[John Duffy]

Dear Mike Dias,
I recently visited your site again.  Apparently, I registered a long time ago.
 
I was struck by this paragraph of yours:
 
< 

So Simonton and his wife flew to the Welte factory in Freiburg Germany and while there, Richard insisted that they record the remaining piano rolls for posterity. Te results of this "field recording" were released on Columbia as the Welte-Mignon Piano Rolls, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. in 1950. 

You have to read the LA Times album review here.

 (And I'd love to hear from anyone who has those original Columbia records.)  While recording, Richard watched as Welte and Bockisch made critical adjustments to their playback mechanisms. >
 
 

I have 50K recorded items in my garage and barn. i live on an Iowa farm.  I retired from the practice of medicine in January, 2011.

I am 82 years of age.   I was overjoyed when I saw your request to speak to anyone who had the 1950 set of 4 Columbia Lp's with which Mr. Richard C. Simonton, sr. was involved since 1948.  I went out to the garage and discovered that I owned that set of 4 Lp's ! The records are virtually mint and look like they have never been played, are bright and shiny and two of their 4 covers covers have separated on the bottom edge only.  They all have been in (locked) plastic sleeves all the time I've had them, which I would judge to be since the mid- 1970's, or for 40 years.   I have never played them, until today.  I did open Volume I and found the tape hiss is nealy inaudible.  I was struck by one feature: the rolls, having been supervised by engineer Carl Bokisch together with Edwin Welte in 1948,

there was excellent speed control throughout.  A major flaw in piano roll realizations has been the common tendency to play the rolls too fast, so that the trills sound unnatural.  None of thay is presrent in these 4 Lp's.  The surfaces are unblemished andand shiny and the labels are very bright.     These are as close to mint as I have ever seen Lp's that are 64 years old.
 

Here are the details:  Title   =  GREAT MASTERSOF THE KEYBOADR

                                Label =  COLUMBIA

                                Numbers  =    ML4291;    ML 4292;    ML 4293;    ML 4294

                                 Date        =   1950          
 ARTISTS LISTS  :
 
              Ml 4291    VOl. I   : Debussy - Ravel - Fauré
              Ml 4292    VOL II  : Saint Saëns - Busoni
              ML4293    VOL III  : Grieg - Leschetitzky - D'Albert = Nikisch - Reger
              ML4294    VOL IV  : Paderewski - De Pachmann - De Falla - Granados - Scharwenka - Frank Marshall
 
              What disposition do you wish for these records?  Why did you want me to contact you?
 
Mod Edit:  Personal contact information redacted.
 
Yours sincerely,
John Duffy  12 May, 2014

 

[John Duffy]

Dear Mr Diaz,

<  So Simonton and his wife flew to the Welte factory in Freiburg Germany and while there, Richard insisted that they record the remaining piano rolls for posterity. Te results of this "field recording" were released on Columbia as the Welte-Mignon Piano Rolls, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. in 1950. 

You have to read the LA Times album review here.

 (And I'd love to hear from anyone who has those original Columbia records.)  While recording, Richard watched as Welte and Bockisch made critical adjustments to their playback mechanisms.> 
 

I have the records nearly mint that you wanted.   They are bright, shiny with deeply colored labels   I have had them in their original covers and the covers in "locked" plastic sleeves for 40 years, since 1974.   I played a part of Volume 2 today for the first time. The roll playback speeds were accurate, not too fast. This is not surprising as Carl Bokisch and Edwin Welte supervised the taping.  The tape hiss is low. The quality is excellent, considering the age.
 

ML 4291 - Debussy; Ravel; Fauré

ML 4292 - Saint - Saéns;  Busoni

ML 4293 - Grieg;  Leschetizky;  D'Albert;  Nikisch;  Reger

ML 4294 - Paderewski;  de Pachmann;  de Falla;  Granados;  Scharwenka;  Marshall
 

What do you want me to do with these Lp's?

I am an 82 year old retired physician living on an Iowa farm.
 
Mod Edit:  Personal contact information redacted.

 

[John Duffy]

How can I say it? I have the 4 Lp's you wanted, but you do not want tio hear anything from me
I have sent you 3 letters already, but your machine ate them.
I have Simonton's COLUMBIA Lp set:  ML 4291 to Ml 4294 in nearly perfect condition....
 
Mod Edit:  Personal contact information redacted.

 

[Mike Dias]

  Dear Mike Dias,
I recently visited your site again.  Apparently, I registered a long time ago.
 
I was struck by this paragraph of yours:
 
< 

So Simonton and his wife flew to the Welte factory in Freiburg Germany and while there, Richard insisted that they record the remaining piano rolls for posterity. Te results of this "field recording" were released on Columbia as the Welte-Mignon Piano Rolls, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. in 1950. 

You have to read the LA Times album review here.

 (And I'd love to hear from anyone who has those original Columbia records.)  While recording, Richard watched as Welte and Bockisch made critical adjustments to their playback mechanisms. >
 
 

I have 50K recorded items in my garage and barn. i live on an Iowa farm.  I retired from the practice of medicine in January, 2011.

I am 82 years of age.   I was overjoyed when I saw your request to speak to anyone who had the 1950 set of 4 Columbia Lp's with which Mr. Richard C. Simonton, sr. was involved since 1948.  I went out to the garage and discovered that I owned that set of 4 Lp's ! The records are virtually mint and look like they have never been played, are bright and shiny and two of their 4 covers covers have separated on the bottom edge only.  They all have been in (locked) plastic sleeves all the time I've had them, which I would judge to be since the mid- 1970's, or for 40 years.   I have never played them, until today.  I did open Volume I and found the tape hiss is nealy inaudible.  I was struck by one feature: the rolls, having been supervised by engineer Carl Bokisch together with Edwin Welte in 1948,

there was excellent speed control throughout.  A major flaw in piano roll realizations has been the common tendency to play the rolls too fast, so that the trills sound unnatural.  None of thay is presrent in these 4 Lp's.  The surfaces are unblemished andand shiny and the labels are very bright.     These are as close to mint as I have ever seen Lp's that are 64 years old.
 

Here are the details:  Title   =  GREAT MASTERSOF THE KEYBOADR

                                Label =  COLUMBIA

                                Numbers  =    ML4291;    ML 4292;    ML 4293;    ML 4294

                                 Date        =   1950          
 ARTISTS LISTS  :
 
              Ml 4291    VOl. I   : Debussy - Ravel - Fauré
              Ml 4292    VOL II  : Saint Saëns - Busoni
              ML4293    VOL III  : Grieg - Leschetitzky - D'Albert = Nikisch - Reger
              ML4294    VOL IV  : Paderewski - De Pachmann - De Falla - Granados - Scharwenka - Frank Marshall
 
              What disposition do you wish for these records?  Why did you want me to contact you?
             
 
Yours sincerely,
John Duffy  12 May, 2014

 
Hi John — thank you for reaching out. What a way to connect over time and space. I become fascinated with the history of it all when I started doing this research and I think that it's amazing you have these records. All of us on this thread would love to hear your thoughts on them. I'll reach out directly tomorrow and later on this evening the moderators will remove your personal contact information. But please let's keep sharing and talking.
 
Mike