Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 3, No. 8 (1929-05)

258 The Phonograph Monthly Review May, 1929 for the Philadelphian is capable of transmitting only the absolute music of the work. Consequently, those who love Dvorak for his characteristic qualities are disappointed or displeased by Stokowski’s reading, while on the other hand those who have made no particular study of the Bohemian and have no particular affinity for his qualities (who share in fact Stokowski’s more sophisticated outlook) hnd his per- formance of what is to them nothing more than a “Sym- phony in E minor” quite the most stirring and effective they have ever heard. Harty, however, knows and loves Dvorak not so much for his music as for himself. His version captures all the characteristic devil-may-care, rough, swaggering spirit of the composer. He never hesi- tates to interrupt the sweep of the whole for the sake of pointing a felicitous passage or rhythm which brings out the joviality or naive sentiment that mark Dvorak’s charac- ter so strongly. There are many little “quirks”, especially in the wood wind passages, that stir us to sympathetic) chuckles and reassure us that music making need not al- ways be as fastidious and portentious as the learned ones profess to have it. In the “Carnival” overture Harty’s performance is of the same bright colors. The bluster and blatancy of his per- formance have the edge even on those that Dvorak ex- hibits in the work itself. A joyful performance: the con- ductor gives the orchestra its head and away it goes! Only an occasional twitch of Harty’s firm hand is needed to keep it on the track. By a miracle the orchestra finishes together (or nearly enough), leaving the listener literally breathless. Here Dvorak dons no ill-fitting and ill-becoming professional spectacles, nor does he trim his beard to con- duct a respectable choral society or to devote himself to the musical emancipation of the Afro-American. No, this is the beer-drinking, somewhat rowdy, and wholly delightful Dvorak in a mood no less unbuttoned than that favorite one of Beethoven! The other recordings (Victor) of the Carnival overture are less characteristic. Stock’s is brilliant but rather coarse (it was one of the early electrical disks) but Goossens’ (in the Hollywood Bowl Album) is a splendid performance, not incomparable with that of the “New World” symphony by Stokowski. I have not heard Sir Landon Ronald’s version of the overture, but I presume it is of a piece with his performance of the symphony— to my ears at least rather colorless and ineffective. Yet it has been generously praised in the British press. The “Carnival” overture is the second of a set of three, Opp. 91, 92, and 93. The other two, “In der Natur” and “Othello” are seldom performed in American concert halls and have never been recorded as far as I know. If they share even a few of the merits of “Carnival,” they surely should be made better known. These overtures were origin- ally intended to form a symphonic tripytch called“Nature, Love and Life.” There is one other recorded major work of Dvorak, the fourth symphony, given a vigorous and sympathetic reading by Basil Cameron, issued by the British Brunswick Com- pany, and soon to be given American release by the Bruns- wick Company here. Cameron’s orchestra is not the most grateful instrument in the world, but in his hands it out- does itself: a splendidly alert and clean-cut performance. The work itself is Dvorak and none other. Somewhajt 1 more loose-jointed than the “New World,” it has the same exuberance, unsophistication, and homely sentiment. A set of records that deserves a generous welcome. The third symphony and the symphonic variations head the list of Dvorak’s orchestral works that demand recording most loudly. Even more badly needed is a complete record- ing of the well-known violoncello concerto, frequently played in concert, but available on records only in a two-part acous- tical disk of unspecified excerpts played by Emanuel Feuer- mann for Parlophone. Dvorak’s chamber music has received considerable phono- graphic attention. The so-called “American” quartet is avail- able in two excellent electrical versions by the London String Quartet for Columbia and the Budapest String Quar- tet for Victor. There is also an old and very poorly record- ed Vox set of this work played by the Bohemian String Quartet of which Suk, Dvorak’s pupil and son-in-law, plays second violin, and which is an authority on Dvorak’s works. This organization is now recording for Polydor (quartets by Smetana and Suk), so there is a likelihood of its doing an electrical version of Dvorak’s “American” and other quartets. The Piano Quintet in A, Op. 81 (not the one composed in America) has been given a pleasing record performance by Ethel Bartlett and the Spencer Dyke String Quartet for the National Gramophonic Society. The “Dumky” Trio is recorded by the Budapest Trio for the British Brunswick Company ; this trio was available phonographically only in a “combination” version made up of three Polydor disks and one from Columbia. The works that first established Dvorak’s fame were the gay, tempestuous, glowing Slavonic Dances, which appeared originally as piano duets, Op. 46, Nos. 1-8, and Op. 72, Nos. 9-16. It is not an easy matter to identify these! dances correctly as the numbering has been altered con- siderably in some of the orchestral and other editions. Dr. Vojan gives the clue to their proper identification. In the orchestral arrangements (made by the composer) the pub- lisher switched two numbers, making the original no. 6 the new no. 3 and vice versa. The three well-known Kriesler arrangements are drawn from the second, tenth, and six- teenth original dances respectively. On record labels, how- ever, they are usually described as Slavonic Dances No. 1, 2, and 3, after Kreisler’s numbering. To further complicate matters, the dance recorded by Frederick Stock and labelled No. 1, is in actuality No. 8. There are four electrical orchestral recordings of Slavonic Dances: No. 8, mentioned above, in a brilliant performance by the Chicago Symphony for Victor; No. 10, in a colorless version by Dr. Weissmann for Odeon; Nos. 1 to 4, played by Sir Dan Godfrey for British Columbia; and an unspecified coupling by Dr. Blech for the German Victor Company (Electrola). The last two works have not been heard at the Studio, so I do not know whether the fouif dances played by Godfrey are the original first four or not, nor which dances are played by Dr. Blech. The last disk should be unusually good, for Dr. Blech is unsurpassed in such works, and the other disks in a series made at the same time are splendidly recorded (Italian Caprice, Euryanthe Overture, etc.). Several of the other dances are available in acoustical versions. Kreisler’s arrangements are out in a number of recordings. Szigeti and Seidel both have good electrical versions of the first (Columbia); Szigeti has a British Columbia record of the second, and Prihoda a Polydor electrical version; there are on electrical versions of the third. Kreisler has made acoustical versions of the first two, and Heifetz of all three (Victor Historical list). Undoubtedly these will be re- recorded before long. Apparently none of Dvorak’s larger choral works (Te Deum, The Spectre’s Bride, etc.) is recorded. There are a few recorded excerpts from his operas (Rusalka, Jakobin, Dimitrij, etc.) Four of his Biblical Songs ar availabl in a highly paised recorded performance by Dame Clara Butt for British Columbia, and two others have been acoustically recorded. None of the tone poems (Dr. Wasermann, etc.) has been recorded; indeed they are seldom if ever heard in American concert halls. There is no dearth of likely Dvorak material available for future recording, but without question the ’cello concerto should be given first choice. Dvorak was a true “original” (for all the fact that one can trace marked derivation in his works), a refreshingly healthy and genial personality in the world of music. The phonograph has never given him his full due, but it has made many of his works available in performances that are both worthy and characteristic of him. And these record- ings are to be cherished for their qualities of joviality and honest gusto—qualities that are none too common in either concert or phonographic literature. COMING SOON! A Smetana Issue with articles by Dr. Jar E. S. Vojan and other authorities.