FANFARE The Magazine for Serious Record Collectors
Volume 21, No. 1 - September/October 1997
BY ROBERT MAXHAM
Although he has spent between 200 and 400 hours preparing each volume of
his new series of historic restorations, Legendary Treasures, Jacob Harnoy
of DOREMI is ambivalent about John Wesley's contention that cleanliness
is next to godliness. In fact, his goals and results are very different
from those of enthusiasts who do "more than necessary," like early
adopters, for example, who used analog techniques to pare the sound of historic
recordings to the bone. That's the danger in cleaning, Harnoy contends--loss
of the distinctive sound that once immediately identified each great musical
personality. "Cleaning is not the object. The object is maintaining
the sonority. Even as a veteran digital audio specialist, it took me nearly
a year of experimentation to develop an appropriate restoration procedure
and to establish that I'm not going too far." On the other hand, of
course, there are companies that "do no processing at all: just digitize
and release. I do it completely differently."
For many, Harnoy's kind of painstaking reconstruction is out of the question,
especially since many historic releases are initiated by marketers "not
capable of doing technical things on their own," and "some of
them are more interested in volume and quantity than in quality." These
people are "well meaning, but there's a lot more that can be done.
They farm out four months' work--to be done in four hours. We don't have
this kind of limitation." Spending a great deal of time remastering
each release ("Time is not an object--I never look at the clock"),
Harnoy hopes to fill a technological gap--and coincidentally fulfill a personal
mission. "I know what exists, so we're filling a musical gap, too,"
he adds.
If anyone should know what exists, it's Harnoy. "I have all of Heifetz's,
Oistrakh's, Kreisler's, Milstein's, Menuhin's, de Vito's, Francescatti's,
Campoli's, Rabin's, Gitlis's, Tibor Varga's, Morini's, Elman's, Grumiaux's,
Szerying's, Suk's, Kogan's, Goldberg's, Seidel's, Renardy's, Stern's, Krebbers's,
Olevsky's, Dénes Kovács's, Zukerman's, Mutter's, Markov's,
Dumay's, Fontanarosa's, Freidman's, Primrose's, Feuermann's, Piatigorsky's,
Navarra's, Fournier's, Tortelier's, Janigro's, Gendron's, and Casals's commercial
discs--as well as thousands more by lesser known string soloists. And the
collection includes far more than strings--where else could you find 22
versions of Verdi's Masked Ball? My collection comprises hundreds of recordings
of Mozart's, Rossini's, and Verdi's operas and Bach's cantatas, in particular--and
don't forget Vivaldi! In a rich vocal collection, my favorites, Gundula
Janowitz, Teresa Stich-Randall, Maria Stader, and the young Cecilia Bartoli
stand out. Still, the strongest section is chamber music." But he has
also benefited from his close association with James Creighton (author of
Discopaedia of the Violin and former producer of the Masters of the Bow
series), Robert Trenholm, and Jack Silver (both renowned authorities on
the classical guitar). So he deploys the expertise of the engineer with
the passion of the collector. He's been a collector, in fact, since as a
10-year old in Israel he bought his first LP--the Mendelssohn and Mozart
D major concertos by David Oistrakh. He had heard the performance on the
radio (there were no classical recordings available in the small town where
he grew up) and borrowed money from his mother to go to Tel Aviv to buy
it. "I had to visit a number of stores before I could find what I was
looking for." Buying the recording led, however, to another project.
"I actually owned it for eight months before I could play it. I worked
different jobs and my mother gave me enough extra to buy a record player."
The impetus for collecting probably developed from his devotion to the violin
as a performer. "For many years, I played the violin in chamber groups
and with members of my family." And so it was that the child became
father of the man. Thereafter came scientific training, the background in
mathematics, physics, and chemistry, that enabled Harnoy to pursue a career
as an academic and a research scientist, the position from which he retired
last year to pursue his mission full time. "Now I could produce one
or two volumes per month if I didn't have distractions," he claims.
