THE GRAMOPHONE

Southland Times, Issue 19821, 18 March 1926, Page 11

THE GRAMOPHONE

RECORDS OF THE RECORDINGS. (By Vox Populi.) “It is not generally known,” says an official of the H.M.V. Co., “that Caruso’s whole career was very largely influenced by 10 gramophone records which he made for the company at the fee (then the largest ever paid) of £lOO for the lot These were heard by the directors of the Metropolitan Opera, New York, who cabled for Caruso to appear at the Metropolitan, which he continued to do until the time of his death.” Nowadays there is something in the gramophone record lists for everyone—from the lowest or negroid browed to the most impressive of elevations'.—save only for the deaf. The most remarkable thing about recent developments of record-making is undoubtedly the attention given to the masterpieces of music. It is curious that this is peculiarly a British development, not paralleled in America. The symphonies and quartettes, the concertos, and the excerpts from Wagnerian operas, which now pour from the factories, are a credit both to the enterprise of the firms and to the taste of their customers. “Uncle Charlie’s Album” will keep children amused for hours. These records include “The Pixie Fiddler,” “Stars and Moonbeams,” “The Cuckoo Clock,” “Miss Priscilla Pris,” “Are the Blue Moons Fair,” “Bubble Land,” and “The Brown Family.” There is also a duet recorded by Uncle Charlie and Aunt Agnes, called “General J ack.

What is it about the pipes that causes the pulse to quicken at the sound of them? The charm of the country dance will never die, and the Scotch Country Dance Orchestra (conducted by J. Michael Diak) contributes “Triumph” and “The Haymakers,” two Gaelic reels that will be accorded a warm welcome, and “Highland Fling” and “Grand Old Duke,” two other fine traditional tunes. The Varaldi band gives us a further lot of tango records —“Sunny Havana,” “La Mantilla,” and others—with marked accents; and even more interesting are the performances of the Rio Grande Tango Band, which apparently uses the big-toned concertina to give the music its characteristic timbre. Referring to the gramophone debut of Madame Melins, a London reviewer says: “There is a new coloratura, but I am quite confident in her completely cordial reception. Madame Melins has chosen for her first record the second of the two arias sung by the “Queen of the Night.” This song is probably the hardest ever written for a soprano voice, for it contains no less than 28 high C’s, and the singer has to reach the incredible note of F in alt no less than four times. An astonishing record I” A London reviewer, in his impressions of the H.M.V. recording of Wagner’s “Parsifal,” remarks that the most notable point is the extraordinary advance in the choral recording. The two forces blend, balance, and retain their individuality to a degree not always—perhaps not often —heard in a first hand performance. These “Grail Scene” records are among the best of the set. The bells, of course, they are not in tune. (Are they ever?) The other records that strike one specially are those of Klingsor’s Magis Garden and the Flower Maidens Scene, the damsels being represented, however, by strings. The solo voices are particularly good. A great feat, this “Parsifal” set. “Othello” with “Falstaff” were the operas of Verdi’s most mellow period. To them Boito furnished the libretto. In his version of Shakespeare’s immortal tragedy a beginning is made with the second act. At the opening of the last act Desdemona is revealed as feeling a great weight of impending sorrow, and yet she cannot tell what it may be. It is here that she sings the poignant “Willow Song,” known better in Italian as Canzone di Salice. It is surely one of the saddest songs that Verdi ever composed, and far deeper in its pathos than even “Ah, fors e lui.” It is sung to the faithful Emilia, and is succeeded by the “Ave Maria” when Desdemona is alone and about to retire for the night, to sleep with no awakening. Her last song, her last prayer, and then the end. These two soprano solos, that are the ambition of all great artists to sing better than anything else, better than ever they sang before, have been recorded by Columbia from a deeply sympathetic rendering by Mariam Licette, and in English excepting the “Ave Maria,” which is in Latin. She seems to have steeped herself in the spirit of the tragedy of the arias. Every word is distinctly uttered, and every note clear, rich and full.

Arthur Jordan, who is to sing again in various parts of the Dominion, when his term at Dunedin Exhibition is finished, Js now to be heard in the Columbia records in “Who is Sylvia?” a song that should suit him well, judging by his past successes in the lovely songs of Schubert. The reverse of this disc, which is on its way to New Zealand, but may be ordered, is “Come not when I am Dead.” Mr Jordan now needs no introduction to New Zealand, for no male singer in recent years has made a deeper and better impression on audiences in New Zealand than he. FACTORY IN AUSTRALIA. Owing to the greatly increased demand for popular records, and to enable the public of New Zealand, and Australia to be as up-to-date as London and New York, the Gramophone Company some time ago decided to have their own pressing plant in Australia. This was established in Sydney, and was opened by the Premier of New South Wales, accompanied by the Lord Mayor and many prominent and public men of Australia. The first records to be pressed were His Majesty the King’s speech to the Empire and the Prince of Wales’s speech on “Sportmanship.” When these records were first introduced, the Gramophone Company announced that the whole profits on sales would be devoted to patriotic funds. It was recently announced that the profits up-to-date, resulting from the sale of the Prince of Wales’s speech, amounted to £1,545, which have been given to Earl Haig’s British Legion. The Gramophone Company’s factory in Sydney is a model of the wonderful factory at Hayes, Middlesex, England, and at the present time is employing 150 hands, which will increase to over 500 by the end of 1926.

To give some idea of the wonderful demand there is for records at the present time, they aim to press between ten million records yearly. The pressing of records is one of the most interesting processes, and naturally one would expect a great deal of heat in the pressing room, but the gramophone factory in Sydney is one of the few established in Australia that has an air-cooling plant; four times every hour the air is changed right throughout the factory. The warm air is taken out and cool air, or rather cold air, is pumped through the factory. The factory in Sydney covers about two acres and experts from England and France operate the different plants. It may well be asked why a pressingplant is necessary in Australia when records can be procured so easily from England, and also why it is needed in Australia considering that there is no duty on records in Australia? Australia does not levy a duty on records, as they are treated in exactly the same manner as sheet music, books and literature, being considered of educational value to the public. There is no doubt about the educational value of the high class records that are now being manufactured in the world to-day. The reason why it was necessary and advisable

for a pressing plant to be established in Australia (and it is proposed at a later date to establish a pressing plant in New Zealand) is that the Gramophone Company aim at being able to place on the market a record just as soon as it is published in England, America, Italy or Spain, or any other part of the world where a record is made, so just as soon as an artist, say like Galli-Curci, records at the factory at Hayes, a shell or matrice is sent down to Australia ready for pressing and can be issued simultaneously with London or New York. It has been repeatedly asked if the Gramophone Company intend to record Australian and New Zealand artists. It is not the intention of the company at the present time to introduce a recording plant in Australia, but the matter is at the present moment receiving consideration and it is not improbable that at a later date a recording plant will be established in Australia.