Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-17
TURNTABLE TALK
TURNTABLE TALK
.'GondoIiers' by GO S
Is Newly Recorded
BY JAMES G. DEANE

A0bA1CA1tlC AIA1bClb dAAu 0uA-
Ivan. so we are told, is still
the monopoly Of D'Oyly
Carte Cat least according to
D'Oyly Carte heirs. But one
cannot be surprised that the
monopoly is less than per-
fectly respected.
Angel has just succumbed
to temptation (for the Sec
ond time; the first resulted
in "Mikado") and tried its
hand at a production Of
THE Gondoliers."
"Gondoliers" was the last
Of the @ & 8 collaborations
to win great fame; it fol-
lowed "Mikado" by four years.
Nowadays it has slipped
somewhat behind in popu-
larity, at least on this side
Of the Atlantic. But the score
presents no clear reasons for
this disfavor; 1t is as de-
lightful as any. and its rela-
tive neglect gives 1t special
freshness.
Sir Malcolm Sargent, who
turns out to have had con-
siderable G & s experience
including some at the Savoy,
Is the conductor Of Angels
venture. He and a cast whose
familiar names are usually
associated with Glynde-
bourne and Covent Garden
and oratorio give the bub-
bling, quixotic inanities Of
Sir Williams text a some
what more cultivated accent
than Messrs. G g. s
themselves might have ex-
pected. But the musical out
lines are filled in handsomely
and 1t is hard to see how
anyone could be less than
captivated.
There was some distortion
in the review set; was too
much crowded onto two
discs?
All, FIDELITY
Lois Marshall, the Cana
dian soprano who first won
recorded distinction as part
of the quartet in the Tos-
canini edition of the Bee
thoven "Missa Solemnis,"
has now reached the point of
having a record to herself.
The Angel disc is a collection
of oratorio arias.
Miss Marshall's capacity
for oratorio singing was no
tably established in the Angel
recording of Handel's SOL
onion" led by Sir Thomas
Beecham. One Of the lowell
est gems from that MASTER
piece is among the numbers
on this disc, the air BLESSED
the day." But Miss Marshall
or someone-has proved
mildly prudish. The words
she sang for Beech a m,
cheerily descriptive of nup-
tial bliss, are here replaced
by a stuffy mid-Victorian
vow of everlasting fidelity.
The singing, in the other
numbers from "Jeptha,"
Samson" THE Seasons"
H aydn's Creation" and
Mendelssohn's Elijah" as
well as this. is lovely. how
ever. One might even. under
the circumstances, label it
angelic.
Miss Marshall, no stranger
here. will come to Washing
ton in February to sing the
title role in the Opera So
ciety's "Ariadne auf Naxos,"
and again in April for a lead
ing part in "Cosi fan tutte."
DISCAPSULES
New items, pro and con:
A superior collection of
Berlioz overtures (Benvenuto
Cellini. King Lear, Roman
Carnival, Corsair and Bea-
trice and Benedict) led by
Belgian Andre Cluytens, and
splendidly engineered, is new
on Angel. A Westminster disc
by Sir Adrian Boult supplies
Waverley and Francs-Juges
land Roman Carnival, Ben
venuto CellinD, also rem
dered ably.
Berlioz' Symphonic Fam
tastique under Mitropoulos is
reSoundingly reproduced by
Columbia.
Beethoven's Mint h, by
Bruno Walter, Westminster
Choir, New York Philhar-
monte, formerly on two discs,
has been compressed by Co
lumbia onto single LIP, split