Behind the Scenes [High Fidelity, May 1977]

Dischi Ricordi. The name of Italy's most famous music publisher has not graced any new classical records since the series of operas (including Medea with Callas) coproduced with Mercury more than fifteen years ago. But last December, Dischi Ricordi is sued twelve discs in a series that will continue in September with twenty more. I Classici, as the series is appropriately called, is the brainchild of Jurg Grand, a Swiss who came to this undertaking from EMI and DG. While with DG. from 1969 to 1975, he persuaded the company to take on Pollini (now its top seller in Italy after Karajan), Accardo, and, in greater quantity than planned, Abbado. When we heard of Grand's plans, we asked correspondent Susan Gould to find out what he was up to.

When he decided to go into production on his own, Grand told Ms. Gould, he approached various artists in three categories. "First, Italian artists: There are 55 million Italians, and I want them to know that there are Italian pianists besides Pollini and Michelangeli. I consider Maria Tipo a Neapolitan who studied with her mother, a pupil of Busoni--the greatest living female pianist after one I will not name. She had a fantastic be ginning, winning the Geneva competition at seventeen, but was then used by impresarios and abandoned when she decided to take time off to study more. Her two records, of Scarlatti and important. Then there is Bruno Mezzena, whose only mistake is to live in Trent and not Milan; he studied with Michelangeli, and his recording of Liszt's piano version of Berlioz' Symphonie fantastique is the first ever. Of Dino Ciani, whose death in an auto crash in 1974 was a terrible loss, we have two discs of Weber sonatas; and with Bruno Canino, an outstanding pianist (heard as a member of the Trio di Milano in a Schubert trio disc), we've done two discs of Mozart variations.

"Second, I want to give famous artists the chance to do things they can not with their regular companies be cause someone else has, and to do them at the right artistic moment of their careers: Abbado conducts the Brandenburgs with the soloists of La Scala; Martha Argerich plays Schumann's C major Fantasy and Fantasiestikke, Op. 12.

"Then, I want to give young artists a first chance. If I hear of someone promising, I will run to hear him and not wait until he comes to Milan. as the big companies do. The Quintetto Haliana, a piano quintet that specializes in contemporary repertory, was formed only in 1974 by Mezzena, of whom I was just speaking, with violinists Margit Spirk and Franco Mezzena, violist Carla Pedrolli, and cellist Donna Magendanz Guarino. They have recorded Webern's quintet for piano and strings and his piano-quintet arrangement of Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony, Op. 9." Grand makes the recordings him self, with the best available facilities in carefully selected sites (halls, churches, etc.), then presents Ricordi with the tapes, at which point the work becomes the company's for pressing, packaging, promotion, and distribution. "So far, my taste has proven reliable, the artists trust me, and it is I, not Ricordi, who pay for everything, including the performers themselves. I hope to create some thing like the Erato series, which, began with the Charpentier Te Deum published as PR for their music books but had such enormous success it even became the theme for the Euro vision TV productions, and so they went on to recording, especially of French artists. Obviously Ricordi is confident in the project: My original contract was for only seven records in a year, but I did twelve and now have a contract for twenty in eighteen months. I can't wait for distribution to begin outside Italy." The final choice of an international distributor rests solely with Grand, and when he spoke to Ms. Gould he was still trying to decide among three contenders. We hope to have further word in the near future.

Cleveland Beethoven. The Cleveland Quartet is at work on a complete cycle of the Beethoven string quartets for RCA. Begun in December 1974, the project is scheduled for completion in time for late-1978 or early-1979 release (probably as an eleven-disc set) to mark the group's tenth anniversary.

The Doge in Milan. Despite his resignation as music director of La Scala, Claudio Abbado has returned to Milan to continue the DG series of Verdi recordings begun a year before with Macbeth. The new recording is Simon Boccanegra, again with Piero Cappuccilli in the title role; the other principals are Mirella Freni (Amelia). Jose Carreras (Adorno), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Fiesco), Jose van Dam (Paolo), and Giovanni Foiani (Pietro).

Abbado, we are told, is now guarded about any regular commit ments to La Scala for the future, but he is hoping to conduct (and record for DG) a season-opening Don Carlos in December (with Freni). Further ahead are discussions of new productions of Nabucco and Ballo in maschera, which might also be recorded (though not necessarily by DG).

