Edward Elgar:
01. In the South. Concert overture, op.50 'Alassio' [23'14]
02. - 06. Sea Pictures, op.37* [22'56]
07. - 21. Variations on an Original Theme, op.36, 'Enigma'# [31'48]
Gladys Ripley- contralto*, London Symphony Orchestra and Philharmonia Orchestra# conducted by George Weldon
SOMM CD073 (recorded 1954 & 1953#; CD issued 2008)
(digital download; flacs, booklet, cover and inlay scans)
Recording venue: No.1 Studio Abbey Road, London & Kingsway Hall, London#
Recording engineers: Not stated; Producers: Brian Culverhouse & Walter Legge#
Edvard Grieg:
01. 04. Peer Gynt. Suite No.1, op.46 [14'24]
05. - 08. Peer Gynt. Suite No.2, op.55 [17'43]
London Symphony Orchestra conducted by George Weldon
BnF Collection CND1501 (recorded 1958; digital download 2015)
(digital download; 24bit 48kHz flacs, booklet and cover scans)
Recording venue, engineer and producer: not stated.
Anybody at all interested in Elgar's music should not miss hearing this splendid transfer for SOMM by the original EMI producer/engineer, Brian Culverhouse, using original master tapes.
The short-lived but excellent and popular conductor George Weldon (1908 - 1963) made many recordings for EMI but the majority have never been issued on CD, nor in decent quality digital downloads. Like Dennis Brain he was known for a love of sports cars but his early demise was a result of heavy smoking rather than motor accident. His fine stereo Tchaikovsky Sleeping Beauty and British Light Classics recordings are already posted here on MIMIC leaving just today's two to make up the balance of commercial issues. (There are also a few recordings where he accompanies pianists such as Moiseiwitsch and Richard Farrell.) A number of the download stores have other recordings (including more Elgar and Grieg) but they are all on dodgy labels with murky sound quality - hardly worth the listen.
In the South and the Sea Pictures are particularly fine here with nothing at all routine. Although she exhibits considerable vibrato, something which I normally dislike, here Gladys Ripley's ripe contralto and antique precise diction seem just write for these songs. Gladys Ripley was also short-lived (1908 - 1955) and also a heavy smoker. This was her second recording of the work with Weldon (the first in 1946) and it doesn't replace Janet Baker as all time favourite but it does come close. The Enigma Variations are perhaps at times too gentle for some tastes but Weldon's enthusiasm shines through.
BnF do not have SOMM's advantage of access to EMI's original tapes for the Grieg but they do make a reasonable job of remastering from LP - excepting for some mis-timing of track endings. But these are sane but lively performances of the over-familiar Peer Gynt Suites with rhythms well pointed. (The 24bit mastering seems to be somewhat overkill.)
Download from MEGA.
PS: The Shellackophile blog has a number of excellent transfers of Weldon recordings from the 1940s (https://shellackophile.blogspot.com/search?q=weldon).
01. In the South. Concert overture, op.50 'Alassio' [23'14]
02. - 06. Sea Pictures, op.37* [22'56]
07. - 21. Variations on an Original Theme, op.36, 'Enigma'# [31'48]
Gladys Ripley- contralto*, London Symphony Orchestra and Philharmonia Orchestra# conducted by George Weldon
SOMM CD073 (recorded 1954 & 1953#; CD issued 2008)
(digital download; flacs, booklet, cover and inlay scans)
Recording venue: No.1 Studio Abbey Road, London & Kingsway Hall, London#
Recording engineers: Not stated; Producers: Brian Culverhouse & Walter Legge#
Edvard Grieg:
01. 04. Peer Gynt. Suite No.1, op.46 [14'24]
05. - 08. Peer Gynt. Suite No.2, op.55 [17'43]
London Symphony Orchestra conducted by George Weldon
BnF Collection CND1501 (recorded 1958; digital download 2015)
(digital download; 24bit 48kHz flacs, booklet and cover scans)
Recording venue, engineer and producer: not stated.
Anybody at all interested in Elgar's music should not miss hearing this splendid transfer for SOMM by the original EMI producer/engineer, Brian Culverhouse, using original master tapes.
The short-lived but excellent and popular conductor George Weldon (1908 - 1963) made many recordings for EMI but the majority have never been issued on CD, nor in decent quality digital downloads. Like Dennis Brain he was known for a love of sports cars but his early demise was a result of heavy smoking rather than motor accident. His fine stereo Tchaikovsky Sleeping Beauty and British Light Classics recordings are already posted here on MIMIC leaving just today's two to make up the balance of commercial issues. (There are also a few recordings where he accompanies pianists such as Moiseiwitsch and Richard Farrell.) A number of the download stores have other recordings (including more Elgar and Grieg) but they are all on dodgy labels with murky sound quality - hardly worth the listen.
In the South and the Sea Pictures are particularly fine here with nothing at all routine. Although she exhibits considerable vibrato, something which I normally dislike, here Gladys Ripley's ripe contralto and antique precise diction seem just write for these songs. Gladys Ripley was also short-lived (1908 - 1955) and also a heavy smoker. This was her second recording of the work with Weldon (the first in 1946) and it doesn't replace Janet Baker as all time favourite but it does come close. The Enigma Variations are perhaps at times too gentle for some tastes but Weldon's enthusiasm shines through.
BnF do not have SOMM's advantage of access to EMI's original tapes for the Grieg but they do make a reasonable job of remastering from LP - excepting for some mis-timing of track endings. But these are sane but lively performances of the over-familiar Peer Gynt Suites with rhythms well pointed. (The 24bit mastering seems to be somewhat overkill.)
Download from MEGA.
PS: The Shellackophile blog has a number of excellent transfers of Weldon recordings from the 1940s (https://shellackophile.blogspot.com/search?q=weldon).