-- non-subscriber, please reply to sender and MMD --

I recently became interested anew in the Welte-Mignon rolls recorded
by Gabriel Romanovsky in St. Petersburg -- in particular, his January,
1910 recording of the "Pictures at an Exhibition" by Mussorgsky,
apparently the first recording of this work by anyone in any medium.

Mr. Romanovsky was born on April 3, 1873 and died in uncertain
circumstances in 1942.  I know little or nothing about his career.

I call the artist "Gabriel Romanovsky" but the Welte-Mignon literature
refers to him simply as "G. Romanowski," using the preferred
transliteration from the Cyrillic alphabet into German at that time.
His first name is properly transliterated into English as "Gavriil,"
the Russian equivalent of "Gabriel."

If you have any information about Mr. Romanovsky's career or his life,
please get in touch with me.

Regards,
Wayne Stahnke

 [ This Romanowski roll is in the Simonton collection at UCLA --
 [  Index Number: 2166
 [  Composer: Moussorgsky
 [  Title: Tableaux d'une Exposition, Nos. 6-10
 [  Pianist: Romanowski
 [ Ref. http://www.usc.edu/libraries/archives/arc/findingaids/welte/176WelteRolls.pdf 
 [ -- Robbie