MUSICAL RECORDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18629, 9 February 1924, Page 8 (Supplement)

MUSICAL RECORDS.

, Galli-Curci's Charm. For a. time we yielded to the magio of Melba, Tetrazzini, Alma Gluck, Frieda Hempel, Semiih, and others of that famous galaxy -that, held the front ranks for so long in the world o£ vocal art. But there has since arisen like a glowing star in a greatl constellation the wonderful Ameiita GalliCurci, whose success - in the recording room almost transcends her platform achievement'. Hear her, for example, "A Fors o liu die l'anima," or "On 'bel di Vedromo," the delicate "Veille sur eux toujours," or' in "Dove ©' l'i»dianna bruina," and judge for yourself. . Then there is Heifetz— him in the "Serenade Melancholique" or in a conzonnetta; a class of music in which lie revels in his lighter moments. Or Caruso, who dead,. still lives. Hear him ■ in that delightful liCtle Neapolitan fancy "Mia Piccurella." Here there is no strain, no forcing, no suggestion of immense physical effort to produce an unusually high note. And for sheer orchestral charm there stand out conspicuously ' Mengelberg's •New York Philharmonic Orchestra in Beethoven's overture "Coriolan," and Les Preludes," of Liszt I am not claiming perfection for the gramophone, but I do claim for the gramophone that it will help anybody to enjoy a concert moro than he has ever enjoyed it before (says Mr. Compton Mackenzie). A man who owns a gramophone cannot, possibly be under the delusion that he plays the gramophone better than anybody else. Ho may, it is true, by experiments with sound-boxes, needles, and amplifiers, arrive at supposing that he has a better gramophone than anybody else, but his skill is always dependent upon "gadgets," he does not go through the ridiculous contortions in which the pianoplayer enthusiast allows himself to indulge over a nocturne of Chopin. To be sure, a friend of mine told me of an uncle of his Jiving in the heart of Russia who put on his evening dress every and solemnly conducted orchestral performances upon the gramophone : but that was for his own pleasure, and ho could not have convinced anybody that his actions were having the slightest effect upon the rendering. Yes, it seems to me not too much to declare that the gramophone holds the future of music, we cannot say in its hands, but at any rate, in its tone-arms.

Carelessness is a curiously gregarious germ. Especially is it an enemy of the gramophone record. Carelessness delights in keeping the most beautiful records in untidy heaps. It revels in tearing their packets and exposing .their precious surfaces to dust and the effects of friction and carlessness, simply loves ta see them placed in a spot accessible to children with sticky fingers. There is only one cure and only one preventive— that is to purchase record albums, and thus keeps your records as you would a valuable series of books, neatly indexed and tidly arranged. And, indeed, there is no other kind of bock in the world that can give us freely the imprisoned harmony of every page and that will hold together and remain almost as good as new after so many readings. Sergei Rachmaninoff's beautiful piano arrangement ci Fritz Kreisler's "Liebes,leid," based in its turn on an old Vienna waltz, is well worth while. He has somewhat embellished,, as Kreisler embellished before him, the originally simple theme—with decorations that recall, sometimes, the musical dropping of water from some forest spring info the still pool beneath, and again bring to memory the roll of thunder among great hills. The simple, Schubertian second melody of the waltz, in. particular, has undergone amazingly beautiful transformations. The number is one which the criticism of the future will probably place among the master piano fantasies of the 20th century, and the record is well worthy of it. "Have you a gramophone in your studio?" asks Mr. J. R. Frampton of music teachers. Or would you scorn such an idea? Scorn is cheap, and if has sometimes happened that the subjects of popular ridicule have eventually proven to be of real worth. The phonograph is not merely an accessory to the dance, nor is it altogether a purveyor of entertainment. Did you ever notice the inconsistency- of purchasing books by great musicians about other musicians and the interpretation of their compositions, and yet neglecting to secure records of the actual performances of these pieces by the authors of these books, or by other artists of as great or greater ability? read howf one should play the Rachmaninoff prelude in C sharp minor when you can purchase several different interpretations,' including one by Rachmaninoff himself! The teacher should choose a composition which can be followed on the printed page (while listening to the records) even by the less advanced students. Avoid records by inferior musicians as you would dime novels. If possible, secure a record in some ofher medium, such as voice, orchestra or orchestral solo instrument, for this helps to draw the student away from the technique of his particular in- ; strument. The student should be told who performs this latter record, but should have no idea who (he piano soloists are whose records are to be studied (or judged). It is well to advise the students against considering fhe timbre of the tone, for this varies with different makes of records; he is to watch only the interpretation.