i(^Ja^'#'-i.:-*--vi 'ini^yy^lBI aoi^^^ THE OTHER SIDE /^& (IMPORTED RECORDINGS) THE BEST. jj innttjjs- LONDON. If Toscanini's non-appearance has & HEN these lines appear in taken the edge from the concert pro­ i^ print only five days will re­ gram, there still remains an operatic Wmain until the opening of the season largely devoted to Wagner and ™ Festival of Britain, an event that is Flagstad, with Vaughan Williams's bound to figure prominently in any new opera, "The Pilgrim's Progress," "!!. account of what is happening on "the as an outstanding British contribu­ other side" during the next few months. tion. For the first time since before Music being in the nature of things the war the complete post-"Lohen- the most festive of the arts, it will grin" Wagnerian repertoire will be be laid on in vast quantities. During given with Flagstad, in what is said London's Festival Season of the Arts, to be her farewell season, assuming from May 3 to June 30, this surfeit of the parts of Briinnhilde, Isolde, and riches will include orchestral concerts Kundry, as well as singing Leonore in at the Festival and Albert Hall each "Fidelio." Principal support for Flag­ day, opera at Covent Garden and Sad­ stad in these strenuous weeks will ler's Wells, as well as innumerable re­ come from Svanholm and Hotter, citals and chamber concerts. In the past while for "Meistersinger" it is confi­ few weeks, however, a shadow has dently expected that Victoria de los crept over these proceedings, the shad­ Angeles will be Eva, with Beecham in ow of an injured knee that has robbed charge. VARIABLE the inaugural week of its glory and RELUCTANCE luster. When the London County N the gramophone world there is Council invited Toscanini to conduct I thus far little to distinguish 1951 CARTRIDGE the first few concerts in our new Hall from any other year. With the excep­ it did so in the face of considerable op­ tion of some Decca LP issues, there has ««^~«UST0MER satisfaction means position from certain sections of the been a dearth of interesting records, a V> everything in my business. musical press, whose understandable fact which can be at least partly attrib­ That's why General Electric car­ view was that a British conductor uted to EMI's continuing indecision on tridges are standard in all my instal­ should have this honor bestowed upon future policy. Unfortunately, the raw lations." This is the opinion of cus­ him. The Council's determination to material situation has become so tight tom designer Philip C. Kelsey of make the inauguration as musically in this country, due to world short­ Guilford, Connecticut, shown above memorable as possible was, however, ages and the rearmament program, beside one of his made-to-order enthusiastically supported by the pub­ that soon it may not be possible for FM-phonograph combinations. lic, which showed once again that Tos­ the combine to launch any system in­ canini and Danny Kaye are the only volving the manufacture of large two people in the world who can ...and General Electric quantities of new equipment. It is throw our box-offices into a complete presumably with that fact in mind Diamond and Sapphire state of chaos. that EMI is now said to be consider­ Styli" Then came the sad news, a shatter­ ing the use of the "Variable Micro- To get the full brilliance and ing blow to the public as much as to grade" technique as developed by i fidelity out of your recordings the unfortunate organizers, who had Deutsche Grammophon, which en­ —and to lengthen their life—have by then alienated the one person able ables an increase in playing time of your dealer or serviceman equip your to take Toscanini's place without let­ up to about 80 per cent without al­ present set with a G-E cartridge... ting this great occasion assume the tering turntable speed or stylus. Thus The difference will startle you. character of a damp squib. When his Decca will have to bear the burden un­ plan of a week of British music had aided for- some time yet, a prospect been turned down in favor of Tosca­ which does not appesr to dismay them nil FOLDIR unduly, especially as they have re­ Contains interesting facts about nini and the Ninth Symphony, Sir needie wear and illustrates tlie Thomas Beecham turned his back on cently managed to tweak their great many advantages of using a the Council and its concert hall, rival's nose when they secured the diamond stylus. strengthened in his well-known aver­ complete soundtrack of the new film sion to public authorities who meddle of "The Tales of Hoffmann." Sir Thom­ • General Electric Company with music, and decided that all those as brought an unsuccessful action to _ Section 8841 restrain them from issuing these