Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-05-31
TURNTABLE TALK
Gieseking
Adds to Joy
Of Sonutos
BY JAMES G. DEANE
star Record Critic

"FNHFNNA"A
early sonatas lack the cur
rency their unpretentious-
ness and youthful verve jus
tify. which makes q pair Of
new Angel discs a particular
pleasure.
Nos. 2 and 3 in A and c
major are on one disc and
Nos. 4, 5 and 8 in Z fiat, C
minor--one Of the earlies Of
the dozen or so instrumental
works In that particularly
Beethovenian key - and r
major, respectively, on the
other.
''Mozart-like" is not strict
ly accurate, for despite the
frequent obvious indebtedness
Of the pre-30 Beethoven to
his illustrious predecessor
and model (who, one hopes,
is no longer falsely associated
with the tinkle Of the harp
sichord), a sonata such as the
c minor or E fiat displays
more than rudiments Of the
forging intellect and earnest
ness known to admirers Of the
'Pathetique." "Appassionata"
and the great works of full
maturity.
The special joy of these
performances. however, is
Gieseking's i'm m acul a tie,
beautifully controlled playing,
handsomely served by FIRST
class (monaural) recorded
sound. All five sonatas are a
delight to the ear and a well
come additional reminder of
the imposing and almost
unique talent Of this prema-
turely departed artist, who
was within live hearing
distance all too seldom dur
ing most of his career.
One should not, Of course,
suppose the subject matter
all serious, for that would
rule out such happy moments
as in the whimsical Rondo
grazioso of the A major,
among the many which belly
the grim visage on so many
Beethoven record jackets.
Curiously the Angel jacket
bears commentary on the F
minor sonata (No. -, not
included on the disc. CANCEL
35654-5).
Some almost equally stimu-
lating Beethoven playing is
found on a pair of Vanguard
discs introducing a new rec
ord-making musical team,
Paul Makanowitzky, violin,
and Noel Lee, piano.
Messrs. M. and L. (perhaps
they can adopt a firm name
such as "Maklee Duo" a la
Albeneri Trio) prove by
means of a quintet of sonatas
mos. 6 and 7 in c minor
and A on one, Nos. 4, S and
8 in A minor. F and G the
other that there is to be no
vacuum in the collaborative
sphere Someday inevitably to
be vacated by Heifetz-B Bay,
Grumiaux Haskil, Fuchs
BalSam, Francescatti-Cas
desus. etc. The new offerings
do not supplant the old, but
they present their own brand
of verve. musical intelligence
and technical ability, one
which should suggest con-
tinued activity of this sort in
the future. The recorded
sound is typically good. YRS
1038-9).
The "Kreutzer," which
has somewhat of an unfair
public advantage over its
companion sonatas because
of its convenient tag, is
played with expectable ex-
pertise by Leonid Hogan and
Grigori Ginsburg on an MGM
issue.
But the discs special in
terest lies with the oversize,
which contains Fritz Kreis-
ler's edition of Schumann's
C major fantasy, seldom
heard and one of the last
pieces before the composers
unhappy finale. Any Schu-
mann admirer should find it
an interesting cousin to its
keyboard namesake of several
decades earlier. (MGM &C
10000.
Brahms two clarinet So
natas offered in their less
frequent viola guise, capable
of giving monetary confusion
even to a familiar. are Of
fered on a Capitol disc with
William Primrose and Rudolf
Firkusny jointly in charge.
Brahmsians can take their
choice but probably will end
with a double dose, not OBJ
jectionable when administer
ed in the one case by experts
such as these. Capitol P
8478.)