Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 2, No. 6 (1928-03)

March, 1928 The Phonograph Monthly Review 203 a leading light orchestral coupling of two waltzes by the Brunswick Concert Orchestra under the capable direction of Louis Katzman. The leading Odeon work is the first of the long- looked. for repressings of Lotte Lehmann’s for- eign recordings. It is sure to find wide favor, as are the two orchestral works by Dr. Morike and Dr. Weissmann, Saint-Saens’ Danse Macabre, and the Midsummer Night’s Dream Scherzo and Wed- ding March respectively. The long Victor list is led by the usual two al- bum sets, this month of Tchaikowsky’s Fifth Symphony played by the Chicago Symphony, and Grieg’s Piano Concerto by De Greef and the Royal Albert Hall Orchestra. The former is a little disappointing in the last movement, but otherwise is a remarkable achievement, one that will give every music lover a greatly increased respect and admiration for the abilities of the Chicago Symphony. The Concerto maintains the standard set by the earlier releases in the Master- piece Series. But the re-recording of Stokow- ski’s version of the Firebird Suite is something uncommonly exceptional in the way of modern music. The old set was wonderful, but the new one shows the Philadelphians at the height of their powers. Among many outstanding other disks are the Cortege de Bacchus by the Victor Symphony, several splendid choral records, Galli-Curci and Chaliapin each heard to good advantage, and the first American release by the sensational guitar- ist, Andres Segovia. Just as this is being written, we have received a special list of Red Seal records for release on March 16th. (The special New Year’s list evi- dently could hardly begin to make available the wealth of celebrity works the Victor Company has on hand!) Unfortunately these arrived too nte to be reviewed adequately, but full details will be published next month. Meanwhile every record buyer will be interested to learn the selec- tions and that first impressions testify to their being in every way fully up to the best current standards. First are two more disks from the indefatig- able Philadelphians, the long-awaited electrical Festivals (from Debussy’s Three Nocturnes), and a Bach coupling of a Prelude in E flat minor, and a choral prelude Ich ruf’ zu dir Herr Jesu, both in Stokowski’s own orchestrations. The other orchestral disks include Coates’ Ride of the Valkyries and Rhinegold Prelude (reviewed last summer from the English pressings), Stock’s version of the Prelude to Die Meistersinger (is- sued some time ago in a special Chicago release), and Wagner’s Huldigungs March. The ensemble works are particularly note- worthy; the two major ones have never been recorded before: Beethoven’s Variations on a Theme of Mozart for ’Cello and P%no (Casals and Cortot), and Faure’s A major violin sonata (Thibaud and Cortot). For due*" there are Fritz and Hugo Kreisler in the In ^rmezzo from L’Arlesienne and Corelli’s Sanctissima^nd Mar- tinelli and de Luca in a scene from Forza del Destino—Invano Alvaro! The series of piano sonatas is given a notable addition in Bachaus’ recording of Beethoven’s Sonata in C minor, the popular pathetique. Segovia contributes another coupling of guitar solos, and the vocal records are led by two from Friedrich Schorr with the Berlin State Opera House Orchestra under Dr. Blech: Rheingold— Abenalich strahlt der sonne auge (two parts), and Die Meistersinger — Was duftet doch der flieder. Schumann-Heink sings two well known pieces, Pirate Dreams and At Parting; Tito Schipa has two arias from Don Giovanni; Louise Homer is heard again in familiar hymns; Jeritza sings Lehmann’s The Cuckoo and D’Hardelot’s I Know a Lovely Garden; and finally there are no less than three records from John McCormack,— most noteworthy is the one coupling Tchaikow- sky’s Nun wer die Sehnsucht kennt and Schu- bert’s Who is Sylvia. I should not leave the topic of the Victor Com- pany without expressing the pleasure we of the magazine take in welcoming this company’s ad- vertising to our pages. I feel this to be another sign of the constant progress of both the maga- zine and the entire movement to which it is de- voted. Another vivid illustration of this progress is shown by the increasing number of publica- tions devoting space to record reviews and phono- graphic news. Recently Musical America has in- augurated a phonograph page and other musical magazines are not slow in following suit. Every true enthusiast will welcome these indications of , the growth of interest in the phonograph and the fine recorded music which is being made available so abundantly today. Elsewhere in this issue is printed an article (Correct Turntable Speed) illustrating a tend- ency (not uncommon among enthusiasts) to rail against the manufacturing companies on rather unsubstantial grounds. I trust that everyone will read our note with care. It is obviously unjust to take to task companies today, with so many remarkable technical achievements to their credit, for some of the errors of another era in recording, one which is now only history. Two other comments should be made about this issue. One is the absence of the Popular and Foreign reviews announced last month as postponed. Space is not available to give up to these extended lists, especially when there are so many things of greater general interest to our readers. In the future the reviews of popu- lar, dance, and foreign records will be mini- mumized as far as possible. Of course we shall continue to look for and pick out the many “finds” which constantly appear in these releases. All outstanding records will be given adequate men- tion, but now that our space limitations are be- coming so stringent, it has been found absolute- ly necessary to cut down on the space devoted to these disks without doing any injustice to the many really noteworthy releases among them. I am sure that all our readers will approve of this decision. The second comment deals with Dr. Karl Muck, whose picture is printed on this month’s cover.