the Midsummer Night's Dream. Cleveland Orch.; George Szell, MOZART Concerto for Violin No. 3 in G Major cond. in the Symphony, (K 216) COLUMBIA ML 4498. 12 -in. 3o, 25 mins. $5.45. Concerto for Violin No. 4 in D Major Quite the best sounding recording of this magical score presently (K 218) available on records though, in performance, it does not match the Szymon Goldberg, violin. Philharmonia Orch.; Walter Susskind, wizardry generated by Toscanini on Victor LM 1221. Both versions cond. use the same four sections from Op. 6i: Scherzo, Nocturne, Inter- DECCA DL 9609. 12 -in. 24, 25 rains. $5.85. mezzo and March, plus the Overture (Op. 21), with Toscanini adding the finale, for solo soprano and woman's choir, for good measure. There are no degrees of perfection, but each of these Concertos ex- Szell's carefully detailed, well controlled reading is a most mu- poses a different facet of it. The coupling is heady, and one would sicianly job, though inclined to heavy handedness in spots. The say sensible if the music were a little more compatible with such a Overture and Scherzo lack Toscanini's filigree daintiness, but the word. Mr. Goldberg's work is what we have learned to expect of Nocturne is delightful, both in conception and performance. him in Mozart - lyrical, crisp, warm, sparkling, each where it is Sterling sound, of a beautiful and well balanced texture, with applicable, and most of the time the Philharmonia Orchestra is at fine woodwinds, and some highly attractive horn work, especially the equivalent level. Unfortunately, the engineering falls short of in the Intermezzo. the point where this disc could be called definitive. For a solid The Symphony is a re- issue, previously available on Columbia sound, volume must be advanced, and that promotes latent noise; ML 4127, coupled with the composer's Capriccio Brilliant. J. F. I. and in the Third Concerto, our old enemy, the artificial violin har- monic, libels the Goldberg tone. In sum, wonderful music, superb MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 9 in C Major performances, fair reproduction. C. G. B. tManfredini: Christmas Concerto American Arts Orch.; Karl Krueger, cond. MOZART Quartet in F Major, K 37o (Oboe) NEW RECORDS NRLP IO2. I2 -in. 26, 13 mins. $5.75. tTelemann: Sonata in C Minor for Oboe and Harpsichord, and Partita No. 5 in Mendelssohn wrote a dozen string quartets before he was fifteen, E Minor for Oboe and Harpsichord and compounded the confusion of musical nomenclature by swelling their parts and calling them Symphonies. The one recorded is direct, In the Mozart, Harold Gomberg, oboe; Felix Galimir, violin; confident, striding and original, although the filtered influence of Gabriel Banat, viola; Alexander Kougell, cello. In the Telemann, Mozart is palpable. Manfredini's concerto grosso resembles Corelli Harold Gomberg, oboe; Claude Jean Chiasson, harpsichord. in its gentle contemplation. Mr. Krueger has assembled a group of DECCA DL 9618. 12 -in. 16, 20 mins. $5.85. skillful strings who perform in vigorous unity. Sound is of good Gomberg's playing is the last word beautiful, clear, refined, quality after extra reduction of treble. C. G. B. - subtle in tone and nuance, and musicianly to the last degree. His collaborators are of equal quality, and so are the recording and MILHAUD Saudades do Brasil the annotations, by one Egon Kenton, who knows what music is about Concerto No. 4 for Piano and Orchestra and how to write what he knows. The whole thing has a well- rounded Zadel Skolovsky, piano, in the Saudades, and in the Concerto maturity which is all too rare in recordings of chamber music or music with Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Francais; Darius of any other kind. A. F. Milhaud, cond. ML 21 18 COLUMBIA 4523. 12-ín. and mins. $5.45. MOZART Quartet No. 20 in D Major ( K 499) Saudades do Brasil is a delightful suite of twelve piano pieces based Quartet No. 21 in D Major (K 5 7 5 ) on the rhythms of the Brazilian tango, each piece bearing the name Stuyvesant String Quartet. a quarter or landmark in Rio de Janeiro. It is one of different of PHILHARMONIA PH 105. 