The Opera File
A hearty bravo to Managing Editor William Livingstone on the premiere of his column, "The Opera File" (July). The overexposure currently accorded Beverly Sills in the press 'and on records is surely based on some criterion other than artistic merit. Did Renata Scotto, for instance, whom Mr. Livingstone mentions so favorably, almost single-handedly revive interest in Bellini's I Capuleti just so Miss Sills could record it this summer? Mr.
Livingstone feels that "Scotto, with her superior histrionic gifts, could really bring [The Siege of Corinth] to life," and La Scala in Milan apparently thought so too. Beverly Sills was merely a last-minute replacement in the 1969 La Scala mounting of the opera for Scotto, who bowed out because of pregnancy.
It is astonishing that Scotto has not made a complete opera recording in eight years! This cruel neglect by the recording companies is only partially ameliorated by the upcoming release of two Columbia recital discs [reviewed in this issue; see page 116-Ed.]. In the meantime, we can be grateful for the live tapes and pirated discs of her Vespri Siciliani, I Lombardi, I Capuleti, and so on, even if inferior artists do continue to record them commercially.
PETER J. KAUFMAN Philadelphia, Pa.
I certainly hope Managing Editor William Livingstone's column, "The Opera File," is going to be a regular feature in STEREO REVIEW. I enjoyed it very much in the July issue.
I'd like to add the recorded version of Rossini's II Turco in Italia (EMI/Odeon C163-00978/80 three discs) to Mr. Livingstone's list. The performance is delightful, as are the singers (Callas, Gedda, Rossi-Lemeni, Stabile, and Calabrese), and it is ably conducted by Gavazzeni. It's worth getting even though a substantial part of Act II is cut. And, yes, La Divina DOES have a sense of humor.
MICHAEL A. SOUZA
San Francisco, Calif.
William Livingstone made the comment in his "Opera File" column (July issue) that . . there was a Beverly Sills feature story in every publication edited in New York except the telephone directory." Well, San Die go stepped in where New York feared to tread. The cover of its 1974 directory was a tribute to the San Diego Opera's tenth season, and it featured a scene from Donizetti's Daughter of the Regiment in the San Diego Civic Theatre production which starred Beverly Sills, the whole described in a little story on the inside back cover.
And while I have your ear, just how did Nigel Bruce wriggle into the review of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo in the June issue?
JEROME I. WEINTRAUB
El Cajon, Calif.
Dunno, but we think Bruce might have sneaked in there in Nigel Rogers' place as a part of what reviewer Eric Salzman called "a fuddy-duddy English translation." Anyway, we've put Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watkins on the case.
Carmina: Clash of Cymbals
The parts of Christopher Rouse's July letter about Carmina Burana which are clearly his opinion cannot induce any complaint. But Mr. Rouse then proceeds to enumerate certain "facts," and as these "facts" happen to be incorrect I think it is necessary to have the error pointed out.
The score is not at all clear as to what Orli means by the designation "Cymbali antichi piccoli)." If he really meant the familiar antique cymbals as used popularly by Debussy, Ravel, and others, then he would be obligated to write the line on a musical staff and indicate the proper pitch of such cymbals.
However, they are notated as an un-pitched instrument and either evidence Mr. Orff s ignorance as to what an antique cymbal really is or the fact that they may indeed be only small cymbals of the usual variety.
As for the composer-approved version re corded by Mr. Jochum being the aural text book of the composer's wishes, in the fifth section of Carmina (which I choose at random from the group of four pieces including the antique cymbals), I count at least twelve basic disagreements with the "carefully noted indications" of the score. At no time is Mr. Jochum's tempo in agreement with the precisely notated pattern of acceleration indicated by Orff. One important Ritardando is omit ted on three occasions, and in three places a solo chime note is inaudible.
It is now up to Mr. Rouse to give his opinion as to whether all future recordings of the Carmina Burana should follow the score or the Jochum recording. He is very glib about tossing off criticisms, but the implication that he has discovered some "great truth" which has been accidentally overlooked by the people involved in our recent recording of Carolina is both naïve and somewhat insulting.
ANDREW KAZDIN
Executive Producer, Masterworks Columbia Records
New York, N.Y.
