Guide to the Baker Collection of Wire Recordings ARS.0069

Finding aid prepared by Franz Kunst

Archive of Recorded Sound

Braun Music Center

541 Lasuen Mall

Stanford University

Stanford, California, 94305-3076

650-723-9312

soundarchive@stanford.edu

Descriptive Summary

Title: Baker Collection of Wire Recordings

Dates: 1940-1964

Collection number: ARS.0069

Creator: Baker, Michael H.

Collection size: 1 box: 37 spools of wire recordings

Contributing Institution: Archive of Recorded Sound

Abstract: 37 off-air recordings, primarily of the New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra in the 1950s.

Language of Material: English

Access

Open for research; material must be requested at least two business days in advance of intended use. Contact the Archive for assistance.

Publication Rights

Property rights reside with repository. Publication and reproduction rights reside with the creators or their heirs. To obtain permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Head Librarian of the Archive of Recorded Sound.

Preferred Citation

Baker Collection of Wire Recordings, ARS-0069. Courtesy of the Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.

Source

The Baker Collection of Wire Recordings was donated to the Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound by Zachary Baker in 2005.

Sponsor

This finding aid was produced with generous financial support from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Scope and Contents

Wire recordings, primarily of classical performances from the 1950s, given to the archive by Zachary Baker, Judaica Hebraica Curator at Stanford University Libraries. The collection belonged to his father, Michael H. Baker. Presumably recorded off the radio by Mr. Baker, these wire recordings capture works by Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, Bartok, Wagner, Verdi, Haydn and others, performed almost entirely by the New York Philharmonic under the batons of Guido Cantelli, Bruno Walter, Arturo Toscanini, and Dmitri Mitropoulos. Soloists include Jascha Heifetz, Robert Cassadesus, Artur Rubinstein, and Gregor Piatigorsky

. There are also three non-music recordings; the one regarding the Rosenberg case is a dub from a transcription of a radio play titled "They Must Not Die", produced by the San Francisco Labor Theatre for the Bay Area Committee to Save the Rosenbergs circa 1952 or 1953. Notations on the boxes are indistinct, with some erasure. Spelling has been corrected when known (many are spelled phonetically, as if jotted down from the radio). Different recordings of the same performances are known to have been released commercially, but none in the collection appear to be copies of published releases.

Indexing Terms

Baker, Zachary M.

Box 1

1. La Nos ; Rake's Progress / Stravinsky ; [aria tylo?]

Box 1

2. Beethoven 6th ; Toscanini ; Heifetz ; [Siegfried?]

Box 1

3. Beethoven ; Toscanini ; Heifetz

Box 1

4. Brahms Concerto ; Toscanini ; Horowitz

Box 1

5. Brahms ; Toscanini ; Schumann ; [ Piatigorsky ?] ; Atwater Kent Finals 1949

Box 1

6. Brahms Concerto ; Heifetz ; Schumann cello

Box 1

7. [Boris?]

Box 1

8. Mozart Concerto 21, C major ; Gieseking ; Cantelli ; N.Y. Philharmonic 1955-03-05

Box 1

9. Yuri Suhl, author who wrote in Yiddish and English

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Suhl, Yuri, 1908-1986

Box 1

10. The Rosenberg Case ["They Must Not Die" radio drama]

Box 1

11. Brahms Double Concerto ; Stern ; Rose ; Bruno Walter ; N.Y. Philharmonic 1954-11-28

Box 1

12. Orson

Box 1

13. Verdi Requiem, Cantelli ; N.Y. Philharmonic ; Tucker ; Turner ; Hines 1955-02-05

Box 1

14. Mozart Concerto C ; N.Y. Philharmonic ; [Cassadesus]

Box 1

15.Toscanini ; Orpheus [Gluck Orfeo] 1952-11-22

Box 1

16. Pennario ; Bartok Concerto ; Liszt Mephisto ; Oistreich ; Mozart Concerto no. 5 ; N.Y. Philharmonic ; Mitropoulos

Box 1

17. Wagner ; Flagstad ; Bruno Walter ; N.Y. Philharmonic Farewell Program 1952-03-23

Box 1

18. [Talo?] ; Mitropoulos ; N.Y. Philharmonic ; [Frachisiotti?]

Box 1

19. Wagner ; Toscanini 1953-03-08

Box 1

20. Brahms II ; N.Y. Philharmonic ; Mitropoulos ; Cassadesus 1952-04-07

Box 1

21. Mozart Requiem ; Bruno Walter ; N.Y. Philharmonic

Box 1

22. Brahms German Requiem ; Bruno Walter ; London Siegfried 1954

Box 1

23. Tchaikovsky Trio in A Minor. Heifetz ; Piatigorsky ; Rubinstein

Box 1

24. Beethoven Missa Solemnis in D, Op. 123 ; Toscanini ; [Nan Merriman, mezzo-soprano Eugene Conley, tenor] 1953-03-28

Box 1

25. Mozart ; Saint-Saëns ; Mitropoulos, N.Y. Philharmonic ; Cassadesus 1955-11-13

Box 1

26. Mozart Concerto D 45 ; Serkin

Box 1

27. Brahms ; [Toscanini?]

Box 1

28. Heifetz ; [Haydn?]

Box 1

29. Beethoven Concerto No. 3 ; Cantelli, N.Y. Philharmonic ; Firkusny 1955-03-12

Box 1

30. Brahms Symphony no. 2 ; Haydn ; Bruno Walter ; N.Y. Philharmonic Rehearsal 1954-11

Box 1

31. Brahms ; Boccharini, Piatigorsky ; Heifetz

Box 1

32. Trio ; Heifetz ; Piatigorsky ; Rubinstein ; [Bach?]

Box 1

33. Beethoven Violin Sonata No.1, No.3 (not no.2) ; Heifetz ; Emanuel Bay

Box 1

34. [Verdi] Otello ; Sutherland

Box 1

35. Pennario ; Gabor ; Sanford ; [Schumann?] Quartet

Box 1

36. Tchaikovsky To a Poet ; Heifetz, Piatigorsky ; Rubinstein

Box 1

37. Rosa Raisa interview, NBC radio (press release included) 1964-03-04

Box 1

38. Brahms concerto (empty box)