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Bartok Tribute The pen of Paul Henry Lang slipped when he wrote ("Bartok at Columbia." March] that the Nazis could not have denounced Bela Bartok as "non-Aryan." Bartok himself told how it could he done. He was not a Jew, but no Jew detested the Nazis more than he did. On April 13, 1938, he wrote (in part) from Budapest to a friend in Basel: "Not only has my publishing house gone Nazi, but the Viennese society for performing rights to which I (and Kodaly) belong is being Nazified. Only the day before yesterday I received the notorious questionnaire about grand fathers, etc.: 'Are you of German blood, of kindred race, or non-Aryan?' Naturally, neither I nor Kodaly will fill out the form. It's rather a pity, for we could make fun of them. We could say that we are non-Aryans, because (according to my lexicon) 'Aryan' means 'Indo-European.' We Hungarians are Finno Ugrians, or ethnically we might possibly be northern Turks. That is, we are a non-Indo European people and, consequently, non-Aryans. Another question runs like this: 'Where and when were you wounded?' Answer: 'On the 11th, 12th, and 13th of March 1938, in Vienna!' "The dates are those of the Anschluss, the infamous Nazi invasion, occupation, and annexation of Austria. -Leonard Burkat Danbury, Conn. An addition to David Hamilton's illuminating "Bartok at the Piano" in March: Bartok's Patria recording of Liszt's Sursum cord,, was reissued by Hungaroton in a transfer that is much more spacious and vivid, although also noisier, than that on Bartók 903. The Hungaroton (LPX 11759), which includes the first Romanian Dance and two of the HMV folksong recordings, is a fascinating grab bag of Hungarian notables (Kodaly, Hubay, Weiner, Dohnanyi, Zathureczky, and others) issued in commemoration of the centenary of the Hungarian Academy of Music in 1975. Also, around 1920, Bartok made a number of piano rolls for Welte; while it is generally true that modern releases of Welte rolls are not good, these are exceptions. Among them is the "Recorded Treasures" album (676, with a side of Dohnanyi), containing Romanian Folk Dances, the Sonatine, "Evening in the Country," and a group of Hungarian folksongs (6-10. 12, 14, and 15). This small California label was responsible for a number of skillfully processed piano-roll reissues, and this particular release excited the admiration of Bela Bartok, the composer's elder son, who brought it with him when he was interviewed on WGBH ( Boston) by Robert J. Lertsema some years ago. -John C. Swan; Crawfordsville. Ind. I am very fond of the music of Bela Bartok and a loyal HIGH FIDELITY reader, and I was thrilled with the Bartok 100th-anniversary section, which gave me fresh insights into him as a pianist and ethnomusicologist as well as composer. My own celebrations for this great composer during 1981 include listening to re corded performances of his music; playing the solo piano works, such as For Children and Mikrokosmos: and, best of all, hearing his music performed live. -Ruth F. Block New York, N.Y Recording in Chicago In regard to the Decca/London recordings mentioned in "Behind the Scenes" [April], the Bartok sessions did indeed take place in Chicago's Orchestra Hall, but only because the Medinah Temple was not available at the times needed. However, the people involved were so delighted with the results that they remained in Orchestra Hall for the Bruckner Fourth sessions, even though the Medinah Temple was available. I realize that the magazine is made up several months in advance, and this change of venue was made within a week of the sessions, held on January 26 and 27. (I play third horn and am also unofficial recording archivist for the Chicago Symphony.) -Richard S. Oldherg Jr., Evanston. Ill. Our information was checked with the Chicago Symphony press office during the week of the sessions. -Ed. A Little Nostalgia In reading "About this Issue” which headed the "Letters" column in April. I was touched with nostalgia. My audiophilia began in 1954 with my first recording (mono. of course) of the RCA Red Seal Toscanini version of Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet. My first amplifier was an imported Telefunken radio that I played a turntable through. Then I bought a Voice of Music console, which was considered pretty "uptown" with other prepackaged systems of the era. Next was a Fisher amplifier kit (tubes and all) that I put together in the early Sixties. Also, I picked up a Dual turntable from a damaged freight store for about $35 and had it repaired for another $20. My listening was confined to Koss Pro/4 earphones until I could spring for the price of a pair of AR4ax speakers, which I still own. I "grew up" with the high fidelity movement, and I lament the sad fact that the music industry is changing. You used to be able to audition a record before buying. Today? I bought a tape of Dvorak's cello concerto (or thought I did) on an Angel cassette from one of our largest record stores. There wasn't any place to try the tape there. Instead of Dvorak, I got Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake-not once, but three times. The manager asked if I was sure that was not Dvorak! As a candidate for a Ph.D. in music and performer in several orchestras, I was exasperated. Music lovers are leaving the places they should be: in record stores selling music to music lovers like themselves: in universities teaching music appreciation: in responsible places of authority in the record and tape industry. When people like John Culshaw leave the scene, we are left with youngsters who are interested in a fast buck. Am I cynical, or is this a trend obvious to all who love music and see the record and tape industry and FM radio as poor substitutes for experiencing what great composers had in mind: the live concert? Incidentally, I faithfully read your classical reviews. -Gene Lacy; Houston. Tex. Rare Beecham Tape In a fascinating article on the history of tape recording ["75 Years of Magnetic Recording"] that appeared in the March 1973 issue, reference was made to the fact that Sir Thomas Beecham and the London Philharmonic Orchestra had made a recording in Germany in 1936 of a section of Mozart's Symphony No. 39. An editorial in the same issue gave instructions on how to obtain a cassette recording of this excerpt, warning that quantities were limited. I recall a later reference to this and similar recordings that have been released in the last several years on an LP. I have been unable to learn the label or number of the LP, and I wonder if any of your readers could help me. Failing that. would it be possible to obtain from someone a dubbing of the cassette that was being sold eight years ago? -Warren Reid, Montreal, Canada The symphony's minuet is contained in the eight-disc Beecham "Musical Biography. EMI World Records SHB 100 (distributed by German News), discussed in David Hamilton's August 1980 article. -Ed. Deserving of Credit [Apropos of the HIGH FIDELITY/ Discwasher piece on vertical tracking angle and stylus rake angle in the March issue] it's probably worth mentioning that David Shreve deserves the credit for pointing out to the audio world, six years ago, the audibility of hypercritical vertical alignment of phono cartridges, which he called VTA. Then International Audio Review [No. 1/2. July 1976] discussed the following points: The distinction between SRA and VTA (and electrical vs. mechanical VTA); why VTA is less critical of alignment than SRA: that both cannot be simultaneously optimized in most existing cartridges: why Shibata (or "line-contact") styli are the most sensitive to SRA, elliptical moderately sensitive, and conicals the least: that pinch effect might contribute to making SRA changes noticeable, even with conicals. Discwasher Inc., does deserve full credit for some good measurements that have further validated these points. Incidentally, the company's technical people have been enthusiastic readers and supporters of IAR. J. Peter Moncrieff International Audio Review Berkeley. Calif. -------- (High Fidelity, Jul. 1981) Also see: |