Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 1, No. 2 (1926-11)

THE PHONOGRAPH MONTHLY REVIEW 47 dition bordering on insanity. He arrived in Peters- burg in a scarcely recognizable condition and was taken to a hotel room where he collapsed and re- mained unconscious for two days. This sad trag- edy seems entirely an outcome of his peculiar nature. IV The Villa Richelieu, on the shores of Lake Geneva, sheltered the convalescing Tchaikowskv. He took great joy in his fourth symphony and his new opera Eugene Oniegin. The first act of the opera soon arrived in Moscow, where it was re- ceived with great enthusiasm even by the often sceptical Rubinstein. Nadejda von Meek, ever gen- erous, now wrote him that she had set aside an allowance of 6000 rubles ($4000) a year for him. Tchaikowsky’s dream of years was realized! He was financially independent. In Florence, Rome and then in Venice,—for his wings were no longer clipped,—he continued to work joyfully at Oniegin and “our symphony, 1 ” as he wrote his benefactress. The symphony was his favorite. At its first perform- ance, however, it met with little success. Luck- ily the composer received only Nadejda von Meek’s enthusiastic report and was very happy. This sym- phony has been electrically recorded (but accord- ing to reports not too well) by the Gramophone Company, H. M. V. Nos. 1037-41. However a very successful recording of the tremendous finale ex- ists by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Dr. Karl Muck for Victor No. 6050. This Symphony, with the fifth and six symphonies, reveals Tchai- kowsky at his full powers and very few can escape its exquisite charms, rugged force and rare humor. There is as a rule very little humor in Tchaikow- skv’s work, but here we find it creeping into the andante and scherzo movement. Tchaikowsky’s second love, the opera Eugene Oniegin, had to wait a year for a performance. Then it did not make a very big impression, but the composer was very satisfied with it. The most widely recorded fragment from the work is the Air de Lenski. It is a most effective tenor solo and was especially dear to the composer. The Ru- dolph Laubenthal record, Homocord 8171, seems to be the only recording that captures the Tchaikow- sky spirit and in spite of an unevenness and occa- sional flatting, it is a good buy. For several years after Nadejda von Meek’s gen- erosity had made it possible for Tchaikowsky to live independent of Moscow and the conservatoire, his mind was a most fertile one. His method of composition was always inspirational, never an exercise of the intellect; his musical ideas came to him not abstractly but in their proper instrumenta- tion. For example, the scherzo of the fourth sym- phony came to him exactly as it is played and, as he wrote in a letter to Nadejda von Meek, is in- conceivable except in the Pizzicato instrumentation. Further examples of the music written during this happy and contented period are his Don Juan’s Serenade and Pimpinella, numbers one and six of his Op. 38. These have both been recorded by Caruso for Victor, Nos. 513 and 518. Of Op. 40, twelve pieces for pianoforte, are recorded the sec- ond Chanson Triste in an orchestral version by the Victor Concerto Orchestra, No. 18314 and the eighth, Waltz in A Flat, in its original form by Rach- maninoff, Victor No. 972. Next comes the famous Violin Concerto in D, Op. 35, with its even more famous Canzonetta. Tchaikowsky, quite happy with the rapid flow of ideas from his pen, wrote from Clarens to his publisher that at his present rate of composition by the end of the summer he would need a railway truck to take his works to Moscow. The Violin Concerto, like his first Piano Concerto, temporarily suffered an ill fate. It had to wait three years before it was performed and then it was played outside of Russia. Leopold Auer, to whom it was originally dedicated, failed to appreciate its worth and declined to play it. Tchaikowsky resented his attitude and gladly changed the dedication to Adolph Brodsky, a fa- mous concert violinist, who introduced it in Vienna. (Continued in the next issue.) Mart and Exchange Column RATES: Advertisements will be accepted for this column at the rate of ten cents a word with a min- imum charge of two dollars. The advertiser’s name and address will be charged for, single letters and single figures will be counted as words; compound words as two words. All advertisements must be prepared and be addressed to the Advertising De- partment, THE PHONOGRAPH MONTHLY RE- VIEW, 101 Milk St., Boston, Mass. Should the advertiser desire his announcement to be addressed to a box number in care of the magazine, ten cents extra for the forwarding of replies must be included. FOR SALE 240 SINGLE-FACED RED SEAL Records, in albums. Operatic, instrumental and orchestral. Played with fibre needles only. Box 51, Phono- graph Monthly Review. WANTED BOUND VOLUMES or back numbers of “The Gramophone.” Single numbers desired. State price wanted. Box 6L, The Phonograph Monthly Review. FOR EXCHANGE EXCELLENT RADIO, worth $100, for exchange for a phonograph. Give offer and complete de- scription. Box 2J, Phonograph Monthly Review. WANTED RARE DELIUS RECORDINGS, Brigg Fair, Sonatas, or Songs. State price wanted and condi- tion. Box 3D, Phonograph Monthly Review. FRANCK’S SYMPHONIC VARIATIONS, state price and condition. Box 4R, Phonograph Monthly Review.