MUSIC IN THE HOME.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 November 1926, Page 20

MUSIC IN THE HOME.

GRAMAPHONE NOTES. A GREAT POLISH PIANIST. Although the name and repute of Ignaz Friedman, the Polish pianist, may be known here only to defined, types of music lovers, he has been recognised, in Europe as one of the most brilliant virtuosos of the last fifteen to twenty years. Long before the war he had earned the appreciation of musical London, and although time has slightly subdued the extravagances that kept him, in those days, from being a really great pianist, he has lost nothing of the brilliance which then distinguished him from the rank and file.

In record form, so far we have only a couple of all too brief examples of his art. These are in a Columbia offering (L 1750) previously noted in these columns. In it ho is magnificent in Hummers “Rondo in E flat major” and in “Viennese Dance No. 1” by Gaertncr. The ease and brilliance of his fingering will be apparent to the unmusical as ■Well as to the advanced listener. Friedman recently gave a London recital, included in which was the Chopin Sonata in B minor, which the great Australian pianist, Percy Grainger, has lately played for Columbia recording purposes. This latter set of three re-cords—LlG9s-97 —is now available. MUSICAL COMEDY MUSIC AND SONG. With so many of the London theatre successes either “stiff going strong” in the Metropolis, or repeating their triumphs throughout the Provinces, the demand for records of popular musical comedy selections, instrumental and vocal, ehowc no sign of decreasing. On the contrary, the leading companies are issuing fresh supplies of established favourites. Ths Columbia Company, for example have had to restock depleted markets with records from “No, No Nanette,” Rose Marie,” “Wildflower, “Betty in Mayfair,” and so on. This Company has already issued nearly a dozen records based on the first named production, and these include Selections (9036), Vocal Gems (9072) besides many of the finest numbers sung by such “stars” as Irene Browne and George Grossmith, Binnie Hale and Joseph Coyne. Quite a number of dance records, too, from “Nanette,” have been played for by the Hannan Dance Band, while Percival Mackey’s piano solos and Layton and Johnstone’s singing of such winners as “Tea for Two’ and “I Want to be Happy” show that this Palace Theatre comedy has been thoroughly covered. From “Rose Marie” Columbia have taken the cream of the music for their “Selections”- (9037) and the pick of the solo songs and duets and dance numbers. Here again the Hannan Dance Band shine, and Edith Day sings brilliantly. ‘Wildflower” has supplied the usual two-part Selections (9079) and a really brilliant duet number by Kitty Reidy and Howett Worster, who sing “BamIbalina” and “April Blossoms” on disc number 9(178.

Percival Mackey’s Band plays a variety of lively and musical airs in fox-trot or waltz form and Layton and Johnstone come in with “Wildflower” and “You Forgot to Remember” (3916). “Betty in Mayfair,” the greatest success in this line the Adelphi has had for years, gives us the “Selections” disc '(9669) and one embracing the principal “Vocal ■ Gems” (9082), and of course, solos by leading artistes such as Evelyn Laye, and the best of the waltzes and fox-trots by Percival Mackey’s Baud with the leader at the piano, DAME NELLIE MELBA’S “FAREWELL.” The Gramophone Company's (HAI.V.) latest issue includes Nellie Melba’s “farewell” at Covent Garden Opera, represented by her singing of Mimi’s good-bye song and the artist’s own speech. The late season was also ultiised for recoj'ding Chaliapine in Boito’s “Mefistofele” during an actual performance. There is a gain of actuality, as when the singer stamps a foot to emphasise a dramatic point, but extraneous noise more frequently detracts from the musical quality than adds to it. The shifting positions of the stage, too, seem to affect the consistency of the recording by, presumably, fixed or less mobile instruments. It is quite different in the case of consistency of the recording by, presumably, fixed or less mobile instruments. It is quite different in the case of con-cert-room performances, as has already been shown in numerous orchestral and choral records, and again in the reproductions from the Royal Choral Society’s singing of oratorio at the Royal Albert nail. . There is in the latter case that sense of spaciousness and of weight without noise. RADIO AND RECORDS. Although most new inventions have the effect of adding to the world’s sum total of prosperity, they often either oust old-established industries altogether or force them to adjust themselves to the new conditions. For a long time there was a belief that broadcasting would kill the gramophone. This expectation has been unfulfilled. For one thing, the listener-in- only has a limited choice of what he can pick up, or if, as seems to be the case in America, his choice through the multiplication of stations becomes virtually unlimited, he finds that at any given moment he is picking up considerably more than he bargained for. Hence the maintenance of his allegiance to the gramophone. THE REAL ORCHESTRA AT HOME. At present, electrical recording is still a novelty, and so much music already recorded under the older methods is on the “waiting list” that selectivity docs not count greatly at the moment. One can feel that the technique of the recorders in their new medium is improving rapidly. To take one example: the His Master’s Voice recordings of “Parsifal” were quite wonderful, but their great power was accompanied by a stridency of a quality quite new. Hear the latest Wagner records—the “Fire Music” from the “Valkyrie,” and “Siegfried's Journey to the Rhine” —whicli were made by a symphony orchestra of ninety-four players in Queen’s Hall, in London, and you have depth and grandeur that almost take one’s breath away, so faithful are they to the orig-' inal.