An Early Take on Corelli's Christmas Concerto

The Christmas Concerto by Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) is one of the best known classical pieces of the season, but was much less popular in the 1920s, when recordings of the work began to appear.

Today we have one of the first such recordings, with Frieder Weissmann conducting members of the State Opera Orchestra, Berlin. It dates from November 1928, just a year after the first recording I've traced, that of John Barbirolli and National Gramophonic Society Orchestra.

This vintage set is provided through the generosity of blog follower Steve Banks, who sent me this recording as well as the Matthew Locke string quartet I posted in October.

Frieder Weissmann

Weissmann (here called Dr. Frederick Weissmann) was one of the most active recording artists throughout the 1920s and early 30s, when he was forced to leave Germany upon the accession of the Nazis. He was the house conductor for Carl Lindström AG, which owned the Parlophone and Odeon labels. Despite his relative youth (he was 35 when these records were made), he had a wide repertoire, and gives a good account of himself in this work.

Although the original was on Parlophone, the set at hand was issued by the US Columbia label, and dates from about 1932 or 1933. This was when Columbia was pressing its releases on blue shellac, a practice that continued for a few more years.

Corelli's Christmas Concerto (his Concerto Grosso, Op. 6, No. 8) is highly accomplished and deservedly popular. Weissmann's reading is not nearly as heavy as some of the baroque performances of the time, but you will hear some scoops and slides in the concertino strings that would be considered old-fashioned in just a few years.

A contrast is provided by I Solisti di Zagreb in its 1957 recording, which I posted some years back. By the late 50s, such ensembles specialized in baroque music, with a more lithe and lighter-textured approach. Even more of a contrast is provided by modern period-practice ensembles. A good example is the Freiburger Barockorchester, which can be heard on YouTube.

Still, the Berlin set is an interesting document in reasonably good sound. I should mention that the first record in the set was a bit warped, and there is some swish in the grooves, which I have minimized.

Thanks again to Steve for providing this set to us. Happy holidays to him and all!

Arcangelo Corelli by Hugh Howard (1697)