Toscha Seidel - American Columbia recordings (1921-27) (Remastered 2026) (2026) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist

01. Minuet in G (arr. Kreisler)
02. Anitra’s Dance from Peer Gynt (arr. Sitt)
03. Angel’s Serenade
04. Schön Rosmarin
05. Chanson arabe (arr. Kreisler)
06. Valse sentimentale (arr. Franko)
07. Indian Snake Dance, op.6 no.4
08. Slavonic Dance No.2 in E minor (arr. Kreisler)
09. Andante from Symphonie espagnole
10. Finale from Violin Concerto in E minor
11. Serenade from Schwanengesang
12. Pastorale
13. Rondino on a theme of Beethoven
14. Souvenir poetique (arr. Schindler)
15. Valse triste
16. Humoresque
17. Air on the G-string (arr. Wilhelmj)
18. Meditation from Thaïs
19. Prelude from Le Déluge
20. Albumblatt (arr. Wilhelmj)
21. Slavonic Dance No.2 in E minor (arr. Kreisler)

Nicknamed 'the devil' by his teacher Leopold Auer (who called Jascha Heifetz 'the angel'), Toscha Seidel (1899-1962) was regarded by Carl Flesch as 'the third in the triumvirate' of Auer's greatest pupils - alongside Jascha Heifetz and Mischa Elman. This album continues the Biddulph Recordings series and contains Seidel's recordings for the American Columbia label from 1921 to 1927, including well-known favorites such as the Meditation from Jules Massenet's opera Thais, Ignacy Jan Paderewski's Minuet in G major, Antonin Dvorak's Humoresque and Johannes Brahms' Hungarian Dance No. 1, as well as several original works by Fritz Kreisler and August Wilhelmj's arrangements of Johann Sebastian Bach's Air and Richard Wagner's Albumblatt. In addition to imaginative transcriptions of orchestral excerpts from Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt, Jean Sibelius' Kuolema and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, there are also rarities by Zdenek Fibich, Domenico Scarlatti and the American-born violinist Cecil Burleigh. The album also features Seidel as violin obbligato in Franz Schubert's Serenade from the Schwanengesang with the lyrical tenor Charles Hackett and in two concerto movements accompanied by a studio orchestra: a sparkling interpretation of the finale from Mendelssohn's E minor Concerto and the poignant Andante from Edouard Lalo's Symphonie espagnole.