MEISTERSEXTET ( COMEDIAN HARMONISTS) 78 O SOLE MIO / MARECCHIARE HMV B8748 E
£
225
$
298
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Description
A CHANCE TO BID ON THIS ULTRA RARE HMV EXPORT 78 FROM THE MEISTERSEXTET aka THE COMEDIAN HARMONISTS IN EXCELLENT CONDITION
The Comedian Harmonists were an internationally famous, all-male German close harmony ensemble that performed between 1927 and 1934 as one of the most successful musical groups in Europe before World War II. The group consisted of Harry Frommermann (tenor buffo), Ari Leschnikoff (first tenor), Erich Collin (second tenor), Roman Cycowski (baritone), Robert Biberti (bass), and Erwin Bootz (pianist).
The hallmarks of the Comedian Harmonists was its members ability to accurately blend their voices together, so that the individual singers could appear and disappear back into the vocal texture, and a wide choice repertoire was wide, ranging from the folk and classical songs arranged by Frommermann to the more attractive and witty popular songs of the day.
In 1927, unemployed actor Harry Frommermann was inspired by The Revelers, a United States jazz-influenced popular vocal group, to create a German group of the same format. Frommermann held auditions in his flat on Stubenrauchstraße 47 in Berlin-Friedenau, and once the group was assembled, quickly began rehearsals. After some initial failures, the Harmonists soon found success, becoming popular throughout Europe, touring the United States and starred in 12 films.
The group's success continued into the early 1930s, but eventually ran into trouble with the newly-risen Nazi regime, with half the group members - Frommermann, Collin, and Cycowski - being either Jewish or of Jewish descent and Bootz having married a Jewish wife. Though initially only pieces by Jewish composers were forbidden, they were officially banned from performing in public, with their last concert being in Munich on March 25, 1934.
Frommermann, Cycowski, and Collin subsequently fled Germany and formed a new group, which performed the names "Comedian Harmonists" and "Comedy Harmonists" with a new pianist, bass, and high tenor. The remaining members in Germany likewise replaced their counterparts in a successor group named "Das Meistersextett" (with the authorities forbidding an English name). Neither group was able to achieve the original success of the Comedian Harmonists, with the German group stifled by political in-fighting and heavy censorship as well as the war draft and the emigrant group unable to find work in an America adverse to German entertainers after being unable to return to Australia, where they had enjoyed extensive success in the 1930s. By 1941, both groups had broken up.
The group remained largely forgotten until filmmaker Eberhard Fechner created a four-hour black-and-white television documentary, in which he interviewed the surviving group members who were scattered throughout the world. The documentary aired over two nights in German in 1975 and caused a resurgence of interest in the music of the Comedian Harmonists, with their records being released on vinyl.
DISC DETAILS
UK HMV B 8748 10" 78rpm SHELLAC
CONDITION E
HERE'S A CHANCE TO BID ON THIS RARE HMV 78 FROM THE MEISTERSEXTET AKA THE COMEDIAN HARMONISTS IN GREAT CONDITION!
ONE ONLY ! SO DON'T LEAVE YOUR BID TOO LATE AND MISS OUT ALTOGETHER
BID NOW!price rating
