University of Virginia Library

From Antique Instruments
To Quadraphonic Sound . . .

Two or three weeks ago, John Graham, an Associate Dean of
the College, stopped me on the sidewalk near the East Range and
suggested that, before I graduated. I write a series of record
reviews at least some of which were comparisons of different
recordings of the same composition. The idea happened to
coincide with my own wish that my last review be a mammoth
series of mini-reviews of recent recordings. Here follows my
composite of my own wish and Dean Graham's suggestion.

Each, J. S.: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1. Wanda
Landowaka, Harpsichord leyel, RCA VCM-6203. (3 discs)
Each, J. S.: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II. Wanda
Landowaka, Harpsichord Pleyel. RCA VCM-6204. (3 discs)
Scarlatti, D.: 40 Sonates for the Harpsichord. Wanda Landowska,
Harpsichord Pleyel. EMI Odeon C 163-50041/42. (2 discs)

Wanda Landowska has a place in the history of music that is
absolutely unique. Trained as a pianist in the Chopin tradition
she took up the cause of the harpsichord at the turn of the
century, a time when the instrument was considered by most to
be little more than an obsolete museum piece. It is true that
others sought to revive the harpsichord during the years when
Mme. Landowska was launching her crusade, but it is fair to say
that the success of the revival of the instrument was in large part
of the result of the forcefulness of Wanda Landowska's
personality.

Mme. Landowska utilized an instrument the design of which
was somewhat different from that of the authentic period
harpsichord, and she took full advantage of the pedal stop
controls on her Pleyel grand to achieve effects that were generally
not possible at the time most of the music she played was
written. She has also been severely criticized for the fluidity of
her temple, particularly in the days when the "dry as dust" playing
of Ralph Kirkpatrick enjoyed its greatest vogue. In recent years,
however, harpsichordists have rediscovered the musicologically
demonstrable fact that Baroque harpsichordists played in a free
and fluid manner.

Recent months have seen the re-issuance of some of Mme.
Landowska's finest discs – her monumental traversal of Bach's
Well-Tempered Clavier and the two remarkable sets of Sonatas by
Scarlatti. The Scarlatti Sonatas were recorded in 1934 and in
1939 and 1940. Each of these two sets of 20 Sonatas is
Kaleidoscopic in its effect. The descriptive power, the impact,
and the passion of these interpretations demonstrate clearly Mme.
Landowska's remarkably potent communicative abilities. The
recording of the Sonata in D.L. 206 is particularly interesting as
an historical document; it was recorded, along with several others
in the second set of 20, in Parix in January of 1940 shortly before
the city fell to the Nazis and Mme. Landowska was forced to flee
France for her life.

During the Second World War, Mme. Landowska settled in
this country, and one of her first post-war recording projects was
the Well-Tempered Clavier of Bach. She called the discs "my last
will and testament." Their impact on the listener is as great as
that of the Scarlatti Sonatas records, but, because of the difference
in compositional style and intent, they lack the atmospheric
quality so much in evidence in the earlier recordings. There is,
however, by way of compensation, a certain dignified
personability in the Landowska WTC that for me is absolutely
unique among Bach keyboard recordings.

The Scarlatti Sonatas have been splendidly transferred from
the original 78 format, but the re-issued Well-Tempered Clavier
discs lack some of the presence of the original issues. No matter,
though, for like her Scarlatti, Mme. Landowska's Well-Tempered
Clavier is a musical experience that is not to be missed.

EI Arte de Pablo Casals. Vol. 1:

Sonatas and Trios by Beethoven,
Brahma, Schubert, and F.J. Haydn. Pablo Casals, 'cello;
Mieczyslaw Horszowski, Alfred Cortot, piano; Jacques Thibaud,
violin. EMI Odeon J 153-50. 136/40. (5 discs)
EI Arte de Pablo Casals. Vol. 2: Concertos by Boccherini,
Brahms. Dvorak, and Elgar. Pablo Casals, 'cello; Jacques Thibaud,
violin; various orchestras, Sir Landon Ronald. Alfred Cortot, Sir
Adrian Boult, George Szell, conducting. EMI Odeon J 153-50.
141/43. (3 discs)

The esteem in which I hold Pablo Casals is well known to
those who read my columns in these pages as well as to those who
listen to my weekly broadcasts on WIJU-FM. The warmth, the
richness, the humanity, and the plain good sense of Casals'
superlative 'cello playing and conducting are a never ending
source of joy and amazement to me.

