Reviewed by: RICHARD FREED; DAVID HALL; GEORGE JELLINEK; PAUL KRESH; STODDARD
LINCOLN; ERIC SALZMAN
ARGENTO: To Be Sung upon the Water. John Stewart (tenor); Charles Russo (clarinet, bass clarinet); Donald Hassard (piano). ROREM: King Midas. Sandra Walker (mezzo-soprano); John Stewart (tenor); Ann Schein (piano). DESTO DC-6443 $6.98.
Performance: Good
Recording: Good
These are provocative works by two American composers, Dominick Argento and Ned Rorem, who know how to write for the singing voice-a gift not shared by many of their contemporaries. Argento's contribution is a sequence of eight "Barcarolles and Nocturnes for High Voice, Piano and Clarinet (or Bass Clarinet)." The texts, all by William Wordsworth, are in praise of nature, dealing with rivers, lakes, and seas. The title is Schubert's, to whom Argento pays tribute in subtle musical ways as well. There are plenty of interesting ideas here, though the verbal richness of some of Wordsworth's lines sometimes gets in the way of singability.
More fluent, for musical purposes, are the ten poems by Howard Moss which make up the Rorem cantata. The musical setting is done with the composer's oft-praised skill and sensitivity. One of the songs (The Princess' Speech) sounds exceptionally inspired to me.
I cannot say that the cantata abounds in similar melodic felicities, however, and I am not impressed by Mr. Argento's essentially declamatory statements.
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Explanation of symbols:
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= stereo cassette El = quadraphonic disc
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= eight-track quadraphonic tape
Monophonic recordings are indicated by the symbol
The first listing is the one reviewed; other formats, if available, follow it.
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The performances, however, are praise worthy. The singing of tenor John Stewart is warm, expressive, and projected with remarkable textual clarity. Sandra Walker is adequate, and the instrumentalists are excel lent in their rewarding assignments. The sound is clear, the stereo in the Argento work is far-spread, but there is considerable sur face noise on my review copy. G.J.
J. S. BACH: Brandenburg Concertos (BWV 1046-1051). Virtuosi of England, Arthur Davison cond. EVERYMAN SRV 313/4 SD two discs $7.96.
Performance: Pithy
Recording: Clarion clear
J. S. BACH: Brandenburg Concertos (BWV 1046-1051). English Chamber Orchestra, Raymond Leppard cond. PHILIPS 6747 166 two discs $13.96.
Performance: Homogenized
Recording: Velvety
Bach is indestructible. His music can be played on piano, harpsichord, mandolins, or kazoos, and it still comes off. In that respect, it takes real talent to ruin him, for his music always works. But there are degrees of working. The real problem with Bach is that the surface effect is magnificent whether or not we understand or even hear the inner detail.
The inner detail, however, is Bach's thing, and it is up to the performer to judge how much of it should be brought out and just how much of it can be absorbed by the listener (Bach often gives more than can be taken in by anybody's ear).
Both of these recordings are excellent-the tempos are well chosen and they are technically superb. There is one difference, how ever, and it is a question of taste as to which one prefers. Raymond Leppard is an editor, and an excellent one. Through his efforts alone we are enjoying Cavalli's operas for the first time in several centuries. He makes no bones about the fact that he has edited them in terms of orchestration and rearranged the works to suit what he believes a modern audience is accustomed to. In many cases he is right, but there are many listeners who have heard old music performed more "authentically" and prefer it that way. Leppard's tendency to edit comes out in this disc in that he chooses what we are to hear. His choice rests heavily on a silky string sound at the expense of the detail Bach has lavished on the other parts.
Davison, on the other hand, has by some miracle given all the parts equal footing so that we can hear them. This is accomplished by an individual articulation for each part and by careful if not bold balancing of the parts.
The result is stunning; it is a thrill to hear, for example, the bizarre juxtaposition of hunting calls played by the horns with a layer of snarling oboes and busy strings ricocheting their motives back and forth in the first movement of the First Concerto. The sound is a pithy one, but all is audible, and you can do your own editing without a middleman. If then, your ears are capable of accepting the facts and putting them together, take Davison. But if your ears need a good editor, Leppard is your man. S.L.
BAKER: Le Chat Qui Peche. Linda Anderson (soprano); Jamey. Aebersold (alto and tenor saxophone); Dan Haerle (piano and electric piano); John Clayton (bass and electric bass); Charlie Craig (drums); Louisville Orchestra, Jorge Mester cond.
GOULD: Symphonette No. 2. Louisville Orchestra, Jorge Mester cond. LOUISVILLE FIRST EDITION RECORDS LS-751 $6.98.
Performance: Showy
Recording: Very good
I've always enjoyed Morton Gould's Latin American Symphonette, and I have been curious about the three American Symphonettes that preceded it-curious in particular about the outer movements of the Symphonette No. 2, whose slow movement is the famous Pa vane. Here is the entire work at last, all ten minutes of it, and if it failed to impress me it may well be that the performance is a little too self-consciously jazz-inflected; the Pavane here does not compare with the old recordings conducted by Arthur Fiedler and by Gould himself-though we are assured in the annotative folder that it is "a first rate performance." The notes are by David Baker, the composer of Le Chat Qui Peche, a half-hour suite that calls for a soprano (vocalizing) and jazz quartet with the orchestra, and what he has written about his own work is so self-con gratulatory that one proceeds with the great est reluctance either to read or to listen. Like so much that is written about "serious" jazz and "Third-stream" music, the notes are stuffy, pretentious, and not encumbered by too great a regard for the English language.
Mr. Baker does not reveal the significance of his title (which presumably derives from the tiny street in Paris' Latin Quarter, the Rue du Chat qui Oche, made famous in Elliot Paul's The Last Time I Saw Paris); he does tell us he no longer feels it "possible to combine material of high ethnic content with sophisticated compositional techniques and arrive at a viable synthesis," and he allows as how one pas sage is "in effect a written improvisation in the best manner of Sonny Rollins and Charlie Parker replete with turns, shifting accents and dazzling double time runs." (The annotation serves also as a review of both the work and the performance.) I was not dazzled. To my perhaps irremediably unsympathetic ear the whole business sounds like so many "stage band" clichés.
The Louisville series has given us so many really fascinating recordings, and Mr. Baker is held in such high regard as a pedagogue in jazz circles, that I would earnestly like to be able to respond more positively. But I can't, and I only wish the entire disc had been de voted to Morton Gould's symphonettes. R.F.
BEETHOVEN: String Quartets Nos. 12-16, Opp. 127, 130-132, and 135 (see Choosing Sides, page 104) BEETHOVEN: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61. Isaac Stern (violin); New York Phil harmonic, Daniel Barenboim cond. CoLUMBIA MQ 33587 $7.98, M 33587 $6.98, MT 33587 $7.98.
