ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT THE YEAR’S BEST RECORDINGS

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30631, 23 December 1964, Page 8

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT THE YEAR’S BEST RECORDINGS

Symphonic music of the romantic era continued to

be the most widely served

area of serious music available in 1964.

The bulk of issues were both stereo and mono versions, but many of the new stereo releases were merely alternative recordings of works previously available in stereo.

There were more issues of baroque music, and an increasing number of stereo chamber-music releases, although activity in the cham-ber-music and operatic fields was left mainly to the World Record Club. Lieder was badly neglected. Modern music was avoided unless the composer was a “saleable” one such as Bartok, Britten or Stravinsky and this field—where the repetition allowed by the gramophone would be most helpful to understanding—was left to the YC stations.

Price rises affected mainly the 7in discs. Popular EPs went up to 13s 6d and classical EPs (1961, 14s) to 15s—and the number of classical EP issues fell off. There were an increased number of small runs of New Zealand pressings in imported sleeves —an attempt to widen the range of issues economically. This survey is limited, in the main, to recordings released through* retail channels as the others have only limited availability. Stereo catalogue numbers are given unless the other mode is stated. Symphonies This has been very much a Beethoven year, with three cycles of the symphonies. Philips completed the cycle of nine symphonies on seven discs by the late Bruno Walter with the highly efficient Californian orchestra specially formed for his last stereo recordings. (C.B.S. 58R.47013-16, 528R.460003, Coronet KLCS.673). The Eighth and Ninth Symphonies were not received for review but if they are as fine as the others this is a very fine set. The music is infused with the genial wisdom and experience of the octogenarian conductor’s lifetime with the Viennese classics and bears his stamp of glowing warmth. The triumphs of the set would be the glowing “Eroica,” the Fourth, and the “Pastoral.” Another magnificent “Pastoral” was recorded by the late Fritz Reiner with the Chicago Symphony three years ago and released this month on R.C.A. Victor L5C.2614. The great beauty and precision of orchestral playing in this performance is superbly recorded. D.G.G. put out its new Karajan cycle with the Berlin Philharmonic on eight discs.. This set was not received for review. The other complete cycle was that of Josef Krips with the London Symphony issued by the World Record Club

(STZ.2I7-24). This may not match the others in every felicity of detail but the set conveys the gemuetlich approach of this reliable Viennese conductor, is an excellent magnetic film recording, and is available at bargain price. Although the Klemperer cycle is still missing, the New Zealand collector has a wide choice of first-class interpretations.

Among several Mahler issues—this conductor is gaining in popularity—were an impressive recording of the Third Symphony by Leonarad Bernstein with the New York Philharmonic (C.B.S. 528R.460002) and a glowing account of the Ninth Symphony by the conductor who led the first performance, Bruno Walter (C.B.S. 528R.460001). There was a notable Stravinsky recording in which the composer conducted a Canadian orchestra in authoritative performances of his Symphony of Psalms and Symphony in C (C.B.S. 58R.475035). From a 1954 broadcast came a recording of Sibelius’s Second Symphony with Sir Thomas Beecham conducting the 8.8. C. Symphony Orchestra, a performance which tingles with an excitement and vitality that surpasses his studio performances and which demonstrates that his sponteneity was greater in the presence of an audience (H.M.V. mono MALP.I947). From a Beecham disciple, Colin Davis, came a fine new version of Berlioz’s “Harold in Italy” with the Philharmonia and with Yehudi Menuhin as violinist. (H.M.V. ASDM.S37). Another reading from a young conductor was “Pictures at an Exhibition” from Lorin Maazal and the Philharmonia (Columbia SAXM.24B4). The Moscow Chamber Orchestra under Rudolf Barshai proved to be an outstanding ensemble in Barshai’s orchestration of Prokofiev’s “Vision Fugitives.” The work is coupled with a stunning performance of a British masterpiece, Tippett’s Double Concerto, in which the bath Festival Orchestra joins the Russian players (ASDM. 512.) Concertos Three new concerto recordings with Rubinstein were issued by RCA Victor to mark the New Zealand tour of this great romantic pianist, a glowing account of Mozart’s No 17 on mono LM.2636 (a stereo version was delayed but is now available) a dramatic reading of Mozart’s No 20 on L5C.2635, and a fresh recording—his third—of Tchaikovsky’s No 1 on LSC. 2681. If one had to choose the best of this fine trio it would be No 17, as the Tchaikovsky does not really displace the fine reading by Van Cliburn still available, and as the Mozart concerto also appears on a new recording by Rudolf Sarkin which contains No 20 and No 19, and has a superlative orchestral accompaniment led by George Szell (CBS SBR. 47034). Jascha Heifetz, in his first recording issued here for some years, shows that he has retained all his mastery in a coupling of Bruch’s Violin Concerto No 1 and Mozart’s No 4 (RAC Victor L5C.2652). A young pianist, Trevor Barnard, who has made a special study of the music of Bliss gives a fine account of that composer’s Piano Concerto on HMV ASDM.499. The HMV edition may have been limited as it came in an imported sleeve, but it has been reissued this

