Fairy Tales On The Roll And Beyond Revisited. Recorded from the optically dígitally simulated original reproducing piano rolls and other live midi sequences by VViljanen 2016-2023.

Fairy Tales On The Roll And Beyond Revisited

Medtner ARABESQUE, Op. 7, No. 1 in E-minor. Irene Scharrer 1924 on Duo-Art 0218.
Recorded  10-2021 by VV from the reconstructed and digitally simulated original piano roll. The rec updated July 17, 2022 on a modelled Bluethner grand, set-up and reconfigurated by VV.
ANY KIND OF COMMERCIAL USE PROHIBITED.
Irene Scharrer (2 February 1888 – 11 January 1971) was an English classical pianist.
Irene Scharrer was born in London and studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Tobias Matthay.
Scharrer made her London début at the age of 16, and gave concerts regularly until June 1958, where she appeared for the last time, playing Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos with Myra Hess. They often performed four-handed compositions together. (Scharrer is sometimes erroneously described as Hess's cousin. She was distantly related to another fine woman pianist, Harriet Cohen, the two sharing a great-great-grandfather).
Other collaborators included Arthur Nikisch in Berlin,and Landon Ronald in London.
She visited Sir Edward Elgar in 1918 and was promised the first performance of his piano concerto, then being sketched.
Her technique was one of refinement rather than power. Her surviving recordings show her at her best in the smaller pieces of the romantic repertoire, where her impeccable control, fine tone and lack of showiness serve the music well. (Wikipedia)

Info of the original roll:
ARABESQUE, Op. 7, No. 1 in E-minor
Roll Number: 0218, 0218
Composer/Creator: Medtner
Pianist: Scharrer
( The source of the roll info: 
The Player Piano Group web page (by permission))

Medtner: Arabesque Op.7 No.1

Nikolai Medtner: ARABESQUE, Op. 7 No. 1  E Minor. Irene Scharrer 1924 On Duo-Art 0218

J.S. Bach:Präludium Und Fuge H - Dur. WTK II Nr.23. BWV892. Reproduced by VViljanen Aug29, 2023 On a slightly modified seq. Of H.Fesefeldt 2015. Its playback and recording on a modelled Petrof grand, revoiced, reconfigured and the rec. setup made by VV.
Photo: "Golden Night", a view of Aug 29, 2023 by VV..
Any kind of commercial use of this track is prohibited.

J.S. Bach:Präludium Und Fuge H - Dur. WTK II Nr.23. BWV892.

J.S. Bach Präludium und Fuge H-Dur. WTK II Nr.23. BWV892

Franz Schubert: Andante con moto. Mvt.2 of Pianotrio Op. 100. Transcribed and reproduced  for two pianos by VV Sep 2023 on a  modified reading into a sequence of H.Fesefeldt (1942-2019, a German nuclear physics researcher, and music software developer).
Photo: Night view by VV 2018
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Schubert Pianotrio Op.100 - movt.2. Transcribed for Two Pianos

Franz Schubert: Andande con moto. Mvt.2 of Pianotrio Op.100. Transcr. for Two Pianos

Franz Schubert: String Quartet No. 10 in Eb, Op. 125, 'Household'. 
Adapted to play on a piano duo and  produced  by VViljanen Sep 19, 2023, on a modified* sequence of Harm Fesefeldt (1942-2019), German researcher/scientist in physics, and music software  developer/producer. 
*The tempos selected by VV according to the commonly used tempos of this work.
The work is in four movements:
I.	Allegro moderato
II.	Scherzo. Prestissimo (09.45-->
III.	Adagio (11.40-->
IV.	Allegro (16.15-->

Photo: 'Household' by VV2018
Any kind of commercial use of this track is prohibited.

Schubert: String Quartet No. 10 in Eb, Op. 125, 'Household'. Transcribed   and Produced For Two Pianos

Schubert: String Quartet No. 10 in Eb, Op. 125, 'Household Quartet'. Transcription For Two Pianos.

