RECORDS by a No. 32 whose arietta is just that and fervent in phrase, Op. t to as Dame accepts a lackey's rôle and the recordists trifle too fast to hurt it beyond repair. Myra gives it and HMV -Victor has regis- have minimized his bass if any. The line The sonatas previously issued have all tered it melts this critic to a sentimental of beauty in the adagio is worth hearing. been noticed here. Like the components enthusiasm. Op. tog is played in the same The last two movements are awkward. of any complete edition, they vary in general manner - soft, intense but sym- C. G. B. value. They are in great part much better metrical - and may be as magisterial a in sound than the Kempff edition, but presentation; but the critic has always BEETHOVEN few will think that the Backhaus strength been puzzled by its simpler music, and Sonatas for Piano and Violin; No. 7, countervails the vivacious symmetry of cannot declare how he thinks it stands in C Minor, Op. 30, No. 3; No. to, Prof. Kempff. There are 190 recordings in relation to other interpretations. He in G, Op. 96 of Beethoven piano sonatas, and among prefers this Op. 110 to all, and the sound Friedrich Gulda, Ruggiero Ricci. them five or six of the Backhaus versions of both to all. The high octaves here are LONDON LL 1004. 12 -in. 26, 26 are outstanding, an impressive accomplish- real as real, and nowhere is reproduction min. $5.95 - ment. C. G. B. troublesome. C. G. B. These are half of Beethoven's four BEETHOVEN greatest BEETHOVEN Sonatas for these instruments. No. to, Sonatas Piano: No. 3o, for in E, op. tog; Sonata for Piano and Violin, No. 5, in the pure linearity of its expression by No. 31, in A Flat, Op. zio in F, "Spring," Op. 24 these intelligent and intuitive young players, Myra Hess. Josef Palenicek, Alexander Plocek. demands a place at the top of the list of RCA VICTOR LHMV 1o68. 12 -in. 21, SUPRAPHON LPM 129. to -in. 21 min. recordings. In fact, with this sound, exact zo min. 55.95 but unemphatic, clear and sweet for the The violinist has a darkly- honeyed tone violin and sturdy for the piano, with Restrained in force but poetic in mind and a sweet cantilena, but the pianist the instruments in satisfying equipoise, Fidelio Again, or, A Tale of Two Cantatas CHARITY demands that we try to understand the stresses on malefactors before we execrate them. Both new editions of Beeth- oven's solitary opera, Fidelio, excise all the spoken dialog except that in the dungeon scene's "melodrama," a short section in which the whispered apprehensions of Leonora, rescue -bent wife of the imprisoned hero, and Rocco the jailer are substantiated by the orchestra. Arguments can be raised to oppose the inclusion of spoken dialog in opera for the phonograph, but such arguments cannot fitly be applied to all operas. The prose repartee of Fledermaus or The Magic Flute is of unexciting quality when first heard and dismal when heard repeatedly. The spoken words are no more than contrivances to provoke a situation justifying music. The book of Fidelio, dear to Beethoven, is a heroic drama which he Toscanini Furtwängler garnished with his overwhelming convictions on loyalty, hope, freedom, love and treachery. Its drama, clear and uncomplicated Vox version.) Miss Steber's appeal is evident, but not what it as serious opera dramas ought to be, is in conveyed nearly equal would be with a more modern recording. measure by spoken word and Messrs. Janssen and by words with music. Moscona are excellent. Since the latter is not there, neither is Fidelio. Without the dia- For HMV Miss Mödl's big mezzo is splendid when under real log, we have nothing but a spasmic procession of wonderful control, and not when not, with the microphone indiscreet in musical numbers, intruding on each other's effect. betraying some mezzo mechanics. It is not likely that any The two interpretations of this concert are in soprano nice harmony with living can improve on Miss Jurinac's Marzelline. Mr. Windgassen's what we should expect from their leaders. Prof. Furtwängler is bright, healthy tones do not suggest a starving Florestan. The deliberate, Mr. Toscanini impetuous. The respective manners Pizarro and Rocco of Otto Edelmann and Gottlob Frick are en- carry both reward and punishment. For example, Rocco's aria tirely commendable. HMV has forgotten to supply a libretto, "Hat man nicht auch Geld bei Leben" (roughly, "What is life without thinking perhaps that for a concert version none was necessary. money? ") has in the accompaniment a cascade of benevolent Victor offers German text and translation. chuckles to show that the cynicism is only fooling, and the Furt- There are two older versions, one of a poor performance, the wängler beat relents to clarify this, in contrast to the Toscanini other of the best performance on records. The latter is refusal to recognize the underlying implications. On the other the Vox edition, the vagaries of whose sonics may infuriate. But it contains hand, the terrible, barren blasts of frozen hopelessness of the In- enough of the dialog to make sense and retain drama and emo- troduction to Act II are consummate in the vehemence of Mr. tion; it is as a whole well sung, and the direction by Dr. Toscanini's summoning, making Prof. Furtwängler's reticence Karl Böhm is sensitively poetic and dramatic without mannerisms. pallid in contrast. And the gratulatory last scene in its entirety This edition is marked for withdrawal, and music-lovers who is a triumph for Mr. Toscanini's unreserved fervor. cannot wait for a Fidelio truly realized at every point of perfor- In general, the Toscanini direction is more convincing in the mance and reproduction will have a simulacrum with the Vox, finales and where the orchestra is dominant. The pliancy of Prof. even if they have to cringe at certain freakish features of the sound. Furtwängler allows more expression to the arias under his direction. C G. BURKE Differences in recording play a part in the effectiveness of the performances. The Victor sound, reincarnated from a 1944 broad- Martha Mödl (s), Sena Jurinac (s), Wolfgang Windgassen (r), cast, is amazing among similar resuscitations. The new His Master's Rudolf Schock (t), Otto Edelmann (bne), Alfred Poell Voice sound decidedly does not show to years' improvement. (bne), Gottlob Frick (bs); Chorus of the National Opera, Vienna, More distant than the Victor, it has an expected gloss without and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Wilhelm Furtwängler, an expected crispness of detail or much force of impact. Orches- cond. His MASTER'S VOICE ALP 1130.1132. Three 12 -in. 2 hr. 12 min. trally it must be called disappointing although it is not bad, and 320.85. (Available from Addison Foster, t 226 Montgomery while naturally it is kinder to Ave., the solo voices than Victor could Narberth, Pa.) be in 1944, the margin of kindliness is not so great as we could hope. The principal Victor singers, although hard -pressed by the Rose Bampton (s), Eleanor Steber (s), Jan Peerce (t), Joseph La- baton, have the better voices. Miss Bampton is vocally the most deroute (t), Herbert Janssen (bne), Nicola Moscona (bs), Sidar appealing of recorded Leonoras, and Mr. Peerce will be a revela- Belarsky (bs); Chorus and NBC Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini, tion to those who have not imagined him in a German rôle. (He cond. is almost as convincing as another revelation, Mr. Ralf, in the old RCA VICTOR LM 6025. Two 12 -in. I hr. 52 min. $11.90. DECEMBER, 1954 61 www.americanradiohistory.com.