MUSIC.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19233, 25 July 1924, Page 3

MUSIC.

NOTES AND RECORDS. Of the great singers who are at present before the public (observes a writer in a London journal) Chaliapin, who gave his only rooital of the season to a big audience at the Albert Hall last month, stands in a class by himself. Indeed, listening to his wonderful performances once again, one realised that Chaliapin is no mere singer. He can act with his voice, as it wore, a gift which makes him such a peerless interpreter and expounder of the art of song. Chapiapin lays bare to his audience the “soul” of the song, aria—or whatever the piece is—which ho sings. Yet his art is entirely personal; ho gives us the music as ho views it with that broad personality of Ids, a personality which is. perhaps, the most remarkable of any on the concert platform or operatic stage to-day. It showed itself even in the delightful way in which Chaliapin expressed his pleasure, by eloquent gestures, at the magnificent reception the audience gave him, by the charming hints as to tempo, etc., he gave to hia accompanist, by his naive way of using his lorgnette to inspect words or music during the concert. It is the infinite graduation of tone and nuance in the voice that makes Chaliapin such a supreme artist. Especially wonderful is the way in which ho passes imperceptibly from the lyrical "tone to a declamation. Mr Frederick Austin, the newjy-appointed commander of the British National Opera Company, has marched his reorganised forces into action in London. They promise a programme of high musical interest, beginning with the most charminig of all classical masterpieces—Mozart’s “Figaro”— to bo followed by a manifestation of stranger latter-day music in Claude Debussy’s “Polleas.” “All who have hopes for the future of music in this country" (observes the Daiy Mail) “all who have faith that to-morrow may he better than yesteaday—will wish the 8.N.0.C. well. Capital is the appointment of Mr Austin as their chief—a man of energy, judgment, and all the right qualifications. His opportunities are great, and so are his difficulties. London opera-goers have high standards, formed bv many brilliant seasons given here by companies imported from the State-subsidised opera houses of the Contimeat, of which the very accomplished Austrian and Gorman singers now at Covent Garden are an example. Should we be satisfied with thus for ever importing our opera as we impart champagne? The hedonists say Yes. But if the Germans had in years gone by been so complaisant there would have been no Wagner and no Richard Strauss —the composers in whom London opera-goers have lately boon revelling. German hedonists 100 years ago were well satisfied with Rossini. But a healthv national art, while not seeking to exclude the brilliant foreigner, persists in fighting for its own life, and the gallant fight put up in recent years by English opera, in the face of terrible economic difficulties, is a fair sign of musical health.”

At a meeting in connection with the British Musical Industries Conference at Folkestone. Sir Henry J. Wood spoke on the influence of the gramophone on musical culture. Is the gramophone a musical instrument? was one of the first questions they would ask. He thought it was. and accordingly would exert great influence on the advancement of musical culture. The reproduction of tones of instruments and voices was a musical triumph and an artistic god-send. To-day it had the power to spread the gospel of music throughout the world, to provide music in the home, and by repeating it again and again it was, in his opinion, a most powerful influence for the spread of musical knowledge and tor creating a real love of music. For each individual branch of music the gramophone was a great help by reason of its ability to reproduce. One got to know the various instruments and the parts they played, and one could almost study the composer’s methods, and that in a manner m which it was impossible for a concert hall to supply. Joseph Hislop, whose fine records are much appreciated in New Zealand, has just finished a triumphal four months’ season at the Royal Opera House, Stockholm. So groat is the famous tenor’s popularity in the country whoro ho learned his art that Ins name on any programme is said to bo sufficient to sell the house out long before ‘■no night of the performance. His chief appearances this season have been in “Manon,” ‘‘Mephistofele,” “Butterfly, ’’ and “Romeo and Juliet.” A friend who has just returned from Stockholm tells a London critic that Hislop has been' in better voice than ever, and that many ovations have been his. Scottish and English admirers have holidayed in Sweden during the past few weeks mainly with the object of putting in a few evenings at the opera and listening to Hislop’s superb singing and enjoying his perfect acting. Included in the_ latest budget ,of records to arrive in Wellington are two very fine Hislop recordings of grand opera arias—the famous “Prize Song” from “The Meistorsingors” (Wagner) and the narrative song, “in Distant Lands,” from the same composer’s “Lohengrin,” in which the words are remarkably clear. The London Morning Post, referring in a critical note to the recently-published records of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (the ’ --'ll”) says; “The performance and reproduction arc in the main excellent. Power is, necessarily, somewhat lacking, and in certain places more refinement of balance and nuance in both orchestral and vocal parts could be desired. The thing being so good, one wonders sometimes why it <Oll let not_ bo better, but nevertheless it represents high achievement, and will undoubtedly bo welcomed by thousands whose opportunities of hearing a ‘live’ performance are rare or non-existent; if they note defects they may be reminded . that wo who enjoy comparatively frequent hearings of the work in the concert room, however delighted, can usually put our fingers on details that have left us not entirely satisfied.”

When Chopin wrote hi a well-known “E Flat Nocturne” ho little thought that his pianoforte conception would ultimately be given to the gramophone world as a vocal item. It was a risky experiment, but some risky experiments are worth while, tor Selma Kurz has given quite a good records of the vocal transcription.