THE GRAMOPHONE

Southland Times, Issue 19653, 2 October 1922, Page 7

THE GRAMOPHONE

“VOX POPULL”

BY

Recently I had the good fortune to hear the Columbia version of Bizet's “Carmen,” performed by the La Scala Company, Milan. There are sixteen ten-inch double-sided records in an album, accompanied by a neat description which enables anyone, not familar with the opera to follow it without difficulty. The principals are all good. Carmen is sung by a line contralto with plenty of fire and dramatic power. Her singing of the Habanera ami fine scene in the second act were particularly pleasing. In the Flower Song the Don Jose was inclined to go out of tune, but in (he i dramatic scenes he was excellent. The last two records giving one the finale of the opera where the desperate Don Jose stabs Carmen outside the bull ring were about the best of the entire set. The Escamillo sang the toreador's music magnificently, the well-known song in the second act being a tine effort. He is a good actor and the possessor of a rich, bass .voice. Michailu’s air was one of the charming tilings in the collection, but I was much impressed by the e eilence of the choral numbers on the records. There was no sign of overcrowding and yet no sense of volume was lacking. To a lover o.t “Carmen” this set of records must be a sweet gift. The records I heard came from Allan Young Ltd., of Dunedin. In “A Letter from 'London” in the Times Weekly Edition of August 2 I read: "One of the most amusing lectures of recent days was that given at the Royal College of Music by Professor Walford Davies who illustrated it by gramophone records made by himself. He believes that melody is a second mother tongue, and can be “released” very easily if the teacher learns to keep out of view as much as possible. He has enormous faith in the gramophone as the messenger of good music phrased by great executants, and told of a butcher’s boy in a Welsh village who whistled Bach in Kreisler’s phrasing from listening to the gramophone.” Norman Allin. is an English bass with a stupendous voice wnich records well. I know of no singer who reproduces with such volume as Mr Allin without any suspicion of effort. That is why he can sin;; successfully such songs as “My Task” (Ashford) and "When Song is Sweet” (Sans-Souci), which appear on his latest Columbia issue, D 1442, a ten-inch doublesided disc. I In the latest New Zealand list for Colum- > bia there are two exceptionally interesting orchestral records. The first (L 1426) com pletcs the recording of the Siegfried Idyll, which has been done in lour parts by the London Symphony ' Orchestra 'under' the baton of Albert Coates. The first portion of (his bcmiii'ul pic;'? e; A'?- :?r!?n im; '.? was issued on L 1425. Wagner appears on L 1427, a 'double-sided record for (he New Queen’s Hall Orchestra, conducted by Sir Henry Wood. On one side of this record is the “Entrance of the Gods Into Valhalla.” a piece of writing on heroic lines, and on the other we have the impressive Judex from Gounod’s "Mors et Vita.” A .Tecent Columbia record which should be in ballad collections is 3113. On it we have fopliss Green, a baritone of quality, singing Coleridge -Taylor’s exquisite ‘Thou Art Risen, My Beloved,” and back of it is Edgar Coyle, who did the WoodfordeFinden lyrics, singing “Cynthia’s Garden,” (Marsh). New Regal releases in New Zealand are interesting. There arc two on which Horatio Nicholls, one of the most popular of the compo-ers in England, conducts his dance orchestra in waltzes of his oWa composition. They arc: G 7773—“ Rainbow Vake,” the Daily Sketch prize dance and “Sleepy Little Curly-Headed Baby." G 7774 "Golden Dreamboal” and "Allah.’’ I Other dance records released arc by the Regal Novelty Orchestra:— G 7764—"Na-jo” fox trot and "Wandering Home,” a medley waltz. | G 7765 —“Wimmin,” a one step and "Some Li (tie Bird.” I will conclude this week with a further I Columbia budget, this time a fine selection lof the new .dance records: 3114 “Say, Persianna, Say,” Oriental fox trot and "Hugs and Kisses,” played by the New York Havana Band. 3115 "O Sole Mio,” waltz, played by the Garber-Davis Orchestra, and "Granny.” fox trot, played by The Columbians. 3116 “Cotton-Land,” fox trot and “Ah! Kusoom (Oh, My Darling)”, played by the White Coons Band. 3117 "On the ’Gin, 'Gin, 'Ginny Shore” fox trot, played by tim White Melody Boys and "Virginia Blues,” fox trot, played by The Columbians.