MUSICAL RECORDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20472, 25 January 1930, Page 10 (Supplement)

MUSICAL RECORDS.

Mr. J. 11. Squire, famous all over tlio world for tlio Celeste Octet, which boars his naruo, has gathered together a band of chamber musicians whose first Columbia record is an absoluto triumph. Biznb loved " local colour," and two pieces from the " Arlesienno " suite, the Minuet and the Intermezzo, are perfect miniature orchestral gems. This new ensemble should he every bit as popular as the Octet.

g The famous " Chaconne " is about all that remains in the concert repertory of Giovanni Vitali's cool and beautiful music. Vitali was born about 1640;_ and was thus

precursor of Bach, lie was for the most part associated with tho musical life of the Italian city of Modena. Jelli d'Aranyi, one of the three finest women violinists alive to day, gives a flawless rendering for Columbia of this two hundred and fifty-year-old masterpiece of viol composition.

Willem Mengelberg is a wizard. With his dynamic personality he can bring music from his Concertgebouw Orchestra that is almost magical in its combination of unified precision and interpretative feeling. A Columbia recording of Wagner's "Tannhauser " Overture is splendid work oven for this world-famous Dutch orchestra. To all those in search of a really adequate recording of " Tannhauser," this version of Wagner's most, popular overture is warmly commended.

In addition to leading the new chamber orchestra just formed, J. H. Squire continues to charm the world at large with popular classics arranged for his Celeste Octet. This month he has recorded for Columbia Gounod's " Funeral March of a Marionetto " and Bach's " Air on the G Siring." '.I his latter rich, low-toned rr.oiody has been enjoyed by geoerat o-is since it was first conceived—and played by every conceivable instrument and instrumental combination. r lhe present arrangement is eminently satisfying, and the recording is exceptionally fine.

The Australian tenor, Browning Mummery, who is now a regular member of tho "British Na-onal Opera Company, is not afraid to sing Italian opera in England, and thus ho is almost unique among the great tenors. From otio of nis favourite and most successful roles, that of Pinkerton in "Madame Butterfly," f he gives through His Master's Voice " The Whole World Over" from the first act, and " Yes in One Sudden Moment," the beautiful aria which Puccini subsequently added. Mummeiy's fine and powerful voice rings out with great clearness and resonance. Ho has real dramatic feeling.

Flom that mine of recording wealth. "La Forza del Destino," many gems are bound to bo extracted and polished afresh by the new electrical method. The popular duet for tenor and baritone, " bolenne in quest 'Ora," first made familiar by Caruso and Scott, is now sung for His Master's Voice, by Beniamino Gigli and Giuseppe do Luca, two scarcely less eminent exponents of the modern Italian school. Between tliem they produce a body of tone incredibly vast and yet withal of superb quality, sustaining it with a comfortable fortissimo level of ease that betrays absolutely no misgivings on the score of blasting.

An His Master's Voice record of considerable interest because of the association of two prominent operatic artists is that by Lucrezia Bori and Lawrence Tibbett, who are heard in the ever-popular "Barcarolle" from " The Tales of Hoffman," and Goetze's " Calm as the Night." Lucrezia Bori has been for years one of the mainstays at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. Tibbett, whose wonderful record from " Pagliacci" made a sensation, has a baritone voice of rich timbre, equal to any in the world to-day, and it blends successfully with the beautiful notes of the soprano.

An exceptionally beautiful style and pure voice compel attention to Frida Leider's singing for His Master's Voice, of Domip. Anna's great air in " Don Giovanni"—" Or sai chi l'onore." Leider's voice has not a very flexible range of emotional colour, but it is dramatic in a way of rare formal nobility. It combines strength of phrase, evenness of of tone, and a vitality that signifies that the whole woman sings, not merelv her voice. She possesses the full-throated tone which to-day seems to be a secret shared only by German sopranos. Leider sings to an orchestra conducted by John Barbirolli. On the other side of this distinguished record Leider sings an air from Gluck's "Armide," an ingratiating melody. But the interpretation of the Mozart air is an event to be considered by all musicians who use a gramophone.

Chopin's Polonaise in A Flat (Op. 53) is played for Columbia by that magnificent pianist, Ignaz Friedman. Not so well known as the shorter Polonaise in A Major it is nevertheless a strong favourite among music lovers in general, as well as among the more ardent Chopin admirers. Friedman's playing is crisp and splendidly rhythmic. His phrasing is thoughtful, and his dynamics equally the result of understandHg. The average pianist seems to forget that Chopin's Polonaises are something more than Polish dances. Together with the mazurkas, they are too often played merely with one eye on the written bar-time, and the other on that quotation of Chopin's to the effect that the right hand need not bother about what the left hand doeth. Pianoforte students might well take this record as a model of polonaise playing.