New Recordings Promise Well for 1935

Radio Record, Volume VIII, Issue 32, 15 February 1935, Page 16

New Recordings Promise Well for 1935

Gramophone Recordings of the Finest of the World’s Talent

(N the basis of attractive new gramo phone recordings the outlook promised for 1935 appears comparatively rosy, both for those who buy and those who sell records, Last year was a won derful year for lovers of fine music, and no radio listener im this class has solid ground for complaint against the variety of the classical music. broadea s¢ in its appropriate sessions.

AS ‘if to confirm the bold forward movement in this liberal broadcasting of major works of the greatest . Inasters, the gramophone companies have poured forth a stream of works gloriously played by orchestras, instrumental combinations and Soloists. And by all indications the year 1935 will see a: further development of this enlightened policy.- May their efforts be crowned with success, is the wish of all whu have the interests of good musie at heart. The year begins. well with an H.M.V Mozartian Sonata played by Yehudi and Hephzibah Menuhin. The A major sonata is the last of the: forty-two Mozart. works in this form, and kelongs to his latest years. In essence, however, there is a great. deal of the youthful spirit of the youthful Mozarts (brother and sister) in the playing of the Menuhins: Hephzibah is not much more than thirteen and appeared for the first time in- public last winter in Paris, playing the present sonata witb her brother. Naturally one ‘cannot judge her stature in musicianship from one work, but at the very. least her playing here indicates that she is not ‘only a gifted, but an already poised and wholesome spirit, who well may equal her brother’s: rapid rise to the’ heights-the heights of artistry-not merely popularity. The sonata played here may not be’ one of Mozart's greatest, but it is delightful from first note to last. The performance igs absolutely free’ from the affectation, the stilted "taught" quality, and the barren virtuosity that marks the playing. of most of the wonder childrei. of music. It has the same" quality of complete naturalness. and informality. Add excellent recording, and one has here a recorded violin sonata that will give as deep and constant pleasure as any the gramophone repertory has. to offer us. To the accompaniment of Hubert Griesen, young Yehudi plays "Perpetuum Mohile" (Ottakar Novacek) and "Rigaudon" (Monsigny, arr. Franks), on a delightful ten-inch dise issued this month. It is hardly necessary to add it. "comes off’ as well as ever. ‘The policy of issuing four or more piano masterpieces is becoming a habit with His Master’s Voice, and for the connoisseur this is most welcome, This time it is the turn of the Impromptus, four of which, at the hands of Alfred Cortot, the French master of the keyboard, are made gems any gramophile would be proud to possess. Whether an Impromptu is suggested hy memory or anticipation matters little. The No. 1 in A flat major, Op 29, No. 2 in I. sharp major, Op, 36, No. 3 in G ilat major, and the beloved Fantasie Impromptu in © sharp’ minor, Op. 66, find a brilliant exponent in Cortot. Dach of them is a lesson to the student

and a romantic experience to the average listener. In the .orchestral section pride of place must be given to two Percy Grainger selections, "Country Gardens" and "Shepherd’s Hey," played by the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, under Bugene. Ormandy. These are lively reminders that our modern composers are at home in the brightest old folk rhythms. Auber’s "Fra Dia-

volo" Overture, played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, will play its. full eight or more minutes, and make the period seem only half as much. The infectious gaitey of Auber’s music cannot be resisted. By the way, don’t miss the latest New Mayfair Orchestra dise of "Love Tales," which introduces nearly a dozen dear old songs from "Love, Here is My Heart" to "If You Were the Only Girl in the World’; a chorus helps out very materially. Vocally, the January-February supPlement is far from strong; my vote for the best dise would go without hesitation to Lawrence Tibbett, who is wonderful (in the best sense of that over-worked word) in Tschaikovsky’s "None but the Lonely Heart" and "Myself when Young,’ from Liza Lehmann’s "In a Persian Garden," He has caught old Omar’s. somewhat bleak pessimism in the second of these songs. Opinions may differ, but I think Tibbett’s dramatic sense reaches almost to that of Chaliapine, His sombre tones jn the Tschaikovsky song plumb the depths of longing expressed in Goethe’s epic poem. This is qa most appropriate coupling and a record to buy, to keep, to play, to study, re--study and demonstrate to one’s friends as an example of modern vocalisation. The remaining vocals include Peter, Dawson (in better voice than ever). in Gleeson’s "The Tramp Song" and

Maude Valerie White’s lovely ballad, "The Devout Lover." WHunrico Caruso speaks from the past in "Because," Guy d’Hardelot’s biggest song hit, and Vosti’s. "La Mia Canzone." Last, but not least, comes the fifty-year-old, but vocally perennially young, Stuart Roberton in Murray’s "The Fiddler" and "Come to the Fair’. (Hasthope Martin). Harp solos are a novelty, and a master player in the person.of Mario Lorenzi gives us Lincke’s "Glow-worm Idyll" and a. "Medley of National Airs." Let. me conclude this brief, review with a statement about Yehudi Menubin, who with his young sister Hephzibah made the. records mentioned above. This boy has really wise parents-people who know how to treat ‘a child of genius. This. year he is to do a world tour, which includes New Zealand, And then throughout 1936 he rests entirely. At present he earns £20,000 a year-he can afford to take things steadily, and is in better hands than some prodigies,