Erica Morini left
no commercial recording of the Beethoven
concerto – which makes this disc so
rewarding an event. It was taken down
live in 1944 and issued on vinyl disc
under the auspices of the overseas
branch of the American Office of War
Information. She was partnered by
Vladimir Golschmann who conducted
the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra
of New York, as it then still was.
There is fairly constant surface scuffing
throughout and there’s no getting
away from that fact. Additionally
the sound picture is rather recessed
and could do with a boost though this
was clearly a somewhat difficult set
with which to do restorative battle.
What we do have is
a performance of great charm. Her
tempo for the opening movement (you’ll
have to disregard the booklet’s timings
– they’re all wrong) isn’t especially
slow but it seems slower than it is
principally because of the conductor’s
rather slack rhythm. Morini’s Trieste-cum-Viennese
lyricism is intact, as is her electric
trill and very expressive lingering.
The slow movement is full of sentiment
and attractive, though the surface
of the preserved discs is rather scuffy.
The finale is rich in light portamenti
and silvery tone – you’ll have to
get used to some preserved scrunch
– and pleasingly buoyant. It’s certainly
not a great performance, for various
reasons, but a splendid addition to
the Morini discography, imperfections
as noted.
Coupled with it is
her Berlin 1927 recording of the Spring
Sonata. Here she is light and wristy,
with far more portamenti that she
used in the live concerto performance.
There’s a rather dodgy side join at
3.23 and the surface noise has been
rather dampened down to eliminate
it - to my ears too much. Listening
to the German Electrola 78s set –
Doremi have transferred an English
HMV if the booklet pictures are an
indication – I think a fraction more
of the upper frequencies could have
been preserved. Still, you’ll hear
a different kind of performance to
her recording on LP many years later
with Firkušny, with whom she formed
a congenial partnership. There the
vibrato had slowed, the portamenti
had withered and the traversal was
slacker. I know many people rate the
series of sonata discs they made highly
but I prefer the 1927 recording for
all that her rhythm is unstable in
the first movement. There’s a really
expressive approach to colour and
a deliciously extreme couple of portamenti
in the slow movement, reserved humour
in the scherzo (not made enough of)
and more expression in the finale.
It’s certainly not in the top echelon
of recordings made pre-LP but it preserves
a performance, abetted by Schwalb,
of character and personality, as well
as instrumental distinction.
This is the third
in Doremi’s Morini edition and I note
that they’ve already done much to
restore her 78 legacy, including her
1921-22 acoustics. Long may that worthy
retrieval continue.
Jonathan Woolf
N Schwalb, recorded November 1927 
