MUSIC AND RECORDS.

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 223, 20 June 1925, Page 18

MUSIC AND RECORDS.

Z 3 By

C.J.M.

Galli-Curci on June 30. Next in the order of musical sensations is the visit of Galli-Curci, due to arrive in Auckland on Tuesday next, and to give her first of three concerts in the Welliuston Town Hall on Tuesday week, June 30. Here is an impression as she struck a prominent Australian journalist: “Slight in figure, extremely vivacious, with a quick, flasning smile, equall’’ swift nods of the head, a funny little run to go off with, aud most curious of all a way of seeming to seek individual admirers m the throng before, her, but the whole effect is to put her on the friendliest terms with her audience. A moment before she sitigs, Galli-Curci looks defiantly 7 at the audience —it is her moment of mental concentration. Then strangely the liffht seems to fade out of her face, the cheeks become wan and tired, and we feel that we are witnessing the death of a flower. At last one piano note runs into another, a second to a third, a third to a fourth , . . soft heavenly trickles of sound ... petals of music wafted gossamer like along the garden path. The sun has risen to save the flower from the perilous dews of night. When the song has ended, and before the last faint mist of sweetness has trailed awav, there is a storm in the forest tops. It is the audience, ecstasted bv tire sheer beauty of the sounds it has heard. Amelita' stoops to left and right her radiance in full bloom, her white teeth flash; at times she waves a tinv lace handkerchief above her head,’ she turns to show her supple back anl then the funny little run out of sight. After that, thunder.” The three concerts are to be given in Wellington on Tuesday, June 90, Thursday and Saturday, July 2 and 4. There are still seats to be had for the booking, but the plans are presenting a very bloated appearance. Signor Cesaroni, the well-known operatic basso, will give next month at the Concert Chamber the second scene in Act II of Boito’s opera “Mephistopheles,” in full operatic costume. He will be assisted by chorus of bantones and basses and a ballet of witches. RECORDED MUSIC His Master’s Voice. One form of gramophone music remains the success it lias always, from the first, been—that is, the operatic aria sung by a first-class performer. At the present rate of things, we may in time depend entirely on the gramophone for opera I It is curious that the gramophone records of liedcr-singers arc still not numerous. The following notes are culled from advance Loudon reviews of coming records. Make a note ol them, but don. t worry your dealer just yet: — One can hear many great voices on the gramophone nowadays, yet lioiv f.ew there are in comparison which arc utilised with equally great artistry. Ihe observation is prompted by the latest Chalianinc record (says an English reviewer). Here we have a superb voice controlled by a master artist. Chaliapine iias given us < n "His Master’s Voice” “Crazy-He.-ided John,” a Kussi.an folk-song, and "The Moon is W&h in the Sky” (Rachmaninoff) The former, sung without an accompaniment, must rank with the famous bass’s finest efforts for the gramophone. If the Rachmaninoff song is less entrancing, it is only bv comparison that it suffers. This is a record to be noted and heard.

It is interesting to observe that it is better to follow the English words of Frieda Hempel than those of many of our native-born singers. Hempel has contributed a desirable ten-inch disc—- “ Alleluia,” a familiar Easter hymn, arranged bv G. O'Connor Morris, <md "Oh, Had I Jubal’s Lyre,” from Handel’s "Joshua.” Having come to regard the hymn as purely a choral work, it is a pleasant surprise to hear a solo arrangement sung so effectively. But better still is Hempel’s treatment of Handel in one of his happiest moods.

Leila Mcgane possesses a contralta voice of exceptional quality, and she renders verv pleasingly "Amour Viens Aider” (“Samson et Delila”) and two of Bantock’s "Songs of Egypt” (“Invocation to Nile” and "Lament of Isis”). The orchestral accompaniment is in each case exceptionally good, and if the recording of the voice is slightly less successful the fact remains that it is superior to that on many contralto records I have heard.

Gramophone records of four of the numbers broadcast by Paderewski from the British Broadcasting Station 2LO arc to be autographed by him and put up to auction on behalf of the funds of the Polish White Cross. The chosen numbers arc Liszt’s "Hungarian Rhapsody” (parts one and two), his own "Nocturne in B Flat,” Chopin’s "Valse in A flat,” and “Nocturne in F sharp major.”

"The winter is over, the summer is come,” sing the De Rcsz.ke quartet in a delightful new H.M.V. record of two old English folk-songs; in the winter of • our discontent we get a far-off picture of our New Zealand summer, when w’e shall be carrying portable gramophones to camp and beach and river, and wishing that someone would invent portable records too.