discs, I Electronics Park, wishing to hear him and his orchestra m Syracuse, New York this summer must brave the echo of but the court upheld the right of the • Please send me new Stylus Folder. the Albert Hall. I will spare myself film company to do what they wished any comment on the appointment of with a soundtrack that was their prop­ I Name— the immaculate Sir Malcolm Sargent erty. ' Address- who will now fill the breach, beyond HMV has prepared us for the forth­ City- -State- recording that tickets for the three I coming visit, during the Festival, of concerts in question can now be ob­ Leopold Stokowski by releasing two GENERALSELECTRIC tained with ease. records of his, though they will 58 'The Saturday Review PRODUCED 2005 BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED scarcely enhance his reputation. There is little magic in his handling of the "Waldweben" from "Siegfried," a stupid hotch-potch of a piece at the best of times, but the disc calling it­ self "Les Sylphides" surely marks a new low in his taste. The rubati have ance by the Philharmonia Orchestra out of his teens, yet his playing of as little in common with ballet as the under Constant Lambert being in Beethoven's last but one Sonata (in syrupy orchestrations of the four every way superior to the prewar set A flat. Opus 110) is anything but im­ pieces have with poor Chopin. A new conducted by the composer. The same mature. He handles the music in most version of Mozart's great E flat Sym­ company, with the backing of the Ma­ poetic fashion. phony is welcome, since a really satis­ harajah of Mysore, is responsible for Among vocal discs easily the most factory set does not exist over here. the second version we have had in distinguished comes from Decca, for After a disappointing first movement, less than a year of Bartok's "Music for whom Julius Patzak and the Vienna the Vienna Philharmonic under Kara- Strings, Percussion, and Celesta," one Philharmonic under Bohm have re­ jan settles down to give us some splen­ of the master's most significant works. corded Florestan's soliloquy from Act did playing, the finale being really first Unfortunately, the performance does II of "Fidelio." Patzak shows some rate. Under Furtwangler's direction, not appear to have had adequate slight signs of strain in the notorious and on the HMV label, the same or­ preparation. Karajan and the Phil­ passage that ends this scene, but else­ chestra is heard in a distinguished harmonia give us the notes with tol­ where his singing is most beautiful. performance of Richard Strauss's "Tod erable accuracy, but they do not en­ The important orchestral part is fine­ und Verklarung," a work which can ter into the spirit of the composition ly played and the recording of excel­ still thrill by the sheer opulence of the as did the Los Angeles Chamber Sym­ lent quality. Flagstad, who has been scoring, even if few of us would wish phony under Harold Byrns. playing Leonore opposite Patzak's to spend eternity in Strauss's para­ The most notable recording this Florestan at Salzburg during the last dise of interminable suspensions. month is undoubtedly Mozart's A mi­ few years, this month enters the field William Walton's most popular com­ nor Piano Sonata, K.310, made in of sacred music with the celebrated position is undoubtedly the witty and Geneva last summer by the late Dinu aria "Erbarme Dich" from the "St. debunking "Facade," originally writ­ Lipatti. As always his playing is a Matthew Passion." Though the tessi­ ten as accompaniment for poems by miracle of clarity and intelligence, tura of this song lies a little low for Edith Sitwell and subsequently re- and the Columbia engineers have done her, this is a noble and restrained per­ scored as a ballet for the Sadler's Wells their task nobly. The younger genera­ formance, well supported by the Phil­ company. Columbia's new recording tion of pianists is certainly claiming harmonia Orchestra under Siisskind of the Suite is brilliantly done in their much of the limelight just now. and admirably captured by HMV's best pre-tape manner, the perform­ Friedrich Gulda is an Austrian barely engineers. —THOMAS HEINITZ. APRIL 28, 1951 59 PRODUCED 2005 BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED Three Operas from Europe HOUGH the \vliole idea may Ao opera - in - Ejigli.sh, "Hoffniaun'^ seem dismally commoraplacc, the (Loudon LP set 4, $17.85) is as con­ Tconsequence of hearing the lat­ vincing an example as I have heard, est batch of recorded operas—nothing due in large part to the excellent To be released Moy 10th Richard Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE less than "Carmen," ''Tales of Hoff­ text by Dennis Arundell.