GRAMOPHONE NOTES.
IN the last two months there seems to have been a spate of nine- teenth-century overture recordings—Auber's Masaniello, Berlioz's Beatrice et Benedict, Weber's Freischiitz, Mendelssohn's Ruy Bias, Ambroise Thomas's Raymonde and Rimsky-Korsakov's Russian Easter Festival. Most of these are issued by Decca and played by the National Symphony Orchestra. Masaniello, the least known and one of the most interesting historically, is played by the L.S.O. and conducted by Victor Olof. The Conservatoire Orchestra under
Charles Munch has made a beautiful recording of the two Daphnis and Chloe suites by Ravel. Most valuable perhaps of all the new Decca records is the complete Stabat Mater by Pergolese (Notting- ham Oriana Choir, Boyd Neel Orchestra and Joan Taylor and Kath- leen Ferrier as soloists). It is always valuable to have recordings of the second-rank composers of the eighteenth century, if only to see how much of the style of the giants was "common form" and how much individual genius ; and Pergolese is an excellent example of the second-ranker of the day.
H.M.V. have issued a recording of Vaughan Williams's Flos Coln* made by the Philharmonic Orchestra and the B.B.C. Chorus, with William Primrose playing the solo viola part and Sir Adrian Boult conducting—in fact, "the time, the place and the loved one all together," and an ideal combination for Vaughan Williams's most English of music. For more cosmopolitan taste Sir Thomas Beecham and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra have made two magnificent Russian recordings—a perfectly balanced Romeo and Juliet (Tchaikovsky) and the Persian Dances from Mussorgsky's Khovansh- china, which will come as a surprise to those who only know the more uncompromising Mussorgsky of Boris and the songs. I personally enjoy Saint-Saens's G minor piano concerto (Philharmonia Orchestra with Moiseiwitsch), though I suspect I am in a minority at present. Elegance of diction, "pleasing lines and harmonious colours" and a sense of piano style do not make earth-shaking masterpieces, but they go a long way to making a very pleasant concerto.
Columbia have a smaller list to choose from. Mozart's Symphony No. 33 (K.319) is recorded with fine precision by the Vienna Phil- harmon under Herbert von Karajan, but it is not a particularly interesting work except to the historian. The ever-popular Polka and Fugue from Weinberger's Schwanda are given the right brilliance and rhythmic vitality by the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy, and the Philharmonia Orchestra under Alceo Galliera successfully reproduce the magic spell of Debussy's Prelude' a Papres-midi d'un Mune. Dennis Matthew's playing of Haydn's E flat major sonata is excellent in style and feeling, but I found Cyril Smith's Chopin Scherzo (No. i in B minor) too -gabbled—breakneck in speed but at the expense of dramatic excitement and feeling.
M. C.
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