Record Reviews

Beethoven: Violin Concerto

Igor Oistrakh, violin; Wilhelm Schuechter conducting Pro Arte Orchestra; Angel 35516: 12”

Here we have a venial sin of Angel’s and a startling triumph of artists. Angel’s sin was in the obvious intent to make this an Igor Oistrakh record rather than a Beethoven record. The proof is in the placement of the microphone, somewhere adjacent to the soloist’s nose, and in the enlistment of the small (41-man) co-op English orchestra, the Pro Arte. The triumph is shared by all the musicians concerned. They decided to play Beethoven and they did. And they could. Instrumental imbalance aside, this is the most songfully zestful performance of the concerto I have heard in ten years.

Beethoven: Orchestral Works

Sir Adrian Boult conducting Philharmonic Promenade Orchestra; Vanguard VRS-1012/15: Jour separate 12”

Vanguard’s Boult-Beethoven series apparently is intended to encompass all the symphonies and overtures, which will be paired one by one while the supply lasts. Here we have No. 3 and Coriolan; No. 5 and the third Leonore; No. 6 and Fidelio; No. 7 and Egmont. The rest will be forthcoming. Space does not permit detailed description of the performances, but it probably isn’t needed, because of the peculiar excellence of Sir Adrian. I have tried to analyze this. The answer is that he, more nearly than any other conductor, gives me back what I have synthesized in my mind (from many, many hearings) as the ideal performances of my favorite masterpieces. He does not often (as Toscanini did) improve upon these beloved images, but he never disappoints, he never botches; there is no vanity. I am grateful for these manly and sensitive playings, and I wish I could say their recorded sound measures up to their musical merits. It doesn’t. It is bright, but rough. Perhaps the stereophonic versions, when they come forth, will compensate for this.

Beethoven: Short Piano Works, Vol. I

Artur Balsam, pianist; Washington Records WR-401; 12”

A small new company has latched on to one of the half-dozen best Beethoven pianists in the world and has set him to recording the works you almost never hear — the Bagatelles, Op. 126, for instance, and the Fantasia, Op. 77 — and those that you seldom hear well played. It is a revelation to listen as a master’s touch is applied seriously to our old childhood friends, the Minuet in G and Für Elise. A charming record, in so-so sound.

Brahms: Concerto No. 2

Emil Gilels, pianist; Fritz Reiner conducting Chicago Symphony Orchestra; RCA Victor LM-2219: 12”

Gilels and Reiner seem good for each other. The pianist trims his splendid Romantic exuberance a little to meet the conductor’s classic restraint; the latter unleashes his wonderfully precise orchestra a little in return. The greatest beneficiaries of this are we and Brahms. This is a superb reading, my favorite, I think, in the catalogues, though Epic’s de Groot-Otterloo competes strongly. RCA Victor’s sound is excellent.

Mozart: Concertos 19 and 24; l4 and 22

Paul Badura-Skoda, pianist and conductor; Vienna Konzerthaus Orchestra; Westminster XWN - 18661 and XWN -18662: two separate 12”

Westminster’s musical director, Kurt List, has had a very bright idea here: these discs seem to me far and away the best concerto records BaduraSkoda has made, and they are in the front rank of all recorded performances of these Mozart works. The pianist conducts from the bench with evident authority. Oddly, the dual task seems to have affected his playing slightly: his accents are stronger than they used to be, which I don’t object to. The sound is accurate and eminently proper for the music.

Rossini: The Barber of Seville

Alceo Calliera conducting Maria Mene- ghini Callas, Tito Gobbi, Luigi Alva, other singers, Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus; Angel 3559 C/L: three 12”

Unhesitatingly I will pronounce this the best Barber I ever have heard, on disc or stage, and the reason is not far to seek. The performers here act out the plot with complete seriousness and careful insight, and absolutely no horseplay. Further, they are all very good singing actors indeed, especially Callas and Gobbi. Indeed, these two are better than very good, they’re terrific. (And Callas’ voice sounds better than it has on records since Tosca.) I suppose credit must go also to the man you don’t hear, Galliera. The excellence of the job here brings out an unfairness we practice on Rossini. The way the Barber is cut for performance today cripples it as a play. Even played by superb actors, it almost doesn’t make sense.

Marcel Dupré Organ Recital

Marcel Dupré; Organ of St. Thomas’ Church, New York; Mercury MG-50169: 12”

When M. Dupre came here from Paris last year, the Mercury staff promptly and sagely spirited him to St. Thomas’ Church, with its lately renovated Aeolian-Skinner organ. He obliged with a portion of the Widor Sixth Symphony and the Salve Regina, and two works of his own, a triptique and a prelude and fugue. These pieces both are rather “organistic,” but so was the aim of the record, which is achieved gloriously. The sound can only be described as gorgeous, a feast of angel piping and thunder. For anyone really equipped with high fidelity equipment, here is a must.

Zino Francescatti Violin Recital

Zino Francescatti, violin; Eugene Ormandy conducting Philadelphia Orchestra; William Smith conducting Columbia Symphony; Columbia ML-5253: 12”

The works presented are SaintSaëns’s Havanaise and his Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, Sarasale’s Zigeunerweisen, and the Chausson Poème. These commonly are called warhorses, but if you view them through Francescatti’s perception you will discover that three of them are antelopes and one is a bona fide unicorn, silver and fleeting. The secret of what he possesses is the same secret that separates the best dancers and the best lyric poets from the hardworking also-rans. It is grace.