Schubert: Streichquartett Nr 9, G - Moll, D 173. Mvt I. All.con brio. Adapted and reproduced for Piano Duo by VV on a seq. of H.Fesefeldt. Reviewed and rearticulated by VV, and rec. from playback on a modelled Blüthner Model 1 grand piano duo, revoiced, reconfigured and the rec. setup made by VV
Photography by VV2023
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Schubert: Streichquartett Nr 9, G - Moll, D 173. I. All.con brio. Adapted an reproduced for Piano Duo

Franz Schubert: Allegro con brio. String Quartet G Minor.D173/I.Transcription for Two Pianos

Schubert: Scherzo - Prestissimo. Mvt2 fr. Str.Quartet Eb major Nr 10. Op.125 No 1. Transcribed For Two Pianos by VV on a (tempos & articulation modified) reading of the score into asequence of HFesefeldt (1942-2019, a German nuclear Physics researcher, and music software developer) fr. ca 2010's.
Reproduced/recorded by VV on a modelled Blüthner grand piano duo, revoiced, reconfigured and the rec. setup made by VV.
Photography by VV2003
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Schubert: Scherzo. Mvt2 fr. Str.Quartet Nr 10. Adapted For Two Pianos

Schubert: Scherzo - Prestissimo. Mvt2 of Str.Quartet Nr. 10. Transcr. for Two Pianos

Antonio Bazzini: Dance Of The Goblins ( (La Ronde des Lutins), Scherzo fantastique, Op. 25. Transcribed for  2 Pianos, rand eproduced & recorded by VV Oct.29, 2023 on a slightly modified seq., sequenced by Anonymous,
on a modeled Blüthner Model 1 grand, revoiced, reconfigured, and the rec. setup made by VV.

Photo: Antonio Bazzini  (11 March 1818 – 10 February 1897) was an Italian violinist, composer and teacher. As a composer, his most enduring work is his chamber music, which earned him a central place in the Italian instrumental renaissance of the 19th century. However, his success as a composer was overshadowed by his reputation as one of the finest concert violinists of the nineteenth century. He also contributed to a portion of Messa per Rossini, specifically the first section of II. Sequentia, Dies Irae. (Wikipedia)

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Bazzini: Dance Of The Goblins

Antonio Bazzini: Dance Of The Goblins  Transcription for two pianos

Antonio Bazzini: Dance Of The Goblins ( (La Ronde des Lutins), Scherzo fantastique, Op. 25.Transcription for two pianos by VV Nov4, 2023. 
on a sequence/reading of Anonymous. 
Photo: Antonio Bazzini (before 1897)
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Dance of the Goblins. Transcription for Two Pianos

Antonio Bazzini: La Ronde des Lutins. Scherzo fantastique, Op. 25. Reproduced for Two Pianos

Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata For Piano & Violin G Major Op.30-3. Transcription For 2 Pianos by VV Oct.3, 2023 on/after a reading/sequence of H.Fesefeldt (1942-2019) ca.2010. The tempos selected by VV. Rec. & reproduction were carried out on a modeled Blüthner grand piano duo, which was revoiced, reconfigured and the rec. setup made by VV.
The work is in three movements:
I. Allegro assai
II. Tempo di minuetto, ma molto moderato e grazioso – in E-flat major
III. Allegro vivace
Photo by VV 2019
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Beethoven: Sonata For Piano & Violin G Major Op.30-3. Transcription For 2 Pianos

Beethoven: Trio Op.11 for Piano, Clarinette & Cello. Mvt II.Adagio. Transcription for two pianos. 
Transcribed & reproduced by VV2023 on a reading/rendition into a sequence of H.Fesefeldt (1942-2019) ca 2010.
Photo by VV 2022
Any kind of commercial use is prohibited.

Beethoven: Trio Op.11: mvts II-III 'Gassenhauer Trio. Transcription for two pianos

Beethoven: Trio Op.11 ''Gassenhauer Trio'. II.Adagio. Transcription for two pianos

Beethoven: Sonata for Piano & Violin Op.24 'Spring'. Transcription for two pianos.- III. Scherzo All.molto. Trio. IV.Rondo. All.non Troppo.
Reproduced for two pianos by VV Oct 2023 on/after 're-reading' of a reading/sequence of H.Fesefeldt c.2010, using on its recording a modeled Blüthner Model 1 grand, revoiced, reconfigured and the rec.setup made by VV.
Photo by VV
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Beethoven: Sonata for Piano & Violin Op.24 'Spring'. Transcription for two pianos.- II Scherzo All.molto. Trio. III.Rondo. All.non Troppo

Beethoven: Op.24 'Spring'. III. Scherzo All.molto. Trio. IV. Rondo. Transcr.f.2 pianos.

