Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 4, No. 3 (1929-12)

The Phonograph Monthly Review 75 December, 1929 *311 i .. i ■ ■ donderry Air, Dr. Volkmar Andreae and the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra play Busoni’s arrange- ment of Mozart’s II Seraglio overture, Sir Dan Godfrey conducts the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra in three dances from Edward Ger- man’s Henry VIII music, and British release is given Hubermann’s performance of the Tchai- kowsky Violin Concerto (issued in Germany last month under the Parlophone label). Richard Mayr and Anni Andrassy sing the Act II Finale of Der Rosenkavalier under the direction of Bruno Walter, Ivar Andresen sings Hagen’s Watch from Die Gotterdammerung and Pogner’s Address from Die Meistersinger, the St. George Singers sing madrigals by Morley, East, and Weelkes, the National Choir and B. B. C. Or- chestra are heard in choruses from Bantok’s Pilgrim’s Progress, and the Columbia Light Opera Company sings gems from Noel Coward’s Bitter Sweet. A sixteenth series of International Educational Society records includes Sir Henry Newbolt reading his own poems, lectures on Sound by Sir William Bragg, The Romans in Britain, Section 4, by Sir George Macdonald, and The Care of the Teeth by Sir Francis Dyke Ackland. On the H. M. V. list (beside the Mozart sym- phony mentioned above and the Rachmaninoff concerto and other American re-pressings) there are: Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro for Strings conducted by John Barbirolli, Johann Strauss’ Artist’s Life Waltz conducted by Kleiber, two Chopin preludes and one by Mendelssohn played by De Pachmann, Schumann’s F sharp major Romance and Grainger’s Shepherd’s Hey played by Mark Hambourg, a scene from Gotterdam- merung (Hast du, Gunther, ein Weib?) sung by Schorr, Melchior, and Topas-Watzke with the Berlin State Opera Orchestra under Blech, arias from Otello and Barber of Seville sung by Giovanni Inghilleri, the Faust Jewel Song by Fanny Heldy with orchestra conducted by Cop- pola, the Tannhauser Rome Narration by Lauritz Melchior with orchestra conducted by Coates, and Die Meistersinger Chorale and Act III Finale by the Royal Choral Society under Sargent. A new version of Beethoven’s Fifth comes from Parlophone: Josef Rosenstock is the conductor with the Berlin State Opera Orchestra. The same orchestra plays Dvorak’s 8th and 16th Slavonic Dances under Dobrowen’s leadership, Otto Dobrindt conducts the Grand Symphony in Quilter’s Children’s Overture, Spiwakowsky plays Kreisler’s Tambourin Chinois and the Paganini- Kreisler Caprice XX, Alfred Horn plays two Chopin etudes and the Scarlatti-Tausig Pastorale, Max Hirzel sings arias from Don Giovanni, Emmy Bettendorf and Karin Branzell sing a duet from Act 2 of Aida, the St. William’s Choir of Strasbourg are heard in three choruses from Bach Passion According to St. John, the Spanish Place Choral Society is recorded in pieces from the National Catholic Congress of 1929, Ninon Vallin sings Faure’s Clair de Lune and L’Autom- me, and Lotte Lehmann sings arias from Tosca and Boheme. Miscellaneous British releases: Ansell’s Irish Suite played by the Decca Light Symphony Or- chestra under the composer (Decca), Mignon Overture by the Symphony Orchestra, Berlin (Broadcast Twelve), Tannhauser Overture and Ride of the Valkyries by the Edison Bell Sym- phony Orchestra (Edison Bell), first and last movements of Schumann’s Piano Quintet by the Stratton Quartet and Stanley Chappie (Broad- cast Twelve), Vaughn Williams’ Folk Song Suite and Toccata Marzial for Military Band (Decca). The French Columbia Company issues a remarkable set of records of Ravel’s L’Heure espagnole, sung by Mme. Kreiger and MM. Arnoult, Aubert, Dufranne, and Giles, un- der the direction of Georges True. From the same company comes three examples of what Milhaud terms an “opera-minute” by the ensem- ble Pro Musica conducted by the composer (each opera occupies two record sides). Also a quartet by Tibor Harsanyi played by the Roth String Quartet, two choral pieces sung by the Coecila Choir of Anvers, unspecified sixteenth century madrigals by the same choir, and Duparc’s Aux Etoils—on the odd side of the French pressings of Gaubert’s version of the Franck Symphony. Other European releases include Chabrier’s Bourree Fantasque and Marche Joyeuse, Dukas’ L’Apprenti sorcier, and Liadof’s Baba-Yaga by the Lamoureux (Polydor) ; Berlioz’ Cellini Over- ture by the Berlin Philharmonic for Polydor and by the Berlin State Opera Orchestra for Parlo- phone; Ravel’s String Quartet played by the Krettly Quartet (French H. M. V.) ; Onslow’s Quintet played by the Gewandhas Wind Quintet (Polydor) ; Scriabin’s Etude, Op. 42, No. 5, played by Gourevitch (Pathe-Art) ; two Bach chorales and the Fantasy in G minor, an original Andantino and Improvisation, played by Louis Vierne on the Notre-Dame (Paris) Cathedral Or- gan (French Odeon) ; Debussy’s Dances for Harp played by Lil Laskine (French H. M. V.) ; the Barber of Seville in complete form—sixteen records—under the direction of Molajoli (Italian Columbia) ; a Quartet in A flat by Stan Golestan, played by the Poltronieri String Quartet (Italian Columbia) ; and Pizetti’s Tre Canti ad una Giovane Fidanzata and Air in D major, played by the composer (piano) and A. Poltronieri (vio- lin). As most of our readers probably know by this time, the Edison Company has announced that it is entirely discontinuing the manufacture of phonograph records. As they most correctly state, the existing leading companies are fully able to accommodate the music-loving public in a most satisfactory manner. (This last remark is the truest ever made by the Edison organiza- tion!) According to the announcement “lack of facilities” was the reason for taking this impor- tant step. However, if they were to tell the real