Mr. Rouse replies: It was never my intent to "insult" either Mr. Kazdin, Mr. Tilson Thom as (much of whose work I admire greatly), the Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus, the soloists, Columbia Records, or the American way of life. My original complaint was that David Hall, in his glowing review of a Carmina Burana which does indeed have many fine points, did not mention certain irregularities in that recording which / found disturbing. I brought up the DG recording only because it was composer-approved and thus worthy, I thought, of serious consideration (I don't mean to "insult" Mr. Hall either). I never said that the Jochum recording contained no discrepancies vis-a-vis the score, nor did I say that a composer-approved recording must be considered definitive-as a matter of fact, I went to some length to make it clear that I felt such a question was well-nigh unanswerable on an objective level. I will gladly admit that Jochum's version fails to tally with the score on occasion, but I can't help but at least won der if perhaps Herr Professor Orff didn't have some second thoughts on Carmina which were incorporated into the DG recording. At least we know that he has "authorized" this interpretation, and I1 sincerely doubt that he would have done so had the recording contained anything with which he violently disagreed. I will also admit that Mr. Kazdin has made some good points in support of his opinion, and I think it's reasonably obvious that these questions can never be settled conclusively. I could argue my own points about such things as antique cymbals, but in the end this would necessitate endless treatises on timbral suitability and European percussion practice versus American, with picayune references to the antique cymbal parts of other Orff works. These, I feel, tend to support my thesis, since Orff seems to think of these instruments in terms of timbre rather than pitch; there are other examples of writing for antique cymbals on single lines without definite pitch, and I think these examples imply that the composer simply doesn't care which pitches are used but rather desires the unique sound of the instrument. Certainly, however, I would never accuse Orff of ignorance as to the true nature of the antique cymbal.
Fan Letter
Popular Music Editor Steve Simels has been my idol throughout my two dozen cherished copies of STEREO REVIEW. I've absorbed everything he likes and hates and loves, and I think he is the greatest thing that has happened to me in a long time. He hits everything about rock on the nose, and that includes the non-existence of Bowie and the '70's and the greatness (yes) of the Guess Who. (I'm not ashamed of the $1.99 copy of "Rockin' " I bought two years ago.) Instead of the usual arguments and doubts about his taste (and he's been described as looking like a dog, acting like a chicken, and being a champion of Macho Rock), I'd like to say that his reviews and the "Simels Re port" are the most accurate, informative, and entertaining words I've read in STEREO REVIEW. Sadly, it seems that I'm the only disciple of his gospel. Steve Simels is a genius and a great guy. Please let him continue with his uncovering of the "beautiful five percent." He must be one of the few honest people left in the world.
BRUCE HARMON
Carthage, S.C.
No, Steve, you can't have a larger office, but we'll think about a new ribbon for your type writer.- Ed.
Steve Simels' review of the soundtrack "Tommy" (June) was quite interesting, but 1 disagree with him about the London Symphony version released on Ode Records and about the original version performed by the Who as superior for listening. I, for one, like to hear a woman's role sung by a woman, and there are also additional songs added to the soundtrack version. And the soundtrack al bum is available in four-channel, and sounds quite spectacular even on regular stereo equipment. Perhaps Polydor will follow suit and release a QS version of their excellent soundtrack album.
JAY L. RUDKO
Edwards, Calif.
Schwarzkopf's Heritage
The beauty of Richard Strauss' music and the magic of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf's interpretation of it have enthralled me for years, and 1 particularly enjoyed Mme. Schwarzkopf s appearance in concert in Dayton last year. However, isn't it a sophistry on James Goodfriend's part (April issue) to base the uniqueness of her original recording of the Four Last Songs on "the simple fact of its being still in the catalog?" Similarly, he notes that the Schubert lieder recital has never been out of the catalog. Why not point out that Mme. Schwarzkopf's husband of many years is Walter Legge, who was head of Angel records during that period? Great performances are not validated by permanent establishment in the catalog.
J. H. WEBB
Dayton, Ohio
Mr. Goodfriend replies: Perhaps not-but aren't we all lucky that Mr. Legge was there to protect at least this much of a valuable musical heritage long enough that we could find out for ourselves?
Ralph J. Gleason
The jazz world recently lost one of its finest journalists as a result of the untimely death of Ralph J. Gleason. I will always remember him as a friend, a dedicated jazz critic, and, most important, a remarkable human being.
Mr. Gleason will be missed but he will never be forgotten.
DENNIS R. HENDLEY
Milwaukee, Wisc.
Mr. Gleason was a contributing editor of STEREO REVIEW from its very first issue in February 1958 through April 1961.
The July Cover
Whoever had the idea for the July 1975 cover deserves a special accolade (design by Boris Patchowsky; photo by Bruce Pendleton). It was a beauty. More covers than not are obvious and unimaginative, but this one has a genuine idea realized in depth, even to the selection of the pictures on the wall.
