CLASSICAL DISCS and TAPES; Lazar Berman's "Appassionata" by ERIC SALZMAN; The Symphonies of Sweden's Hugo Alfven, by DAVID HALL
Reviewed by:
- RICHARD FREED
- DAVID HALL
- GEORGE JELLINEK
- PAUL KRESH
- STODDARD LINCOLN
- ERIC SALZMAN
RECORDING OF SPECIAL MERIT: BEETHOVEN: Military March in D Major (WoO 24); Twelve German Dances (WoO 8); Minuet of Congratulations (WoO 142); Turkish March from "The Ruins of Athens," Op. 113. MOZART: March in D Major (K. 408, No. 2); March in C Major (K. 408, No. 3); Five Contredanses (K. 609); Two Minuets with Contredanses (K. 463); Contredanse La Batailie (K. 535); Six German Dances (K. 509). Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Edo de Waart cond. PHILIPS 9500 080 $7.98.
Performance: Stylish
Recording: First-rate
It is not very original to fall back on Wolf's "Auch kleine Dinge" by way of describing this marvelous collection, but that is what comes to mind. The music consists entirely of "little things," but they are miniatures com pounded of such taste, such charm, and such happy inventiveness that the matter of dimension is no matter at all. Edo de Waart brings out all these qualities in the most stylish and enlivening readings, and Philips' first-rate re cording lets us all but see how much the musicians are enjoying themselves. The Beethoven side is especially welcome, for there is no other complete recording of the German Dances (with the wonderful posthorn finale) available in this country at present, the Minuet of Congratulations has not been around (as far as I know) since Charles Munch's RCA 78, and the Turkish March is much more stunning here than in the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Group's version (Deutsche Grammophon 139045). The Mozart side will raise duplication problems for many collectors, and the K. 509 set is somewhat abbreviated, but neither consideration is likely to bother any one who hears this disc. It's a gem. R. F.
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The first listing is the one reviewed; other formats. if available, follow it.
RECORDING OF SPECIAL MERIT: BEETHOVEN: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61. Josef Suk (violin); New Philharmonia Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult cond. VANGUARD SRV 353-SD $3.98.
Performance: Very good
Recording: Excellent
Although Josef Suk is very highly regarded in Europe and is much recorded, he is barely known to the American public. Hence this re cording of the Beethoven violin concerto, given the formidable competition it faces in the catalog, may not attract much attention. It should, for this is a beautifully proportioned, altogether masterly performance, conforming extremely well to Boult's customary rock -sol id orchestral framework. Theirs is a massive, serene, lovingly detailed view, which is per haps a shade unsmiling in the Rondo, but which cannot fail to delight in its totality. The sound-of English EMI origin-is warmly resonant. Mr. Suk plays the unfamiliar but stylistically appropriate (indeed, Kreisler like) cadenzas of Vaga Puhoda, an eminent Bohemian violinist of an earlier generation.
G.J.
BOLLING: Concerto for Classic Guitar- and Jazz Piano. Claude Bolling (piano); Alexandre Lagoya (guitar); Michel Gaudry (bass); Marcel Sabiani (drums). RCA FRLI-0149 $6.98.
Performance: Mexico meets Mississippi in France
Recording: Excellent
Claude Bolling, now forty-six, studied guitar and piano as a child, and at fifteen he entered an amateur contest sponsored by the Hot Club of France. He was unsuccessful that time, but his luck changed three years later when he brought a traditional jazz band into the competition. This led to a series of recordings on various French labels during which the band underwent a transformation from a New Orleans style to early Ellington to modern swing. Bolling's emulation of the 1930's Ellington style-which led to some recordings featuring cornettist Rex Stewart-met with enormous success in Europe during the late Forties and brought praise from Duke him self. In recent years, Bolling has devoted much of his time to arranging for such diverse singers (and non -singers) as Charles Trenet, Brigitte Bardot, and Liza Minnelli, and to composing film and television scores. He has also turned to composing extended works that blend jazz and Baroque elements in the form of an instrumental dialogue. One of these, the Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano, featuring flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal and himself, appeared on the American Columbia label (M 33233) in 1975.
The present work was suggested by guitarist Alexandre Lagoya after he heard Bolling's Sonata for Two Pianos performed on the radio. That the concerto contains pleasing, even beautiful passages cannot be denied, but Baroque music and jazz are such obvious-and, by now, old-partners that there don't seem to be any new roads to explore in that direction, or, if there are, Bolling has chosen the beaten path. Sections employing South American and Mexican themes suffer from the same triteness. The performance itself is not displeasing, but the music-like so many jazz-classic amalgams-comes out being neither fish nor fowl. I would rather hear Lagoya per form a classical guitar work than what he does here, and I much prefer Bolling's "Original Ragtime" album (Columbia PC 33277) to this one.
Chris Albertson
BRAHMS: Four Ballades, Op. 10; Fantasias, Op. 116. Emil Gilels (piano). DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 2530 656 $7.98.
Performance: Delicate
Recording: Okay
There is a delicacy in these performances that approaches wanness. This is particularly disturbing in the Ballades, which cry out for a firm, bardic treatment. Side two--a set of lyric poems--fares better, and the recorded sound is better as well.
E. S.
BRAHMS: Piano Concerto No. 1, in D Minor, Op. 15. Artur Rubinstein (piano); Israel Phil harmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta cond. LONDON CS 7018 $6.98, 5-7018 $7.98.
Performance: Rubinstein valedictory?
Recording: Close-miked soloist
Those who saw on public TV Artur Rubinstein's performance of Brahms' heaven-storming youthful masterpiece will have a fine souvenir in this, the old master's first recording not from RCA or EMI. As in the television broadcast, the miking of the soloist is on the close side; even a Rubinstein can hardly be expected to produce the dynamic range at age ninety that he did twenty-two years earlier in his fire-eating interpretation of the concerto with Reiner and the Chicago Symphony (RCA LM 1831). But for a man of his age, and with failing eyesight as well, Rubinstein can still do wonderful things with and for the music.