Teresa Carreño: Gottschalk Waltz. Seq by George C. Byrd 2000. Rec.VV2023.
Photo: Teresa Carreno 1916.
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Gottschalk Waltz

Teresa Carreño: Gottschalk Waltz. Seq by G.C.Byrd 2000. Rec.VV2023

Nikolai Medtner: Deux Contes (Two Fairy Tales)Op. 20,  played in 1920's by Gertrude Huntley(1889-1987)** on Ampico piano roll no 68671. 
Recorded in 2016, and the rec updated Jan 21, 2021,  by VViljanen (by permission)from the digitially simulated reconstructed original reproducing piano roll, using on its replay a modelled Bechstein y.1896 grand, reconfigured, revoiced and setup by VV, and a 5-mics setup.
ANY KIND OF COMMERCIAL USE PROHIBITED.
Photo: Gertrude Huntley Green (Durand)**
INFO of the original piano roll:
DEUX CONTES (TWO FAIRY TALES) Op. 20, No. 1, B flat minor
Roll Number: 68671, 68671G
Composer/Creator: Medtner
Pianist: Huntley
Roll System: Ampico
Country: US
Date: March, 1928
Category: classical
Original Price: $1.75
**Gertrude Huntly Green (b Huntley, m Green, m Durand). Pianist, teacher, b St Thomas, Ont, July 1889, d Victoria, BC,10 Jan 1987. During her career she spelled her family name Huntley and Huntly. She studied with William Caven Barron at the London (Ont) Conservatory of Music, winning the Barron gold medal and the Heintzman scholarship in 1901. She continued violin and piano studies in Detroit and in Paris, where she made her piano debut 5 Mar 1908 at the Salle Erard in a joint program with her instructors, the pianist Moritz Moszkowski (who ended an 11-year retirement to perform) and the violinist Albert Geloso. She subsequently gave recitals in France, England, Canada and the USA. Huntly Green settled in Victoria, BC, ca 1914, and was active there as a teacher of advanced piano students and as a performer. She also conducted an orchestra that assisted in wartime fund-raising projects. She made a number of Canadian tours and was admired for her work with the Hart House String Quartet. Leopold Godowsky declared her to be 'the future woman champion pianist,' and in 1920 she assisted him in his master classes. She studied in the late 1920s with Nicolai Medtner in Germany and recorded his Fairy Tale and Danza Festiva for Ampico Piano Rolls (listed in the 1929 Ampico catalogue).Returning to British Columbia in the 1940s, she actively supported the Victoria Musical Art Society, the Victoria Symphony Orchestra and the Victoria Conservatory of Music. She continued to perform publicly until 1960.

Nikolai Medtner: Deux Contes(Two Fairy Tales)Op. 20 No.1. Gertrude Huntley 1928 on Ampico 68671

Youmans: Tea for Two (subtile 'No No Nanette'), played in 1924 by Freddie Rich on Duo-Art piano roll. Recorded/rendered from the digitally simulated reconstructed original  reproducing piano roll 2016, and again Dec 13, 2023, by VV (by permission). 
Commercial use prohibited.
Basic info* of the original piano roll:
TEA FOR TWO from "No, No, Nanette" (Fox-Trot Song)
Roll Number: 713049, 713049
Composer/Creator: Youmans
Pianist: Rich
Roll System: Duo-Art
Country: US
Date: December, 1924
Category: dance, popular, song
Original Price: $1.25
Notes: With words
*Info source: The Player Piano Group web page (by permission)

