20 DECEMBER 1957, Page 22

Christmas Record List

(RECORDING COMPANIES: D, Decca, OL. Oiseau Lyre; R, RCA; V, Vox).

OPERA AND BALLET : The latest Rigoletto (R, 2 records) has in Merrill, Bjorling and Roberta Peters a trio of principals as con- sistently good as on any version now available on LP. All the vocal virtues of Italian singing are there, and none of the vulgari- ties or exaggerations. With a fine orchestral performance under Perlea it is a strong recom- mendation—for all tastes. Purcell's The Fairy Queen (OL, 3 records) is for more developed and kindly tastes only, on account not of Purcell's music, which is sheer genius almost throughout, but of the rather homely native singing. Peter Pears and Trevor Anthony contribute actively to our pleasure, the rest are just good enough not to interfere with our enjoyment of the music. Complete Wagner operas still seem to make the recording companies nervous. Having given us a complete Goiterdammerung some time ago, Decca have been more cautious with Die Walkiire, and have made a start with Act 3 only, plus the Siegmund-Briinnhilde scene from Act 2 (2 records).. Edelmann as Wotan does not quite command our attention as spoilt Londoners have become accustomed to, but with Flagstad, Schech, Svanholm, and the Vienna Philharmonic under Solti, it is an instalment to whet our appetite for the work in full. Six of the best-known detachable orchestral fragments from Tannhiluser, The Ring and Parsifal, conducted by Perlea (V) make a useful anthology for the faint-hearted Wagnerian, though the orchestral tone might be richer. The same conductor's more curious collection of ten of Mozart's opera overtures (V) is unexpectedly more successful. A recital of Mozart and Verdi operatic arias by Ezio Pinza (R) is worth the price for the magnificent Verdi side alone (Carlos, Boccanegra, Ernani, Nabucco, Vespri). On the Mozart side only the two Sarastro arias suit his voice completely, but he is well worth listening to throughout. Other theatre music, though we hardly think of it as such today, in- cludes Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream music, with two of the vocal pieces (D) pleasantly performed, if without distinction, and two dif- ferent combinations of Stravinsky's three early ballets—still hogging the market at the expense of the many he has written since. Having per- formed the remarkable feat of getting Horen- stein's excellent performance of The Rite of Spring on to one side without any deterioration of recording quality even in the very last grooves, Vox have made less than the best use of it by putting on the other side the mere twenty minutes of the Firebird Suite. But since all other versions of The Rite take two sides, this is a handsome free

gift, which, as there is little else to choose between the various versions available, makes this the first serious rival to Stravinsky's own authoritative

recording. The recent version of The Rite by Monteux with the Paris Conservatoire is now followed by Petrushka and Firebird together (R), which may be added to the recommended list.

CONCERTOS : The Rubinstein album of Beet- hoven's piano concertos (R, 5 records, not avail-

able separately) has much to be said for it. Finding the best version of each concerto, or rather the version most to one's taste, is a difficult and lengthy business. The convenience of a 'uniform edition' of reliable excellence like this almost out- weighs the possible loss on individual perfor- mances. In this set I did not often find again the note of magic of the opening of No. 1, and on

my machine the recording seemed some way short of ideal, but there are many things of great beauty in it, and none that bore or displease. Two no, versions of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, h) Heifetz (R) and Campoli (D), both technical') brilliant, both leave something to be desired emotionally. Campoli gives more pleasure 1r.1 Saint-Saens's Third Concerto and Kreisler) arrangement of Paganini's in E flat, combined on one record (D). In Mozart's Clarinet Con. certo, backed by the Clarinet Quintet, Benny Goodman brings a similar richness of tone and mastery of technique to a performance at the opposite extreme in style, serenely expressive and pure in its phrasing (R). Less popular in appeal. but by no means the mere scholar-collector's item that they might be thought, are 18 Flute Con• certos by Vivaldi (V, 3 records), beautifully played by Gastone Tassinari. They are sometimes even more startlingly original in invention than the more familiar violin concertos, and have an amazing range, depth and force of expression, which does not fall off in effect even when you have listened to six of them in a row. Vox halve also now issued separately, on one record, the four violin concertos known as The Seasons, from their splendid complete edition of Vivaldi's 12 Concertos, op. 8. GAY VIENNA AND BEYOND: Under the title Vienna, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, under Reiner, play the Rosenkavalier waltzes, Invitation to the Dance, and Johann with a nice blend of sentiment and virtuosity (R). A pair of Mozart Serenades (Posthorn and Notturna) recorded under Remoortel (V) call to mind Auden's picture of our grotesque attentiveness, head in score, 10 every trifling note of entertainment music Mozart wrote. There is something of the same absurdity about two brilliant players recording Brahms's Hungarian Dances for piano duet (V), which we should do better to be knocking out ourselves, however badly. More justified, though musically less good than their earlier record, is a second selection from the repertory of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble, under the title Soiree Tzigane (V, 10-inch). Lively performances under Perlea of Smetana's Vltava, Dvorak's Scherzo Capriccioso, Kodaly's Dances of Galcinta and Enesco's Rumanian Rhapsody No. I (V) provide an enjoyable demonstration of a variety of East European national idioms. So does the Endres String Quartet's playing of Smetana No. 1 and Borodin No. 2 (V), the national characteristics of which they bring out strongly. One of the talented minor exponents of Russian nationalism, Lyadov, is attractively represented by the three popular orchestral pictures and his Eight Russian Folksongs, with Casella's brilliant orchestration of Balakirev's Islamey thrown in (V). Tchaikov- sky's Serenade for Strings, in company with Elgar's Introduction and Allegro and Barber's Adagio, receives a legitimately showy perfor- mance by the Boston Symphony under Munch (R), and Sir Adrian Boult with the LPO reveals unsuspected sympathies in a fine performance of Rachmaninov's Second Symphony (R).