master Bruckner, himself,
addressed to Franz Schalk. As translated from the German by Prof.
Heinrich Horn of the Baseler-spracher-Institut, it read as follows:
"Schalki...the first movement is a mess. My cat spilled the inkwell
on it; even so, before that disaster, I was not happy with it at all.
I got the papers mixed up all over the room. Please play the Adagio
first, and then again...the audience might understand it better, jah?
Enclosed find a Thaler: buy some strudel, and think of your old
Anton."
Someone had scribbled "Not valid" above this...so scholars STILL
disagree about Bruckner's final intentions.
Yours,
Old 8H
MWKluge
In article <3571fd5c...@nntp.ix.netcom.com>, NOS...@NOSPAM.ARG (Old 8H)
writes:
>
>Bruckner 5th; identified as "Alberto Lizzio, South German Philharmonic
>Orchestra"; on 'The Classical Collection, Vol. 77", a single disk
>bearing the mfr. info 'Point Classics, pub. 1995; Distributed by Smith
>Alster Retail Sales.' The release number is CO 1077-A; the UPC is
>7 14151 10722 2. I purchased it for 99 cents at a Circuit City chain
>store (home appliance/audio/computer/tv/hi-fi dealers) along with a
>large variety of other volumes in the series. Fancy covers, much
>nicer than Vienna Master Classics; reasonably well done notes ('John
>Field' wrote them for the Bruckner.) The entire production is well
>worth a buck or two, and is good for beginners' collections.
>
>Timings:
>19:29 - 18:10 - 12:29 - 22:40.
>Real stereo, slightly coarse sound.
>
>
Well, I do have a candidate for this one. Years ago I bought a strange LP on
the "Preservation Music" label, the Bruckner Fifth by Hans Swarowsky and the
South German Philharmonic (copyright 1977). The timings as given on the labels
are 38:00 for the first two movements, and 34:55 for the final two. These are
at least in the ballpark, and the provenance is credible. I recall the sound
as real, though poorly processed (no wonder, given the side lengths) stereo.
Mark K.
Old 8H
On 6 Jun 1998 02:47:58 GMT, mwk...@aol.com (MWKluge) wrote:
>Well, I do have a candidate for this one...Hans Swarowsky and the
>South German Philharmonic (copyright 1977).
The computerised filtering of highs on these typical Point, Pilz, and
other bootleg disks takes out most vestiges of analogue tape hiss, but
in doing so further reduces the realism. I would guess that the
"Lizzio" could very well qualify for a sixties or early seventies
recording. Poor Hans! What a short shrift he seems to be getting.
May one assume that "Alberto Lizzio" is as much a fantasy as "Henry
Adolph" or "Alfed Scholz"? And how about "Gehadt", the conductor on
some cheap Intersound CDs? At first, I misread it mentally as
"Charles Gerhardt" and thought of the former Toscanini student who
conducted some nice musical performances for Reader's Digest (Hanson &
Griffes) and also the George Korngold-produced RCA film score series.
But no, it is GEHADT. "He" does a Brahms symphony, and some overtures
and other standard rep pieces on CDs that I have picked up for a few
kopecks.
Yours,
Old 8H
<Rebut...@Juno.com>
Norman M. Schwartz
MWKluge <mwk...@aol.com> wrote in article
<199806060247...@ladder01.news.aol.com>...
> In article <3571fd5c...@nntp.ix.netcom.com>, NOS...@NOSPAM.ARG (Old
8H)
> writes:
>
> >
> >Bruckner 5th; identified as "Alberto Lizzio, South German Philharmonic
> >Orchestra"; on 'The Classical Collection, Vol. 77", a single disk
> >bearing the mfr. info 'Point Classics, pub. 1995; Distributed by Smith
> >Alster Retail Sales.' The release number is CO 1077-A; the UPC is
> >7 14151 10722 2. I purchased it for 99 cents at a Circuit City chain
> >store (home appliance/audio/computer/tv/hi-fi dealers) along with a
> >large variety of other volumes in the series.
I have ZYX Classic disc CLS 4153 with "Alfred Scholz" conducting the London
Festival Orchestra in Weber's Ov. to "Der Freischutz" and "Henry Adolf"
conducting the Weber Symphony No. 1 and Clarinet Concerto No. 1 op. 73 with
the Philharmonica Slavonica, Rudolf Schlegel, clarinet. Typical Pilz
Product in all respects. The Concerto movement timings are correct, but the
concerto actually performed on the disc is Weber's Clarinet Concerto no. 2,
op. 74.