Evening star., 1952-11-23
Turnt0bIe Talk
The Met Records 'Cosi'::
Vienno's Don PosQuoIe'
TurntobIe Talk
BY james G. Deone

Columbia has been doing a
lot of good things for the record
collector Misunderstanding, Ra-
vel. the Perpignan festival. all
the Beethoven quartets (the lat
ter are just out; a report will
appear in this space in due
course). The Columbia offer
ing that this collector, at least.
has been awaiting most eagerly
is Mozart's comic opera. "Cosi
fan tutte."
"Cosi" has now arrived, and
I am happy to report that the
occasion is, in all its most
salient particulars, a gratifying
one.
No doubt "Cosi," despite the
phenomenal success of last
seasons Metropolitan revival.
still is a novelty to many music
lovers. Besides 23-year stage
lapse that preceded it last fall
at the Met, the only other salts
factory full-length recording
lately became unavailable. Even
the overture has been heard in
concerts far too rarely.
It didn't take long for New
Yorkers and those outsiders
lucky enough to invade their
midst to find out what they had
been missing. This is a master
piece fully on the level OF
Figaro" and Don Giovanni"
and it deserves a place beside
them on the record shelf. 1t
is, in word, delightful.
Little Is Left Out
The recorded performance is
almost complete. A couple OF
arias and some recitatives have
been omitted. presumably to get
the whole onto three LIPS, but
the deletions are forgivable.
The performers, except for one.
are those Alfred Lunt directed
SO happily on the Nets stage
Eleanor Steber, Blanche The
BON, Richard Tucker, Frank
Guarrera and Lorenzo Alvary.
with Roberta Peters replacing
patrice Munsel. Fritz Stiedry.
who commanded the pit, COM
manded again in Columbia's
resonant Thirtieth street record
ing studio. The language is
English.
The singing is all good, with
that of Steber and Thebom cer-
tainly much more than that.
Miss Steber, in particular. sur
mounts some of Mozart's most
difficult challenges with singular
aplomb. The diction is uni
formly excellent. except for Aus
trian-born Mr.. Alvary's, whose
announcements are somewhere
between his native tongue and
ours. Even that proves only a
minor distraction. The Stiedry
hand with the orchestra bears
ample evidence of his many
years of discipleship. The re-
corded sound has unusual depth
and substance.
In all good things there must
be flaws. One is that the engi-
neers somewhat favor voices
over orchestra, putting a strain
on the hearer anxious to miss
none of Mozart's delicious in
strumental score. Another minor
one is an occasional excessive
sibilancy.
Victor PIons Revival
There is also a forthcoming
= complication. Victor in Feb
ruary plans to revive on LIPS
the 1941 Fritz Busch Glynde-
bourne Opera Co. version. The
Busch feeling for Mozart was
singularly perceptive; and prob
ably three of his singers have
the edge over Stiedry's. On the
other hand, 1852 recording has
a clear advantage. The choice
might devolve on English versus
Italian. And the really insati-
able fan might we'll demand
both. Fuller comment will be
made come February.
Westminster also has turned
its capable attentions to opera
again, this time Donizetti's de-
lightfully tuneful don Pas
quale." The production is in
ternational-Italian singers and
conductor, Viennese chorus and
orchestra. Melchiore Luise is a
competent Don; Scipio Columbo,
Lima Aymaro, Juan Oncina and
Josef Schmiedinger are the
other principals, and only On
cina's tenor seems less than sure.
Argeo Quadri keeps things NOV
ing as they should, and the
sound matches anything yet put
out in the opera line.
Whatever else may come in
the way of LIP Wagnerian doc
uments, Victor's 1941 pairing of
Arturo Toscanini and Helen
Traubel in the Rotterdam
merung" immolation scene is
likely to retain a place in his
tory, if only as one Of the all
too-rare samples of the Italian
maestro's way with the ultra
German. Victor has revived the
excerpt on a 12-inch LIP with
the more recent. also estimable
Toscanini performance of
Wagner's "Siegfried Idyll, u
which is more successfully re-
recorded.
More Of Rossini
I don't recommend limiting
opera collecting to overtures
but record companies apparent
ly think some people do. AT
hand is a disc from Uranis
bearing the overtures to aida,
"Forza del Destino." William
Tell" Barber of Seville,
Daughter of the Regiment