GRAMOPHONES

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 664, 16 May 1929, Page 14

GRAMOPHONES

All must admire the dexterity of John Amadio, the famous flautist, aDd It is pleasant to hear him in an excerpt from one of the greatest pieces ever written for his instrument. Mo--1 zart’s "Flute Concerto.” The andante and the finale are the movements played, and they reveal mastery and musicianship. Mozart is nothing if not tuneful, and, gossamer-like pas--1 sages, with their sparkling interludes ' are a sheer joy (H.M.V., C 1533). * * * “None but the Weary Heart” and . “Oh, no, John,” Is sung by Roy Henderson, baritone. Columbia 01382. Roy Henderson is one of the most interesting singers in England to-day. His splendid voice has shown gradual Improvement and development for some years past, and is now broader and deeper than ever. He provides a splendid contrast in his newest record. The Tchaikowsky song has great dignity and Henderson amazingly contrives to bring out the full dignity and yet project a dramatic intensity into his singing which few other singers could equal. On. the other side is the roguish and ever popular, “Oh, No, John,” as a solo, deliciously sung. The latest records of Erica Morini make one all the more eager to. hear this famous violinist, and the news that she is coming this way is very pleasing indeed. This month she J gives the adagio from “Concerto 22” . (Viotti-Hoffman) and a Russian folk | song arranged by Kreisler. The clear firm bowing and artistic conception of the music stamps her as one of the great violinists of the day. At times the glorious tone leaves one breath- | less (H.M.V., EDB). The Garde Republicaine Band is heard in Carmen “Entr’acte” (Bizet). (Columbia 02747). A veritable triumph of dashing romanticism, dancing lights, hot blood and flaming colours. Could an English band have created so much verve and sparkle? I doubt it. It is not in our temperament, hut we can revel in the Gallic vivacity of the Frenchman. Bizet’s masterpiece has rarely been so happily handled. The brass comes through amazingly well, and strikes the keynote for the bold vigorous tone of the whole performance. Bandsmen should hear the “Black Diamonds Band in “The Last Goodbye” (Moretti), and “The Gipsy Dance” (George). Zonophone 5153. The Black Diamonds Band is one of the oldest recording bands in the world. For many years it has led the way by providing brilliant records of popular music, at popular prices. To-day, electrical recording has placed its records among the best band records. “Petrouchka”—Suite (Igor Stravinsky), played by the Symphony Or-; chestra conducted by the composer, j (Columbia 04225-7.) The glory of the j Russian Ballet is not to be seen in! 1 New Zealand, but thanks to Columbia, j some of its music is available to every- j , one. The music to “Petrouchka” was j written for the first presentation of I : this “pantomime” in 1911. It was j ; later arranged as an orchestral suite, I and it is in this form that we hare! the music on these records.

Brahms’s “Violin Concerto,” Op. 77, is played by Kreisler. H.M.V., D.B. 1120-1124. Kreisler, while giving apparently a straightforward interpretation, adds to his supreme technical skill and breadth of bowing something of a lyrical human warmth that is strikingly individual, and the purity of his singing strings and the delicately realised orchestral background make the third movement, allegro giocoso, a thing of sheer delight, and endow also with romantic grace the adagio of the second movement —a fine reproduction of superb violin playing that the' real lover of pure music will add to his select gramophone collection. A popular combination is Mignon “Polonaise” and “Introduction et Romance” (Thomas). Played by the J. H. Squire Celeste Octet. (Columbia 40749). Lovers of light music will thoroughly enjoy the fragment sweetness of tone for which the Squire Octet is famous. Here they have music after their own hearts. Melodious and charming “Mignon” breathes an air of old world gallantry in its dainty and bubbling tunes. The tone of the Squire Octet is always suave and polished, and their phrasing does’ much to enhance the beauties of the music. “Frankly, I would pay almost anything for the record of Bach’s ‘Toccata and Fugue in D Minor’ (orchestrated by Leopold Stokowski), played by the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Stokowski,” writes an enthusiast. Anyhow, you can get that record for 6s 6d, and an astonishingly fine record it is, too — the huge and perfectly drilled orchestra is reproduced magnificently with breadth and depth not always apparent on a record; the effect of spacious realism is achieved unlike anything that lias ever been done before (H.M.V. D 1428.)

