RECORDED MUSIC

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19840, 14 May 1927, Page 17 (Supplement)

RECORDED MUSIC

THE WEEK’S NEW RECORDS. HIS MASTER’S VOICE. A Good Orchestral Disc. “Barcarolle, Tales of Hoffmann” (Offenbach). “Intermezzo, Cavalleria Rusticana” (Mascagni). Played by the New Light Symphony Orchestra. H.M.V'. 82377. 10-iuch. This excellent orchestra made a gramophone reputation with its rendering of Goldmarks “Rustic Wedding” movement and a Spanish “ Morlogucnor,” and this reputation it has certainly sustained in the disc above mentioned. This should prove to be a very | popular bracket, for both arc favourite numbers, and though frequently reconned in the paist have never been so clearly reproduced from the machine. * * * * Hawaiian Guitaxs. “Tvilima Waltz”—“Hawaiian Waltz Medley.” Frank Ferera and John I Poaluhu, on Hawaiian guitars. H.M.V. i 82369. 10-inch. I The gramophone world has had a plenteous feast of recordings from the ukulele and the steel guitars, amt is now a little inclined to be critical of new offerings. There need be no question about the Fcrera-Poaluhu Hawaiian combination in the bracket, arid “Hawaiian Waltz Medley.” Each gives the listener the island atmosphere of which we have read and sung so much, and—many of us —seen so ' little. Two Vocal Favourites. “Serenade” (Toselli) “Mattinator (Tosti). Sydney Coltham, tenor. 1 H.M.V. 82357. 10-inch. These two popular melodies have had a very large life. Both the sentiment and the music have a human appeal 1 which is difficult to resist, especially when sung by such an accomplished ! tenor as gramophonists knew’ Mr Sydney Coltham to be. < * * * * New Dance Records. Savoy Havana Band (B 5138 Jock Hylton and his orchestra (B 5139 Savoy Orpheans (85143). These are all excellent new fox-trots j and one-steps. The Savoy Havana Band gives us the fox-trots “Tell Me ■ You Love,” and “lyone, My Own lyonc”; Jack Hylton’s offering in- ! eludes “Sunny Boy” and “My Dream ( of the Big Parade” (fox-trots), while the Orpheans give us a Spanish one- ‘ step, “My Carmenita.” Oratorio Choruses. “Gloria,” from “Twelfth Mass” 1 (Mozart), Hallelujah Chorus from “The Messiah” (Handel). Trinity - Choir. H.M.V., E.B. 2, 12-inch. 1 Good oratorio chorus rccond.s are : none so plentiful that gramophonists can pass this moderate-priced disc. The volume of tone is well sustained, arid ■ the notes of the organ peal forth magnificently. These choruses have also been recorded on a 12-inch Zonophono ’ disc (A 300), by the same singers. * ♦ ♦ » Organ Music.

“Land of Hope and Glory” (Elgar), “Melody in A” (Spencer Shaw). Recorded by Spencer Shaw on the great organ. Zonophono, 2726, 12-inch. This is a moderate priced record, and well worth the money. Spencer Shaw is one of the leading English organists, and records very successfully. On the Zonophone list he has quite a large section, one particularly good bracket being A 303—0 n which he has recorded Ketelby’s “Tn a Monastery Garden,” and “The Pilgrims’ Chorus,” from “Tannhauser.”

Paderewski. Undoubtedly the musical event of the year is the visit next month of Ignace Jan Paderewski; the world-famous Polish pianoforte virtuoso. In the world of recorded music Paderewski is a general favourite, especially amongst those who delight jin the highest forms of interpretive ■art. Paderewski’s recording has not, ; perhaps, been so successful as Moiseini titis, De Greef’s, or Bachaus’, but it is, nevertheless, of a very high order of merit, according to the exacting j H.M.V. standards. The Paderewski list j recommended here includes:— i DB 374 Valse C Sharp Minor, Op. 64. No. 2 (Chopin) Warum (“Why?”) ..(Schumann) DB 375 Nocturne F Sharp Major, Op. 15, No. 2 (Chopin) Polonaise Mil i tai re .. .. (Chopin) DB 376 Campanella (Liszt) Aufschwung (Soaring) (Schumann) DB 378 Hark, Hark, the Lark . . . .

