Music and Musicians

New Zealand Times, Volume LII, Issue 12211, 8 August 1925, Page 14

Music and Musicians

Gramophones and Records

The complete recording of the Waldstein. Sonata has been performed by the H.M.V. Company, Frederic Lamond being the performer. No instrument has proved so; difficult .to reproduce effectively as the piano, progress has been slow, and in this latest work there is much banjo tone, unfortunately. But for the lover of Beethoven it will be worth while. It covers three 12in. double-sided'. The . Waldstein originally contained' three movements, but the second was cut out by the composer and the short "Introduction” to the Hondo inserted in its place. The. first movement opens with a subject full of fiery vigour. The listener should not fail to note the two little "comments 7 ' that follow the series of repeated notes. * * * The second subject, which appears presently in an unexpected key, is tender and soothing by comparison, and after being repeated leads to a number of other ideas, notably a figure in triplets. The development begins with a statement of the first subject very low down on the instrument, which leads in time to a section founded on the above-mentioned triplet figure. Beethoven also makes remarkable use of tho "comments” (a) and (b), finally turning (a) upside down and. making it lead him back to the recapitulation which starts at the beginning of side two. This, though far from uneventful, requires no comment.' and wo will content ourselves with a glance at the great coda in whioh both subjects are heard and again the little "comments” tpe made to serve mighty purposes. The short "Introduction” (side three) explains itself, as indeed does the Rondo which follows on this and th 6 succeeding sides. The folk-like quality of the principal subject of this last movement will strike everyone; whether it is actually a folk-tune or not matters little. The episodes' that fill the intervals between its repetitions are hardly less intefestlng, and the whole is crowned (on the last half of the lost side) by a tumultuous coda based on the principal air of the Hondo. * * * * ■' . i The immense solidity of the .first movement has made it a model that is held up to all students of composition, and indeed the whole work, poetic though it is, la more remarkable for power and energy than for, grace or elegance. Such intensely masculine music admirably suits Lamond’s stylo. Where so many pianists find nothing but ail opportunity to exhibit their virtuosity ho gives ns the rendering of a true lover of Beethoven and an artist.

The Odd side is occupied by the Scherzo (in A flat) from the Sonata Op. 81, No. 3. Unlike most of .Beethoven's Scherzos this is in tworfour time with no suggestion of a triplet, the general treatment, especially the constant staccato, makes it one of the most original of all his creations in this form. •* *■. * *

Chaliapin© sings Tchaikovsky's "Nightingale. He had not hitherto recorded any song by. this popular compatriot of his. It. has been urged against Tchaikovsky s songs that they are apt to sound monotonous. This may be so sometimes, but certainly not when Olialiapine sings them. Indeed it is hard to think of. any song, Russian or otherwise, in his repertoire, that shows greater variety. . In "The Last Voyage," by, Alnaes, we have an example of dramatic singing by one who is as great an adtor as ho is a smger. f The restraint of some of the oarlier part and the magnificently builtup climax are remarkable: Chaliapin© here is at his best. (12in. ,d.e.)

* ' * * Evelyn Scotney • sings "C'est Ckistoite amoureuse” (L/eclat de riro) from .“Manon Lescaut," and "Pray yon List®n, ID sins to von a Song (Ophelia’s Hallad),, Hamlet. The two songs are brilliantly given and there will be many people who will prefer her “Laughing bong ’ to the. record of it- which GalliCurci made. (12in. d.s.)

! , * . * a '* Two instrumental ten inckers—lsolde Meuges (violin) playing the "Abenlied" of Schumann and an "allegro" of Fiocqo, which seems to have been much arranged, and Cedric Sharpe (’cello) inSenaille’s Sarabando" and "Allemande." The AhenUed” is first-rate and Cedric Sharpe here has music worthy of his mellow tone: , *» * \

Here is some Puccini well up to standard. Joseph Hislop and Dint Gilly smgmg Amore o grille" ("Madame Butterfly ) give a rousing versio'n of the song of Sharpless and Pinkerton. Tlie reverse side is filled by the swaggering Dovunque al mondo, of Hislop, Gilly and William Parnis. This purports to be an account of roving Yankees in general, but is really nothing but the philosophy of his own selfish life as he roams from place to place, from flower to flower. The interval between the 'verses is made somewhat comic by the young sailor asking his friend whether ho, prefers "Milk Punch or Whisky." The Consul, well aware Of Pinkerton's intention to desert Butterfly as soon as he is tired of her bids hipi think twice before he injures so fragile a blossom, and, Go/o, the interpreter (ably sung by William Parnis) interposes with a suggestion that he should get some flowers. "Amore o grillo” follows without a break. Pinkerton has a song in praise of his beloved’s charms, qpd bharpless, in another attempt to exorcise u restraining influence, drinks' to absent friends. But tho heartless Pinkerton only replies with a toast to his real wife that is to be ■■ an American of courso. (32in. d.s.)

Connoisseurs m foxtrot music should koep their eye on Gcrswin. He "has a characteristic style and when not writing obvious musical padding such as wo f liavo by the yard in "Primrose,” lie turns out melody and harmony of an uncommon and fascinating originality. Outside his "Rhapsody in Blue” we have some notable examples of his style in the and* simple. Perhaps one • 9}?- m P s t i in ) rifl F in S things he lins dono is 'Virginia, don t go too Far.” Sdyeral bands haw played this, but easily the most finished performance is that of Emil Coleman and his Club Trocadero Orchestra, to bo found on Vocalian XMSI. There is nothing in the least strident about this record, the theme is‘ so seductive and out of the common that it is quite easy to. forget that you,are listening to a foxtrot; it might bo some unusual typo of intermezzo as there is more than a touch of poetry in the music.