Recent years have seen the reissuance of a number of Don
Pablo's 78 RPM discs, most of which had been unavailable in any
format for some years. A welcome addition to any record library,
these reissues are an absolute must for devotes of chamber music
and superb string playing.

The two volume Spanish re-issue under consideration contains
most of Casals' concerto and sonata recordings from the late '20s
and the '30s as well as most of the recordings by the remarkable
Cortot-Thibaud-Casals Trio, certainly the greatest chamber music
ensemble of all time.

A particular highpoint of these sets for me is the long awaited
re-appearance of Casals' first complete recording of the
Beethoven. 'Cello Sonatas. With the exception of No. 3 in A
where Casals' associate is Otto Schulhof, the pianist is
Mieczyslaw Horszowski, to my mind the greatest living keyboard
artist, bar none.

Don Pablo often refers to Mr. Horszowski as "my oldest
friend" and the closeness of a friendship and musical association
that was more than a quarter of a century old when the
Beethoven Sonatas were recorded shows through so clearly in a
series of discs that, along with the Casals-Horszowski recording of
the Brahms F Major Sonata, Op. 99 (also included in these
reissues), will always be cherished documents of a perfect
partnership between 'cello and piano.

The Cortot-Thibaud-Casals Trio discs are equally as impressive
and in listening to them one can understand why these three men
are considered to have rescued the piano trio from oblivion.

Casals' concerto recording show another side to his genius.
Somewhat more extroverted as a soloist than as a chamber
musician, Casals, unlike his younger contemporary Janos Starker,
nevertheless used his astonishing technical facility to complement
and communicate the music and its meaning rather than to call
attention to his own gifts.

The transfers from the original 78s are excellent, the engineers
having wisely decided to leave in the original "hiss" and surface
noise rather than make a devastating treble cut. The splicing of
the side breaks, however, must have been done without the aid of
scores, since the repeated notes that were the result of the
practice of ending one side and beginning the next on to same
beat have by and large been left in.

The Art of Joseph Szigeti. Concertos, Sonatas, and other
compositions by J.S. Bach, Beethoven, Bartok, Brahms, Handel,
W.A. Mozart, Mendelssohn, Prokofiev, Dvorak, Rimsky-Korsakov,
Stravinsky, and Kreisler. Joseph Szigeti, violin; Artur Schnabel,
Nikita Magaloff, Bela Bartok, piano; various orchestras, Sir
Thomas Beecham, Bruno Walter, Fritz Stiedry, Sir Hamilton
Harty, conducting. Columbia M6X 31513. (6 discs)

Some weeks ago in these pages I had the sad task of writing an
appreciation of the late Joseph Szigeti, one of the two greatest
violinists of this century. Since The Art of Joseph Szigeti contains
most of the recording which I praised so highly in that article
this review can be brief.

Suffice it to say that here, beautifully transferred and
engineered, are the most magnificent, noble, and moving
recordings of the Beethoven, Brahms, and Mendelssohn Violin
Concertos ever made. Here is the definitive recording of the
Prokofiev D Major Concerto and unique recordings of Szigeti in
concert with the great pianist, Artur Schnabel.

I could go on, but why should I? Here are the greatest
recordings of the Rembrandt of the violins. If you love the violin,
you must acquire this set of records.

Beethoven: Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93; Symphony No.
9 in D Minor; Op. 125. Sheila Armstrong, soprano; Anna
Reynolds, contralto; Robert Tear, tenor; John Shirley-Quirk,
bass; London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Carlo Maria
Glulini, conducting. Angel SB-3795. (2 discs)

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125. Pilar
Lorengar, soprano; Yvonne Minton, mezzo-soprano; Stuart
Burrows, tenor; Martti Talvela, bass; Chicago Symphony
Orchestra and Chorus, George Solti, conducting. London CSP-8. (2
discs)

Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E Flat Major, Op. 55, "Eroica".
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch, conducting. RCA
Victoria VICS-1626. (1 disc)

One of the most important compositions in the history of
musical expression, the Beethoven Ninth Symphony all too rarely
receives a performance worthy of its monumentality and
emotional impact. The last symphony of an almost totally deaf,
harried, and prematurely aged man isolated from and at odds
with most of the world around him, the work demands from its
interpreters a complete understanding of the movements as
wholes as well as of the myriad, often seemingly incongruous
details within each one of those movements.

