Saturday, November 29, 2008

Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite in Dance Tempo--Freddy Martin Orch. (1942)













One of the great "Yeah, right" titles ever, but it's actually superbly done. Just as superb is the recording quality, which sounds more like 1952 than the actual recording date (1942). This was the kind of thing Martin did especially well--he was the big band era's answer to Paul Whiteman in that regard.

As I type this, our excuse for Net service isn't even working at dial-up speed. Utterly beyond belief.

We pay for a fast connection. We don't get one, but we pay for it.

While I'm slowly counting to one hundred, you should be downloading this delightful 1942 performance, as ripped from a superbly-transferred 45 rpm EP set. Meanwhile, I'm going to take a break from our Blockedstream "service" and think nothing but nice, happy thoughts. Cue Napoleon XIV.

Click here to hear the music: ZIP FILE NO LONGER AVAILABLE

PLAYLIST

OVERTURE MINIATURE
MARCH
DANCE OF THE SUGAR PLUM FAIRY
RUSSIAN DANCE
ARAB DANCE
CHINESE DANCE
DANCE OF THE REED FLUTES
WALTZ OF THE FLOWERS


Lee

9 comments:

Ernie said...

Wow! Never seen this before, but it's right up my alley. Cool. Glad my internet is working. :)

Lee Hartsfeld said...

Ours is back, mostly. I rebooted the DSL and my computer, both. That seems to have done the trick. Or maybe fate intervened.

It's all so uncertain. Like Life. And Newsweek.

Yes, this is great stuff--some moments are right out of Fifties exotica. Such things show up where we least expect them.

Steven Strauss said...

We don't necessarily expect the hallmarks of fifties exotica in the wake of Pearl Harbor. We were in the full flower of the seventy-eight era.

ps~ my verification word is balsterd - is that okay?

Ted Hering said...

What a treat! I've never heard this set before. The arrangements are charming and whimsical. I especially like "The Chinese Dance," with shades of Raymond Scott.

P said...

Great fun; the whole family is enjoying it as I type.

CaptainOT said...

Great find Lee... great music too!
Thanks for sharing this!


Capt

Ernie said...

Guess what I found this weekend! It's the 3x78 set of this great Freddy Martin set. Problem is, one of the records is gone, one has a chip the size of the quarter moon taped in place, but the third record looks good. Of course, I was afraid to pull it out of the sleeve to see just how bad it was, but at least I got a nice cover out of the deal. It's the little things that make me happy sometimes...

John said...

This is amazing! Thanks for the post!

Gregory in San Diego said...

I have the 78 set... one of my favorite albums!