Record Reviews

Isaac Stern, violinist; Alexander zakin, pianist; Columbia MS-6717 (stereo) and ML-6117

Probably no other living violinist can play as many different kinds of music as skillfully as Isaac Stern, but the music on this record strikes especially responsive chords of sympathy within him. Ernest Bloch’s Baal Shem is a distillation of the Hebraic spirit in music — more specifically, of the mysticism and joys of the messianic vision. Echoes of synagogue cantillations and festival melodies produce the effect of a kind of spiritual folk song suite. There is a similar mood in sections of Bloch’s Violin Sonata No. 1, but this remains a more reserved and impersonal piece, without the evocative powers of Baal Shem.

Schumann : Piano Concerto in A Minor, Opus 54; Introduction and Allegro Appassionato for Piano and Orchestra (KonzertstÜck), Opus 92

Rudolf Serkin, pianist, with Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy; Columbia MS-6688 (stereo) and ML6088

Rudolf Serkin is hardly a neglected pianist, but at sixty-two he seems to be assuming the mantle of an old master, proceeding along a stately and settled course while a younger generation vies for pre-eminence. Every so often a record comes along which demonstrates that the old master retains his mastery, and this certainly is one. Serkin has recorded the Schumann concerto at least twice before, but his newest effort is an exhilarating blend of vigor, poetry, and sheer pianistic skill. The Schumann concerto is an aural definition of musical romanticism, and Serkin’s playing of it no less so. The KonzertstÜck on the reverse is a substantially less imposing piece, but Serkin has a special affection for it, and performs it accordingly.

Verdi: Rigoletto (two versions)

Rafael Kubelik conducting La Scala Orchestra and Chorus, with Renata Scotto, soprano; Fiorenza Cossotto, mezzo-soprano; Carlo Bergonzi, tenor; Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone; and Ivo Vinco, bass; Deutsche Grammophon 138931/33 (stereo) and 18931/33: three records

Georg Solti conducting Rome Opera Orchestra and Chorus, with Anna Meffo, soprano; Rosalind Elias, mezzo-soprano; Alfredo Kraus, tenor; Robert Merrill, baritone; and David Ward, bass; RCA Victor LSC-7027 (stereo) and LM-7027: two records

On paper, the RCA Victor lineup promises the better sung and more vigorously directed Rigoletto; but the reality turns out to be something quite different. For Deutsche Grammophon ‘s set, produced at La Scala with a German baritone and a Czech conductor, emerges as a Rigoletto with a crackling intensity that hasn’t been heard since Toscanini conducted the fourth act of the work at a wartime benefit concert in Madison Square Garden. The credit belongs to the conductor, Rafael Kubelik, who has rediscovered the musical driving force and dramatic urgency that give Rigoletto its power. In place of the usual succession of arias, duets, and choruses—topped, of course, with the quartet — Kubelik gives us a deftly controlled, tightly interwoven, perfectly timed, and dramatically charged performance of a masterpiece. None of his singers achieves especially notable vocal feats, Fischer-Dieskau being a slightly dryvoice Rigoletto, and Renata Scotto a somewhat sharp-edged Gilda. But all fit admirably into Kubelik’s musically truthful portrayal of human beings caught up in tragedy. By comparison, Victor’s Rigoletto, for all Robert Merrill’s suave singing, seems little more than routine. The Deutsche Grammophon recording spreads itself over six sides, but its sound, like its conducting, is exceptional.

Marc Blitzstein: The Cradle Will Rock

Howard Da Silva, director, and Gershon Kingsley, pianist, with Jerry Orbach, Lauri Peters, Nancy Andrews, GordonB. Clarke. Joseph Bova, and others; MGM SE-4289-20C (stereo) and E4289-20C: two records Although the name of George Avakian does not appear among the credits listed above, it was this veteran producer who helped bring The Cradle Will Rock to records, through sheer dogged ness and determination, after initial plans for the active participation of Leonard Bernstein and sponsorship by Columbia Records had fallen through. Was it worth all the effort? Surely in l937, when Blitzstein’s proletarian musical became a theatrical cause célèbre, this recording would have created a sensation. Today we can view it as a period piece, with the problems of unionism in Steeltown, U.S.A., a long way from Broadway — or even off-Broadway. Still, there is an enormous vitality to Blitzstein’s music, and a sharp bite to his lyrics. After all, the policeman taking bribes, the editor yielding to pressure, the college president harkening to the trustees, and the artist humoring his benefactress are not exactly types completely unknown nowadays. In any event, plenty of musical zeal and zest has gone into this gusty recording. Its allusions and its attitudes seem dated occasionally, but it is pointedly reminiscent of a time when our musical theater had something to say.

Bernard Shaw: Caesar and Cleopatra

Directed by Anthony Quayle, with Claire Bloom as Cleopatra, Max Adrian as Caesar, Judith Anderson as Ftatateeta, Laurence Hardy as Brittanus. Jack Gwillim as Rufio, and others; Caedmon TRS-304S (stereo) and TRS-304: two records

There is only one complaint to be made about this excellent Caedmon Theatre Recording Society production, and one might as well make it at the outset: it is cut. And so brisk and brilliant is this display of Shavian repartee and history that one regrets every exchange that has been trimmed from it. even if the object was to get the “complete” play onto two LPs. Nevertheless, one listens with avid amusement to a performance in which not only the leads but even the lesser roles — such as Brittanus, Caesar’s righteously British but always loyal servant — are played with elegance and wit. G.B.S. would seem to have a brilliant future on records, but the last thing he needs is editing.