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Symphony
'From the New World' on five 45 RPM discs.
The
billboard of the 1943 concert when George Singer conducted the Palestine
Orchestra.
Beethoven
(Coriolan), Mendelssohn (Ruy Blas), Liszt (Les Preludes) conducted by
George Singer. The orchestra now named "European Symphony Orchestra"
- Merit M1-16.
Tchaikovsky's
1812 Festival Overture (Ouverture Solonelle) was issued on 2 x 45 RPM
7" discs with Smetena's Moldau by George Singer (reference RB-4-003).
By mistake the box mentions George Singer as the conductor for the Tchaikovsky
piece, whereas the factual conductor was Kurt Wöss.
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He
already conducted the Palestine Orchestra (Eretz Israeli Orchestra)
before it became the Israel Philharmonic in Tel Aviv. When rehearsing,
he would keep much of the energy of the players for the actual performance
which would often have great intensity. He was a great conductor which
is obvious from his recordings. Daniel Barenboim said in an interview
in the April 2000 issue of Gramophone: "He was an undisciplined,
fiery personality, but a wonderful musician". Yet an entry in
an encyclopedia on George Singer was rarely found. That explains why
critic and reviewer Irving Kolodin initially thought that the name
George Singer was a pseudonym.
Not
all artists who appeared on Remington records were really known. Many
times record buyers suggested that a name was a fake. One of those
"unknown" Remington artists was conductor George Singer
who - as research shows - was born in Prague on August 6th, 1908.
Singer studied at the Prague Conservatory under Alexander von Zemlinsky
(1872-1942), brother in law and teacher of Arnold Schönberg,
and under Fidelio Finke (1891-1968). While Zemlinsky fled to the US
in 1934, Singer migrated to Palestine in 1939 and on December 5th
of that same year he conducted Borodin (Symphony No. 2), Dvorak (Serenade
for Strings), and Mussorgski (Pictures at an Exhibition). Singer traveled
to many European countries to perform. Israel was the country where
he died on October 1st, 1980.
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George
Singer around 1950.
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George
Singer is specifically known for his recording of Dvorak's Fifth Symphony
with the title 'From the New World'. Since the mid nineteen
sixties the symphonies of Dvorak were twice renumbered. In the end
Symphony No. 2 became the 7th, and the popular Fifth was renumbered
Ninth. George Singer conducts the Austrian Symphony Orchestra, also
referred to as Viennese Symphony Orchestra and as Niederösterreichisches
Tonkünstler (Tonkuenstler/ Tonkunstler) Orchester on Remington
R-199-4.
That same performance of 'From the New World' was released on five
45 RPM discs in a handsome box, reference RB-5-002.
But
his repertory stretched from Beethoven to Bruckner, from Schubert
to Shostakovitch, from Haydn to Mahler, from Franck to Stravinsky,
and many names and idioms in between, several Israeli composers included,
Paul Ben-Haim, Yehuda Wohl, Menahem Avidom. He accompanied many soloists,
Pnina Salzman, Ella Goldstein, Frank Pollak, Josef Kaminski, Josef
Bernstein, Yehudi Menuhin, William Primrose, Arthur Rubinstein, Maurice
Gendron, Shura Cherkassky, and Michael Rabin.
Conductor
George Singer (who was also a composer) led the Opera of Prague,
as well as the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestra
of the Prague Spring Festival. He conducted the Israel Philharmonic
Orchestra on a regular basis and also the Hebrew National Opera.
He contributed to Israeli culture by premiering several works
from contemporary, Israeli composers.
He
spent several months of the year outside Israel appearing in
front of important European orchestras like the Berlin Philharmonic
and the Suisse-Romande Orchestra (l' Orchestre de la Suisse-Romande).
He conducted the Santa Cecilia Orchestra of Rome and spent time
in Vienna with the Austrian Symphony Orchestra, in Leipzig with
the Radio Orchestra (Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Leipzig - MDR
- Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk), the Symphony Orchestra of Radio
Hamburg (Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Hamburg) and the Bamberg Symphony
Orchestra (Bamberger Symphoniker).
George
Singer was the first Israeli conductor to perform in the USSR.
He already conducted the Palestine Orchestra (Eretz Israeli
Orchestra), long before it became the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
The orchestra was founded by violinist Bronislaw Huberman in
1936 with the support of Arturo Toscanini who conducted the
first concert.