There is a rather leisurely and ruminative traversal of the opening movement, followed by a slow movement that increases in its intensity of expressive phrasing to a point of al most unbearable poignance in the final five minutes. Much the same happens in the finale in the quasi-cadenza episodes for solo piano.
Mehta is a truly affectionate collaborator and brings to the ordinarily dry fugato section of the finale a delightful sense of play. And yet, for all the sentiment attached to this particular recorded performance, I still hope we shall see an RCA reissue of the 1954 Chicago tour de force. D.H.
BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 7, in E Major. Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Jascha Horenstein cond. UNICORN UNI 111 $6.98.
Performance: Good
Recording: Historic, vintage 1928
I grew up with this performance as released on 78-rpm gold-seal Brunswick pressings, heavy surface noise and all. It was, even then, a finely proportioned, lyrical reading, though its drama was diluted by somewhat dim and glassy violin tone. Unicorn has transferred the performance to LP format as part of its project of documenting Horenstein's interpretations. Not much could be done about the dim violins, but it is good to hear it without the heavy surface noise. And it is a welcome and valuable bit of historical preservation, for this was the first electrical recording of a Bruckner symphony in its entirety, preceding the Ormandy one by some eight years. D.H.
CHAVEZ: Piano Concerto. Eugene List (piano); Vienna State Opera Orchestra, Carlos Chavez cond. WESTMINSTER WGS-8324 $3.49.
Performance: Good, but not good enough
Recording: Likewise
With still-vivid memories of the 1942 broad cast premiere of the Chavez Piano Concerto, I snatched the first copy of this recording I could get my hands on when it was first issued by Westminster in 1964. I was bitterly disappointed by an all-too-careful rendition and so-so recorded sound-with none of the heroic intensity I remembered from twenty-two years before.
Westminster's reissue offers a considerably improved sonic picture, however, thanks to an excellent job of reprocessing and the re-suiting richer, more spacious, and more de tailed texture. Even so, the music deserves better than this. The Viennese players seem ill at ease with the music, and the recording does not begin to approach today's standard in capturing percussion detail. List's performance is done with great care, but not with the fire he brought to it in 1942 and which the highly virtuosic music truly deserves. D.H.
CHERUBINI: String Quartets Nos. 1-6 (see Best of the Month, page 84) CHOPIN: Etudes, Opp. 10 and 25. Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano). SAGA 5293 $6.98.
Performance: Elegant
Recording: Dated
Saga is a budget label in England; it is a bit of a jolt to find it imported at what we regard here as full price, though this particular disc would have been a treasure at almost any price until about a year ago, even with the phony stereo. These are apparently the same recordings that were available here more than fifteen years ago on MK imports from the U.S.S.R. and turned up a bit later on the Bruno label. For all the occasional patches of muddy sound and crunchy surfaces, it was an exciting release then, identifying the young pianist as a master. The disc's appeal is severely diminished now, though, because only a year ago London issued Ashkenazy's new recording of the etudes (CS -6844), in which he not only benefits from immeasurably superior sonics but also shows even greater poetry and depth than in these earlier performances, elegant though they remain. R. F.
COOLIDGE: Rhapsody for Harp and Orchestra; New England Autumn; Pioneer Dances; Spirituals in Sunshine and Shadow. Westphalian Symphony Orchestra, Siegfried Landau cond. TURNABOUT QTV-S 34635 $3.98.
Performance: Lively
Recording: Excellent
The conscientious music-lover is always threatened by the feeling that he might be missing something. Peggy Stuart Coolidge? Born in Massachusetts in 1913, she wrote her first song when she was nine, took piano les sons, and planned a career as a concert pianist. Then, in 1937, she started writing scores for ballets and films, orchestral suites, and tone poems. Her work has been compared to Gershwin's and Copland's, but in reality the music on this disc tends to make one think of her more as a kind of American Eric Coates; it also bears strong affinities to the "serious" contributions of Morton Gould. The latter particularly comes to mind when one hears her Spirituals in Sunshine and Shadow. Like Gould's Spirituals, this is a suite of works inspired by black Americana. A strongly appealing piece, with a pleasant transparency in the scoring, it lacks the sinews of the Gould treatment, but it is even more intriguingly orchestrated.
The Pioneer Dances have that outdoorsy ring we have come to associate with such offerings, but the wholesomeness sounds rather secondhand and self-conscious. The Rhapsody for Harp and Orchestra and New England Autumn, with one movement devoted to a regional sunrise and the other to a country fair, are long on mood and atmosphere but short on the kind of substance that might keep the impressionist colors from floating off into space. All four pieces receive buoyant, agreeable performances, and they are especially alive in QS playback. All make for unusually pleasant listening. P.K.
PEGGY
STUART COOLIDGE: Unusually pleasant, appealing music.
ELGAR: Enigma Variations, Op. 36. Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski cond. Serenade in E Minor for String Orchestra, Op. 20; Elegy for Strings, Op. 58. Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Ainslee Cox cond. LONDON SPC 21136$6.98.
Performance: Idiosyncratic
Recording: Very good
Stokowski wrote of his "mystical" view of the Enigma Variations in a 1929 letter to the composer which is reproduced on the liner of this release, and that is probably the key to the performance so richly captured by Lon don/Decca during a Prague concert in September 1972. There is nothing one might call stereotyped and little that is "traditional" in Stokowski's reading, which is characterized instead by highly individual touches that even the great conductor's most devoted admirers are likely to find more fussy than insightful.