Tea For Two

Youmans: Tea For Two. Freddie Rich 1924 on Duo-Art 71304

Percy Grainger plays in 1924 Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker Op.71a, on Duo-Art piano rolls 6798 and 6810
Recorded in 2016, and the rec updated 23 Mar 2017, by VViljanen (by permission)from the digitized copy of the original reproducing piano roll.
ANY KIND OF COMMERCIAL USE PROHIBITED.
Photo: Percy Grainger (1882-1961)
The basic info* of the original piano roll:
"NUTCRACKER" SUITE, op 71A, Part 1: March; Dance Of the Candy Fairy; Russian Dance (Trepak) (transcribed by Grainger)
Roll Number: 6798, 6798-4
Composer/Creator: Tchaikovsky
Pianist: Grainger
Roll System: Duo-Art
Country: US
Date: October, 1924
Category: popular, salon
Original Price: $3.00
*source: The Piano Player Group web page

Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker Op.71a-1. March, Candy Fairy, Russian Dance.  Percy Grainger on Duo-Art 6798

Amy Beach: Fairy Of The Fountain, Augusta Schnabel-Tollefsen, on Ampico 54314.
Re-recorded in 2017 by VViljanen (by permission)from the digitized copy of the original reproducing piano roll with virtual Grand Bluethner Model One, tone/sound modified/designed by VV.
COMMERCIAL USE PROHIBITED. 
Photo: Augusta Schnabel-Tollefsen (Augusta Tollefsen, née Schnabel, 1885 - 1955).
About the composer: Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (1867 – 1944) was an American composer and pianist. She was the first successful American female composer of large-scale art music. As a pianist, she was acclaimed for concerts she gave in the United States and in Germany.
Basic info of the original piano roll:
LA FES DE LA FONTAINE (THE FAIRY IN THE FOUNTAIN) "Les Reves De Columbine" Op. 65, No. 1
Roll Number: 54314, 54314G
Composer/Creator: Beach
Pianist: Tollefsen
Roll System: Ampico
Country: US
Date: n/a
Category: classical
Original Price: $1.75

Amy Beach: La Fée de La Fontaine -Fairy Of The Fountain, Augusta Schnabel-Tollefsen, on Ampico 54314

Korngold: The Fairy Tale Recites An Epilog, Op3 No7, Josef Hofmann in 1926,on Duo-Art 70407.
Re-recorded in 2017 by VViljanen (by permission)from the digitized copy of the original reproducing piano roll with virtual Grand Bluethner Model One, tone/sound modified/designed by VV.
COMMERCIAL USE PROHIBITED. 
Photo: Josef Hofmann 1876-1957
About the composer: Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897–1957) was an Austrian-born composer and conductor. A child prodigy, he became one of the most important and influential composers in the history of Hollywood. He was a noted pianist and composer of classical music, along with music for Hollywood films, and the first composer of international stature to write Hollywood scores.
Basic info of the original piano roll:
The FAIRY TALE RECITES AN EPILOG, Op. 3, No. 7 from "Fairy Pictures"
Roll Number: 7040, 70407
Composer/Creator: Korngold
Pianist: Hoffman
Roll System: Duo-Art
Country: US
Date: July, 1926
Category: classical
Original Price: $1.75

Korngold: The Fairy Tale Recites An Epilog, Op3 No7, Josef Hofmann in 1926, on Duo-Art 70407

Schubert - Liszt: Erlkönig. Mischa Levitski in 1930 on Ampico 70833.
Recorded by VViljanen ( by permission) Mar 26, 2017, and the rec. updated June 24, 2022, from reconstructed and digitally simulated  original reproducing piano roll.
COMMERCIAL USE PROHIBITED.
Photo: Benjamin Godard 1849-1895
The basic info* of the original piano roll:
ERLKONIG (THE ERL KING)
Roll Number: 70833, 70833
Composer/Creator: Schubert, Liszt
Pianist: Levitzki
Roll System: Ampico
Country: US
Date: December, 1930
Category: classical, popular
Original Price: n/a
*source: The Piano Player Group web page

