Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 4, No. 1 (1929-10)

2 The Phonograph Monthly Review October, 1929 popular in this country. Miss Cohen is less well- known here, but her high qualities of musician- ship and the vivid personality of her performan- ces should speedily win her a public no less ap- preciative than she has won in England and the Continent. I also welcome a re-recording of Tchaikowsky’s “Pathetique” Symphony, conduct- ed by Dr. Oskar Fried who has given us so many excellent records in the past. This replaces the acoustical version by Sir Henry Wood, one of the first releases in the Masterworks Series. The third Masterworks set, Beethoven’s Quartet in F, Op. 18, No. 1, played by the Lener String Quartet, arrived too late for review in this issue, but un- doubtedly it is up to the same high standard as the Leners’ other Beethoven works in this form. Columbia orchestral releases include L’Arle- sienne Suite in a sparkling performance by Pierre Chagnon and the Paris Symphony Orchestra, the Entrance Chorus and Prelude—Third Part— from Cavelleria Rusticana conducted by Mascag- ni himself (released sometime ago under the American Odeon label) , and two Strauss Waltz- es, Artist’s life and Wiener Bonbons, played by Dajos Bela and his orchestra. Myra Hess is heard in the third Prelude and Fugue from the Well-Tempered Clavier and the Allegro from Bach’s G major Toccata; Lotte Lehmann is heard at her best in two Schubert lieder (An die Mu- sik and Sei mir Gegriisst); Anna Case sings tw r o pleasing Irish songs; Stracciari sings familiar arias from Gioconda and Trovatore; Charles Hackett sings I Look into Your Garden and The World is Waiting for the Sunrise; and the Musi- cal Art Quartet plays attractive transcriptions of Deep River and Nobody Knows de Trouble I’ve Seen. A later list includes La Forza del Destino Overture conducted by Molajoli, Pax Vobiscum—one of the prize-winners in the British zone of last season’s Schubert Centennial contest, and Moussorgsky’s Song of the Flea and II Credo from Otello sung by Luigi Montesanto. These, however, were received too late for re- view this month. Brunswick gives us a welcome, recording of one of the great masterpieces of piano literature, Beethoven’s Sonata in A flat, Op. 110, in an ad- mirable recorded performance by Edward Goll. Elisabeth. Rethberg sings Lassen’s Was It a Dream? and one of Cadman’s best compositions —A Moonlight Song; Mario Chamlee aided by a male trio sings A Perfect Day and Absent; Fred- erick Fradkin plays violin transcriptions of two popular pieces—Wedding of the Painted Doll and Honey; A1 Goodman’s Orchestra acquits itself creditably in medleys from Follow Thru and Hold Everything; the Brunswick Concert Orchestra gives deft performances of Herbert’s Badinage and von Blon’s La Danseuse; and the A & P Gypsies offer salon orchestra versions of Simple Aveu and The Far-Away Bells. The leading Odeon works are a brilliant two- part duet from Traviata (Puro si come un an- gelo) sung by Dalla-Rizza and Fregosi; a con- cert-jazz transcription of I Kiss Your Hand, Ma- dame, played in virtuoso fashion by Dajos Bela and his orchestra; the same orchestra in Toselli’s Serenade and Drdla’s Souvenir; Dr. Becca con- ducting his Terra-Symphony Orchestra in a vi- vacious performance of Leo Fall’s Divorcee Med- ley ; and Edith Lorand conducting her own orch- estra in two pleasing waltzes, Wedding of the Winds and Goldshower. There are no Edison celebrity releases this month, but the very extensive popular and dance lists are topped by fine examples of salon orch- estra playing at its best—Softly as in a Morn- ing Sunrise and Blue Hawaii played by the Hotel Commodore Ensemble under Bernhard Levitow. Not far behind are the very pleasing violin tran- scriptions of popular pieces of the day played by Walter Mayo and his ensemble. All five companies of course release also long lists of popular and jazz records, comment on which is given among the Popular Vocal and In- strumental and Dance Record reviews elsewhere in this isue. The Victor “Foreign” supplement contains a number of disks of strong general appeal: chorus- es from Boris Godounow by the Royal Opera Chorus and Covent Garden Orchestra, arias from Otello and Madame Butterfly sung by Mar- gherita Sheridan, selections from Mefistofele play- ed by Creatore’s Band, Eva and Carmen Sylva Waltzes played by Shilkret and his International Orchestra, two good potpourri disks by Marek Weber’s Orchestra, and Strauss’ Accelerationen in a fine performance by Knappertsbusch and the Berlin State Opera Orchestra. For Odeon Rich- ard Tauber sings two effective “characteristic” songs, An der Wolga and Zigeunerweisen, ac- companied by Dajos Bela’s Orchestra; the Mini- chini Italian Royal Marine Band plays a fine Rigoletto fantasy; Hjalmer Olsson, a noteworthy bass-baritone, sings two Swedish songs; and there are march disks by the Kapelle der Landes- polizei, Miinchen, and the Kleine Deutsche Kon- zertkapelle. Columbia features waltzes by the Novelty Orchestra, a two-part Fanfare Mosaique by the Fanfare Columbia, and folksongs by the London Jewish Male Choir. Brunswick concen- trates, as is its custom, in the Italian and Span- ish-Mexican fields only, issuing extended lists of records in both classifications. Among the imported records received at the Studio are Elgar’s ‘Cello Concerto played by Beatrice Harrison with the New Symphony Or- chestra under the direction of the composer (H. M. V.) ; Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro (“Harp Septet”) by the Virtuoso String Quartet with Cockerill, Murchie, and Draper (H. M. V.) : Mo- zart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik conducted by John Barbirolli (H. M. V.) : Liszt’s Hungarian Rhap- sody No. 14 played by Mark Hambourg; and a long list of noteworthy Homocord records by Gieseking, Miinz, and others—reviewed as a group elsewhere in this issue. Haydn’s “Clock” Symphony, recorded by Tos- canini and the New York Philharmonic-Sym- phony at the same time their Traviata preludes were made, anticipates its American releases by