Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 4, No. 8 (1930-05)

280 The Phonograph Monthly Review May, 1930 Columbia 2153-D (DIO, 75c) Widor: Organ Symphony No. 5—Toccata, played by Edouard Commette oil the or- gan of St. Jean Cathedral, Lyons, France. Commette’s French recordings, repressed by the Colum- bia Company here, are one of our few sources of major organ works. This month he plays a two-part version of the energetic Toccata from Widor’s F minor organ sym- phony (the same movement recorded by Goss-Custard for Victor, I believe). As in his earlier releases the recording is vigorous without approaching over-amplification, and the playing is spirited, clear, and brightly rhythmed. One might ask for more color to the registration, however. VIOLIN Victor 7182 (D12, $2.00) Mozart Concerto in G—Adagio, and Leclair (arr. Sarasate): Sarabande and Tambourin, played by Yehudi Menuhin, with piano accompaniments by Louis Persinger. Each Menuhin release adds new height to the boy’s phe- nomenal artistic stature. There is not a trace of parrot- like virtuosity here, rather a matured and vigorous inter- pretative power. His tone is rather less aggressive here than in his earlier disks. There is not great breadth, but the line is cleanly drawn and the tone pure and lyrical. The Mozart slow movement calls for greater penetration and subtlety than Menuhin yet boasts, but his perform- ance is an admirable one in other respects. The Sara- bande and Tambourin from a sonata by Jean-Marie Le- clair, a noted French violinist and composer of the early eighteenth century, display Menuhin’s best qualities—a di- rectness and sureness of attack, and a firmness of grasp comparable only with those of a few consummate virtuosi. Victor 7195 (D12, $2.00) Elman: Tango, and Wagner (arr. Wilhelmj): Album Leaf—Romance, played by Mischa Elman with piano accompaniments by Josef Bonime. Elman wields a composer’s pen more adroitly than Zim- balist, indeed nearly as happily as Kreisler. His Tango is a very attractive re-working of the familiar tango ingredi- ents, handled with a surety and vigor that lends them new life. The performance is a brilliant one with some ex- tremely sturdy double stopping. Mr. Bonime’s accompani- ment shares the honors. It is not often we find an accom- panist as willing to take advantage of the present-day re- cording powers to bring out the full fresh savour of the piano part. The Wagner morceau on the other side is a sad let-down, a highly romanticized salon piece that indi- cates what Wagner’s first operas (Die Feen, etc.) must have been like, and serves to point the contrast between his ar- tistic stature then and that a few decades later when he was writing Tristan and the Ring. Elman plays it with the proper blandness. VIOLONCELLO Victor 7193 (D12, $2.00) Dvorak: Songs My Mother 1 Taught Me; Rimsky-Korsakow: Flight of the Bumble Bee; Mendelssohn: Song Without Words, in D, Op. 109, played by Pablo Casals, with piano accompaniments by Bias-Net. April release: received too late for review in the last is- sue. This unusual combination of selections exhibits vari- ous aspects of Casals’ talents. The Dvorak song is played quite slowly and with considerably more warmth and ripe- ness of feeling than is usual with Casals. The Mendels- sohn is done in subdued fashion with the high singing can- tilena effectively relieved by broadly sonorous passages in the lower register. The Flight of the Bumble Bee is a tour de force even for orchestra, but it comes off aston- ishingly well for the solo ’cello. Casals plays it with im- mense dash and go; the bee buzzes very savagely indeed. Columbia 50214-D (D12, $1.25) Sulzer: Sarabande, and Hure: Air, played by W. H. Squire, with organ accompani- ments. Squire goes to unfamiliar composers for this coupling. Sulzer was a noted Viennese musician of the nineteenth century who brought about important musical reforms in the orthodox Jewish synagogues. His Sarabande is broad- ly eloquent, and Squire’s rich, full tone and the sonorous organ accompaniment give it both dignity and very moving force. The Hure air is more frankly expressive, with a slight reminiscence of Delius in its harmonic idiom and the turn of its melodic line. It is slighter—if perhaps more ob- viously attractive—material than the other, and here the swelling organ background is less fitting. Squire plays richly and only an occasional over-ripe slur mars his per- formances. The disk is one of appeal to an unusually large public; I trust that the unfamiliarity of the composer’s names will not hinder its finding wide favor. LUTE QUARTET Victor 9397 (D12, $1.50) Croft: Allemande, and Turina (arr. Aguilar): Fiesta Mora en Tanger, played by the Ag- uilar Lute Quartet. This and another disk by the Aguilar four was reviewed from the Spanish pressings in the February issue. _ This is the more attractive of the two with a grave, dignified Al- lemande contrasting with the force and fury of the Moor- ish Festival. William Croft was an Englishman (1678- 1727), a noted composer of church music in his day. This Allemande is the first example of his secular compositions to be recorded as far as I know. The recording is clear a,ndi vigorous, giving full vent to the quartet’s surprising dynamic range, especially in the Turina piece. The wide variety of tone coloring of rhythmical effects, handled with genuine musicianship, make the record of uncommon in- terest. The quartet, by the way, is recruited from a single family, playing variously sized Spanish lutes, some of which possess guitar qualities, and others those of the mandoline. R. O. B. A GUITRY-PRINTEMPS ALBUM Victor Concert Series C-8 (3 D12s, 2 DIOs, Alb., $6.50) Selections from the Repertoire of Yvonne Printemps and Sacha Guitry. The most delightful surprise of the month. The Guitry- Printemps company has travelled widely among the lead- ing cities in the United States. The readers of The Phono- graph Monthly Review are surely already aware of their fame. Those who have not yet had the opportunity of hear- ing one of their truly charming plays—Mozart, Mariette, or L’Amour Masque,—now have the opportunity of atoning for their neglect. I note that the Victor Company stresses the value of these records to students of the language. Naturally they are invaluable in that respect, for M. Guitry’s flexible, crisp diction is a miracle of classical lucidity in an age when shoddiness of speech has very largely dry rotted the dramatic art. It is seldom that one hears lang- uage spoken as simply and effectively. But whether one is studying French, or even knows any, the disks are still of uncommon interest by virtue of Mile. Printemps’ sing- ing and the graceful or plaintive music by Reynaldo Hahn, Oscar Strauss, and Andre Messager. Mjlle. Printemps' voice is an expressive soprano, at times displaying some tendency to waver, but delicate and fresh in color, and with a remarkable power of breath control. There is an unique combination of musical and dramatic talent in the persons of the Guitry’s, and the present recordings catch the full flavor of their highly personalized art. The selections are as follows: No. 9643 (12 inch) Air des Adieux from “Mozart” sung by Yvonne Printemps, and Interview Scene from “Debu- rau” by Sacha Guitry. No. 9644 (12 inch) Final Scene, Act II, of “Mariette” (2 parts), Printemps and Guitry. No. 9645 (12 inch) Reflexions, monologue by Guitry, and Depuis trois ans passes from “Mariette” sung by Printemps. No. 4181 (10 inch) Air de la Lettre from “Mozart” sung by Printemps, and Le petit menuet from “Mozart” by Gui- try. No. 4182 (10 inch) J’ai deux amants from “L’Amour Mas- que” sung by Printemps, and Duo from Act II of “L’Amour Masque” by Printemps and Guitry. The accompanying orchestra provides discreetly subdued tonal backgrounds, and the recording is excellent, catching even the slightest inflections of speech, and even the little gurgles of laughter and inarticulate responsive noises that lend the Guitrys’ colloquies such irresistible charm. K. B.