We now have a wide
range of transfers of Primrose’s first
Harold. I’ve recently reviewed
the first instalment in the new Naxos
Great Violists series, which featured
just that recording, the 1937 Boston/Koussevitzky,
and judged it superior to the Dutton
transfer. Naxos used the LP pressing,
whilst Dutton preferred to transfer
from the original 78s. To complicate
things we have another entrant in the
shape of Doremi’s own first volume in
their Primrose series. It was first
issued in 1998 but seems to have been
given renewed coverage in their latest
series of issues from that imaginative
company presided over by Jacob Harnoy.
Given the competition
the differences in transfer philosophy
still remain. Doremi has, like Dutton,
opted for the 78s as source material.
But this was a difficult set with which
to deal as the bass frequencies frequently
congealed and the lack of string separation,
especially in the earlier part of the
work, can lead to severe congestion.
Naxos preserve more surface noise but
there’s greater aeration in their transfer
and they score over both Dutton and
Doremi in middle to higher frequencies
and in clarifying those lower ones as
well. So as a recommendation here it’s
certainly to Naxos that one should go.
What complicates things
is that Naxos added the first Primrose-Walton
Concerto recording and the Casadesus-Handel
forgery. Doremi has the Bax Viola Sonata
with Harriet Cohen. This well-known,
brisk recording, made in 1937, was the
first such commercial set to be issued
of the work; the earlier Tertis-Bax
Columbia was never issued at the time
and only reappeared on a Pearl LP. Pearl
in fact has it in their current CD catalogue
and it’s this that is the rival to Doremi.
Pearl’s transfer is very much in their
"frying-tonight" tradition
– a lot of surface noise and shellac
hiss but also retention of higher frequencies
and a minimum of intervention. Doremi
has used noise suppression to limit
the crackle, which also means that the
fullness has been dampened and Primrose’s
tone colours can suffer as a result.
The two offer diametrically differing
approaches.
Of the two I prefer
the Pearl but I can imagine that some
will welcome the quieter surface noise
of the Doremi. In any case their Harold-plus-sonata
programme is an attractive one, fusing
Primrose’s recordings from his earlier,
pre-Heifetz self in the days when his
tone was full and broad. They’re certainly
amongst the violist’s most significant
recordings and all admirers will want
them in their collection.
Jonathan Woolf
Harriet Cohen (piano), recorded London, 1937