Truly great performances of the Ninth are, as I have said,
extremely rare – both in the concert hall and on records. I
consider myself fortunate to have heard a number of impressive
interpretations of this work. I heard Pablo Casals, at more than
93 years of age, conduct a performance of the Ninth that was so
cogent, so moving, and so powerful that I was reduced to tears. (I
might add that I have since been given a private recording of that
concert, and Casals's reading continues to move me as deeply as it
did in the hall that night.)

The Felix Weingartner recording, dating from 1936, is still, to
my mind, the best commercially recorded Ninth, highlighted by
by Weingartner's thoughtful and sensible reading as well as by
Richard Mayr's extraordinary singing of the baritone recitative in
the fourth movement. Bruno Walter, Wilhelm Furtwangler, and
Arturo Toscanini have all turned in magnificent though very
much different readings of this symphony, and Leopold
Stockowski's account on London-Phase 4 is the best stereo version
of the work.

Two new entries into the field are recordings by the two
regular conductors of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra – Georg
Solti and Carol Maria Giulini. Solti, who is very much in the
public eye these days, offers a reading which, I regret to say, is
disappointing. Solti obviously understands both the structure and
the details of the Ninth. but, while all the notes are there, the
recording lacks spontaneity and spark. Best described as clinical,
the performance is somewhat of anomaly among Solti's recorded
output, usually characterized by an almost white-hot intensity.

Guilini, on the other hand, offers a truly remarkable
performance of the Beethoven Ninth Symphony. Broad,
powerful, intense, the interpretation is characterized by templ
that are, on the whole, somewhat slower than the norm. His first
movement is fully 39 seconds longer then Solti's; his fourth
movement is 69 seconds longer. On the other hand, Giulini takes
the Adagio cantabile at a quicker pace than Solti, who prefers an
almost Furtwangleresque approach; Giulini's performance is
nearly 3½ minutes shorter than Solit's. Details come forward in
sharp relief throughout Giulini's recording without any
compromise of the integrity of the movements as wholes. The
first movement, because of the slower tempo and the broad
approach, takes on a relentless, inexorable quality that is
compelling and gripping. In short Giulini's recording of the Ninth
is in the same class as Stokowaki's, though totally different in
approach.

The vocal quartets and choruses in both the Giulini and Solti
recordings are more than equal to the task at hand, and both
versions are extraordinarily well recorded, with the London set
having a slight edge technically. The Angel recording, however,
also includes a fine version of the Eighth Symphony in a
performance by Giulini which has much the same flavor as his
recording of the Ninth.

Charles Munch's recording of the Beethoven "Eroica"
Symphony is not new, even in its re-issued form on RCA's budget
label, but the performance is such a fine one that I cannot resist
the temptation to set down a few lines about it here. Like
Giulini's Ninth, Munch's Eroica is characterized by broad templ
and an absolutely relentless quality that is extraordinarily
moving. Interpretations of this type demonstrate quite
convincingly that Beethoven's music need not be played in a fast
and almost violent manner to do justice to the products of his
extraordinary mind and temperament.

Cherubini: Missa Solemnis in D Minor. Patricia Wells, soprano;
Maureen Forrester, contralto; George Shirley, tenor; Justino Diaz,
bass; Clarion Concerts Orchestra and Chorus, Newell Jenkins,
conducting. Vanguard Cardinal VCS-10110/11. (2 discs)

Why the Cherubini Missa Solemnis in D Minor is not better
known and more frequently played is quite beyond me. A
remarkable work, dark, brooding, profound, and monumental, it
is the French equivalent of the Beethoven Missa Solemnis and
presages it by some ten to fifteen years. The work also had a deep
and pervading influence on Berlioz, foreshadowing as it does
many of the devices that Berlioz was to use to such great effect in
his Grand Messe des Mortz Op. 5.

Newell Jenkins, a champion of the much neglected Cherubini,
gives us a performance of the work that does it complete justice.
Every nuance, every effect is clearly in front of the listener. The
four soloist all turn in splendid performances as do the Clarion
Concerts Orchestra and the Clarion Concerts Chorus.