Schubert - Liszt: Erlkönig. Mischa Levitski in 1930 on Ampico 70833

Johann Strauss Jr: Artist's Life Waltzes Op.136. Ernö Rapée 1921 on Duo-Art 6447.
Recorded from digitally simulated reconstructed original reproducing piano roll Dec 31, 2018 and the rec.  updated Jan 14, 2023 by VViljanen, using on its replay and recording a modelled year 1896 Bechstein grand, reconfigured, revoiced and setup by VV
ANY KIND OF COMMERCIAL USE PROHIBITED.
Photo: Ernö Rapee (1891 -1945)  was Hungarian-born American symphonic conductor in the first half of the 20th Century whose prolific career spanned both classical and popular music. His most famous tenure was as the head conductor of the Radio City Symphony Orchestra, the resident orchestra of the Radio City Music Hall, whose music was also heard by millions over the air.
A virtuoso pianist, Rapée is also remembered for popular songs that he wrote in the late 1920s as photoplay music for silent films. When not conducting live orchestras, he supervised film scores for sound pictures, compiling a substantial list of films on which he worked as composer, arranger or musical director.
Basic Info* of the original piano roll:
ARTIST'S LIFE (Kunstler Leben), Waltz, Op. 136
Roll Number: 6447, 6447
Composer/Creator: Strauss
Pianist: Rapee
Roll System: Duo-Art
Country: US
Date: June, 1921
Category: classical, dance, popular
Original Price: $2.50 (Price after 1922)
'Info source: The Piano Player Group web page (by permission)

Artist Life Waltzes op.136

Johann Strauss Jr: Artist's Life Waltzes Op.136. Ernö Rapée 1921 on Duo-Art 6447

Amy Beach: The Fairy Of The Fountain. Augusta Schnabel-Tollefsen** on Ampico 54314.
c Recorded for educational and pedagogical purposes by VViljanen Feb 10, 2019, and ANY KIND OF COMMERCIAL USE IS PROHIBITED.
Photo: Amy Beach (1867-1944)was an American composer and pianist of Scottish descent. She was the first successful American female composer to make a name for herself in music. Most of her compositions and performances have been done under the name of Mrs. HHA Beach.
Amy Marcy Cheney was born as a child of a distinguished New England family . She was a prodigy who was said to be able to sing forty songs as a one-year-old. She learned to read herself at the age of three and composed three simple rolls when she was four. She received her first lessons from her mother when she was six, and a year later she gave her first recitals . She played works by Händel , Beethoven , Chopin , as well as her own works. In 1875 her parents moved to Boston, where they were advised to register Amy at a European conservatory. Instead, they chose to have her take classes in Boston, and they first hired Ernst Perabo, and later Carl Baermann. When she was fourteen, Amy got her only official composition training from Junius W. Hill, with whom she studied harmony and counterpoint for a year . Apart from that one year, Amy Beach did not have any lessons and taught herself everything especially by studying classical pieces, such as Bach's Wohltemperiertes Klavier .
In 1883 she made her professional debut in Boston: she played Chopins Rondo in E and Moscheles ' concert in g minor. Shortly thereafter she performed as a soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra . After her marriage in 1885 with Dr. Henry Harris Aubrey Beach - a Boston surgeon who was 24 years older than she - agreed to limit her performances to one public recital a year and donate the proceeds to a charitable cause. Responding to the wishes of her husband, she devoted herself to composing. Her first major success was the Mass in E major , in 1892 by the Handel and Haydn Societywas carried out. The well-received execution of this mass led to Beach from then on being counted among America's most important composers. She composed the Jubilate dedicated to the Woman's Building at the World's Columbian Exposition . [1]
After her husband died in 1910, she toured Europe as a pianist and she played her own compositions at the concerts. She was determined to acquire a reputation both as a pianist and as a composer. In 1924 she returned to America where she spent most of her time on the MacDowell Colonyin Peterborough (New Hampshire). In 1915 she wrote the "Ten Commandments for Young Composers", which included many of her theses for self-study. Later, Amy Beach moved to New York, where she became the virtual house composer of St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church. She used her status as the most important female composer of America to promote the career of young musicians; she was also at the head of various organizations, such as the Society of American Women Composers, of which she was the first president. Heart failure led to Beach withdrawing in 1940, until her death in 1944.
**Augusta Schnabel-Tollefsen (Augusta Tollefsen, née Schnabel, 1885 - 1955).
Info* of the original piano roll:
LA FES DE LA FONTAINE (THE FAIRY IN THE FOUNTAIN) "Les Reves De Columbine" Op. 65, No. 1
Roll Number: 54314, 54314G
Composer/Creator: Beach
Pianist: Tollefsen
Roll System: Ampico
Country: US
Date: n/a
Category: classical
Original Price: $1.75
*Info source: The Player Piano Group web page (by permission)

