IANUARY 1976 $1.50 LAZAR BERMAN: Mystery HIGH Soviet pianist talks about FIDELITy his coming U.S.A. tour -rd musical amensea THEProblems MET and prospects CO lea o ES • lieenE5 a CU SAE M. VIB FM tuner Realistic (RA-770 receiver GAS Ampzilla amplifier kit Thorens ID- 115 turntable lo Lab Test •=so eports liber CG- 360 cassette deck •r -- - " ' d KIM CL-4loudspeaker Hitachi D-3500 cassette deck Aud;o-Technica AT- 706 headphones Dolby under $200 Twin illuminated VU meters, plus Frequency Response (Chrome Tape): separate input level controls for each 30-16,000 Hz channel help you set accurate Wow & Flutter ( WRMS): 0.12% recording levels. Stereo microphone Signal- to- Noise Ratio ( with Dolby): 58dB inputs as well as the headphone Input Sensitivity: 0.3mV — 63mV ( mic); 63mV — 12V ( tine) output jack are all easily accessible Outputs: 450mV ( line & DIN): 80mV 8ohms on the front panel. (headphones) By any point of reference, compare the CT-F2121's combination U.S. Pioneer Electronics Corp., of performance and features with 75 Oxford Drive, Moonachie, The CT-F2121 comes ready for custom New Jersey 07074. installation. Handsome, optional cabinet wi cassette decks costing much more. walnut veneered top and sides also avoua You can come to only one conclusion West: 13300 S. Estrella, Los Angeles — at under $ 200t this is the most 90248 / Midwest: 1500 Greenleaf, extraordinary cassette deck value Elk Grove Village, III. 60007 / Canada: ever offered. S. H. Parker Co. when you want something be' CIRCLE 26 ON READER- SERVICE CARD PAUSE E 'Dolby is atrademark ot Dolby Laboratories, Inc. t(Optional cabinet with walnut veneered top and sides. Approximate value, $ 24.95.) Prices listed above are manufacturer's a xtraordi cassette clec value ever offered. 11111111111111111111111111111111111.1 .•••••0' max; 111.M. VIM le • n - n - n REC REVV PLAY FF PAUSE STOF POVVER _IL OFF ON à(JQ op DOLBY SYSTEM FULL AUTO-STOP The new 2121. Witt Ever since the cassette deck stepped DOLBY MA, into the spotlight with proven high iCa • fidelity performance, great advances in tape and cassette deck technology have been made. Despite this progress, most of the high fidelity PNONE PI industry was convinced that it was virtually impossible to build a really 0 e superior front- loading, front-control Switch from one mode to another, bypassing Separate bias & equalization switches for any cassette deck equipped with Dolby — the Stop lever. type of cassette tape. that could sell for less than two hundred dollars. Everything's up front for Versatile features increase Pioneer thought it might be optimum operating convenience. listening enjoyment and simplify impossible, too. But we figured it was Pioneer's engineers have designed recording. worth the try. the CT- F2121 to give you the highest Pioneer has outdone itself on the The engineers at Pioneer were degree of flexibility in use. You can CT- F2121 with a host of easy-to- use given the 2121 project two years ago. stack it easily with other components features. A long life permalloy-solid They were asked to build afront- in your system because every control record and play head and a ferrite access, front- control cassette deck function, as well as cassette loading, erase head insure excellent signal- loaded with features. A deck that is operable from the front panel. In to-noise ratio. The transport operating would outperform any unit in the two addition, the illuminated cassette levers that permit, direct, jam- proof hundred dollar price range that had compartment permits rapid cassette switching from one mode to another ever been built before. loading at an easy- to- see 30° angle. without having to operate the Stop The result is the no- compromise An LED indicator lets you know when lever, are a great advancement. And, CT- F2121 — acassette deck with you're in the recording mode. And, like Pioneer's more expensive enormous capability, performance, as all Pioneer components, the cassette decks, the CT- F2121 has a reliability and features. Pioneer controls are simple to use and separate electronic servo- system believes the CT- F2121 has the logically arranged. and a solenoid that provides greatest combination of value ever automatic stop at the end of tape put into a cassette deck at such an Improved sound reproduction travel in play, record, fast wind and extremely reasonable price. with built-in Dolby B system. rewind. The CT-F2121's selectable Dolby B provides as much as 10dB improve- ment in signal-to-noise ratio with standard low noise tapes. There's an even greater improvement with chromium dioxide tape. An indicator light tells you instantly when the Dolby system is in operation. And to insure better, interference-free recordings of FM stereo broadcasts, Pioneer has built in a multiplex filter. Outstanding performance with every type of tape. Separate bias and equalization switches permit you to use any kind of cassette tape: standard low noise. chromium dioxide — and even the newest ferrichrome formulations. The CT- F2121 brings out the fullest capabilities of each tape. And to produce the best performance, the operating manual of the CT- F2121 gives you a chart listing the most popular cassette tape brands with their recommended bias and equalization control settings. There's never any guesswork. REG INPUT TAPE DOLBY NR LEFT RIGHT BIAS E0 5 (r) EJECT DOOR AL STD STD OFF AB- Cram CrOa/FIR-Cr ON PHONES L—MIC—R PUSH CLOSE PIONEER STEREO CASSETTE TAPE DECK MODEL CT- F2121 value orly. Actual resale prices will be set by the individual Pioneer dealer at his own option. Creation of the new Calibration Standard filled aneed...the acceptance of Stanton's 681 TRIPLE-Eis unprecedented! • le It was no accident! quencies. It achieves perfectly flat frequency response beyond The Recording Industry needed a new calibration standard 20 kHz. Its ultra miniaturized stylus assembly has substantially because it had been cutting discs with higher accuracy to achieve less mass than previously, yet it possesses even greater durability greater definit ,on and sound quality. than had been previously thought possible to achieve. So, the engineers turned to Stanton for acartridge of excellence Each 681 TRIPLE- E is guaranteed to meet its specifications to serve as a primary calibration standard in recording system within exacting limits and each one boasts the most meaningful check-outs. warranty possible. An individually calibrated test result is packed The result: the new calibration standard, The Stanton 681 with each unit. TRIPLE- E. As Julian D. Hirsch of Hirsch- Houck Labs wrote in Popular The rest is history! Electronics Magazine in April, 1975: " When we Major recording studios adopted it ... as did many of the used the cartridge to play the best records we smaller producers. Radio stations across the world put the 681 had through the best speaker systems at our TRIPLE- E on all of their turntables, both for on- the- air broad- disposal, the results were spectacular" casting and for disc- to- tape transfer. Whether your usage involves recording, And, audiophiles by their purchases have voted it the outstand- broadcasting, or home entertainment, your ing stereo cartridge available. choice should be the choice of the professionals The Stanton 681 TRIPLE- E offers improved tracking at all fre- ... the STANTON 681 TRIPLE- E. For further information write Stanton Magnetics, Inc., Terminal Drive, Plainview, N.Y. 11803 CIRCLE 35 ON READER- SERVICE CARD 2 HIGH FIDELITY M AGAZINE Double your test reports. See page 41. JANUARY 1976 VOLUME 26, NUMBER 1 HIGH FUIJELITY and musical america î \ More credit for an innovator. //usc and // See page 16. Sergiu Celibidache Paul Moor Why does this idolized conductor refuse to record? 12 Dizzy Gillespie Gene Lees Giving a major innovator his due 16 Behind the Scenes The French orchestral gavotte ... Great hits revived .. Kleiber up to date 24 Lazar Berman Unveiled Barry James and Vadim Yurchenkov A mystery Soviet pianist plans a U.S. tour 52 Masks and Bergamasks Nicolas Slonimsky Notes on some of the music world's more eccentric moments 62 Is This Art of Fugue Legitimate? Paul Henry Lang A fine recording from Philips raises performance questions 76 II Prigioniero Patrick J. Smith London offers the first recording of Dallapiccola's opera 78 New Music Remarkably Played Alfred Frankenstein The Boston Musica Viva's debut on records 79 /Lido cnd \deo Too Hot to Handle 28 News and Views Equalizing the tape formats ... 4- channel radio ... A "universal" audio system 30 Equipment in the News 35 Equipment Reports 41 Ampzilla power amplifier .... Audio-Technica AT- 706 headphones... Hitachi Model D-3500 cassette deck ... KLH Research Ten CL- 4 loudspeaker system ... Realistic Model QTA-770 receiver ... SAE Mk. VI-B tuner ... Shure M-95ED phono cartridge ... Thorens Model TD- 145C turntable... Uher Model CG- 360 cassette deck ... Yamaha CR -400 receiver Recorc Reviews Essays Art of Fugue . Il Prigioniero . Boston Musica Viva [ See under Music and Musicians] Classical Milstein's Bach . Die tote Stadt ... Beethoven choral works 81 Critics' Choice— Classical 82 Lighter Side Mike Post ... Tony Bennett/Bill Evans . Blossom Dearie. Labelle 102 Critics' Choice— Pops 103 Theater & Film Miklós Rózsa . Moses, the Lawgiver 105 Jazz Barney Kessel ... Barry Harris . .. Stéphane Grappelli 106 The Tape Deck R. D. Darrell Expensive reels, budget cassette packaging . Zarathustra in St. Louis 111 Et Ceterc Letters Vibraslap vs. quijada . Recycled Records ... Broadcast quality 6 HiFi-Crostic 38 Product Information An "at-home" shopping service 32, 83 Advertising Index 82 Musical America A new role for Rise Stevens ... A copout on copyrights begins after 30 High Fidelity and Musical America are published monthly by ABC Leisuis Magazines, Inc., The Publishing House, Great Barrington. Mass.