SR: RECORDINGS 63 Karaj an Completes The Ring by Paul Moor 66 A Burst of Berlioz by Robert Lawrence 67 Bonynge's "Don Giovanni" by George Louis Mayer 68 Recordings in Review by Irving Kolodin 70 Recordings Reports I: Orchestral LPs 71 Friends and Neighbors Alive, Alive-O by Ellen Sander 72 Recordings Reports II: Miscellaneous LPs 73 Dolby and Four-Channel: Two Interim Reports by Ivan Berger 74 Williams as Thomas by Robert Jacobson 76 The Other Side by Thomas Heinitz 77 Letters to the Recordings Editor

-Siegfried Lauterwasser. Kara.ian the conductor—"The Berlin Philharmonic responds to him as very few orchestras do to even fewer conductors." Karajan Completes The Ring by PAUL MOOR According to the prevailing popular already assimilated both by rote and impression, the average artist's mas­ by heart not only their own roles but SALZBURG. tery of technology just barely encom­ Karajan's interpretation. By using the astertide in Salzburg this year passes the pencil sharpener and the tapes for accompaniment right up to brought Herbert von Karajan's nonelectric egg beater. In the case of the final full-dress rehearsals, this pro­ Enew production of Wagner's Karajan, one takes quite for granted cedure reduced both the number of Gdtterddmmerung, the culmination of that he pilots his own airplane, and rehearsals necessary and the cost of his production of the Ring tetralogy although one has heard nothing as yet stage rehearsals. (In the several in­ and, conceivably, the high point thus about computers' involvement in his stances of dual casting, one can only far in the blazing career of Salzburg's Ring production, the possibility would speculate as to the psychological abra­ most renowned native son since Wolf­ hardly have seemed incongruous. From sion involved, for instance, in Jess gang Amadeus Mozart. Some time ago, the standpoint of production-line tech­ Thomas's having to rehearse to Helge in a somewhat similar situation, a fel­ niques, Karajan has proved himself Brilioth's voice on tape, or Walter low Macedonian of the Karajanopoulos the Henry Ford of music. Without such Berry's synchronizing his actions 'o family's ancestors wept because no alertness to modern technology and a Thomas Stewart's voice.) This advance worlds remained for him to conquer. quick understanding of its adaptability planning also meant that the well- Karajan, unlike Alexander, has no to music, the Salzburg Ring would nev­ heeled audiences at the Salzburg per­ dearth of future plans. His perform­ er have come about. formances found the documentary re­ ance of Gdtterddmmerung, like the The procedure has remained the cordings already for sale, elsewhere rest of the cycle, proved a musical same with each of the four operas. they came out several months later. triumph, although dramatically it re­ First, Karajan assembled his solo­ Karajan's rationalistic approach to mained as disappointing and amateur­ ists in Berlin to record each year's opera in a technological age recalls the ish as the opening of the cycle {Die opera with the Berlin Philharmonic Chicago slaughterhouses' famous ap­ Walkiire) in 1967. The highest attain­ for Deutsche Grammophon. Each proach to the pig: Everything gets ment of this entire undertaking may singer then received his own role, used except the squeal. Not all aspects well prove not the performances on edited but complete, on a tape cas­ of Karajan's original overall plan, the stage of Salzburg's cavernous Fest- sette; thus, for the following half year though, have worked out quite so effi­ spielhaus, but the phont5graph record­ or so, no matter where or in what sur­ ciently. His ideas about a television ings made earlier in the Jesus-Christus- roundings, the singer had only to flip film on the festival, possibly even a Kirche in Berlin. on his little cassette tape machine in film of the performances, have not order to have, in effect, a rehearsal proved entirely feasible—despite the PAUL MOOR is a well-known writer on with Karajan himself. In theory, the fact that he has, naturally, his own music based in Berlin who has written entire cast would assemble for the television producing company, the for Time-Life publications among others. stage production in Salzburg having Swiss-based Cosmotel. Even before he SR/APRIL 25, 1970 63 PRODUCED 2005 BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED began the cycle, Karajan had an agree­ has today become downright gro­ the orchestra's covering the singers not ment with Rudolf Bing whereby he tesque; if one of Germany's satirical once but repeatedly, and by covering would pack, so to speak, each Salzburg Kabarett groups played excerpts from I mean completely drowning out. production into a container and ship them, quite straight but without music, I fervently wish Karajan took him­ it intact to the Metropolitan. This ar­ they could easily break up audiences self less seriously as a stage director. rangement worked, to a degree, with without