Record Reviews

By John M. Conly

by JOHN M. COMA

Beethoven: Symphony No. 3, ”Eroica“ (Igor Markevitch conducting Symphony of the Air; Decca DL9912: 12“). Mr. Markevitch here renders what might well have been the most satisfactory of all recorded “Eroicas" — the performance is both noble and vigorous — had not the engineers smeared the bass into a thunderous black murk which tone controls can do little to dispel. Still it is exciting and worth listening to.

Borodin: Quartet No. 2 in D with Smetana: Quartet No. 1 in E Minor, “From My Life” (Endres Quartet; Vox PL-10190: 12“). Surely two more captivating and endearing quartets never came out of Eastern Europe, and nowhere on microgroove is either set forth so heartily as here. Of the Endres Quartet I know nothing but their name and the way they play, but the latter will make me remember the former. The sound is quite good enough to be true.

Elgar: Symphony No. 2 (Sir Adrian Boult conducting Philharmonic Promenade Orchestra; Westminster XWN-18373: 12“). Elgar went the Brahmsian way, and this symphony, published fourteen years after Brahms’ death, is mainly Brahmsian (it has Impressionist elements, but they are incidental), especially in its disavowal of I the Wagner-Strauss programmatic thesis. It is less disciplined than anything of Brahms: there is less pressure, needing less restraint. But it is formally abstract music, poetically bent, with a fine balance of sonorous dignity and lyricism and, withal, a certain shy charm. Sir Adrian and Westminster deliver it alive and aglow. Decca DXH-143. Each two 12“). Gluck originally scored the part of Orpheus for a male alto. Later he altered it for tenor, and much later Berlioz revised it for female alto. Here tenor Simoneau sings the Gluck revision, bass-baritone Fischer-Dieskau the Berlioz version. The role responds well to a male voice, but not enough so to make either of these productions first class. The Decca suffers by being sung in German (the Furies sound really odd shouting “Nein!”), and Friesay’s conducting is almost spiritless. The singers have beautiful voices, unbeautifully recorded. The French Epic is much better, but seems somehow smallscaled and pert, as if the performers really would rather have been singing Offenbach. Still, it is the best now available, the old Stiedry-Ferrier abridgment being too tinny for today. But rumor has it that another French version is being made.

Gluck: Orpheus and Enrydice (two versions: Hans Rosbaud conducting Leopold Simoneau, Suzanne Danco, Pierrotte Alarie; Roger Blanchard chorus; Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux; Epic SC-6019. Ferenc Fricsay conducting Dietrich FischerDieskau, Maria Stader, Rita Streich; RIAS and Berlin Chamber choirs; Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra;

Mozart: “Posthorn" Serenade; Symphony No. 29 (Eduard van Beinum conducting Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra; Epic LC-3354: 12“). There has not yet been a bad “Posthorn" on microgroove, but I think perhaps this is the best. Its chief rival is the excellent Westminster, but that offers only a quartet of strings, and to my taste the work, really a sort of sinfonin concert ante, benefits from t be bigger, smoother tone of the Out eh orchestra. Anyway, it is a delight here, and so is the little Symphony No. 29.

Tchaikovsky : Nutcracker Suite with Chabrier: España: Ponchielli: Dance of the Hours: and Suppé: Morning, NOon and Night in Vienna (Sir Thomas Beecham conducting Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Columbia ME-5171: 12”). It takes a really great artist to deliver inconsequential entertainment with such ravishing finesse as the Baronet applies to these overfamiliar staples. The sound is appropriately rich.

Geraldine Farrar in Carmen (Geraldine Farrar, soprano; Giovanni Martinelli, tenor; Pasquale Amato, baritone; various orchestras; RCA Gamden CAL-359: 12“). Although Miss Farrar, America’s first real home-grown prima donna, is still very much alive (in Ridgefield, Connectieut) she has been in retirement a long time, and very few of her recordings are in print, This record will bring back to older listeners, and introduce to their juniors, the effect of her lovely and incredibly eloquent voice. She sings airs — eleven — of both Carmen and Micaela, with equal great ease, and the restored recording seems (as is not uncommon) decidedly better than the original 78s were.

Heroes, Heroines & Mishaps (John Allison and the Connecticut Folk Singers; Ficker C-10001: 12“). John Allison started his folk song collecting in the Hudson Valley, but pursued it finally all across America. Selections here, delivered informally but tastefully, include The Titanic. Wreck on the C & O Road, The Cow Chase (from verses by the ill-fated Major John André), and The Bowery Grenadiers. Authentic but not painfully so; much fun.

Spotlight on Strings (various musicians playing stringed instruments old and new; Vox DL-320: 12“ with text insert). This fourth of Vox’s “Spotlight series (the others: Percussion, Brass, Keyboards) presents Boston Symphony Orchestra men — not so identified — playing common and uncommon instruments of the string family. Especially notable is the horrid moaning of the tromba marina. Instructive, amusing, and very hi-fi.