Here are some more rarities featuring Piero Coppola at the helm. The gem of the batch is certainly the Falla Nights in the Gardens of Spain, a speedy yet evocative version, featuring some the wonderful playing of pianist Aline van Barentzen (see link for bio). Despite the exotic appellation, van Barentzen was born in a Massachusetts, and had an important career, but did not make many recordings. Owners of the large collection of Villa-Lobos leading his own works, entitled Par Lui-Meme, will find her performing two of the Chôros. I have included the solo piano filler side as well.
Coppola recorded a very large number of sides accompanying vocalists such as Charles Panzera and Vanni-Marcoux, and those fall outside of the scope of my survey, but I had to include the rare and beautiful Japanese songs orchestrated by Coppola himself. This was the only record issued, but there were nine other sides recorded, but not issued, according to my discography!
Those of you who burn these compilations of mine to cdr, will have to choose to omit one track when burning to a 80 minute blank disc. Perhaps expendable is the not so fascinating orchestral transcription of Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C sharp minor. If you are inspired to add this to your library of scores, it seems to be available still.
I will present one more Coppola post soon: the 1927 excerpts from Debussy’s Pelleas et Melisande, complete with the first disc omitted in two different cd reissues. As in the previous posts, these transfers were a collaboration with Ward Marston providing the source material from his collection and disc transfers, and myself doing the editing honors. Thanks again to Ward!
Rossini: Overture to Il barbiere di Siviglia
Orchestre Symphonique du Gramophone
Disques Gramophone L 623
Matrices CFR 468/69
Recorded March 31, 1927
Balakirev: Tamara
Orchestre de la Société des concerts du Conservatoire
HMV DB 4801/2
Matrices 2K 121/22 & 124/25
Recorded January 14 & 28, 1931
De Falla: Noches en los Jardines de España
Aline van Barentzen, piano
Orchestre Symphonique
Disques Gramophone W 938/40a
Matrices CT 4031/35
Recorded June 7, 1928
De Falla: Andaluza (No. 4 from Piezas Españolas)
Aline van Barentzen, piano solo
Disques Gramophone W 940b
Matrix CT 4050
Recorded June 11, 1928
Note: this is a filler for the “Noches” set
De Falla: Danse Espagnole (from La vida breve)
De Falla: Danza del fuego (from El amor brujo)
Orchestre Symphonique du Gramophone
Disques Gramophone W 891
Matrices CK 2756/57
Recorded March 6, 1928
Respighi: Pini di Roma
Orchestre de la Société des concerts du Conservatoire
HMV DB 4991/92
Matrices 2LA 671/74
Recorded October 12, 1935
Deux Melodies Japnoaises (orchestrated by Coppola):
a) Momizouri-Uta (Chanson de la Recolte du Riz)
b) Kusakari-Uta (Chanson du Faucheur)
Ayako Ogino, Soprano
Orchestre Symphonique du Gramophone
HMV DA 4826
Matrices OW 1432/33
Recorded c. 1932
Rachmaninoff: Prelude in C Sharp Minor, Op. 3, No. 2
(arranged by G. Trousset)
Orchestre Symphonique
Disques Gramophone W 801b
Matrix CF 2798
Recorded January 27, 1930Note: B side to the Werther Prelude presented in my previous Coppola compilation
Neal's Historical Recordings 
A thousand thanks! For both the non-French stuff, and for the extra cd of Pelleas to include the 25cm record that neither Pearl nor Andante included in their reissues!
[not to mention VAI, which issued bleeding chunks of bleeding chunks, as it were, of
both the Disque Gram and Columbia sets, on one cd. Feh!
Are you the Mike Harkin who was looking for material about Ibolyka Zilzer? I have in front of me a letter I wrote you in 1993 about her, but in 2004 I see you didn’t know most of the things I told you. Did you ever get my letter? Anyway, Coppola is marvellous. I keep meaning top write something about him, if I live long enough.
Thanks very much for this latest installment of Coppola.
Speaking of Spanish-y stuff, I wondered if you were familiar
with the conductor Paul von Klenau? I think you would
enjoy his 1926 recording of Debussy’s Iberia!