Vanguard's recording is a technical masterpiece as well, and I
hope that they will see fit to issue this recording in quadraphonic
sound as well.

A word of thanks is due the Mary Flagler Cary Trust which
made this recording possible by picking up the tab for what must
have been astronomical costs of this recording. I wish that there
were more charitable trusts around that were paying the
recording costs for discs of unknown but worthy music.

Bach, J. S.:

The Brandenburg Concertos. The Bath Festival
Orchestra, Yehudi Menuhin, conducting. Angel SB-3787. (2 discs)
Handel; Four Anthems for the Coronation of George II;
Soloman- "From the censer curling rise". Susan Longfield,
soprano; Alfreds Hodgson, contralto; Ian Partridge, tenor;
Christopher Keyte, bass, The Ambrosian Singers; The Menuhin
Festival Orchestra, Yehudi Menuhin, conducting. Angel S-36741.
(1 disc).
Bach, J. S.: Harpsichord Concertos Nos. 3 in D Major, BWV
1054, 4 in A Major; BWV 1055, and 6 in F Major, BWV 1057.
George Malcolm, haprsichord; David Munrow, John Turner,
recorders; The Menuhin Festival Orchestra, Yehudi Menuhin,
conducting. Angel S036790.(1 disc)

Yehudi Menuhin is certainly one of the finest string players of
our day. A great violinist and violist, he is also a superb chamber
musician and an excellent teacher and conductor. In recent years,
Menuhin seems to have devoted more and more time to
conducting and the recordings that he has made for EMI are most
successful on the whole.

As a conductor, Menuhin seems to have a particular affinity
for Baroque music and his interpretations are always highly
idiomatic and stylish. If I remember correctly, his first recording
was a complete set of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos. Unavailable:
for many years, these splendid readings have at long last been
reissued. The passage of time had done little to dim the
effectiveness of these performances. Menuhin, who, besides
conducting, plays violino piccolo in the first concerto, viola in the
sixth concerto, and first or solo violin in the rest of the concertos,
is joined by some fine musicians, among them Dennis Clift,
trumpeter; the late Elaine Shaffer, flautist; Ambrose Gauntlett,
viola da gambist; and Kinloch Anderson and George Malcolm,
harpsichordists. The performances are lively but not rushed, and
the music is stylishly though conservatively ornamented. These
extraordinary discs show their age in only one respect; the stereo
separation is rather wide, but such separation appears to have
come back into fashion now that quadraphonic sound is with us.

Menuhin's delight in the music of Bach has led him to
undertake to record the complete Bach Harpsichord Concerti
with George Malcolm as soloist. Volume One appeared nearly two
years ago, and the second album was released within the last few
months. Volume Two has many of the same virtues as the
recordings of the Brandenburg Concertos (I have not heard
Volume One.) The same chamber music atmosphere, the same
enthusiasm, the same lively tempi, the same scholarly
understanding of performance practice is present here.

The affection that Menuhin has for Bach's music has not
caused him to ignore the music of Handel, Bach's more theatrical,
more worldly, and unjustly neglected contemporary. The most
recent Handel recording from Menuhin's active baton is a
complete recording of the Four Anthems for the Coronation of
George II.

Majestic and effective works in the grand and theatrical style
of which Handel was such a master, the Anthems receive a
performance that reflects the conditions of their performance as
theatrical and festival works during Handel's lifetime not the
rather unusual manner in which they were sung at George II's
coronation in 1727. Just as an example, Menuhin chooses to
employ individual soloists in My Heart is Inditing instead of the
trios and groups that contemporary accounts indicate were used
at the coronation. As a result, fanatic Handelians like myself will
not want to be without David Willcocks's recording on Argo
which conforms closely to the performance conditions of the
premiere performances in Westminster Abbey. But Handelians
will not want to be without Menuhin's recording either. Besides, a
splendid double chorus from Solomon is included as a bonus.

