Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 1, No. 8 (1927-05)

The Phonograph Monthly Review 336 vsir— able violinist. Naturally his first lessons came from his father, and they must have been ini- tiated at a very early age, for he was an organist before he had attained the mature dignity of double figures in years. Much of his real musical education he owes to Commendatore Michele Esposito, Principal of the Royal Irish Academy, a gifted musician long settled in Dublin who in personality and temperament is more Irish than the Irish themselves, and as goes without saying a man of a very lovable nature. Hamilton Harty settled in London in 1900, and although he has now achieved lasting fame as an orchestral con- ductor, it will not have been entirely forgotten that in his early days he was remarkable as one of the very few supremely gifted accompanists of his time. But Hamilton Harty's work will always be indissolubly associated with the Halle Orchestra, and since his appointment as perma- nent conductor in 1920 it has been patently proved that in selecting him to fill this onerous post an inspired choice was made. In many ways he is the lineal descendent of Sir Charles Halle, for he is an indefatigable worker, a brilliant organ zer, and an admittedly great conductor. The combination of three such curiously con- trasted qualities is rarely, if ever, present in a musician, and when is added a characteristic Celtic imagination, the secret of Hamilton Harty's success is revealed. As a composer he has many works to his credit, among the more important being an Irish Sym- phony, Comedy Overture for Orchestra, a violin concerto (first played by Joseph Szigeti), a set- ting of Keat's Ode to a Nightingale for soprano and orchestra, a piano quintet, many songs and solo instrumental works, several symphonic poems, among them With the Wild Geese (re- cently recorded by the composer and his orchestra in England), A Tinker's Wedding, and also Var- iations on an Irish Theme for violin and orchestra and a cantata for baritone, chorus, and orchestra, The Mystic Trumpeter. Many arrangements, including that-of the Handel Water-Music which he has recorded, could be added to this list. He has a command of colorful and unusual orchestral effects suggestive of his idol, Berlioz, and his pianoforte concerto is a good example of the mod- ern form restrained by classicism. About his conducting, one writer says, “It is a joy to watch him conduct. It is a study in emotion, for one thing, displaying every gradu- ation from loving persuasion to sheer coquetry when the first violins have to climb dizzily in Mozartean zephyrs, and then the Celt surges bar- barically, in a grand negligence of all else, when a climatic endeavor is toward. To hear the sym- phonie Fantastique or the Messe des Morts at the Halle is to realize that Harty-Berlioz is a dual personality. At the end of the March to the Scaffold, when the Symphony was done last year, the conductor, after that tremendous example of the beau-sabreur in musical terms, could not pro- ceed to the last movement, The Witches' Dance, for a space, so intensely had he and the orchestra lived the sinister life conjured up by Berlioz." Indeed, every one who hears Harty do a work of Berlioz seems as veritably overcome as the above writer. Here in America where we have not had the opportunity of hearing this side of his talents, we must look forward with anticipa- tion to receiving some Berlioz recordings and sometime to hearing the orchestra and its con- ductor in person. Surely an American tour could not fail to arouse as much enthusiasm here as his concerts have done in Great Britain. The Halle Orchestra today ably reflects the abilities of its leaders; its players are intensely devoted to a great tradition and an unique loyalty to the Society. Twenty-three of the members hold the Society's gold medal for twenty-years' service, and most of these are scarcely forty! During the winter season the Halle Orchestra gives some thirty concerts in its headquarters, Manchester, and between thirty and forty con- certs on tour throughout England, Scotland, and Ireland. The talents of some of the first-desk men is reflected in some of the concertos they have recorded to Sir Hamilton's accompaniment. Of the recent recordings, readers are referred to the reviews of the Mozart and Beethoven sym- phonies and to that of the Saint-Saens Violoncello Concerto (respectively page 183, January, 1927 issue; page 318, April, and page 186, January). In England, Harty’s own work, With the Wild Geese, and the Mozart Bassoon Concerto (the Halle first bassoonist, Archie Camden, soloist) have recently been issued. We hope it will not be long before both works are issued by the American Columbia Company. From abroad, we hear very commendatory reports of their merits. Among the older, acoustically recorded works, the recording of Dvorak's New World Symphony should receive particular mention for this issue devoted to the great Bohemian composer. In spite of the fact that the Victor version of this work, conducted by Stokowski and recorded un- der the new process, is a marvel of orchestral virtuosity and effects, real musicians and those versed in Dvorak's compositions prefer the Harty set almost unanimously. In his recording Dvorak is not used as a sort of springboard for a tremen- dous jump into virtuoso heights, but as a sincere composer who must be interpreted sincerely. Stokowski's version is Stokowski alone, but Harty's version is not only Harty (one knows it could be no one else) but it is Dvorak himself who is the central figure. Without sacrificing anything of his individuality, Harty succeeds in giving an authentic reading, preserving all the Bohemian's characteristic qualities. A number of readers have written to us at various times asking for a comparison of these two versions and th? answer has invariably been, “There can be no comparison! You cannot really know the capabilities of the modern orchestra or orchestral recording without hearing the Victor set, but you cannot really know Dvorak or his Symphony without hearing the Columbia ver- sion."