Almost every other recorded performance of the Enigma Variations is more persuasive by virtue of greater robustness where called for and greater contrast between the respective variations. Ainslee Cox is individualistic to a lesser degree in moving along so determinedly in the Serenade-as if religiously opposed to the idea of trading on the work's charm. The brief Elegy comes off best, but it too may be heard to better advantage in other Elgar collections. Since one of my own recent liner notes contained a grievous error, I am not about to thunder with righteousness about the ones here, but the brief notes are studded with misleading statements. R. F.
GINASTERA: Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 37. Hilde Somer (piano); UCI Symphony Orchestra, Alvaro Cassuto cond. Quintet for Piano and Strings. Hilde Somer (piano); Arnold Black, Alicia Edelberg (violins); Jacob Glick (viola); Seymour Barab (cello). ORION ORS 76241 $6.98.
Performance: Committed
Recording: Crisp
Ginastera describes his Second Piano Concerto as a work of "tragic and fantastic nature." It was written in 1972 for Hilde Somer, whose performance of the First Concerto had pleased the composer; she introduced it with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, which commissioned it. The orchestral writing is rather sparse through most of the four movements, with percussion instruments frequent ly prominent. In his violin concerto Ginastera wrote an "Evocation of Paganini"; the first movement of the new piano concerto is a set of "32 Variations on a Chord by Beethoven" (taken from the finale of the Ninth Sym phony), and in the concluding movement Ginastera cites a theme from the end of Chopin's Second Sonata. The two inner movements-a "Scherzo for the Left Hand" and an adagio headed Quasi una fantasia-exude what might be called Ginastera's own counterpart to Bartok's "night music." In all, the concerto is a strong piece, but one that not every listener will find digestible on a single hearing. Somer's proprietary zeal should be more than enough to draw anyone back for further aural exploration, and she is well sup ported by the very able UCI ( University of California at Irvine) Symphony Orchestra un der the Portuguese composer-conductor Alvaro Cassuto.
The piano quintet is nearly a decade older than the Second Concerto, and it has circulated more, but this is apparently the first re cording for both works; both benefit from genuinely committed performances. If the instrumentation sounds richer in the chamber work, it is both because the four string players are given somewhat fuller partnership than the orchestra enjoys in the concerto and because of the greater presence and more equable balance in the recording of the quintet, taped by Marc Aubort in Charlemont, Massachusetts, following a performance in the Mohawk Trail Concerts there. The documentation includes the composer's own notes on the concerto and Nicolas Slonimsky's on the quintet. R.F.
HAYDN: Cello Concerto in C Major (Hob. VIIb:1); Cello Concerto in D Major (Hob. Mstislav Rostropovich (cello); Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields,. Mstislav Rostropovich cond. ANGEL 0 S-37193 $6.98.
Performance: Opulent
Recording: Close-up
The C Major Concerto is a work Rostropovich has embraced enthusiastically and plays frequently. In his dual role as both solo ist and conductor he gives it an opulent per formance, if not the most stylish one on all counts. The intense expressiveness in the slow movement is surely overdrawn by half, but in general the cellist's exuberance and his downright gorgeous playing make this a pleasurable side. No harpsichord is heard; no one will miss it, though it would have been appropriate in this work of the 1760's, and there is one in the picture in Rostropovich's earlier re cording of the concerto (London CS -6419), which was conducted by Benjamin Britten, who also provided him with the cadenzas he still plays.
The other side of this disc is less appealing.
Rostropovich gives us the authentic version of the more familiar D Major Concerto -rather than the Gevaert edition we always used to hear, but he gets in the way of the music by fussing too much with dynamics and rhythms.
His habit of stretching individual note values and inserting gratuitous little crescendos and diminuendos becomes as distressing as his un willingness to hold to a given tempo. These traits are especially obtrusive in the slow movement and finale (which follows here without a pause), the latter so labored and fussed over that it has no spring. The cadenzas are not attractive. In short: too much Rostropovich, too little Haydn. Angel's sound is close-up but clean, the Academy (for which Iona Brown is listed, confusingly, as "director") in fine fettle.
Philips really should reinstate Maurice Gendron's recordings of these concertos; his clean, straightforward elegance is just what is needed. In the meantime, I would be happier with the similarly elegant Pierre Fournier in this coupling (DG 139.358), even though Rudolf Baumgartner's conducting is rather lack luster and there are cuts in the first movement of the D Major. R . F.
KASTALSKY: Four Motets (see RACHMANINOFF) MASSENET: Esclarmonde (see Best of the Month, page 82) MENDELSSOHN: Violin Concerto in E Mi nor, Op. 64.
TCHAIKOVSKY: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35. Ruggiero Ricci (violin); Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Jean Fournet cond. LONDON SPC-21116 $6.98.
MENDELSSOHN: Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64. MOZART: Violin Concerto No. 3, in G Major (K. 216). Leonid Kogan (violin);
Paris Conservatoire Orchestra, Constantin (Continued on page 118)
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Lazar Berman's Appassionata
PIANIST Lazar Berman is a true Beethovenian. He works close to the idea and lets the piece pour out of a central conception with in credible energy. Except in its demonic inten sity, there is nothing especially "romantic" about this way of playing, nor is it structurally weak. Quite the contrary, the foundation is ...
--------Just wait until you hear the Presto ... -------
... firm, the superstructure powerful. The trick is in the marshaling of forces, the disposal of energy.
Berman is not a "careful" pianist; there is no tiptoeing -through -the -tulips here. There is, on the contrary, an almost spur -of -the moment quality that I like--no Hamlet-like agonizing over every note, but rather a very direct reliving of intense experience, Beethoven presented as the narrative -dramatic composer he most essentially was.
The sound is clear-and clangorous. It is not beautiful, but it's not bad for the playing either. Just wait until you hear the Presto of the Appassionata.