We ,toy® x toard it- said from timo to time that the ballail, if nbt obsolete, is obsolescent. . Bo that as it may. he is indeod rash wjho would mako snch a stnte.lt is certainly true that ballad , ha ® ,5““ v«ry poor in modern years, but the ballad as a whole still

forms a very important part of the nation's music. A series of classic songs has been sung by Mr Norman Williams, tho eminent basso-cantante, for the new Velvet Face series, and they certainly combine well the twin arts of “musik and poesy." There are seven ballads altogether contained on three 12-inch green label discs. Assuredly no one will quarrel with the literary or musical merits of “I know a Bank" (ShakespeareMartin Shaw), “Sea Fever" (John Maso-field-Jolm Ireland), “Hope, the Horn Blower” (Newbolt-Ireland). Herb are j ust a few of the combinations. » * * * The H.M.V. Company has made another good piano recording in reproducing Mosievitsch in Mendelssohn’s Concerto in G. Minor. Mosiovitsch’s playing is brilliant (says a London critic). To say that much of tho work is very like the cheerful Mendelssohn, and that the Andante is merely a glorious hymn, is merely to say that the composer is himself and not somebody else. The passage playing in the fiyst movement is excellent, and the last.goes with great dash; and the orchestra accompaniment is good. ' Mosievitsch is one of the best recording artists in pianoforte music. The record should be bere coon. * * * * Members of the Savoy Orpheans Band have heard how their playing sounds on the other side of the Atlantio (says the "Lancashire Daily Post"). A gramophpno record was captured from the air, over 3500 miles away, when the music of the Savoy Orpheans was heard throughout America. Mr C. B. Graham, a student of Cornell University, New York, who made the record, has brought it to England. Itois, of course, when one turns to the eighteenth century in quest of gaiety that one hardly knows where to begin (sayo an English writer). The current lists are not very hopeful, and one must consult the full catalogues. I should like,; howqver, to mention the Veracini violin Sonata in E minor, plaved by Thibaud, which is the one distinguished feature of the H.M.V. May list. This record—a gigue, a menuett. and a gavotte—is sheer spring morning; it is one of the few records I could endure and even welcome before breakfast. According to statistic/ prepared by the Radio Corporation of America, there are 24,000,000 homes in America, in 4,000,000 of which you will find a radio receiving (says the "Nottingham Evening Post ).

COLUMBIA Ricoardo Stracciari, the famous baritone, one of the many idols of Covent Garden. recently returned to London after visits to other lands. He remarked that "nowhere else in Europe have I encountered since the war such a popular demand for fine music/ 1 H© specially referred to the influence that the gramophone has had in creating popular tactrt for operatic and instrumental music. < He did not know New Zealand, otherwise he would have remarked on the call for his own records in this country. A recent example of the demand for Stracciari's work is the renewal of supplies of his magnificent interpretation for Columbia of Massenet's "Elegie,” with violin obligato by Sascha Jacobsen. It is sung in French, and Stracciari infuses this moving work with tho requisite pathos, over-stressing nothing, under-em-phasising nothing, as is only to he expected from so consummate an artist. pame Clara Butt has innumerable admirers of her singing. Her coming to New Zealand 'is looked forward to with great interest, for her records issued by Columbia have been affording them a substitute in default of her personal presence here. She is truly a great artist, even in singing homely songs like the "Chimney Corner,” and her record of "The Old Folks at Home” or "Swanee River,” as it is best known, is offered' in proof. It is free from the artificiality that great singers often impart to such simple songs, and strikes the listener as if sung from the heart.

There are few British military hands that have distinguished themselves in recording superior to the band of H.M. Grenadier Guards, conducted by Lieut. Geo. Miller for Columbia. This band is particularly successful in Luigini's ‘‘Ballet Egyptian.” Tho record is in two discs and in four movements. The wonderful precision and tone colour characteristic of this famous band were never better displayed than in these records of its performance. The individual instrumental work is that of artists, as indeed all members of bands in crack regiments of the British Army have to be. Snch records are of great value to the players in bands in New Zealand for careful and consistent study of the manner in which the various parts are played. To the gramophonist—as the term goes—the "Ballet Egyptian” will give unalloyed pleasure. One does not hear so much now as formerly of Amy Woodforde-Finden's "Indian Love Lyrics/' They used' to bo heard m every home and certainly one or more of them in the concert halls. But now—well,_ they are exceedingly tuneful, and hre rich in Oriental colouring, as anyone familiar with India can testify. There was a decidedly exotio flavour about the verse of that highly talented young lady who wrote them under the masculine nom de plume of Lawrence P-°P©» aflid that flavour has been retained m tho setting of the four eongs set to pusic and recorded from a performance for Columbia by the Union Symphony Orohestra. Those who have not already fho "Indian Love Lyrics” in their record libraries inay bo interested to know that the Union Symphony Orchestra has been flingnlarly, successful in these, records. They oertainly should have a place in a . 'collections of agreeable music. "Temple Bells/ 1 "Kashmiri Love Song,” "Till I Awake, 11 and “Less than the-Dust” are the songs selected for recording.