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

The Phonograph Monthly Review 217 March, 1928 Richard Strauss (Concluded from the January issue) (A list of the recorded versions of Strauss' or- chestral works was given in the first instalment. Comparative notes on these versions follow.) Aus Italien and Macbeth. Reviewed on 277 of the March 1927 issue. Both are good acoustic re- cordings, but Macbeth is by far the more inter- esting. There is probably not much likelihood of their being re-recorded for some time to come. The Symphonic Fantasy is of considerable his- torical interest, but Macbeth is of much greater musical significance. The neglect of this work in the concert hall is hard to explain as it is quite worthy to compare with Don Juan. The words of Richard Specht (one of Strauss’ biographers) should be quoted again, “The later Strauss is more seething, vibrating and colorful: in this earlier work he paints black as black, with a ruthlessness which separates this night-picture- in-sound from all other works of the tone-poet.” It is unfortunate that Morike’s striking reading is not available electrically recorded, or even that the acoustical records are not re-pressed in this country. Tod und Verkldrung. Of the acoustical ver- sions heard at the Studio, those of Morike and Bruno Walter are the best. Strauss’ own reading —the only electrical one so far was reviewed in the January issue. Of course it surpasses all the old ones, although they had no inconsiderable merits of their own. This work is perhaps the most popular in the concert hall, but the first traces of a mawkish and blatant sentimentality, which later became so powerful, make it far in- ferior artistically to the other major tone-poems of Strauss. Don Juan. The new electrical version by Coates was reviewed in the January issue and effectively supplants all the acoustic sets includ- ing Strauss’ own (English Columbia and Poly- dor) , although of course these latter possess spe- cial interest as the composer’s version. It will probably be only a question of months before an electrical version conducted by Strauss is avail- able through the Polydor and Brunswick com- panies. Possibly Morike’s full-blooded Odeon reading will also be re-recorded shortly. Mean- while the new Coates-Victor records are the logi- cal choice. His reading is a remarkably individ- ual one; possibly the less-tumultuous perform- ances of the composer and Morike—when re- corded electrically—will find wider favor, al- though they can scarcely hope to achieve the same mood of breathless excitement. (A new version by Bruno Walter is reviewed in this issue.) Till Eulenspiegel. The Morike-Odeon version is reviewed on page 139 of the December 1926 issue and is perhaps the best of the existing re- cordings—all acoustical—although Strauss’ own reading is more closely akin to the usual concert- hall interpretation. Here, again, electrical re-re- cordings by Strauss, Morike, and Coates may be expected before long. All should be excellent and the three differing readings are all needed, for there are few finer modern orchestral works than this supreme piece of irony and .pity. Here Strauss reached his greatest artistic stature in a work which combines so faultlessly the musical expositions of gusto and philosophic tenderness. If Strauss had written nothing else—sometimes one wishes he had not!—he would still remain one of the great masters of music by virtue of this work alone. It cannot be recorded too often or too well. * Also Sprach Zarathustra. The single record- ing of this enigmatic work is a splendid example of the old process at its best. An early re-record- ing hardly seems very likely, yet it is badly needed, especially for release in this country, as concert performances of the work are none too frequent, and its complexities demand the study that the phonograph alone can give. The music is hardly authentically Nietzsche, but like all of Strauss’ best works the “program”—while inter- esting—is by no means essential: there is pure music enough for anyone. Ein Heldenleben. The two recorded versions are reviewed on page 71 of the November 1927 issue and page 138 of the December 1926 issue. Both are excellent, but Strauss’ own reading is the more practical choice, especially as it is elec- trically recorded. There are moments in the work that rank with Strauss’ best, notably the opening section depicting the Hero, the Love- Music, and the last pages. The other sections are inferior: the Critics’ jibes are great fun and the Battle’s terrors very exciting at first, but These are not the parts that one plays over and over on his phonograph, delightful as they are to virtu- oso conductors in the concert hall. It is the rec- ord sides containing the true music of which one never tires. Here the phonograph shows one of its advantages, for while in the concert hall one must take all or nothing, in the home one may exercise the discrimination the composer did not show. A recorded version by Mengelberg—to whom the work is dedicated and whose reading is justly famous—might well be anticipated, al- though there would seem little hope for its ever being made. Eine Alpensymphonie. The only recorded ver- sion (acoustical) is mentioned on page 39 of the October 1926 issue. The performance is excel- lent and the recording remarkably fine consider- ing the difficulties involved. While the work as a whole savours suspiciously of cinema music and is reminiscent not only of Schumann and Men-