Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 3, No. 5 (1929-02)

146 The Phonograph Monthly Review February, 1929 Ostrow, played by the Brunswick Concert Or- chestra. Mario Chamlee is heard on two disks to good effect: on one he sings arias from Rigoletto and Don Pasquale, and on the other Massenet’s Elegie and the Bach-Gounod Ave Maria. Special attention should be called to the series of three disks by Stanley Maxted of songs from Milne’s “When We Were Very Young.” As always, the Brunswick dance list is to be singled out for praise. From the Okeh Corporation is a marvellous choral record of Scene III, Act III, of Lohengrin by Ivar Andresen and the chorus and orchestra of the Berlin State Opera House, conducted by Dr. Weissmann. This is a worthy disk to be placed beside Andresen’s previous Lohengrin rec- ord and the sensational Odeon choral recordings from Cavalleria Rusticana and Aida. Dr. Weiss- mann conducts vigorous versions of the march from The Prophet and the Entrance of the Guests from Tannhauser; Szell conducts Cornelius’ Bar- ber from Bagdad overture; Karol Szreter plays a brilliant version of the 12th Hungarian Rhap- sody of Liszt; and there is an effective band rec- ord of a medley from The Pearl Fishers played by the Italian Royal Marine Band. The Victor Company with its annual special January issue presents the largest and most varied list of this month’s domestic releases. Among the regular monthly releases are Stokow- ski’s splendid Brahms’ Third Symphony, filling a long unfilled gap in recorded literature; Schu- mann’s piano concerto played by Cortot and the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Landon Ronald; and the Koussevitzky Petrouchka set mentioned here last month. At that time the Boston Symphony records were issued for sale in a few Eastern cities only; now they are avail- able throughout the country. A disk of unusual interest is the “Fifteen thousand dollar record” of the prize winning compositions in Victor’s re- cent contest for concert jazz works by American composers. Both Griselle’s and Bloom’s pieces are out of the ordinary and the performances by the Victor Concert Orchestra under Nathaniel Shilkret are truly remarkable. Another notable Shilkret release is the Fledermaus overture. It is interesting to compare this version with that of Viebig and the Berlin State Opera House Or- chestra which appeared recently in the Victor German lists; Shilkret’s disk is by far the super- ior. Paderewski plays waltzes by Chopin and Rubinstein, Kreisler plays violin arrangements of two popular Debussy pieces, Jeritza sings Isolde’s Liebestod, Lucrezia Bori is heard in two Mignon arias, Schipa sings arias from La Fav- orita and Elisir D’Amore, Werrenrath sings Punchinello and The Sands of Dee, and Sir Harry Lauder sings Scotch Memories and Loch Lomond, All these are good, but the Bori and Lauder rec- ords deserve special praise. Featured on the popular vocal list are two disks by Fanny Brice which are sure to win wide favor. Both are excellently recorded and present the star of “My Man” in her best form. Towering above all the other noteworthy works on the special January 11th Victor release is the Beethoven Missa Solemnis, so ably reviewed last month by A. A. B.—another set of excellent records that no one, regardless of his musical tastes, should miss. The Rosenkavalier set should attract considerable interest as it is a special orchestral arrangement made by the composer to accompany a moving picture version of the opera. It was recorded under his direction with an orchestra of 145 picked players at the time of the London presentation of the film in 1926 and was one of the most successful early electrical recordings. We have often enjoyed playing this set in the Studio for guests who were anxious to hear something really non plus ultra. That Casals’ talents as a solo artist are equalled if not surpassed by his ability as a conductor is vividly proved by his notable recordings of the Coriolanus overture and the Brahms Variations on a Theme of Haydn. Gabrilowitsch does well with the long- awaited electrical version of Brahms’ Academic Festival overture; Malcolm Sargent plays color- ful versions of de Falla’s Three Cornered Hat ballet suite (a remarkable bargain on two seventy- five cent disks) ; Shavitch’s performance of Fabini’s Campo is now made available in the general catalogue, as are Dr. Blech’s Roman Carnival, Fidelio, and Flying Dutchman over- tures, and a number of other orchestral disks that appeared originally in the Victor international or foreign supplements. There are several first class organ records, led by the great Franck chorale in A minor and Dupre’s performance of the Bach Prelude and Fugue in C minor. The two piano releases are both of special interest: de Pach* mann’s performance of the Chopin Nocturne in E minor and two mazurkas, and Levitski’s per- formance of the Bach-Liszt Prelude and Fugue in A minor. The admirable Budapest String Quartet plays Mozart’s “Hunting Quartet” and Schubert’s “Satzquartett.” The Band of the Royal Belgian Guards gives us the first recorded version of Moussorgsky’s lovely Persian Dances. The Segovia records previously issued in the Spanish supplement are now made available for the general catalogue. There is a long list of distinguished vocal disks, some of which have been issued previously in the foreign supplements and commented on here then; there are many new releases also, by such celebrated artists as Edward Johnson, Marguerite D’Alvarez, Fernand Ansseau, Mary Lewis, etc. Still more note- worthy Victor releases are provided by the special Educational List No. 5 which is reviewed in de- tail elsewhere in this issue. There are two new worthy additions to the National Gramophonic Society’s chamber music repertory: Arnold Bax’s Phantasy Sonata for viola and harp, and Beethoven’s Sonata in G ma- jor played by Adila Fachiri and Professor Donald Francis Tovey. Among the foreign releases there are several unusually interesting records from Columbia: A Memory of Chopin by Le Maire String Orchestra, the Columbia Concert Orchestra’s Flower Song and Little Grandmother, and Schubert and Toselli Serenades, Stenka Razin sung by the Russkyj Choir, a new release by the Mandolin Orchestra of