The distractions include not only the work he continues to do for other
artists (Harnoy has produced nearly 200 new recordings for RCA, EMI, Decca/London,
Vox and others) but also his all-consuming search for ideal sound ("I
constantly improve upon my restoration method, so then I have to redo everything
at hand. I've done some projects over eight times.")
Harnoy recalls that about twelve years ago, when a historic record company
used 78s from his late friend Arnold Sposato's collection, "I found
out how they processed the audio--for the most part, a wrong method. They
ended up retaining very little of the original sonority, on top of inducing
what CD haters call 'listening fatigue.' After that, almost every time I
acquired a historic CD, I wanted more and more to devote myself to restoring
things the correct way. Future generations deserve better."
His DOREMI utilizes "eleven or twelve processes in three categories:
analog to digital conversion and CD mastering; checks to ensure that the
original sonority is preserved in full; and removal of some of the surface
noise." During the analog to digital conversion, "we're very careful
in monitoring the speed and pitch and in selecting the stylus and cartridge;
if the source is on tape, the same care goes into adjusting the analog player
to get the best quality." It is a central tenet of Harnoy's philosophy
that correctly remastered CDs, even from LPs, should sound like the original.
"When remastered CDs don't sound good--the market is virtually flooded
with inferior sounding ones--it's usually due to mediocre processing from
analog to digital. In transfer from 78s, proper analog to digital conversion
is equally necessary." Then there's noise reduction. "We use both
CEDAR and No-Noise, customized for each type of noise--an exhaustive, time-consuming
search. Each glitch is handled separately, sometimes for hours. In the center
of this elaborate audio and post-production laboratory are two powerful
Macintosh computers loaded with specialty digital audio software as well
as dedicated systems for digital editing and digital effects, all secured
with pure sine-wave uninterrupted power supply". An important member
of the DOREMI team, who implements Harnoy's ideas and strategies in audio
restoration--Harry Quan. "He's my right-hand man, who puts together
all the custom-made electronic and digital gizmos."
Already several collectors, impressed with DOREMI's restoration, have sent
unique transcription discs and rare private recordings that Harnoy has slated
for future Legendary Treasures CD releases. He hopes that he'll be able
to enlarge his network of such contacts.
All this, of course, is about the man and the method, and Harnoy doesn't
really want to talk about either at great length. For him it's the music
that counts, or perhaps, more precisely, the characteristic sound of that
music as played by great personalities like violinists Heifetz and Oistrakh
and guitarists Segovia, Oyanguren, and Gomez. These are the artists to whom
the first six volumes of his Legendary Treasures are devoted.
JASCHA HEIFETZ COLLECTION, Volume 1. Jascha Heifetz, violin; Erich Kleiber
conducting the Concert Hall Orchestra1. (1945 Concert Hall, USA, Broadcast);
c. 1943 Concert Hall, USA Broadcasts for the Armed Forces Radio Service2.
Orchestra conducted by Howard Barlow3. DOREMI DHR-7705 [ADD]; 61:43.
DINICU: Hora Staccato, takes 1 and 2. CASTELNUOVO-TEDESCO: Sea Murmurs,
op. 9, no. 1, takes 1, 2, and 3. RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Flight of the Bumblebee,
takes 1 & 2. MENDELSSOHN: On Wings of Song, takes 1, 2, 3, and 4. CLÉRAMBAULT:
Largo in C Minor, takes 1 & 2. (Recorded December 23, 1932 by Bell Telephone
Laboratories). BRAHMS: Concerto in D for Violin and Orchestra, op. 77 (2nd
and 3rd movements)1. FALLA (arr. Kochanski): Jota1. DOHNÁNYI: Adagio2,3.
BRUCH: Concerto No. 2 in D Minor for Violin and Orchestra, op. 44 (1st movement)2.
