MUSIC
TAKING advantage of an uneventful week of concerts and with the Sadler's Wells production of Janacek's Katya Kabanova earmarked for next week, I will try and deal with my large arrears of gramo- phone records.
ORCHESTRAL.—I should award the prize to one or other of two
Beecham recordings with the R.P.O.—Haydn's symphony No. 93 (Col.) or Mozart's G major violin concerto (H.M.V.) with Gioconda de Vito as wholly admirable soloist. Yet I should probably be doing an injustice to Furtwangler and the Vienna Philharmonic, whose Tod and Verkliirung (H.M.V.) is masterly in detail and wholly right in spirit. The same orchestra, under Karl Bohm, has recorded Beethoven's C minor piano concerto for Decca, and Backhaus plays with a magnificent serenity and technical ease. In a different genre, but hardly inferior in quality, are two Bach recordings—Szymon Goldberg playing the E major violin concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra (Parlophone) and the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra playing the sixth Brandenburg Concerto (Decca), in which the slow movement is a model of austerely beautiful tone and phrasing.
Definitely inferior to all these, but brilliant and in many ways attractive, are two recordings by the Philharmonia Orchestra, Debussy's La Mer under Alceo Galliera and Rachmaninov's third concerto under Paul Kletzki (both Col.). Malcuzynski plays the solo part with a hard brilliance and an aggressively percussive style which suggest the•worse traits of the virtuoso. Dvorak's G major symphony is played by the Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of New York under Bruno Walter (Col.), who hurries the first movement and does not allow the easy-going lilt proper to this most Czech of Czech pieces, though the last movement is excellent. Another Dvorak recording is the Scherzo capriccioso, by the Phil- harmonia Orchestra under Kubelik (H.M.V.), fine playing of second- rank Dvorak.
CHAMBER Music.—The most interesting and original recording is of Phyllis Tate's moving and eerie Nocturne, a remarkable work very well performed. Decca also issues a really first-class perform- ance of Brahms's F minor piano sonata by Julius Katchen, whose lyrical pianissimo is a triumph for the recording engineer no less than for the player. Friedrich Gulda's Beethoven op. 110 is a fine performance, but, turning to Columbia, I should choose the first movement of the " Moonlight " sonata by Arrau and Lipatti's recording of Mozart's. A minor sonata as models for all pianists. Gieseking unfortunately wastes his incomparable art upon Debussy's immature Nocturne. For H.M.V. Halina Stefanska records a quite un-routine performance of Chopin's G minor Ballade, and Shura Cherkassky will delight the curious by resurrecting Chaminade's attractive Autrefois. Bartok's subtle and atmospheric Music for Strings, Celesta and Percussion is admirably played by the Phil- harmonia Orchestra under Karajan (Col.), and the Amadeus give a good account of Haydn's "Emperor" quartet. VocAL.—The following are all in the front rank—Blanche Thebom's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (though the orchestral accompaniment is poor); Sena Jurinac's Conte scoglio (from Cosi fan tune); Christoff's singing of Dosifei's air from Khovanschina. and Flagstad's two arias from the St. Matthew Passion (all H.M.V.), to which must be added Suzanne Danco's dls (Carmen) issued by Decca.
There also seems to be a plethora of ballet and other " suites "- a brilliant Facade by the Philharmonia Orchestra under Constant Lambert and a wholly delightful Jolie Fine de Perth by the R.P.O. under Beecham (both H.M.V.): a charming Chabrier Suite by the L.P.O. under Martinon and Ddlibes's Sylvia by the Paris Con- servatoire Orchestra under Desormiere (both Decca) to which should be added Strauss's Wiener Blut by the L.S.O. under Krips.
MARTIN COOPER.
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