Record Reviews

Bach, Johann Christian: Sonatas in E Major, C Minor, and B-flat Major (Margaret Tolson, piano; WCFM : 12" LP). In 1768 the “London Bach" played live first pubhe concert on “a new instrument call’d Piano Forte.” If it sounded anything like this endearing record, the audience probably went wild.

Bach, J. S.:Anna Magdalena Book (Kurt Rapf, harpsichord; Maja Weis-Osborn, soprano; Bach Guild: 12" LP), Beach wrote some, but not all, of the songs and “pieces his first wife collected in her notebook to teach her children. It’s a charming assortment, and Bach Guild has done well by Anna Magdalena.

Beethoven : Quartet in L Minor, Op. 59, No. 2. “Rasumovsky” (Vienna Konzerthaus Quartet; Westminster: 12 LP). Expert artists and engineers combine to make this sound huge, vibrant, effortless, and joyous, which is probably just as it ought to sound.

Berg, Alban: Sonata. Op. 1; Pieces for Clarinet and Piano; Eleven Songs (Benjamin Tupas, piano; Sidney Forrest, clarinet: Catherine Rowe, soprano; Lyrichord: 12" LP). A tasteful recital dedicated to Berg’s breakover from romanticism to 12-tone modernism. Anyone who wants to comprehend his opera Wozzeck, for instance, should hear this first, and often. Good recording.

Mussorgsky-Ravel:Pictures at an Exhibition (Raiael Kubelik coildueting the Chicago Symphony; -Mercury: 12" LP). The rumors were true. Made with one microphone in superb acoustic surroundings, this outdynamics any previous hi-fi effort. The “Heroes’ Gate at Kiev" is almost incredible, the biggest orehestral noise on disks. Perfomance: excellent. Buy this.

Schumann :Faschingsschwank ans Wien (“Viennese Carnival Jests”) and Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Schumann, Op. 9 (Jacqueline Blancard, piano; Vnnguard: 12" LP). Intimate gaiety from Schumann, tragic overtones from Brahms, de.xtrously performed, handsomely recorded.

Songs of the inrergne. arranged by Canteloube, and Song at School (Madeleine Gray, soprano, variously with orchestral and flute-piano accompaniment; Columbia; 12' LP). The Auvergnat songs are a. beauliful reprint of the justly famous 78s: the school songs, also of French folk origin, never have been released on disks here before.

John Kirby and His Orchestra (Columbia “Golden Era : 12 LP). Here, in a good reprint, is the lowvoiced, subtle swing which enthralled Greenwich Village sophisticates in the late thirties. Best-remembered: “Anitra’s Dance, “Beethoven Riffs On,”"Audiology.”