Performance: Amiable
Recording: Good
Were it not for the exceptionally sympathetic collaboration of Barenboim and the New York Philharmonic, I could see little justification for Columbia's replacing Stern's still excellent Beethoven Concerto performance with Leonard Bernstein and the same orchestra, its fifteen years in the catalog notwithstanding. Though the sound of the four-channel pressing produces a pleasing and spacious "surround" ambiance, the music itself is not exactly a distinctive vehicle for quadraphonic playback.
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The Bicentennial Corner
Albany, New York, 1888: United States Marine Band, John Philip Sousa conducting
FIRST GLANCE at the contents of a Department of Defense (!) production called "Broad Stripes/Bright Stars" would lead one to believe that here is a dandy, fun collection of martial Americana adequately covering the two hundred years of the nation's history.
Well, parts of it are fun, much of it is enjoy able, and the performances of the bands of all four major armed services are certainly impressive in their pageantry.
But, having traversed the four sides of this collection, I must warn you that your reaction to it will depend on your attitudes toward the music and its authentic performance. I con fess to being something of a puritan in such matters. Accordingly, my own reaction was extremely mixed. The first side, through the fife and drum stuff, I enjoyed-though some might take exception to the unauthentic use of harmonization for the fifes. But William Billings' great Chester is a total disaster of mal apropos harmonization, and I did not enjoy James Hewitt's picturesque Battle of Trenton in cut form after having heard it in full.
There is some good choral singing by the Navy Sea Chanters in Shenandoah on side three, and I'm always glad to hear a spirited rendition of Grafulla's Washington Greys march, which is done here by the U.S. Marine Band. Likewise, I enjoyed the Bagley and Fillmore hardy perennials with the Navy Band and the Army Band, respectively. On the other hand, I don't care for the updating of Sousa's famous U.S. Field Artillery march, not to mention the Hollywooden treatment it is given, and the Navy Hymn, Eternal Father, is marred here by off-pitch solo singing.
In short, the things I like best in the album are those done in the most simple and straightforward way, without fancy new harmonizations or tricky instrumental effects.
The Battle Hymn of the Republic takes the prize for hokey treatment here, with God Bless America and America the Beautiful not too far behind.
I am sure there will be many who do not have my reservations about this album as a souvenir of the United States Bicentennial. I prefer my musical patriotism essentially straight and unadorned. Nevertheless, the production is splendid-the Department of Defense has never been particularly notable for doing things by halves-and it is unlikely that all the musical forces assembled here will have much occasion to be so collected together again. So, if you love a parade . . . .
-David Hall
BROAD STRIPES/BRIGHT STARS. Ruffles and Flourishes; Hail to the Chief; The Star Spangled Banner; Yankee Doodle; The White Cockade; The World Turned Upside Down. Billings: Chester. Hewitt: The Battle of Trenton. Phile: Hail Columbia. Root: The Battle Cry of Freedom. Emmett: Dixie. Lambert: When Johnny Comes Marching Home; Long Time Ago; Shenandoah; Blow the Man Down. Grafulla: Washington Greys. Howe: The Bat tle Hymn of the Republic. Bagley: National Emblem. Fillmore: Americans We. Sousa: The Army Goes Rolling Along; The Stars and Stripes Forever. Dykes: Eternal Father; The Marines' Hymn. Cohan: Over There; You're a Grand Old Flag; Yankee Doodle Boy. Berlin: God Bless America. Zimmerman: Anchors Aweigh. Crawford: The Air Force Song. Bos kerck: Semper Paratus. Gershwin: Strike Up the Band. Ward: America the Beautiful: Unit ed States Army Band and Chorus, Col. Samuel R. Loboda cond.; United States Navy Band and Sea Chanters, Lt. Commander Ned E. Malley cond.; United States Marine Band, Lt. Col. Jack T. Kline cond.; United States Air Force Band, Col. Arnald T. Gabriel cond.
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE BICENTENNIAL EDITION 50-1776 two discs $7.95 (available at Radio Shack stores throughout the U.S.).
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In my opinion, Stern's solo performance throughout most of the first movement is rather dispassionate and altogether lacking in the lambency of tone and vitality of phrasing that have distinguished most of the great performances of this work (Grumiaux/Davis, Heifetz( Munch, Menuhin/Furtwangler, Szeryng/ Thibaud). Only when he gets to the cadenza (Kreisler's) does Stern's playing begin to catch fire. Happily, from then on, through an exquisitely played slow movement and a delectably lilting rondo-finale, all is wine ( Vienna vintage) and roses. Here too, Barenboim's conductorial teamwork is unerring.
A glance at the catalog shows that there is a recording of this music for all tastes, ranging from the most intense to the most lyrically relaxed. This one falls somewhere toward the latter end of the spectrum, and, for myself, I see no reason here either to change or to add to my current holdings. D.H.
RELINE CRESPIN: in regal form as Cassandra and as Dido
RECORDING OF SPECIAL MERIT
BERLIOZ: Les Troyens (excerpts). Regine Crespin (soprano); Guy Chauvet (tenor); Gerard Dunan (tenor); Jane Berbie (soprano); others. Chorus and Orchestra of the Theatre National de ('Opera, Paris, Georges Pretre cond. SERAPHIM S-60263 $3.98.
Performance: Very good
Recording: Very good
About ten years ago, Angel released a two-disc set (S-3670) of highlights from Les Troyens. This single-disc reissue contains all that material with the exception of the Royal Hunt and Storm and Aeneas' final scene ("Inutiles regrets!"). All in all, we get more than fifty four minutes of music including the ravishing love scene ("Nuits d'ivresse") and Dido's final farewell. Regine Crespin is the central figure here, and she is in absolutely regal form both as Cassandra in the first part of the tragedy and as Dido in the second. Her colleagues offer excellent support, the orchestral playing is expert, and the chorus sounds fine.
There is, of course, a very good complete recording of Les Troyens on Philips, but for those who do not find this awesome and per-haps cumbersome (though undeniably beauti ful) opera irresistible in toto, I recommend this well-recorded and attractively priced reissue very highly. I should also add that neither Cassandra nor Dido is interpreted in the complete set with Crespin's brand of sumptuous vocalism. G.J.
BOLLE: Oleum Canis (Oil of Dog). Neva Pilgrim (soprano); Jan Curtis (mezzo-soprano); Jerrold Siena (tenor); Donald Miller (bass); Richard Fithian (tenor); children's chorus; the Committee (male quartet); the New Hamp shire Sinfonietta, James Bolle cond. SERENUS SRS 12060 $6.98.