-Eric Salzman
BEETHOVEN: Sonata No. 23, in F Minor, Op. 57 ("Appassionata"); Sonata No. 18, in E -flat Major, Op. 31, No. 3. Lazar Berman (piano). COLUMBIA M 34218 $6.98, MA 34218 $7.98, MT 34218 $7.98.
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The Symphonies of Sweden's HUGO ALFVEN
ALTHOUGH he is known to most American listeners solely through his deservedly popular Swedish Rhapsody No. 1, Midsommarvaka (Midsummer Vigil), Hugo Alfven (1872-1960) has not been exactly a stranger to alert and curious record buyers over here. In the Fifties Westminster issued the composer's own recording of Midsommarvaka as taped by Swedish Society Discofil, together with the Swedish Rhapsody No. 2 (Dalecarlian Rhapsody) and the ballet scores Bergakungen (The Mountain King) and The Prodigal Son. Even so, were one to judge Alfven solely on the basis of these works, the inclination would be to dismiss him as an appealing but minor master of the nationalist-romantic per suasion. It is just what would probably hap pen to Dvorak if we knew only the Slavonic Dances, the Slavonic Rhapsodies, and the Scherzo Capriccioso.
Now, however, thanks to the enterprise of HNH Distributors of Evanston, Illinois, in making available here the 1962-1972 Swedish Society Discofil recordings of Alfven's sym phonies, listeners on this side of the Atlantic can become better acquainted with the Swedish composer. On the evidence, he was, if not a master to be ranked with Sibelius and Nielsen, still a creative figure of very considerable stature.
Alfven's First Symphony was first per formed in 1897, just three years after Carl Nielsen's first essay in the medium and two years before Sibelius'. Like Nielsen, the twenty-four-year-old Alfven had been a violinist in the opera orchestra, and his First Symphony, like Nielsen's, has stylistic elements in common with Dvorak and with Grieg's compatriot Johan Svendsen. The spirit of the piece, not unexpectedly, contrasts Sturm and Drang and the idyllic, and Swedish dance music comes winningly to the fore in the finale.
It is the Second Symphony of 1899, though, that demonstrates what Alfven might have accomplished had he chosen to pursue this direction unrelentingly. The Second is an often fascinating and vital score, replete with boldly original touches. The Dvorak element is still present in the first movement, but in what follows Alfven really let go, producing a slow movement of strong thematic substance and a powerful fugue -textured central section, a mi nor/major scherzo full of restless energy and brilliant orchestral writing, and a remarkable prelude-and-fugue finale that makes powerful use of an old Swedish chorale.
But Alfven did not choose to pursue the path 'hinted at in the Second Symphony, and between it and the Third Symphony came the famous Midsommarvaka and the atmospherically romantic Legend of the Skerries, whose richness of harmonic texture suggests the influence of Richard Strauss. The Symphony No. 3, composed in Italy during the summer of 1907, is sunny and lightweight; the serene slow movement has a distinct Swedish folk flavor, and the scherzo is a brilliant neo-Mendelssohn affair.
In the Fourth Symphony (1918-1919), Alfven essayed a decidedly more ambitious can vas in which Richard Straussian textures serve as tonal warp for a continuously woven symphonic narrative of idyllic and tragic love.
Where Nielsen in the slow movement of his Third Symphony (1912) used an off-stage soprano -and -tenor vocalise to heighten the atmosphere, Alfven used the device intermittently throughout his symphony in thematically functional and highly dramatic ways. The work as a whole is unified by a distinctive germinal motive.
IN 1942 Alfven completed the first movement of his most ambitious symphony, his Fifth, and the movement was performed alone as a seventieth -birthday commemoration. The remaining three movements waited another decade for completion, and the entire work was performed in Stockholm on April 30, 1952, to mark the composer's eightieth birthday.
However, Alfven was not happy with the finished product and withdrew all but the first movement. Having heard the broadcast acetates from this occasion, I rather wish he had elected to keep the fascinating danse macabre scherzo. This, together with the massive first movement, is death-haunted yet curiously defiant music, a poignant testament of sorts whose spirit is reminiscent of Gustav Mahler.
It must be said with some regret that the symphonies of Alfven, for all their brilliance, for all their many fine pages, are no match for those of Sibelius or Nielsen in terms of a sustained line of development or of consistently arresting and powerful substance. They are, On the evidence, he was a creative figure of considerable stature however, extremely beautiful and appealing music on their own, somewhat lesser, terms.
As for the recorded performances on the five discs considered here, the readings are one and all noteworthy in their authenticity and conviction. Those of veteran conductor Nils Grevillius (1893-1970) are marred to some degree by the rather dead acoustic of the Stockholm Konserthus recording locale, but the Stig Westerberg and Leif Segerstam discs boast first-rate conics throughout. Forced to a choice, I would recommend the Second Symphony first, with no reservations whatever, and would supplement it with the excerpt from the Symphony No. 5. -David Hall
ALFVEN: Symphony No. 1, in F Minor, Op. 7. Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Stig Westerberg cond. SWEDISH SOCIETY DisCOFIL SLT 33213 $7.98.
ALFVEN: Symphony No. 2, in D Major, Op. 11. Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Leif Segerstam cond. SWEDISH SOCIETY DISCOFIL SLT 33211 $7.98.
ALFVEN: Symphony No. 3, in E -flat Major, Op. 23. Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Nils Grevillius cond. SWEDISH SOCIETY DISCOFIL SLT 33161 $7.98.
ALFVEN: Symphony No. 4, in C Minor, Op. 39 ("From the Seacoast"). Gunilla of Malmborg (soprano); Sven Erik Vikstrom (tenor); Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Nils Grevillius cond. SWEDISH SOCIETY DISCOFIL SLT 33186 $7.98.
