Through the Sound Barrier

New Zealand Listener, Volume 29, Issue 734, 7 August 1953, Page 20

Through the Sound Barrier

A Monthly Review by

OWEN

JENSEN

HAVE been struggling with, through or against an invasion of flying saucers-Argos, Capitols, Columbias, Deccas, H.M.V.s, Nixas, a Brunswick and a very serious Esquire. Battling with the lilliputian hosts of demisemiquavers I have been shot with the arrows of string quartet desire, stunned with the heavy artillery of the orchestra, put on’ the alert with the crackle of piano and disarmed with the insidious sonic barrage of voices. I come up for air. Ears above water-some of it on the heavy sideI.am through the sound barrier. As discs go-and some of them should never have come-this is a record month, Out of the rolling clouds of orchestral tone one disc stands alone for the brilliance and precision of the playing, the fidelity of the recording, and the extraordinarily vital music. This is the performance by L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under Ernest Ansermet of Manuel de Falla’s The Three-Cornered Hat (Decca LXT 2716), the first time, I think, that the music. of this ballet has been recorded complete. It’s fine. As beautifully played, but music of a very different temperament, is Hindemith’s symphony, Mathis der Maler, recorded by the NBC Symphony Orchestra under Guido Cantelli (HMV BLP 1010). Mathis der Maler, for me, has stood the test of many years listening. It seems as moving as ever. Theme and Variations ("The Four Temperaments") for Strings with Piano, by Hindemith, may wear as well. Certainly the Zimbler String Sinfonietta and Lukas Foss, piano (Brunswick ALX 2001), give the music strength, colour and nobility. Before we leave the orchestral department, it may be well to record a dis-

appointment. This is Prokofieff’s Symphony No. 5 in B Fiat, Op. 100, presented by the Danish State Radio Symphony Orchestra under Eric Tuxon (Decca LXT 2765). According to the record jackét,. this work was written in 1944 while Prokofieff was staying at a Soviet rest home. The music would suggest that Prokofieff’s seclusion was invaded by the ghosts of Borodin and Brahms, and I would be quite prepared to believe, so soggy is the music, that the main item on the menu at the home may have been stale buns, The Danish’ ~Radio Orchestra seems to confirm this opinion. Prokofieff was, of course, one of the best piano composers of the last 50 years. Yet his Sonatas No. 2 in D Minor and No. 5 in C Major do not seem to come off as well as Nos. 3 and 7, which have been played a little in these parts. Robert Corman, however, makes the best of Nos. 2 and 5 (Decca LXT 2691) and that is by no means a best to be dismissed lightly. Footnote to the symphony: Sir William Walton has written a single symphony. One would wish for anothér from his pen. This lone essay in the symphonic field is a notable work. The Phil--harmonia Orchestra conducted by the | composer (HMV ALP 1027) brings out all the fastidious brilliance of the music. A Comfort of String Quartets _ Robert Louis Stevenson once sighed for an income sufficient to enable him Be keep a string quartet at his beck and call. I’m with him all the way, As

things are these days you can have your string quartet or any number of them that you wish, for a. comparatively modest outlay on LPs. Mind you, this is by no means the same as sitting in on the real thing, as the visit of the Griller String Quartet has reminded us; but the canned substitute is not to be despised. If you go in for quartets in a big way. you soon discover that each ensemble has its own character. There is the rich, warm intimacy of the Pascal Quartet who have recorded all the Beethoven Quartets (Nixa CLP 12011213). Any one is a delight and the whole series is a constant enjoyment. The Hollywood Quartet shines-shines is the word-in contemporary music. One cannot imagine playing exceeding the suave, silken virtuosity of their performance of Walton’s String Quartet in A Minor (1947) with String Quartet No. 6 in E by Villa-Lobos on the reverse side (Capitol CTL 7004). The Walton is brittle, nerveux music; the Villa-Lobos, South American in flavour, is easy on the ears. The same smooth cantabile playing, and rhythms as crisp, make the Hollywood’s playing of Hindemith’s String Quartet No. 3 and Prokofieff’s No. 2 in F sound, perhaps, a little better than the music deserves. The Prokofieff, written in 1941, doesn’t ring a bell with me, The Hindemith, vintage 1922, is good listening if you can take your string quartets serious and a little cerebral. A recommendation to the _ listener who likes his string work brightened with some piano (one can hear the : (continued on next page)

(continued from previous page) strings gnashing their bows col legno). Clifford Curzon is a pianist who always rises to the occasion. The occasion this time is the Mozart Piano Quartets in G Minor and E Flat Major (Decca LXT 2772). Mr. Curzon and members of the Amadeus Quartet fecreate this slender music with infinite charm. Rudolf Serkin and members of the Busch Quartet playing the Brahms Piano Quartet in G Minor (Columbia CX 1012) are all that. they should be, which is very good. Matter of History A curious but beautiful disc is that presenting Alban Berg’s cantata for soprano and orchestra, Der Wein. Alban Berg is the most famous disciple of atonalist Schoenberg. Yet this music, despite its atonal foundation, has a strong feeling of Wagner about it. Der Wein (Capitol CCL 7515) is magnificently sung by Charlotte Boerner (soprano), with the Janssen Symphoay Orchestra under Werner Janssen. The curious aspect of this recording is that the reverse side is devoted to a commentary and musical analysis of Der Wein by Alfred Frankenstein, music critic of the San Francisco Chronicle. This is all very well, but having assimilated Mr. -Frankenstein’s excellent exposition of the music’s secrets, one is seized with a monstrous fear at subsequént listenings that he is watching on the other side for any shortcomings in one’s attention. Another piece of music would have been better value, And the Gther music might have been Schoenberg’s piano music which is recorded complete by Else C. Kraus (Esquire TW 14-001). Madame Kraus obviously loves Schoenberg’s music, and whether or not you share her affection, this is music which, historically at least, cannot be neglected. r