GRAMOPHONES

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 48, 19 May 1927, Page 14

GRAMOPHONES

“And The Glory of The Lord,” and the “Amen Chorus” (Handel’s “Messiah”) have been recorded by the Royal Choral Society at the Royal Albert Hall during the actual performance. Those who remember the splendid record of “Worthy is the Lamb,” in the same series, will appreciate these latest magnificent choruses, reproduced with all the majesty of sound and tone-colour so characteristic of Handel’s mighty genius. * * * Maria Barrientos stands as high in the Columbia list of “celebrity” vocalists as she does in the esteem of the critics of two continents. Her fame spread rapidly when she was but a girl of 19 : —ten years or more before the war, and a great reputation made in America —more in the South than in . U.S.A. —paved the way to a great < Covent Garden debut in 1903. She was then described as “a phenomenal mistress of the school of acrobatic ] vocalisation”—an agility that ulti- ] mately matured into one of the most polished soprano voices the century has produced. Even in those days ( Maria Barrientos was the vocal equal ( of international artistes with far * greater names, and by the time she £ came to sing for record purposes her * art had reached its pinnacle. She J sang for only four double-sided re- : cords, but in each displays an exqui- ; sitely musical and unblemished quality . of tone, with an absolutely faultless j execution that every lover of “great” t singing will revel in. Her voice is singularly sweet and clear, her high notes delivered with that control and intonation that mark the complete artist, and her coloration is worthy of the greatest sopranos singing to-day. In the Columbia record of David’s “Charmant Oiseau” (“Charming Birds”), and on the reverse, Donnizetti’s “Regnava nel silenzio” (“Silence over all”), from “Lucia di Lainmermoor,” her singing is brilliant to a degree and her wonderful attack of high notes is as natural and unaffected as her phrasing is intelligent. DANCE MUSIC Some of the snappiest and liveliest of to-day’s dance numbers" are to be found in a just-arrived parcel of Columbia discs, and any of the undermentioned can be relied upon to purvey music as well as pleasure, rhythm as well as gaiety. “Looking at the World Through Rose-coloured Glasses” is as tuneful a fox-trot as any of a dozen claiming first place. It is brilliantly played on record 0529 by Paul Ash and Dance Band, and is even more acceptable in vocal form (0531), .for the happy-voiced American comedienne, Vaughan de Leath, sings it with all the abandon and charm that one remembers in connection with her famous ’ Ukelele Lady” and “Banana Oil.” Ted Lewis’s band plays "Yvone,” a first-rate Hawaiian air, with some most effective work on ukeleles and guitars, with Lewis supplying the chorus. Bracketed with this is the Clicquet Club’s Eskimo’s “Lonesome and Sorry.” Here are two fox-trots (0524) that should long be popular. Jimmy Elkin’s orchestra is new on the Columbia list, but will be found a worthy addition, its playing of “When the Red, Red Robin” and “Talking to the Moon” (0526) bringing out with real artistry all the good music there is in these two fox-trots. The same combination is too good to miss in “Petruska” and “A Night in Araby,” two most melodious tunes introduced as a prologue to the “Song of the Volga Boatman” film, which is now one of London’s most outstanding screen attractions. “To-night’s My Night with Baby” should appeal to all those fathers who have “had some,” and with “Say It Again,” one has a couple of the trickiest songs put to music for a long time. All who heard the “Big Four”—the Harmony Boys—at Wellington’s Regent Cinema, will now be able to get the numbers, in record form, that went down so well from the stage. These are 0551, “Sarah Alice,” and “Thanks for the Buggy Ride,” 0552; “A Night 1 Araby” and “Katinka” (the latter with “The Song of the Volga Boatmen” as an unique bass accompaniment,” and 0533, “Until” and “Mate o’ Mine.” * 4 * The famous Wagner duet, “Du Bist der Lenz” (Thou art the Spring), the love duet from “The Valkyrie” (Wagner) has been sung for H.M.V. by Gota Ljungberg (soprano), and Walter Widdop (tenor.) Of this very fine duet the following from an annotation, is an interesting description:—“The moonlight spring night has caught up and enwrapped Sieglinde and Siegmund in its magic. Through the open door spring calls them, pulsating with life. Siegmund draws Sieglinde to him, and in the lyrical outburst of passion that follows they recognise each other as brother and sister. Sieglinde, with her arms round Siegmund’s neck, gazes into his eyes in ecstasy. “Thou art the spring,” she cries, “for which I have so longed in the winter of my anguish.” Siegmund’s voice stirs halfforgotten memories of Sieglinde, and. in the growing recognition their passionate love finds fresh fuel. “Was Walse thy father?” cries Sieglinde, “Thou art a Walsung?” . . Lei me name thee as I have loved thee: Siegmund shall I call thee!” In a passionate climax Siegmund rushes from the hut with Sieglinde, crying, “Bride and sister both to be thy brother and flourish the blood of the Walsungs!” The great duet constitutes one of the most glorious pages in “The Ring.” It sweeps on, as inevitably as a mighty torrent. Here is music that, as often as it is heard, stirs the pulses with its joyous elan! Madame Ljunberg, who has sung the role of Sieglinde for this record, is one of its greatest living in- ' terpreters, and she is well supported by Widdop.

