“TURANDOT”

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 108, 28 July 1927, Page 12

“ TURANDOT ”

PUCCINI’S LAST OPERA NOT TO REPLACE 1 “BOHEME” i I

- I MERELY A SPECTACLE “The poor crowd the galleries and the rich are elegant but scarce,” states an American writer recording his impressions of Covent Garden. “At seven in the evening, after the queue had been waiting in the rain since noon, the side doors were opened, and a lucky number of the patients were admitted to the pop roosts of Covent Garden, there to wait another hour until the curtain might rise on the first performance in England of Giacomo Puccini’s posthumous opera, “Turandot.” At a more decorous hour, some minutes before or after 8, the dignified holding stalls and boxes arrived in their resplendent (and “indispensable.” as the Covent Garden billet announces) black and white evening dress.

Puccini’s “Turandot” tells a Chinese legend. Suitors to the beautiful Princess’s hand are required to solve three riddles. If they fail they lose their heads. An exiled Prince incognito succeeds, but when the icy Turandot repels him, he declares he will yield liis life if she can learn his name. She desperately flays her • nation to make the discovery, and falls finally upon the slave girl Liu, who knows the secret. For love of her master Liu submits to torture and then death before she will speak. Then Calaf announces his name, but love for him has been horn in Turandot’s warming heart, and the opera ends as they cling amourously to each other. “Turandot” is stated to differ from all the other Puccini operas, in that the touching “heart interest” which made the fortune of the others is altogether overshadowed by the spectacle and its strident barbaric musical accompaniment. The spectacle was described as “glittering,” and the music “clever for what it set out to do.” English critics consider the “Turand” is not likely to take the place in the affections of the world of “Butterfly” or “Bolieme.” The principal singers were Aimes. Scacc.iati and Schone, anfl Messrs Antori, Badini, Cilia and Nessi. Madame Jeritza was to appear, hut owing to an attack of enteritis was unable to leave

The growth of the public taste for gramophones is shown by the census of production report published in a recent issue of the •Board of Trade Journal.” This total value of the products in the musical instrument trade during 1924 amounted to £8,255,000, compared with £1,865,000 in 1907, the biggest increase being in respect of gramophones and records, which advanced from £69,000 in 1907 to £2,189,000 in 1924. Pianos were also produced in much greater quantities, having risen from 58,100, valued at £972,000, in 1907, to 94,600, valued at £3,328,000, in 1924. The report notes that the number of complete pianos manufactured in the year exceeded that of 1912 by nearly 19 per cent., and that of 1907 by nearly 63 per cent. The value of gramophones in 1924 was about 26 per cent, of the total value of the musical instruments produced, though in 1907 it was less than 4 per cent. * * * A delightful ’cello disc is provided by Addie Sharp with “Minuet” (Beethoven) and “Serenade” (Piexne) (H.M.V.). For this record Cedric Sharpe has chosen two pieces, the melodies of which are probably familiar to all music lovers. The characteristically rich, smooth tone of the ’cello is wonderfully reproduced. There are quite a number of firstclass dance records in the July H.M.V. list. Two fox trots by Jack Hylton’s Kit-Cat Band, “Cuckoo” and “Crazy Quilt” (85174), give us the very latest developments in modern jazz music of one of the best of the British bands. There are also four records by the Savoy Orpheans which should have a popular run—“Headin’ for Louisville” —“Waitin’ for the Moon” (E.A.110), and “Smile a Little Bit”—“Then I’ll bo Happy” (B 5006), all very lively fox trots. “A message to the peoples of North America and to the Italians in America,” spoken in Italian by the Duce, Signor Mussolini, and recorded at RomeL H.M.V. S4SOO. Mussolini is unquestionably one of the most interesting personages in politics to-day. He is a man of extraordinary fire, energy, and organising power, and his activities in the politics of his country have made him the centre of worldwide interest. This record was made by His Master’s Voice at the request of the “Chicago Tribune,” and was specially recorded in the Palazzo Chigi, Rome. It is interesting to note that this record was broadcast from the “Chicago Tribune” station WGN, recently.