#ClassicsaDay #Summerof78s Week 2

Classical music performers have been recording for over a century. The Classics a Day team declares July the Summer of 78. Or rather, the summer of 78s. For July, post recordings that were originally issued on 78 rpm discs.

Many legendary performances have been captured on 78 rpm. And more than a few 20th Century composers playing or conducting their own music. Here are my postings for the first week of #Summerof78s.

07/11/22 Frederic Chopin - Nocturne Op. 9, No. 2
Ignacy Jan Paderewski, piano

Paderewski was not only a piano virtuoso. He was also one of Poland's pre-eminent composers of the early 20th Century. Both skills inform his performance of his countryman's nocturne in this RCA Victrola recording from the 1930s.

07/12/22 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Divertimento No. 8 in F major, K. 213
Gewandhausbläserquintett Leipzig

The musicians in this 1928 recording were all first chair players in the Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestra.

07/13/22 Franz Josef Haydn: Quartet in G major, Op. 76, No. 1
Budapest String Quartet

In their day, the Budapest String Quartet was considered one of the best quartets in the world. Their performance here was recorded between 1925-1927.

07/14/22 Mignon: Gavotte
Maud Powell, violin

In the first part of the 20th Century, American violinist Maud Powell was one of the most famous. She recorded and toured internationally. And she gave the American premieres of 14 violin concertos, including those by Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Bruch, Sibelius, and Rimsky-Korsakov.

07/15/22 Maurice Ravel: Piano Concerto in G major

This Columbia recording was made shortly after the work's premiere in 1932. Marguerite Long is the soloist, and the Symphony Orchestra is conducted by the composer.