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The
1939-1940 season of subscription concerts of the Israel
Philharmonic Ortchestra, Tel Aviv, with George Singer conducting
Borodin (Symphony No. 2); Franck (Symphonic Variations with
pianist Pnina Salzman); Dvorak (Serenade for Strings); Moussorgsky
(Pictures at an Exhibition); Gluck (Overture to Iphigenia
in Aulis); Schubert (Symphony No. 4); Mahler (Symphony No.
4 with soprano Edith Boroschek).
Right
from the start of the orchestra's existence famous conductors
and soloists travelled to Eretz Israel - Mandatory Palestine
to give concerts, and national celebrities performed with
the orchestra. To mention a few: Arturo Toscanini, Malcolm
Sargent, Benno Moiseiwtisch, Jacob Bernstein, Issay Dobrowen,
Eugen Szenkar, Oda Slobodskaya, Herman Scherchen, Ignaz
Neumark, and George Singer.
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Of
the many concerts of George Singer, one memorable took place
on Monday, June 7th, 1943, in the midst of the Second World
War, in the so called Edison Hall. On the program was Beethoven's
Prometheus Overture and Pastoral Symphony, and after the break
pianist Lance Dossor was the soloist in Brahms's Piano Concerto
No. 2 in B flat Major. Another memorable concert with George
Singer conducting was during the 1963/1964 season. On the program:
Paul Ben Haim's 'Dance and Invocation', Brahms's Double Concerto
(with Endre Wolf, violin, and Adolfo Odnoposoff, cello), and
after the intermission Dvorak's 3rd (7th) Symphony. Singer conducted
works of many Israeli composers. Especially known are the performances
of the music of Arthur Gelbun (on texts by Leah Goldberg) with
the Israel Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra & Choir.
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The
Remington recordings of George Singer:
R-199-4
Dvorak: Symphony No. 9, 'From the New World, released December
1950 (reissued on Masterseal MSLP 5014 in 1957). This recording was
by mistake attributed by Kurt Wöss in a listing on the back of
an early cover.
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Click
here
for a Sound Clip of a fragment of the Second Movement of Antonin
Dvorak's New World Symphony conducted by George Singer.
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R-149-10
Bizet: Carmen Suite and Smetena: The Moldau - released December 1950.
R-149-11
Rimsky-Korsakov: Le coq d'or (orchestral suite) - released in the
Spring of 1951
Music critic Cecil Smith wrote in New Republic that the performance
of Rimsky-Korsakov's glittering Suite from "Le Coq d'Or" recorded
by George Singer and the Symphony Orchestra of the Viennese Symphonic
Society was "a creditable job", which means that the Suite
is performed with imagination and nuances.
Liszt's
Les Preludes conducted by George Singer were coupled on R-149-47
with Georges Enesco performing his Rumanian Rhapsody No. 1.
The Rhapsody was later reissued with Heitor Villa-Lobos conducting
the RIAS Symphony Orchestra.
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Le
coq d'or (Rimsky-Korsakov) conducted by George Singer, coupled
with Peer Gynt conducted by H. Arthur Brown.Both suites from Peer
Gynt were later released on the Vibraton label and there it is
stated that both Suites were directed by Georges Singer.
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Seraphim
SLP 8036 contains Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 (Grieg) and Suite from
the opera Carmen (Bizet) played by the Seraphim Symphony Orchestra.
After comparison it was clear that these are recordings of George
Singer. On the back of the cover more Seraphim recordings are
listed and they all are from the Remington catalog.
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It is suspected that Donald Gabor had not registered the label's
name and that these recordings were specially manufactured to
be sold at gas stations and convenience stores and would not be
detected by sales personel in record stores. Angel Records introduced
the Seraphim label in September 1966. But Gabor may have used
the name Seraphim already before that date.
