REVIEW POTPOURRI: Fred Gaisberg

by Peter Cates

Fred Gaisberg

Fred Gaisberg

For collectors of the early shellac 78s, the 1999 biography, Sound Revolutions by Jerrold Northrop Moore is a fascinating biography of recording pioneer Fred Gaisberg (1873-1951) who, from 1894 when he landed employment at the Berliner Gramophone Company (later to become EMI) to his retirement in 1939, would develop a massive catalog of recordings of many of the world’s finest musicians and singers- Caruso, Chaliapin, Heifetz, Rubinstein, Paderewski, Kreisler etcs.

Prior to the 1930s, the artists were mainly recording short selections – operatic arias, piano and violin pieces and single movements from Symphonies and String Quartets.

Then Gaisberg started seeing the potential for complete Symphonies, Concertos, Sonatas if the right artists were matched to the repertoire and the financing provided through advance subscription from interested collectors.

Two notable projects were the Beethoven Society complete Sonatas and Concertos recorded by pianist Artur Schnabel and the Sibelius Society sets of all seven Symphonies of the Finnish composer.

In 1930, Bruno Walter (1876-1962) recommended that Sir Malcolm Sargent (1894-1967) engage Schnabel for a series of concerts in London. Prior to that, Schnabel was known mainly as a highly respected teacher at a Berlin Music School.

The pianist achieved success immediately and acquired a huge following as an interpreter of Beethoven’s 32 Sonatas and five Concertos.

A large number of Schnabel 78s and LP reissues here at the house reveal a pianist who played those Beethoven works like no other pianist, no matter how gifted otherwise. The sense of spirited freedom, rollicking rhythm, rapid playful tempos and an uncanny ability to gauge the emotions behind the notes could be heard in the Emperor Concerto’s first movement where Schnabel’s fingers were dancing on the keyboard.

Gaisberg wrote about his initial encounters with the pianist:

“It was given out that Schnabel would never stoop to recording as he considered it impossible for a mere machine to reproduce the dynamics of his playing faithfully. Therefore, when I interviewed him he was coy, but all the same prepared to put his theory to the test, though he would need a lot of convincing. At long last I was able to overcome all his prejudice. Tempted by a nice fat guarantee, he eventually agreed that it was possible to his ideals with machinery.”

Bruno Walter

The biography is loaded with other anecdotes. The inventor of the flat disc and owner of the Berliner Gramophone Company, Emile Berliner (1851-1929) was recorded around 1894 reciting the Lord’s Prayer and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star in, as described by Gaisberg, “in his typically broken guttural English!”

Just before the Nazi takeovers of Czechoslovakia and Austria, Gaisberg produced two legendary recordings:

In April 1937, he was in Prague to record the Dvorak Cello Concerto with Pablo Casals (1876-1973) and George Szell (1897-1970) directing the Czech Philharmonic.

January 1938, had Gaisberg in Vienna to record a live concert featuring Bruno Walter conducting the Vienna Philharmonic in Mahler’s 9th Symphony.

A retirement banquet for Gaisberg at London’s Savoy Hotel on April 21, 1939, had an honor roll of almost 70 guests from the musical world including most of the ones listed above. He lived long enough to see the first releases of the LP in 1948 and of the 45 rpm in 1949.

Fred Gaisberg died in his sleep on September 2, 1951.