Hifole1110 Review
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of Europe's finest, although he is not quite Von Karajan's reading of this staple of the gently dramatic libretto by the American as impressive on this disc as he was when contemporary repertoire seems to me, for all writer Kenward Elmslee. Elmslee's libretto Iheard him in concert. A few top notes its musicianship, to be a little somber, a lit- is, interestingly enough, rooted quite as much emerge pinched, and some of the Bach tle heavy, a little inclined to miss the point. in Freudian case history as it is in the Lizzie sounds a little like a run-through; overall, He does well enough by the more "serious" Borden legend itself. According to Elmslee, however,Holliger'ssensitivityandtech- aspects of the work. but the orchestral vir- Lizzie did it all right-did it up brown. And nique are beyond question. tuosity is toned down until the finale, and also, according tothelibrettist,she very The orchestralplayingisbrightand the wryly amusing fourth movement is a little definitely had her reasons-rooted in sexual alert, and the recording, except for a some- dead -pan. If the Schwann Catalog were not frustration and the most complex, neurotic, what reticent harpsichordintheLeclair, already over -rich in recordings of this work, and introverted family relationships-even is well managed. I. K. von Karajan's performance might bere- though she went about it in fairly high state garded as an impressive one. As it stands, of operatic derangement. RECORDING OF SPECIAL MERIT there are several others available (by Bern- The setting may be New England, but the stein, Szell, or Ormandy) that I personally human impulses are not far removed from ® J. S. BACH: Lute Suite in L Minor prefer.The recordedsoundissuperbly those of Expressionistic Central Europe. And (BWV 996);Lute Suite in C Minor (BWV subtle,andthestereotreatmentisvery Beeson has responded to this approach with 997, transposed to A Minor).Julian Bream good. 117F. a score whose stylistic and structural frame (guitar). RCA VICTOR LSC 2896 55.79, LM will make the listener think more than once 2896* $4.79. O® BEESON:Lizzie Borden (A Family of Alban Berg's ll"ozzeck. The reference is Herbert Beatty Performance: For the most part marvelous Portrait in Three Acts). clear enough: in the between -scene orchestral Recording: Excellent interludes that give the opera its continuous Stereo Quality: Natural flow, in his use of a sort of international con- g22 temporary chromatic style that, again, sug- Since there are far fewer lutenists around Next month in gestsBerg. Eventhetauntingchildren's than there are guitarists. Bach's three suites chorus that counterpoints the Epilogue and for lute are more often than not played on the its depiction of Lizzie's post -acquittal reclu- guitar;the transposition of instrumentsis HIFOle1110 ReVieW sion makes one think of the closing pages not ineffective, although presumably for tech- of Wozzeck and the "hip -hops" and Ring- nical reasons the C Minor work must be ren- around-the-Rosey of Marie's child. dered in a different key from the original. To be sure,Beeson's treatment of his To say, however, as Emanuel Winternitz does Understanding the Baroque textual material takes time out for arias of in his notes for this disc, that the Baroque Style in Music a more simple nature, set pieces and ensem- lute was less suited for the performance of by Igor Kipnis ble numbers that are obviously more tradi- this music than the guitarisa downriAt tional. His vocal writingis,furthermore, fallacy, no matter how beautifully it may be less overtly post -Wagnerian and, on occasion, played on the latter instrument. And it must Martin Luther, Musician moves into a rather more florid style. But he be noted that Bream's performance for the by William Kimmel makes the shifts convincingly and has, in the most part is very beautiful indeed, most es- process, composed a highly professional and pecially so in the second suite (BWV 997). talented opera. One might feel more comfort- His technical control is fabulous, his sense of Teaching Three -Year -Olds ableifa work so noticeably modeled on colors, variety of timbres quite extraordinary. to Play Real Music another had come from a composer in, say, Yet the overall concept is also far less Ro- his earlythirties rather than inhis mid - mantic than the vast majority of guitarists by Richard Freed forties, but when one remembers that Ginas- would have it. Bream is rhythmically more tera's highly successful Don Rodrigo makes precise than most of his contemporaries, a PLUS similar use of Bergian models, one isless particularly great advantage inthe dance inclined to make a big point of this. movements as well as the fugues, where a The Basic Elements of Naturally, I have some reservations about more consistent steady beat is desirable. Musical Sound the work even withinitseclectic stylistic Bream's sense of style includes some dou- framework. Accepting the Viennese musical ble -dotting in the E Minor Prelude, as well ambiance as an evocation of New England as using the double of the BWV 997 gigue takes a bit of getting used to; and the style, as an alternate variation to the gigue itself, (bass -baritone),AndrewBorden; Ellen furthermore, tendstotelegraph the grue- rather than playing one after the other, com- Fault( soprano ), Abigail Borden; Brenda someness of the plot from its earliest bars plete with all repeats. Style, however, is for- Lewis (mezzo-soprano), Elizabeth Andrew when itmight have been more dramatic gotten on some other points: a considerable Borden; Ann Elgar(soprano),Margret merely to suggest it. Further, although Elms - number of ornaments are dropped altogether, Borden; Richard Krause (tenor), Reverend lee'slibrettoistautly and expertly con- and where trills occur, they are not always Harrington; Richard Fredericks( baritone), structed, the words themselves run occasion- begun on the upper note; there is no attempt Captain Jason MacFarlane. New York City ally out of period and character. For ex- to embellish any repeats (admittedly rarely Opera Company,Anton Coppolacond. ample: would Reverend Harrington refer to done in Bach, although the composer him- DESTO DST 6455/6/7 three discs $17.94, himself as "the mouthpiece" of the Lord? self left examples); and in the E minor Suite D 455/6/7* $14.85. The performance is generally effective, al- the Courante is taken at a woefully slow and Performance: Generally good though Brenda Lewis' Lizzie is stronger on inappropriate tempo. Overall, however, the Recording: Fair sheer dramatic power thanitis on vocal performances are impressive, and the record- Stereo Quality: Good prowess. Miss Lewis produces effective vocal ing is superb. I. K. sound lesseasily than she once did, and When American composer JackBeeson's there is a tendency to lean heavily on open J. S. BACH:Triple Concerto(see C. P. E. Lizzie Borden was first performed by the vowel sounds-apparently to make the most BACH,Harpsichord Concerto) New York City Opera Company on March of a fading voice-at the expense of clear 25th, 1965, I was very much struck by the diction. On the other hand, Ellen Faull as BARTOK:Bluebeard's Castle(see Best of fact that the work seemed to me both far Abigail and Herbert Beatty as Andrew leave the Month, page 71) more interesting and more successful than its little to be desired on any count. Anton Cop- general critical reception suggested. Typical pola paces the work effectively. of the fate of most new American operas, it C) BARTOK:Concerto for Orchestra. Desto's recorded sound is clear but rather Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert son Karajan got a handful of premiere -season perform- lacking in resonance,its stereo effects are zond. DEUTSCHE. GRAM NIOPHONSLPM ances and has not been heard in New York not the last word in subtlety, and some of 139003 $5.79, LPM 39003 $5.79. since. We must thank Desto, then, for its the straight sound effects-footsteps, doors, enterprise in bringing us this new stereo re- etc.-are more clamorous (and faintly funny ) Performance: A little wanting in humor lease of the work, even though the recording than either dramatically enhancing or, for Recording: Superb itself falls somewhat short of first-class. that matter, immediately recognizable as to Stereo Quality: Excellent Beeson's opera is set to a provocative, co- (Continued on page84) 78 HIFI/STEREO REVIEW AmericanRadioHistory.Com.