JASCHA HEIFETZ COLLECTION, Volume 2. Jascha Heifetz, violin; Concert Hall
Orchestra1. (1943 Concert Hall, USA, Broadcast); Donald Voorhees conducting
the NBC-Bell Telephone Hour Orchestra2. Emanuel Bay, piano3. DOREMI DHR-7707
[ADD]; 63:26.
BAZZINI: La Ronde de Lutins, op. 251. MOZART (arr. Heifetz): Divertimento
No. 17 in D, K. 334: Allegro2. NOVACEK: Concert Caprice, op. 5, no. 4: Perpetuum
mobile. DEBUSSY (arr. Heifetz): Children's Corner Suite: Golliwog's Cake-Walk3.
RACHMANINOFF (arr. Heifetz): Sonata in G Minor for Cello and Piano, op.
19: Andante3. (Bell Telephone Hour broadcasts from Nov. 26, 1945). BACH:
Partita No. 3 in E for Solo Violin, BWV 1006: Preludio, Gavotte, and Gigue.
(Bell Telephone Hour Broadcasts from Nov. 11, 1946) GOLDMARK: Concerto in
A Minor for Violin and Orchestra, op. 28: Andante2. GODOWSKY (arr. Heifetz):
12 Impressions for Piano: Viennese2. Triakontameron: No. 11, Alt Wien. MOSZKOWSKI
(arr. Sarasate): Stücke, op. 45: No. 2, Guitarre2. DEBUSSY (arr. Heifetz):
Beau soir2. SARASATE: Introduction and Tarantelle2. (NBC Bell Telephone
Hour broadcasts from June 9, 1943) PROKOFIEV: Concerto No. 2 in G Minor
for Violin and Orchestra, op. 63: Andante assai1. BENNETT: Hexapoda: Jim
Jives1.
DAVID OISTRAKH COLLECTION, Volume 1. David Oistrakh and Pyotr Bondarenko,
violins; Mikhail Terian, viola; Sviatoslav Knushevitsky, cello1. David Oistrakh,
violin; Milos Sádlo, cello; Dmitri Shostakovich, piano2. DOREMI DHR-7701
[ADD]; 66:43.
TCHAIKOVSKY: String Quartet in D, op. 111. SHOSTAKOVICH: Trio in E Minor,
op. 672. SCHUBERT: String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor, D. 810 (2nd movement)1.
DAVID OISTRAKH COLLECTION, Volume 2. Vladimir Sorokin, clarinet; David Oistrakh
and Pyotr Bondarenko, violins; Mikhail Terian, viola; Sviatoslav Knushevitsky,
cello. DOREMI DHR-7702 [ADD]; 70:41.
MOZART: Clarinet Quintet in A , K. 581. BRAHMS: Clarinet Quintet in b, op.
115.
ANDRES SEGOVIA AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES. Volume 1: Segovia and Oyanguren.
Julio M. Oyanguren, guitar1. Andres Segovia, guitar2. DOREMI DHR-7703 [ADD];
71:31.
TARREGA: Tremolo Study1. Preludes nos. 5, 6, 11, 121. Danza Mora1. SIRERA:
L'Hereu1. Jerezana1. Zapateado1. CAMPION: Air. Sonate1. Gigue1. Gavotte1.
Gigue1. MILAN: Pavane1. NARVAES: Variaciones1. SANZ: Capriccio1. FERRANDIERE:
Rondo1. AGUADO: Allegro1. SOR: Sonata, op. 221. ALBENIZ: Granada2. Torre
Bermeja2. Sevilla2. GRANADOS: Tonadilla2. Dances nos. 5, 102.
ANDRES SEGOVIA AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES. Volume 2: Segovia and G. Gomez. Guillermo
Gomez, guitar1. Andres Segovia, guitar2. DOREMI DHR-7704 [ADD]; 66:05.
