GRAMOPHONES

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 386, 21 June 1928, Page 16

GRAMOPHONES

In the famous “Questa o quello” number from “Rigoletto” and “Sogno soave e casto” (Donizetti) Titto Schipa adds another fine recording to his list of successes. The popular number from the first act of Verdi’s opera (“The One is as Fair as the Other”) is sung with an air of gaiety appropriate to that gay philanderer, the Duke of Mantua. This is the favourite ballad from the opera in which Caruso made his London debut. Schipa is successful in investing the number with the necessary character, and altogether gives a very artistic performance. On the reverse side is Donizetti’s “Sogno soave e casto,” from “Don Paoquale,” which is also delightfully sung.

For the more seriously inclined the performance by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Siegfried Wagner (a son of the great composer), of the “Lohengrin” Prelude, must command attention this month. This ethereal and daintily coloured music suggests a vision of the Holy Grail: The holy cup is slowly revealed in glowing splendour, majestic use of the brass conveying the effect of the shedding of its mystic light upon earth; then in a long faintly drawn-out diminuendo it vanishes again to the celestial heights. This performance of Wagner’s exquisite piece of musical imagery must afford the serious musician with much food for contemplation, if only in view of Mr. W. J. Turner's recent odious comparison of Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner. The recording is by His Master's Voice (D. 1255).

Three great British artists, Albert Sammons (violin), W. H. Squire (cello) and William Murdoch (pianoforte) have recorded Beethoven’s Trio in B Flat No. 6; Columbia Llßsl-55, five records, in album with descriptive notes. To hear Sammons, Squire or Murdoch individually is in itself a rare treat; to hear them together is an experience to be remembered. Between them they build up a fascinating tone; their understanding is delightful, and they play the whole of this long trio with a simple and balanced sense of its musical meaning. This is generally held to be the greatest of all pianoforte trios. In popular esteem it is chiefly famous for its remarkable and brilliant Scherzo which forms the Second Movement, and which as a tune has become one of the most familiar of any in Beethoven. But the whole trio is an outstanding example of Beethoven’s inventiveness. Original themes abound. and there could hardly be anything more appealing than the simple air upon which the variations in the Third Movement are based.

Toscha Seidel in “Caprice Viennois” (Kreialer) and “Gipsy Airs” (Sarasate) should not be overlooked. It seems a long time since we heard of Toscha Seidel, but he is to record more frequently in the future. This is good news for lovers of good fiddling. He plays the tuneful Kreisler fancy like the master he is—with extraordinary sympathy in the statement of the theme, and with no less extraordinary nimbleness in the “embroidery” passages. In the lovely Gipsy Airs, too, he produces a flow of mellow sound, and all through the playing is remarkable for its directness and certainty. * * * Murdoch at a popular price is available in “Marche Militaire” (Schubert), in two parts; Columbia, 02576; and “Liebestraum” (Liszt), “Waltz in A Plat” (Brahms), and “Spring Song” (Mendelssohn); Columbia, 025,68. To issue such a great artist as William Murdoch at a popular price on their dark - blue records is a big experiment for Columbia to make and I have no doubt that it will be justified. Murdoch has never been so brilliant. The “Marche Militaire” is most thrilling, and even if it is not note-perfect, is outstanding in its brilliance of tone and fiery attack. His other disc is hailed by a London paper as the best piano record of the year, and certainly it is splendid work. The “Spring Song” is beautifully done. * * * Angelo Minghetti, who is now winning great popularity with the William-son-Melba Grand Opera Company in Australia, is now recording for H.M.V. Enthusiasts will probably remember his very fine “La Boheme” number, the “Poet’s Song,” issued last month. In the June issue he has given us “Recondita Armonia” from Puccini’s “Tosca” and “Vaghissima Sembianza,” by Donaudy. These are two very fine numbers, particularly the Tosca contribution, a beautiful love song, which grows on one the more it is heard. * * * Elgar’s “The Dream of Gerontius” is possibly the finest choral work of its kind ever written. It is based on the poem by Cardinal Newman, and describes the passage of the soul of Gerontius through the infinite from the moment of its liberation from the body. It is a work of great spiritual appeal, and on the poem Elgar has fashioned a massive and monumental composition. The passages recorded here are particularly fine. The first two passages come from the first part of the oratorio, that in which the soul is still within the body, but prepared for its release. The second record of passages from the second part contains the noble solo of the angel of agony, “Jesu, by That Shuddering Dread!” and the beautiful passage between the angel (contralto) and the soul of Gerontius (tenor), which includes the favourite passage, “Softly and Gently, Dearly Ransomed Soul.” From the performance of the work at the famous Three Choirs’ Festival in 1927 we have the following fine records (H.M.V. D. 1348, D. 1350): The chorus and tlje London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Edward Elgar; soloist, Tudor Davies (tenor), “So Pray for Me, My Friends, Who Have Not Strength to Pray” (pp. 1016), “O Jesu, Help—Pray for Me, Mary!” (pp. 34-39) ; ; soloist, Horace Stevens (bass), “Jesu, by That Shuddering Dread Which Fell on Thee” (pp. 151-154); soloists, Tudor Davies and Margaret Balfour (contralto), “Take Me Away, and in the Lowest Deep There Let Me Be” (pp. 163-168).

~ k~ From “Madame Butterfly," Browning Mummery gives us “The "Whole World Over," and “Yes, in One Sudden Moment” (Puccini). H.M.V., C 1425. A superb record by Mummery, showing the constant improvement of his voice and singing. “The Whole W'orld Over” is from the first act (“Dovunque al mondo”). The reverse side consists of a beautiful solo, “Addio fiorito asil,” which Pinkerton sings in the last act as he bids farewell to Butterfly’s home, so gaily decorated in his honour,