Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 3, No. 4 (1929-01)

c^IUSIC LOVERS PHONOGRAPH AXEL B. JOH7\[SO? s[. Managing Editor Published by THE PHONOGRAPH PUBLISHING CO., Inc. General Offices and Studio: 47 Hampstead Road, Jamaica Plain, Boston, Mass. Telephone Jamaica 5054 : Cable Address: ( ‘Phono n THE PHONOGRAPH MONTHLY REVIEW appears on the twenty-eighth of each month. All material is fully protected by copy- right and may be reproduced only by permission. Yearly subscription price $4.00 in the United States and $5.00 in Canada and other foreign countries, postage prepaid. Single copies 35 cents. All communications should be addressed to the Managing Editor at the Studio, 47 Hampstead Road, Jamaica Plain, Boston, Mass. All unsolicited contributions must be accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. All checks and money orders should be made out to THE PHONO- GRAPH PUBLISHING CO., Inc. General Review F IRST of the month’s many noteworthy re- leases come the Victor Company’s sensa- tional recordings of the Boston Symphony Orchestra under direction of Serge Koussevitzky. It will be impossible to describe the excellence of these wonderful records; they must be heard to be appreciated. I can assure my readers that they are the Boston Symphony exactly as you hear it in concert. The Hollywood Bowl Program is another ex- cellent Victor release. Our hats are off to both the conductor and the recording director, for it must be remembered that these disks were made in the open air, “under the stars” as they term it, and yet the acoustics are remarkable fine. The performance of all five selections are most ade- quate. I have not heard as yet any of the records in the Tristan and Isolde album, but R. D. D.’s re- view will be found among the operatic reviews. The other orchestral works are a brilliant Carmen Suite by Stokowski, a new record of the Detroit orchestra heard in three little Russian pieces (Tchaikowsky’s Valse-Serenade and Marche Mini- ature and Altschuler’s Russian Soldier’s Song,) and Paul Whiteman’s brilliant recording of Ferdy Grofe’s suite, Three Shades of Blue. In the special Educational list No. 5, to be discussed in a later issue, are two orchestral works: The Moldau played by Bourdon in his usual fine style, despite the handicaps of a rather limited orches- tra, and the Coates version of Till Eulenspiegel, to be reviewed later. Also on the Victor list are two splendid instru- mental disks by Mischa Elman and Vladimir Horowitz, the latter in his second release, and noteworthy vocal records by Rosa Ponselle, Beniamino Gigli, Galli-Curci, and Louise Homer and Giovanni Martinelli in duet. Special praise goes to the Gigil record. I should not forget to mention the funniest record since Columbia’s Two Black Crows, Twisting the Dials, a take- off on the radio by the Happiness Boys. This is one of the few comic records which is consistently funny all the way through. Leading the Columbia list is Bodanzky’s three- part recording of Die Meistersinger Prelude. We had heard much favorable comment on this work from Europe, but it far surpassed our expecta- tions. As is mentioned in R. D. D.’s review, the work was recorded by our own American record- ing director, Mr. Charles L. Hibbard of the Okeh Corporation who toured Europe last summer visiting the recording laboratories of the various affiliated Columbia and Parlophone companies, and who supervised the recording of these disks in Berlin during his stay there. I happened to be in New York on the day that Mr. Hibbard re- turned and going to the laboratory with some of his other friends to welcome him home, we heard him tell with the greatest enthusiasm about the making of these records, of the immense size of the orchestra (the largest he had ever recorded), of his great admiration for Bodanzky as con- ductor, and of his pride at being chosen by his See last page for Table of Contents Copyright, 1928, by the Phonograph Publishing Company, Inc.