The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1926-07-19
DIAL TW|STERS
! STAY At HOME

Will IL uH~HWH
Wise dial twisters remained at
home Saturday and Sunday eve.
nings, after trying the outside AR
for. inst a moment or two. Fort
Worth, Dallas, Minneapolis, Dnven.
port, and Chicago were all reaGy
60 respond. But the celestial rock.
cruslers were on the Job, too, and
dumped the works on any signals
started i'm the receivers. The roar
and rattle on the wave lengths
was entirely too severe and con-
finuous for comfort anywhere but
ct the home station.
With the elements. all seemed to
combine to make radio listening q
most irksome chore anywhere but
on the home stations Saturday and
Sunday evenings-there Yves yet
more good music in the air around
these parts than the loud speakers
have, delivered for . couple o.
months OF week ends.
The Philharmonic Orchestra and
the rich contralto voice OF Betty
Poulus that came from VIZ
through WRC. and the playing or
Grieg's Rustic March" by the
Boernstein ensemble at the Wash
ington Hotel would have made any
Saturday evening notable. For the
Sabbath there was the music Or.
Billie Axt wrote as a setting Tor
the film version OF La Boheme,
the PLAYING of the string quartet OF
the CAPITOL Theater and the much
improved orchestra OF the Vesper
Hour-all from WCAP.
PHILHARMONIC GIVES
VARIETY OF THRILLS
There was a variety OF thrills
for variety of music lovers in
the Philharmonic program at WIZ,
Saturday evening. The manner in
which the orchestra played Men.
delssohn's Midsummer Nights
Dream" suite was beyond anything
that was expected.
In which connection may offer
apology for an inexcuseable lapse?
Attention OF music lovers was called
Saturday to the scherzo of the
Mendelssohn. suite as having been
written to emphasize the double
reed, oboe, family Of instruments OF
the orchestra. Az q matter Of fact,
nobody ought to know better than
/ do that the Mendelssohn scherzo
is devoted to strings and the flute,
as have used It frequently to
illustrate just that part Of the or
chestra.
However, the playing Of the suite
by the Philharmonic was q real
midsummer nights dream OF the
finest kind. The concert waltz by
Langley was an average concert
waltz, with no particular high spots,
and the Tschaikowsky number was
given IN an academic manner, but
with great color and life. The
singing of Bett Poulus, during the
interrnission. introduced q contralto
voice to radio very much out of
the ordinary. The "Scherazade'
suite, with its sudden turnings ana
vivid contrasts. was finely done.
The suggestion that there was
need for anyone to write new
musical score for the story OF la
Boheme" might seem to be entirely
out of place TO anyone familiar
with the exquisite Puccini music
but be that as it may DIR. Billie
Axt has done just that thing and
the playing of it by the Capitol
Theater Orchestra last evening
gave the radio audience increased
respect for DR.. Billie-if that were
needed.
In the vesper Hour of Music
from WFAP last evening a very
much improved orchestra was heard
AN orchestra however, that en-
phasized more than ever the alb
sence of a directive force capable
of giving the audience anything but
the notes the composers wrote.
And that emphasized also the
need of adequate rehearsal.
The very fine work Of the four
singers was somewhat hampered,
save in the case OF Miss Arth, by
very apparent uneasiness regard
ing accomplishments undoubtedly
due to lack OF rehearsal also. The
quartet now assembled for the Yes
per Hour is one of the finest groups
OF individual voices that is being
heard through radio. 1t should
have adequate support and oppor-
tunity for proper rehearsal.