Performance: Capable
Recording: Good
James Bolle's Oleum Canis (Oil of Dog) is a brief two-act opera based on one of those cru el, satiric, and weird stories Ambrose Bierce wrote before he disappeared into Mexico in 1913. The story, set in the nineteenth century, is about a boy named Boffer Bings who is nothing if not helpful. He helps his father make dog-oil medicine out of dead or power less dogs. He helps his mother dispose of the unborn, unwanted babies that are the waste product of her thriving abortion practice. One day Boffer drops one of the "small superfluous" foetuses into the dog-oil vat instead of into the river. The resultant oil turns out to be such a superior product that pretty soon the family is busy collecting all the human flesh they can get hold of to use in their formula.
The people in their town don't care for these "raids upon the population" and warn of reprisals. The business fails, and Boffer's frustrated parents fall upon one another and drown in a vat of boiling dog-oil.
A composer with such a story to set to mu sic would seem to have his hands full enough to begin with, but Bolle has further complicated matters for himself by writing his own libretto ornamented with endless quotations and homilies. There are lines from Matthew Arnold, from children's games of the period, from newspaper doggerel. The characters include a committee of righteous citizens, a chorus of children, and the Bings family to which has been added a "jolly" Aunt Mathilda. The "collage" of word-patterns recited and sung by the cast was intended to point up the hypocrisy and greed of the 1880's, which Bolle sees as the lesson of Bierce's satire. The result, however, comes across more as an anthology of period clichés than a libretto, a cantata stuffed with paraphrases and quotations more than an opera. The score, full of murky musical mockery and shuttling be tween the influences of Arnold Schoenberg and Benjamin Britten, is certainly not exciting enough in itself to relieve the opacity of a rather academic exercise in quotations and allusions.
On the record, Jerrold Siena is good in the role of Boffer as narrator, and the rest of the cast sing spiritedly under the composer's direction. The results of their efforts, however, are neither scary enough nor sufficiently scathing in either dramatic or musical terms to add up to a memorable experience. A text, some of which is performed and some of which isn't, is provided. P. K .
RECORDING OF SPECIAL MERIT
BORODIN: String Quartet No. 1, in A Major. Borodin Quartet. ODYSSEY/MELODIYA Y 33827 $3.98.
Performance: Splendid
Recording: Very good
While it boasts neither the remarkable tunes nor the conciseness of Borodin's justly famous Second Quartet (in D Major), the First is possibly an even more substantial work.
Surely it is broader in scope, and the actual writing is almost as polished. In any event, the work is a joy; it seems incredible that it is never programmed by our resident ensembles, and more incredible still that there has been no recording of it since the retirement of the old Westminster mono disc by the Vienna Konzerthaus Quartet. The Viennese players made a very strong case for this quartet; the Russians justify the name they have taken by making a stronger one still, and they benefit from more up-to-date sonic treatment (one of the finest recordings yet from Melodiya, in fact). Since Columbia has been generous enough to issue the recording on Odyssey in stead of its full-price label (and to commission notes from the authoritative Boris Schwarz), I can't imagine what excuse there might be for denying oneself the very considerable pleasure this music affords. B.F.
BRAHMS: Piano Concerto No. 2, in B-Hat Major, Op. 83. Bruno-Leonardo Gelber (piano); Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Rudolf Kempe cond. CONNOISSEUR SOCIETY D CSQ 2088 $6.98.
Performance: Highly refined
Recording: Good
This recorded performance of the Brahms B-flat Concerto tends to confirm my impression of young Bruno-Leonardo Gelber as I heard him "live" in a 1973 London Proms concert with Boulez in the D Minor Concerto. Here, as in the live performance, Gelber is heard to best advantage in the lyrical portions of the music, which he plays quite freely though not to the point of outright sentimentality. His handling of the dramatic elements is, for me, a good deal less convincing when stacked up against the likes of Rubinstein, Serkin, or Gilels-or, for that matter, even Richter, whose reading also tends toward the freely lyrical. A definite plus here is the solid and rightly textured orchestral collaboration of Kempe and the Royal Philharmonic. The recording seems a bit bass-heavy when heard in two-channel playback, but the additional ambiance provided by the rear channels in SQ opens things up to yield a considerably more effective result. D.H.
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 1, in C Minor, Op. 68. Chicago Symphony Orchestra, James Le vine cond. RCA ARL1-1326 $6.98, ARS1-1326 $7.98, ARK 1-1326 $7.98.
Performance: Brisk
Recording: Good
This is only the second time the Chicago Sym phony has recorded the Brahms C Minor, the previous recording, which I produced, having been done under Rafael Kubelik for Mercury in 1952. The old Mercury, with its single-microphone setup, still sounds very decent, but the new recording offers considerably more brilliance and tonal projection in the violin department-all told, a clean and solid job of recording.
The performance, though, lacks the sumptuousness brought to the work by such conductors as Stokowski, Karajan, and Stein berg. This reflects conductor Levine's own view of the score, which appears to be akin to that of his mentor, George Szell, and to some extent Toscanini, though the latter was much more intense in the end movements. I find Levine's reading musically sound, brisk in pacing, but not terribly interesting or moving.
The rather dispassionate opening disappoints me, and all the careful attention to details of texture and balance, particularly felicitous in the middle movements, are not enough to make of the whole a stiffing experience. It will be interesting to hear what Levine does with this music in another ten years, but for the time being I pass. D.H.
BRITTEN: Sinfonia da Requiem, Op. 20; Peter Grimes-Four Sea Interludes and Passacaglia, Op. 33 a/b. London Symphony Orchestra, Andre Previn cond. ANGEL 0 S-37142 $6.98.
Performance: Good
Recording: Altogether superb
It was with Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem that Andre Previn made his debut on records as symphonic conductor, leading the St. Louis Symphony in a fiery performance still avail able on Odyssey. The fire is still very much present in this new performance, but it is tem pered with greater feeling for the lyrical values of the work. Effective as the music is as an instrumental evocation of portions of the Requiem Mass, this work of a composer still in his twenties strikes me as a bit "uncooked" and stronger on rhetoric than substance.
Strange as it may seem, there has been no listing in Schwann-1 for some years of the Four Sea Interludes and the Passacaglia from Peter Grimes other than what was extracted by London directly from the composer's re cording of the opera. Thus this Andre Previn recording of the music in its concert version, minus the distracting fades of the London disc, is most welcome. I'd like a bit more ferocity in the storm sequence and in general a more impulsively poetic spirit in the other sea pieces, but in the great Passacaglia Previn and his players do themselves proud, musically and dramatically.
Unquestionably, the best thing about this entire disc is the recorded sound achieved un der the supervision of Christopher Bishop, whose previous E.M.I. productions of Elgar's The Kingdom and Vaughan Williams' Sea Symphony I consider paragons of the recording art. Not only are brilliance and complete clarity of texture achieved throughout this latest disc, but the room tone and sense of depth are exactly right for the music, and the bass transients, especially in the timpani variations of the Passacaglia, are quite literally floor shaking. SQ four-channel playback reveals a properly enhancing ambiance. Given a quiet pressing, sound buffs will find this disc a superb demonstration vehicle. D.H.