even trying. This ornate lin­ Many another writer shares this wish; the first two operas (the Met stage is of guistic bombast, however, does not al­ Die Welt's critic Gerhard Brunncr quite a different conformation than ter the importance of the text itself, wrote flatly that "Karajan's staging the Salzburg area), but the recent of its actual content, to Wagner's art­ merits no discussion" and left it at strike forced postponement of Sieg­ work as a whole. Wagner pointedly that. When I asked one of the leading fried and Gotterddnimerung for two called these stage works not operas members of the Salzburg ensemble years at least. The cycle began in Salz­ but music-dramas; in Salzburg, at what he thought of Karajan as a burg in 1967 with a wistful dream of Karajan's hands, the music gets its stage director, the singer, as if God adding one production each year until glorious just due, but the drama gets might overhear a spoken response, re­ the 1970 festival would present the short shrift indeed. One must, of neces­ plied only by making a wry face and entire Ring tetralogy. Financial reality sity, realize the text as well as the using a thumb and middle finger to killed this idea almost at the beginning, music. In Salzburg, even native Ger­ form a zero. and even the compromise plan of re­ man-speakers shared my crossness Karajan himself says he "needs" to viving the preceding year's production with the incomprehensibility of almost stage the operas he conducts in order to go with the annual premiere has every word of the text. The perform­ to coordinate action as closely as pos­ proved too costly; this year's Easter ers remain, in effect, speechless; they sible with his musical conception, but festival offered no other opera besides do not even employ pantomime to get I think we may fairly dismiss that as the new Gotterddnmierung. their emotions across the footlights. self-serving humbug. No self-respecting Nevertheless, Germany's leading crit­ One finds, instead of music-drama, opera house in the world would engage ics this Eastertide cried "HeiV." in a costumed oratorio. Karajan as stage director only, and chorus that might have warmed the The blame must not go to the singers certainly no major conductor would heart of Siegfried himself. The dean for their incomprehensibility, since work with him in that capacity. of German critics, H. H. Stucken- Karajan, both as conductor and as I esteem Walter Felsenstein, the di­ schmidt, issued an imperious bull stat­ stage director, forced them to struggle rector of East Berlin's Komische Oper, ing that "there is no hope for those against a number of unnecessary ob­ as today's greatest operatic stage di­ who, after this Ring production, fail to stacles. The cast included, with one or rector, and I celebrate Karajan as a recognize Karajan as this epoch's pre­ two exceptions, no voices of the vol­ conductor of superlative gifts, but Fel- senter [Gestalter] of opera"; and Karl ume one customarily calls Wagnerian. senstein's superficial abilities as a con­ Heinz Ruppel wrote in the Slid- If Karajan had maintained in the pit ductor, if indeed he has any at all, in­ deutsche Zeitung, "If it is even permis­ the chamber-music transparency that terest me no more than Karajan's as sible to use in a critique such a marked the first Festival in 1967, this a stage director. By arrogating to him­ weighty and uniquely selective word as deficiency would have mattered less, self an auxiliary art and craft he comes 'unforgettable,' then it applies to this but unfortunately he didn't. In addi­ even nowhere near mastering, Kara­ Gotterddmmerung." With all due re­ tion to having less than clarion voices, jan deprives us all, by refusing to work spect, both to Karajan and to his critic- he chose to mask the stage with a with the few stage directors worthy of fans, I beg to differ, and in doing so I scrim during the opera's entire six- him, of what might well prove, both go back for my text, like Karajan him­ hour running time; any scrim, no mat­ musically and dramatically, the su­ self in his remarkably revealing Wag­ ter how transparent, acts as a barrier preme operatic productions of our nerian interpretations, to the original to a singer, and Wagner's scoring itself time. One must hope that it will soon, score itself. presents them with barriers enough. finally, penetrate to him that in indulg­ The language of Wagner's libretti These combined obstacles resulted in ing himself and in his playing at stage

-Photos by E. Fred Sher. Karajan the stage director at work on the 1968 production of "Das Rheingold" at the Metropolitan—the performers are