ALFVEN: Symphony No. 5, in A Minor, Op. 55, First Movement; A Legend of the Skerries, Op. 20. Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Stig Westerberg cond. SWEDISH SOCIETY DISCOFIL SLT 33174 $7.98.
(All discs may be ordered from HNH Distributors, P.O. Box 222, Evanston, III. 60204.)
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... Silvestri cond. CONNOISSEUR SOCIETY CS -2111 $6.98.
Performances: Both good, Kogan warmer
Recordings: Both good, London brighter
There is some fine fiddling on both of these discs, but neither of them would displace a pre-existing first choice among recordings of any of the respective concertos. Ricci faces more than a half -dozen competing versions of the same coupling, including those of Heifetz, Milstein, and Stern, which offer a greater feel ing of "lift" in the playing, more distinguished orchestral collaboration, and a more natural balance within the orchestra.
Kogan's Mendelssohn does have "lift" and rather more warmth than Ricci's. The 1960 sound does not show its age, but Silvestri is not as alert a partner here as in the splendid Tchaikovsky performance he and Kogan recorded at the same time (Seraphim S-60075); he lets too many details go by and actually lags behind his soloist at times. The Mozart side is a more successful collaboration, though here Kogan himself has a somewhat heavier touch than in his earlier version with Otto Ackermann. In their own right, both of these new issues are enjoyable, but the com petition is too formidable. R.F.
MOZART: Marches and Dances (see BEETHOVEN) MOZART: Der Schauspieldirektor (K. 486). Ruth Welting (soprano), Madame Herz; Ileana Cotrubas (soprano), Mlle. Silberklang; Anthony Rolfe Johnson (tenor), Monsieur Vogelsang; Clifford Grant (bass), Monsieur Buff.
Lo Sposo Deluso (K. 430). Felicity Palmer (soprano), Eugenia; Ileana Cotrubas (soprano); Bettina; Anthony Rolfe Johnson (tenor), Don Asdrubale; Robert Tear (tenor), Pulcherio; Clifford Grant (bass), Bocconio. London Symphony Orchestra, Colin Davis cond. PHILIPS 9500 011 $7.98, 7300 472 $7.98.
Performance: Good
Recording: Excellent
Here is a worthy addition to the Mozart operatic shelf: two rather unfamiliar works span ning the period between Die Entfiihrung (1782) and Le Nozze di Figaro (1786). Der Schauspieldirektor (The Impresario) is a one -act Singspiel that was composed for a courtly event on an always timely subject (the vanity and rivalries of opera singers) chosen by the emperor himself. Lo Sposo Deluso, for which Lorenzo da Ponte might have been the librettist, is an opera buffa that has survived only in fragments (two arias on the disc have been orchestrated by Erik Smith). By usual Mozartian standards both are minor achievements, yet they are not insignificant. Both reveal intermittent flashes of brilliant inspiration as well as anticipations of the masterpieces to come.
Der Schauspieldirektor has been recorded several times, but right now the only other available version is included as a filler with DG's complete Entrahrung set (2709 051).
Both versions omit the connecting dialogue-a sensible solution to the problem of rendering all the music complete on one record side. Davis favors brisker pacing than does Karl Bohm on DG, but the choice is difficult between two excellent orchestral treatments. The familiar overture is sparklingly performed and the singers are good in both sets. DG's Reri Grist handles Madame Herz's tricky vocal line with more assurance than Philips' Ruth Welting, but the latter realizes more of the part's comic character.
MATTEO MANUGUERRA: An absolutely first-rate Scarpia.
Lo Sposo Deluso has a soprano aria that anticipates the resolute character and the wide interval leaps of Fiordiligi's "Come scoglio" (Cosi Fan Tutte) and concludes with a delightful final ensemble. Davis again excels, and the singers, though not quite as impressive as in Der Schauspieldirektor, are never less than acceptable. The Italian text, however, is not handled very idiomatically.
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MOZART: Violin Concerto No. 3, in G Major (see MENDELSSOHN) PUCCINI: Tosca. Galina Vishnevskaya (soprano), Tosca; Franco Bonisolli (tenor), Cavaradossi; Matteo Manuguerra (baritone),.Baron Scarpia; Antonio Zerbini (bass), Angelotti; Mario Guggia (tenor), Spoletta; Guido Mazzini (baritone), Sacristan; Domenico Versaci Medici (bass), Sciarrone; Giacomo Bertasi (bass), Jailer. Orchestre National de France, Mstislav Rostropovich cond. DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 2707 087 two discs $15.96.
Performance: Uneven
Recording: Not the best
If I read the annotations correctly, conductor Rostropovich and the musical score of Puccini's Tosca met for the first time profession ally on the occasion of this recording. This tells us a great deal about the way things are done nowadays, and the results, under the circumstances, are not surprising. This is a reading without any serious mishaps, to be sure, but it is no more than a "reading." Act I, in particular, is uninteresting: the orchestral playing lacks incisiveness and dynamic contrasts, the Angelotti episodes come and go without sufficient tension, and the extended love duet sounds tentative. The second and third acts move more convincingly, but suffer from such eccentricities as the unduly slow pacing of the crucial andante sostenuto pas sage preparatory to the stabbing (Act II) and the exaggerated downward slide the strings are persuaded to do in the slow march that leads to Cavaradossi's execution.
Among the singers, the standout is baritone Matteo Manuguerra, an absolutely first-rate Scarpia, who succeeds in a vital characterization through expressive use of his malleable voice without resorting to theatrical effects.
