Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 2, No. 5 (1928-02)

The Phonograph Monthly Review 163 February, 1928 * 81 ) 1,1 ■ was played so as to sound like a longshoreman’s buck and wing dance! What Halvorsen was really picturing was the return of a Viking host from the successful conquest of a tribal enemy; they hilariously enter their own camp proclaim- ing a glorious triumph. Bowers captures this feeling far less satisfactorily than Mengel- berg did in his old Victor version. But of course Mengelberg always takes the utmost pains to have his readings authentic. I can vouch for the fact that he took the trouble in this instance to send to a friend in Copenhagen for a copy of the composer’s original orchestration and to obtain sufficient information to give Halvorsen’s best known composition an adequate and authentic performance. Next month Columbia will bring out the justly heralded Bayreuth Festival records. While in New York I heard the selections played by Dr. Muck and I must say that they are wonderfully realistic. The rest of the Masterworks list for next month had not been finally decided upon, but judging from the works available I can assure my readers of a real treat in store for them. Meanwhile, there are two outstanding vocal rec- ords by Sophie Braslau and Richard Tauber which should not be passed by. Odeon also contributes a noted vocal release: Schumann’s Mondnacht and Schubert’s Der Lin- denbaum, sung by Emmy Bettendorf. Karol Szre- ter also is represented with another of his enjoy- able piano transcriptions from Johann Strauss, the Rustle of Spring waltz. Speaking about Em- my Bettendorf, it will be remembered that “Vories” in his “Remnants” last month severely criticised the Odeon Company for not releasing the entire cycle of Schumann’s Frauen Liebe und Leben songs. During my stay in New York I enjoyed my usual chat with Mr. William A. Timm, the Manager of the Okeh Foreign Record Department, who called my attention to the fact that he had not released the entire cycle because in the first place some of the recordings were not fully up to the American standard, and secondly the European release was not complete after all, as only six out of the eight songs were issued. The two released last month were those that suc- cessfully passed the severer American tests. We know from many years of acquaintanceship with Mr. Timm that he can be relied upon to let us have everything available that is both worthy and practicable to re-press under the Odeon label. The Victor list is topped off by the album of Victor Herbert’s Melodies, arranged by Shilkret and recorded under his direction. This is the firs fmajor electrical release of Herbert’s work andjjs just what is needed today as a stepping stonp in music appreciation work. A comparison of .his album with the New Year’s issue of the re-payed Gilbert and Sullivan Mikado need not be feared by those who claim the supremacy for Herbert. , Upon hearing these records I sent Mr. Shilkret ■[hat I considered a well-earned message of con- gratulation. A paragraph of his reply will be of general interest. He writes: “Probably you know by this time that it was rather a difficult { }'■ I ■ / ........ task to arrange Herbert’s music somewhat dif- ferently than the original, and yet always keep the original orchestration in mind. Besides, in making an album novelty is necessary. I hope that I have succeeded in gratifying the Herbert fans and at the same time made the various rec- ords interesting. It took 825 pages of score to do the work, not counting the copying of the or- chestra parts with the exception of the piano.” This gives some indication of the tremendous amount of work connected with the issue of an album set. There is first the selection of the com- positions to be played; then the orchestrations to be made and the parts copied; the orchestra, chorus, and soloists to be chosen and trained; the rehearsals held; then re-orchestration and cor- rections—all before the work of actual recording is begun. One of the preliminary processes is that of timing a record, of which the ordinary record buyer never dreams, not knowing how much of two busy men’s time must go into even prepara- tory work. The front cover photograph shows Shilkret pondering over an orchestration, the preparation of which is one of the most important ana aifficult features. For those who know the extent of Mr. Shilkret’s duties as Manager and Musical Director of the Victor Company’s New York Laboratories, it is almost impossible to conceive how he finds time to do all the extra work necessitated by a release like this Herbert Album. Mr. Shilkret is always busy, yet he al- ways manages to find time to listen to the sug- gestions or requests of his numerous friends. The anteroom of his office seems always to be filled with people waiting to see him. And yet no mat- ter how many appointments he has, his records appear regularly and time is found—somehow— to prepare and issue a major work like the Her- bert Album, it is this unique combination of efficiency, talent, and personality that makes Shilkret a recording conductor who is both re- spected and loved. This set will undoubtedly be one of the biggest sellers of the season, for every admirer of Her- bert’s works can hear that Shilkret has expressed his own feeling for the music in his perform- ances. Anti hearing that, they can understand why everyone who has the privilege of calling him a friend is so prone to become enthusiastic when talking about him and his work. The replayed version of the Stokowski-Dvorak New World Symphony is a work that can be characterized as good, without deserving of ex- traordinary praise. The old debate on Stokow- ski’s versus Harty’s interpretation need not be raised again here, but it-is curious to remember that Stokowski, English born of foreign paren- tage and an adopted son of this country, should by rights be better able to recapture the true conception of Dvorak’s work than Harty, a na- tive-born and resident Englishman. Evidently my recently expressed conception of the work does not hold true in every instance. As far as the new set itself is concerned, I am quite in ac- cord with R. D. D.’s review, which seems to me to be an adequate one.