GERSHWIN: Rhapsody in Blue (see The Basic Repertoire, page 54)
GLINKA: Trio Pathetique in D Minor. New American Trio. Nightingale Variations; Waltz in G Major; Nocturne in F Minor; Mazurka in C Minor; Mazurka in A Minor; Barcarolle in G Major. Thomas Hrynkiv (piano). MUSICAL HERITAGE SOCIETY MHS 1973 $2.95 (plus 95¢ handling charge, from Musical Heritage Society, Inc., 1991 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10023).
Performance: Handsome
Recording: Good
The only recordings of Glinka's Trio Pathetique available in the last few years have been of Johann Hrimaly's transcription for violin, cello, and piano; the work is effective in both versions, but it is good to have the original instrumentation of clarinet, bassoon, and piano.
The Trio is played handsomely, and so are the more ingratiating piano pieces on side two; these may be slight, but they are far too at tractive to remain virtually unknown for so long. The Nocturne is an especially lovely thing, anticipating to a degree "The Old Castle" in Moussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition while reminding us-as do the two mazurkas and the less-than-a-minute waltz-that Glinka was Chopin’s contemporary and a pupil of John Field. There are some inaccuracies in the annotation, but what you read is not likely to get in the way of what you hear: mu sic of great charm, played with affection and style and smoothly recorded. R . F.
GOULD: Symphonette No. 2 (see BAKER) GRIEG: Violin Sonatas: No. 1, in F Major, Op. 8; No. 2, in G Major, Op. 13; No. 3, in C Minor, Op. 45. Henri Temianka (violin); James Fields (piano). ORION ORS 75193 $6.98.
Performance: Good
Recording: Violin left, piano right
Of the three Grieg violin sonatas, only the C Minor Sonata, in my opinion, is anywhere near the level of the other major violin sonatas of the Romantic age (those of Brahms, Faure, and Franck, for example). The first two sonatas antedate the famous Piano Concerto, and, except in the slow movements, they display little of the true Grieg personality, not to mention Norwegian flavor. The mu sic is never less than pleasing, but only in Op. 45 is Grieg consistently in top creative form.
Henri Temianka's readings bring just the right combination of virility, delicacy, and sentiment to the music at hand-if not quite the ineffable "bouquet" of Kreisler and Rachmaninoff-and he is well accompanied by James Fields. The recording as such is full bodied and pleasing in its acoustic surround, though I am disconcerted by the division of violin and piano between the left and right channels. Judicious use of blend control where available, however, or straight mono playback will alleviate this problem. A good record for confirmed Griegians. D.H.
HENRY VIII: Songs and Consorts. Pastyme with good companye; Without dyscord; Adew madam et ma mastres; Whoso that wyll all feattes optayne; Whoso that wyll for grace sew; Gentil prince de renom; Thow that men do call it dotage; En vray amoure; Helas ma dam; If love now reynyd; Alac, alac what shall I do; O my hart; Alas what shall I do for love; The Tyme of youth; Taunder naken; Lus ti yough shuld us ensue; and twelve consorts. St. George's Canzona, John Sothcott cond. Olzvx EXP 57 $6.98.
Performance: Sterile
Recording:Good
The artistic endeavors of royalty must be treated with a certain diffidence. Suffice it to say that good King Henry's musical language is somewhat limited and that once you have heard two or three of these vignettes your interest is apt to flag. Nor does the St. George's Canzona help the situation. The singers per form with rhythmic verve, but their deliberate archaic and expressionless sound soon be comes tiring. The instrumental playing is also good, but the use of the various consorts is unimaginative. This disc, then, is really of more historical interest than genuine musical worth. S.L.
HERRMANN: Symphony. National Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernard Herrmann cond. UNICORN RHS 331 $7.98.
Performance: Superb
Recording: Very fine
The late Bernard Herrmann's symphony is very much a work of its time (1941), cut from much the same cloth as the contemporary symphonies of Walton, Shostakovich, and, to some extent, Arnold Bax. The tonal rhetoric of its four movements is that of tragedy and conflict, with occasional episodes of repose and a forthrightly affirmative conclusion. The symphonic craftsmanship here is by no means inferior to that of the contemporary works mentioned, and the orchestral scoring is brilliant, especially in the satanic scherzo. As to overall substance and impact, it would be stretching things to call this music of major consequence, but it is very well crafted and effective within its own aesthetic frame of reference. The recorded performance is altogether superb. D.H.
IVES: Piano Trio. KORNGOLD: Piano Trio, Op. 1. Pacific Art Trio. DELOS DEL 25402 $6.98.
IVES: Piano Trio. SHOSTAKOVICH: Piano Trio No. 2, in E Minor, Op. 67. Beaux Arts Trio. PHILIPS 6500 860 $7.98.
Performances: Both very good
Recordings: Philips excellent, Delos dry
The piano trios of Charles Ives and Erich Wolfgang Korngold were completed within a year of one another; the Korngold, written in 1910, is actually the earlier of the two.
The contrast is fascinating. The New Eng- land Yankee was, of course, working in his own individual, isolated way, largely ignored by the world of music. On the other hand, no composer of any period attracted as much attention and fuss as Korngold, a prodigy of Mozartian dimensions. Korngold wrote his First Piano Trio when he was all of twelve, and its first performance was given by a trio consisting of Bruno Walter, Arnold Rosé, and Friedrich Buxbaum. It is an astonishingly ma ture work and quite original in its late Ro mantic style. It also seems to me quite decadent in a fin-de-siecle sort of way-as if this twelve-year-old were writing in the manner of an old post-Tristan roué! Apparently Korngold started out having his third period first and then had nowhere to go but backwards.
Maybe I just don't like the music. I do like the Pacific Art Trio, an excellent group consisting of Alice Shapiro, violinist Israel Baker, and cellist Edgar Lustgarten. And I love the Ives trio, one of that composer's quirkiest and most lyrical works and one of the few works of chamber music that successfully break out of the domination of Central European tradition.
Perhaps as much could be said for the Shostakovich, although actually the traditional elements are strong. I have never been a fan of Shostakovich-least of all of his chamber mu sic-but this is a strongly felt work without any of the pomposity or saber-rattling that one finds in the symphonic works.
The Beaux Arts Trio is possibly the out standing organization of its kind around to day, and they are extremely well served in both Ives and Shostakovich by a very attractive recording. The Delos recording is, unfortunately, dry and studio-ish, which may limit its appeal. E.S.
KHACHATURIAN: Concerto for Flute and Orchestra. Jean-Pierre Rampal (flute); National Orchestra of the O.R.T.F., Jean Martinon cond. ODYSSEY Y 33906 $3.98.
