April and May on record ARTS
ED WARD BOYLE
Bach's B Minor Mass has never been particu- larly fortunate in its recordings, and many music-lovers may still be considering whether or not to invest in the new Klemperer version (limy SAN 195-7) especially now that, owing to the budget, three Angel discs will cost them nearly £7. On balance, my own verdict would be encouraging.
The tremendous opening bars of the First Kyrie are not, for my taste, quite imposing enough, but unlike some people I don't find the great fugue itself too slow (it lasts thirteen minutes twenty-seven seconds as compared, for example, with Richter's twelve minutes fifteen seconds on DGG), and the detail, both orchest- rally and vocally, is very clear. The reduced BBC chorus merits high praise, though the tenors are occasionally too prominent, and anyone who has ever sung in a performance of the Mass will note the ease with which the chorus negotiates one OT two notoriously difficult passages like bar 51 of the Second Kyrie and bar 41 of the taxing 'Qui Tollis.'
I particularly enjoyed the `Gloria,' especially the radiant opening of the fugue, with the sustained accompanying keynote on the first violins beautifully audible; the Second Credo, in which Klemperer rightly does not slow down for `visibilium omnium'; the 'Crucifutus'—the wonderful soft modulation into G Major at 'sepultas est' is absolutely glorious; and most of all the `Confiteor,' with its great mysterious passage that starts at bar 121. Only the 'Sanctus' disappointed me and made me wish for a heavier weight of tone. Some of the introduc- tions to the solo numbers sound a trifle hurried, but the soloists themselves are a strong team, especially Hermann Prey (baritone) and, of course, Janet Baker. I regret I don't like the ex- periment of playing the obbligato to 'Benedic- tus' on the flute instead of the violin. A special mark is due to the (unnamed) trumpeters, and indeed to the New Philharmonia Orchestra as a whole.
Next, two useful concerto recordings from Philips. On SAL 3645 Ingrid Haebler, partnered by the LSO under Colin Davis, couples two relatively unfamiliar Mozart Piano Concertos, K 413 in F and K 415 in C. The rondo-finale, `Itempo de minuetto,' of K 413 is particularly likeable. K 415 has a weak slow movement (the harmonic progression in the fourth bar is always an ominous sign with Mozart) but the first movement in this fine performance is a revelation—one notices, for instance, how magnificently Colin Davis shapes the tutti passage at the end of the exposition. Artur Grumiaux's coupling of the Berg and Stravinsky Violin Concertos on SAL 3650 is even more valuable—a basic twentieth century disc,. I should have thought, for anyone starting to build a collection. There are moments in the Berg where Grumiaux sounds too loud, but his accuracy, and the strength and beauty of the closing pages, make this aduost desirable per- formance, while the clarity of the orchestral accompaniment, by the Concertgebouw Orchestra under Markevitch, is outstanding— for instance, the brass in the stretto at the end of the first part of 'the concerto. The Stravinsky on the reverse side is just as good, with every point made effectively.
Brahms lovers will be grateful for a first-rate recording of the early orchestral Serenade in D played by Kertesz and the Lso (Decca sxt./ocr 6340). The opening recalls the finale of Haydn's `London' Symphony, and one also detects echoes in the first movement of the finale of Beethoven No. 8; but the second subject is, to adapt a phrase of Tovey's, pure Brahms in full power. Even more welcome is the coupling by de Peyer and Barenboim of Brahms's last chamber works, the two Clarinet Sonatas (taw ASD 2362). Admittedly, the players allow them- selves some rhythmic licence, and Barenboim doesn't always heed Tovey's useful warning that the pianist, when performing chamber works in Brahms's 'ripest and most powerful style . . . must use no more energy in his counterstatement than in his accompaniment.' But the quality of de Peyer's soft tone is supremely artistic, and I have never heard the codas of the respective first movements sound quite so beautiful.
Clarinet enthusiasts should also explore a good recording of Reger's Third Sonata, played by Gaertner and Laugs, on Musica Rara, mus 53; this company has been generous to Reger during recent months, and I can also commend the performance of his Opus 109 Quartet by the Keller Quartet (Mus 41), besides the older, mono-only recording of the fine Clarinet Quintet, in which the same team are joined by Rudolph Gall (Mus 22). I still hope one day for a recording of Reger's setting of `Komm Trost der Welt du stille Nacht.'
It has been a sorrow to me that so many recordings of Hugo Wolf should have enjoyed only a short life, and I felt greatly excited at the prospect of a complete Spanish Song Book, performed by Schwarzkopf and Fischer-Dies- kau with Gerald Moore (DOG SLPM 139329/30). Alas, the result is a partial disappointment. Schwarzkopf, usually so reliable • in Wolf, sounds out of form at the start, and I was dis- mayed to hear her downward transposition to C major of the miraculous 'Die ihr schwebet . . .'; one particularly regrets the low key at the glorious moment of the vision of the winged angels riding the wind. Significantly, I can't help feeling Schwarzkopf is at her best in `Geh, Geliebter,' which she sings in its original key of F Sharp. As for Fischer-Dieskau, I thought his performance of 'Nun Wandere, Maria' even better than in his earlier (1960) HMV recording with Moore and I'd say the same of 'Komm
0 Tod'; but `Ach in Maien war's' is, dis- appointingly, a little faster and less seductive while the wonderful chords at the end of 'Herr was tragt,' sound shallower. I don't want to dis- courage anyone from buying this set, and may it make many new converts for Wolf, but those who still possess their copies of the 1960 record- ing should stick to them.
Lastly, I should like most warmly to welcome Decca's reissue of the very adequate Bohm recording of Richard Strauss's Die Frau ohne Schatten (Goo/com 554-7). The cast is mostly first rate, the conducting masterly, and the sound quite reasonable so long as one suitably adjusts the controls (i.e. treble cut, and buttons set as for an early Decca LP).
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