The Gramophone Corner

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18407, 8 March 1928, Page 6

The Gramophone Corner

By

TURNTABLE

All Edward German’s orchestration is effective, though he generally scores by the brilliancy of his colours, but he is equally effective with his more delicate tints. A good sample of his work is his Gipsy Suite, which has just been i issued by Columbia on two 12in discs, j The Plaza Theatre Orchestra, conducted by Frank Tours, presents the work well, and the recording, which was made in the Plaza Theatre, London, is very realistic. Another most outstanding recording in the Columbia list is the famous sextette from “ Lucia di Lammermoor ” (Donizetti). The recording artists are Maria Gentile, Dino Borgioti, G. Vanelli, S. Baccaloni, G. Nessi, G. Mannarini and La Scala chorus. “ D’un Pensieri,” from Bellini’s “ La Sonnambula,” occupies the other side of this 12in j disc, the artists being Maria Gentile, ' Dino Borgioli, G. Pedroni, T. Mannarini and La Scala chorus. The recordj ing is excellent, and we can accept the I work of such great operatic singers as : these as being accurate. The orches- ; tral accompaniment is a treat. Two gramophone recordings of a new i character have just been issued by Columbia. They are carillon solos played iby Kamiel Lefevre, of Malines, and 1 played on the carillon which now graces j the new Canadian Parliament at Ottawa. This carillon, it will be remembered. was installed at Ottawa to mark j the anniversary of the Federation last year, and is a particularly beautiful one. The numbers recorded are: “ Abide with Me,” “ O Come, all - ye Faithful,” and “ Annie Laurie ” and “ Believe me, if All those Endearing Young Charms.” The recording was done at the Croydon Bell Factory. k :: >: Radio broadcasting in England has resulted in two new musical organisations being formed, the 8.8. C. Orchestra and the 8.8. C. Choir. Both these combinations are available on Columbia’s records, and are responsible for some very fine discs. The choir has two good discs in the new issue, “ Rock of Ages ” and “ The Day Thou Gavest,” and “ Jesu, Lover of my Soul,” and “ Nearer, my God, to Thee.” As in most other choral recordings, the advantages of the new electric process are most marked. The recording was done in. Christ Church, Westminster Bridge Road, London, under the conductorship of Stanford Robinson. For 4hese discs we must register a vote of thanks to the 8.8. C. and the Graphophone Company. Another choral recording of merit is that by the Sheffield Orpheus Male Voice Choir singing “ Home, Sweet Home,” and “ Auld Lang Syne-.” « Frank M’Eachem, bass, sings “ A Banjo Song ” (Weedon and Homer) sympathetically, but his diction is faulty. “ Tavern Song ” (Watson and Fisher), on the other side of this Columbia- disc, is sung heartily, but rather jerkily. His voice is pleasing in quality. The fine band of sixty-five Italian mandolinists, the Circolo Mandolinistico Guiseppe Verdi, of Leghorn, has made yet another recording for Columbia—the Prelude to “Cavalleria Rusticana” (Mascagni). If thqre is any gramophile who has not yet heard one of these recordings, now is the time to remedy the fault. This is a realy good performance, and one finds it hard to realise that the mandolin is the only instrument used in the band. s X Alfred O’Shea, Australia’s foremost tenor, whose lovely voice is now frequently heard “on the air” from Sydney, has made another fine 12-inch recording for Columbia in Godard’s beautiful “Berceuse de ‘Jocelyn’ ” (Angels Guard Thee) and Bizet’s beautiful “Agnus Dei,” the latter being sung in Latin. In the first case the accompaniment is provided by piano, organ and violin, and in the second by piano, organ, and ’cello. O’Shea’s voice is of liquid clarity and Sweetness. His “Agnus Dei” is particularly good. “Rose of the South” and "Weiner Blut,” two waltzes by Johann Strauss.

and recorded by Johann Strauss and the Symphony Orchestra, make up an attractive disc in the new Columbia list. The Waltz King loses none of his appeal with passing years.

