The first edition of Dvorak's Cello Concerto with Gaspar Cassado and conductor Kurt Wöss on RLP-199-38.

Cello Sonata No. 1 by Johannes Brahms with Otto Schulhof at the piano.

Dvorak's Konzert H-Moll, Op. 104 released in Gernany on the Diamant label (Bestellnummer BL 745).

The 6 Cello Suites of Johann Sebastian Bach on 3 LPs were recorded in the late nineteen fifties by VOX (Vox Box VBX 15).

At 70 Gaspar Cassado recorded with violinist Yehudi Menuhin and pianist Louis Kentner for EMI: Ravel's Piano Trio and Mozart's K 542.

In the era of the shellac record, the leading cellists were Pablo Casals (1876-1973), Emanuel Feuermann (1902-1942), Gregor Piatigorsky (1903-1976), Pierre Fournier (1906-1986), André Navarra (1911-1988), and of course Gaspar Cassadó.
Cassado was not only known for his stylish interpretations but also because he himself was a composer and arranger. Compositions were a.o. "Danse du diable", "Requiebros", and "Serenade". He made arrangements of "Intermezzo" from Goyescas (Granados), Laserna's "Tonadilla" and Schubert's "Sonata for Arpeggione" with orchestral accompaniment.

He appeared with Willem Mengelberg and made several recordings with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt for the Polydor label (Deutsche Grammophon).
Cassado was often accompanied by then famous pianist Michael Raucheisen (1898-1984).

The following titles of 78 RPM recordings are compiled from two editions of The Gramophone Shop Encyclopedia of Recorded Music, Simon & Shuster, New York 1942, and Crown Publishers, New York, 1948, respectively.

Chopin: Cello Sonata - Polydor PD 95027
Chopin: Nocturne No. 2 - Polydor PD95027
Schubert: Sonata for Arpeggione, arranged for 'cello and orchestra by Gaspar Cassadó, performed by Gaspar Cassadó and Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hamilton Harty - Columbia CM139
Dvorak: Cello Concerto in B minor Op. 104, Berlin Philharmonic, Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt - Telefunken E1893/7

Haydn's Concerto with Schmidt-Isserstedt and gems by Méhul, Schumann, Fauré, Dvorak, Albeniz, Saint-Saëns, Elgar, accompanied by pianists Michael Raucheisen, Willie Hammer and Giuletta Mendelssohn Giorgiani. 78 RPM recordings transferred to Lp. Melodiya M10-43343-4.

Mehul: Gavotte - Telefunken A0283
Albeniz: Cadiz with Michael Raucheisen - Gramophone DA4885
Saint-Saëns: Le cygne (The Swann) - Columbia D1600
Cassado: Requiebros, with pianist Michael Raucheisen - Telefunken E1820
Tcherepnin: Ode, with Michael Raucheisen at the piano - Telefunken A1830
Laserna: Tonadilla, Berlin Philharmonic, Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt conducting - Telefunken A 1830
Haydn: Cello Concerto, Hans Shmidt-Isserstedt - Telefunken SK3222/4
Händel: Largo - Columbia C-L2046, CQX-10487
Schumann: Traumerei - Polydor PD95027
Tartini: Cello Concerto, Berlin Philharmonic, Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt - Telefunken E1820

No wonder that the liner notes of Remington R-199-128 read:

As we can hear in this selection of "Encores", GASPAR CASSADO has earned an international reputation as a cellist of great sensitivity of expression. Born in 1897 in Barcelona, Cassado became an outstanding pupil of Pablo Casals. He has appeared as soloist in memorable performances with all the great orchestras of Europe and regularly makes triumphant concert tours throughout the world. He is a successful composer and arranger, though most renowned for the singing tones of his cello, of which Olin Downes in a New York article said: "great singers could envy him for his belcanto." OTTO SCHULHOF, the pianist on both sides of this recording, was born in Vienna in 1889. He has toured Europe with such natable instrumentalists as Fritz Kreisler, Huberman and Kubelik and he served for thirty years as accompanist to the famous cellist, Pablo Casals.

And the liner notes of Vox lp PL 9360 (with Dvorak's Concerto and Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations) say:

Gaspar Cassado, was born in Barcelona in 1897, when he was only 5 years old he entered the music school of "Los Mercedes" of which his father was the director. He soon showed his preledition for cello. After only two years of study he gave his first recital with great success, and the Barcelona authorities decided to award him a scholarship for study abroad with some famous cellists. He went to Paris where he pursued his studies and came in contact with Ravel and de Falla. He played with Alfredo Casella and Ricardo Vines and made a sound reputation for himself. After the first World War, Cassado began his brilliant career touring Europe and South America and he played with all the famous orchestras and conductors such as Furtwangler, Mengelberg, Weingartner, Beecham, Gaubert and many others. Cassado is also active as a composer and many of his works have been performed on both sides of the Atlantic.