Wagner lovers will be in clover soon. The “Ring” series is supplemented by notably good recordings, which continue the scene beginning with the Ride of the Valkyries to the point where Wotan finds and denounces Brunnhilde; an impressive disc from “Gottqrdammerung” gives us Radford as Hagen summoning his vassals. The orchestral writing comes out well, and has the feci of a full orchestra at work. The "Lohengrin” records obtainable are also supplemented; Austral and Tudor Davies sing admirably in the love duet, though more, than ever one finds it difficult to accept the music as feally representative of the Wagner who matters. Still, it lacks nothing in lusciousness. Even less mature Wagner is the "Gerechter Gott” scena from "Rienzi,” sung with no lack of emotionalism by Maartje Offers.

Of special interest is a recently published disc bv Smirnoff and Maria Davidoff, which gives us the love duet from the Polish scenes of “Boris Godounov.” Though on musical grounds this scene is held in less regard than the other scenes of Moussorgskv’s opera, the composer’s graphic power is manifest in the orchestration, and th*, voice parts arc richly melodious. Smirnoff is a magnificent singer on this disc, alike in the “Boris” number and in the strands of unaccompanied melody which prevail tn an excerpt from "The Fair at Sorochintsch” on the reverse; in the latter he is an artist, as is the unnamed cor anglais player.

Mr. Kreisler, with Sir Landon Roiiald conducting the orchestra, has made four records for the Gramophone Company of Mozart’s “Fourth Violin Concerto,” that in D. There is here (observes the London "Times” critic) nothing ostentatious for the technical reproducer to exploit, and it is in the revelation of delicate shades of tone pud justness of phrasing and rhythm that his efforts have to be commended. Such points as the contrasts : n the andante cantabile octween the silver threads of the solo part and the inter-playing wood-wind and strings of the orchestra,

arc cleverly made, and the rondo gives an opportunity for displaying the charming tone-modelling based on the different characteristics of the four strings of the solo instrument. Columbia.

It is difficult, on hearing the chaconne played as a violin solo to realise that the origin lay in a dance measure. The great master . musicians, however, have used it for their own purposes, and made of it a set of variations on a ground bass. Bach has so used it and Vitali’s magnificent Chaconne will be familiar to all violinists, amateur and professional, as one of the noblest examples. It is one of the most difficult to play and rarely do any but the great violinists attempt it in public. Albert Sammons, the eminent soloist, has played with the best possible results for Columbia. In its original form it had only a figured bass, but a fine pianoforte accompaniment has been furnished for it by Ferdinand Davies, and in this way the Chaconne is introduced to the public through the gramophone, for there was but little chance of the work being heard in concerts, except when performed by some great artist taking Australia and New Zealand in his orbit. Those who do not play the violin should not on that account forgo the pleasure of hearing this monumental work. It Is rich in melody, and so superbly played that it gives the idea of the artist being present. The record is of special interest to advanced learners of the violin who certainly should obtain it.

One of the very newest knights so honoured on the King’s Birthday is Sir Hamilton Harty, conductor of the Halle Orchestra, a name well known to all who have orchestral records in their collections. Sir Hamilton is not only a distinguished son of Ireland, but has recently written an “Irish Symphony,” which was performed by the Halle Orchestra in Manchester and in London. The latest Columbia record, in which thj orchestra was conducted by Sir Hamilton Harty, was Bach’s sublime "Concerto in D Minor” for two violins. The violins were played by Mr. Arthur Catterall, leader of the Halle, and his associate in that organisation, Mr. John, S. Bridge. It is a work that is rarely heard outside the great musical centres of Europe and the United States, but the recording makes it possible for it to reach audiences in the remotest corners of the globe. It is a fine achievement in reproduction for the gramophone. The orchestra and the solo performers are to be heard to perfection. The concerto may well be used as the only records to be played in one evening, for if the hearers are as attentive as the character of the work and the greatness of its originator deserve, then they will find quite enough in it to engage their attention and to form the subject of an interesting discussion, lasting, say, an hour. The work does not take more than 25 minutes to run through, but it is sufficient in itself for a small and appreciative audience to listen to and talk about afterwards. The real way to enjoy such beautiful music is to have just enough <>f it to regret its conclusion; in fact, to hear enough to create a longing for more.

