THE GRAMOPHONE

Southland Times, Issue 21197, 25 September 1930, Page 11

THE GRAMOPHONE

RECORDS OF THE RECORDINGS.

(By

Vox Populi.j

—Columbia—• In the pew Columbias from Begg’s, Ltd, the Lener Quartet takes pride of place, playing the Mozart Quartet in G (K 387 The Lener Quartet has musicianly qualities of the refined order, and the players are not prone to over-emphasis. This is a special recommendation where Mozart is concerned, and as a result I think this Quartet, one disc to each movement, will be welcomed. The slow movement is an impressive piece of work, and one in which the real power of the Lener Quartet can be found. In the finale one also finds a magnificent performance. Here is one of Mozart’s finest achievements, and the interpretation of it is worthy of its grandeur. The reproduction is unusually fine (LX 24-27). Johann Strauss’s waltzes are pleasing always, but they are lightweights and it is rather ■ surprising to find a great orchestra under the baton of a great conductor devoted to these pastries. The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Bruno Walter could be employed to better purpose than the playing of “Roses of the South Waltz,’’ which is so unimpressive. The recording is very good, but the playing seems rather too weighty for the music—you can tell it is Berlin instead of Vienna, and the Strauss waltzes are essentially Viennese (LX2B). This month the Concert Orchestra of the Paris Conservatory completes its recording of Rimsky-Korsakov’s symphonique suite “Scheherazade” on two records (DX 5-6), giving the end of ‘The Young Prince and Princess,” ‘The Festival at Bagdad” and “The Shipwreck.” The festival scene is by far the best. In the storm the playing is efficient, but despite the high quality of the instrumentation there is a lack of excitement, and one begins to fear that the storm, after all, was not a really great affair. Perhaps we have heard so much of the “Scheherazade” music that we are more critical. On the final side is the adagietto from Bizet’s “I’Arlesienne Suite,” played by the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam under Mingelberg. A charming piece of sentimentality, in which the strings could have been a bit fuller in tone. The Court Symphony Orchestra gives us the veteran overture “Light Cavalry.” It is well played, but it seems to me that recruiting among the newer works should be good enough to permit Suppe’s horseman the-reward of a pension and rest (DX42).

A novelty and one worth capturing is the harpsichord recordings by Mme. Regina Patorni-Casadena of the Societe des Instruments Anciens of Paris. Mme. PatorniCasadena makes the harpsichord an instrument of rare beauty, and while one marvels at her deftness, one is also surprised by the manner in which the instrument sustains notes under her clever fingers. Scarlatti’s peculiar Toccalina and Mozart’s Pastorale with Variations (DXS3), make a combination which gives the player ample opportunity for the display of her powers, and I think those who hear them will join with me in the hope that Mme. PatorniCasadena will make further harpsichord recordings. These are very beautiful. —Add H.M.V.— Pablo Casals enriches whatever he touches. He is the artist without conceit, and so in the lighter works one finds him gloriously acceptable, because sincerity rules him without permitting syrupy sentimentality or cleverness to intrude. Dvorak’s “Songs My Mother Taught Me,” RimskyKorsakov’s “Bumble-Bee” and a Mendelssohn Song Without Words (in D, No. 109) could trap a lesser artist into indiscretions, but Casals makes them beautiful by the superb simplicity of his mood. Tone is clear, full and true—no overuse of the vibrato —and the songs are ennobled by his playing.

Maurice Marechai plays Faure’s Elegie. The ’cellist has a broad style, with rich tone, and in this grave work he is very fine (DX-16). Yelli d’ Aranyi seems to me a little impatient in the Albenz tango, and to be much more satisfying in Delibes’s “Parsefied,” arranged for the violin by Gruenberg. (DO150). Efrem Zimbalist has again gone to foreign fields. Last month he played Japanese airs. This month he is heard in “Burleska” and a Persian Song. (D 0132 Pattman’s organ solos, recorded in the Brixton Astoria, are “Alice Where Art Thou” and the “Cinderella” waltz. (D 0146

One of the finest of the Don Cossack Choir records comes this month. The choir under Serge Jaroff, sings (a) Dance Song; (b) Song of the Cossacks; (c) “Barynja” (d) “On the River Kasanka.” There is

plenty of excitement in these numbers, but the singing, though at times it reaches tremendous speed, is always in control and balanced. Occasionally one hears whistling and Cossack cries, and the thrill of it all comes through the gramophone with startling effect. The Don Cossack Choir is a stirring organization and this is about the most stirring of its recordings (DOX4B). —H.M.V.— Caruso, singing "Premiere Care&sa” (The First Kiss), is a surprise, but it is effective. It is unfortunate, however, that the great tenor’s indifferent recording of Lulby’s "Bois Epais” has been made public (DA1097). These French songs did not suit Caruso’s style. Marcel Journal, the. great French bass, sings “Les Deux Grenadiers,” and, like every other singer I have heard, misses the chance to complete the picture of the dying soldier because the final episode gives the singer a chance to show volume. His Marseillaise is fine, but it lacks the revolutionary fire of Chaliapin’s version. (D 8924 Dear me, I seem to have struck some trouble with three H.M.V’s. from Begg’s I Paul Robeson, singing “Go Down, Moses,” the most dramatic of all. the Spirituals! But he churns Burleigh’s setting out, as if he did not care a hoot what happened to it. The same with “I stood on the ribber” and “Peter, go ring dem bells.” His voice is splendid, and some of the rhythmic touches are extremely interesting, but otherwise flat and unprofitable. How good to turn to “Lucia di’ Lammermoor” sung by Gigli and Pinza. In the last act of “Lucia,” the broken-hearted Edgardo goes to the graveyard to end his life. His faithful servant and some friends are there, but they are either unable, through canons of good taste, or unwilling, through a desire to permit the composer to have his way, to interfere, but they furnish a vocal background to the finale. Gigli’s singing of Edgardo is something to remember. Ido not remember any recorded tenor in this scene I enjoyed so wholly. The recording, too, is very fine. (D 81229 Among the lighter vocal recordings is Peter Dawson in a spirited version of “The Fishermen of England” and “Young Tom of Devon” (B 3301 and Sylvia Cecil, a very pleasing singer, in “I heard you singing” and “Early in the morning,” two well-known English ballads. Keith Falkner is better in “Droop not, young lover” than in “King Charles,” in which, I think, he fails to picture th e character of the song despite some excellent vocalism (83321). More about the October recordings next week.