Alfred O’Shea gives us “The Old Refrain” and “Lilies of Lorraine. (Columbia 03614.) Two fine songs with an Irish singer whose great personal triumphs in this country are too recent for him to need much introduction to music-lovers here. As usual, he gives a true artist’s reading of these attractive songs. There can be little doubt that, leaving his glorious voice entirely out of the question, O’Shea is one of the most subtle, accomplished and understood ballad singers of to-day. Note particularly the haunting tenderness of his rendering of Kreisler’s “The Old Refrain” one of the most melodious fragments that recent years have brought forth.

Popular songs by a great star are provided by Hulda Lashanska (soprano) in “Ma Curly-Headed Baby” (Clutsam), and “The Sweetest Storv Ever Told” (Stutts). H.M.V. DA97S. There is something rather wonderful about Lashanska’s voice. It is produced with a smoothness and steadiness that strikes the listener at once as something strangely beautiful. Lashanska sings “Ma Curly-Headed Baby’ in a way that will make this record the only one for a vast number of people

“Where the Sunshine Smiles,” by the Kaalouahi Mixed Quartet, and “Na ’Lii,” by the lahona Glee Club. (Columbia 01259.) This type of music continues to have a wide appeal, a.nd this latest record should be very popular. “Na ’Lii” has a very jolly and dainty melody with a frolicsome rhythm that sets the feet tapping in sympathy. It is sung by lahona Glee Club, who recently won the championship of the Hawaiian Music Festival. Their harmonies are well managed and their tone full-bodied and under superb control. Singing on both sides is most expressive. From Holst’s “Moorside Suite” we have “Scherzo,” “Nocturne,” and “March” (Gustav Holst), played by the Harton Colliery Band. (Regal G 20365-66.) This band, under the baton of Ernest Thorpe, won the second prize in the 1928 Crystal Palace Band Contest. Holst’s “Moorside Suite” was the test piece. As played on these two discs, this (which is true band music) offers great pleasure to even the casual listener. Recording is good, and the body of tone is very finely controlled. These two 10-inch records will be of special interest in view of the band contest now being held in Wanganui “Song of the Vagabond” and “Only a Rose,” sung by Harold Williams and chorus (Columbia 01271). Harold Williams will be remembered as one of Columbia’s English star baritone*— an Australian digger who stayed in England after the war, took up singing as a hobby, and later as a profession. He has now one of the leading concert voices in England. These two items from "The vagabond King” display to some extent the possibilities of his splendid voice. In view of the New Zealand presentation of this musical comedy, this record should be in great demand.

Paul Robeson, singing “Scandalise My Name” and "Sinner, Please Doan, Let Dis Harvest Pass," shows that to sing a “spiritual” something more than a fine voice or mere emotion is needed. For complete realisation there is also required the passion of tradition. Paul Robeson has all these things. With him the negro spiritual becames a sincere outpouring of a deep if elemental emotion. He has a powerful voice, which is perfectly controlled. (H.M.V. D.B. 2771).

A wonderful organ record is tlie “Fantasia in G Minor” (Bach), played by Edouard Commette on the Lyons Cathedral organ. (Columbia 02746). This is the second performance we have had from Edouard Commette — one of France’s greatest organists. Johann Sebastian Bach, that marvellous writer of organ music, was almost unknown to the world until Mendelssohn reintroduced his works nearly 100 years ago. It seems amazing when we consider the beauty of his music, to take the disc under review as but an example. The recording of this fantasia is a realistic piece of work. Played on an adequate machine, it recreates in a moderate-sized room the almost exact illusion of a cathedral grand organ. The Strauss symphonic poem, “Don Juan,” as performed by the Symphony Orchestra under Albert Coates, is a wonder of daring, yet masterful instrumentation. Coates has realised that Strauss is essentially a rhapsodic writer. It is said that the composer has always lacked ethical dignity, and the critics quote his “Death and Transfiguration,” but he shows us in “Don Juan” that there is also a pagan nobility. Tne beginning of this work is one of the bravest and most triumphant notes in music. How marvellously Strauss finds the right orchestral world for his theme here! The whole point of “Don Juan” is that life must be a very welter for the Don to plunge into recklessly. Where in music is there such a splendid welter of orchestration as Strauss sets going with one switt stroke at the beginning of “Don Juan?” Give Strauss the world, the flesh, and the devil, and he is a master. (H.M.V., | D 1309-1310.) j

