Evening star., 1953-12-27


baton. and recorded commen-
surately. There are those who
chalk up the Beecham enthu-
siasm for Delius to q quirk, a
viewpoint which must have
been formed without. benefit Of
this kind Of evidence.
It Is becoming q maxim in
the recording business that
where Ernest Ansermet's ba-
ton is involved, there resides
musical excellence. The maxim
is in no way violated by the
latest Ansermet releases.
Since Ansermet is q Ravel ex-
pert, it Is no surprise that the
two Ravel piano concertos
come of superbly under his
and-more immediately Jac-
queline Blancard's hands in
a logical coupling. And Pro-
kofieff's Classical" Symphony
Is given q plant, supple read
ing on a disc which also en-
braces Mussorgsky's Might on
Bald Mountain" Glinka's
Russian and Ludmilla"
overture and Borodin's "On
the Steppes of Central Asia"
warhorses indeed, but in this
case Unexpectedly fresh. Lon
don's engineering of both discs
is exemplary.
Those two. masterpieces of
clarinet literature, the Op. 100
sonatas of Brahms. make a
mellifluous pair on a new LIP
from Westminster. All too
rarely does one hear clarinet
virtuoso in the concert hall.
leopold Wlach, who has done
other fine records. is the virtu-
oso here, with Joerg Demus as
the pianist, and the two play
together very we'll indeed in a
kind of music wonderfully
suited to the living room, and
expertly recorded.
Good and Fomilior
Westminster also has pro-
vided two more of Schubert's
early quartets, Nos. 6 and 9,
performed 'by the Vienna
Konzerthaus ensemble; Men,
delssohn's quartets in E fiat
and D, performed by the Curtis
Quartet, and Beethoven's en-
joyable early E fiat string trio,
Op. 3, played by Pougnet.
Riddle and PM, all good re-
cordings for those whose ears
lean to smaller forms. And
new on HMV is an excellent
version of Schubert's sublimest
piece of chamber music. the
great c major quintet, by the
Amadeus Quartet and an eX-
ira cellist named Pleeth.
Those liking their Brahms
as Toscanini does will be
happy to know that the Tos-
canini Brahms symphony cycle
soon will be completed with the
issuing of the Third. But Tos-
canini's approac is not
Vienna's, and the latter is we'll
represented by a London LIP
involving Karl Bohm and the
Vienna Philharmonic. Bohm's
is an expansive, relaxed read
ing. which could be justified.
no doubt, in terms of a tradl-
tion stemming from Brahms
own Viennese lifetime, al
though the present recording
reveals neither as much detail
nor as much drama as Tos-
canini extracts from the same
pages. The only overt flaw In
London's recording is a Slight
occasional wirineSs to the
violins.
In a collection of Strauss
polkas the Viennese approach
proves itself the perfect one,
as evidenced by a new disc
from Vanguard featuring the
State Opera Orchestra under
Anton Paulik. The record also
is superior from an engineer
ing standpoint, which ought TO
make it welcome to hi-fi wives
who have been putting up with
demonstrations of Stravinsky
and Mussorgsky. For who
can't enjoy Strauss? This is
really hi-fi Strauss, in every
way. Try "Feuerfest"-it has
an anvil and gongs!
Pleasant Listening
That concoction of Strauss
melodies known as "Gradua-
ton Ball" also makes pleas
ant listening in a new record
ing by Anatole FiStoulari and
the New Symphony Orchestra
for London. So does Adolphe
Charles Adams "GiSelle"
which is performed. also for
London. by Richard Blareau
and the Paris Opera Orches-
ira. The Viennese idiom ap-
pealS to me a bit more than
the French in this case, how
ever.
D'Indy's Symphony on a
French Mountain Air" is un-
questionably the more pre-
possessing item on an MGM
disc involving Fabienne Jac-
quinot and the Westminster
Symphony Orchestra, under
FiStoulari. Saint-Saens' rather
unfamiliar fifth concerto also
may appeal to keyboard en-
thusiaists, though. Miss Jac-
quinot handles her part capa-
bly, in both instances. On a
Urania LIP. Richard Strauss
"Burlesque" is given q bravura
performance by ELY Ney and
the Radio Berlin orchestra.