12 -in. 25, 23 mins. $5.95. Milhaud's earliest works and one of his best. The fourth piano concerto is a recent work, very thick and heavy in texture, but full These put forward a snug and inviting sound, the four instruments of intense rhythmic life. Wonderfully played, well recorded. A. F. sunny with inchoate, benevolent reverberation. The playing sug- gests a certain analagous ease, a relaxed but not inattentive corn - MONTEVERDI Laudate Dominum (Psalm 116) munity of sentiment, a feeling of comfort in the pastime of making Ut Quaent (Song of Praise) music. This is the only recording of No. zo. There are two other Beatus Vir (Psalm I 1 r ) versions of No. 21, on Allegro and Concert Hall, each containing a Vocal soloists and chamber orch. of the Scuola Veneziana; Angelo different Mozart quartet overside. C. G. B. Ephrikian, cond. PERIOD SPLP 536. I2 -in. 14, 6, 21 mins. $5.95 MOZART Quintet in A (K 581) (Clarinet) Mr. Ephrikian has a strong bent and obvious talent for the liturgi- Leopold Wlach. Vienna Konzerthaus Quartet. cal (or religious) music of the older Italian composers, and he has WESTMINSTER WL 5112. r2 -in. 36 mins. $5.95. had rather unusual good luck in the quality of engineering devoted to his efforts. The hymn and two psalms presented here are not ex- Reginald Kell. Fine Arts Quartet. DECCA DL 9600. 12 -in. 31 mins. $5.85. ceptions to this reign of luck: one is struck by the unforced lumin- ous clarity of voices and instruments, the lack of distortion and the Benny Goodman. American Art Quartet. agreeable sound. The voices have been very neatly trained to COLUMBIA ML 4483. 112 -in. 32 mins. $5.45 blend in a smooth and caressing fabric of tone. C. G. B. The sound of all three of these is more than acceptable, Columbia MOZART Concerto for Clarinet (K 622) being the biggest and Westminster the most warmly insinuating. tHaydn: Symphony No. 6x in D On purely acoustical considerations, the latter would be the prefer- ence of a majority of discophiles. The interpretation by Mr. Wlach the Danish State Louis Cahuzac, clarinet. Chamber Orch. of and the Vienna Konzerthaus Quartet is also the preference here, Radio; Mogens Wöldike, cond. although this interpretation of a perfect work is not of a kind we in HSL 1047. I2 -in. 25 mins. HAYDN SOCIETY 3i, $5.95. America customarily receive. It is Viennese, and we have learned No doubt that the united values of the great K 622 in this sunny to inspect carefully the Konzerthaus emanations of standard chamber and relaxed performance surpass those of its rivals, including the music, generally very moving in Schubert, and frequently disap- taut and stylish Kell -Zimbler on Decca DL 7500. One manner of pointing in Beethoven. But their long line and the slow tempos, playing is as justified as the other, but the warmth of sound, the the softening of accent and their romanticizing of tone endow appealing string tone, the nice delineation of cross- currents in the K 581 with a new and deeper beauty in this half- devotional raiment, new version, products of later engineering, are not equaled in this like the lovely young widow whose softly -tailored black glorifies work elsewhere. Then, too, the remarkable variety of tone emanating her flashing eyes and rosy cheeks. The other versions - includ- from the Cahuzac clarinet is an attraction in itself. ing the two above and the Duques on Stradivari, but not the Forrest The Haydn Symphony, slight and pleasant, not recorded elsewhere, on Lyrichord, which was not heard - in their clean and expert figures, is notable for a serene all around competence, particularly in the are patently meritorious but, after direct comparison with the Vien- Wöldike cantilenas and the engineers' balance. C. G. B. nese edition, seem briskly businesslike and disappointing. C. G. B 55 www.americanradiohistory.com.