Chopin: The Complete Mazurkas Alexander Brailowsky, pianist; Columbia M3S (stereo) and M3L-285: three records
If Alexander Brailowsky’s way with Chopin holds no surprises at this late date, neither does it offer any disappointments. Fluidity, sureness, sensibility, and the proper touch of poetry have marked his performance of this music for more years than he probably cares to count. Brailowsky is currently engaged in a project of recording the complete piano music of Chopin for Columbia, and this album is an important milestone along the way. The mazurkas occupy five sides of the album, the sixth being given over to the Polonaises in G-sharp Minor, F Minor, and D Minor and the Chopin-Liszt “My joys” and “ The Maiden’s Wish.”
Mozart: Così Fan Tutte
Karl Böhm conducting Philtharmoma Orchestra and Chorus with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, soprano; Christa Ludwig, mezzo-soprano; Hanny Steffek, soprano; Alfredo Kraus, tenor: Giuseppe Taddei, baritone; and Walter Berry, bass; Angel S-3631 (stereo) and 3631: four records Così Fan Tutte, a Mozart opera which the nineteenth century virtually ignored, has become a prime favorite in the twentieth. This is its fifth complete recording, and all are of substantial merit. The extras provided by the new Angel album are unusually rich and warm sound; a beautifully blended portrayal of the two romantically confused sisters, Fiordiligi and Dorabella, by Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Christa Ludwig; and the inclusion of two arias (for tenor and for mezzo-soprano) that are omitted from all other recordings. However, for all its loveliness of texture and sympathy of style the recording suffers occasionally from an overemphasis on sound “realism.” When Ferrando and Guglielmo, the two swains, serenade their ladyloves from a barge, the engineers have gone to such pains to achieve the effect of distance that one must strain to hear the music — or turn up the volume. Opinions differ as to the value of such “action” effects in operatic recording; this listener increasingly finds them dramatically insignificant and musically annoying.
Prokofiev: Piano Sonatas No. 2 in D Minor, Opus 14, and No. 3 in A Minor, Opus 28
Rachmaninoff: Three Preludes; Barcarolle; Etude Tableau; Elégie; Polichinelle
Gary Graffman, pianist; Columbia MS6444 (stereo) and ML-5844 Gary Graffman is a young pianist who cannot be typed as a specialist in any one school or style of music. Almost everything he plays is stamped with authority, if not originality. Here he is nothing less than brilliant, responding with technical sureness and musical insight to Prokofiev’s vigorous sonatas and Rachmaninoff’s moody melodies. Among its other attributes, this record helps demonstrate why Prokofiev’s stature as a composer has grown steadily higher with every passing year since his death in 1953.
Johann Strauss: Waltzes
Wolfgang Sawallisch conducting Vienna Symphony Orchestra; Philips PHS 900018 (stereo) and PHM 500-018 Good recordings of Strauss waltzes are no novelty, but this one is a beauty — rich and bouncy in sound and with a compulsive yet graceful rhythm and lyricism. Sawallisch obviously is a conductor with his heart in his work — and in this particular repertory. Rather than mixing in lesser-known waltzes among the famous ones, this recording concentrates on the tried-and-true favorites— “On the Beautiful Blue Danube,” “Roses From the South,” “Wine, Women and Song,” “Emperor,” “Artist’s Life,” and “Voices of Spring.”
Giuseppe di Stefano Sings Neapolitan Songs
Giuseppe di Stefano, tenor, with orchestra conducted by G. M Guarino; Angel S-36102 (stereo) and 36102
Giuseppe di Stefano is as goldenvoiced a tenor as exists in all Italy, so it is surprising as well as regrettable that he makes so few records nowadays. His characteristic lyricism, warmth, and musicianship are amply displayed in this collection of Neapolitan songs. Some of the selections are of minor interest, but among them are Tosti’s “Marechiare” and Denza’s “Funiculi’, Funicula’,” which, according to the jacket notes, was written in celebration of the running of the funicular railway up Mount Vesuvius. Or was this reviewer the only person in the world hitherto unaware of that fascinating fact?
Ives: Washington’s Birthday; Hallowe’en; The Bond; Central Park in lhe Dark
Flanagan: The Lady of Tearful Regret
William Strickland conducting Imperial Philharmonic of Tokyo and members of Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, with Eva Törklep Larson, soprano, and Yngvar Krogh, baritone; Composers Recordings, Inc., CRI-I63 (monaural)
One more extraordinary work by Charles Ives, the composer-insurance executive who died in 1954 at the age of eighty, is added to the catalogue with “Washington’s Birthday,” an orchestral evocation of a New England winter’s day. A bleak and astringent opening gives way to a village barn dance in which a Jew’s-harp adds its twang to the gay and cheerful sounds. A haunting snatch of “Good Night, Ladies,”woven into the symphonic fabric, ends the piece and demonstrates that American popular tunes can be as effective as those of any other land when treated by a master composer. “Washington’s Birthday” is a movement from a four-movement work called “A Symphony: Holidays,” which ought to be recorded in full. The three other brief Ives pieces on this record are more impressive for their refinement of technique than for their emotional or dramatic impact. William Flanagan’s “The Lady of Tearful Regret” is a setting of a poem by Edward Albee, the playwright. It creates a distinctive mood and atmosphere which the composer himself describes as “spooky.” Its exoticism reminded at least one listener of Stravinsky’s “Nightingale.” The performances of these American works by Japanese and Norwegian instrumentalists and singers are excellent.
