The Gramophone Corner

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18053, 13 January 1927, Page 14

The Gramophone Corner

By

Turntable

Principal soprano of The Dresden Opera House, Meta Seinemever has a European reputation that is the envy of many an artist. She has a voice of

great power and beauty and absolute purity of intonation and in two “Der Freischutz” numbers, “ W i e, Nahffe Mir Der Schlummer” and “Alles Pflegt Schon Langst der Ruh.” on a recent Parlophone disc she excells. Mme. Seinexneyer is a new artiste on these records and in this disc she makes a

triumphant debut. The story of the two numbers is briefly thus: Agatha is about to go to rest; but her anxiety for her lover Max, who is to meet his rival Caspar in a great shooting contest the next day, makes sleep impossible. “Wie nahte mir der Schlummer” (How tranquilly I slumbered before on him I gazed) she cries. Then she draws back the curtains over the balcony, disclosing a bright starlight night. “Softly sighing, day is dying.” she sings, to a lovely melody familiar to thousands to whom perhaps its origin is unknown. No less beautiful is the second part of the scena “Alles pflegt sebon langst der Ruh” (Earth has lulled her care to rest) with its joyful conclusion as Agatha sees her lover in the woods below', “How every pulse is flying”: another famous tune, heard also in the Overture. This scena with its pictures of the tranquil night and the sleeping forest, its rapid play of changing emotion, foreshadows the later Wagnerian opera. It is a test of fine singing.

Polydor records, a make new to Christchurck. which will be on sale in about a week’s time, “have the largest selection of Wagner excerpts and also in. all probability the finest set of fingers fox* this particular music,” says Peter Latham in “The Gramophone.” “The records often leave something to be disired in the matter of surface smoothness. . . . But they represent the authentic German tradition, and can usually be depended on for intelligent and respectful _ interpretations; sometimes they give us vexj'- much more.” This refers mainly to old recordings- The new electrical recordings have a much improved surface. and the orchestral recordings would be hard to better.

Apropos of Wagnerian recordings, . the Parlophone catalogue, though it ' has a smaller list than Polvdor, has : made some, remarkable discs. Ths L Emmy Bettendorff series alone is ■ enough to justify them Pinching out ■ jinto Wagnerian seas, and this magnifi- > cent artist is supported by others, “Shall I be giving a secret away . if I confess that I receive, weekly, all the latest music from America, which is arranged and scored in precisely the same manner in which it is plaj-ed in America?” asks Jack Hylton in an . English monthly. “I examine all this music in detail, and have, tried much of it here. It has not appealed to the public. Before it can be played here it must be modified, given the British •Touch, which Americans and other foreigners never understand.”

among whom may be singled out Lauitz Melchoir, the Danish tenor, who, as Siegmund and Siegfried, recently created a profound impression at Covent Garden, and Robert Burg, a singer described as a baritone, but who is a true bass, and one of the finest artists singing Wagner.

Riele Curling's art as a violinist is undoubted and in his Parlophone recording of the first movement of Mozart’s Fourth Violin Concerto in I) he has achieved a triumph. His work is clean and polished and his tone pure and rich, whilst no holes can be picked in his interpretation. This J2inch double-sided record is one well worth an investment. The orchestral accompaniment is refined and well recorded.

G. Goldmark's overture “Sakuntala,” will be new to most gramophiies, but that the Parlophone recording of it by the orchestra of the State Opera House, Berlin, will gain numerous admirers is certain. Dr Weissmann, the conductor, controls this magnificent band of artists wonderfully and their rendition of this work is an achievement of which they might well be proud. The recording is excellent.

