RECORDS Victoria de los Angeles As Desdemona

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29194, 3 May 1960, Page 10

RECORDS Victoria de los Angeles As Desdemona

VICTORIA DE LOS ANGELES (soprano): “Ernani"—Ernanl involami; “Otello”—Era piu calma . . . Ave Marla (Verdi); “La Boheme"— Mi ehiamano Mimi; Donde lieu (Puccini); “Meflstofele”—L'alU notte in dondo al mare (Boito); “La Cenerentoia”—Nacqui all’affano (Rossini); “Cavalleria Rusticana” —Voi lo sapete; “La Wally"— Ebben. Ne andro lontano (Catalan!). RCA mono R5L.3574 (12in).

The “Otello” excerpt, which takes up most of the first side, is complete from the beginning of Act 4 to the end of the “Ave Maria.” It is one of Verdi's greatest and most original inspirations and seldom has its pathos been so beautifully realised on record as in Victoria de los Angeles's performance. Her phrasing is deeply felt and the music suits her velvety voice to perfection It makes one wish to hear her in a complete recording of the opera, or at least, the DesdemonaOtello duets, but neither is likely until a suitable heroic tenor arrives on the operatic scene. Other numbers' particularly outstanding on a fine record are those from

“Emani” and “Cenerentola." Both are unusually spirited for this singer, the former too much so at times, when her phrasing becomes gusty. In the rondofinale from Rossini's Cinderella opera, her enunciationed is unusually vivid and the famous twooctave downward runs are negotiate with much more sparkle than in her "Barber of Seville” recording. It stands up well to the inevitable comparison with Supervia. The two Puccini arias, although well phrased, are disappointing, for poor production robs her high notes of tonal purity at vital moments. DEBUSSY: La Mer. Three Nocturnes—Fetes; Nuages; Sirenes. Eduard van Bienum conducting the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra. Philips stereo 833.W1.AY (IZin). Van Beinum obtained very suave playing from his orchestra and his readings are strong and mellow, with a sombre tinge which only seems excessive in parts of his powerful “Fetes" and the middle section of “La Mer.” The more atmospheric pieces are beautifully realised The women’s chorus in “Sirenes’’ vocalises sensitively and smoothly, with enough total allure to sound convincing, something which does not always happen The recording is spacious and agreeable save for a rather noisy surface and momentary distortion of the horns in “Fetes.” LISZT: Hungarian Rhapsodies nos. 1 in F minor, 2 in D major, 3 in D major, 4 in D minor. Anatole Fistoulari conducting the Vienna State Opera Orchestra Top Rank mono 39.604 (12in).

These four Hungarian Rhapsodies correspond to No. 14 in F minor, 6 in D-flat major, 2 in C-sharp minor and 12 in Csharp minor in the original and

more familiar piano versions. They and eight others were orchestrated by Liizt—in collaboration with a minor Austrian composer named Franz Doppler—in the last year’s of the Abbe's life. Sacheverell Sitwell has claimed that they have been unduly neglected. and many listeners should find them more enjoyable - than the piano versions. The orchestration is always picturesque and often brilliantly effective; abounding in surprises and original touches. They are very well played and most sympathetically conducted. The recording is excellent.

OFFENBACH: “Galte Parislenne" Ballet. KHATCHATI'RIAN: “Gayaneh” Ballet Suite. Arthur Fiedler conducting the Boston Pops Orchestra.. RCA stereo RSLS.3S7S (IZln). This the first R.C.A. stereo disc to be reviewed in these columns, is one of the finest examples of stereo recording issued here. It has tremendous power, richness and brilliance, without a trace of distortion in the loudest passages Fiedler romps through Rosenthal's richly-orchestrated collection of some of Offenbach’s most delectable tunes with great gusto. The Boston players, as when in their more exalted status as the Boston Symphony, play magnificently. Their resplendent sound, combined with the brilliance of R.C.A.'s three-track stereo provides a major sonic thrill in Khatchaturian’s brash “Gayaneh" suite. The three-track process, consists roughly, of recording on tape left, right and centre tracks and distributing the centre track equally over the two channels of the stereo disc, making a solid band of sound with no trace of the “hole in the middle.” RIMSKY - KORSAKOV: Scheherezade, op. 35. Jean Fournet conducting the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Fontana stereo E75.005.CY (IZln). Persons who find the Beecham version of Scheherezade too lush for their taste may enjoy this version, which is unusually restrained and refined in the first three movements and crisp and fiery in the last movement. But those who like the exotic, pseudoOriental qualities of the work will be disappointed. In any case Beecham receives much better recording than Fournet The balance is good, but—like several recent Fontana stereo discs—it seems to have been transferred from tape to disc at too low a level. If the volume is turned up to a suitable degree, the surface noise becomes obtrusive. Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Festival Overture is promised on the sleeve, but it is not on the disc. 1 SOUSTI DI ZAGREB, conducted by Antonio Janiro: Concerto tn B-flat major, op. 5, no. 1 (Albinoni); Minuet (Boccherini); Suite (CoreUl);

Serenade (Haydn); Sicillenne (Paradis); Sonatas for strings, nos. 5 in E-flat major and 4 tn D major (Rossini). Top Rank mono 39.603 (12in). As the title of the record—“Serenata”—indicates, the programme played by the little JugoslavItalian string orchestra is predominantly of a light and cheerful nature, a mixture of the familiar and the rare. The Boccherini minuet is the familiar one and the Haydn serenade, comes from the Quartet No. 17. The Corelli suite is arranged from his violin sonatas, and it is perhaps the most substantial music on the disc Maria Therese von Paradis was not only one of the very few woman composers of the 18th century but also, although blind, a piano virtuoso for whom Mozart wrote a concerto. Rossini’s sonatas are very early works, written before he was 20. much influenced by Haydn and Mozart, but with signs of individuality and some charm. The playing of these works is neat and stylish, but the recording has a few disturbing fluctuations of pitch.