Maria Callas
I want to thank William Livingstone for his moving tribute to Maria Callas ("The Opera File," December 1977), for he has articulated the thoughts and feelings of all of us who cherish her artistry. Like his friends, my friends comforted me when Callas died as if I were a member of her family.
As a personal tribute, I returned to her first recording of Tosca and played the second and third acts. Once again her incredible ability to communicate a full range of emotions through the voice alone was as startling as when I first experienced it in 1961. At that time I was a teenager who had just discovered opera, and I had hoped to receive for Christmas a recording of Aida with another singer. Instead, I received Tosca with Callas, Di Stefano, and Gobbi. I was bitterly disappointed-until I played the recording. I became an instant admirer of Callas after hearing her first "Mario, Mario." My sister, who has no interest in op era whatever, came into the room during the last scene, when Tosca discovers Cavaradossi's death, and asked, "Who is that woman singing?" Such was Maria Callas.
I totally agree with Mr. Livingstone's recommendations of Callas recordings. I have all the ones he mentioned, and I am pleased to learn that someone else shares my love for Callas' version of "Printemps qui commence" from Samson et Dalila. This is my favorite, and I can never listen to it casually. Who can resist that dark compelling voice, which through phrasing, clarity of diction, and subtle shifts in tempo communicates a woman's longing for love? Samson didn't have a chance.
SIDNEY E. MORRISON Los Angeles, Calif.
Disco Defense
The most telling line in the defense of disco by Paulette Weiss in December's "Pop Beat" was that "complaining [about it] is as futile as shaking your fist at a hurricane." I sense in this her own realization of the potentially disastrous effects of this rather exploitative form of junk pop music. Besides this, her if-you-can't-beat-'em-join-'em reasoning in the last paragraph was quite amusing.
BRYANT MCDANIEL, College Station, Texas
Christmas Questions
I was amused by your December 1977 cover and its implicit acknowledgment that most of our Christmas hi-fi goodies these days originate in the Far East. I have two questions: (1) Have the Japanese commercialized Christmas as much as we have? (2) Where was the cover photo taken? (I like the color scheme).
RAYMOND VALDES Cleveland, Ohio
Technical Director, Larry Klein, replies: (1) Yes-if not more so. A possible
source of inspiration for our cover was the accompanying picture I took in
Tokyo late in November several years ago. The Ginza was already festooned with
banners proclaiming Happy Merry to all. One of my hosts explained that for
the Japanese, Christmas is not a religious holiday. I assured him that these
days things aren't too much different in the U.S. (2) STEREO REVIEW'S December
cover was shot in Park Avenue Audio's elegant showrooms which conveniently
happen to be only a few blocks from our New York offices. We here with apologize
to Mr. Yetkin, the proprietor, for not crediting his establishment and thanking
him for his help.
Unrecognized Delay
I was both happy and disappointed with Ralph Hodges' "Audio Basics" column on movie sound in the December 1977 issue.
Dolby Laboratories deserves much credit not only for bringing the benefits of Dolby noise-reduction processing to motion pictures but also for including in their theater systems such other high-fidelity features as Sansui QS matrixing and (what the column neglected to mention) Sound Concepts time-delay equipment. All of the one hundred to two hundred theaters thus far equipped for Dolby and stereo-plus-derived-rear-channel playback of the 35-millimeter prints of Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind also have a factory-modified Sound Concepts SD-50 to process the rear-channel sound. During installation, a Dolby technician sets the delay to match the theater's individual acoustics. The combination of exceptionally low noise, wide dynamic range, and tunable delay times of the SD-50 suit it for this application.
JOEL M. COHEN President, Sound Concepts, Inc. Brookline, Mass.
Stereo Imaging
I find B.R. Billings' letter in the December issue about poor stereo separation very interesting, but my experience has been just the opposite of his. I play all my stereo records through four speakers via a Sansui QS synthesizer, and the degree of front-to-back separation is determined by how much separation and out-of-phase information is in the program material. All the new stereo records I've purchased lately have delivered outstanding surround sound through this system. I haven't been disappointed once.
JAY L. RUDKO, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska
Congratulations to B. R. Billings for beating me to the mailbox! I agree 100 percent with his criticism of the disgraceful lack of separation in stereo recordings made in the past few years. Although Ralph Hodges' October and November "Audio Basics" columns were tremendously helpful, his suggestions about speaker placement cannot solve the problem of nonexistent separation. I've spent much time and money getting my speakers into the right positions, but so far as separation goes I may as well have placed them side by side or stacked them in a corner! What happened to the absolutely fantastic separation we used to get on most of the recordings by the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, the Rascals, Iron Butterfly, and the Rolling Stones, to name a few? I was particularly disappointed with Boz Scaggs' "Silk Degrees"; the potential for great separation was there but wasn't utilized, and the great music is tarnished. A sign of changing times? I sincerely hope not. I will admit that the newer recordings by Santana, the Eagles, War, Steve Miller, Janis Ian, and Jackson Browne make me somewhat happier, but for me Frampton never came alive. Bring back the great Beatles separation!
JERRY MOREHOUSE, Muskegon, Mich.
The so-called separation "problem" lies not in the disc quality but in the maturity of the engineers and producers of the new records, and I say "Three cheers!" to that. They are finally using stereo as it was first intended-to simulate a live performance. I wonder if Mr. Billings ever went to, say, a Beatles concert where the vocals all came from the right and the instruments from the left. Take George Martin's production of the Beatles on nearly any of the pre-"Sgt. Pepper" work and compare it with his production of, say, America, and you'll see my point.
JEFF HOWARD; Gadsden, Ala.