A London authority frankly considers J. Dale Smith’s latest set of Columbia records to be “four of the most delightful discs ever issued.” These consist of “Fourteen Songs,” from “When We Were Very Young”—an A. A. Milne and H. Fraser-Simson symposium. There are 15 songs actually, one—and said to be the best of all having been happily thrown in to complete the last side of the fourth disc (4104-4107.) This most cultured baritone is in delightful form throughout, and every single item is one to hear Hubert Eisdell, a prolific Columbia conand re-hear and enjoy every time, tributor. sings two charmingly sentimental little things for a new 10-inch record. Both “Birds’ Song at Eventide” and “Dusk in the Valley” (D 1556,) suit his mezzo voce style to a “t,” and this must be classed as one of the best Eisdell records we have had yet. Harold Williams has long since sung himself into fame as an associate vocalist in big orchestra-choral works or as principal male voice in many operatic and other choral works. Now we have another solo disc of his giving, two of the good old military favourites that are world famous—“ When the Sergeant-Major’s on Parade” and “The Company Sergeant-Major” (4159.) Fine, manly singing, full of fire and enthusiasm, and recording with fine clarity and volume.^ Two contrasting songs that happily serve to demonstrate in concert ballads two great voices that are associ-

ated popularly in triumphs of grand opera in English are “Watchman, What of the Night” and “The Two Beggars,” recorded for Columbia by Frank Mullins and Norman Allin. In the famous “Watchman” duet w e have the organ-like tones

of Norman Allin in splendid contrast to Mullins’s ringing upper notes, and there is a richness and sonority here present that makes this recording easily surpass any existing records of it. in “The Two Beggars” there is a happy abandon, so well done that it is an art that effaces itself. Giving some credit for the brilliance of the records to the new electric recording, it is also evident that the singers are in particularly good form. * * * Mengelberg’s brilliant reacUjpg of the Tannhauser overture for brought this eminent Dutch conductor and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra into full view of musical Britain, and it was instantly apparent that here was a worthy to rank with the most famous. The two Tannhauser records referred to, electrically recorded in the actual Concert Hall in which the Overture was publicly played, represent one of the finest Wagner issues a.t present available. Columbia follow them with two wonderful extracts from Berlioz's “Damnation of Faust.” These —“The Sylphs” and “Hungarian March” —typify the exhilarating and virile music that one finds in Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique.” “The Sylphs” is delicate in texture and musically exquisite, while the march is irresistible in its swinging rhythm, and the blending of the harps and strings produces music of true poetic beauty.