Thank you all for the replies, upon which I shall comment upon later.

The being the Great Man's 247's birthday, I sent the following to my own 
list and to two Usenet groups, rec.music.classical and rec.music.classical 
recordings.

The feature for you is my listing of the first recordings of Beethoven's 
Opp. 61-70. I give my always-fallible identifications of first recordings, 
for your thoughts.

Not sure how to proceed. I do need to better specify recording and 
release dates and to suspect errors. For example, the small Gramophone 
Shop may just list what they were keeping in their stock. So one or both 
of the two recordings of the Ghost Trio may in fact be earlier than the 
Bern-Hirt Trio, which right now I said was the first recording.

I am not sure whether an ARSC Journal article would be appropriate (if it 
would be accepted), since finding errors and omissions will be continuous 
and never ending. Should I just make a bare-bones listing or expand an try 
to add birth and death dates or each performer?

I am pretty certain that http://unheardbeethoven.org would be willing to 
consider running changes. I will omit my own personal favorites which may 
reflect my having heard only a small fraction of the various recordigs.

Maybe The Beethoven Society would be interested.

Frank

---

The Great Man's 247th Birthday

Today, I listen to Op. 61-70. Here's a sample from a forthcoming listing 
the first recordings of each of Beethoven's works. Compiling this list is 
exacting work! My own "Acoustic Chamber Music (1899-1926): A Discography," 
Journal of the Association for Recorded Sound Collections, Vol. 31n1-2 and 
32n1 (2000-2001), yields nothing in this Opus range. For acoustic 
orchestrals, I rely on Claude Arnold, The Orchestra on Record, 1896-1926 
(Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997) for Op. 61, 62, 67, and 68. For the 
vocals, I am combing through Voices of the Past and compendia by Bauer and 
Hirst. Later, I shall repair to James Creighton's recordings for the 
violin and try to find firsts, since he rarely gives dates. Then there are 
label discographies for Odeon and Parlophon.

Recordings after the close of WERM in 1955 give other challenges. I have 
Kurtz Myers for U.S. issued LPs through 1977. Unlike Schwann, subscription 
labels, like the Concert Hall Society. Of course, I have to go through all 
the Schwann's I own and the various Gramophone annual catalogs. I suspect 
that the largest collections of firsts are in the DGG "Complete" 
Bicentennial issue. I shall visit the library at the University of 
Maryland and expect to be instantly granted the privilege of entering a 
locked room to go through this set, which is plainly visible but kept 
locked. I expect to be couped by finding firsts on LPs, like "The Comic 
Beethoven", which is older than the "Complete" Bicentennial issue.

What about piano rolls, music boxes, and even movies? I would bet even 
money that there is a music box of the first movement of the Moonschein 
sonata. Schnabel's 1922 Ampico recordings include the Rondo in G, Op. 51#2 
and the Minuet in G, K. 10#2.

What about spurious and doubtful works, which go back to the acoustic 
days, such as two records of the so-called Mödlinger Waltzes (Arnold, p. 
30)?

You have ONE guess what both Kinsky Anhang and Hess Anhang No. 1 is.

NO MSS OF THE DIVINE COMEDY SURVIVES THAT RESERVES A TENTH CIRCLE OF HELL 
FOR THOSE PUT UP DISCOGRAPHICALLY INCOMPETENT RECORDINGS ON YOUTUBE.

I invite all to visit http://unheardbeethoven.org

LISTEN to Beethoven's music today. Worry about discographies later!

Beethoven, Opp. 61-70, first recordings

061	Concerto, violin, in D (Source: Arnold, p. 16)
mvts. 2,3 abridged. Jan Rudényi, with orchestra. Pathé 2101
Complete: Juan Manén, Concordio Gelabert, Orquesta Sinfónica de Barcelona. 
Cadenzas by the Soloist. Gramophone  067913/20. 14.i.16;vi/17 (i.e., 
recording and release dates).

Frank's oldest recording is the acoustic Isolde Menges (his favorite lady 
violinist), which is quite good.
Frank's favorite is Guila Bustabo, Willem Mengelberg, Concertgebouw, live

061A	Piano arrangement, by Beethoven, of the Violin Concerto
Arthur Balsam, Clemens Dahinden, Winterthur Sym. LP: Concert Hall Society 
F 10. WERM 2:26

Frank's favorite is Daniel Barenboim, slow and majestic.