Galina Vishnevskaya is a superb singing actress with many individual touches that make dramatic sense; her delivery of the famous line "E avanti a lui tremava tutta Roma" is refreshingly original. Vocally, alas, she is erratic: her finely shaded, inward "Vissi d'arte" and other thoughtful passages are offset by extended stretches of shrill and off -pitch singing above the staff. Franco Bonisolli is also in consistent in matters of style and intonation, though he can modulate his voice sensitively at times and the material he works with is of solid timbre and good extension.
Except for the Sacristan, who is only adequate, the supporting singers are good, including the unnamed boy soprano in the third act. The engineering, however, is disappointing in its overall low-level sound and ineffective placement of the orchestra in the total perspective. G.J.
RECORDING OF SPECIAL MERIT: RACHMANINOFF: The Vigil (Vesper Mass), Op. 37.
KASTALSKY: Four Motets. Meriel Dickinson (contralto); Wynford Evans (ten or); Bruckner -Mahler Choir of London, Wyn Morris cond. PHILIPS 6747 246 two discs $15.96.
Performance: Highly polished
Recording: Good
This is the third recording within the last few years of the fifteen choral chants from old Slavic liturgy that Sergei Rachmaninoff com posed and published in 1915 under the title Vespers. These are solemn, frequently austere, a cappella hymns, most of them moving at a slow tempo, but the expert harmonization enhances the melodies with a richness that triumphs over the threat of monotony.
The English choir under Wyn Morris' skillful leadership offers singing of great beauty, rich-toned and sensitively shaded. The overall effect is that of a perfectly drilled and highly refined ensemble. A previous and deservedly much -praised version by the USSR Chorus under Aleksander Sveshnikov (Melodiya/ Angel 4124) approaches the music in a similarly cultivated manner but with more drama, stressing wider dynamic contrasts and more vigorous and incisive attacks. Significantly, the English choir cannot muster those cavernous Russian basses who make the low organ-point ending (B -flat) of Chant No. 5 so unforgettable. And yet I have nothing but admiration for the superb singing displayed in the Philips set, not only by the chorus but by the two fine soloists as' well.
The Melodiya set spreads out the Vespers rather ungenerously over four sides. Philips devotes the fourth side to four motets by Alexander Kastalsky, Hachmaninoff's older contemporary. A pioneer in Russian choral music, Kastalsky is interesting for his fusion of liturgical and folk elements. Admittedly, this is somewhat specialized repertoire, yet I think that many lovers of singing will be de lighted and moved by it. G.J.
RAVEL: Le Tombeau de Couperin (see STRAVINSKY)
SCARLATTI (tr. Williams): Sonatas in E Major (L. 23), A Major (L. 238), A Minor (L. 429), A Major (L. 485), D Minor (L. 108), and D Major (orig. C Major, L. 104).
VILLA-LOBOS: Five Preludes. John Williams (guitar). COLUMBIA M 34198 $6.98, MT 34198 $7.98.
Performance: Outstanding Villa-Lobos
Recording: Fine
This is one of those records with the wrong side up. The Villa -Lobos preludes, exquisite, idiomatic, superbly played guitar music, are the stellar attraction. The idea of playing Scarlatti sonatas on the guitar is appealing in principle-Scarlatti was influenced by Spanish guitar music-but not too successful in practice. The most basic problem is range.
The Scarlatti sonatas make striking use of the crisp, plucked, treble sound of the harpsichord. On the guitar, basically a sweet, baritone instrument, everything sounds an octave low-an octave too low for the music-and all of Williams' wizardry cannot put it right. E.S.
RECORDING OF SPECIAL MERIT: SCHUMANN: Concerto Without Orchestra (Sonata No. 3, in F Minor), Op. 14.
SCRIABIN: Sonata No. 5, Op. 53. Vladimir Horowitz (piano). RCA ARL1-1766 $6.98.
Performance: Monumental
Recording: Live?
SCHUMANN: Concerto Without Orchestra (Sonata No. 3, in F Minor), Op. 14; Impromptus on a Theme by Clara Wieck, Op. 5. Jean -Philippe Collard (piano). CONNOISSEUR Society S 2081 $6.98.
Performance: Good
Recording: Very good
Schumann's so-called "Concerto Without Orchestra"--a title bestowed by a nervous publisher-is probably best known for the tempo directions in the finale. Schumann marked the movement "As .fast as possible," and then, on at least two later occasions, the performer is told to speed up! Actually, however, these directions are more than an amusing gaffe or exaggeration. The striving toward the super human, the sublime, is extraordinary in this work. No wonder pianists have been frightened off in droves. Even Horowitz used to play only the slow movement-a set of variations on a theme of Clara Schumann. He is quite right, however, when he says that these pages are much more beautiful within the con text of the whole sonata.
Horowitz performed this monumental work on his 1975-1976 tour, and this recording paired with the even more off -beat Scriabin sonata-is billed as a "celebration" of that tour. But the circumstances of the recordings go unmentioned, and, except for the rather uniformly mediocre quality of the piano sound, there is no evidence that they are real live "live" recordings (as opposed to invited-audience performances for the express purposes of recording). Nevertheless, the desired result is achieved: music of exceptional interest in recorded performances of great expressive impact.
Jean-Philippe Collard is, a young French pianist who tackles Schumann with energy and skill but without the depth that Horowitz brings. There are many good things to be said about Collard's recording. The pairing is more apropos (Schumann's early and charming homage to his future wife makes a nice addendum to the sonata's slow movement), and the quality of the piano sound (Pathe-Marconi in origin) is a good deal better than RCA's. Col lard's version of the scherzo is livelier and perhaps more convincing than Horowitz's, and the young Frenchman's version of the slow movement is most attractive. Even his finale, although more straightforward and less romantic, has real sweep. But the comparison of the first movements gives all the advantage to Horowitz. Horowitz makes the music sing, breathe, laugh, and cry, and that's what it must do to live. E.S.