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R-149-47
Liszt: Les Preludes (+ Enesco Rumanian Rhapsody No. 2, George Enesco
conducting) (Varèse Sarabande VC 81042 -1978) - released in
the Fall of 1951
R-149-48
Mendelssohn: Ruy Blas Overture (+ Beethoven Egmont Overture, Hans
Wolf conducting) - released in September of 1952
R-199-51
Beethoven: Symphony No. 4 - released in the Fall of 1951
R-199-55
Rimsky-Korsakov: Le coq d'or (orchesral suite) originally released
on a 10 inch disc is now coupled with Tchaikovsky's 'Tempest' conducted
by Zoltan Fekete - released in the Fall of 1951
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Alex
Steinweiss designed the cover for the recording of Dvorak's Slavonic
Dances.
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R-199-106
Dvorak: Slavonic Dances Op. 46 - Released in April, 1954
R-199-110
Schubert: Symphony No. 3 and Haydn: Symphony No. 93 - Released in
February, 1954
R-199-112
Mozart: Symphony No. 29 (+ Weber: Symphony No. 2 conducted by Günther
Rabhuber) - Released in May, 1954
R-199-114
George Singer conducting Dvorak (Largo from New World Symphony), Rimsky-Korsakov
(March from Le coq d'or), Erasmo Ghiglia conducting Rossini (Barber
of Seville Overture); coupled with excerpts from The King and I with
Frank Chacksfield and his Orchestra - released in 1954
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Mozart:
Symphony No. 29 conducted by George Singer and Carl Maria von
Weber's : Symphony No. 2 conducted by Günther Rabhuber.
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An
early release of Le Coq d'Or (Rimsky-Korsakov) conducted by
George Singer, coupled with The Tempest (Tchaikovsky) conducted
by Zoltan Fekete.
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Some
of the recordings were released later in different couplings. The
best example is the Suite 'Le coq d'or' by Rimsky-Korsakov which was
released on R-199-68 together with Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 conducted
by 
H. Arthur Brown.
The release dates of the recordings were taken from Schwann Record
Catalog and The Longplayer. In certain instances Schwann listed a
recording later than The Longplayer did.
Traverso
player
Raanan Eylon
from Jerusalem played under George Singer. He remembers:
"Singer
was Czech - like my mother. He was a fiend at playing scores
on the piano - he could read anything. A conductor of great
inspiration. The orchestra that I played in for a year when
I was 19 - the Israeli Radio Orchestra in Jerusalem - liked
only two conductors - George Singer and Carlo Zecchi. Singer
because he never had patience for thorough rehearsal. He would
always say: "In the evening", meaning that things
will work out in the concert. The orchestra played really well
for him if compared to the abysmal playing for others. I knew
of two people in Israel who were able to put an orchestral score
in front of them and play anything and everything on the piano.
The composer Yosef Tal (...) was one, and George Singer was
the other. Singer's love for Czech composers was legendary,
and he would include a Dvorak work in each program, if possible."
- Raanan Eylon. 2007.
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The
archives of the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (Radio Central Germany -
MDR) contain various recordings. Among these:
Mozart:
Sechs deutsche Tänze (Six German Dances) KV 567
Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Leipzig (MDR) - George Singer, conductor
- Catalog number: 39851/audio - Date: 1967-03-30.
Studio/Leipzig, Funkhaus Saal 1
In
February and March 1960, George Singer conducted performances of OTELLO
(Giuseppe Verdi) and La Bohème (Giacomo Puccini) in the Amsterdam
Municipal Theatre (Amsterdamse Stadsschouwburg). Stars in Otello were
Mimi Aarden, Scipio Colombo and Ramon Vinay (Otello), Angela Vercelli,
Leonard del Ferro and Rudolf Knoll (second performer of Otello). In
La Bohème were starring Mirella Freni, Marilyn Tyler and Ettore
Babini. The picture of George Singer in action appeared in Issue 1960/2
of Dutch Opera Magazine.
There
also exists a recording with the Bamberger Symponiker of W.A. Mozart's
Rondo for Violin and Orchestra KV 373 with Zvi Zeitlin (violin),
George Singer conducting.
And
there is a recording with Excerpts from Nabucco (Verdi) with
Norma Giusti (soprano), Erika Wien (Mezzo-Soprano), Giuseppe Savio
(tenor), Lawrence Winters (baritone), Nicola Rossi-Lemeni (bass),
the Radio Chorus and the Hamburg Radio Symphony Orchestra (Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester
Hamburg), George Singer conducting.
ETERNA Stereo 825364 (1974)
Text and research
Rudolf A. Bruil. Page first published on February 12, 2007
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