062	Coriolan Overture in e (Source: Arnold, p. 16)
abridged Sir Henry J. Wood and His Orchestra (mx 6677-2). English Columbia 
L1021 xi.15; ii/16
complete Otto Urack, Odeon Streich-Orchester Odeon AA57706/7. 1913

Frank's oldest and his favorite is Willem Mengelberg, Concertgebouw 
(acoustic).

063 Trio, piano, in Eb, after String Quintet, Op. 4 (Spurious). Hess 
Appendix 14. (Source: James F. Green, The New Hess Catalog of Beethoven's 
Works (West Newerry, VT: Vance Brook Publishing, 2003), p. 200.)
Orsirus Trio (Peter Brunt, v., Larissa Groeneveld, c., Ellen Corver. p.). 
2003. CD: Raptus Records 3036834

This is the only recording, which Frank owns.

064 Sonata, cello, in Eb, after String Trio, Op. 3 (not even approved by 
Beethoven)
Hess Appendix 15. (Source: James F. Green, The New Hess Catalog of 
Beethoven's Works (West Newberry, VT: Vance Brook Publishing, 2003), p. 
200-1.)
Viviane Spanoghe, cello, Andre de Groote, piano. P1984. $(stereo LP) 
Terpsichore (Belgium) 1982 035

Not having heard any of the more recent recordings, it is Frank's favorite 
by default.

065	Ah, perfido!
Evan Williams, tenor (80 rpm) 02156 (C6375) 1908, Vlt.Red. Pre-dog black 
label. (Sources: John R. Bennet, Voices of the Past, vol. 1, p. 79, AND 
Bauer, p. 471.)

Frank does not have it. No particular favorite.

066	Variations (12) on Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen, from Mozart: Opera 
21 (cello and piano) no. 3 in F
abridged (omits Var. 1, 9, 11) Lionel Tertis, viola & pf. EngColumbia 
L2172. WERM 53, before 1936
complete  A. Navarra & J. Benvenuti. Pathé PDT 107. WERM 53, after 1936.

Frank owns the Navarra. His favorite is Casals, Serkin, 1951, Perpignan 
Festival.

067	Symphony no. 5 (old no. 6) in c. (Source: Arnold, p. 24)
Friedrich Kark, Grosses Odeon-Streichorchester, Berlin. XX76147/8, 
Rxx79153/4, Rxx74149/52. 1910. Reissued on CD: Wing (Japan) WCD 62

Frank owns the CD. His favorite is the live Mengelberg.

068	Symphony no. 6 (old no. 5) in F (Source: Arnold, p. 26)
Grosses Odeon-Streichorchester, Berlin. Odeon XX76292/76301 (10 sides). 
1913

Frank's favorite is the live Mengelberg.

069	Sonata, cello, no. 3 in A
Felix Salmond, cello, and Simeon Rumschisky, piano. EngColumbia L 1935/7. 
AmColumbia. set M38

Frank's favorite is the deathly slow live recording, Casals and Cortot in 
Music & Arts CD 1113. The great Leslie Gerber said it should never have 
been published! Cortot's slowing down for the old man is sheer magic.

070n1	Trio, piano, no. 05 in D (Ghost)
Bern-Hirt Trio (Franz-Joseph Hirt, pf., Alphons Brun, vn., Lorenz Lehr, 
cello). Polydor 95346/9

NOTE: This is in the small Gramophone Shop Encyclopedia for 1931. The 
other two in WERM as before 1936 are not, though they could be, so I 
merely list them here. They are Italian Trio (Poltroneiri, Bonucci, 
Casella). C.GQX 10132/3; Brunswick B-90285/8; Amsterdam Concertbouw Trio. 
Parlophone E 11154/6; Odeon O-6797/9; Odeon O-170134/6

Frank's favorite is the splendidly vigorous old-fashioned Amersterdam 
Trio. I don't know the names of the players.

070n2	Trio, piano, no. 06 in Eb
Grinke Trio. Decca.K 1069/71. WERM 52, as after 1936

Frank does not own this recording. His favorite is Eugene Istomin, 
Alexander Schneider, and Pablo Casals, from the Perpignan Festival in 1951 
August.