Evening star., 1953-10-25
TUrntobIe Talk

A41C ACSOAOCA IL 0A1o VI VAAS
1852 Prades festival are cur
rently coming to us, and this
harvest seems to be just as
rich as the preceding ones
from Prades and Perpignan.
The Casals cello is involved
only once in the first batch of
discs, in the Brahms B-flat
sextet, and If one had to
choose don't see how this
soaring, singing recreation Of
one of Brahms most lyrical
outpourings could be passed
up. But there are other mag
netic names and perform
anceS besides CaSalS'. Myra
Hess and Joseph Szigeti, for
instance, contribute more than
a modicum of the tenderness
which infuses the perform
ance of the poignant c
minor quartet-a piece which
might be heard oftener If it
were heard this way. Dame
Myra also brings her GUS
tomary grace and buoyancy
to the Schumann E-f1at quin-
tet, a delightful performance.
And the fourth piece, Brahms
CHEEKY G-major string quintet,
played spiritedly by Isaac
Stern, Alexander Schneider
Milton Katims, Milton Thomas
and Paul Tortelier, Is an LIP
f1rst-timer. Such things are
hard to resist.
Some people myself ex-
cludedO had their doubts about
the Casals Mozart, which in
volved conducting rather than
cello-playing. But I doubt if
any one will take exception to
this Brahms and Schumann
land the Schubert to Gomez.
Columbia, everybody will be
happy to know, has finally
brought the acoustical attri-
buteS up to snuff, too.
Some Cello Music
Artur Schnabel's Beethoven
piano sonataS are taking longer
than some of us have hoped to
come to LIP, but three cello
sonataS which he recorded with
Pierre Fournier not too long
before his death are now at
hand. The A major, a piece
justifiably popular with cellists,
was issued previously on Vic
tor TBS. The D major and c
major weren't. All three are
on new Victor LIP.
WeStminSter'S delightful re-
cent disc bearing the first two
of Beethoven's Op. 8 string
trios has now been followed
by the third of the series and
the Op. 8 serenade. They make
charming listening.
Charles Munch's rouSing sue
cess with the Berlioz Romeo
and Juliet" undoubtedly will
confirm a new tendency of
RCA Victor'S to concentrate
the Munich attention on French
fare. Latest such product from
Boston is a coupling of Honeg-
gers fifth symphony and the
second "Bacchus ct Ariane"
ballet of Roussel. Honegger's
disSonance, though not unre-
lieved by some lyrical mo-
ments, will scare some, no
doubt, but the RouSsel score is
thoroughly attractive, and with
luminous playing and record
ing this becomes quite an eX-
citing disc. Ravel's "Pavane
for Dead Princess" is a bonus.
Honegger's somber Sym
phonie Liturgique," released
by Urania in a German per-
formance, is also a striking
piece. I'm not sure it's rather
elaborate architecture is as
fully delineated in this record
ing as it might be by Munich,
to whom the work was dedi-
Gated. but Honegger enthusi-
asts will want to give it a
listen.
Long Neglected
Dukas' tone poem, La Peri"
after long years of neglect,
suddenly turns up in two new
recordings. On Urania it is
paired with a delightful Faure
score, "Pelleas ct Melisande,"
and on MGM it is coupled with
the "Istar" variations by
D'Indy. George Sebastian. it
seems to me, builds the Dukas
orchestral sonorities a bit more
logically for Urania than
Anatole Fistoulari for MGM,
but the choice here probably
hinges more on which COM
panion piece one wants. On
that can offer no advice; but
1 know that it's a great
pleasure to hear reason for