The Grenadier Guards Band recording of “The Larks’ Festival” (Brewer), and “The Two Little Finches (Kling) gives us a taste of the quality of some of the band’s soloists. The intonation of the piccolo solo in the Festival is excellent. The cornet duet in the other number is, however, a little on the harsh side, due probably to the placing of the instrumentalists too close to the microphone. In all other respects this Columbia recording is admirable, and the balance between the band background and the soloists is very natural. Richard Tauber, a German tenor of rare calibre, has a voice of singular sweetness. He presents two delightful numbers on a Parlophone 10-in celebrity disc, “Lenz” (Hildach) and "Das Zerbrochene Ringlein” (Kuhe). The first number has an orchestral accompaniment, whilst the second has a piano accompaniment by Mischa Spolianskv. Tauber has an ideal voice for this type of song. His breath control is perfect, and his diction, especially in Kuhe’s “Broken Ring,” is a delight. One must watch future lists for further records by this singer. One wonders how many records the orchestra of the Berlin State Opera have made for Parlophone; they must be a century by now! This month we have them in Prelude to “Die Meistersinger” and Prelude to Acts one and three of “Lohengrin,” the conductor being A. Bodanzky, of the Metropolitan Opera, New York. Wagner was one of the first composers to use the brass in an orchestra to provide something other than noise in forte passages. He used it to give rich 4one colouring. The commencement of the “Lohengrin” prelude is a wonderful example of the ethereal effect of chords in the top register of. the violins. The scoring is extremely delicate, and gives striking proof that the popular idea that Wagner’s music means noise is a fallacy. The recording is excellent, and the orchestra is in happy form. The recording of the Mastersingers is especially good, and compares more than favourably with issues by other companies. Money spent here is well spent. The duet from Act 1 of “Parsifal”— “See Homeward Doth the King Return”—gives Gottelf Pistor, tenor, and Ivar Andresen, bass, a wonderful opportunity to display their remarkably fine voices. The record, a twelve-inch Parlophone, has the Transformation Music, sung by Andresen alone, on the reverse. The two sides thus contain one episode from “Parsifal”—the tremendous orchestral passage in the first act, where, after King Amfortas has been conveyed from his bath to the Hall of Monsalvat, the whole scene moves away to effect the Transformation. _ Andresen is a magnificent bass. The orchestral work of the Berlin State Opera Orchestra tops off the whole performance. K X 52 Michele Fleta has chosen two favourite operatic arias from “Boheme” and “Pagliacci”—“Che Gelida Manina” and “Vesti la Giubba”—for his latest H.M.V. recording. This is the first electrical recording of these two numbers yet made by H.M.V. London Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Siegfried Wagner), in “Huldigungs March” (Wagner). We are apt to overlook Wagner’s smaller works—though there are b-ut a few—and this record should, therefore, be very welcome. The “Huldigungs March” represents Wagner at the full height of his powers attempting to write a march. It is rather like a mountain torrent being made to turn a child’s toy watermill, and every now and then Wagner "overflows” beyond the narrow confines allowed him. But the result is a magnificent march, and as played here, under the baton of no less a person than the son of the composer himself, wa cannot fail to admire it. (H.M.V. D 1271).

Percy Heming (baritone), in “The Devout Lover” (M. V. White) and

“Joggin’ Along the Highway” (Samuel). There are very few singers to-day who can compare with Percy Heming, either in singing simple little ballads or in opera. He sings with such fine directness and simplicity that you are immediately won. He has given two very popular little ballads for this record; that by Maud Valerie White is an “old stager,” and dear to an audience possibly numbering millions. Incidentally, the song on the reverse is by Harlod Samuel, the famous pianist. (H.M.V, B .25144 Maria Gentile. (1) “Sextette from Lucia Di Lammermoor” (Donizetti), (2) “La Son nambula—D’un pensiero ” (Bellini). Sung by Maria Gentile, Dino Borgioli, etc., and La Scala Chorus of Milan. Columbia 04025. The facilities created by the new electrical process continue to enrich the Columbia catalogue with surprisingly clear and sonorous records of the big operatic ensembles, obtained for the most part at La Scala. Milan. This record re-introduces us to Donizetti and Bellini, two of the most celebrated Italian opera composers of the last century, in their most characteristic and effective moments. The sextet from “ Lucia ” is full of contrast and refinement. The famous D’un pensiero. however, embodying the situation in the second act of Sonnambula, which Sullivan so cleverly parodies musically in “ Trial by Jury,” is even better balanced. Maria Gentile’s glorious soprano is much more in command, and her E flat in alt at the end is remarkably good. She reigns supreme in virtue alike of her music and her voice. Sir Hamilton Harty. Romeo and Juliet “ Queen Mab ” Scherzo, in two parts (Berlioz). Sir Hamilton Harty conducting the Halle Orchestra. Columbia 04027. This is one of the best tests we could have of the new string tone. The result surpasses my hopes. It is extremely difficult, in any performance, to get the delicacy and elfishness, without making the music sound weak and thin. I do not think any record ed performance could give us better tone value at present. Those Halle strings, which T think the best string body now recording, are true and keen, without making harsh sounds or getting brittle. There is here no room for -the harsh criticism of a Parisian writer, when the piece -was first heard—that it was “ a little noise like a badlyoiled squirt.” Another spoke of “an orchestra of grasshoppers.” A Great Violinist. “Caprice” No. 24 (Variations in A Minor) (Paganini). In two parts. Columbia 03513. Joseph Szigeti gives us an electrifying performance of Paganini’s Caprice No. 24 (in A Minor), Brahms took the theme of this work as the basis for a series of brilliant variations for piano; here we have it in the original version for violin. When it comes to fireworks Paganini with Paganini’s own variations is hard to beat, and the success with which Szigeti sets off one squib after another will excite universal admiration; the smoothness and accurate intonation of his octaves are especially remarkable. 52 52 2*2 A Famous Choir. (1) “The Radiant Morn Hath Passed Away” (Woodward), (2) “O Taste and See How Gracious the Lord is ” (Goss). Sir Henry Coward conducting the Sheffield Choir. Columbia 02527. Two of the finest performances any choir has yet given us, and a new triumph of public hall recording. We ido not know when we have heard more magnificent singing than in these two great anthems recorded by the Sheffield Choir in Wesley’s Chapel. The ensemble is perfect, the words are really clear, and due, doubtless to the wonderful precision of the singing under Sir Henry Coward and the remarkable acoustic properties of Wesley’s Chapel, the volume and clarity are amazing. These are big records and will create another sensation.