Amy Beach: La Fée de la fontaine. Augusta Schnabel-Tollefsen 1910's on Ampico 54314

My warmest thanks to everyone stopping by for listening to my  'REVIEW   OF THE PAST TIME PIANISTS' INTERPRETATIONS ON THE HISTORICAL PIANO ROLLS, and also to a minor LIST of MY MY OWN RENDITIONS, all of the latter representing a variety of piano music & some pipe-organ classics, - and  TO THE Growing LISTS OF (just lately done and reproduced)  TRANSCRIPTIONS OF VARIOUS CHAMBER MUSIC CLASSICAL PEARLS FOR TWO PIANOS.
A HEADSET IS RECOMMENDED for optimal sound experience!
This kind of 'touching' on these old pre-sound-rec. era works by the great performers of the past, and giving my sound to these old 'punch rolls',  makes me feel  deep humbleness, .and I wish that this modest attempt to bring these  performances alive will satisfy you listening to them!
To introduce myself...
I am a Finnish M.D., PhD. and Hand Surgeon (now retired), previously when young with 10 years of professionally orientated piano studies at Turku Conservatory in 1965-1975, partly  along with medical University studies. 
The digital sound techniques have become very familiar to me already from 1980's along with my university research work  
and my musical activities.
As continuation to my musical and professional experience, I have, during the last few years of my retirement, adopted a music historical challenge
to bring the past time major and minor pianists, prior to sound-recording era, onto the same 'start line' with the present pianists, by making their presentations, played onto 'punch rolls' i.e. piano rolls, audible with modern digital techniques. This wouldn't be possible without the pioneering  efforts of Richard Stibbons, Wayne Stahnke, Terry Smythe, Warren Trachtman, Spencer Chase, and others, who developed the optical digitizing techniques of the piano rolls, and digitized them.

The main part of my recordings here in SC consists of selection recorded by me from optically digitized piano-rolls** (from 1910's on or earlier, classical and 'vintage era'). These recordings of mine are not and will not be commercially unavailable. - The rolls were first optically scanned and converted into a digital form by diverse operators** (see also to the info of each piece). The pieces here were partly (minor part) picked from various open net sources, publicly available, but mainly from the huge archive (n=ca.5000) of digitized copies copies of the original reproducing piano rolls, made available to me by one of the pioneers of roll digitizing tehchniques (willing to keep anonymous), and then recorded from this archive mainly with virtual grand piano (called by me 'Bluethner Model One') modified/re-designed by me, as well as the rec settings. 
Also a minor selection of my own renditions among my records can be found here, included on my playlist 'Bach Goes Virtual', the name of the list telling something about the techniques used for getting the end result... The list includes various organ works by J.S.Bach and others, and also a few piano renditions of mine. Then there are included also various pieces which have been in my repertoire, but here played mainly by the  'guest' great players of the past (before the sound recording era).
MY MOST HUMBLE THANKS TO THE NOBLE DONOR  OF THIS INVALUABLE PIANO ROLL MATERIAL FOR MY USE!!!
My Sincere Thanks also to The Player Piano Group, UK, for providing me their permission to use the information about the piano rolls collected and provided on their web page ( https://rolls.playerpianogroup.org.uk ),  and for simplifying my short historical presentations of these renditions on their re-publication here!
AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, MY MOST HUMBLE THANKS TO EVERYONE  OF YOU FOR LISTENING, AND FOR YOUR 'LIKES' & COMMENTS !
YOUR LISTENING & FEEDBACK IS TRULY APPRECIATED..!!.
Use of good headphones or speakers will make your music experience more enjoyable!
Best wishes, all the best
Veikko
These recordings are not commercially available, and ANY KIND OF THEIR COMMERCIAL USE IS PROHIBITED.

Fairy Tales On The Roll And Beyond Revisited

Veikko Viljanen