MUSIC.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21241, 23 January 1931, Page 5

MUSIC.

NOTES AND RECORDS. By Allegro. Chaliapin, the great Russian singer, made his reappearance on the London concert platform at the Albert Hall on Sunday, November 23, and received a tumultuous welcome from an audience of about 7000 people, whom he entertained for nearly three-quarters of an hour. One witic writes: “ He is a colossal artist, this lhaliapin, and no one can blame the mass f people for the almost indescribable ®jnes which still are enacted every time J-vt opportunity serves, when encore songs heime more numerous after each appearane and the enthusiasts decline to go ere thejh ave squeezed the last drop of bene-volei-e out of a singer who seems never so hapy as when granting unlimited encores. N or can one seriously blame Chahapin ' or the liberties he takes with the rhythnv>{ his songs. In all of them he is •first, 1%. anc i a ]j the- time a character act?r. t o w the photographers and the artists n the audience (for several were to be seer CO uld ‘ snap ’ him with camera or pencil , hard to say. for on the concert platfo, n< as on the stage, Chaliapin ie never st] ; BaV e in his appearance in Ivan, the srrible! ’ At one moment he is telling .thet a ] e 0 f his song to the people behind him, gain to the right or to the left or to thi middle, gesticulating with “1® hands, am making a marvellous use of his great coi matlc j of facial expression. He is unique.

A welcome feture was promised in the pantomimes thatwere to be produced in the Home theati> s a t Christmas. The great majority of he songs, which, in due course, will be whui e d at unearthly hours by the milk boys, -,vere to be the work of British compose,. Hitherto Americans . have capture the market for Christmas musical f ar e, but this form of dumping as been checked, not by any tarb but by the free play of competitin. There is said to have been an unuu a ] crop of new British composers, almot without exception young men who hvfierto have not achieved special distinct, n . The homeproduced article would, it vuis anticipated, be topical, rollicking, andjatchy. Moreover, it would be in a Inguage which would not require the aid <J a dictionary to understand.

Toti dal Monte, who repeted in Australia, when she visited tha country a few years ago. the she had achieved in the older lands, is o be heard to advantage in two recorded rias—“ lo sou Titania,” from “Mignon” Thomas), and “0, luce di quest anin* ” from “Linda di Chamonix” (Donizetj), The songs, which are rendered in Ita'an with orchestral accompaniment, furnisi a n admirable example of the vocalist’s control of a singularly sweet, pure, light oprano Voice.

Another operatic soprano, wh has gained considerable popularity in hr appearances at Covent Garden, is Elisbeth Schumann. A recent disc records her singing of “Sei nicht boes,” from ‘Der Obersteiger” (Zeller), and the “N>htingale Song,” the latter, which is sunt in English, including a skilful whistling iaitation. The record is one that is likly to be much sought after. A third record by a soprano vocalist s of a different character. The singer > Elsie Suddaby, who is heard in two ora torio numbers. One is “ Rejoice Greatly,' from “The Messiah,” and the other is “As When the Dove,” from “Acis and Galatea.” In both Handel’s music is excellently interpreted. Miss Suddaby’s beautiful voice has the ring of sincerity, and her phrasing and use of tonal shades is most artistic.

