III I I 11 _u.

sive, his vocal- dramatic presence command- Fugue for String Trio, in D minor, K. ing (may not his fine Iago count points 4o4a; Quartet for Flute and Strings, in C, towards a Camden reissue of the old Victor KA 171. Here's the book you've Otello ?). The least -good Camden principal Sextuor Instrumental Alma Musica. is is the Leonora, Maria Carena. Her scale LONDON DTL 93046. 12 -in. $4.98. not well -equalized; and although her style been asking for ... is idiomatic and her passage -work acceptable The rather pretentious title is applied to her tone tends to shrillness at the top. Less a group of pieces that not only begins with absolutely painful to hear than Bianca Willaert rather than Sweelinck but ends Scacciati (Columbia), she has not the free - with about as homophonic a work as swinging abandon, nor the voice, of Caterina Mozart ever wrote. Actually this is a Mancini (Cetra), and she does not at all pleasant, if somewhat miscellaneous, col- measure up to the challenge of Zinka lection. The Fugue is Mozart's transcription Milanov's cannily taped RCA Victor sing- of the E -flat minor Fugue in Book I of ing. The Well- Tempered Clavier and it is pre- Despite some tempo inconsistencies (this ceded by Mozart's own Adagio. It is good was cut on 78 -rpm sides, recall), Carlo to have his Flute Quartet, a delightful little Sabajno's reading is incisive and altogether composition. The Vivaldi, which is for better than Renato Cellini's for the latter - flute and strings, is here played by a group day RCA, fully as good as either Carlo in which an oboe is also prominent. No Molajoli's (Entré) or Fernando Previtali's doubt it was often so performed in the (Cerra). eighteenth century; if an oboist was pres- The Camden sound is dressier than the ent, he would want to join in the fun. original 78s - highs cut down (to Miss But the work is available in its original Carena's benefit), echo techniques used to form in good performances. N. B. add a more spacious, and specious, resonance and some perspectives altered - but, taken ROSE BAMPTON four minutes at a time, the circa-193o Arias seem to me more shellacs satisfying, . per- Gluck: : Ah.! malgré moi . . . haps because they comprised the first full Non, ce n'est point un sacrifice. Rossini: opera recording I ever owned. Still, the LPs Semiramide: Bel raggio lusinghier. La are much to be preferred for the High. Fidelity convenience, Cenerentola: Nacqui all' afano . . . . Non and the filtering has cut down noise. No più mesta. Mozart: : Era album, no libretto; but three superb vocal già alquanto . . . . Or sai chi l'onore; RECORD ANNUAL characterizations ought to be more than Non mi dir. Verdi: : O patria mia. worth the modest price. J. H., Jr. Emani: Emani involami. Puccini: : 1955 d'arte. Massenet: Hérodiade: II est Vissi edited by Roland Gelati VIVALDI doux, it est bon. Concerto for Two Violins and Strings, in D, Rose Bampton, ; Hardesty Johnson, Pincherle 159; Concerto for Oboe and Don't fail to get the first volume Don Giovanni) . Victor Sym- Strings, in D minor, P. 259; Concerto for tenor (in (containing High Fidelity record re- Pelletier, cond. views from July 1954 through July Viola d' Amore and Strings, in D minor, phony Orchestra, Wilfred RCA CAMDEN CAL 293. r2-in. $1.98. 1955) in what is planned as a perman- P. 288 ent and continuing series - the only Louis Kaufman, Peter Rybar, violins; Egon Had Rose Bampton been born into another one which will keep you up -to -date Parolari, oboe; Winterthur Symphony Or- vocal age, she might have fared differently, with the thousands of long -playing records released every year. chestra, Clemens Dahinden, cond. (in the for her voice was, and remains, a splendid first two). Johan van Helden. viola d'amore; one, controlled by superior musicianship. These are the reviews that one Philharmonic Orchestra, Otto As matters stand, though, her career can reader called "marvels of literacy" - Ackermann, cond. (in the third). best be described as unfulfilled - this to delightfully readable as well as fair and accurate audio and musical criticism. MUSICAL MASTERPIECE SOCIETY 84. to -in. avoid grinding the edge of the private con- the most $ I.89. viction that she has been one of Edited by Roland Gelatt, the re- undervalued singers of the past twenty -odd views have been entirely rearranged Competent performances of three fine con- years. and organized for easy reference. In certos. The work for oboe is No. 9 in Op. Calling herself a contralto, no less, she permanent form they will be a treasur- VIII, the set that begins with the Four Sea- made her Metropolitan debut, as Laura in ed addition to your library as well as an sons. Parolari has an attractive tone. Van , in 1932. Then she decided invaluable shopping guide. Helden is also a capable player, and his to exercise the remarkable extension of ( from Albeniz concerto contains a short but especially ap- her voice and become a soprano Tro- Composers to Zeller) -a are arranged alphabetically; per- as a Aida, and, later, a pealing Siciliano slow movement. No vatore Leonora, an formers are indexed. continuo is audible in the Concerto for Two and a Marschallin. Although the Violins, and is the scale never became absolutely even the recording on that side More information more rec registers (few about only adequate. But it improves on the side between top and middle ords for less money than in any other containing the other two works, which em- scales are, for that matter) , she made the record review collection only $4.95. with more than usual success. - ploy a harpsichord. N. B. transition Published by J. B. Lippincott. But for all the great beauty of her voice, for all her excellent musicianship, she SEND FOR YOUR COPY never really rose to the level of a great RECITALS AND career from that of a good one, and now NOW MISCELLANY she has virtually given up opera for concert and recital appearances. Somehow HIGH FIDELITY Magazine the artistic -personal adjustments she made The Publishing House did not solve the problems of having been Great Barrington, Mass. ALMA MUSICA created a mezzo -soprano with a long voice Please send me, by return mail, a copy The Golden Line of Polyphony from of the HIGH FIDELITY RECORD and an essentially classic, restrained tern - Sweelinck to Mozart ANNUAL- 1955. $4.95 enclosed perament. And the failure -a failure by Sorry, no C.O.D.s Willaert: Ricercar a tre voci. Sweelinck: only a small margin -shows in this Cam- Six Variations on Mein junges Leben hat den reissue from 78s. For when the sing- NAME ein End. Giovanni Gabrieli: Sonata a tre. ing comes short of being first -class, it does ADDRESS Vivaldi: Concerto in G minor, Op. Lo, so either by the margin of not having No. 2 (La Notte). Mozart: Adagio and either quite the expression-through-tech-

MAY 1956 75