Mozart Again

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30528, 25 August 1964, Page 10

Mozart Again

MOZART: Plano Concerto Ho. 19 in F Major, K. 459. Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor, K. 466. Rudolf Serkin (piano) with George Szell conducting the Columbia Symphony Orchestra. CBS stereo 58R.475034 (12in, 42s 6d). Mono also available. Rudolf Serkin is recording the complete set of Mozart piano concertos and this disc apparently brings him near the halfway mark. Serkin’s reading of Concerto No. 20 is very similar to that of Artur Rubinstein reviewed last week. Both emphasise the dramatic nature of the work. Serkin’s playing is as elegant and controlled as that of Rubinstein, although a shade slower in timing and a little more searching and a little less flowing in phrasing. Szell’s accompaniment is more sensitive and often smaller scaled than that on the Rubinstein disc so the result is a little less Beethovenesque. The Serkin disc also contains a beautiful account of Concerto No. 19. The mood is predominantly merry but there is a lot of feeling in Serkin’s playing. The sound is first-class and in this coupling there is an. hour of music.

Johann Strauss (arr. Dorati): Graduation Ball—ballet. Weber (orch. Berlioz: La Spectre de la Rose (Invitation to the dance) —ballet. Willi Boskovsky conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Decca stereo SXL.2250 (12in; 42s 6d)> mono also available. Limited edition.

The music for the ballet “Graduation Ball” was selected by Antal Dorati and the choreographers, David Lichine, mainly from the unpublished manuscripts of the younger Johann Strauss in the Vienna State Opera library. The score is lighthearted and Willi Boskovsky gives the impression that he knows it by heart. He catches the right swagger and the stylish playing of the VPO suggests a gay and lavish yet disciplined occasion. The Weber divertissement is played with great charm and makes other versions sound very ordinary. Ruggiero Ricci (violin) with Pierino Gamba conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. Bizet (arr.. Sarasate): Carmen Fantasie, Sarasate: Zigeunerweisen. Saint-Saens: Havanaise. Introduction and Hondo Capriccloso. Decca stereo SXL. 2197 (12in, 42s fid), mono also available. These are sort of Spanish showpieces for violin. The “Carmen” pastiche was arranged by the late-nineteenth-century Spanish violinist, Sarasate, who also wrote the Zigeuner-weisen (Gipsy Airs) —which owe more to Hugarian gypsies that the Spanish —and for whom Saint-Saens wrote the Capriccioso. The Havanaise has a Spanish association too, being based on habanera rhythm. Ricci is a 44-year-old American virtuoso who has been playing with orchestras ’since a Carnegie Hall concert at the age of nine. He has the necessary fire and sparkle to maximise the excitement in these works and receives very crisp orchestral support and a clean and vivid recording.