Two of the most famous arias composed by Puccini constitute the latest record by Doris Vane, whose clear enunciation and skilful shading of her voice will be appreciated in them. The numbers are “ They Call Me Mimi ” from “ La Boheme ” and “ One Fine Day ” from “Madame Butterfly.” Patuffa Kennedy-Fraser, loyal to the family zeal for the preservation of the old Hebridean songs, is to be heard on a disc which presents four of them —“ The Mull Fisher’s Love Song,” “ Islay Reaper’s Song,” “A Fairy Plaint,” and “Pulling the Sea-Dulse.” These songs are typical of the plaintive, melodious music of the Hebrides, and are rendered with all the requisite feeling in an exquisitely pure soprano. , The Edelweiss Yodellers provide what is represented as the real and true thing in yodelling in two recorded numbers “S’Malche” and “Saanen,” and, as the record was made in Switzerland, the claim must stand. The songs are those of Swiss cowmen at work, and, rendered by a full-bodied choir, make a powerful appeal. The Milan Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Cav. Molajoli, has supplemented its recording of “ The Pines of Rome ” by “ The Fountains of Rome.” Four sides of two 12in records deal in order with “The Fountain of the Julian Valley at Dawn,” “The Triton Fountain at Morn," “ The Fountain of Trevi at Mid-day,” and “The Villa Medici Fountain at Sunset.” The music is fascinatingly delightful and the interpretation of it possesses the artistic quality that might be expected in a performance by this celebrated orchestra. The lovers of solo instrumental music are always interested in records by Mischa Elman, the renmvned violinist. The disc, which supplies his latest rendering, couples Beethoven’s “ Minuet in G ” with his own arrangement of Arensky’s “ Serenade in G major.” As with all Elman’s other work, the recording comes through with exceptional tone. Another record of solo instrumentation that will be appreciated is one which presents the Spanish ’cellist, Pablo Casals, in an interpretation of Mendelssohn’s “ Song Without Words ” in D major (op. 109), played with wonderful expression. On the reverse side Casals displays hie sonorous tone in an arrangement of Dvorak’s “ Songs My Mother Taught Me,” and his brilliant technique in RimskyKorsakoff's scherzo, “The Flight of the Bumble Bee,” arranged by Strimer. The New Concert Orchestra, conducted by Anton Weiss, has recorded two delicate compositions by Ziehrer—“Vienna Maidens” waltz, and “Nights of Fragrance.” They are both charmingly rendered. A recording in five parts of Mozart’s “ Haffner ” Symphony in D major (No, 35) is recommended by the fact that it is provided by the New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini. Composed in 1782, this symphony precedes by several years the composition of the last three great symphonies by Mozart. On the reverse side is “ The Dance of the Blessed Spirits,” from Gluck’s opera, “ Orpheus and Eurydice.” A flute and piccolo duet by Jean and Pierre Gennin, who play “The Merry Brothers,” and “ Echoes of the Valley,” with an accompaniment furnished by the Bournemouth Orchestra under Sir Dan Godfrey, is a sprightly production that is certain to attain considerable popularity. The lighter side of vocal music is well represented in the latest gramophone lists, which include recordings from talking pictures by one or two prime favourites. The American tenor, Gene Austin, sings “ Under a Texas Moon ” and “ Telling It to the Daisies,” from the film “Under a Texas Moon.” Jack Smith, the “whispering baritone.” gives two numbers from “ Cheer Up and Smile You May Not Like It But It’s a Great Idea,” and “Where Can You Be?” The vivacious comedienne, Helen Kane, is at her best in “ I Owe You,” from “ Dangerous Nan M'Grew,” and on the same record the light soprano, Anona Winn, sings sweetly “Now I’m in Love,” from “Darling, 1 Love You.” Johnny Marven makes a great success of “ Dancing with Tears in My Eyes,” and on the same disc Gene Austin sings “To My,Mammy,” from the film “ Mammy.” Elizabeth Schumann and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra, in “ Die heiligen drei Konige aus Morgcnland ” (The Three Holy Kings from an Eastern Land). R. iStrauss, have recorded finely. They have also recorded “ Posua ” —0 hatt’ich Juhal’s Harf’ (0 Had I Jubal’s Lyre), by Handel. The Handel aria is too well known to need comment. “ Die Heiligen drei Konige aus Morgenland ” is one of Strauss’s few essays in music on a sacred subject. We do not associate him with such subjects generally. The Utica Institute Jubilee Singers may be heard in “ Lord, I Have Done ” and “ Mighty Day.” Negro spirituals have been much recorded, and this is a record with the right atmosphere. The “ William Tell ” Overture by Rossini, played by the Classic Symphony Orchestra, is an orchestral item that never fails to bring the house down in tumultuous applause. This newly recorded version is exciting and well played and stirringly recorded.