The talking machine world (Jan-June 1928)

42 The Talking Machine World, New York, March, 1928 Braslau and String Quartet Broadcast Sophie Braslau, Contralto, and Musical Art Quartet Heard During Columbia Co.'s Celebrity Hour on March 7 The Columbia Phonograph Co. Celebrity Radio Hour on March 7 brought before the microphone for the entertainment of the vast Sophie Braslau audience who listen-in on the programs broadcast over the stations comprising the network of the Columbia Broadcasting System two artists whose previous broadcast over the same chain last Fall brought a deluge of congratulatory messages from listeners-in. They were Musical Art Quartet Sophie Braslau, contralto, and the Musical Art Quartet, exponents of chamber music. Miss Braslau, who since her last radio appearance has been engaged on an extensive and highly successful concert tour, was heard in a program which included two Schubert songs, PHONOGRAPH MOTORS WIDE variety of Motors made by Hermann Thorens, Ste. Croix, Switzerland, Manufacturer of Europe's most celebrated phonograph motor. High quality — reasonably priced. In different capacities, playing up to 10 records. THORENS, Inc. Sole Distributors for U. S. A. 450 Fourth Ave. New York City •> r the first of Columbia's forthcoming extensive items from this composer's works, in commemoration of the hundredth anniversary of his death. The Musical Art Quartet played the Haydn Quartet, Opus 54, and a variety of old English and American compositions. The Columbia Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Robert Hood Bowers, was also heard. All of the participants in the program record exclusively for the Columbia catalog. Declares Radio Is a Public Service Interesting Addresses Featured Luncheon Meeting of the Radio Manufacturers' Association in New York City Radio will come to a "dead end" in its progress unless research engineers direct their attention upon new angles of development, John V. L. Hogan, past president of the Institute of Radio Engineers, warned the Radio Manufacturers' Association at their monthly luncheon meeting at the Hotel Commodore, February 24. He said that for the past five years the tendency had been to drift into the "easiest way channel." "The first twenty-five years of radio's thirtyyear life was marked by development of radical and new ideas. To-day it is not merely a business but a public service," said Mr. Hogan. "In any line of endeavor we frequently come to a dead end or rut, but we can dodge it in radio by stressing originality and not imitation. It is not enough merely to invent or get the idea on which the Patent Office will give a 'piece of paper.' Radio needs more of the men who furnish the stuff to make the idea workable — to put into practice and operation that which science has given." Irwin Kurtz, president of the Talking Machine and Radio Men of New York, representing the Federated Radio Trades Association, whose convention in Milwaukee he had just attended, said the Federated Radio Trades Association had adopted a code of ethics similar to that of the Radio Manufacturers' Association. Panatrope Exhibited to South Africans The first Brunswick Panatrope to be exhibited in South Africa was demonstrated in the Assembly Hall of the City Hall at Bloemfontein, Union of South Africa, by means of a concert given by Messrs. C. Bothner & C. Anderson, sole agents for the Orange Free State. The demonstration was complete, in that records of all classes were used, including popular dance tunes, vocal solos, instrumental solos, symphonies and many other record releases of the Brunswick Co. The story of the Panatrope was told to the assembled audience by means of attractively worded signs distributed throughout the auditorium. The O. K. Houck Piano Co., Nashville, Tenn., recently opened a new store at 611 Church street, carrying a full line of instruments. Creating a Demand for Finest Music {Continued from page 40) high, as of course might in the circumstances be expected. The profits too have been vast and made the Wagner family very rich. During the world war, however, Mme. Wagner (still living at an age exceeding ninety) invested most of her fortune in German war bonds which today are virtually worthless. Nevertheless, the 1927 festival, at which were made the Columbia records, was a brilliant success. The "Mystic Gulf" The architectural features of the Bayreutl theatre deserve a word of description, for they explain in part the unusual quality and character of the recording. The orchestra at Bayreuth is sunk in a deep pit in front of the stage. This pit is provided with some six narrow ledges of platform, one above the other sloping backwards from the footlights. On the top platform stands the conductor, who thus can see the stage and be seen by those on it, but who cannot be seen by the audience. A canopy covers the orchestra pit over its whole width save for a narrow gap on the foot-lights side, through which the music pours out into the upper air. Thus, on the one hand the music obtains a certain veiled, mysterious and unearthly character, and on the other hand the audience does not have its attention distracted by the sight of waving arms and baton of a conductor, the rising and falling of violin bows or the rustlings and other noises inseparable from the ensemble when such an orchestra as is needed for a Wagnerian Opera sits up on a level with the front row of seats on the main floor. It was in these unusually favorable conditions, under the baton of conductors trained thoroughly in the Wagnerian tradition, that the Columbia Co. recorded these selections from Parsifal and the Ring during the actual performances on the Bayreuth stage. The Bayreuth orchestra and the Bayreuth singers are here heard at their best. The achievement is unique and the results wonderful. I should not say this, or anything like it, if 1 had not myself obtained and tried out the records at home under domestic conditions. Others, too, musician friends who knew the music, have heard them in the same circumstances and unite in declaring them marvelous. Others again, who would probably be annoyed at being mistaken for musicians, have listened, have been thrilled and have applauded. If these records won't sell, in album sets, too, no records will. Gold Seal Assets Total $1,770,945 Total assets of $1,770,945 were shown in the balance sheet of the Gold Seal Electrical Co., Inc., manufacturer of Gold Seal radio tubes and subsidiaries for the year 1927. Current assets were $629,886 and current liabilities $80,895. Surplus was $621,069. The Lee S. Roberts Co., Zenith dealer, of Oakland, Cal., has increased its floor space. PHONOGRAPH CASES RADIO CASES Reinforced 3-ply Veneer The Standard Case for Talking Machines and Radio Sets Let u« figure on your requirement* MADE BY PLYWOOD CORPORATION, Goldsboro, N. C Mills in Va., N. C. and S. C.