includes highly informative notes -and Mignon! Fa core! Verdi: La Traviata: despite its 45 -rpm speed contains forty Dei miei bollenti spiriti. Di Capua: Maria minutes of MUSIC. ROBERT SILVERBERG Mari'. Donaudy: O bei nidi d'amore. Denza -Pagliara: Occhi turchini. De Cur- tis: Canta pé mé . Gilbert: Marta. Al- JOAN BENSON: Music for Clavi- béniz-Sandoval: Quisiera olvidar tus chord ojos. Sandoval: Eres tu. Joan Benson, clavichord. REPERTOIRE RM 901. LP. $4.98. Beniamino Gigli, tenor; orchestra. RCA VICTOR LM 2624. LP. $4.98. In the current revival of instruments that were popular centuries ago, the clavi- Victor is getting plenty of mileage out chord has been somewhat neglected. The of Gigli-eight of these fourteen selec- few recordings in which it has been used tions are included in the company's big have not achieved wide distribution. It "Ten Famous Singers" album (LM is to be hoped that the present one will 6705). However, there are undoubtedly have a better fate, for this instrument, those who are interested in Gigli with- which has the crispness of a harpsichord out necessarily being interested in the and the dynamic flexibility of a piano, other nine great singers, and this col- is a fragrant, fragile voice from the past. lection at least duplicates none of those Out of the rather large repertory of contained on Victor's previous all -Gigli music for which the clavichord is suit- disc, LM 2337; and only "Una furtiva able, Miss Benson has chosen some un- lagrima" is repeated from Angel's collec- hackneyed pieces, ranging from an tion on COLH 118. Rococo's R34 is Who's afraid of the dangerous loudspeaker? anonymous prelude from the fifteenth - devoted to earlier Gigli. century Buxheim Organ Book to a Fan- There is little need at this date to If you think that's a rhetorical question, tasy by Philipp Emanuel Bach written in comment on Gigli's stature or the char- you're merely confirming our suspicions. 1787. In the Bach, a big improvisational acter of his singing. The present collec- We are beginning to suspect that people work, and in the other pieces, which tion is all representative of his prime - don't take our advertising literally. include a charming dance by Jean Per - year singing -lush, ringing, and alive. For two and a half years now, our ads richon (1566 -c. 1600) as well as a tender The tenor is also on relatively good be- have been warning high fidelity enthusiasts lamentation by Froberger (1616-1667). havior here, with less than usual of the against the perils of owning an audio trans- Miss Benson plays with an expressive. personal mannerism and musical slop- ducer as uncompromisingly truthful as the singing tone and achieves infinitesimal piness that make some of his recordings dangerous loudspeaker. gradations of intensity with the narrow so objectionable. I do not see why the But no one seems to believe that we dynamic range of the instrument. The well -vocalized but horribly rushed Lucia really mean what we say. Thousands and sound is first -rate. N.B. aria had to be included again, but all thousands of our readers have thrown cau- the other arias are top Gigli, and though tion to the wind and bought the EMI Model the songs are slight, they call forth some CHAPEL CHOIR OF CAPITAL of the singer's most exciting and char- DLS -529. A Recital Well, let's get it straight. We mean ex- UNIVERSITY: Choral acteristic vocalism. If a single Gigli disc actly what we say. Here, for example, are Chapel Choir of Capital University (Co- must be chosen, I would still pick LM those who really are afraid of the dangerous lumbus, Ellis Emanuel Snyder. 