Gaspar Cassadó around 1955. Picture taken from Vox PL 9360, edited and restored by R.A.B..

His successful career was interrupted by the Second World War as so happened for so many artists. After World War II most people wanted to continue were they had left off just before the war broke out. Not every artist could build upon the laurels earned before the war. Cassadó had stayed in Italy and was later accused by Pablo Casals, his former teacher, of having collaborated with the fascist rulers. This was a strain on the further development of Cassado's career. For Cassado, like for so many artists, any concert booking was welcome, any recording issued helped, certainly when the vinyl Long Playing Record had been introduced and was gradually replacing the shellac 78 RPM disc.
It was in 1951 that producer Marcel Prawy arranged for the recordings of Dvorak's Cello Concerto in B minor Op. 104, with conductor Kurt Wöss and the Austrian Symphony Orchestra to be issued on the Remington label. The performance was released in the fall of that year on Remington R-199-38. It was probably the first recording Gaspar Cassado made for the new microgroove medium. That same recording was later issued in Germany on the Diamant label, and in France on Concerteum. This recording was also issued on Gabor's Etude label (Ref. 702).

Half a year later, July 1952, Brahms's Cello Sonata No. 1, Op. 38, accompanied by Otto Schulhof at the piano, was released on R-149-53. It was a welcome addition to the catalog as only the Second Sonata Op. 99 in a reading by Gregor Piatigorsky had been available till then. In the same month the Haydn Concerto with Hans Wolf conducting was released on R-199-79.

In 1953 Cassado R-199-128 was released with Cassado playing short pieces.
On Side One it is violinist Michèle Auclair performing Kreisler Favourites: Praeludium & Allegro (Pugnani-Kreisler), Melodie (Gluck-Kreisler), Rondino On A Theme Of Beethoven (Kreisler), Songs My Mother Taught Me (Dvorak-Kreisler), Serenade Espagnola (Chaminade-Kreisler), Danse Espagnole (de Falla-Kreisler).
On the B-Side it is violoncellist Gaspar Cassadó who plays these 'cello encores:
*Spinning Wheel (Mendelssohn-Bartholdy)
*Nocturne Op. 9, No. 2 (Chopin)
*Gavotte, Op. 23 (Popper)
*Melody (Rubinstein)
*Valse Sentimentale (Tchaikovsky)
*Improvisations on "The Blue Danube" (Strauss-Cassado).
Both performers were accompanied by Otto Schulhof.

A remarkable release was on Gabor's Masterseal record label with Gaspar Cassado playing and accompanying baritone Paul Schoeffler (MW-45).

Granados: Andalusian Dance
Saint-Saens: The Swan
Bach-Gounod: Ave Maria
Tchaikovsky: Valse Sentimentale
Rubinstein: Melody
Strauss-Cassado: Improvisations on "The Blue Danube"
Chopin: Nocturne in E-flat
Strauss: Morgen
Wagner: Albumblatt
Schubert: Moment Musical
Bach: Air
Mendelssohn: Spinning Song
Massenet: Elegie
Schumann: Träumerei
Popper: Gavotte

The Remington recordings eventually led to a contract with Vox Productions for which Gaspar Cassadó recorded, together with conductor Jonel Perlea, Dvorak's Cello Concerto in B minor Op. 104, plus Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations (PL 9360), the Cello Concertos of Lalo and Saint-Saëns (PL 10.920), and Cello Concertos by Haydn, Vivaldi and Boccherini (STPL 510.790), and Bach's Complete Cello Suites (BWV 1007-1012) on Vox VBX-15; to mention a few.

 

Haydn's Cello Concerto with conductor Hans Wolf.	Bien étonné de se trouver ensemble: Michèle Auclair and Gaspar Cassadó, both accompanied by Otto Schulhof.

In his Long Playing Record Guide Warren De Motte evaluated the earlier Remington recording of the performance of Dvorak's Concerto. He says: "Cassado-Wöss suffer from harsh recording; the music is well played by the cellist, but poorly realized by the skimpy orchestra." And about the Haydn Concerto: "Cassado's vigourous performane is weakly supported by a coarse-toned orchestra."
The less favorable technical qualities of the recordings were caused by the fact that many tapes were dubbed to a lower speed on an average tape recorder and from there the lacquer was cut. Also Don Gabor used a correction which differed from the RIAA curve which was not the standard yet. However with the modern cartridges of today, a better signal can be retreived from the groove if the disc has not been treated in a bad way.

This page will be updated.

See also the Japanese website with the Extensive Discography of Gaspar Cassado.

Rudolf A. Bruil, Fall 2005