SCRIABIN: Sonata No. 5, Op. 53 (see SCHUMANN)
RECORDINGS OF SPECIAL MERIT: STRAVINSKY: Divertimento, Suite from "Le Baiser de la Fee"; Suite Italienne from "Pulcinella" after Pergolesi; Duo Concertant. Itzhak Perlman (violin); Bruno Canino (piano). ANGEL S-37115 $6.98.
STRAVINSKY: Suite d'apres des Themes, Fragments et Morceaux de Giambatista Pergolesi; Variation d'Apollon; Berceuse and Scherzo from "The Firebird"; Chanson Russe from "Mavra"; Ballad from "Le Baiser de la Fee; Danse Russe from "Petrouchka." Eudice Shapiro (violin); Ralph Berkowitz (piano). CRYSTAL S302 $6.98.
Performances: Good to excellent
Recordings: Angel superior
It comes as a surprise that Stravinsky wrote so much solo violin music. In fact, most of it is in the form of arrangements, either written by Stravinsky himself or sanctioned by him.
Much of this music was created for a famous series of performances and tours in the 1930's with the American violinist Samuel Dushkin.
But Stravinsky made an arrangement for violin and piano of music from Pulcinella as early as 1925 for the violinist Paul Kochanski. It is this suite, not the more elaborate Suite Italienne, that has been recorded-presumably for the first time-by Eudice Shapiro. The Variation d'Apollon from the Balanchine bal let was arranged by Joseph Szigeti with the composer's blessing. The other four pieces on Miss Shapiro's record are Stravinsky-Dush kin collaborations. Eudice Shapiro had a long and successful collaboration with Stravinsky in Los Angeles, and, although she is not as well known elsewhere as she might be, Stravinsky's admiration for her playing was obviously well founded. These are attractive performances which show Stravinsky at his most appealing.
It is somewhat unfortunate that Miss Shapiro's recording arrived in tandem with Itzhak Perlman's. Perlman's playing is superb, his repertoire larger in scale and more "serious" (and more attractively recorded). The Duo Concertant, the only original work Stravinsky composed for the medium, is a serious, lyrical, somewhat labored work that almost accomplishes something in Perlman's performance. The Divertimento-the music is from the ballet Le Baiser de la Fee, which is itself a take-off on themes of Tchaikovsky--comes off dangerously close to old-fashioned salon-music schmaltz. And the Suite Italienne-Pergolesi in the Dushkin version-emerges as a large-scale work, the most attractive on the record. All of this is immensely well played by Perlman, who has the knack of producing a rich sound and lots of expression without los ing the rhythmic tension of the music. A really beautiful recording. E.S.
RECORDING OF SPECIAL MERIT: STRAVINSKY: Three Movements from Petrouchka. RAVEL: Le Tombeau de Couperin. Alexis -Weissenberg (piano). CONNOISSEUR SOCIETY CS -2114 $6.98.
Performance: Brilliant
Recording: Brittle
Petrouchka started out as a work for piano and orchestra, and even in its final, balletic form the piano plays an important role. So it was not really farfetched that, in 1922, Stravinsky made a set of piano pieces from the score (for Artur Rubinstein, who, I believe, never performed it). The hard -edged qualities of Stravinsky's imagination are particularly strong in this performance. The Petrouchka we know and love is overlaid with a rich Rimsky-like orchestration, but there's none of that here; the bones are laid bare in this brilliant, biting, ironic performance.
Le Tombeau de Couperin has a similar history in reverse. It started out as a piano work and ended up as an orchestral suite. The com poser's orchestration lends a softness and a beauty that must be coaxed out of the piano version. Weissenberg, however, is the neo Classicist par excellence, and it is this side of Ravel-high culture, homage to the great past, wit and clarity, individuality tempered by good taste and a certain sang-froid-that is emphasized here. E.S.
RECORDING OF SPECIAL MERIT
TALLIS: Motets. O Nata lux de lumine; Gaude gloriosa; Ecce tempus idoneum; Lo quebantur variis linguis; Spem in aliurn; If ye love me; Hear the voice and prayer; Lamentations I. The Clerkes of Oxenford, David Wulstan cond. SERAPHIM S 60256 $3.98.
Performance: Excellent
Recording: Evocative
Ranging from the simple but disarming "0 Nata lux de lumine" to the intricate sonorities of the forty -voice motet "Spem in alium," this disc presents the splendors of Thomas Tallis as no previous record has done. The ravishing music contrasts full-bodied choral sounds with a long, sinuous tracery peculiar to the early English Renaissance. Also very English are the all but excruciating cross-relations that endow the sweet triadic sound with a surprising bite.
ALEXIS
WEISSENBERG: the neo-Classicist par excellence.
The women singers here have been carefully trained to sound like boys, and the overall sound of the Clerkes is clear and serene, a quality intensified by the ambiance of the Merton College Chapel, Oxford, and beauti fully caught by the recording engineers. David Wulstan moves the music along with well chosen tempos and articulates the highly wrought lines in such a way that the imitative writing is clearly heard. This in turn lends the music a compositional tightness that is rarely heard in performance. The magnificence of this music and the exquisite performance so accurately caught on this disc will surely put Tallis on the map as an outstanding early Renaissance choral composer. S.L.
TCHAIKOVSKY: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35 (see MENDELSSOHN)
VILLA -LOBOS: Five Preludes (see SCAR LATTI)
VIVALDI: The Seasons (see Best of the Month, page 81)
RECORDING OF SPECIAL MERIT: VIVALDI: Twelve Concertos, Op. 7. Salvatore Accardo (violin); Heinz Holliger (oboe); I Musici. PHILIPS 6700 100 two discs $15.96.
