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

October, 1929 The Phonograph Monthly Review 5 best foreign disks are re-pressed in this country. The Okeh Phonograph Corporation has long been pre-eminent in giving American release to excellent waltz performances by leading Contin- ental ensembles. The acoustical Odeon catalogue held a wealth of such material, and the new cata- logue is not far behind. More or less at random I might pick out the following list of waltz record- ings for mention: Oscar Strauss’ Last Waltz and Waldteufel’s Drifting Leaves by Lorand’s Orchestra (Odeon 3246). Lehar’s Gold and Silver and Johann Strauss’ Acceleration by Dajos Bela’s Orchestra (3244). Lehar’s Luxemburg and Gypsy Love by Dajos Bela’s Orchestra (3227). Leo Fall’s Dollar Princess and your Dance is a Love Mem- ory by Dajos Bela’s Orchestra (3223). Wald- teufel’s Forget-Me-Not in a two-part performance by Lorand’s Orchestra (3214). My dream and Goldshower by Dajos Bela’s Orchestra (3196). Les Sirenes and Estudiantina by Dajos Bela’s Orchestra (3162). The Kiss and Cuckoo waltzes by the Okeh International Orchestra (3516). Love Forever and Half Moon by Ferraro’s Orchestra (3511). My Heart is Yours and Dolores (Spanish Waltzes) by the Odeon Argentinians (3509). Polemblut and Little Mother by Dajos Bela’s Orchestra (3521). Waltz Dream Selections by Lorand’s Orchestra (3231). The International lists of the Victor Company are also treasure mines of good waltz disks. Of the many Marek Weber works I like best his Waltz Potpourri on 59073 and Viennese Potpourri on 59006 (both in two-part versions). Among the others by this orchestra are: Lehar’s Lux- embourg and Kiss at Dawn (50005), Waldteufel’s Much Beloved (59004—with Greig’s Wedding Day at Trollhaugen), Siren of the Ball and Moonlight on Alster (25852). The Hungarian Rhapsody Orchestra does well with three disks of ingeniously arranged medley waltzes: Gypsy Souvenir and Hungarian Flower (35929), Dreams of Schubert (35925), Night in Budapest and Night in Vienna (25886). Shilkret and the Inter- national Orchestra have done a number of good waltzes, although at times the tendency to over- elaborate instrumentation mars their effect. Be- sides the Strauss works mentioned earlier I might single out the Merry Widow and Luxembourg (68767), Spring, Beautiful Spring and Vienna Blood (68811), The Skaters and Estudiantina (35798), and the Tales of Hoffman Barcarolle and Mendelssohn Spring Song in waltz arrange- ments (35839). Shilkret conducts the Victor Orchestra in the excellent Viennese Waltzes and German Waltzes of Schubert, contained in album set C-3. The Brunswick and Columbia Companies have devoted less attention to waltz disks, but each boasts a number of good ones. Of the Bruns- wick’s first mention might go to Spring, Beauti- ful Spring played by the Brunswick International Orchestra on 57016. The same orchestra also plays Amoreuse and Play Gypsies (57012), Gypsy Love and Aisha (77009), and Sara and Prima- vera (Vocalion 8185). The Brunswick Concert Orchestra plays Waldteufel’s Jolly Fellows and The Skaters (77004, and the A. & P. Gypsies play First Love and Old Gypsy (3587). One of the best Columbias is the Le-Maire Orchestra’s Memory of Chopin (38006-F). Other waltz disks to be singled out are Medley Waltz by the Colonial Orchestra (59051-F), Eloping and At Midnight by the Hungarian Gypsy Orchestra (38002-F), Merry Widow and My Hero by Paul Whiteman’s Concert Orchestra (50069-D), Vienna Life and Over the Waves by the Columbia International Orchestra (59040-F), and Mexicali Rose and Amalia by the Columbia Mexicans Orchestra (12107-F). The Chopin, Brahms, and other waltzes for piano hardly fall within the scope of this brief survey. Nor do the various waltz songs, of which there are many excellent recorded examples. However, some reference surely should be made to the more elaborate concert waltz recordings. It should be remembered that the disks above, with the exception of the celebrity versions of some of the Strauss works, are played by “con- cert” and “salon” orchestras. Waltzes written or arranged for large symphony orchestras are nat- urally more elaborate in texture. And a step higher still on the musical ladder are the waltz poems or apotheoses of the waltz. Ravel’s La Valse is available in two meritous versions, by Coates and the London Symphony (Victor 9130-1) and by Gaubert and the Paris Conservatory Orchestra (Columbia 67384-5-D). Coates emphasizes the work’s irony and almost brutal sensuality; Gaubert’s reading is smoother and more fluent, but less strikingly individual. Weber’s Invitation to the Dance in Berlioz’ ar- rangement is recorded by Stokowski and the Phil- adelphia Symphony (Victor 6643) and Weiss- mann and the Berlin State Orchestra (Parlophone E-10529-30) and in Weingartner’s arrangement by Weingartner and the Basle Symphony (Col- umbia 50159-D). Of the numerous Valse Triste records I might mention those by Sokoloff and the Cleveland Symphony (Brunswick 50149), Stock and the Chicago Symphony (Victor 6579), and Jarenfeldt and the Berlin State Orchestra (Parlophone E-10774). The Rosenkavalier Waltzes are played by Morike and the Berlin State Orchestra (Colum- bia 7150-M and Odeon 5120), Strauss and the Augmented Tivoli Orchestra (Victor 9281), and Strauss and the Berlin State Opera Orchestra (In Brunswick Symphony Album No. 4). Glazounow’s Valse de Concert is played by Dr. Hertz and the San Francisco Symphony on Victor 6826. There are a number of good Tchaikowsky waltz records, particularly the Valse de Fleurs as played by Stokowski and the Philadelphia Symphony (in Victor Masterpiece Set M-3), the Sleeping Beauty Waltz by Sokoloff and the Cleveland Symphony (Brunswick 15120) and Goossens and the Holly- wood Bowl Orchestra (in Victor Masterpiece