64 PRODUCED 2005 BY UNZ.ORG SR/APRIL 25, 1970 ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED directing he does himself immeasur­ whom Karajan miscast as Siegfried. burg Walkitre three years ago, but even able musical, theatrical, and general Poor fellow, he has a really beautiful so it keeps cropping up right through artistic harm. tenor voice, but he neither looks nor Gotterdammeruiig, now as a projec­ At times, however, Karajan conducts sounds like young Siegfried, who ideal­ tion in the sky, now as a sort of Stone- like a dream. The superb Berlin Phil­ ly should have a shot-putter's physique hcngc background resting on four big harmonic responds to him as very few and a bugle in his larynx. This Salz­ pillars. All those cyclorama projec­ orchestras do to even fewer conduc­ burg mishap, although sizable, should tions I found monotonous, revealing tors, and the result, particularly during not prevent Brilioth's having a big ca­ little more, I suspect, than mere pov­ the purely orchestral interludes, re­ reer in roles more apt for him. erty of imagination. peatedly approaches perfection. That Karl Ridderbusch, the hulking Next year Fidelia—in observance of flexibility of nuance with which he young alp of a basso who sang Hagen the Beethoven year, which Karajan adapts to a singer's breathing, the sub­ with impressive power but probably has decided to extend into 1971. "In tle expressivity with which he leads the inappropriate refinement, came, vocal­ subsequent years," as he puts it, he transition from one tempo to another, ly, through that abominable scrim bet­ will return to Wagner, "beginning with the freshness he instills into even the ter than any of his cohorts. Thomas a production of Tristan und Isolde"— least inventive and most hackneyed Stewart, from San Saba, Texas, long something I hope not to miss, even if passages—Karajan shares these abili­ a pillar of the Bayreuth company as I only listen to it with my eyes closed. ties to this degree of refinement with well as a Salzburg regular, sang Gun- In Salzburg, Karajan proudly an­ few of his colleagues. ther with great dignity and range of nounced the founding of the "Re­ The Salzburg cast on opening night expression. The sweetest voice of the search Institute of the Herbert von had much to offer; any time you find evening belonged to the Gutrune, Gun- Karajan Foundation for Experimental the roles of, for instance, the first and dula Janowitz; its buttery timbre Musical Psychology at the Psychologi­ second Norns assigned to such singers makes most sopranos sound downright cal Institute of the University of Salz­ as Lili Chookasian and Christa Lud- coarse by comparison. Zoltan Kelemen burg." He also announced a competi­ wig, you know nobody has skimped on loomed large, sonorous, and hateful as tion for youth orchestras this autumn the casting. Miss Ludwig, who also Alberich. Catarina Ligendza, as the in Berlin, where, he says, "I myself" sang Waltraute, provided the best vo­ third Norn, and Liselotte Rebmann, will conduct an orchestra comprising cal quarter-hour of the evening during Edda Moser, and Anna Reynolds—the the best players, and he plans a school Waltraute's lengthy narrative. Helga Rhine maidens of Das Rheingold— in Berlin to train orchestral players. He Dernesch sang Briinnhilde with a rich stood out again as distinguished art­ did not announce, indeed he dodged voice, as exactly on pitch as a needle ists. Walter Hagen-Groll had trained a direct question about his future ful­ in a groove, characterized by an en­ the Vienna State Opera Chorus and fillment of remaining obligations at the riching vibrato totally free from trem­ the Salzburg Festival Chorus to a high Met, but one hears that New York may olo. My estate in life makes it in­ level of distinction. be having a six- rather than four-year evitable for me to think back to the From the very beginning, Giinther Ring. Karajan will reportedly also days when giants filled such roles, and Schneider-Siemssen's sets have afford­ make an unprecedented sortie into honesty prevents my elevating Miss ed me little satisfaction, even though East Germany to record Meistersinger. Dernesch into their company, but I fully acknowledge the problems con­ But, as of 1970, Karajan has accom­ then her Wagnerian career has barely fronting him in the super-Cinerama plished the almost unimaginable: In begun. I can easily imagine that her format of the Salzburg theater's pro­ just over three years, he has turned performance on the recording might scenium arch. Throughout this entire Mozart's Salzburg into a Wagnerstadt. give one goose flesh, and she has a Ring, all the emphasis on circular Only financial problems prevent his bright stage future awaiting her. visual motifs (circle equals ring, get performing his Ring production as a In fact, the recording studio would it?) strikes me as absolutely simple- complete cycle every season. Thanks benefit almost all the singers, especial­ minded. That ring got broken at a to this and this alone, Bayreuth can, ly Helge Brilioth, the young Swede textually appropriate point in the Salz­ at least for the present, breathe easy.

Sherrill Milnes (Donner), Rod McWherter (Froh), Anna Reynolds (Fricka), with Marttl Talvela (Fasolt) and Gerhard Stoize (Mime).