Performance: Pretty but skin-deep
Recording: Excellent
When Jean-Pierre Rampal asked Aram Khachaturian to write a flute concerto for him back in 1960, the Armenian composer unabashedly suggested that the flutist content himself with his Violin Concerto, rearranging the solo part. Rampal did just that, also writing in an elaborate flute cadenza for the first movement. Despite the astonishing adroitness of Rampal's performance-with superb backing from the late Jean Martinon and his orchestral forces-the piece still sounds better as a concerto for violin. Pipe and purl as it will, even the magic flute of Jean-Pierre Rampal cannot make the sentimental solo pas sages flow in the swooning gypsy way of a master fiddler dealing with the same material. But it's an amazing performance all the same, another tour de force from one of the best flute players in the world. P.K.
KORNGOLD: Piano Trio, Op. 1 (see IVES) LISZT: Dante Symphony. Orchestra and Chorus of the Bolshoi Theater, Boris Khaikin cond. COLUMBIA/MELODYIA M 33823 $6.98.
Performance: Reasonably good
Recording: Full-blooded
None of the various recordings of the Liszt Dante Symphony-SPA, Urania, and Decca in mono, Candide in stereo-have managed to persuade me that this is music of convincing substance. Striking gesture there is aplenty, particularly in the opening Inferno movement, and there are pages of remarkable harmonic daring for the mid-1850's. But the Purgatorio I find something of a drag, and the brief concluding Magnificat with female chorus I find more saccharine than exalting.
Boris Khaikin and his Bolshoi forces certainly offer the most dramatic and best-recorded realization I have heard thus far of the Dante Symphony, but I think it would take someone with the genius of the late Sir Thomas Beecham to bring it off. D.H.
MAHLER: Songs of a Wayfarer (see Best of the Month, page 84)
MARTIN: Six Monologues from "Jedermann" (see Best of the Month, page 84)
RECORDING OF SPECIAL MERIT
MOUSSORGSKY: Khovantchina. Dimiter Petkov (bass), Prince Ivan Khovanski; Todor Kostov (tenor), Prince Andrei Khovanski; Ljubomir Bodourov (tenor), Prince Golitsin; Stoyan Popov (baritone), Shakloviti; Nikola Gyuzelev (bass), Dosifei; Alexandrina Milcheva-Noneva (mezzo-soprano), Marfa; Maria Dimchevska (soprano), Emma; Milen Paounov (tenor), Scribe; Dimiter Dimitrov (bass), Varsonovyev; others. Svetoslav
--------- BEAUX ARTS TRIO: outstanding, as usual, in Ives and Shostakovich
Obretenov Chorus; Orchestra of the Sofia National Opera, Atanas Margaritov cond. MONI TOR HS 90104/7 four discs $15.92.
Performance: Good
Recording. Good
Like Boris Godounov, Moussorgsky's Khovantchina, his last opera, was also left unfinished. It was Rimsky-Korsakov who saved it for posterity by orchestrating the vocal score with certain condensations. He has not been called to task for his efforts in this instance, possibly because no orchestrating sketches by Moussorgsky are known to have survived-it was a case of Rimskification or nothing. I any case, it is in this manner that posterity has gained another mighty panoramic epic of turbulent history, barbarous cruelty, great choral scenes, sketchily drawn yet memorable characters, and much magnificent music. Khovantchina is not without flaws, but it is unquestionably a masterpiece.
This Monitor set was originally issued on the Bulgarian Balkanton label and promptly won the Montreux International Record Award for 1974. On the American market it was preceded by Melodiya SRDL-4125, which, though not consistently cast with top-rank Bolshoi performers, is on the whole musically stronger and dramatically more vital.
The margin, however, is not wide. Several of the Bulgarian principals are of comparable merit, and even the chorus and orchestra stand up to the highly touted Bolshoi forces.
Nikola Gyuselev, in the role of Dosifei, head of the Old Believers and marked for ex termination by the young and unrelenting Czar Peter the Great, its the vocal standout.
The role is a sort of Russian Sarastro, though his music is more dignified than memorable.
In any case, Gyuselev serves it eloquently with his rock-solid, majestic singing. It was for the fanatical seeress Marfa that Moussorgsky reserved the most haunting melodies of this opera. In the Melodiya set, Irina Ark hipova established a superb standard that Monitor's Milcheva-Nonova cannot quite equal, but the Bulgarian mezzo interprets the part commandingly and is always pleasing to listen to. As the villainous, Iago-like Shakloviti, Stoyan Popov unfurls a dark and firm baritone that lacks color variety but is impressive in its sinister sound and unremitting power.
It is rather a pity that Dimiter Petkov is so unsteady in the colorful role of the elder Khovanski (his Melodiya counterpart is also un satisfactory), for he has interesting ideas about the character. Tenor Bodourov does rather well with the part of Golitsin, the slippery Regent, despite limited vocal resources.
The soprano interpreters of Emma and Susanna are good, and tenor Paounov brings color to the richly drawn cameo part of the Scribe.
The remainder of the cast is undistinguished. In all, however, this is a creditable account of an opera that deserves to be better known.
The full libretto appears to be a photocopy, but the historical notes with it are valuable in understanding this episodic but compelling drama. G.J.
ROCHBERG: Music for the Magic Theater; Chamber Symphony for Nine Instruments. Oberlin Orchestra, Kenneth Moore cond. DESTO D-6414 $6.98.
ROCHBERG: String Quartet No. 1. Concord String Quartet. Duo Concertante. Mark Sokol (violin); Norman Fischer (cello). Ricordanza, Soliloquy for Piano and Cello. Norman Fischer (cello); George Rochberg (piano).
COMPOSERS RECORDINGS, INC. CRI SD 337 $6.95.
Performances: Good
Recordings: Good
These recordings document a notable development over a period of twenty years by one of the most serious and intense American composers, George Rochberg. Rochberg's earliest work, represented here by the string quartet of 1952, and the latest, the Ricordanza for cello and piano of 1972, are both highly eloquent, expressive, and melodic, although one is completely tonal, the other thoroughly atonal and expressionistic. This in itself might not seem remarkable except that it is the early work that is atonal and the later that is tonal! Rochberg's reverse pilgrim's progress took him from that early free atonality to twelve tone intensity (the rather unpleasant Chamber Symphony and the intense Duo, both from 1955) to an obsession with quotations (Music for a Magic Theater of 1965) and then to the tonal neo-Romanticism of the recent works.
Music for a Magic Theater-the title and concept come from Hesse's Steppenwolf-incorporates an only slightly reworked chunk of a Mozart serenade as well as references to Varese, Webern, Mahler, and Beethoven "in which the past haunts us with its magic beau ty." The effect is odd and disturbing, but it is also quite moving. Quoting old music has be come a fad, but Rochberg was among the very first to do it and his artistic motives are genuine. The Ricordanza takes us to yet another plane. The entire piece is cast as a commentary on a fragment from a Beethoven cello sonata, but it is essentially a full-blown piece of romantic chamber music without a trace of collage, commentary, camp, or nostalgia.
Whatever one thinks of it, there is no doubt that Rochberg has followed the logic of his own inner development with extraordinary fidelity and honesty.
Both recordings and all performances are good, but particular honors go to the CRI disc. E.S.
ROREM: King Midas (see ARGENTO) ROSSINI: Overtures: 11 Barbiere di Siviglia; L'Italiana in Algeri; II Signor Bruschino; La Cenerentola; La Gazza Ladra; L'Assedio di Corinto. London Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado cond. DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 2530 559 $7.98; 3300 497 $7.98.
Performance: Good
Recording: Fine
RECORDING OF SPECIAL MERIT ROSSINI: Overtures: Il Barbiere di Siviglia; L'Italiana in Algeri; Il Signor Bruschino; La Cambiale de Matrimonio; La Scala di Seta; Tancredi; Il Turco in Italia; L'Inganno Felice.
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Neville Marriner cond. PHILIPS 6500.878 $7.98, 7300.368 $7.98.
Performance: Sparkling
Recording: Crisp
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Ravel’s Piano Works
MARTHA ARGERICH: almost demonic intensity.
ALTHOUGH Maurice Ravel was one of the century's great orchestrators, much of his musical personality and originality is connected with the piano keyboard. From the early Menuet Antique, the Habanera (which turns up later in the Rapsodie Espagnole), Pa vane pour une Infante Defunte, and the brilliant Jeux d'Eau to the Tombeau de Couperin of 1917 and the odd, modernistic Frontis piece, Ravel's solo piano style oscillated be tween classicism and impressionism. In between are the large-scale masterpieces: the neo-Classical Sonatine, the extraordinary, unclassifiable Miroirs, and Gaspard de la Nuit-more like musical equivalents of art nouveau and symbolist poetry than impressionism in the narrow sense.
To a degree, it can be said that if a pianist can play this music at all, it will make its effect. In other words, it might be argued, Ravel wrote things out pretty much the way he wanted them to go, and niceties of interpretation are not going to be as significant as they are in the music of Beethoven or Chopin.
Perhaps. And yet, the centenary flood of Raveliana makes it obvious that Ravel interpretation is becoming a notable indoor sport somewhat beyond mere dilettantism. Some play it better, some worse. Janine Dacosta's Gaspard de la Nuit for Musical Heritage Society is pedestrian-notes, notes, notes with out any real coming together into anything larger. On the other hand, when Martha Argerich plays the same music in a new Deutsche Grammophon recording, it is full of mystery and poetry. Miroirs, one of the great fantasy pieces of all time, is merely dull as played by Pascal Roge (a genuine Frenchman) on the London label, while it is beautifully calligraphic as played by Kun Woo Paik (a U.S. trained Korean pianist recording for a Ger man label).
Kun Woo Paik made something of a splash in New York in 1972 with a full evening of Ravel's piano music. He now lives and per forms mostly in Europe, where he has also made the Ravel program his calling card.
There is easily enough quality and variety both in the music and in the playing to justify such a big dose of Ravel as Paik gives us in his recent three-disc set on the European ACM label. One can find more than a dash of Eastern influence in Ravel, who was a master of what might be called the brush-stroke technique of musical composition, and Paik is the ideal interpreter to bring out this side of Ravel's work. He is an extraordinarily sensitive keyboard poet who ranges across this music conveying the most delicate tints with mastery and sensitivity. His recording is available in the United States through the distributor listed below.
The Janine Dacosta recordings also originated in Europe. The set has the advantage of including the four-hand as well as the two-hand piano music (most of this is not, as the album notes would have it, two-piano music but music for one keyboard, four hands).
However, the performances are modestly capable at best. Ironically, the same must be said of the other French entry: volume three of Pascal Roge's series for London.
IN my opinion, the outstanding Ravel per formances in this group of recordings are Martha Argerich's readings of Gaspard, the Valses, and the Sonatine. In contrast with Kun Woo Paik, who is an artist of gentle poetic feeling, Argerich brings an extra measure of fantasy and passion even to a restrained and essentially classical work like the Sona tine. Her Valses are almost demonic in their intensity, and her Gaspard-the musical equivalent of the poetry of Baudelaire or the paintings of Redon-is positively spine-chilling. Ms. Argerich's Deutsche Grammophon recording is terrific-in the original as well as the current slang meaning of that word.
-Eric Salzman
RAVEL: The Complete Works for Piano, Two Hands. Kun Woo Paik (piano). ACM 10 002-4 three discs $19.89 (from Ruth Uebel, 205 E. 63rd Street, New York, N.Y. 10021).
RAVEL: Complete Works for Piano. Janine Dacosta (piano); Maria Antoinette Pictet (piano, in four-hand pieces).
MUSICAL HERITAGE SOCIETY MHS 3083/4/5 three discs $8.85 (plus 95¢ handling charge from the Musical Heritage Society, Inc., 1991 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10023).
RAVEL: Miroirs; Jeux d'Eau; Ma Mere l'Oye. Pascal Roge (piano); Denise Roge (piano, in Ma Mere l'Oye). LONDON CS 6936 $6.98.
RAVEL: Gaspard de la Nuit; Sonatine; Valses Nobles et Sentimentales. Martha Argerich (piano). DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 2530 540 $7.98.
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The Deutsche Grammophon disc is annotated by Alberto Zedda, co-editor of the Rossini Foundation's new complete edition. Claudio Abbado has recorded Zedda's editions of both Cenerentola and Barbiere in full, and the overtures to those two operas (possibly extracted from the complete recordings?) hap pen to be the ones that come off best here; evidently Zedda's editions were not followed in the other four. The tricky syncopated business in La Gazza Ladra, brought out with emphasis when Zedda conducted the opera in Rome in 1973, is managed brilliantly in Peter Maag's recording (London STS-15030) and somewhat less so in George Szell's (Columbia MS-7031), but it is not even attempted by Abbado. (It wasn't by Toscanini, either, and I'm sure every conductor has his reasons, but I think it adds to the appeal of the piece.) In the main, Abbado's performances are longer on efficiency than on charm, but they are very well played and recorded.
The Philips package is more lively, more stylish, a delight in every respect. Neville Marriner avoids the big "symphonic" overtures and offers a generous, imaginative collection of familiar and unfamiliar ones that must have been played by a pit orchestra about the size of his Academy. La Cambiale di Matrimonio here may lack the ultimate finesse of the unforgettable Beecham version (with the solo horn played by Dennis Brain), but it can hardly fail to enchant, while the al most equally neglected Turco in Italia, Tancredi, and L'Inganno Felice exude all the sparkle and wit one could want. Neither Mar riner nor Abbado thought of encouraging his oboist to emulate the embellishment in L'Italiana in Algeri that made Previtali's version so memorable (now on Everest SDBR-3186/2), but this crisply recorded Philips release is one of the very finest entries in Marriner's discography-and in Rossini's as well. This and the Maag disc cited above, with no duplications between them, constitute an unbeatable stereo assortment. R.F.
SHOSTAKOVICH: Piano Trio No. 2, in E Mi nor, Op. 67 (see IVES) SMETANA: My Fatherland, Symphonic Cycle; The Bartered Bride (excerpts). St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Walter Susskind cond.
TURNABOUT QTV-S 34619/20 two discs $7.96.
Performance. Warmly vital
Recording: Spacious
Born and trained in Czechoslovakia, Walter Susskind is warmhearted and sure-handed in his readings of Smetana's epic cycle and of the effervescent Bartered Bride highlights, and he pays particular attention, with telling effect, to lyrical values. It's just a shame that the St. Louis Symphony, capable and well-trained as it is, does not measure up to the Chicago or Boston orchestras or the Czech Philharmonic, all of which are represented in Schwann-1 by recordings of My Fatherland under Czech conductors Rafael Kubelik (Chicago and Boston) and the late Karel Ancerl. It is the mighty climaxes of Blanik, combining the Hussite hymn (brass) with the bardic opening motif of the cycle (strings) that separates the men from the boys in this work, for Brucknerian lung power and expansiveness is called for here, and only a dozen or so of the world's top orchestras have it.
Were it not for the brilliance of the Ancerl performance, currently available in Van guard's Supraphon series, I would still recommend Susskind's recorded performance as the best of the three budget-price versions, and the bonus Bartered Bride excerpts and a very pleasing QS four-channel ambiant re cording may prove a decisive factor for some in a purchase decision. Turnabout has achieved a satisfyingly warm sound, wholly appropriate to the music, spacious enough to allow plenty of acoustic elbow room for the big moment, yet with the kind of presence that reveals felicitous musical detail without being surgical about it. D.H.
TELEMANN: Sinfonia in F Major for Recorder, Viola da Gamba, and Orchestra; Overture in C Major for Three Oboes and Strings; Concerto in B-flat Major for Three Oboes, Three Violins, and Continuo; Triple Concerto in E Major for Flute, Oboe d'Amore, Viola d'A more, and Strings. German Bach Soloists, Helmut Winschermann cond. ORYX C3 306 $6.98.
Performance: Crisp
Recording: Clear
Telemann and Vivaldi are the bane of the record bins and shelves; one never knows what to expect. When they are good they are very good, and when they are bad they are very bad indeed. Be ye advised, then, that this disc contains very good Telemann that ranges from the seriousness of the Sinfonia in F Major to a giddy Harlequinade in the Overture in C Major. The performance, done on mostly modern instruments and in a clean, crisp twentieth-century style, is also very good. It would be nice, though, if the jacket identified the fine soloists for us. S.L.
THOMSON: Music for the Films (see Best of the Month, page 83)
WAGNER: Lohengrin. Franz Crass (bass), King Henry; Jess Thomas (tenor), Lohengrin; Anja Silja (soprano), Elsa; Ramon Vinay (baritone), Telramund; Astrid Varnay (soprano), Ortrud; Tom Krause' (baritone), Herald; others. Chorus and Orchestra of the Bayreuth Festival, Wolfgang Sawallisch cond. PHILIPS 6747 241 four discs $31.92.
Performance: Above average
Recording: Good
Wieland Wagner's memorable Bayreuth production of Lohengrin has been repeatedly reincarnated on the world's stages; now at last it is perpetuated on records as well in a taping that dates back to 1962, its last season in Bayreuth. While these tapes were resting in the vaults, three complete studio-made Lohengrins have been released; led by Rudolf Kempe (Angel), Erich Leinsdorf (RCA), and Rafael Kubelik (DG), all incorporated valuable qualities but none was fully satisfying in totality. The same summation applies to this Bayreuth product.
It is conducted effectively by Wolfgang Sawallisch, a sensible and reliable musician who may not look for too much poetry or mystery in this opera but can be depended upon for a well-organized performance with sufficient impetus and drama to avoid dullness. The orchestral playing is generally fine, and the chorus is superb.
It is good to encounter the Jess Thomas of 1962: a youthfully heroic Lohengrin, with the bloom still on his healthy, ringing tones. On the whole, he surpasses his later effort (An gel) on this occasion, though Sandor Konya's lyrical view (RCA LSC 6710, now deleted) is more to my liking There is no rival to Franz Crass' King Henry among the other recorded interpreters-it is a pleasure to hear his flowing and effortless singing in this high-lying part with no lapse from tonal strength or steadiness anywhere. The firm yet mellow-sounding Herald of Tom Krause is another positive element in the Philips cast.
Anja Silja, whose position in the Bayreuth hierarchy rose steadily after her 1960 debut there, was a relative beginner in 1962. Some thrusting high notes and generally dependable intonation commend her Elsa, but her phrasing is frequently awkward and the passages of soaring lyricism leave her very much wanting.
In contrast with Silja's novice achievement stand the contributions of Astrid Varnay and Ramon Vinay, two veteran artists of long experience, whose vital dramatic projection is compromised by waning vocal resources.
Varnay is an effortful and unsteady Ortrud, Vinay a frayed and often toneless Telramund.
Surprisingly for a Bayreuth performance, there is a sizable traditional cut following the Grail Narrative, but I hasten to add that, in my view, this is no serious drawback. As on-
the-scene recordings go, this is a decent if un spectacular effort technically, with reason able balances and more than the usual share of audience noises, particularly some insistent coughing during the opening of the second act. Philips now has all of Wagner's music dramas on records in time for the Bayreuth centenary. G.J.
-------- LOHENGRIN: a scene from the Bayreuth production.
COLLECTIONS AMERICAN SONGS FOR A CAPPELLA CHOIR.
Barber: Reincarnation. Hennagin: Walking on the Green Grass; Crossing the Han River. Pinkham: Henry Was a Worthy King; The Leaf; Piping Anne and Husky Paul; Agnus Dei. Rorem: Sing, My Soul. Stevens: Go, Lovely Rose; Weepe, 0 Mine Eyes; Like as the Culver. R. Thompson: Felices ter; The Paper Reeds. J. Berger: Snake Baked a Hoecake; The Frisco Whale. Adler: A Kiss; Strings in the Earth. Chorbajian: Bitter for Sweet. The King Chorale, Gordon King cond. ORION ORS 75205 $6.98.
------ BEVERLY SILLS, ANDRE KOSTELANETZ: a special affinity for
the French repertoire.
