GRAMOPHONE NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 85, 11 April 1931, Page 8 (Supplement)

GRAMOPHONE NOTES.

ARTISTS AND THEIR RECORDS. (By SOUNDBOX). And ever against carting eares, Lap me in soft Lydian airs, Married to immortal verse, Such as the meeting soul may pierce In notes, -with many a -winding bout Of linked sweetness long drawn out. —Milton. I didn't think I'd ever be interested again in "Two Little Girls in Blue" and "After the Ball," but as the Maestros sing them they are well worth reviving. Although this band of vocalists are five in number, the parts are so arranged that there is no difficulty in following the sense of the wordfi. (Columbia, DO, 290, 10-inch). Will Fyffe i 3 a Scottish comedian who is really funny, and does not mar his efforts with inane laughter. He gives us two songs, "The Railway Guard," in which the fun is fast and furious at 14 miles an hour, and "Macpherson's Wedding Breakfast," funny enough, but funnier when imitations are given of Irish and Welsh guests contributing songs. (Columbia, DOX 135, 12-inch).

Peter Dawson this month gives us that very well-known old ballad by Petrie, "Asleep in the Deep," but differently arranged and described as a song scena. Taking both sides of the record, the ballad is in two parts, the first depicting the storm, and the second, with humming accompaniment and chorus by a male quartet, the calm. (His Master'a Voice, 83542, 10-inch.)

The quintet known as The Revellers has, I believe, made one or two changes in its composition since delighting us with the first records, but unless I am mistaken the original bass, Wilfred Glenn, is still with them. He does not get the opportunities as a rule that I would wish, but in the present offering his fine voice is well heard, "HappyFeet," from "King of Jazz," and "Sing Something Simple," both cleverly arranged. (His Master's Voice, EAB4I, 10-inch). Certain instruments that generally hide unobtrusively in the mass effect of band or orchestra are rarely recorded, and when they are, are doubly welcome. Jack Mackintosh and Jesse Stamp play cornet and trombone duets, with a military band, which, however, remains well in the background, making the work of the soloists more effective and not distracting the attention. The items are well chosen, being popular music "that we all know and like, "Barcarolle" ("Tales of Hoffman") and "Miserere" ("H Trovatore"). Columbia, DOX, 142, 12-inch.

Muriel Brunskill, a contralto with a well-established gramophone reputation, will charm her admirers and assuredly win new ones with her present delightful offering. In Gounod's "There is a Green Hill Far Away" and the recitative and aria "But the Lord is Mindful of His Own," from Mendelssohn's "St. Paul," the lovely tones of a real contralto voice are combined with a moving sincerity. (Columbia, DOX, 143; I*2-1 inch). ■ •'

Richard Crookes has a fine tenor voice and uses it very effectively. Well and favourably known in the United States, it was to be expected that his growing fame would eventually find him a place among His Master's Voice celebrity redlabel artists. He is promoted-this month and it is rather a pity that he has marked the occasion with. music which, while well sung, is nevertheless not the class of music one expects from an artist of his calibre,,"Rio Rita," from the film of that name, and "Only a Rose,'-" from ;'The Vagabond King." (DA1099, 10inch.) The records of Maori music made at Rotorua by Columbia just twelve months ago were issued about a dozen first and then a few each month for some time after. Probably all the matrices have now been used. At all events, the Columbia April supplement re-lists all that have been issued, and they make an inspiring display, filling two pages and twenty records altogether. Probably by now these examples of the music of our sweet-voiced Maori friends have beesn included in Columbia's issues throughout the length and breadth of the world—and splendid publicity, too. From Wagner's one and only comic opera, "The Master Singers," Friederich Schorr, in the role of Hans Sachs, the shoemaker, sings "Jerum! Jerum!" a cobbling song. From "Tannhauser," he sings "Blick'ich umher" (When round me here I gaze), in which at the tournament of song Wolfram praises thi beauty and virtue of the bright throng surrounding him and expresses the wonder and reverence constituting his conception of love, a love for Elizabeth that he may not voice directly, as she is affianced to his friend Tannhauser. A splendid effort. (His Master's Voice, D 1866, 12-inch.) With Riccardo Stracciari in the namepart and Mercedes Capsir as Gilda, the Columbia complete recording of Verdi's "Rigoletto" is a very notable affair. Of Verdi's many successful operas, . this,, I think, has the most attractive music; "Questa o Quella," the first act duet, "Caro Nome," "La Donna e Mobile," and the great quartet, to mention only the most obvious. The story is sordid and tragic, but is brightened throughout by the strongly melodic genius of the great Verdi. The cast consists of artists of La Scala Opera House, Milan, supported by the Milan Symphony Orchestra and La Scala chorus. These fifteen records, in Italian, with a booklet containing a sirle-by-side translation, make a very welcome addition to Columbia's fastgrowing library of album works.

For several months the gramophone companies, by issuing "vocal gems" of the musical comedies of last generation, have been delighting those of us who have Been them played, have given pleasure of a different kind perhaps to others hearing their tunefulness for the first time and have most certainly caused many to remark thafc we don't get anything these day* to approach the appeal of these old-time succm«c«, If the argument require* clinching, "The Quaker Girl," this month, sung by the Light Opera Company, does it. By the way, for the benefit of any not familiar with the music who may clip and file the detailed titles as listed in the supplement, the second last item is wrongly named, it being "Couleur de Rose." (His Master's [Voice, C2olfy J 2-inch.)