Brahms; Quintet for Piano and String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 34;
R. Schumann: Quintet for Piano and String Quartet in E Flat
Major, Op. 44; F. J. Haydn: String Quartet in D Major, Op. 64,
No. 5, "Lark". Harold Bauer, piano (in the Brahma), Ossip
Gabrilowitsch, piano (in the Schumann); Flonzaley Quartet. RCA
Victrola VCM-7103.(2 discs)

Brahms: Quintet for Piano and String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 34.
Andre Previn, piano; The Yale Quartet. Angel S-36928. (1 disc)

Brahms: The Three String Quartets, Op. 51 and 67: R.
Schumam: The Three String Quartets, Op. 41. Quartetto
Italiano. Phllips 6703 029. (3 discs)

During my first year as a law student here, I gave copies of
some rare private recordings to the International Piano Library in
New York in exchange for a goodly number of scarce 78s. One of
the sets I acquired through the trade was a recording of the
Brahms Piano Quintet in F Minor. Op, 34 as played by Harold
Bauer and the Flonzaley Quartet. A legendary performance, it
lived up to my every expectation when I played those 78s for the
first time, and I have yet to even begin to tire of it on many
subsequent hearings. As a result I was delighted to learn that RCA
had chosen to reissue not only the Brahms Quintet but also the
Flonzaley's performance, with pianist Ossip Gabrilowitsch (Mark
Twain's son-in-law), of the Schumann Plano Quintet in E Flat
Major, Op. 44, and a previously unissued performance of the
Haydn "Lark" Quartet, Op. 64. No. 5.

Bauer and Gabrilowitsch were two of the greatest pianists of
their day and both were superb chamber musicians. The
Flonzaley Quartet was the best of the three great string quartets
in the early years of the century, the others being the Kneisel and
Ysaye Quartets. The interpretations recorded by this superior
group of chamber musicians are documents of great historical and
artistic importance.

These recordings are an almost complete course in the fine art
of playing chamber music. Sensitivity and an instinctive
understanding not only of the composers' goals but also of the
need for a unified conception are the hallmarks of these
extraordinary interpretations. Tempo and dynamic changes are
accomplished so naturally and so perfectly that one almost feels
that these works are being played by one performer, not four or
five. Despite the absolute unity of these performances, there is
nothing machine-like in them; they are intense, dynamic, and
overwhelming in their effect. Some listeners might find the use of
portamenti a little jarring, but the dence was, it must be
remembered, much in vogue at the time.

RCA deserves a great deal of thanks for reissuing these discs,
and all serious record collectors and chamber music buffs should
acquire this set not only for the sheer joy of the performances
but also to encourage RCA to continue reissues of this type.

Ironically enough, a recently issued recording of the Brahms F
Minor Quintet does the work almost as much of a disservice as
the Bauer-Flonzaley performance does it justice. The outgrowth
of a performance at the 1972 London South Bank Festival, the
disc by Andre Previn and the Yale Quartet may very well be the
chamber music recording disaster of 1973. I admit it's only May,
but the interpretation is so egregious that only a phenomenal
lemon could possibly displace it from its pedestal of dishonor.

Previn is not a chamber music specialist, and he attempts to
dominate the ensemble instead of blending with it. The members
of the Yale Quartet don't play too well either. Aldo Parisot, the
'cellist, is particularly disappointing, especially in the last
movement. Some details are, I concede, very nice, but the
interpretation as a whole lacks unity, and may best be described
as a series of small interpretive explosions. While listening to this
record for the first time, I was particularly conscious of this
phenomenon, a phenomenon which has not diminished
subsequent hearings.

While the Previn/Yale Quartet record of the Brahms Op. 34
Quintet has garnered my displeasure, I have great praise for the
new integral recording of the Schumann and Brahms String
Quartets made by the Quartetto Italiano which is the "oldest"
active string quartet of which I have knowledge. All four of the
original members of the group, formed in 1945, are still with it,
and their long years of service to chamber music have resulted in
a remarkable interpretive and conceptual unity. Like the
Flonzaley Quartet, the Quartetto Italiano plays as though one
musician and not four, but their interpretations are more classical
and ascetic than those of their legendary predecessors.

The Quartetto Italiano is particularly well suited for the
Schumann and Brahms Quartets which, although written during
the height of the Romantic era, are extremely classical in feelings.
The readings are rich, clear, and perfectly paced, and the
intonation is excellent. The recording, like almost all Philips
releases, is a technical masterpiece, realistic and full of presence
without being close or larger than life.

Couperin, F., Le Grand: Pieces de Clavecin – Ordres Nos. 8, 11,
13, and 15. Rafael Puyana, Ruckers-Taskin harpsichord. Philips
6700 035.(2 discs)