Performance: Good
Recording: Good
This is an interesting assortment of mostly re cent material, fetchingly sung and well re- corded, with all texts printed in full. My only complaint is that one has to check the disc la bels to see who composed what, since on the liner the composers' names and the titles and texts are kept quite separate from one another. Even on the label, the title Reincarnation does not appear, and the three songs in Barber's cycle are listed as if they were separate works. That cycle, incidentally, is more per suasively presented by the Gregg Smith Singers on Everest SDBR-3129. R.F.
GREGORIAN CHANT: Vespers of the Holy Trinity; Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
Dom Claude Gay (organ); Choir of the Monks of Saint-Pierre de Solesmes Abbey, Dom Jean Clair cond. LONDON OS 26431 $6.98.
Performance: Reverent
Recording: Resonant
GREGORIAN CHANT: Gallican Responses and Chants. The Deller Consort, Alfred Deller cond. HARMONIA MUNDI HMD 234 $7.98 (from HNH Distributors Ltd., P.O. Box 222, Evanston, Ill. 60201).
Performance: Studied
Recording: Dry
PLAINCHANT AND POLYPHONY FROM MEDIEVAL GERMANY: Twelve Chants for Advent, Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost. Schola Antigua .(voices and instruments), R. John Blackley cond. NONESUCH H-71312 $3.98.
Performance: Cautious
Recording: Fine
Although the interpretation of Gregorian chant is still much disputed, the basic approach offered by the monks of the Solesmes Monastery, near Le Mans, France, during the last years of the nineteenth century is generally considered to be the most convincing artistically, and is used for all three of these records. A recording by the Solesmes monks themselves, though, has a special quality about it which is lacking in many other performances. No vocal ensemble, no matter how excellent the individual singers may be, can capture the spirit of mystery and devotion of this group of monks whose very life is the liturgy. Thus the Solesmes recording breathes the life of the Church-we experience the reality of an actual service, which is enhanced by the use of the organ for an entrance (Swee linck's Praeludium Pedaliter), an interlude be tween the Vespers and the Benediction (a sixteenth-century fantasy by Tomas de Santa Maria), and an exit (Couperin's Chaconne in G Minor).
The Deller Consort, more familiar to us for its performance of polyphonic music than for monophony, brings us a precision of ensemble seldom encountered in this repertoire.
Drawing from the rarely heard Gallican liturgy, the Consort presents one set of chants grouped around the entrance of Christ into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and a contrasting set taken from the liturgy of Good Friday. The distinctive sound of the Deller Consort, of course, is achieved through the use of countertenors, a sound not usually associated with chant. It is extremely effective here, especially in the contrast between ensemble and solo ist. But, despite the Deller Consort's beauty of sound and precision of ensemble, one occasionally longs for a more robust delivery.
The Schola Antigua disc is based on chants interspersed with anonymous German poly phonic settings of texts grouped around Ad vent, Passiontide, Easter, Pentecost, and Pa rousia. The unaccompanied chant is sung very carefully indeed by subdued male voices. The interesting polyphonic settings make use of women's as well as men's voices and bring us the added timbres of the vielle, recorder, and tabor, but caution is the motto of the day and the music as a consequence re mains basically colorless. S.L.
ANDRE KOSTELANETZ: Spirit of '76. Ives/ Schuman: Variations on " America." Hovhaness: Meditation on Orpheus. Grofe: Trick or Treat. Gershwin: Concerto in F. Rodgers: La goon. Cowell: Twilight-Texas. Creston: Mid night-Mexico. Griffes: The White Peacock; The Pleasure-Dome of Kubla Khan. Barber: Intermezzo from "Vanessa." Andre Previn (piano, in Gershwin only); orchestra, Andre Kostelanetz cond. COLUMBIA MG 33728 two discs $7.98.
Performance: Mostly good
Recording: Good
A statement in the liner of this economical package reminds us that Kostelanetz has been responsible for introducing, and even commissioning, a good deal of American music.
This assortment, from which the Gershwin and Barber were issued several years ago in different combinations, includes some of his discoveries. Rodgers' Lagoon, inspired by Herman Melville and James Michener, was written for him; it is overlong and unremarkable. The uncharacteristically commercial-sounding pieces by Cowell and Creston make me wince in awareness that the former's Tales of Our Countryside and the latter's Third Symphony continue to be passed by.
Ferde Grofes little Halloween fantasy is an innocuous take-off on Tchaikovsky's pizzicato classic. Of the more substantial items, the Hovhaness gets by far the best performance in the package-highly evocative and highly communicative. The White Peacock goes well, too, and if Kostelanetz's way with The Pleasure-Dome does not efface memories of the old Ormandy and Hanson versions, he at least makes the piece available again. The Gershwin performance is quite good, though there are several more enticing ones, but the handling of the Ives/Schuman showpiece strikes me as crude, lacking the punch and snap as well as the polish of Morton Gould's version with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (RCA LSC-2893). I can't help feeling this package would have had greater appeal if the Gershwin had been omitted and the other pieces offered on a single LP (they would fit)-despite the special price of the two-disc set. R.F.
BEVERLY SILLS/ANDRE KOSTELANETZ: Plaisir d'Amour. Lenoir: Parlez-moi d'amour.
Bizet: Ouvre ton coeur. Liszt: Oh, quand je dors. Gounod: Mireille: Waltz. Koechlin: Si to le veux. Delibes: Les Filles de Cadiz. Poulenc: Les Chemins de l'Amour. Martini: Plaisir d'amour. Dell'Acqua: Villanelle. Beverly Sills (soprano); Page Brook (flute, in Dell'Acqua); Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Andre Kos telanetz cond. COLUMBIA M 33933 $6.98, MA 33933 $7.98, C) MT 33933 $7.98.
Performance: Spirited and charming
Recording: Good, with reservations
This is the second recorded collaboration of Beverly Sills and Andre Kostelanetz, two warm and endearing personalities, each with throngs of devoted followers. Together they make a dream package to bolster sagging sales. What unites them here is the affection and special affinity they both have for the French repertoire.
Those who recall Miss Sills' remarkable Mallon of some years back will not be surprised by her natural identification with the special spirit of French vocal music. There is a wide stylistic gap between Liszt and Lenoir, but the taste and intelligence of Sills renders each his due with charm and conviction. She is most successful here in the execution of the subtle and inward songs: the bittersweet Poulenc (a first LP recording and irresistible), the tender Koechlin, and the unavoidable Plaisir d'amour (a bit "commercialized" in the arrangement, but still endearing). As for Parlez moi d'amour, Miss Sills sings it like a "chan toozy" of the highest class imaginable. The flashy songs come off less well. The spirit and temperament are admirable, but the voice is not always under full control and the vibrato is excessive.
The Kostelanetz skill is everywhere in evidence, but the orchestra, of apparently moderate size, appears to be artificially boosted to sound like a big one, with the resulting un natural reverberance. And thirty-three minutes of recorded music for two sides is most ungenerous! G.J.
Also see:AUDIO BASICS--The New London Cassettes