phonies together is consistently impressive. The tubby Gewandhaus keep the Spring Symphonyever fresh). recorded sound that mars the first movement of the And Mehta, like so many of his colleagues, takes liber- First Symphony disappears with the lightly floatingsec- ties within the tempos, then ends up jerking hisway ond movement, never to return. And he observes through transitions. enough of the repeats so that this set qualifiesas not Much more genuine vitality in the Fourth only a pleasure, but a document as well. comes from Muti and his New Philharmonia Orchestra, despiteAn- Masur also has interesting fillers: from 1851, Overture gel's relatively mediocre engineering. For betteror for to Goethe's "Hermann and Dorothea" (paired with worse, the conductor's strong personality prevails (as Symphony No. 1), Overture to "Julius Caesar" (with opposed to the Kubelik performances, wherestrong Symphony No.2), and Overture to Schiller's "Die Braut leadership often seems to be lacking). Muti keepsthe von Messina" (with the Rhenish), plus the earlier, fa- music moving forward, never resorting to the idlesway- miliar Overture, Scherzo, and Finale (with No. 4). ing that carries some conductors through Schumann. There's nothing anywhere near as intriguing in Bar- His interpretation is strong but not muscle-bound.It enboim's album. The Manfred Overture, Op.115, is would be easier to recommendwere it not for precipi- hardly special. Virtuoso performances by Chicago Sym- tous (and even panicked) accelerandos in theouter phony horn players Dale Clevenger, Richard Oldberg, movements and the unforgivable violin solo in the Ro- Thomas Howell, and Norman Schweikert in the charm- manze. The coupling here is Mendelssohn's Fourth ing Konzertstiick aren't reason enough togo out and Symphony, which will be considered along withother buy the whole set. And even Chicago Symphony freaks Mendelssohn symphonies next month. have to admit the cellos tend to sound bovine, the sound The New Philharmonia doesn't soundas good on is dense, and the articulation is all but ignored. Part of Philips' recycling (on Festivo) of the Second Symphony this is clearly the fault of DG's production; there's no and the Overture, Scherzo, and Finale, withEliahu excuse for the ugly, tail -pulling screeches of the violins Inbal in command. The Secondmay be the jewel among in the Adagio espressivo of Symphony No. 2. Schumann's symphonies, but Inbal's treatment ofit Yet much of the fault rests with Barenboim, who has lacks warmth and elegance. On the plus side, thestring missed the music's delicacy and grace. He's best in the runs in the finale spin forth like satin ribbon. But on the Third, where he can safely turn dramatic-especiallyin way to that impressive effect, the coda of the second the last two movements, wherea Gothic -cathedral style movement gets out of control and the third movement of sonic architecture is not out of place. Elsewhere, dies a lingering death. Barenboim seems to read dolce as necessarily implying ritard, and his tempo relationshipsrange from awk- riSCHUMANN: Orchestral Works. Leipzig Gewandhaus Or- ward to haphazard. He sometimes wants to rushto the chestra, Kurt Masur, cond. MUSICAL HERITAGE SOCIETY MHS finish (as in the finale of the Fourth) without looking 3595. 3394. 3365, and 3314, $4.95 each ($3.75 each tomem- over his shoulder to either Schumann or the Chicago in- bers). Tape: MHC 5595, 5394, 5365, and 5314, $6.95 each strumentalists. Smaller points: Victor Aitay,one of the ($4.95 each to members). (Add $1.25 postage; Musical Heritage orchestra's concertmasters, is credited for his solo work Society, 14 Park Rd., Tinton Falls, N.J. 07724.) MHS 3595: Symphony No. 1, in B flat. Op. 38 (Spring): Overture to Goethe's "Her- in the second movement of the Fourth, but oboistRay mann and Dorothea." Op 136. MHS 3394: Symphony No. 2, in C, Op. 61; Overture to Still and Cellist Frank Miller aren't; and Barenboim has Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar." Op. 128. MHS 3365: Symphony No. 3, in E flat, Op. 97 (Rhenish): Overture to Schiller's "Die Braut von Messina." Op. 100. MHS 3314: a cavalier attitude toward repeats. Symphony No. 4. in D minor, Op. 120: Overture, Scherzo, and Finale. Op. 52. Third and least of the sets is that of Jerzy Semkow SCHUMANN: Symphonies (4); Konzertstiick for Four Horns and with the St. Louis Symphony on Vox. The performances Orchestra, Op. 86'; Manfred Overture, Op. 115. Dale Clevenger, of the four symphonies and the Manfred Overture Richard Oldberg, Thomas Howell, and Norman Schweikert, (three discs) show that there's good music -making going horns"; Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Daniel Barenboim, cond. on in Missouri-but it's by no means good enough to [Wolfgang Stengel and Gunther Breest.prod.] DEUTSCHE merit repeated listenings. GRAMMOPHON 2709 075, $26.94 (three discs, manual sequence). Tape: 3371 035. $26.94. For more cautious collectors there are the single discs holding only one or two of the symphonies. Theyrange SCHUMANN: Symphonies (4); Manfred Overture, Op. 115. in quality from not bad to not good. The re-releaseon St.Louis Symphony Orchestra, Jerzy Semkow, cond. DG's moderate -priced Privilege label of the 1963per- [Marc Aubort and Joanna Nickrenz, prod.] Vox OSVBX 5146, $11 98 (three OS -encoded discs, manual sequence). formances of the First and Fourth Symphonies withRa- faelKubelik conducting the Berlin Philharmonic would SCHUMANN: Symphonies: No. 1, in B flat, Op. 38(Spring);No. 4, not be a disappointing pick. But in a field where the in D minor, Op. 120. Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta, cond. [Christopher Raeburn, prod.] LONDON CS 7039, complete set by George Sze11 and the Cleveland Orches- $7.98. Tape: CS5 7039, $7.95. tra can still be found on Odyssey (Y330844),and where a bit more money brings Herbert von Karajan conduct- R SCHUMANN: Symphonies: No. 1, inBflat, Op. 38 (Spring); ing the Berliners (DG2709 036)or the Solti/Vienna set, No. 4 in D minor, Op. 120. Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, it's hard to recommend Kubelik's fully professionalyet Rafael Kubelik, cord. DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON PRIVILEGE 2535 ultimately dull approach. 116, $6.98 [from DG 138 860, 1963]. Tape: 3335 116, $6.98. The First and Fourth pairing alsocomes in a new Lon- SCHUMANN: Symphony No. 4,in D minor, Op. 120. MEN- don recording with Mehta conducting the Vienna Phil- DELSSOHN: Symphony No. 4, in A, Op. 90 (Italian). New Philhar- monia Orchestra, Riccardo Muti, cond. [John Mordler, prod.] AN- harmonic. The orchestra is the big plus here, and the GEL S 37412, $7.98 (SO -encoded disc). Tape: 4XS 37412, playing is often nothing short of exquisite. But Mehta's $7.98. conceptions of the symphonies run toward thegran- diose; extra fleshiness gives the music middle-age SCHUMANN: Symphony No. 2, in C, Op. 61; Overture, Scherzo, and Finale, Op. 52. New Philharmonia Orches- spread. A deadly serious approach to the secondmove- tra, Eliahu Inbal, cond. PHILIPS FESTIVO 6570 090, $6.98 [from ment of the First sounds slushy (while Masur and the PHILIPS 6500 288, 1973]. Tape: 7310 090, $6.98.

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