RECORDED MUSIC

Evening Star, Issue 21642, 10 February 1934, Page 6

RECORDED MUSIC

[By Eeato.']

The Philadelphia Symphony Orches* tra, under the conductorship of Leo* pold Stokowski, gives a wonderful performance of the overture to Wagner’s opera ‘Rienzi.’ Wagner’s ‘ Rienzi ’< (his first real _ success) is nearly 100 years old, having _ been composed during a stormy period, mostly in Paris, where as an unknown.musician he had to straggle very hard to make a living by copying music. The opera was completed in 1838, and performed for the first time in Dresden in 1842., ‘ Rienzi ’ is a rather long work, and the' premiere was given without cuts, be* ginning at 6 o’clock in the afternoon! and concluding at nearly 12. In spite of its length, the opera scored a Bril* liant success, and all seats were sold for several performances. The authors ties of the Dresden opera paid Wagneic only £45 for ‘ Rienzi,’ although come temporary composers like Halevy on Auber received in Paris from £I,OOOO to £1,500 for their operas, now enj tirely forgotten. Following the lead established by Weber in ‘ Freischutz 3 and ‘ Oberon,’ Richard Wagner base® the ‘ Rienzi ’ overture on themes front) the opera. The introductory trumped calls are followed by the very imJ prossiye and beautiful melody on Rienzi’s prayer, first played by the! strings and subsequently by the woodJ winds and brasses. Later the battle! hymn is heard, and another themeu taken from the finale of the second act2 leads to tho brilliant coda, based agaiidt on the battle hymn. The overture owl cupies three sides of two 12in records*! and on the fourth side the orchestral plays the closing scene of Wagner’* opera, ‘ The Twilight of the Gods. 3 This is the wonderful climax to thd) great tetralogy, ‘ The Ring,’ and the) music has aptly been described aa> colossal. It unfolds itself grandly,! stage by stage, marching with slow} but unhesitating tread to its inevitable! conclusion. The performance of the! Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra is brilliant, and the recording excellent in! quality and volume. 1 * * * * Those desiring an introduction to the major works of chamber music cannot do better than commence with Schumann’s ‘ Quintet in E Fat Major ’ for piano and strings. Schumann is at hie Best in music which is written for the piano or contains a piano part, and this quintet was written when he was at the zenith of his_ powers. The first performance was given at Leipzig fit 1843, on which occasion the composer’s wife, to whom the work is dedicated,played the piano part. The work is divided into four movements, of which: it is impossible to say which is tha most lovely and which lead one from! another in the most natural way, and! with cumulative effect, culminating ini the tremendous finale. The performance of Ossip Gabrilowitsch' and tha Flonzaley Quartet is beautifully poised* and tho recording is excellent. * * ♦ * A brilliant performance of an orohes* . tra arrangement of Liszt’s ‘ Hungarian Rhapsody No. 3 ’ is given by tha London Symphony Orchestra under tha baton of Dr Malcolm Sargent, who i* one of the most-talked-of conductors of the present day. In his fifteen rhapsodies, Liszt, by use of characteristic! folk themes and the peculiar rhythm! of the musical gypsies, gives of Hungarian nationality to a remarkable degree. Like other composers ofi his day, he strove to express in music* nationality, virtuosity ,and dramatic* expression, and in bringing to the attention of the musical world the beauty} of the folk musio of his native land* he chose the old rhapsodie ballad type; of expression. The work under review} is one of the best loved of the fifteen! and the orchestral arrangement gives it greater colour and brilliance, and the performance by the Symphony OrJ chestra, under Dr Sargent, is vivid and striking. * * * * A pianoforte arrangement of thei ‘ Intermezzo in G,' from Wolf-Ferrari opera, ‘ Jewels of the Madonna,’ has! been recorded by Mark Hambourg.; This intermezzo precedes the third acij of the opera, and is made up of exquite theme. Hambourg enfolds all their entrancing beauty by his poetic! playing. On the other side of the record the eminent pianist is heard -in ‘Country Gardens’ (‘Handkerchief Dance’), by Percy Grainger, the Australian pianist and composer. It is art old English Morris dance tune still used by Morris dancers. Grainger iai devoting his particular attention to folk music, and his settings of old dance tunes are of great value and interest. Hambourg gives us all tha joyousness and vitality of these fine old English dances, and the piano tone ha* been recorded realistically..