XMAS Recordings

Radio Record, 9 December 1938, Page 20

XMAS Recordings

T is commonly believed that the lesser men of an age achieve popularity whilst the eveater are comparatively unrecognised by the crowd. This belief has unquestionably had something to do with the tardy recognition of the worth of Sullivan’s light opera music by some eultured musicians. The Gilbert and Sullivan operas were so successful with the erowd that many earnest people jumped to the conclusjon that Sullivan’s musie could have no lasting qualities. Of course, they were all at sea as we now know. Several generations have persisted in

whistling Sullivan’s tunes in | their bathrooms, and the music lives on With a vigour that would dismay certain sour-faced highbrows of the ’80’s and ’90’s. That the newly recorded Gilbert and Sullivan selection by the New Mayfair Orchestra will be warmly welcomed, gocs without saying. Here are the titles of its dozen melodies from the cream of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. The titles played on this record (HMV ©2964) are Entrance of Ko-Ko, I Have a Song to Sing O, Poor Wandering One, Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes, Three Litile Maids, Dance a Cachucha, Ah! Must I leave You, A Wandering Minstrel I, A Regular. Royal Queen, Gavotte, If You Go In, and If That Is So.

Lilac Domino The war-time musical comedy, ‘‘The Lilac Domino"’ by Charles Cuvillier is a work of good tunes and, of course, that splendid waltz which takes its name from the play *‘The Lilac Domino,’"? was a strong rival and contemporary of "‘Chu Chin Chow,’ ‘*The Maid of the Mountuains,’’ ‘‘Going Up,’’ and ‘‘The Bing Boys of Broadway’? in 1918. Hearing a charming selection from the operetta played by the London Palladium Orchestra, under Jack Frere, (HMV C2900) explains this phenomenon. Austrian Dances An unnamed Symphony Orehestra, conducted by~Walter Gochr, has recorded a selection of spirited and quaint Austrian

i} . Peasant dances, arranged by Sehoneherr (HMV C2905). This music is almost Scottish in idiom in some parts, and it should amuse and entertain that expansive and lovable member of the community- . Mr. Middlebrow-to say nothing of his wife and the whole family. Romantic Slavs Dvorak’s ‘‘Slavonie Dances" first made him world famous. Listening to the unusually beautiful ‘‘No. 16 in A Flat Major’’ recorded by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Vaclav Talich, one ean well believe it (HMV B8521). This dance differs materially from the orthodox "Slay Danee,’? and Dvorak certainly was in a romautic mood when he composed it. This record is cordially commended to collectors of unusual orchestral gems.