Impressive Section
Reading Joel Vance's December review of the Section's "Fork It Over" prompted me to pass along some information that might interest other readers who, like me, are nearly as impressed by the hard work that goes into building a music career as by the music itself.
Last summer I attended two concerts at the Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. The two headliners were James Taylor and Jackson Browne. In both cases, the opening act was the Section. That alone is not remarkable; any band in the opening-act stage of its career is likely to provide this service for several headliners in the course of a tour.
However, after intermission in each concert, the Section returned to perform as the stage band for the headliner. The music was startlingly faithful to Taylor's and Browne's original recordings, which is explained by the fact that members of the Section were studio musicians at many of the recording sessions.
Moreover, it turns out that the Section was actually touring with both singers in the same concert season, and had acted in an identical capacity (namely, opener and stage band) for at least some of Crosby, Stills, and Nash's dates that summer as well.
Pondering just the logistics involved in this venture had a dramatic effect even on my generally boggle-safe mind. Aside from my musical impressions of the Section (which are favorable indeed), I have to admire their ambition and stamina. But I advise anyone considering a career as a rock-band roadie to avoid the Section for fear of hypertension, fatigue, and related occupational hazards posed by their kind of concert schedule.
BOB MCCANN, Musical Midget Productions, Columbus, Ohio
Classical Epidemic
I think James Goodfriend's attempt in his November 1977 "Going on Record" column to explain the relatively small sales of classical records misses the obvious reason: relatively few people are interested in buying them. I would be interested in seeing the "statistics" that show more Americans attend musical events (whatever this term may encompass) than sports events, which would seem to imply an epidemic of interest in classical music. Cultural interest of such magnitude should at least be reflected to some degree in record sales. But in fact, to quote the July 1977 "Editorially Speaking," the per capita annual expenditure on classical records in this country in 1975 came to sixty cents. Assuming that a hundred times this figure is not an unreasonable amount for someone with a serious interest to spend in one year, it follows that only about 1 percent of the population purchases classical records.
The argument that the unavailability of classical records is in large part responsible for their low sales does not really stand up.
This is not a product that is heavily promoted, but one purchased by sophisticated consumers with specific desires. With a little effort virtually any record can be obtained, granted that the more inconvenient method of mail or der might have to be resorted to. The nature of the market for classical music is such that marketing techniques and availability can have at most a marginal effect on sales.
ALLEN W. RYAN Maplewood, N.J.
Mr. Goodfriend replies: Mr. Ryan's letter is interesting because it exhibits exactly the sort of thinking indulged in by the corporate heads of most large record companies today. By and large, they are not "record men" but dispassionate executives whose view is that product is product, no matter what you call it, and that nothing counts except what is measurable in terms of sales and profits. That view is the reason why such executives are interchange able from one company to another, even from one field to another, and it is also why such admittedly marginal businesses as classical-music recording have such a hard time. The view of the real record man, on the other hand, is that there is a commitment to produce recordings of classical music on the basis of other values, and that the set task is then to do it both as well and as profitably as possible.
Mr. Ryan's position admits no such other values, and hence nothing can follow from it but, at best, temporary toleration for a struggling sector of the record industry.
For those who admit such values, however, the problems of marketing and promotion are exceedingly important, for in these areas lie the possibility of making classical-music re cording less marginal. Really sophisticated consumers know how to buy anything they want (not just classical records); it is among somewhat less sophisticated consumers that inroads can be made. My point was simply that a great number of people who lack either the sophistication or the strength of desire to pursue a wanted record to its sometimes obscure source are quite likely to buy it if they are able to do so with no more difficulty than they experience in purchasing any other luxury product. The difference in sales of classical records to be derived from such an "advanced" method of marketing as I discussed in the column (that is, selling records at concerts) may not be of interest to those who are preoccupied with the mass market; but to record people it represents the difference between a money-shy, struggling industry and a healthy one.
Best Bit
As a computer programmer, and hence a stickler for accuracy and consistency, I maintain that the interpretation of binary numbers-contrary to Ralph Hodges' reply to J.
Q. Doolan's letter in the December is sue-does follow an iron-clad convention regardless of the application. The rightmost bit is always least significant. Technical writings should conform to established mathematical and physical conventions, round way other the not.
RITA HOROWITZ Richmond, Va.
Dvorak Symphonies
Just a short letter in praise of the article by Irving Kolodin on the symphonies of Dvorak in the November 1977 STEREO REVIEW. This kind of comparative discography is educational, particularly for the novice in the world of classical music. I hope that more articles of this type (for instance, on Beethoven or Brahms) are to come. Thank you.
ROBERT M. STUMPF, II. Maumee, Ohio
In his survey of Dvorak symphony recordings, Irving Kolodin failed to take into ac count the prize-winning set by the Czech Philharmonic under Vaclav Neumann's direction.
These exceptional performances on the Supraphon label are available complete, boxed (1 10 1621/8), and the last five are also avail able individually. A free catalog of Supraphon imports will be sent upon request.
Otto QuITTNER, President Qualiton Records, Ltd.
65-37 Austin Street; Rego Park, N.Y. 11374
Critics' Awards
Besides giving awards to musicians and record producers each year, I think you should start giving them to the critics who re view their works. I suggest a "Cutesie Critical Commentary" award, to be presented to the person who most consistently manages to boil creative achievements down to a cute, catchy little put-down phrase.
ELI TOUCHSTONE; New Orleans, La.
Correction
The Vanguard Records volume of Beethoven folk-song settings reviewed on page 84 of January STEREO REVIEW was incorrectly identified as to catalog number and price. It is SRV 356 SD and costs $3.98.
====================
Also see:
Source: Stereo Review (USA magazine)