GRAMOPHONE NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 18807, 4 December 1924, Page 6

GRAMOPHONE NOTES

Rare indeed in New Zealand are th® opportunities for hearing the great symphonies of Beethoven, Mozart. Mendelssohn. Tschnikowsky. and other masters. Orchestras are like bands, of whom the Duchess of .Plaza Tora remarked : “ They want to be paid." Of course they do; but when the cities of Now Zealand assume the size and importance, that is their destiny, then regular orchestral concerts will be possible, as in the large cities of Great Britain and America. In the meantime the masterpieces of the trulv great composers are to he hoard in tin- ’home, through the gramophone. Mozart's exceedingly melodious ‘ Thirty-ninth Symphony ’ (with never a sad note in 0) is as classical a work as any learned musician can ask for, and in its sheer tunefulness it is satisfying and delightful to (lie average lover of music for itself alone. It has been perfectly recorded under Hie baton of that groat conductor Felix Weingartner. Individual instruments can be picked out by any hearer able to distinguish between a ’cello and a flute. .As an illustration in class it will be cordially welcomed by music teachers. Here is a work that is not only symphonic in name but in character. As a record it

is a masterpiece. Boito, son of an Italian painter, was born in 1842. but be died so recently as 1918. His best-known work is ‘ Menstofclc,’ based on the story of Faust, but not at all like Gounod’s popular opera. 1 Metis: ofele ' was not a success at first, but if is now among Hie immortal works of composers of our era. Its composer was bis own am! most merciless critic, and it was many years before his opera ‘ Xcro ’ was given to the world. It is a ureal- and tragic work, and may now be heard as to parts of it on the "ramnpboiie. The selections at the moment available arc Hie beautiful ‘ Viveto in Pace,’ sung by Badini (baritone), ‘Come e Burma.’ by Lina Lanza (mezzo-soprano), and Hie ducts ‘ Hento olio Ascende ’ by Badini and Lanza, and ‘Gunrda Qnaggiu ' by Badini and A uteri (tenor). They are all snug in Italian, but so expressively, so sympathetically that their purport can be easily understood, and especially so> in (be pathetic passage allotted to Lanza in ‘ Sento che Ascende.’ ‘ The Lady of the Rose.' one of the greatest of successes at Daly’s Theatre, London, may or may not be heard in the coming New Zealand musical comedy season.; but it- is remarkable for the attractive character of its lyrics, and these are to be heard by the Columbia. Light Onora Company in their 11 vocal gems.” These include ‘Mariana, 1 ‘I Rove Yon _ So, ' Land o’ Mine,’ and the smart military airs and chorus incidental to the work. The ‘ Ladv of the Rose ’ (heme is used with pleasing effect on both sides of the record.