REX PARADY, Prudence Island, R.I.
We take pleasure in giving credit where due:
the pictures are on the wall of Associate Technical Editor Ralph Hodges' New York apartment, and there he is himself, front and center. with his bewitching daughter Justine.
Lazar Berman
I appreciated Music Editor James Good-friend's remarks about Lazar Berman in the July issue. However, the MK recording Mr. Goodfriend refers to does not contain the complete Rachmaninoff Etudes Tableaux; rather, it offers a rarer treat: the complete Rachmaninoff Moments Musicaux. This record [Melodiya D 08009-10 (a)], as well as another Berman recital containing the Scriabin Op. 42 Etudes and works by Ravel and Liszt [Melodiya D-08677-78 (a)], may be purchased from Soviet importers such as the Four Continent Book Corporation in New York. Moreover, there is an obscure domestic record, "Masters of the Keyboard" (Monitor MCS 2135), not listed in Schwann-2, which includes Berman's performances of the Prokofiev Toccata and Leon Jongen's Campeador. And in London 1 snapped up another Berman recording on Melodiya containing the Schumann Op. 22 Sonata and Liszt's transcriptions of several of Schubert's songs (not yet available through the Four Continent's 1974 catalog). I'm delighted to hear that Berman, who up until now has made only one concert tour outside the Soviet Union, will be heard in the U.S.
JOHN S. LEWIS
Fort Worth, Tex.
Mr. Goodfriend replies: Mr. Lewis and others who wrote are absolutely correct about the Moments Musicaux. I had the music in my head correctly, but inadvertently switched the titles, having just dealt with another pianist's recording of the Etudes Tableaux. Monitor Records informs' me that the above-cited "Masters of the Keyboard" has just been made available again. And Columbia will re lease their first Berman record later this year. Contents: the Liszt Sonata in B Minor, Venezia e Napoli (the "supplement" to Book Two of the Annees de Pelerinage), and the Mephisto Waltz (presumably No. 1 ). The disc was recorded recently in Moscow.
Troubleshooting
Post-Watergate and all that, it occurs to me to wonder just how close STEREO REVIEW is getting to some of its advertisers; my query is prompted by the Sansui advertisement on the back of that fine troubleshooting chart in the July issue.
Coincidence?
ARTHUR CRUIKSHANK
New York, N.Y.
The Editor replies: We would like to think we are very close to our advertisers indeed though not in the way Mr. Cruikshank appears to .suggest. We have done troubleshooting stories several times in the past, one of them in the same 'flow-chart' form as. the July cuticle. Trouble is, as time goes on, they grow more complicated, and we very quickly discovered that this one required a fold-out in order to set up properly. Since we knew, from past experience,that many readers would want to slip this chart out of the issue and pin it up in their basement workshops, we didn't want to print any part of the story on the back.
But what to put on the back' An ad was the obvious answer: a number of regular advertisers were circulated, and Sansui seized the opportunity. They not only seized it, but went running off with it in one of the most dazzling displays of creative copy writing I have seen in a long time. So, to answer the blunt query bluntly: no, no collusion, but a last-minute-rush error at the printing plant did result in the omission of the identifying word "Advertisement" from the first page of the ad. Sorry about that.
More Northern Lights
Richard Freed's June article, "Music's Northern Lights," is most informative and was badly needed since the average music lover in this country knows very little of this music beyond Grieg, Nielsen, and Sibelius.
However, a few corrections and additions are in order.
Vagn Holmboe, Denmark's foremost composer. has written ten, rather than nine, sym phonies. His Symphony No. 3 was commissioned in 1970 by Sixten Ehrling and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, who premiered it in January 1972. In 1973 Holmboe was sketching the first movement of his Symphony No. 2. And Allan Pettersson has written eleven. rather than nine, symphonies.
Mr. Freed fails to list Lars-Erik Larsson's Concertino for Trombone and Strings, which was issued here on Coronet 1711 but is difficult to get. Also, there is a wealth of recordings which are for sale in Scandinavia but which the American music lover can purchase only through special importers and at relatively steep prices. Those collectors who would like to purchase their records directly from, or in, Scandinavia. should expect to have to spend from $5 to $10 per disc. Thus, in Norway I spent $9.50 each on several records of music by Klaus Egge; in Sweden I was able to purchase several discs at prices of $7.50 to $8 each.
DIEDERIK C. D. DEJONG, Cincinnati, Ohio
Mr. Freed's list was of course not meant to be exhaustive, but merely to whet appetites; it would appear to have done just that.