2337, with the wonderful De Luca duets; Ohio), but loudspeaker. cond. the present recording is a sensible Owners of much larger and more expen- WESTMINSTER XWN 19024. LP. $4.98. choice. C.L.O. sive loudspeaker systems, who now realize WESTMINSTER WST 17024. SD. that the EMI speaker sounds considerably $5.98. more natural and musical than theirs. THOMAS HAYWARD: Twenty Songs Possessors of less -than -perfect amplifiers, The present recording was made in Lon- pickups or other components, who fear that don last summer while the Choir was the uncanny response and extreme Francis Hopkinson: Come, Fair Rosina; transient on a European tour. It is clearly a care- transparency of the EMI speaker might re- My Love is Gone to Sea; Beneath a fully trained, highly disciplined chorus. Weeping Willow's Shade; Enraptur'd J veal the slightest flaw in their equipment. well balanced, and capable of consider- Careless record collectors, who fear the Gaze; See Down Maria's Blushing able dynamic nuance. Its tone is on the merciless the EMI speaker Cheek; O'er the Hill Far Away; My clarity with which whole good, though some of the so- reproduces scratches, gouges, pops, clicks Gen'rous Heart Disdains; The Trav'ler pranos sound a bit shrill on occasion in and hiss. Benighted and Lost. Robert Burns: Scots Bach's Komm, Jesu, komm and the tenor Manufacturers of other loudspeaker sys- Wha Hae; A Red, Red Rose; Afton quality is not quite up to that of the rest Water; Comin' thro the Rye; Green tems. And so on. common failing in our university The fearsome object itself, the dangerous -a Grow the Rashes; O Wert Thou in the choirs. Although it is unaccompanied. loudspeaker, is deceptively simple. Cault Blast; Tam Glen; John Anderson; the chorus manages to stay pretty well O'er the Water to Charlie; The Pigsty There is the enclosure. 24 by 13 by 121/4 in portions of the dif- inches, of the finest available walnut. Fin- on pitch, except Scraper's Song; The Banks o' Doon; Side 1 offers, in addition to ished on all sides, including the back. Thick ficult Bach. Auld Lang Syne. the Bach, a vigorous performance of walls, heavily reinforced. No ports, slots, and nicely ducts or other dubious acoustic gimmicks. Viadana's Exsultate justi, Thomas Hayward, tenor; Melville Smith, O magnum mysterium harpsichord. Just an airtight seal and lots of damping varied readings of material. by Victoria (here still spelled Vittoria, as CAMBRIDGE CRS 711. LP. $4.98. and Lotti's CAMBRIDGE 1711. SD. $5.98. There is EMI'S famous elliptical woofer, though he were an Italian) CRS 2 is devoted to arrange- 131/2 by 8Vs inches, with aluminum cone Crucifixus. Side ments and paraphrases of chorales and It's the Burns songs that are of interest and special plastic suspension. Hand -made. works Then there are the two specially designed spirituals, as well as two original here. The settings are traditional ones. by American composers: a rather im- but not always the best -known ones: 31/2 inch tweeters and the high- precision vein, 4.500 -cps crossover network. The three aginative piece, in a conservative these are not, for instance, the settings You did not miss Sweet Afton or Auld drivers are strung out in a single line. The by Paul Fetler called of Flow Gently, right way. Jerusalem. and a setting, deficient in Lang Syne that we all learn in elementary by Kent The price? That's one thing about the musical vitamins. of Psalm 150, school. The Scottish flavor and dialect is a bit preëcho a in Hayward's EMT speaker that nobody is afraid of. It's A. Newbury. There of seem to bring out color $159.00. in various spots, but otherwise the sound tenor and a brightness in his personality; Higher in the South and West. For fur- is satisfactory. N.B. he sings these songs with pleasing, firm ther information, write to Scope Electronics tone and considerable verve. was better known as a Corporation, a subsidiary of Symphonic BENIAMINO GIGLI: "Gigli in His Hopkinson a in fact, he Electronic Corp., 10 Columbus Circle, New patriot than as musician; Glorious Prime" than York 19. Exclusive distributor of EMI loud- never aspired to more amateur speaker systems and integrated pickups and Puccini: Manor: Lescaut: Donna non status as a composer. His are genteel tone arms. vidi tuai. Tosca: Recondita armonia. drawing -room songs, stultifyingly polite, Donizetti: L'Elisir d'a,nore: Una furtiva and really of almost no musical interest. EMI having some of them lagrimo. Lucia di Lammermoor: Tombe While it's worth (Electric and Muskat Industries, Ltd.), England degl'avi miei. Thomas: Mignon: Addio, recorded as historical curiosities, I think CIRCLE 40 ON READER -SERVICE CARD HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE 76