SR/APRIL 25, 1970 65 PRODUCED 2005 BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED the proportions, the texture (did Ber­ lioz ever spin a more poetic melody than the organ theme of the "Tibi omnes"?), the irresistible rhythmical pulse. As the concluding "Judex crede- ris"—that juggernaut of terror and sal­ A Burst of Berlioz vation—rolls along, the ostinato throb­ bing relentlessly, one is drawn in its wake until (with the final flashing of trumpets, the transfigured reappear­ A t long last, after years of being to change with a complete cycle, in ance, telescoped and affirmative, of the /\ more discussed than listened to, preparation for Philips, conducted by organ theme) the realization comes X^^Hector Berlioz has reached the Colin Davis. The entire Troyens will that this has been a unique experience stage of being heard almost in full. His be released before long. On the more in music. representation on stereo up till now intimate side we have already been Two instrumental movements not es­ has been spread but sketchy. The over­ given a Mort de Cleopdtre, with the sential to the score as a concert piece tures; several versions of the Requiem, soprano Anne Pashley, as well as much —an interlude leading to the "Dignare" L'Enfance du Christ, Nuits d'ete; La of the seldom heard Tristia. And now and a final "March for the Presentation Damnation de Faust in the less than the mighty Te Deum, previously avail­ of the Colors"—have been omitted; satisfying versions by Markevitch and able only on a grandly performed (Sir and it appears that Berlioz himself set Munch; a good Mart de Cleopdtre Thomas Beecham) but dimly repro­ the precedent for this deletion. Thus (Tourel-Bernstein) and Lelio (Boulez); duced version in mono, has been issued his Te Deum has been integrally re­ the four symphonies, three of them by Philips (stereo, SAL 3724, $5.98) in corded, and the result is glorious. The copiously duplicated but with no really what, with the exception of the tenor London Symphony Orchestra and Cho­ satisfactory performance of No. 4, the solo, may well be the finest Berlioz on rus, the Wadsworth School Boy's Symphonie funebre et triomphale; discs. Choir, and organist Nicolas Kynaston Beatrice et Benedict, lightweight among Much has been made of the work's fill out a perfect ensemble. Colin Davis his operas; and a few scenes from Les alleged similarity to the earlier Re­ gives new and shining proof of his Troyens, arbitrarily assembled and cut. quiem: its huge dimensions and re­ mastery. In the face of such an achieve­ Three important works that form an surgent approach to the Last Judg­ ment, I must note a single flaw: the entire wall of the Berlioz edifice—Les ment. Even Berlioz, in writing to Liszt singing of that Gluckian tenor solo, "Te Troyens (complete), Benvenuto Cel­ after the first performance of the Te ergo quaesumus," by Franco Tagliavini, lini, and the Te Deum—have been over­ Deum, declared: "The Requiem has a who brings to its astringent measures looked, leaving a deplorable gap in brother." And yet their substance dif­ an alien, overripe flavor. He does not our concept of the composer's "monu­ fers. The Requiem, nonconformist, em­ exaggerate; nowhere does he stray mental" style. The massed trumpets phasizes the vaulting, the rhapsodic. from the letter of the score; but his and trombones of the Requiem have The Te Deum, boldly classical, enjoys timbre is disturbingly inappropriate. had to make do, in popular fancy, for an interaction of sweeping line and that infinitely more sober and complex Not only has Philips come through sober detail on the plane of the tradi­ with the Berlioz "monumental" style. approach of Berlioz's later years ex­ tional masters. I should not hesitate to emplified in Les Troyens and the Te Angel (S-36695) is offering the final act place it alongside the Missa Solemnis of Les Troyens (uncut) with a cast Deum. in architectural strength and perhaps Fortunately, the picture has begun headed by Janet Baker as Dido and in­ ahead in communicability. Consider cluding an unspecified Anna, lopas, Narbal. Alexander Gibson conducts the London Symphony Orchestra and Cho­ rus. The raison d'etre for this new re­ cording would seem to be Miss Baker, who is also heard on the disc's reverse side in La Mort de Cleopdtre; and in many ways she justifies the choice. Ow­ ing to a strange decision on the part of Angel a few years back, Regine Crespin recorded the first part of this act—no­ tably the aria "Adieu, here cite"—but never got to sing the wonderful closing scene. On the basis of the pages that overlap, I must express a preference for Crespin—she is more womanly, sumptuous, operatic. Yet Baker's "Adieu" comes off quite touchingly; and, although her voice may lack the opulent tone one associates with Dido, it has strength and amplitude at cli­ mactic moments. The star aside, this recording works a public service in that it enables us to make contact (be­ fore the impending complete Troyens) with those magnificent choruses of the final scene. A study of the piano-vocal —Gerard Neuvecelle. score can reveal only the music's bare Studio set up for "Damnation of Faust"-"excellent cast and superb group of players." {Continued on page 75)

66 SR/APRIL 25, 1970 PRODUCED 2005 BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED