The record changer (Mar-Dec 1947)

ibout ten years ago the Busch Chamber ;yers waxed all of the Bach Brandenburg ; .iicerti and Columbia released the results f ]!a pair of "prestige" albums. No sales rec t|s were shattered but, through the decade, r| ireciative buyers have been responding in Kcient numbers to warrant the project's idjjsntion in the Catalog, •ehfuid now we find the same group recordri|J for the same company all of Handel's ■»] jus 6. the Concerti Grossi. Forty-nine iJBve-inch record surfaces are required for /J| complete presentation of the twelve con jfijti and there is not a groove in the three iM urns but has its just measure of splendor. -c"i. play the dozen works through at a single djing (not particularly recommended to • L layman) is a full evening's occupation. ;aj. form a judgment for the sort of review J.'Se sets should have, but for reasons of , ce cannot, is subject to at least a month's ireat; and to settle down with the scores vji i records for exacting study of the parts 1 the whole is something which, for better I worse, already has been done for the •er by Emanuel Winternitz, author of the : ierbly wrought 48-page book which comes i { lh the records and which, by the way, is ilirthy of a place in any library with or • hout the Concerti Grossi. zr.\s Dr. Winternitz states in the second ; -agraph of his foreword, these concerti j.i. entertainment music. It is good to rejrt that they are so treated by the Busch iamber Players and there is no mock-rev•J uce of Handel, no solemn devices in the ail;ilas to thwart the supremely imaginative J'i'fcv of improvisation that occupied the comber for as much as a month and a day of ;-j long, musically fecund life. | The music has been given an exquisite wformance and the recording is first rate rfc every way. What cutting has been done Tjrhe repeats are omitted in the penultimate lavement of the 3rd concerto) would not | another hundred grooves but would, if 'ained, have resulted in an embarrassingly kward "break." Like its Busch predecessor, this series •tjl not find its sales outlet fulfilled within eason or a decade but will, during a genfliktion, find its way into the deeply enjoyed ■• lections of a goodly number of discerndevotees of music's proudest pages. Victor's activity in chamber music is conTiued with the release of the 2nd and 3rd tes by Bach, recorded at Tanglewood by ,jj:mbers of the Boston Symphony under ' Koussevitzky. Evidently the 1st and 4th rJ r. tes in the series are to come out later on id in the meantime perhaps we shall have i; Tanglewood editions of the two Branmburg Concerti not yet issued. The enmiums to which this reviewer resorted in : case of previous Tanglewood records [\i\y in equal measure to these suites, which to say : Capital ! And let us have more of !ft like! < til 'Did you see Olivier in Henry Vf Ah, but mis a treasure of a film ! And no little por\ma of its success is due to the accompanymusic of William Walton, whose tone ■idors match the glow of the photographer's I e-caressing tints. ' And now, on Victor records. (M/DM:l 28) you may hear some of the splendidly ' 'oken speeches of. the film; — not only the ng's, but also those of the Chorus, of l" lrgundy and even a snatch of the Sol' :r's patois. All of the spoken work is done 1 Sir Laurence himself and no harm, ^ther, for his acute sense of characterization f for the good of the play employed, rather than for astounding personal display. The orchestra (the Philharmonia of London) and chorus perform under the composer's direction. A word of especial praise is due to those in charge of having housed the discs in a tasteful album that is further enhanced by the presence of scholarly descriptive literature and attractively reproduced "stills" from the screen vehicle. I wouldn't say that professional Shakespeareans will be altogether pleased with what has been done with the Bard's work, inasmuch as this presentation of it is intended to appeal to the living. VERDI : La Traviata. Columbia OP/MOP25. Thirty sides. The matter of buying complete opera performances on records is not one to be entered into hastily, nor are the writings of several reviewers likely to be taken as altogether reliable in the composite — for those who purchase what amounts to a complete sitting's entertainment are likely operagoers of some experience who have, whether or not they realize it, formed an extrasensory perception that amounts to what has been called The Composite Ideal. To illustrate : The Violetta in one performance of Traviata may be the most satisfactory singer of the part whom you've heard ; no one has since, for you, equalled her in the part. Then, your favorite Alfredo is associated with another performance of the opera, while a third performance gave you the ideal Germont. And so on. So, when you anticipate your next visit to La Traviata, your imagination urges you to expect that your three favorite performances will be presented to you at one and the same time. The futility of such imaginings led the late Pitts -Sanborn to remark, "The fellow who boasts that he never misses a performance of Die Meistersinger can't really care very much for the work." Now, you have your ideal Traviata performance as I have mine. Presumably we have our points of difference. No quarrel. I believe the performance under discussion to be generally abominable. The soprano bawls, the tenor is a young ignoramus and the baritone, a good artist, is victimized by his incompetent associates. The smaller roles are handled with competence and the chorus and orchestra behave in a manner quite praiseworthy. The conductor, Vincenzo Bellezza, is no stranger to record labels and has given us many outstanding single discs. Here he seems to have been outnumbered — or else he was homeless and hungry. The recording, accomplished under trying physical circumstances, leaves nothing to be desired. If you're looking for a recorded opera to live with and enjoy again and again, I can recommend Columbia's Falstaff and Victor's Don Pasqnale as the two presently procurable complete works which have, over a decade and more, afforded me undiminished rewards. — o — Had the microphone been placed judiciously when Victor record 10-1300 was being cut, the Marian Anderson coupling of O Men From the Fields (Christopher Thomas setting) and Bright Phoebus would have been outstandingly successful, for the contralto evidently was in prime soul at the session. As it turns out, while the singer's vocalism projects excellently, her words are for the most part lost and so foreknowledge of the poems is necessary to one's enjoyment of the disc. This particular coupling is an inspired one and a more carefully plotted re-take is highly in order. The present discs should be called in and the stampers scrapped. LEMME take this chorus (Continued from Page 4) (Co 3995) is listed in a record value book as being worth $4.50. This record, in excellent condition, did not bring a single 25c bid. On the other hand, records which I considered as practically worthless brought bids of from $3 to $5. An album of theme songs drew thirteen bids, four of the bids being between $10 and $11. A Tommy Dorsey Bluebird record brought thirty bids, top bid $4. A number of Glenn Miller records brought bids of more than $3. Even records by Leonard Feather received bids: 30c for Mop Mop and 30c for Esquire Blues. You can sell practically anything in the Record Changer. In spite of the fact that the highest priced record brought only $6.15 (James P. Johnson solo, Black Swan), the total of the top bids amounted to more than $2700. We hope to have this booklet ready by the end of September. * * * Howard Penny, the Recording Secretary for the Portland, Oregon, Record Collectors Club, writes that the cats in that section have formed an Incorporation complete with membership cards, by-laws, a monthly bulletin, etc. They hold meetings twice a month and also have a radio show each Friday night 11 to 11:30 P. M., on which a different member of the club takes the air to play the favorite records of his collection. Howard says the show is really catching on in Portland. I have often thought of starting a record collectors club myself. The first rule I would make is this: IT SHALL BE CAUSE FOR EXPULSION TO SUBMIT TO, OR TO ENGAGE A FELLOW MEMBER IN, A DISCUSSION OF MUSIC WHILE IN THE CLUB ROOMS OF THE — RECORD COLLECTORS CLUB. Anyway, we wish the Portland Record Collectors Club great success. Mr. Penny's address is 104 North Killingsworth St., Portland 11, Ore. BING CROSBY Auction-Sale of 100 Releases On Blue Label Recca Over 600 Records — Send for Auction List — as usual — RECORD REQUESTS AT STANDARDIZED SET PRICES Itemized Want Lists Will Receive Immediate Attention GORDON BLACKBURN 10717 N. Libya, Portland 3, Oregon Phonograph Records Cheap CATALOGUE FREE PARAMOUNT 313 East Market Street DEPT. 4, WILKES-BARRE, PENNA. SEND FOR OUR FREE CATALOGUE Vinylite Jazz 211 E. I5TH ST., N. Y. C. 3, N. Y. Phone OR-4-3060 ,~PT EMBER, 1947 43