Recorded Music

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 41, 24 April 1930, Page 7

Recorded Music

"THERE. are numerous recordings of the item to be broadcast by the Royal Dunedin Choir next week. The excerpts are all well known standard works, and listeners will be able to obtain almost any item on a record; "Your Tiny Hand is Frozen." ‘THERE is a splerdid Columbia record of. this well-known except from Puccini’s famous opera "La Boheme." It is an electrie recording of the great tenor Lomanto, who sings in Italian. The song places a severe test upon the artist, as it has many difficult passages and not .a few sustained bars well up the scale, but the artist takes them all without effort or strain. The tone is remarkably clear and true throughout. The other song by the same artist is "Il Lamento di Frederico." a song abounding in tender, sympathetic passages and working to a brilliant conclusion. It isa splendid record. (04095 12-inch bluelight). Organ Solos. "THE fourth item on the programme is a bracket of the organ solos, one of which is recorded on Columbia (Continued on page 21.) 1 clans denoe --

Records of the Week

(Concluded from Page 7.) . by Edouard Commette, a renowned French artist, in the St. Jean’s Cathedral, Lyons. The air, principally in the intermediate, bass gradually builds up till it reaches a grand finale at the end of the record. JBlectrically made, this record can be well brought out in the electric gramophone. On the other side is Gigout’s "Toccata."

The treble is the stronger, but there is a marked very deep bass swell that gives the selection an air of majesty. (Columbia 02732.) HE other selection comprises the " pracket played from 4YA, "Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desire." On Columbia it is recorded as a piano solo and on H.M.V. as a choral item. "One Fine Day." HIS is an old favourite, and there exist of it several fine records. Probably the finest soprano recordings

are Columbia 04885 and H.M.V. D.Z. 261. On the former the well-known artist Maria Kurenko, soprano, is heard to advantage. Her fully matured and rounded voice is a delight, and this number is a fine exhibition of her: ability. She sings an excerpt from "Faust" on the other side, and this is even better than the "Madam Butterfiy" selection. Here there are many delightful warbling passages. The H.M.YV. record is made by the world-famous soprano, Galli Curci, whose art it is impossible to describe adequately. The sheer brilliance of her voice make many of the passages of "One Fine Day" memorable. It is a magnificent exhibition of her talent and a record which should have a very wide appeal. "O Star of Eve." "THIS is presented from 4YA as a bass solo, but it is obtainable in Columbia only, as a baritone solo by Harold Williams. The other selection on this record (02835) is the "Lute Player." Both selections are well sung and admirably recorded, the fullness of the artist’s strong voice being brought out to perfection. Colourful Orchestral Music. A FAVOURITE of at least 2YA is "Voices of Spring," and with "Vienna Blood" on the other side, both selections being played by the Berlin State Orchestra. These are new electric recordings, and are outstandingly brilliant. The theme of "Voices of Spring" is a lilting melody carried by the first violins to the marked rhythm of the bass until there is a definite change in tempo and several instruments in turn take the theme, returning it to the violins to lead up to the finale. It is a perfectly balanced work, well recorded. "Vienna Blood’ is equally fine. Imagine » harmony of more than a score of violins to the soft accompaniment of the deep instruments leading up to the air in the middle of the record where they are left by the bass to soar into the uppermost registers, and this is the characteristic of "Vienna Blood."