Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 1, No. 7 (1927-04)

The Phonograph Monthly Review 319 ys< i ■ ■ — —■ — ,_j —— theme. The Finale is one continuous fleet and flowing stream of genial humor—one of the most delightful things in all music, capturing a mood that is perhaps the most elusive in all the world: genuine childlike joy. Beethoven, like many a lesser man, could sometimes be childish, but here he achieves in expressing the sincere emotions of childhood—a very, very different thing. It is sufficient to say that Sir Hamilton Harty and his orchestra recapture Beethoven’s genius perfectly; not a single passage strikes a false or jarring note. To the exquisitely planned interpretation and faultless performance is added an air of finely unrestrained abandon without which the result would be “scholarly”—and untrue to the spirit and inner life of this symphony, written with the clear fresh mind of a child and the technical hand and surety of a master. Symphony No. 5 (C minor) Op. 67. Columbia Masterworks Set No. 48. 4 D12s Alb. Price, $6.00. Felix Weingart- ner and the Royal Philharmonic. (See also the review of the Victor version by Sir Landon Ronald and the Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, March issue, page 275.) The parts are distributed here as in the Victor version: first and second movements, two parts each; the Finale begins midway on Part 6, after one and one-half sides for the Scherzo. Weingartner is that rare thing in this modern world, a perfectly consistent man. His readings can be predicted in advance to almost the exact shading and phrasing of every passage, and with unvarying exactitude he fulfills one’s pre- diction. His is the way of the orthodox, but it is that of the skilled and intelligent orthodox and it is the way that will appeal to those who are dismayed by the re-juvenated fire of Sir Landon Ronald and the daemonic fury and wry humor of Wilhelm Furtwaengler in their respective Victor and Poly- dor version of this Fifth Symphony. The second movement only should be excepted; the sur- prisingly hurried tempo taken here is a rather strange choice and one that will hardly find wide favor. Elsewhere, the performance is as finished and balanced as one has learned to expect from Weingartner, whose Beethoven interpretations have been so well known and admired for these many years. Symphony No. 5 (C minor) Op. 67. Polydor Nos. 69855-9. 5 D12s. (Beethoven: Duo for ’Cello and Viola played by Rudolph and Paul Hindemith on the 10th side.) Wil- helm Furtwaengler and the Berlin Philharmonic. This version is as different from that of Ronald’s and Weingartner’s as they are from each other. Both the re- cording, the interpretation, and the arrangement of the parts vary from those of the other sets. Nine sides, instead of the usual eight, are taken as follows: 1st movement, Parts 1 and 2; 2nd movement, Parts 3, 4, and 5; Scherzo, Parts 6 and 7, the finale beginning about the middle of 7 and continuing through 8 and 9. The recording is far from being as faultless as that of the other versions. While there is plenty of volume and depth to the tuttis and middle and lower register passages, in the higher registers the weakness of the Polydor electrical re- cording is again apparent. The reading is easily the most individual and distinctive of all the various sets, new and old, yet heard at the Studio. While it is sure to shock the orthodox followers of the old school, it will undoubtedly appeal to those who have grown somewhat jaded with this perennially popular work. It is a reading of strange and dark power, almost ferocious at times in its unbridled passion. This Scherzo is performed in most peculiar fashion with the most vivid and abrupt con- trasts. Perhaps the unusual effects are the result of the re- cording, but I should prefer to believe it due to the sardonic, twisted humor which Furtwaengler sees and brings out in this movement. The timpani strokes in the “bridge” between the Scherzo and Finale are practically inaudible, but the crescendo is most impressively made. The second movement is without question the best of any version yet issued. An original Fifth rather than a perfect one. Perhaps not many will care to have its forceful individuality at the cost of brilliance and finish, but those who are willing to pay that price will find much to repay them. ■ ■ ■■ ■ """i tcv? Symphony No. 6 (F major) “Pastoral,” Op. 68. Columbia Masterworks Set No. 61. 