GOMEZ: Aires Espagnoles 1, 21. Tremolo1. Angelita1. Suite Andaluza1. CHAPI:
Serenata Morisca1. MASSENET: Elegie1. TORROBA: Fandanguillo1. GRANADOS:
La Huerfana1. Danza No. 51. NEVIN: El Rosario1. D, SCARLATTI: Sonata2. PAGANINI:
Romanza2. RAMEAU: Minuet2. PURCELL: A New Irish Tune2. Minuet2. Jig2. DOWLAND:
Galliard2. A. SCARLATTI: Gavotte2. Sarabanda2. HAYDN: Minuet2. Andante2.
The opening of the first volume of Heifetz treasures couldn't be more auspicious.
In Dinicu's Hora Staccato, a Heifetz signature piece, no recording has ever
captured the characteristic bite of the Master's staccato with greater fidelity--here
is his distinctive timbre as it rarely emerged in commercial recordings.
The second take has the violin farther in the background. But that was the
idea behind these 1932 experimental recordings by Bell Telephone Laboratories.
"Their recording technology was at a very advanced stage, and they
invited artists to Hoboken to experiment, changing their microphone position
and other parameters from take to take. These 1932 recordings sound better
than anything generally available at the time on 78s, and all we've had
to do is carefully preserve that sound." Although part of an experiment,
Heifetz maintained his perennially high technical standards and seems surprisingly
fresher and more spontaneous than usual. But despite his brilliance, the
sound's the dazzling thing here--the ringing pizzicatos of Rimsky-Korsakov's
Flight of the Bumblebee and the G-string sound in Clérambault's Largo,
which is richer than ever before in his recordings, whatever the technology.
No one who has ever salivated over the thought of digital recordings of
Heifetz in his prime can afford to pass up this "Legendary Treasure."
I'd trade any five of his concerto performances for the first track alone.
Then there are the Concert Hall performances from 1943 and 1945--a Bruch
second concerto opening movement that's more lyrical and relaxed, if less
intensely searching, than it sounded under Solomon eleven years later. The
difference is even more pronounced than that between Heifetz's two commercial
recordings of the Sibelius concerto (like me, Harnoy prefers the earlier
one). Falla's Jota, in an unknown orchestration, is a stunning tour de force.
This music was recorded live and in the studio for broadcast to the armed
forces, then pressed in a small, limited number for radio stations on 16-inch
transcription LPs. More recordings to come, from the Bell Telephone Hour,
are in very good shape. "They're artistically very satisfying, with
Heifetz in prime form and in good sound." Harnoy is adamant that he's
not restoring recordings just for "memory lane." The 1911 Heifetz
Russian recordings, four or five of which have been found, are a case in
point. These are a collector's treasure, but he won't restore them unless
they enhance the Heifetz legend.
The live broadcasts of 1943 through 1946 from the second Heifetz volume,
do enhance that legend. The staccato in Bazzini's popular showpiece is crisper
than it was in either of his two commercial recordings (1917 and 1937),
and the left-hand pizzicato is more electrifying. These performances preserve
not only repertoire unavailable elsewhere but also the authentic sound of
Heifetz in his prime--Heifetz's own arrangement of the Allegro from Mozart's
Divertimento No. 17 in D, K. 334, a spectacular showcase for Heifetz's unique
sound, is a case in point. "In the Godowsky pieces, Heifetz's tone
is silky yet glassy, very intense. In his broadcasts, he often played better
than he did in the studio." And for Harnoy, this rendition of the second
movement of Rachmaninoff's cello concerto is "so expressive and tender
that now it's impossible for me to enjoy it as performed by even the greatest
cellists." And Heifetz's dazzling technique has rarely been better
served. In Novao(c,)ek's perpetual motion, he is "a machine gun that
has heart and soul." These lovingly and painstakingly restored performances,
both breathtaking and visceral, reaffirm Heifetz's preeminence. Listen to
his transcription of the third movement of Rachmaninoff's cello sonata and
decide whether, as Virgil Thomson thought, Heifetz was a trifle vulgar;
or to the movements of Bach's third partita and decide whether he was a
superficial technician; or to either the Hora staccato of the first volume
or Golliwog's Cakewalk of the second and decide whether his tone was slender,
wiry, and brittle; or, finally to Jim Jives (in a less buttoned-down reading
than the one for Decca--and here it's with orchestra) and decide whether
Heifetz didn't stand head and shoulders above any "swing" violinist
of the era. When he exhausts unreleased Heifetz material, Harnoy will rework
things that are already available "to supply collectors with better
processed 78 recordings."