Duets from Puccini’s “La Boheme," —“Nei Cieli Bigi,” and “Ah! Mimi, Tu Piu Non Torni”—sung by Dino Borgiali and Gino Vanello. (Columbia 03626). “Ah' Mimi!’’ is quite as well known as the poet’s song, and Mimi’s counter-confession, from the same opera, quite definitely the most popular work he ev.er wrote. “Nei Cieli Bigi” is hardly as well known, as its recitative nature does not lend it so well to a catchy tune. Nevertheless, it is a passage that is in no way second to “Ah, Mimi!” in musical value. Borgioli and Vanelli are both possessed of splendid voices. Their joint cantabile is beyond reproach, and is recorded to perfection.

Peter Dawson seems to enjoy every minute of his latest song, “The Kerry Dance,” a beautiful lilting Irish melody by Molloy. The rhythm and the touches of colour introduced by the singer catch the fancy immediately. Dawson knows how to sing a ballad, and he continues his art in the companion song, “Travellers of Every Station,” by Balfe, the composer of “The Bohemian Girl,” and such old favourites as “Killarney.” (H.M.V. C 1442).

“Carmen —Entr'acte!,’ (Bizet). In two parts, played by the Garde Republicaine Band. Columbia 02747. For the benefit of those who are unacquainted with opinions in Continental military circles, tve mention that the band of the Republican Guard is the finest in France, and one of the finest in Europe. Its splendidly disciplined skill and precision remind one of these American “super-orchestras,” quivering in response to the conductor’s slightest lift of the eyelash. Bizet proved in writing “Carmen” that he had a very considerable grasp of the Spanish musical idiom, and his entr'acte is full of the colour of proud Castille.

I First rate is the record of Glazou- | nov’s “Valse de Concert,” Op. 47, ] played by the San Francisco OrchesJ tra, under Alfred Hertz. These Rus- ! sians made the staple Viennese waltz : seem a poor thing musically. (Compare the most popular of all—the [ “Blue Danube” —with this Glazounov | example or with Tschaikowsky’s ef- | forts in the same field.) This “Valse ! de Concert” is not only a delightful j piece of music for dancing, but full of I points of musical interest, such as a I charming bit of canon between the j strings and flutes, and the syncopation iin the middle section. The record should be very popular. (H.M.V., D 1492.)

Other dance hits by Columbia are “I Loved You Then as I Love You Now” —the Cavaliers, and “If You Want the Rainbow” (you must have the rain) —Ben Selvin and his orchestra. (Columbia 01401.) The first item (“I loved you then”) is the theme song of the motion picture "Dancing Daughters,” now being released throughout New Zealand. It is a splendid waltz tune, and dance enthusiasts are sure to make it enormously popular this season. Ben Selvin, on the reverse, gives us, as usual, of his best. Altogether a record well worth noting.

Have you overlooked Benno Moiseivitsch (pianist), in “Si oiseau j’etais" ("If I were a bird”) (Henselt) and “Players” (Granados). H.M.V., E. 427. Moiseivitsch has a touch that records

peculiarly well, and this new record is a particularly good example of his playing. The light, fanciful “Si oiseau j’etais” forms a strange and attractive contrast to the dark tones and strong rhythms of the Spanish dance of Granados.