5 D12s Alb. Price, $7.50. Felix Weingartner and the Royal Philharmonic. The composer wrote at the head of this work, “More an expression of feeling than a painting,” and this quality pre- vents it from being actually the first great piece of “program- music,” mildly programatic though it is. Though convention- ally divided into four movements, either three or five would be more effective, as “The jolly gathering of country folk,” “The Storm,” and “The shepherd’s song and gladsome feelings after the storm” are better separated into their three natural divisions or grouped as one. In this set, the 1st movement (Awakening of serene impressions on arriving in the country; Allegro, ma non troppo) occupies Parts 1, 2, and 3. The 2nd movement (Scene by the brookside; Andante molto moto) is on Parts 4, 5, and 6. The storm begins near the end of Part 7 and is concluded on the next side; the shepherd’s song and the “gladsome and thankful feeling after the storm” (Allegretto) occupies the rest of the set. Vincent d’Indy in his book, “Beethoven,” writes, “Nature was to Beethoven not only a consoler for his sorrows and disenchantments; she was also a friend with whom he took pleasure in familiar talk, the only intercourse to which his deafness presented no obstacle.” The “Pastoral” is Beeth- oven’s tribute to his great love and his last attempt in sym- phonic writing to catch the simplicity of his early works, with no overcasting of the spiritual maturity that is present even in the “Little Symphony,” No. 8. More than any other—even the popular Fifth—this work might be used as the introduction to Beethoven’s (or all) symphonic music, in appreciation courses. The descriptive titles of the various movements indicate their content better than any analysis and, indeed, the latter is hardly in place in connection with this work of rustic merry- making and thanksgiving. The calls of the nightingale (on the flute) quail (oboe) and cuckoo (clarinet) in the coda of the second movement (the end of Part 6) might be mentioned, however, and also the interesting bassoon part in the third movement (Part 7) which has been called by one writer, “One of Beethoven’s jokes. This second theme is supposed to suggest the playing of a small band of village musicians in which the bassoon-player can get only the notes F, C, and octave F out of his ramshackle old instrument; so he keeps silent whenever this series of three notes will not fit into the harmony. After being played through by the oboe, the theme is taken up by the clarinet, and finally by the horn, the village bassoonist growing seemingly impatient in the matter of counting rests, and now playing his F, C. F, without stopping.” As in the case of Beecham’s Second, and Coates’ “Eroica,” and Harty’s Fourth, the recording and performance of Wein- gartner’s “Pastoral” can be given almost unreserved praise. If he does not display the spiritual and intellectual subtleties of the others’ readings, the character of this work hardly gives him an opportunity to do so. Here, his distinctive style was never better represented; indeed, one can hardly imagine a more effective presentation either of the symphony or of Weingartner’s conducting. The recording also surpasses itself here, reaching perhaps the highest level of all the excellent Columbia Nine. Without a doubt, Weingartner’s finest recording—and we do not forget his famous Berlioz’ Fastasique! Symphony No. 7 (A major) Op. 92. Columbia Masterworks Set No. 63. 5 D12s Alb. Price, $7.50. Felix Weingart- ner and the Royal Philharmonic. Weingartner again—although hardly on the heights reached in the “Pastoral.” For some unknown reason the Seventh seems to present a problem that is almost unsolvable by recorders and recording conductors. (See the note on page 127 of the December issue and Mr. Gerstle’s letter in the Correspondence pages for January.) Weingartner’s scholarly reading of the Seventh in the old Columbia acoustic set will be well remembered. Here his conception of the work re- ceives all the benefits of the modern rcording and both he and the orchestra profit much by their opportunity. Note particularly the timpani throughout and the lovely string tone in the second movement. The movements are as follows: 1st movement (Poco sostenuto) Parts 1, 2, and 3. 2nd movement (Allegretto) Parts 4, 5, and 6. 3rd movement (Preston meno assai) Parts 7 and 8. 4th movement (Allegro con brio) Parts 9 and 10.