Evening star., 1952-03-30
Turntobie ToIk atsE
I osconini, Now IS,
Speeds Recordings
Maestro Drops Old Attitude on Woxinqs,
But Still Logs Behind Beechom List
Turntoble ToIk
By Jones 6. Deone

The Star today begins weekly
column for the record collector.
The column will appear each Sum
day. It's aim will be threefold-
to discuss worthwhile new record
1ngs. to give record news and. on
occasion, to delve into mechanical
matters, with view to more
pleasurable record Listening.
The main focus will be classical,
but from time to time notice will
be paid to other fare. from folk
music to pops"
It would be hard to find q better
inaugural topic than Arturo Tos-
canini.
Last Tuesday Toscanini was IS.
Yesterday he led Beethoven's
massive Ninth Symphony"-plus
the "FirSt"-in Carnegie Hall.
That q man Of IS still can be so
demonstrably active-and peerless
lin his art is singular fact.
But o fact even more striking,
from the record-fancier's stand
point. has become evident in the
last six months.
Toscanini has been making
records-modern oneS-for %
years. (Before 1929 he made only
q few old-fashioned acousticals.)
About Is Toscanini-led works, by
some 80 composers. have appeared
on discs. Many are choice docu-
ments. But Toscanini's recorded
repertoire is not the biggest. Sir
Thomas Beecham's Is twice the
size. Toscanini's has odd gaps
ia Traviata," issued last year,
was the first opera.
Engineering Problems.
And the engineering Of Tos-
canini discs seldom has equaled
their artistry. A chief reason has
been that with record-makers, the
volatile maestro has been frankly
impatient. Another. affecting most
waxings over more than a decade,
was dead" acoustics In Radio
City's Studio 8-H.
Television recently solved the
8-H problem. Video cameras
moved in and Toscanini moved out
back to Carnegie Hall where he
made the New York Philharmonic
famous. But the more significant
fact has to do with Toscanini
himself. The maestro at IS ap-
parently has caught the recording
bug.
Toscanini more than once has
been the recording engineers
despair. When he wouldn't go
into a studio. the engineers we're
ecstatic If they simply could cap
ture a concert performance. When
he would, he went on pell-mell.
with no waiting for painting tech
nicians. Thus we had, on 78s, q
classic "Eroica" with audience
coughs; a Beethoven Seventh with
Earring breaks.
And RCA Victor has several
Beethoven Ninths and dozens of
other masterworks, duly captured
by the engineers, but condemned
to silence by an unsympathetic
author. These include a whole
unheard series with the Philadel-
/. phia Orchestra.
Records With . Vengeance.
Six months ago the amazing
maestro threw this unhappy ira
dition to the winds. Defying age
and a recently siling knee, he
started making new records with
Q vengeance. He has made more
than In any similar period in his
career. And so far he shows no
sign Of stopping. There is yet no
talk, those close to him say, Of
retirement.
Total results Of the weekly re-
cording Observation-Disclosures twice
weekly. twice at midnight-haven't
been revealed. Nor have the dates
when the evidence can be expected
on store counters. But the list as
already known is substantial. It
includes Beethoven's Seventh
(Successor to the Philharmonic
Version) Brahms "First" (another
replacement) and Fourth" (first
time); the Elgar Enigma" varia-
tions. not now available in any
LIP version; Richard Strauss
Death and TRANSPORTATION" a
Cherubini symphony. recently
broadcast, and probably a new
version Of Beethoven's Fifth"
Nor is this all the grist due
from the Toscanini mill. "Ls