Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 2, No. 10 (1928-07)

354 The Phonograph Monthly Review July, 1928 General Review T HE long and varied lists from H.M.V. and Columbia make the British releases for June a veritable feast of good things for the gramophile. The International String Quar- tet, pleasantly remembered by its N. G. S. rec- ords, joins forces with Cortot to play the long- awaited Franck piano quintet for H.M.V. Dr. Karl Muck and the Berlin State Opera House Or- chestra make their H. M. V. debut with the Pre- lude to Parsival and another new conductor makes his bow with Delius' On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring. Isolde Menges and de Greef are heard in a four-part G minor sonatina of Schubert; the Budapest String Quartet plays Schubert's Satz Quartet; and the Folk Dance Band issues a series of five ten-inch records of Scandinavian Dances. Among the vocal records are Schubert songs by Master E. Lough (Hark! Hark! the Lark and Who is Sylvia?), Marschal- lin's Monologue from Der Rosenkavalier sung by Barbara Kemp, and the Westminster Cathedral Choir in the Kyrie, Sanctus, Gloria, Credo, Bene- dicts, and Agnus Dei II from Palestrina's Missa Pape Marcelli. In addition, there are the usual numbers of re-pressings of American works, among them Stokowski’s Bach Toccata and Fugue, a part of the Fire Bird, the new Lucia Sextette, and miscellaneous vocal and instrumen- tal disks. From the Columbia Company come first three great Schubert works, the Forellen Quintet al- ready released here; the Octet in F, played by the Lener Quartet with Hobday, Draper, Hinchcliff, and Brain assisting; and the famous Trio in B flat, played by Myra Hess, Yelli D'Aranyi, and Felix Salmond. Sir George Henschel, still the pos- sessor of all his vocal powers sings Schubert's DasWandern and Der Leiermann. For orchestrals there is a six-part recording of De Falla's Love the Sorcerer played by Pedro Morales and his Symphony Orchestra, the Rakoczy March and Dance of the Sylphs from Berlioz' Damnation of Faust played by Harty and the Halle Orchestra, and the Bruno Walter Don Juan released earlier in this country. Lionel Tertis plays a viola arrangement of Mozart's violin sonata in A major; Clara Butt sings Home Sweet Home and 0 That We two Were Maying; Arangi-Lombardi, Merli, Pasero, and La Scala Chorus sing the Miserere from II Trovatore and Nume Custode e Vincice from Aida; Cassado is heard in 'cello solos, Johann Strauss and his orchestra in a Gypsy Baron Selection, and there are the custom- ary extensive lists of popular releases. The English Brunswick Company brings out a new Oscar Fried record, but only of the Poet and Peasant Overture. Lucie Caffaret plays the Bach-Liszt A minor Fugue; Alfred Piccaver sings the Flower Song from Carmen and Salut demeure from Faust; and the Bruno Kittel Choir sings a three-part version of the Kyrie from Beethoven's Missa Solemnis. From the Parlophone Company come some in- teresting works, notably the excerpts from Jonny Spielt Auf sung by Ludwig Hofmann and now released in England. Klaus Nettstraeter con- ducts the Berlin State Opera House in the Tannhauser Overture; Dr. Weissmann conducts the Cavalleria Rusticana Intermezzo and Handel's Largo; and Cloez directs the Opera Comique Or- chestra in the Manon Overture. Emmy Betten- dorf re-records her celebrated version of Senta's Ballad from the Flying Dutchman; Seinemeyer and Andresen with the Berlin State Opera House Chorus and Orchestra sing the Finale of Act II of La Forza del Destino; the Bruckner Choir is heard in the Te Deum Laudamus and Tu Rex Gloriae from Bruckner's Te Deum; and Gotthelf Pistor sings the Forging Song from Siegfried. Among the miscellaneous announcements are those of the release on July 1 of two more N. G. S. works, Brahms' String Sextet in G major, and Malipiero's Stornelli e Ballate for string quartet. There is good news for Delius admirers in one of the notes in “The Gramophone's" Trade Winds, to the effect that that composer has officially ap- proved versions of On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring (already released by H. M. V. and Col- umbia) and also Brigg Fair and In a Summer Garden for H. M. V., and The Walk to the Para- dise Garden for Columbia. Presumably these works are all ready for early issue. Turning to the domestic release lists we find that from the Victor Company topped by two notable works, the first record of Master Yehudi Menuhin, the eleven-year-old boy violinist who recently achieved a tremendous success as soloist with the New York and San Francisco Sym- phony Orchestras, and the first American release from the famous H. M. V. series of organ record- ings, this the celebrated Franck Piece Heroi'que played by Marcel Dupre. Both of these disks can be given an unreserved recommendation. Al- so of special interest are two records by noted film stars: John Barrymore in two Shakespearean soliloquies and Dolores Del Rio singing Ramona. The only orchestral works on the list, which con- tains no album set for the first time in many months, are a Glazounow Valse de Concert by the San Francisco Symphony and a coupling of Hearts and Flowers and The Glow-Worm by the Victor Concert Orchestra. The leading vocals are a disk of Maori songs by Frances Alda, one of Spanish duets sung by Schipa and de Gogorza, and some Negro spirituals‘by the Utica Institute Jubilee Singers. I should not forget to mention also that the Victor dance releases are of un- usual excellence this month. The Brunswick list brings the long awaited first electrical recording by Walter Gieseking, the pianist who has scored so sensational a suc- cess in this country during the last concert seasons. On this first release he plays Debussy's La Plus Que Lente Valse and Niemann's Silver Cascade with all his celebrated stylistic perfec- tion; the recording is unusually fine. It indeed would be of great interest for Brunswick to re-