thing of Toscanini. Tile `; cw World was and brazen tones is ?,: hly dramatic - for the supreme quality of the music one of the finest of his recordings and unsurpassed except by the greatest mo- but for the sympathetic insight brought the transfer to electronic stereo makes ments of Mozart and Beethoven. The to its revelation. this in some ways the finest recorded performance is the finest we have had likeness of the man and his orchestra. and reflects the acoustical atmosphere of The performance is a marvel unto itself. a great church on an extraordinary oc- casion. FALLA: El Amor brujo (with Wagner/ Stokowski: "Love Music" from Tristan HAYDN: Quartet for Strings, in C, Op. und Isolde). Philadelphia Orchestra, 76, No. 3 ( "Emperor ") (with Mozart: 458). , cond. Columbia Quartet for Strings, K. Amadeus Deutsche C MQ 309. Quartet. Grammophon Both of these scores received their Ameri- 8886. the present can premiere in Philadelphia during The primary limitation of is music the Stokowski seasons, the Falla as a tape catalogue chamber (in- characteristic instance of the conduc- cluding literature for the solo piano). tor's ability to find interesting new music, This DGG reel illustrates the best of what is works are master- the Wagner as an example of his skill available. Both pieces; both performances are eminently as an arranger. The present performances worthy their subject matter. form a historic document, from a re- of union of the conductor and orchestra in 1960. The Stokowski Tristan arrange- HADYN: "Salomon" Symphonies: Nos. ment is not for musicologists, but few op- 93 -104. Royal Philharmonic Orches- MOZART: Divertimento No. 2, in D, eratic performances generate anything tra, Sir , cond. Angel K. 131; Symphony No. 33, in B flat, like this degree of sustained passion. The Y3S 3658/59, 33/4 ips. K. 319. Cleveland Orchestra, George Falla has an exuberance, a flair for No one did more for the cause of Haydn Szell, cond. Epic EC 837. color, and a deeply pulsing rhythmic in this century than Sir Thomas Bee- The phenomenon of the Cleveland Or- drive that suggest the work is still Sto- cham; and if he was determined not to chestra during the twenty years of the kowski's personal property if he wishes yield his right to edit his own texts, he Szell administration has been one of the to claim it. Soloist Shirley Verrett is infused his performances with an elegance greatest things in American music. This heard here at a very early stage in her and zest that could not help winning you recording almost sums it up -grand career. to the composer's cause. Volume 1 of with a lightness and pre- this set has been electronically reproc- cision that delight, and the highest de- HANDEL: Twelve Concerti Grossi, Op. essed in stereo, and technically it is gree of refinement and taste in musical 6. Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. August somewhat less pleasing than Volume 2. thought. It is a joyous exercise in true Wenzinger, cond. Archive ARS 3246. (You may want to roll off the highs a classic gallantry. Handel is in the unfortunate position of bit.) Even so this is both a classic edi- being one of those composers who wrote tion of the material and an extremely MOZART: Quartet for Strings, in B flat, -speed a few highly popular works that are good buy from the slow listings. K. 458 ( "Hunt ") -See Haydn: Quartet played too much and many scores of for Strings. merit that are played far too little. The IVES: Symphony No. 4. American Sym- dozen works recorded here are superb phony Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski, MOZART: Symphonies: Nos. 35/36, examples of eighteenth- century instru- cond. Columbia MQ 766. 38/41. Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto mental writing, filled with melody, and Whether or not there is such a thing Klemperer, cond. Angel Y3S 3662, certain to be the most agreeable of com- as the great American novel or the great 3? ips. panions. American symphony, the Ives Fourth, In a basic library the best approach to first heard in full forty -nine years after the Mozart symphonies is to get as many HANDEL: Water Music Suite: Royal its completion. displays all the individu- as possible, which makes this big pack- Fireworks Music. "125 Musick Play- ality one might expect from a master- age a most attractive buy. I don't agree ers," Leopold Stokowski, cond. RCA piece of our national art. Stokowski with every detail in every performance Victor FTC 2117. directed that premiere. and the tape doc- here, but the over -all impression is that This set was planned more in the interest uments the occasion well. of genius at work. of sound than musicology. (Handel had no orchestra of this size at his disposal.) MAHLER: Symphony No. 9, in D minor. MOZART: Die Zauberfliite. Evelyn Lear, Purists may prefer the Menuhin version Columbia Symphony Orchestra. Bruno Fritz Wunderlich. Dietrich Fischer - at 33/4 ips on Angel Y2S 36279. 1 am Walter, cond. Columbia M2Q 516. Dieskau, et al.; Berlin Philharmonic not at all sure that Handel. supreme Walter regarded the Ninth as Mahler's Orchestra, Karl Böhm, cond. Deutsche showman that he was, would not have testament, but, in this version, it is the Grammophon DGS 8981. relished the Stokowski augmentation of conductor's as well. a lasting memorial This is the Mozart score that can best his orchestration. There are some nine- to the man who first introduced this he understood and enjoyed without the teenth- century expression markings in music to the world and remained always aid of staging. Figaro really demands this version, but it seems a good deal its most eloquent interpreter. In the the visual dimension, and Don Giovanni closer to Handel's spirit than the Vic- first and final movements the distinctive is nearly as dependent on sight as an torianism of the familiar Harty suites. features of Nahler's musical intelligence aid to sound. In the Magic Flute both And how Stokowski makes his men are presented with a clarity and force the nobility and comedy are fully rep- play! it is a glad and glorious sound unsurpassed in any other recording. resented in the music alone, and in a indeed. performance as fine as this a recording MOZART: Concertos for Piano and Or- can provide a genuine sense of artistic HAYDN: Mass in D minor ( "Nelson"). chestra: in D minor, K. 466; in A, fulfillment nearly equal to the living Soloists; Choir of King's College, Cam- K. 448; Rondo, K. 386. Clara Haskil, theatre. bridge; London Symphony Orchestra, piano; Symphony Orchestra, David Willcocks, cond. London LOL Bernhard Paumgartner, cond. Epic MUSSORGSKY: Boris Godunov. Evelyn 90064. STC 90413. Lear, Boris Christoff, et al.; Chorus This music practically marks the end of Like Walter's Mahler Ninth, this too is of the National Opera of Sofia; Paris the great baroque tradition of liturgical a memorial set, dedicated to the remark- Conservatory Orchestra, André Cluy- composition, but what a finale! Never able woman who was Clara Haskil. tens, cond. Angel ZD 3633. were trumpets and strings united with Technically, the recording suffers from No collection of operas is complete with- voices in a more inspired song of glory, excessive reverberation, but it is worth out a look at the Russian repertory, and and the soaring soprano line in human having despite that limitation, not only Boris is still the Russian opera. It has

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