GRAMOPHONE NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 136, 11 June 1927, Page 28

GRAMOPHONE NOTES.

ARTISTS AND THEIR RECORDS. Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody, No. 2, in two 12 inch records (L 1796-7) played by the New Queen's Hall orchestra, under Sir Henry Wood, is fascinating music, fascinatingly played. Miriam Licettc, a soprano with a voice of good quality, sings, '"One Fine Day" from Puccini's "Madame Butterfly," and with Frank Mullings (tenor), "Give Me Your Darling Hands," from the same opera (Llti6ti, 12 inch). Another musical tribute to the popularity of the royal house of the British Commonwealth, this tune in the effective form of a cradle song for its youngest member, has been recorded. Eileen Boyd sings, "Princess Betty's Lullaby" (0623, 10 inch), and if the singer's effort is a trifle disappointing, those who hear the record will at least agree most cordially with the sentiment* expressed towards the wee Royal lassie.

A record by Ulysses Lappas, the Greek tenor, not his latest, but included in a recent parcel, is "My Love, Get Married" and "Old Demos" (L 1703, 12 inch). Both are Greek folk songs, sung in Greek, and they receive the satisfactory treatment one expects from Lappas. The former has a rather intriguing title and one wonders whether it is a proposal of marriage in an admonitory form.

That "Lady Be Good," the musical comedy to be played by the "No, No, Nanette" company on their return to Auckland at the end of this month, has many melodious and catchy numbers is evident after hearing the recorded music. There is quite an embarrassing offering to choose from when the output of the various companies is considered, and in this note I will mention one or two. Vocal items that are worth while as foxtrot, piano and other renderings, while perhaps quite meritorious, lack the touch of theatre atmosphere that gives this class of music, well done, a fascination of its own. Fred and Adele Astaire, accompanied by George Gershwin, one of the composers, at the piano, sing "Hang on to Me" and "I'd Rather Charleston" (3970), the latter a clever hit at presentday tendencies, and also "Fascinating Rhythm" with "The Half of it, Dearie, Blues" by Fred Astaire (3969), and the same pair, accompanied by the Empire Theatre orchestra sing "Swiss Miss," a rather clever \odel song, reminiscent of the Swiss that was missed, and Adele, with Goollaire, does "So Am I" (3979)' all 10 inch. '

That the gramophone has almost unlimited possibilities when used intelligently as a means to a wider understanding and, consequently, a fuller appreciation of the glories of music, is a favourite theme of the writer's who frankly confesses that what little ability to appreciate the classics has been vouchsafed him has come from continued hearing on the gramophone of music just beyond his easy comprehension. Here is the sentiment expressed by an abler pen:—"Many cannot digest the higher classics in music; they have not been.educated to it; they are half-way up the ladder of musical progress, being sufficiently advanced to dislike "jazz" and sloppy sentimentalism and yet inclined to be annoyed at what is above their heads. Their gaze may be said to be horizontal, not directed on the one hand to the ground, nor on the other above the level of their line of vision, whereas did they but raise their eyes look into the glorious and gorgeous realms above, they would soon find compensation and consolation."

Schubert's "Unfinished" Symphony. In 1822 Schubert was elected an honorary member of the Musical Society of Graz, and in return for the compliment he began the composition of his Symphony in B Minor. After completing the first two movements and part of the third, he laid the work aside. He visited Graz five years later, but neither there nor anywhere else was the work performed during his life time. Why the symphony was not finished is still a mystery. Schubert died in 18*28 and the first performance of this wonderful work took place in Vienna in 1865. Two years later Sir Arthur Sullivan and Sir George Grove unearthed the Symphony during a visit to Vienna and the work was performed in London the same year. It is difficult to imagine why Schubert should have neglected to finish such a singularly beautiful beginning. The Symphony, which has always been a favourite of the writer's, has been recorded electrically by Sir Henry Wood and the New Queen's Hall Orchestra, in three I'2-inch discs (L 1971-2-3). Gentle reader, if you feel that symphonies are not for you, will you do me the kindness to have this played over, and then, if need be, hear it again, and then, when you have bought it and by repeated playing for pleasure's sake have realised to the full its beauties, write me a note of thanks for my kindly insistence.

The Future of the Gramophone. A recent promise to consider the ultimate evolution of the gramophone has led to a realisation of the difficulty of dealing with such a vast subject in the necessarily condensed form these jottings must take. Recent developments have opened to view of the imaginative experimental vistas that were not long ago unthought of. Improved recording has made possible a long-playing record in the form of a flexible ribbon unwinding from a reel. Any patron of the pictures will realise what the future has in store if music can be played in the way that pictures are produced. One good reel would contain a complete symphony, but although the idea is quite practical from the view-point of the recording laboratory, it is at present commercially impracticable. More music may be recorded on the present style of disc record, but this possible improvement is distinctly limited as long as the present method of reproduction is used. A leading expert says that the long-playing record will come as soon as the general public become equipped with electrical reproducers. He is of the opinion that within the next ten or fifteen years the gramophone as we know it will be no more. We shall all be playing our records, he says, old or new, short-playing and long-playing, by mebns of an electrical instrument, which can also be used for reeciving broadcasting. This has already been done, the music of the record being produced by the needle vibration being changed into an electrical vibration which is taken into the amplyfying end of a radio set and so made audible. This marks the present limit of advance and the possibilities of revolutionary progress along totally different lines will be touched ou u a later note.