Performance: Electric
Recording: Sharp
Like so many of my colleagues, I enjoyed an initial enthusiasm and delight in the concertos of Vivaldi and then became so glutted with them that the very name of the composer evoked black thoughts and, on occasion, bad language. But Vivaldi is not to be escaped, and in my recent listening, admittedly forced, I have come to realize that it was not the com poser I disliked but rather the many bad performances to which I had been subjected. Vivaldi's music, with its unquenchable drive and verve, requires technical perfection and, above all, an almost exaggerated rhythmic vitality. Certainly one of the finest ensembles playing today with those qualities is I Musici.
There is at the present time a strong trend to reinstate old instruments for the performance of early music. When in the hands of knowledgeable and fine musicians, the old instruments are, of course, ideal. But there will always be fine ensembles that prefer and will continue to play modern instruments. Unfortunately, purists often turn their noses up at them and forget that their message is a valid one and, at times, stronger than the waves emitted by the old-instrument outfits. I Musici have built up a tradition in their performances of Baroque music, and they doggedly stick to the instruments they know and play superbly.
Through the years they have gradually evolved a musically effective style for this repertoire, and the fruits of that effort come out in their full glory in this recording of Vivaldi's Op. 7. The group's tone is rich and vibrant, technically they are spot on, their ensemble is superb, and, above all, they have that rhythmic vitality so necessary for the mu sic. They are also blessed with a top-drawer virtuoso, violinist Salvatore Accardo, whose technique is modern, to be sure, but who also has a sense of style that renders his playing clean and articulate. We never have to worry about Romantic mannerisms here, but we can still enjoy Romantic lyricism within the bonds of Baroque taste. In this album we are also fortunate to have Heinz Holliger turn in exciting performances of the two oboe concertos.
As for Vivaldi, there are some arid moments of sequences and formula, but there are more moments of sheer animal excitement and lyric beauty. As was the case with I Musici's earlier recording of the master's Opp. 11 and 12, we can revel in the music and judge it for what it is. This recording should serve to return errant Vivaldi lovers to the fold. S.L.
COLLECTIONS
RECORDING OF SPECIAL MERIT: LUCIANO PAVAROTTI: O Holy Night. Adam: O Holy Night. Stradella: Pieta Signore. Franck: Panis Angelicas. Mercadante: Parola Quinta. Schubert: Ave Maria. Yon: Gesil Barnbit10. Bach-Gounod: Ave Maria. Schubert (arr. Melichar): Mille cheruhini in coro. Bizet: Agnus Dei. Berlioz: Requiem: Sanctus. Wade: Adeste Fidelis. Luciano Pavarotti (tenor); Wandsworth Boys' Choir and London Voices; National Philharmonic Orchestra, Kurt Herbert Adler cond. LONDON OS 26437 $6.98.
Performance: Stellar
Recording: Good
As Pavarotti's voice matures, it is becoming a bit darker and heavier, but his ability to ex press feeling remains unchanged. Although he rises to almost operatic passion in some of the selections here, such as Mercadante's Parola Quinta, he can still fine his voice down for the tenderness required by the lullaby Mille cherubini in coro. The eleven selections on this well -planned album provide variety of mood, and some unfamiliar numbers are interspersed among the old favorites. Pavarotti sings them all with great sincerity. Vocal sup port by the Wandsworth Boys' Choir and London Voices and accompaniment by the National Philharmonic provide a suitable background.
So few of the items on the album are actually associated with Christmas that it might be titled "Pavarotti in Favorite Sacred Songs." Still, his performance of Adolphe Adam's O Holy Night so powerfully evokes the season that it makes me smell pine needles, incense, and burning candles. The album is like a particularly beautiful Christmas card that will give pleasure all year long. My urge to sing along throughout was all but irresistible.
- William Livingstone
RECORDING OF SPECIAL MERIT: TO DRIVE THE COLD WINTER AWAY. Anon: Branle de l'Official; Pavane, Good King Wenceslas; The Dressed Ship; Staines Morris; Here we come a -wassailing; Green Garters; Fandango; Edi beo thu; Salterello; Alle (psal lite cum) luya; Rosa dos rosas; Ductia; As I lay; La Manfredina; All hail to the days; I saw three ships; God rest you merry gentlemen. Praetorius: Tanz der Bauern and Tanz der Biiaerinnen; Feuertanz; Schreittanz; Die Windmiihle; Dorftanz; Schiffertanz; Tanz der Fischer; Aufmarsch. Dowland: Captain Digorie Piper's Galliard; King of Denmark's Gal-Hard. Sothcott: Fanfare. St. George's Canzona, John Sothcott cond. CRD 1019 $7.98 (from HNH Distributors Ltd., P.O. Box 222, Evanston, Ill. 60204).
Performance: Charming
Recording: True
Choosing a program of early music requires knowledge, skill, and taste, for without these qualities there can result an aimless procession of one-minute pieces that will bore any listener through sheer diffusiveness. Two concepts will work: music centered around a particular composer or place, and music centered around an intriguing theme. "To Drive the Cold Winter Away" belongs to the latter class and is conceived as a "fireside presentation" of music to dispel the dolors of winter.
The subheadings, which break up the sequence, include "Entry of the Minstrels and Waits," "Festivities in the Tavern," "A Medieval Holiday," "Festivities at the Manor," and "To Entertain a King." The overall results are utterly charming, and one can put the record on for a session of varied fun. The pro gram consists of mostly anonymous and traditional works ranging from the thirteenth to the early seventeenth centuries. Original instruments are used, and the sound is extremely folksy with the use of sharp percussion and drone basses. The singing is done in natural voice. Here, then, is a feast of early music programmed for the listener, not the scholar.
We need more records like this, to delight rather than to teach. S.L.
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Also see:
PHONO CARTRIDGES: A short course in cartridge types and specs for the buyer
Source: Stereo Review (USA magazine)