“Death and the Maiden” (Schubert), sung by Karin Branzell, contralto. Karin Branzell is a wellknown operatic contralto whose sturdy voice has been heard as Laura in “Gioconda” at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, last month. Her rendering of this immortal song is about as near perfection as one can imagine. The two voices of the dialogue are given with convincing effect, and it may be counted an almost ideal effort of recording. This song is a perfect drama in miniature. Nobody but Schubert could have so splendidly portrayed the terror of the frail girl at the approach of death, and the calm dignity of the reply promising peace and calm —undisturbed slumber. The composer subsequently incorporated part of the song into the slow movement of his famous “Death and the Maiden” string quartet. As the song is sung in German, an English version might be welcome. The Maiden speaks first: O leave me Pray leave me! Thou grisly man of bone, O life is sweet, ’tis pleasant! Go leave me now alone.”

Death replies: “Give me thy hand, O maiden fair to see, for I’m a friend that ne’er distresseth thee. Take courage now, and very soon, within mine arms shall softly rest thee.” (A 4069 Parlophone.)

Gems from a favourite light opera are sung by Winnie Melville and Derek Oldham (vocal duet), in songs from “The Chocolate Soldier” (O. Strauss) H.M.V. C 1502. The musical comedy of a decade or so ago had a remarkably pleasant atmosphere. “The Merry Widow,” “The Chocolate Soldier,” and the othe»s are still enjoying a popularity which shows every sign of increasing. Winnie Melville and Derek Oldham have probably got the best voices on the English musical comedy stage to-day, and they have produced a record that deserves a great success by singing these delightful songs from “The Chocolate Soldier.”

“By the Sea” (Schubert) and “The Wanderer” (Schubert), sung in German by Richard Tauber, tenor. The music of “By the Sea” is graphic in visioning the “Sea that breakest for ever, that breakest and never art broken.” The lovers walk at evening—mists and winds arise, the voice and movement of the sea becomes violent, the woman weeps, for she feels the strange melancholy, tfye sadness and foreboding born of the eternal tragedy of the sea. The tragic muse of Heine found full expression in this wonderful poem, and an ideal musical setting from Schubert. “The Wanderer” was written by Schubert at the age of 19, in one evening, and has ever been one of the best loved of his masterpieces of lieder.- In the other song The Wanderer complains that he is a stranger everywhere, ! and he cries out: “Where art thou, I Where art thou, My Native Land?” I He hears a voice in the wind which ! tells him the land of roses, hopes and friendships is left behind in the old, old days. The poet’s likening of life to a journey is vividly conceived, and this view appealed to Schubert so strongly that he exploited to the full its varied moods, and breathed the very message of the poetry itself in the language of music. In both songs Richard Tauber, the prince of German tenors, extracts the utmost of their beauty in his searching readings. As a record for a good permanent collection, a real reference library number, this can be strongly recommended to the serious student of music and poetry. The orchestral accompaniments on both sides are superb in restraint and delicacy of treatment. Altogether a really wonderful piece of recording. (AR 1015 Parlophone.)

The plot of the ballet is simple, and is appended below as descriptive notes are not issued with the records. Scene (or tableau) One shows us a Russian Carnival. A side-showman has a little puppet theatre. There are three puppets—the pathetic Petrouchka, a villainous Moor, and a Dancing Girl. The showman starts his little show with barrel organ and musical box. He appears to bring the three puppets to life. After some jolly dancing it is discovered that Petrouchka loves the Dancing Girl. He, however, leaves the girl quite cold (Petrouchka’s curses and gloom are amazingly written into the music). The Girl inclines to the Moor, but feels rather sorry for Petrouchka. The fourth tableau returns us to the brilliant carnival scene. Witty and colourful dances ensue among the peasants until Petrouchka dashes out from the Showman’s booth, followed by the Moor, a cutlass in his hand, and murder in his eye. Crash! Petrouchka has been slain. Petrouchka is only a puppet, but to the Showman's horror, there is Petrouchka’s soul perched on the gables of the booth “making a long nose” at those who had just laughed at him! Eveyone should hear this music. It is novel, tuneful, strongly rhythmic and full of brilliant orchestral colour.