Record Reviews

The following records have been reviewed as monophonic (standard) or stereophonic according to which versions were sent the reviewer. Most of the monophonics will be available later in stereo, and most of the stereos already have been issued as monophonics and can be bought in either form.

Monophonic

Anderson, Leroy: Selections, Vol. II

Frederick Fennell conducting EastmanRochester Pops Orchestra; Mercury MG50043: 12”

Included here are The Typewriter, The Waltzing Cat, and Blue Tango, along with nine other Anderson favorites played with perceptive wit and recorded in crisp, sweet sound. A delightful present to yourself or anyone else.

Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique

Sir Thomas Beecham conducting National French Radio Orchestra; EMI-Capitol G-7102: 12”

Hardly anyone conducts the Fantastique badly, but hardly anyone conducts it as well as Sir Thomas. Monteux did, but his record is old and sonically thin. The Columbia Ormandy still sounds good, but not this good. Beecham’s is the version to own.

Brahms: Magelone Songs

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone; Jörg Demus, piano; Decca DL-9401: 12”

Why this solitary song cycle of Brahms is not often performed I do not know. It is written to poems of Ludwig Tieck, which were in turn based on the Provençal folk tales of the beautiful Princess Magelone and her wandering knight, Peter of the Silver Keys. The text will put you in mind of Peer Gynt and of the Thousand and One Nights, but the music is pure Brahms. Fischer-Dieskau has a delightful time with it all, and so will you.

Brahms: Quintets No. 1 and No. 2

Budapest String Quartet; Walter Trampler, second violist; Columbia ML-5281: 72”

Critics commonly describe these two works as sunny, which I do not think they are. Certainly they have vigor and are not mournful, but both are thoughtful, especially No. 2. So are the Budapests and Mr. Trampler playing them. Not easy listening, but rewarding. Turn the treble down.

Mozart: Quintets in G Minor, k. 516, and C Minor, K. 406

Griller String Quartet; William Primrose, second violist; Vanguard VRS-1029: 12”

Mozart felt diffident about writing string quartets (the most practical form of chamber music) because it put him into competition with his dearest friend, Josef Haydn. Hence we got from him a small treasury of variants on that form, including these two viola quintets. Both exhibit Mozart’s matchless touch of bittersweet; he was expressing himself, not writing for sale. The performance is very restrained, but I find this no fault in these works. The sound is gentle but good.

Purcell: The Fairy Queen

Anthony Lewis conducting Peter Pears, Jennifer Vyvyan, other singers; Saint Anthony Chorus; Boyd Neel Orchestra; Oiseau-Lyre/London OL-50139-41: three 12”

If I had to choose a favorite recording from the vintage of 1958, I am pretty sure this would be it. There is such a fantastic largess here of song and dance, and splendid tunes for trumpets, drums, and fiddles, that you simply will not believe it until you hear it. Not even Handel or Gluck could write theater music quite like this, and no one else, even the great madrigalists, ever set English to music so well as Purcell (this comment may stir argument, but I will point out that Mr. John Dryden is on my side). There are more than fifty musical numbers on the six record sides. They were composed for a revival of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1692. No one seems to know who wrote the lyrics. They are indifferent poetry, if they are poetry at all, but they fit Purcell’s intent perfectly; indeed, this is almost a separate opera imposed on Shakespeare’s play, and the talents are not disparate. Almost everything about Purcell is mystery (it is not even certain when he was born), but one of the greatest mysteries is why we do not hear more of his music. Conductor, soloists (who include two counter tenors), and other performers leave little to be wished for in this endeavor; so do the engineers. From time to time you will catch your breath.

Smetana: Má Vlast

Dvořák: Slavonic Rhapsodies, Op. 45, No. 1 and No. 2

Antal Dorati conducting Concertgebouw Orchestra; Epic SC-6026: two 12” Bohemia is the most tragic country - except perhaps for Poland — in the whole story Europe bequeaths us. Here is a musical view of it, sweeping and melodic, touched with honest heroics and true love, relayed by its two greatest composers. The big picture is by Smetana. It incorporates two landscapes with which almost everyone is familiar, The Moldau and Bohemia’s Forests and Meadows. Dorati and the responsive Concertgebouw bring them into clear, live focus. There are four other tonal sketches, just as vivid with history and Czechish flavor. The Dvořák rhapsodies serve as a sort of envoi. Altogether engrossing.

Robeson: Songs

Paul Robeson, baritone; Harriet Wingreen, piano; chorus and orchestra; Vanguard VRS-9037: 72”

One need not approve of Mr. Robeson’s politics to approve of his John Brown’s Body or his Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho. He forces you to appreciate him, by dint of a power and clarity as forceful at sixty as when he began to sing. You know there is a lot of man on the other side of the microphone, and plenty of voice, too.

Stereophonic

Bach at Zwolle

E. Power Biggs, organ; Columbia KS6005

Probably more by design than chance, Columbia made its initial bid for the affections of the stereophonophile with a disc of E. Power Biggs playing Bach on a historic Arp Schnitger organ. The record is a honey. The Dutch engineers did a wonderful job. So did Biggs. SO did Bach-whose offerings, incidentally, are the “Great” Prelude and Fugue in D and the “Arnstadt" and “St. Anne" Preludes and Fugues. A monophonic version is available also.

Beethoven: Symphony No.5

Ernest Ansermet conducting Orchestra of the Suisse Romande; London CS-6037 One of the most wonderful things that could have happened to usher in the stereo era did. In all the ten years of L.P, there never has been a really masterly recording of the world’s best loved symphony. Now there is. Ansermet’s is a personalized interpretation, lacking the metronomic exactitude that Toscanini applied to the Fifth, but the tempo changes are, to my mind, quite in keeping with Beethoven’s intent. The string sound will be steely on some equipment. Again, no matter. The rightness of the dynamics is overpowering. The work imparts its own indomitable courage to the hearer; that is what counts.

Schubert: “Trout" Quintet

Rolf Rheinhardt, piano; Endres String Quartet; Vox ST-PL-10890 As a monophonic issue, this would not be preferable to its Vox predecessor, played by Friedrich Wührer and the Barchet Quartet. Its distinction as a stereo disc is very largely sonic. The record is obviously the result of an attempt to yield in the living room a replica of music that might very well be played in the living room, and it is reasonably successful. Credit must go to Vox engineer Rudolf Van Gelder and to the Fairchild Recording Equipment Corporation, who cut the grooves. Maybe the realism quelled the musicians. Their performance is a little mild.

German University Songs, Vol. II

Erich Kunz, baritone; Anton Pauhk conducting Chorus and Orchestra of Vienna State Opera; Vanguard VSD-2009 The monophonic version already has been reviewed here, and very good it was. However, the stereo edition surpasses it so cogently that another notice is justified. Probably the record was made in Continental stereo style, with directional microphones placed close together but pointed apart. The result is a quite startling intimacy and clarity; in some ways this is the best stereo disc I have heard.