DOREMI's first series of releases present violinist David Oistrakh in his
often-touted role as chamber musician. Like Elman and Heifetz among recent
masters, Oistrakh recorded with an ensemble he himself gathered. He was
unquestionably a "fabulous chamber musician," yet like Heifetz
and Elman before him, he still dominates the musical textures, although
less obtrusively than they do--less perhaps through the distinctiveness
of his timbre than through the strength of his musical personality. The
Shostakovich trio, recorded by Mercury at the Prague Spring Music Festival
in 1946, wasn't the first recording of the work; but it was the first by
Oistrakh--and it probably wasn't ever released in Russia. "I'm very
well acquainted with the work, and find this performance, with Oistrakh
playing along with the composer, the most spirited and representative of
life's tastes, senses, and experiences, all coming together."
Harnoy has a great quantity of Oistrakh material to work on--"maybe
50 volumes. We'll continue for now to feature him in chamber works, many
of which are not mentioned in the Oistrakh discography." Then, too,
there's a "big pile" of Melodiya 78s--some re-released, but most
not--as well as almost ten hours of broadcasts.
The first two volumes of remastered Segovia recordings have not been available
for a long time. "We wanted to combine Segovia with people less well
known, like Gomez and Oyanguren. Gomez was in New York infrequently, and
he made many sides in a short time. Oyanguren was there often--as a diplomat--and
could record at leisure." Harnoy notes in particular Segovia's recording
of Granados's fifth dance; coincidentally, this very track from Harnoy's
first Segovia volume kept me awake the entire night after I first heard
it. The sound is remarkable here, as it is in the second volume, with a
richly resonant bass that belies the date of the original recordings. And
the flamboyant but more straightforward virtuosity of Gomez and Oyanguren
are an illuminating foil to Segovia's highly nuanced, mellifluously communicative
style.
Imminent issues include four more volumes of Heifetz's broadcasts (before
dipping into the commercial recordings), one of Milstein (including 1935-36
recordings and 1943 broadcasts), a third volume of Segovia (with Louise
Walker), and the first of Primrose (including his legendary recording of
Harold with Koussevitzky--also to come is a Bax viola sonata with Harriet
Cohen, which Harnoy has just reprocessed from a British pressing of a set
of Columbia 78s). In the more distant future are violinists like Michael
Rabin, Erica Morini (a Wieniawski second concerto, in particular), RCA 78s
of Riccardo Odnoposoff, and several recordings of Ida Haendel. In this case,
DOREMI will feature the student at the expense of the teacher, Carl Flesch,
whom, according to Harnoy, no release could honor--an opinion expressed
as forthrightly as many of Flesch's own.
There's a lot of material to work on--it's clear that at 52, Jacob Harnoy
has a veritable mountain to scale. At 200 to 400 hours per inch, it will
be a long climb, but the view from the top, if it is anything like what
the first volumes have foreshadowed, will be literally breathtaking. At
a time when faceless epigones have usurped the place of honor once occupied
by the noblest musical personalities, listeners may derive greater satisfaction
from a reincarnation in quasi-digital sound of one of the great artists
of days gone by than from the fastest and least imperfect (and also least
interesting) recording of Bruch's first concerto by the trendiest competition
winner. Given the task ahead and its importance, you may be concerned about
Mr. Harnoy's health; I'm happy to report that it is good. The mountain is
there to be climbed, and the climber, with his avowed mission, is prepared
mentally, spiritually, and physically for the ascent.
DOREMI recordings are distributed in North America by Allegro Corporation
and in the UK by Kingdom Records.