An unpublished gem by Fritz Kreisler

The vast majority of 78rpm discs in the Yale collection are published, but there remain some that are unpublished for whatever reasons. One such recording is by the famous early 20th century violinist Fritz Kreisler playing the Bruch violin concerto in 1924. One can only speculate why the recording was never released: likely it's because this is an acoustical recording at a time when electrical recordings were beginning to appear with upgraded sound quality, and therefore HMV decided not to go forward with it. Perhaps there were other reasons that also contributed to the decision. 

The recording as we have it exists on six 12" sides, each one with a matrix number to indicate the take and other pertinent information, and most with "Best" written over the grooves to show that someone at least had decided these were the most worthy out of the bunch. Transfers of the six discs recently were made in our studio to be worked on further by a historical recordings engineer and released by a re-issue label sometime later this year. The stylus used on our transfers was an elliptical 2.8mm and the transfer is flat (meaning no EQ). Some of the sides were trickier than most, especially with skips that we had to get around. Our speed was 77.63rpms, which the engineer who will be working on the recording agreed with (though he can adjust it further, if necessary).

Here is the flat transfer of side one (again, it is "raw," just stylus to groove): 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M9tqCDnDCbHYbsHXS6fv2Ekr9orow_9q/view?usp=sharing

There are a small handful of transfers of this recording on YouTube (some I suppose could be considered published after the fact); the problematic swish is quite apparent. I also haven't listened closely enough to determine whether all those sides are the same ones that we have, though the opening movement around 0:29 on our disc has an unintended string pluck, and the other transfers online do as well. My predecessor, many years ago, made a reel-to-reel tape dub of the sides, and it may be from that. 

In any case, it's exciting that this recording, basically hidden in our collection for decades, will be available for anyone to hear as engineered by someone with a great deal of experience on early recordings, adding to the legacy of Fritz Kreisler's artistry.