WEEK 2 of two weeks of great auctions ending May 11.

I will send you a bill after close of auctions May 11. Due to the high volume of records, pls allow 2 - 3 days for packing and invoicing

IF you are a non-US buyer or if buy multiple records, pls do not use EBAY check out.
Send me an invoice request (click on MORE ACTIONS to the right of the item), I can probably get you better shipping rate.

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Early Electric recording by Willem Mengelberg, after an aborted try to record the symphony in 1927, here his complete recording.

THIS IS one of MENGELBERGS last RECORDINGS as the head of the New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra

Beethoven: Symphony#1 c-dur op.21

[M]CVE58175-2/76-1/77-3 (1st. mvt)/78-1/79-2 (4 th. mvt)/80-2/81-2/82-1 (2nd. and 3rd. mvts)
[78s]US Victor 7211~14, J. Victor 7211~14, HMV D1867~70, DB4210~3, D7268~71*, D7649~52*
New York Philharmonic Orchestra
recorded on January 9, 1930, at Liederkranz Hall in New York

    4x12"  quiet GOLD LABEL PRE WAR 78 rpm w original Lyre Style album AM-73 and booklet

Condition: EXCELLENT, some faint scuffs and scratches. EXCEPTIONALLY QUIET almost superquiet.
2 clicks on side 5. Album solid, rubbing on front cover

Joseph Willem Mengelberg (28 March 1871 û 22 March 1951) was a Dutch conductor.

Biography
Mengelberg was born fourth of sixteen children to German born parents in Utrecht, Netherlands. He studied in the Cologne conservatory, including piano and composition. He was chosen as General Music Director of the city of Lucerne Switzerland at age 21.[1] where was conductor of an orchestra and a choir, directed a music school, taught piano lessons and continued to compose.

Mengelberg is highly renowned for his work as the principal conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra from 1895 to 1945. In addition, Mengelberg founded the long-standing Mahler tradition of Concertgebouw. In 1902 he met Gustav Mahler and became friends with him. Mengelberg was instrumental in introducing most of Mahler's work to The Netherlands, and Mahler regularly visited The Netherlands to introduce his work to Dutch audiences. In fact, he edited some of his symphonies while in the Netherlands, making them sound better for the acoustics of Concertgebouw. This is perhaps one reason that this concert hall and its orchestra is renowned for its Mahler tradition.

Nevertheless, Mengelberg's importance as a conductor was not only due to his Mahler interpretations. He was also, for example, an exceptionally gifted performer of Richard Strauss; and even today his recordings of Strauss's tone poem Ein Heldenleben which has been dedicated to him and the Concertgebouw Orchestra are widely regarded by critics as among the best ù if not the very best ù of this piece ever made.

One criticism of Mengelberg's influence over Dutch musical life, most clearly articulated by the composer Willem Pijper, was that Mengelberg did not particularly champion Dutch composers during his Concertgebouw tenure, especially after 1920.[2]

Mengelberg with The New York TimesMengelberg was music director of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra from 1922 to 1928. Beginning in January 1926, he shared the podium with Arturo Toscanini; Toscanini biographer Harvey Sachs has documented that Mengelberg and Toscanini clashed over interpretations of music and even rehearsal techniques, creating division among the musicians that eventually resulted in Mengelberg leaving the orchestra. However, the maestro did make a series of recordings with the Philharmonic for both the Victor Talking Machine Company and Brunswick Records, including a 1927 electrical recording of Ein Heldenleben that was later reissued on LP and CD.

The most controversial aspect of Mengelberg's biography centers around his actions and behavior during the years of the Nazi occupation of Holland between 1940 and 1945. Some newspaper articles of the time gave the appearance that he acquiesced to the presence of the Nazi's ideological restrictions on particular composers. Explanations have ranged from political naivet? in general, to a general "blind spot" of criticism of anything German, given his own ancestry. Because of Mengelberg's co-operation with the occupying regime in The Netherlands during World War II, he was banned from conducting in the country by the Dutch government after the war in 1945. He was stripped of his honours and his passport. The original judgment was that Mengelberg would be banned from conducting in the Netherlands for the remainder of his life. Appeals by his attorneys led to a reduction in the sentence to a banning of six years from conducting, retroactively applied to start from 1945. This notwithstanding, he continued to draw a pension from the orchestra until 1949 when cut off by the city council of Amsterdam.[3] Mengelberg retreated in exile to Zuort, Sent, Switzerland, where he remained until his death in 1951, just two months before the expiration of his exile order.