(Schubert-Liszt) Chant d’Amour .. .. (Stojowski) DB 379 Cracovienne Fantastique Op. 14, No. 6 (Paderewski) Minuet in G, Op. 14, No. 1 .. .. (Paderewski) DB 3SO Nocturne in B Flat (Paderewski) Valse in A Flat. Op. 42 . (Chopin) DB 381 Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 (in two parts) (Liszt) BD 833 Impromptu in B Flat Major, Op. 142, No. 3 (Schubert) There are others, of course, on the catalogue, to which gramophonists may refer for further explanation. ♦ * ❖ ♦ A Treat Next Month. “Unfinished Symphonv” (Schubert). H.M.V. C 1294-95-96, 12in. First Peer Gvnt Suite (Grieg). H.M.V. C 1298. 1299. Both these fine musical works have been recorded by the Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden. They arc, of course, abridged, but the “cuts” have boon very skilfully done. The records arc d*uc here next month, and this note is merely by way of exciting your interest. • * • • “The Afternoon of a Faun.” “Prelude a I’aprcs nr/Vi d’une faune” (Debussy), Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, under Sir Laiidon Ronald. ♦ « * * H.M.V. Dll2B. It. is not necessary to know very much about the story of the “Afternoon of a Faun” to relish the beauties of the orchestral prelude. One’s greatest pleasure comes from the delicate tone colours with which Debussy, prima of the modern school, has treater! this creation. * * * ♦ Bach’s Choral Masterpiece. “Crueifixus” and “Patrem Omnipotem”: “ Qui tollis” and Osanna,” from the “Mass in B Minor” (Each). COLUMBIA RECORDS. Chamber Music For Beginners. The following Columbia records arc recommended by a London gramophone expert as ideal for anyone making a start in Chamber Music. All have at various times Been detailed in those columns, and there is no need to say more, excepting that each is simple, full of tuneful and easily understood music, and well recorded. Haydn-Quartet in E Flat. Played by the English String Quartet. (937/38). Mozart-Quartct in G Major (the lovely Screnata Quartet,. Played by the London String Quartet. (L 1729-30). Beethoven-Andante from Op. 18, No. 5. Played by the Catterall Quartet. Quite recently these additions have been made—Tschaikovsky’s Andante Cantabile, played by the Lener Quartette. For sheer beauty of sound there are few things in Chamber music realms to equal this. The Catterall Quartet’s Columbia debut is with a lovely record of the Andante Cantabile from Beethoven’s A Major Quartet. When playing really good music it is oven more essential than with orchestral music and far more so than with band records, to see that the discs are

correctly centred on the turn tabic. Sometimes the centre holes through which the turn table spindle goes arc too large, and a certain amount of sidc-to-sidc play is made possible. The least, swing of this sort destroys the delicate harmonies of this kind of music. Watch for the least lateral sway of the needle, and adjust it by a gentle nudge on the outer edge of the record, against the swing. ♦ * * * A Beautiful Pachmann Recording. Speaking in the strictest musical sense, Pachmann has played finer pianoforte solos than Liszt’s paraphrase of Verdi’s Rigoletto, but never doos ho conquer greater technical difficulties with more consumate skill. Almost invariably he reserves the paraphrase as a last encore, a final tit-bit for his Queen’s Hall audiences who never fail to thrill to the exquisitely played arpeggio passages to the superbly timed rubato in the melody. Tn this class of execution Pachmann demonstrates that he is and always w’ill be in a class by himself. Pachmann’s rendering of the paraphrase is unlike that of any other modern player; and yet one always feels that only Pachmann has interpreted Liszt—the spontaneity and the brilliance, the airiness and the melody. On the other side of the same record Pachmann returns to his old love, Chopin, and executes two of his shorter passages with the graceful, sympathetic case one always expects from Chopin’s foremost exponent. The playing throughout is most accurately recorded. This is one of the few pianoforte records that has lost little or nothing in reproduction. A masterpiece in every way. Columbia No. Lllo3—“Rigoletto Paraphrase” (Verdi-Liszt), a “Valse,” b “Ecossaise” (Chopin). Pianoforte solos by V. de Pachmann. A Famous Band Records for Columbia, One often wonders if the trumpet speaks with a French accent, so unmistakeably typical of Gallic vivacity arc the Columbia recordings of “The Garde Republicaine. ” This celebrated band is easily the foremost in France, its visits

