Muti imagination

Press, 18 November 1981, Page 14

Muti imagination

Classical records review

ALLAN FRANCIS

BELLINI. I Puritani. Montserrat Caballe, soprano. Alfredo Kraus, tenor. Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Muti on World Records WI ,4021-3 (set) from HMV SLS 5201, 3 records. Two rival versions of this work were hailed as being just about as close to the ultimate as humanly possible, but as with all track records their vulnerability appears to be equally applicable to gramophone records, figuratively, and Muti is just the man for the job. Bonynge and Serafin produced wonderful versions of I Puritani with Sutherland and Callas respectively singing the lead roles of Elvira, but here we have Montserrat Caballe custom built for the role, singing as though Bellini created the role for her alone. ,

Riccardo Muti must take a lion’s share of the credit for this state of affairs, the delicacy of his interpretation and the rightness of his general'attitude towards the work. Apart from the other soloists, Kraus and Caballe show such superiority one wonders why the mighty Pavarotti was ousted so easily and Callas sounds muddy beside the limpid tones of Caballe.

The recorded sound too, is much better than the others. Not only is it more natural it has the advantage of reflecting the singers more faithfully. True, there are points where one may justifiably bring up which show that Callas does this or that just that little bit better, but over all this set has more going for it than either of the earlier pair. In the other roles of Riccardo, Matteo Manuguerra is adequate, Agostino : Ferrin and Stefan Elenkov are lighter basses than one would expect, Julia Hamari is above average as Henrietta while Dennis O’Neill is a modest enough Bruno. The Ambrosian Opera Chorus are well up to the expected standard. It may be extravagant to claim that M. Caballe is a better singer than Maria Callas, when the former has had a chequered career from purely a quality point of view, but taking into account the points scored by Callas, Montserrat Caballe brings such realism to the role of Elvira she must win the laurels for a magnificent performance.

THE SOUND OF THE ORCHESTRA. Andre Previn conducting the LSO playing Candide Overture by Bernstein, Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Dukas, Roumanian Rhapsody by Enescu, Perfect Fool Ballet by Holst, Greensleeves by Vaughan Williams and three pieces from Falla’s Three-Cornered Hat. World Records WI 4007 from HMV Greensleeve ESD 7078. Andre Previn is nearly always good value and this excursion comes up to standard. A good, well-balanced selection of hardy annuals which would grace any Prom. Concert. Even old Greensleeves sounds fresh enough after all the over-exposure it’s enjoyed over the years. One might expect it to sound tired and a bit hackneyed, but not so.

All the pieces have been recorded between 1971 and 1977, collated on this 1979 pressing and presumably because of the brilliant sound and sparkling interpretation, it now earns the new title. Previn was joined by Edward Heath in the 1971 sessions and apparently was reasonably proficient as assistant conductor to the youthful Previn. The zest and enthusiasm of Previn no doubt carried the ambitious Heath to greater heights than might have been expected. Highlights of the programme must be the colourful Roumanian Rhapsody and the Perfect Fool Ballet Suite, heading a pretty bright lot. DELIUS. Violin Sonatas 1-3. Yehudi Menuhin, violin. Eric Fenby, piano. World Records WI 3757 from EMI catalogue. These 3 sonatas are the remaining works from 4 composed but the first was never published and the third sonata is actually written by Fenby himself. This comment is merely to get the history right as Fenby was so intertwined with the work of Delius it was sometimes impossible to separate the individual genius. Fenby recorded these colourful works with a competent, if uninspired violinist, Ralph Holmes and. it is now to the credit of all that Menuhin has been commissioned to record the sonatas. Not that Fenby was a particularly fluent pianist, but he did hold the key to Delius’ harmonic feeling. There is no question that this recording is by far the most attractive of the few in the catalogue so that any purchaser wishing to complete the works of Delius could get this one with the assurance that it is the best available to date.