Willem Mengelberg was the uncle of the musicologist and composer Rudolf Mengelberg and of the conductor, composer and critic Karel Mengelberg, who was himself the father of the prominent improvising pianist and composer Misha Mengelberg.

[edit] Recorded Legacy
In addition to his acclaimed recordings of Richard Strauss' Ein Heldenleben, Mengelberg left valuable discs of symphonies by Beethoven and Brahms, not to mention a wildly controversial but gripping reading of Bach's St. Matthew Passion.

His most characteristic performances are marked by a tremendous expressiveness and freedom of tempo, perhaps most remarkable in his recording of Mahler's fourth Symphony but certainly present in the aforementioned St Matthew Passion and other performances as well. These qualities, shared (perhaps to a lesser extent) by only a handful of other conductors of the era of sound recording, such as Wilhelm Furtw?ngler and Leonard Bernstein, make much of his work unusually controversial among classical music listeners; recordings that more mainstream listeners consider unlistenable will be hailed by others as among the greatest recordings ever made.

Many of his recorded performances, including some live concerts in Amsterdam during World War II, have been reissued on LP and CD. While he was known for his recordings of the German repertoire, Capitol Records issued a powerful, nearly high fidelity recording of Cesar Franck's Symphony in D minor, recorded in the 1940s with the Concertgebouw Orchestra.

Due to the Dutch government's six-year ban on Mengelberg's conducting activities, he made no more recordings after 1945. Some of his performances in Amsterdam were recorded on the innovative German tape recorder, the Magnetophon, resulting in unusually high fidelity for the time.

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 Quick NOTE ON GRADING AND SHIPPING:

As you can see from my feedback, I try hard to earn your POSITIVE FEEDBACK and FIVE STAR RATINGS.

If for any reason your transaction was NOT SATISFACTORY, pls contact me and I will work something out with you. YOU WILL NEVER HAVE A REASON TO GIVE ME A NEGATIVE RATING or a LOW STAR RATING.

Quick note on grading:

The Grade (Excellent to Fair, I don't give Mint) refers to the WEAR of the record. Any other defects, like cracks, chips and scratches, are stated separately

When I listen to a record, I may also make a SUBJECTIVE judgment of the pressing quality for hiss and surface noise.
"SUPERQUIET" is basically noiseless, like a vinyl pressing.
"VERY QUIET" is an exceptionally quiet record for a given pressing.
"Quiet" is a record that is a great example without undue noise for a given pressing.

These judgments are SUBJECTIVE and will depend one the styli, phonograph etc. you use on your own equipment.

Pls check my other auctions for more great records and phonograph items:

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Multiple item shipping: I am happy to combine items for shipment in one parcel.

If you win multiple items, pls send me an INVOICE REQUEST to calculate the correct postage. Ebay check out will not give you the multiple item discount!

Records will be packed safely between corrugated cardboard in a sturdy box with plenty of padding for safe shipment.

Shipment is usually Media Mail, unless another service is requested. Shipping is at your risk.

If you are in the San Francisco area, I encourage pick-up in person.

US Domestic Shipping:

Here is a guideline for US Media Mail Shipping:

Prices below are for regular 78 rpm records. Up to about 5 records, I will ship Edison Discs for the same rates. Albums from Album Sets count as 1 record. Above that and for international shipments, it will be actual weight plus a small packing charge (1-3$ depending on size of shipment)

1 record: 4.50$

2 records: 5.50$

5 records: 7.50$

10 records: 9.50$

MANY MORE RECORDS: Don't worry. I safely ship 40 - 50 pounds of records double boxed in moving boxes, and even then Media Mail will probably not exceed 30$.

Please send me a message if you would like to lower your shipping rates!

International Buyers:

All'attenzione degli acquirenti italiani:

ATTENTION TO ITALIAN BUYERS:

Due to rare problems with delivery in ITALY, I will NOT GUARANTEE delivery of parcels sent by US Postal Service First Class and Priority Mail. If you prefer secure delivery, I will be happy to quote you either Registered Mail or shipment by FEDEX

I am very happy to ship records worldwide.

The US POSTAL SERVICE has increased international shipping rates in 2013.

A single record ships for around 25$ worldwide, depending on the weight.
There are some great options available for shipping multiple records at excellent rates.

Pls contact me if you plan to buy multiple records, and I will be happy to give you an estimate for best rates on USPS or Fedex. Pls let me know your country, home town and postal code for an estimate

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Thank you very much, and good luck bidding !!!