even, to London, the home of good military music, are looked forward to with great enthusiasm. Though a military band naturally docs not attempt music of the very highest flight, the gramophone lover will find in these two tunes I good stirring music of the sort that 1 goes straight into the heart of everybody. “La Rove Passe” in particular, a tunc made famous and familiar in war-time, will arouse tender memories among “diggers.” Columbia No. 2738—“ La Rove Passe” (march), “Lo Tout Paris” (march). The band of the Garde Republicaine. ♦ * r- * The Grenadier Guards Again. Nothing has astonished the critics so much as the amazing versatility of the new Columbia electric recording process, particularly as shown by its faithful and sympathetic recording of j a. full military band. The ever-popular [ “March of the Mountain Gnomes” as! interpreted by the band of H.M. Grena- j dier Guards presents a problem in recording to which no other process could | do full justice. The result is delight- | ful. The essentially pictorial aspect of ! the piece is very intelligently brought out, the heightened tempo and the dramatic climax being particularly effective. On the other side of this record is a lesser known but extremely interesting work by the same composr, Eilenberg. Columbia No. 3087 (March of the Mountain Gnomes,” “The Mill in the Black Forest.” Band of H.M. Grenadier Guards. * * * * Four Good Concert Solos. The striking popularity of the cornet solos which figure in nearly all performances of IT.AI. Grenadier Guards has .n--duced Columbia to give them special recordings which have been amply justified by the great success these records have enjoyed. All four solos are well known, particularly the popular “Softly Awakes My Heart” from Saint-Saens Opera “Samson and Delilah.” The solos have been rendered with great understanding and Corporal West is certainly to be congratulated on his nicely modulated performances, to which the band of the Grenadier Guards provides a very effective and intelligently handled background. Both these records will bo welcomed by a largo public. * ♦ ♦ ♦ Russia’s Most Noted Choir. Of the further Columbia recordings of the famous Don Cossack Choir, one number is ton well known to need much comment. It is sufficient to say that their rendering of the ‘‘Song of the Volga Boatmen,” while fully preserving the simple peasant-like character of the song, treats it far more intellectually than other interpreters have done, and shows a marvellous control of many voices. But the number on the other side, an old Russian folk-song entitled “Monotonously Rings the Little Bell,” is richer, fuller and musically far more interesting. The bizarre persistence on a Single treble note is saved from lack of colour by the skilful blending of deeper voices. The whole piece is striking and unusual, and we can well imagine that music-lovers will discover new beauties in it long after they have tired of the simpler though more dramatic “Song of the Volga Boatmen.” Another brilliant recording by the same choir contains two numbers which, though of remarkably subtle voice-texture, will be easily appreciated by anyone with an ear for pleasant harmony. Both, numbers are more dramatic than pretty,“The Road to St. Petersburg” especially asking from its listeners an appreciation of the motive of the song; but neither can fail to impress by reason of its sheer vocal beauties, and the skilful arrangement of the voice parts. This record should be heard again and again. « « « •

Clever Serbian Music. Amongst the lighter numbers issued by Columbia is one of particular interest, a recording by the Royal Serbian Tambouritza Orchestra. Following the recent visit of the orchestra to Great Britain, and coinciding with the awakening of a musical consciencencss in Serbia, this record has enjoyed a great vogue in London and elsewhere. It embodies two well-known Serbian folk-songs in the form of a waltz, lively and tuneful, which will appeal for different reasons to all classes of music lovers. On the other side of the same record the same scheme has been adopted to introduce familiar Italian melodies to British audiences, and here La Nuova Orchestra have been just as successful in producing a fox trot at once effective and gay, and redolent of the music best known to the Italian “man-in-the-street. ” This record should be very POBUIiX.