month by the Record Society on SRZ.6IIO and should be enjoyed by all devotees of the romantic piano concerto. Another exelient recording available at bargain price is Rachmaninovs Third Piano Concerto played by Byron Janis with the Boston Symphony under Munch on RCA Victrola mono V1C.1032. Orchestral Antal Dorati’s crisp and dramatic reading of the full score of Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” with the London Symphony is by far the best available. It is opulently recorded on Mercury 5R2.9013. Dorati also gives a vital account of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies on Mercury 5R.90371 which should make these popular works even more popular. Another recording containing magnificent playing is Strauss’s Graduation Ball (Decca SXL. 2250) in which Willi Boskovsky leads the Vienna Philharmonic in a swagger performance. An intriguing issue is “Contemporary Music of Japan” which is presented by the crack NKH Symphony under Hiroyuki Iwaki. The orchestra did not get as far south as Christchurch in its New Zealand tour, but this record is a fine consolation. Instrumental Of all the Rubinstein’s long series of Chopin records his coupling of the Second and Third Piano Sonatas would be the most notable (RCA Victor Soria RSLS. 3628). He plays these works with the authority and expressive breadth of a lifetime’s devotion to the composer and with the energy, vitality and technical brilliance of a young man. To mark the New Zea-

land visit of another distinguished musician, Andres Segovia, five magnificent recordings were issued. Although other guitarists have equivalent technical abilities, none has Segovia’s sympathy with the aesthetic of music. Segovia can be heard at his best on “Music for the Guitar” (Festival mono FL.30865). The most interesting recording of another visitor, the pianist John Ogdon, is a coupling of works by Busoni and Liszt in which he plays with tremendous vitality of tone, rhythm and expression (HMV ASDM.434). In the first of a series of Bach’s “48,” the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1, Preludes and Fugues I—B, the Canadian pianist, Glenn Gould, plays in a very personal manner and reveals details with telling clarity (CBS 58R.475032). Two further recordings by Svyataslav Richter, both recorded at concerts, were added to the catalogue during the year. On Philips mono A. 005851 there is an account of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” that contains pianism of great refinement, virtuousity and power as well as a good share of coughs as it was recorded in Sofia during an influenza epidemic. On H.M.V. ASDM.S2O are wonderful performances of works by Schumann, a composer with whose music Richter has a close affinity, recorded on an Italian concert tour. Chamber Music A few new recordings were issued, including only one coupling of Beethoven quartets. It must be added that the World Record Club is very active in this field, and this year was reissusing its mono( Beethoven cycle by the Hungarian Quartet. The

club also issued a mono Bartok cycle and began several series of stereo sets of Bach chamber works, as well as Handel's fine organ concertos in stereo.

The Drolc Quartet plays two early Beethoven Quartets. No. 3 and No. 6, in a deeplyengaged, vital manner and the performance is recorded in realistic stereo on Columbia SAXM.2SO4. A glowing account of the very popular and melodic Dvorak Piano Quintet by Clifford Curzon and the Vienna Philharmanic Quartet can be found on Decca SXLM.6O43, coupled with Schubert’s Quartet No. 12 in A. On Ace of Clubs mono ACLM.47 there is a good bargain recording of one of Mozart’s greatest chamber works, the Clarinet Quintet in A, piayed by Antoine de Bavier and the New Italian Quartet. Two other clarinet quintets—Brahms’s quintet in B minor and Wagner’s Adagio —appear on Decca mono LXT.5660 played splendidly by members of the Vienna Octet. From the HeifetzPiatigorsky concerts conies a fine performance of one of Schubert’s loveliest works, the Quintet in C. major, played by a star-studded ensemble on R.C.A. Victor L5C.2737. Benjamin Britten accompanies Mstislav Rostropovich in an authorative performance of Britten’s Cello Sonata on Decca mono 8R.8503. A treat for the record collector is “An Evening of Elizabethan Music” played in a lively and sparkling manner by the Bream Consort in R.C.A. Victor's de luxe Soria series (LD5.2656). This contains “broken music” of Shakespeare’s day—pieces performed during intervals at the playhouse. This survey will be coneluded next week.