Campoli’s 78rpm Recordings

The first seven CDs of this set contain all the extant studio recordings made by Alfredo Campoli for Decca from his first sessions for the label in 1931 through his last made for release on 78rpm discs in 1949, except for the non-Classical sides he made as leader and soloist with his various light music orchestras, and one particularly rare disc which could not be located. It also features eleven sides unpublished on 78rpm, three of which are seeing their first-ever release here.

Campoli made records for Vocalion as early as 1929; but it was with his signing to the fledgling Decca label, founded that same year, that he made his biggest impact as a recording artist. His earliest Decca session was held with the Dorchester Hotel Orchestra on 16 June 1931 (represented by the first three tracks on CD 3), followed by his first solo recordings on 18 August of the same year (CD1: 1–3). He continued to record extensively for Decca through 1935.

After two years without any further sessions for the label, Campoli went over to EMI, where he recorded for Columbia and HMV between 1937 and 1940. He returned to Decca in the latter year for ten sides as leader of the Welbeck Light String Quartet, only two of which were issued at the time, before concentrating his efforts on entertaining Allied forces during World War II. After the war, Campoli resumed recording for Decca, this time focusing solely on classical repertoire.

Over the past 75 years since the advent of the long-playing record, very few of Campoli’s Decca 78s have seen ‘official’ reissue on Decca LPs or, later, on CDs; and those that have tended to be from his postwar years – the Bach Partita and the Mendelssohn Concerto with Van Beinum, for example, both of which also received LP transfers. As a result, most of the tracks in this set are CD premieres.

Since original metal parts no longer exist for Decca 78s, and because the company did not keep a library of original pressings, the sources for the discs used for the transfers were institutional and private collections, primarily that of the British Library. Most of the sides were sent to me over the Internet as raw audio files, which I restored using the state-of-the-art industry standard iZotope RX software – removing clicks, pops, thumps and other extraneous noises; correcting and steadying the pitch; applying equalisation; and, for works requiring more than one side, joining the sides. Although most of the discs were in fine condition (or could be made with some effort to sound that way), a handful were noticeably worn, and no better copies could be located.

One disc which could not be found at all was listed in Philip Stuart’s Decca discography as K 1843, featuring Elgar’s La Capricieuse and a Granados Danza española, both recorded 22 May 1947. This was identified as a Swiss-only release from August 1949. Like several other similar Decca releases of that period which have not been located, it was originally presumed to have been unissued. However, a recently-discovered review of the disc from a Swiss newspaper at the time suggests that at least one copy must have escaped, although a search of several large institutional collections on both sides of the Atlantic, including Switzerland, have not turned the disc up. (One discographic listing showing that the Elgar side had been issued on a 45-rpm record actually referred to Campoli’s later LP-era remake of the work.)

The unpublished sides featured here came mainly from Campoli’s own test pressings now held by the British Library. Of the ten sides he recorded as part of the Welbeck Light String Quartet in 1940, only two were issued at the time. The remaining eight were first released as part of a Pearl CD called ‘Campoli’s Choice’ in 1991. They have been newly remastered from the original discs for this set. One other unpublished side, the Corelli Sarabande (CD6: 5) was also found in the British Library, while the remaining two sides, Kreisler’s arrangement of the Rondo from Mozart’s ‘Haffner’ Serenade (CD7: 13) were provided by collector Raymond Glaspole from test pressings he had been given by Campoli himself.

This collection has been organized to present the performances in chronological order of recording, so that Campoli’s development as an artist can be better appreciated. The first two discs feature his solo, trio, and obbligato recordings from 1931 through 1935, followed by the quartet recordings of 1940. The next two discs backtrack in time to cover his work as leader and soloist with various light-music orchestras, with whom he made the great majority of his recordings during the 1930s, in works by Classical and Light Classical composers, omitting his popular music discs, many of which have been featured in unofficial reissues elsewhere. The next three CDs present his postwar recordings up to the end of the 78rpm era.

Mark Obert-Thorn