I enjoyed Richard Freed's article discussing the various Scandinavian composers of lesser repute (June). Apparently Mr. Freed is not an avid collector of imports or he would know that August Rojas, 353V2 N. La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, for example, has offered in recent months all of the Alfven sym phonies and several suites; Stenhammer's Symphony in G, Second Piano Concerto, and Serenade in F; Peterson-Berger's Symphony No. 3, Violin Concerto, and excerpts from the opera Arnljot; Valen's Piano and Violin Concertos and a trio; and numerous discs by Atterberg, Pettersson, Egge, Palmgren, Saever ud, Sinding, Monrad-Johansen, Nystroem, Von Koch, Blomdahl, Jensen, Brustad . . . to name some of them. There is no shortage of this fine music-it's just the same old problem: most of our domestic companies would rather risk their dough on the forty-fourth Nutcracker than the first Stenhammar.
JERRY RUTLEDGE, Waseca, Minn.
Mr. Freed replies: While I would question Mr. Rutledge's term "lesser repute," I am delighted to be advised of a current source for many recordings which were not mentioned in the article only because they are not in general circulation in this country. I might note also that just as the article appeared in print the Musical Heritage Society released the first recording to be offered here of Aare Mer ikanto's Juha (a Finnish National Opera production, Ulf Soderblom conducting). It is reviewed in this issue.
William Kapell Discography
I am compiling a discography of William Kapell and would be pleased to receive from readers of STEREO REVIEW information regarding unissued tapes, broadcasts, or private items. I am particularly in need of information on Mr. Kapell's post-World War II European tours and broadcasts.
JOE SALERNO, 5651 Inwood, Houston, Tex. 77027
Apology
At the request of ESP-Disk Ltd., the editors wish to retract portions of the review of Lester Young records which appeared-on page 90 of our June issue, specifically the pas sage that referred to the title of the ESP-Disk album "Lester Young-Newly Discovered Performances, Volume 1" as a "hype" and which went on to state that ESP-Disk "pulled the same trick when it bootlegged Billie Holiday material."-Ed.
Funny, Funny Lady
The "original soundtrack" of Funny Lady (reviewed in July) is certainly not true to the film. Half of side two should be side one and vice versa, and the film soundtrack differs from the recorded sound. Being a "perfectionist," Miss Streisand should have sounded off to the producers about the mix-up before allowing the release.
J. SHUPE, New York, N.Y.
Soundtracks only rarely follow faithfully in the footsteps of their parent films, transfer to the disc medium often requiring any number of adjustments for as many reasons. The very best "soundtracks," of course, are those that are simply redone entire with the disc format in mind. Henry Mancini, for one, insists that his scores be done that way.
As the insightful Peter Reilly states in his July Best of the Month review of the legendary, ever-exquisite Barbra Streisand's Funny Lady, fans are ravenous for Miss Streisand-and I, for one, am ravenous for Mr. Reilly's writing.
MARK WHITMAN, Muskogee, Okla.
Like the movie, the soundtrack recording of Funny Lady reeks of nothing but Streisand congratulating herself on being a star. I like Streisand, but I don't need her to tell me 1 should like her. The comedy numbers are the worst, performed in the style of a great lady slumming rather than a celebration of a beloved comic style now past. Not everything Streisand touches turns to gold.
BRIAN L. BOYER, Silver Spring, Md.
Jazz Hall of Obscurity
Since STEREO REVIEW appears to have expanded its jazz reviews, the "Hall of Obscurity" compiled by Jamake Highwater (April) should include jazz. For instance, I was ecstatic over your Best of the Month re view three years ago of "Wings" by Michel Colombier (A&M label) and rushed out in search of it. Almost a year later I finally man aged to find a copy. Since then I've had many compliments on this album from people who've never heard of Colombier, and I feel it's unjustified that such a fine effort went unheralded in most music circles. Where is he now and why have there been no further re leases from this talented star?
J. S. REID, University, Miss.
L'Arlesienne
Boy, I'm right with Martin Bookspan's June column, L'Arlesienne, Suite No. 2, being one of my favorites. I never knew what the music was about-- I just knew I liked it very much--and the history is fascinating. I'd like to fill Mr. Bookspan in on the recording of L'Arlesienne that I like best, even though it's old and no longer available. It's the companion to a rather bland Ravel Bolero by Paul Paray and the Detroit Symphony on a half track stereo open-reel tape (Mercury MCS5 50). In keeping With STEREO REVIEW'S format, I rate it as:
Performance: Unbelievable
Recording: Excellent
PETER B. MANN Decatur, Ga.
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