GRAMOPHONE NOTES
Tins month's coincidence (to the gramo- phone companies comparisons are demonstrably the reverse of odious)
takes the form of a recording of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata by--both
Paderewski and Egon Petri (H.M.V.
DB3123-4,- 125., and Col. LX6oz-3, us.). Naturally their performances have little in common. When Paderewski plays the Moonlight Sonata in the concert hall, he sometimes asks for the lights to be turned down ; and his performance is in keeping with this romantic ritual. His conception of the Adagio is exquisite and his tone is throughout glorious ; but in the other two movements I prefer Petri's interpretation. His superb tech- nique allows him to take the Finale at a pace which most pianists would- find impossible if the notes were not to lose their articulacy in a rush of sound ; but he manages to remain pointed and precise and to preserve his tone, while thrilling the listener with a virtuosity which no one could equal. His is a stupendous performance, but Paderew- ski's is masterly too ; and to those who can afford it I recommend the purchase of both sets. My own preference is for Petri's, but I am aware that most people would probably prefer the other.
The new recording by Heifetz and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, con- ducted by John l3arbirolli, of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35 (H.M.V. DB 3159-62, 24s.) is about the best recording of a violin concerto ever made. In so many recordings of violin concertos the correct balance between soloist and orchestra is distorted, but here a perfect baldnce is maintained throughout. Heifetes tech- nique has for many years been recog- nised as superb, but he has recently gained greatly in judgement. This concerto is not everyone's choice ; but it has never seemed more worth listening to than in these records. Kreisler's recording with Barbirolli and the London Philharmonic Orchestra (H.M.V. DB 2927-32, 33s.) of Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 6." is the third recording of this concerto that has been issued during the last few months. It cannot be Preferred to the superb version made, by Kulenkampff with the Berlin State Opera. Orchestra. Kulenkampff is superior in phrasing and in intonation, and though there' is much in Kreisler's performance to admire, as a whole it does not drive one into enthu- siasm. The recording admits at times a disconcerting squeakiness, and the bass is sometimes far from precisely reproduced. Presumably it is only its title (a misleading one, as it happens) that is responsible for an issue 'of Mozart's Concerto in D Major, K. 537. Mozart played it at a concert in Frank- fort in 1793, a week after the coronation of Leopold II. It acquired the label " Coronation," though it had been composed three years earlier. It is an agreeably tuneful though somewhat stilted work, which is here given a beautifully precise performance by Wanda Landowska and a Chamber Orchestra conducted by Walter Goehr (H.M.V. DB 3147-3150, 24s.). Chang- ing instruments, Mine. Landowska gives us on her harpsichord a masterly per- formance of Bach's enchanting Italian Concerto (H.M.V. DB 5007-8, 125.). The lovely slow movement is the mot satisfying in recording, because the mechanism of her instrument becomes audible in forte passages, but her per- formance in the two quick movements is magnificent. Bach's Concerto in C Major for Two Claviers and Orchestra is recorded by Artur and Karl Ulrich Schnabel and the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Adrian Boult (H.M.V. DB3o41-3, as.). Both per- formance and recording of this enjoyable but not wildly interesting work are admirable. The second instalment of the complete Decca recording of Handel's Concerti Grossi contains Nos. 4, 5 and 6 (Decca X125-31, 35s.). The twelve Concerti Grossi were all written in one month and in difficult circumstances. They resemble one another strongly and may be thought of as the product of a single mood. They do not offer sensa- tional delights, but they are pleasant to listen to, and both performance (by the Boyd Neel String Orchestra) and record- ing are good.
Among chamber music records is one set of a work which, considering its popularity, can claim curiously few recordings—Schubert's Trio in B Flat Major, Op. 99 (erroneously described on the labels, by the way, as being in B major). The recording in this set is technically very much better than in the set made several years ago by Cortot, Thibaud and Casals, but the perform- ance, by Max Strub, Ludwig Hoelscher, and Elly Ney (Decca X157-16o, 2os.), is very much inferior. The playing is rigid and without finesse, at times so much so that it seems that the players are attempting to do nothing more than to play the notes. The Finale is the only movement that is really successful, and as this has a record to itself it may be recommended to those who are not prepared to pay a pound for something that is for three-fourths a failure. Finally, there are three recordings of Beethoven string quartets—Quartet in B Flat Major, Op. 130, played by the Budapest String Quartet (H.M.V. DB2239-43, 30$.) ' - Quartet in F Major, Op. 135, played by the Lener String Quartet (LX598-600, 18s.) ; Quartet in E Flat Major, Op. 127, played by the Busch String Quartet (H.M.V. DB3o44-8, 3os.). Both performance and recording of each of these three quartets is admirable. The Budapest Quartet recorded the Quartet in B Flat Major some years ago, and though this recording is not quite new (it is con- temporary with a single record which they issued of the Finale in the interval) it is immeasurably superior to the pre- vious version ; the Lener Quartet, though at times still a little superficial, have recently gained greatly in breadth and judgement, and their performance of this quartet is as a whole thoroughly satisfactory ; and the recording could not be bettered. But the most satisfying of these three performances is un- doubtedly that given by the Busch Quartet. Superbly recorded, this is undoubtedly the best set of this quartet now available.
AtrrOLvCus.
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