Two dainty Irish songs, “The Fairy Tales of Ireland,” and “Little. Town in Quid County Down,” are W. F. Watt’s latest contribution to the Columbia list. Watt, a tenor, sings them well, though there is a trace of strain in his voice. His rendition is sympathetic, however, and his slight brogue ingMiss Thelma Petersen, mezzo-soprano, it is to be hoped, will figure frequently on Columbia lists, for her voice and methods are delightful. Her first contribution to the records is a striking bracket, “The Dreary Steppe” and “Aftermath,” strikingly sung. One may second the Columbia catalogue’s note: “It is a record for all interested in distinctive gramophone music.” Miss Petersen’s voice is of good, round quality, pure and unforced. Her dramatic rendition of the sombre Russian melody is perfect. Rex Palmer’s rich baritone is particularly well suited in his latest disc, “To Anthea” and "To Mary.” lie is an artist. No one hearing this Columbia disc can fail to enjoy it. Another of the splendid Grenadier Guards Band records, based on a selection of Scotch melodies, grouped under the title of “The Thistle,” has evoked interest among gramophiies. It gives ample opportunities for the capable soloists of the band to show their mettle, and cornet and clarinet, trombone and euphonium, and all their relations take advantage of their chances to the full. The Columbia electric recording preserves not only the tone quality of the various instruments but, owing to its refinement, it rctajns the personality of the players to a remarkable degree. No fewer than fourteen Scottish airs figure in this fine record-

Dances that are literally all the rage in the cabarets and dance halls of a dozen countries automatically find expression in disc form before there is the faintest indication of decline in popularity. From a select list of recent productions one may pick oh any of the following Columbia discs with the assurance that there will be nothing lacking in a musical, a playing, or a technical sense. The Gilt-Edged Four have their name to “Honey Bunch” and “Tentin’ Down in Tennessee.” The Ipana Troubadours, with lively vocal chorus, play “I Found a Roundabout Way to Heaven,” and “At Peace with the World.” Paul Specht's Original Georgians, also with vocal chorus, give us “Horses” and “Spring is Here” (fox trot). The Denza Dance Band issues include “Melodie du Reve” and “Julian” (tangoes), while the Cliquet Club Eskimos incline to M.he sentimental type of music with “Lonesome and Sorry” and “Somebody’s Lonely” (fox trots).

“Generally, the more I study gramophones the more I am driven to the conclusion that there is only one golden rule: the instrument should be balanced in every part,” writes Mr P. Wilson, a gramophone expert in “The Gramophone.” “Certain alterations can be relied on to produce certain effects. But whether those particular effects are wanted depends upon the position from which one starts. The most futile question which is ever put to me is ‘which is the best sound-box?’ The answer depends on the type of record, and the type of machine as well as on psychological factors which I have no means of gauging. I overheard a person say the other day that he preferred a dance band to an orchestra because the strings were too strident; a saxophone gave a much pleasanter tone. xV person, of that type might be attracted to a gramophone which smoothed out all natural stridencies. But even he would be a more satisfactory person to deal with than one who has never realised that some of the sounds produced by a violin (and more particularly by massed strings, where the tones are slightly out of phase, and maybe out of tune with each other) are strident.”

It is some time since that remarkable Greek tenor, Ulysses Lappas, scored a distinct success through Columbia with “Exomologissis” (Confession) and “Kanena,” both sung in his native tongue. lie now re-enters the vocal limelight with a very fine rendering of the famous “Celeste Aida” aria from Verdi’s opera, and with the suave and flowing “Cielo e Mar,” from “La Gioconda.” Although both these numbers were bracketed on another Columbia record sung by Francesco Merli, an Italian tenor, Lappas’s version is notable insofar as it shows the wonderful capacity of the new recording process.

“The record-making companies seem to realise more and more the limitations of the gramophone-studio (writes a well-known London critic in the “New Salesman”). The absence of an audience to stimulate the performers and their consciousness that any mistake they make can never be rectilled puts a restraint upon the artists, which is noticeable in the .records. So , there is an increasing tendency to make records in a concert hall and even during public performances—an advance which is made possible by the electric syste mof recording. When I was in Munich I was told that for broadcasting purposes a smaJl microphone was fixed to each desk in the orchestra and several others disposed about the stage, with the result that every instrument and voice had a fair chance. I did not have an opportunity to hear the result, but I was told that it was astonishingly good and a great improvement on the use of one or two microphones.”