Arnold Jacobs & the VW concerto

[peter birch]

does anyone know if the 1977 deutsch gramophon recording of Arnold Jacobs playing the Vaughn Williams ever made it to CD?
I had it on vinyl when I was younger but lost it when i changed over to CDs.

[pat]

Yes it is out there: Part of a two cd set called "Principals of the Chicago Symphony" or (title) close to it anyway.

[KevinMadden]

its called "The Chicago Principle" (very close, but that only counts in Horseshoes and Hand Grenades)

nice collection... granted i only listen to the VW and Bolero

[brianf]

Apparently he was running quite a fever during the session

not!

[porkchopsisgood]

Hook us up, Brian....

I'd love to tell this story correctly myself.

I've got the record, and used to listen to it frequently when I had a working turntable. Definitely not the most definitive recording of the VeeDub, but hey, it's Jake! The recording always brings a smile to my face.

AVC

[randy westmoreland]

its called "The Chicago Principle" (very close, but that only counts in Horseshoes and Hand Grenades)

The Chicago Principal, although principle does have merit when you are talking about Jacobs

[KevinMadden]

where's that grammar Nazi picture?

[Uncle Buck]

I love this particular recording. By today's recording standards, it never would make it onto a CD, but it has a lot of character. There is no question that Jacobs was communicating something on this recording, not just playing the piece.

[Frank Byrne]

Here's the Jacobs/Vaughan Williams story as he told it to me:

DGG signed him to record the RVW with Barenboim and the original record was to have the RVW on one side, and the Schumann Konzertstuck for 4 Horns on the other. When the time came, Barenboim's wife at the time (Jackie duPre) fell ill again and they cancelled the session.

Some many months later when Barenboim was to record again, they asked Arnold if he could record it in two weeks. He said he could. Normally, the CSO would record AFTER something was performed first. This time they just wanted to record and rather than rehearse the orchestra (the orchestral parts are not easy) they just wanted to start recording and see how it went.

He said that by the time the bugs were worked out he was on his 6th time through, and he was mentally fatigued. He said, "my lip felt fine but my concentration was down." No, he was not happy at that point so he asked Barenboim and the producer if they could just run it through once at a session the coming week and they said yes. But when they got to that session, they told him they'd heard it and that they could patch it together just fine, so no-go on the promised run through.

There is a live recording of the RVW with him and the CSO conducted by asst conductor Henry Mazer which is no longer available but is excellent and proves once and for all that the DGG recording is NOT representative of his real performance level in this period.

All that having been said, the number of people who could make anything happen under those circumstances are few and far between.

Frank

[GC]

What was that about handshoes and horse grenades?

[benny-plus]

Does somebody know if/where the Jacobs/Mazer recording is available?

If I'm not mistaken, this is the recording of mr. Jacobs playing the Tuba Concerto on the famous CC York, in contrast to the Barenboim/Jacobs, where he plays the B&H F-Tuba. Right?

[Billy M.]

In all honesty, I recommend checking out either the Michael Lind or John Fletcher recordings when it comes to the RVW.

I think Mr. Jacobs was a fantastic player (the plethora of orchestra recordings he was a part of is proof of that) but I find the above mentioned recordings are exceptionally representative of the piece of music, which, let's face it, is an OK piece of music.

Hearing Mr. Jacobs in Respighi, Bartok, and Strauss.... gimme more of that!

[Alex C]

Frank has the story pretty much as I heard from Mr. Jacobs at the time. He also said that DGG would give him approval over the editing and release of the recording. That didn't happen.

There are several obvious editing issues in the recording, sloppy cuts and the sound changes during the recording. You have to use your imagination to piece together what the performance should have sounded like.

For the adventurous, there are pirate recordings of Jacobs and CSO playing the V-W, either from a broadcast performance or pirated right at the performance. The ones that I have heard are terrific. Orchestral music is how Mr. Jacobs made his living, but he made beautiful music anytime he touched the horn.

[Billy M.]

Orchestral music is how Mr. Jacobs made his living, but he made beautiful music anytime he touched the horn.

FACT!

[luke_hollis]

When Gene Pokorny did the VW concerto a year or so ago, they had it online for a time where you could listen to it. You might go there an see if it is still posted. http://csosoundsandstories.org/category/cso-radio/

[mbell]

For the adventurous, there are pirate recordings of Jacobs and CSO playing the V-W, either from a broadcast performance or pirated right at the performance. The ones that I have heard are terrific. Orchestral music is how Mr. Jacobs made his living, but he made beautiful music anytime he touched the horn.

The CSO issued a series of recordings called From the Archives, which feature recordings from live performances. I think most (all but the historic stuff probably) were originally recorded by WFMT for broadcast purposes. They issued a 2 CD set every year for several years. It was part of their fundraising efforts and I believe you got the CD set for a certain level of donation. They were limited editions and are long out of print.

Jacobs' performance of the Vaughan Williams from October 1978 with Henry Mazer conducing is on Volume 2 of the From the Archives series, which has the title Soloists of the Orchestra. It came out in 1987. They issued two more sets featuring CSO soloists. These sets include performances by Bud Herseth, Jay Friedman, Dale Clevenger and several others. Some people have confused these recordings with the Chicago Principal set issued by DG. They are totally different recordings.

PM me for more....

mike