Evening star., 1953-04-19
TuyntobIe Talk
DeIius No Best Seller
But Columbia Hopes to Remedy That
With New Beechum RECORDINGS
TurntobIe Talk
By jones 6. Deone

Dy JoWeS
A record dealer I know says,
"You either like Delius or you
DON'T" His impression is that
most people probably don't.
because DeliuS records never
have sold especially well.
My own notion is that most
people probably haven't the
least idea, because they have
had little or no exposure to
Delius' music. Maybe this
situation is about to be
changed. Columbia has just
announced a plan for a new
series of Delius recordings,
with Sir Thomas Beecham,
that ardent Delius fan, as
conductor (the DeliuS Trust,
Of which Sir Thomas is
musical adviser, is Sponsor).
Nothing has been said about
the frequency Of the issues
but it can be assumed the
public can inspire more or less
enthusiasm on Columbia'S
part, whichever it wishes. And
the series certainly ought to
inspire more enthusiasm on
the part Of the public.
The first LIP already is at
hand. It contains the North
Country Sketches" never re-
corded before, and "Eventyr,"
which was in one of the old
78 rpm. Delius Society sets
but is not very we'll known.
There are four Sketches"
which depict the English coun-
tryside. The titles are eau
tumn. the wind soughs in the
trees; Winter Landscape"
Dance" and "The March of
Spring." and the music is won-
derfully evocative. "Eventyr,"
inspired by some Norwegian
folk tales, is music a bit live
lier but also of the spacious,
melodious, beautifully sensu-
Gus sort that Delius wrote so
well. It would have been nice
if Columbia had added some
thing to fill out an unused
inch on the "Eventyr" side,
but aside from this the disc is
a highly auspicious start for a
worthy project, and for those
who know Delius only vaguely
it will well repay investiga-
ton.
A Rovel Novelty
While Ravel's impressionism
Is far better known than
Delius', the latest "Daphnis
and Chloe" also comes as a
novelty. One usually hears one
or the other of the two suites
Of the same name, but Ernest
Ensermet's vehicle on a new
London disc is the complete
score from which they came.
A choir is one of the elements
making this affair more than
the sum of the other two, and
with fine engineering it all
adds up to quite an enchant-
ing hours listening. The An
sermet baton also presides on
an LIP bearing assorted French
fare-Ravel's "Pavane," two
Chabrier items, Saint-Saens'
"Oomphale's Spinning Wheel"
and somewhat tame "Danse
Macabre"-aS well as on an
other pairing Rimsky-Korsa-
koff's attractive Cog Dor"
with the brassy "Capriccio Es-
pagnol." Neither disc is quite
the temptation "Daphnis" is,
though.
Bruno Walters latest re-
cording is a temptation on one
hand, a complication on the
other. Clear-cut temptation
resides in a Superbly sonorous
Death and TRANSPORTATION"
The complicating factor is the
oversize Don JUAN" which
though equally impressive has
some substantial competition.
One good version is led by
Clemens KrausS, who tends to
rush things a bit in spots; on
the whole Walter wins here.
Toscanini's tingling, super
charged rendition is incom-
parable. of its kind. But Ger
tainly for sheer tonal beauty
the romanticized Walter con-
ception holds it's own, to the
considerable credit of Colum-
bias engineers.
A substantial potential Of
aural intoxication is present
also in another new Columbia
release, the orchestra portion
of Berlioz' Romeo and Juliet"
which is one Of the most con-
vincing things Dimitri Nitro
poulos has done on records.
One wishes the vocal portions
were included, though, as they
will be in a version recorded