Love songs popular in Queen Elizabeth’s day are perfectly sung by Dora Labbcttt, and . she utilised her knowledge of the subject, and her sweet soprano voice with most artistic effect in the three songs of which records have just arrived in the Dominion. They are "What Thing Is Love” and “Whither Runneth My Sweetheart,” bv Bartlett, and “Sweet Was the Song,” by Attey. These are delicate songs of love as our ancestors sang them to the accompaniment -of “citherns and citoles,” as a modern poet has it. The affliction of love, it seems, was just as sore in Elizabeth’s dav as now, but recovery appears to have been slower, judging by the sometimes melancholy note of the singers.

•1812” is pretty well known to concert goers, fqr wherever there is a great svmphony orchestra to be heard there will this' imposing work appear on its programmes. The overture to "1912” has been again recorded from a magnificent performance by celebrated band of the Grenadier Guards, directed by Dr. Williams for the Columbia Company. It is a fine example of graphic description in music, and as such affords this crack British military band an opportunity to show what it can do. For bandsmen such a record will be found of high educative value, as the detail is wonderfully clear, and the tempo and precision afford an object-lesson to all players, soloists or other. The member of a strictly brass organisation will find much to learn and much to interest him in this record. For the lover of music for its own sake this Columbia reproduction of “1812” will be found to have a special attraction.

Gramophone Recital. The small audience -which braved the elements in order to attend the Red Cross gramophone recital on Monday evening last was rewarded by hearing the fine programme provideil by the Bristol Piano Company, and artistically arranged by’Mr. Brooks. A notable feature was the fine condition of the instrument provided—a smoothly running motor and a well-adjusted soundbox' are essential to the satisfactory reproduction of records, and these points had, in this instance, evidently received particular attention prior to the recital. (Givers of future recitals please note.) The items included were of so even a quality, both as regards rendering and recording, that it is hard to single out any particular record for special mention. As evidence of this fact, it is enough to say that the ever-popular “Tosselli’s Serenade,” sung by Gigli, was in no sense outstanding among the items surrounding it; the reverse was rather the case. However, Caruso’s “Cantique de Noel,” Galli-Curci’s “Qui la voce sua soave,” De Gogorza’s “Dormi Pure,” and McCormack’s “Ah! Moon of My Delight,” were, m their own way, all examples of perfect vocalism, anil pleasing to a degree. Among the instrumental items, Kreisler’s record of a Brahms waltz, and Casals’s rendering of Bach’s “Air for G String,” were probably the finest, while the hurnorus selection by Will Fyffe was u tevelation of the powers of laughtermaking possessed bv this fine tomedian. It ranks with Bransby Williams’s "Caretaker” as the best record of its type played at these; recitals. The “Speech on Sportsmanship,” by the Prince of Wales, was (even when judged by tne severest standards) really excellent, and displayed His Royal Highness’s capacity for clear thinking and speaking, and his knowledge of the ftuidamentals ot his subject. Following this, a record of the band of H.M. Coldstream Guards playing the National Anthem brought the programme to an appropriate close. Votes of thanks to the Bristol Piano Company (represented by Dlr. Anderson, who kindly acted as operator), anti to Mr. M. Rvan, who has inaugurated, and acted as 'organiser tor, these recitals were proposed and carried with enthusiasm. Praeludium (Jarncfelt), Grenadier Guards; Entry of the Gods (Wagner), Royal Albert Hall; Quartet in D Major (Haydn Op. 64, No. 5), Flonzalev String Quartet; Prize Song (Meistersinger), "Wagner, John McCormack, Hansel and Gretel (I am the little Sandman), (Humpersliinck). Alma Gluck, Louise Homer; Hallelujah t'liorus (Handel), Victor Oratorio Chorus; Caprice Basque (Sarasate), i Mischa Elman; Fantaini Impromptu (Chopin), Leopold Godowsky; Samson and Delilah (I come to celebrate Victory) (Saint Saens), Louise Homer, Enrico Caruso, Marcel Journet; Invitation to the Waltz (Weber), Philadel- ' nliia Svmpbonv Orchestra; Song of the ! Flea (Moussorgsky), Chaliapine; Flirtai non (Meyer Helmund), ’ John. McCor- ! mack and Fritz Kreisler; Trio in D | Minor (Arensky) (Scherzo), Arthur Cati terall, W. Squire, William Murdoch; I Scherzo Tarantelle (Wienawski), Jascha ! Heifetz.