Eight members of the Vienna Octet play under the benign circumspection of the Mozart family there are mountain brooks that are more (or less) Ninth Symphony has not lacked outstanding record- perfect than other mountain brooks, but who would ed performances. Among the presently available think of criticizing a mountain brook in the first readings of this vast and complex masterpiece, Bruno place? Walter's 1962 version and subsequent ones by Dvoiak and his music belong to another genera- Georg Solti and Leonard Bernstein stand out in their tion, but a work such as his G Major Quintet is in own distinctive ways. fact more closely related to early Romanticism than To this select company must now be added Phil- to the Lisztian/Wagnerian nineteenth century. Its ips' new recording of the symphony by the Amster- richness is due in large part to the use of the double dam Concertgebouw Orchestra under conductor bass-here perfectly played and reproduced. Bernard Haitink. It is, for me, the disc realization Except for what seems to be a bit of inner -groove that comes closest to revealing the totality of Mahl- distortion toward the end of the Spohr, these are er's vision in this work, thanks not only to a most superbly produced discs in every dimension. Inter- probing search of the music's expressive and textur- estingly enough, there appear to be eleven "mem- al -architectural inner substance, but by virtue of su- bers" of the Vienna Octet. Eric Salzman perior recorded sound. From the foreboding opening measures, through KREUTZER: Grand Septet, in E -flat Major, Op. 62. the eerie and grotesque middle movements, and on BERWALD: Stor Septet. Members of the Vienna Octet. to the ethereal close, Haitink's handling of tempo, LONDON CS 6672 $5.98. dynamics, solo -ensemble balances, and complex in- DVOkAK: Quintet, in G Major, Op. 77. SPOHR: Quintet, in ner textures is utterly just. The dramatic impact is C Minor, Op. 52. Members of the Vienna Octet. LONDON not neglected, but neither is the sense of the arching CS 6673 $5.98. musical structure, most notably in the huge opening movement. The clarity of the multilinear goings-on in the savage Rondo-burleske third movement is both a wonder and a joy to hear. When he is in top THE CONCERTGEBOUW form, as he is here, Haitink has an uncanny flair for AND THE MAHLER NINTH bringing into a mutually reinforcing balance all the Bernard Haitink directs an illuminating performance expressive and formal elements of the most complex of the complex masterpiece for Philips scores, be they by Mahler, Bruckner, or Holst. A large part of the credit for this splendid musical BEGINNING with the pre -War Vienna concert per- achievement belongs to the Philips engineering staff, formance under Bruno Walter (who premiered which has used stereophonic recording technology in the music after the composer's death), the Mahler a most tasteful and creative fashion-not to exagger-
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