Speaking of Nabucco, Renata Scotto is scheduled to sing Abigaille in the Muti/EMI recording that will feature Sherrill Milnes in the title role.

Lulu in Vienna. "This is more difficult to perform and to hear than Wozzeck, but the Vienna Philharmonic plays Berg like nobody else-they give as beautiful a wind and string sound as they do for Mozart." Conductor Christoph von Doh nanyi was speaking during sessions last November in Vienna's Sofiensaal, where Decca/London recorded Lulu with Dohnanyi's wife, Anja Silja, in the title role. (Readers may recall that in June 1975 David Hamilton described the Dohnanyi/Vienna recording of the Lulu Suite as "surely the most lucid, most passionate, most explicitly sensuous reading of Berg's music to date ... recorded with be coming luxuriance by the Decca / London Sofiensaal team.") Completing the cast are Brigitte Fassbaender as Countess Geschwitz, Trudeliese Schmidt as the Student, Josef Hopferweiser (a much-touted tenor at the Vienna State Opera and Volksoper) as Alwa Schon, Horst R. Laubenthal as the Painter, Werner Krenn as the Prince, Walter Berry as Dr. Schein, Hans Hotter as Schigolch. Kurt Moll as the Animal Trainer and Rodrigo. Harald Proglhof as the Doctor, and Manfred Schenk as the Theater Director.

Although the project was planned much earlier, by the time the sessions began the death of Berg's widow had opened the way to possible realization for performance of the com poser's materials for Act III. Decca / London decided to proceed. Producer Christopher Raeburn explained: "We are doing Lulu as it has been done all these years"--that is, after Act II will come the orchestral Variations and Adagio from Act III (which Berg completed as part of the Lulu Suite), including Geschwitz' spoken monologue. "Frau Berg did not release anything else from Act III for publication, and the probate will go on for a year at least. She felt, and we agree, that Lulu is a dramatic entity as it stands."

Footnote: Dohnkinyi and the Vienna Philharmonic are working on another, rather different project for Decca/ London-the complete Mendelssohn symphonies. Nos. 1 and 5 have al ready been released in Europe.

Lieder-singer Bailey. In the same season that brought his Met debut as Hans Sachs, followed by his other great specialty, Wotan, baritone Nor man Bailey has made his first Lieder record, for the British Saga label (distributed here by CMS). Included are Beethoven's An die ferne Geliebte, Brahms's Four Serious Songs, and six Schumann songs--among them "Wid mung," "Die beiden Grenadiere," "Bch grolle nicht," and a rarely heard Heine setting, "Belsatzar." Louise (continued). lust as Columbia's premiere stereo recording of Charpentier's Louise reached the stores, word came that a second would be made this summer in London. Beverly Sills will sing the title role (following a series of performances at the New York City Opera); Nicolai Gedda is slated for Julien, with Mignon Dunn and Jose van Dam as Louise's parents. Julius Rudel will conduct.

Haitink in London. The Haitink/Phil ips recordings of the Beethoven piano concertos (with Alfred Brendel) and triple concerto (with the Beaux Arts Trio) are with the London Philharmonic--not the Concertgebouw, as re ported in February.

Otello at the Met. Once again this year the Metropolitan Opera is offering a broadcast recording to contributors of $100 or more to the Metropolitan Op era Fund. The new recording is Verdi's Otello, from the broadcast of February 24, 1940, with Giovanni Martinelli in the title role, Elisabeth Rethberg as Desdemona, and Lawrence Tibbett as Jago; the conductor is Ettore Panizza. (Contributors may choose instead one of two earlier is sues: the 1941 Tristan and Isolde with Kirsten Flagstad, Lauritz Melchior, Kerstin Thorborg, Julius Huehn, and Alexander Kipnis; or the 1946 Ma dams Butterfly with Licia Albanese and James Melton.) Contributions should go to the Metropolitan Opera Fund, Box 930, New York, N.Y. 10023.

Rare records. Some help is now avail able to collectors seeking "records and tapes of one's favorite artists, conductors, of historic broadcasts, of special recitals, of out-of-print or rare issues." The Record/Tape Collector's Directory is a thirty-two-page booklet listing "over 100 addresses," with descriptions, of sources for such records and tapes in the U.S. and Europe. It costs $4.95, from Record/Tape Collector's Directory, 550 E. Rustic Rd., Santa Monica, Calif. 90402.

(High Fidelity, May. 1977)

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