Dear Neal, Yes, thank you – for everything so far, for this fascinating selection and for what’s to come! (How *could* those other labels leave bits of Pelléas out?) Just to blow CHARM’s trumpet for a minute, though, van Barentzen’s Nights and Andaluza are among the 5000+ sides available on its site since last year, though, of course, not joined up as you so painstakingly do. I didn’t know that Mme van Barentzen was born in the States. There is one other CD of her, playing Beethoven Sonatas, on DIW Classics of Japan (http://www.diwproducts.com/prd.php?dcl1004). Sadly, this omits her ‘Waldstein’, which I once failed to buy cheap on eBay… All the best, Grumpy
Glad to oblige, of course! Actually, at some point further down the road, there WILL be more Coppola…WM has just filled in some of the missing items in his collection! Wow, Grumpy, I didn’t know about that Japanese cd, but I’ll check on that Waldstein, because another friend who helps me with my 78 rpm “fix” may have several of the Beethovens….btw, I’m not 100% sure, so apologies I’ve I’m wrong about this, but wasn’t one of the discs on the CHARM transfer of the Falla missing the first half a minute due to an edge chip? I’d be happy to supply a separate dub of that side or sides if you’d be able to plug it in there. And yes, let’s all blow our trumpets for the incredible stuff available to us all via the CHARM site, including the Paul Klenau Iberia that Andrew mentions above!
Cheers,
Neal
Many thanks for all of this fascinating Coppola material. Great stuff!
A small error just noticed: the Japanese pieces are on DA FOUR-eight-two-six
Another one — mine ! The third digit of the Scherchen is an eight, not a three.
Misread my scrawl.
Ah, I see…thanks for catching that…corrected!
What a coincidence, Neil. I just picked up the 3rd Prokofiev concerto with Coppola conducted and the composer at the piano. It’s available from Naxos, but I like having the 78s.
I did not realize that Piero was Francis Ford Coppola’s grandfather. Anyway, thank you for these; I look forward to downloading and listening. Oh! and thanks for the scans for the Bach songs.
Glad you got those scans, and thanks again for the Bach series. If you don’t mind, I’ll link to those when I do my Cuenod post in a day or two. Actually, I don’t believe there was a family connection between Piero Coppola and Francis Ford Coppola. I’ve not managed to find evidence of one, at any rate. Have you found something about that?
Cheers,
Neal
Hello Neal,
I just found your blog when googling the Szigeti Schubert/Beethoven Columbia LP, which I am researching. I am relatively new to the music blog world but would love to link up with you. I think we share many interests, and our readers probably do as well.
This is actually a ‘have you got?’ enquiry: Can you lay your hands on the following for purpose of upload:
Markevitch cond own works, Disque Gramophone DB5069-74
Scherchen cond Chinese Dream pictures, Swiss HMV DB6038-9
Both are probably extremely rare; reading David Hall again has piqued my interest anew.
Mike in Plovdiv
I’d have posted to you direct, but I don’t find a ‘contact me’ icon anywhere….
I don’t have those myself, but I’ll ask a couple of my friends….I’d love to hear those as well!
OOPS! Apparently there are lots of unsubstantiated assertions about a relation between Piero Coppola and Francis Ford Coppola. I ran across one and took it at face value, always a dangerous practice when trolling the internet. Sorry for the goof.
Hi Neal, Now that I’ve listened to this whole clutch, I must thank you again – simply superb, especially la Péri. You’re right, part 5 (of 5) of CHARM’s transfer of Nights starts a fraction late – but the filler doesn’t, so there can’t be physical damage, can there? (Unless a chip can affect one side and not the other, which I guess is possible.) I do seem to remember raising this at the time; I forget what the answer was.
Klenau’s Iberia is great, any takers should head over to CHARM!
As for van Barentzen, it seems she recorded Beethoven Sonatas in four goes: one lot in 1947, of which three are on that DIW Classics CD; two lots in 1952 & ’53, which are on three French FALPs and one FBLP (all rare and expensive); and then again in 1960, issued twice on Trianon (quite common and affordable – I have a copy). Whatever your friend has would be great to hear!
Best wishes, Grumps
Superb !
In another way, would it be possible, as I am a Belgian guy, to find some 78rpm of Désiré Defauw with the Brussels Conservatoire Orchestra (on British Columbia)?
There are two of them on the CHARM site (Strauss’ Till Eulenspiegel and Glazunov Stenka Razin), but I search desperately the Joseph Jongen’s “Petite Suite”…
Of course they are extremely rare… in any case more than those with the Chicago Symphony!…
Many thanks, Neal!
Love your website, and many thank you for your generosity. Any chance of getting the Coppola Pelléas any time soon? Also, does anybody have his earlier, 1924 recordings of the Pelléas excerpts (aside from the Vanni-Marcoux sides, reissued by Marston)?
hello if you are interested in Piero Coppola sell the original disks you can contact me by e-mail photos of available disks goodbye and thanks