December Records

Some phonograph records are musical events. Each month TIME notes the noteworthy * Opera: Siegfried, by the London Symphony under Albert Coates and Robert Heger, the Berlin Staatsoper Orchestra under Leo Blech, the Vienna Staatsoper Orchestra under Karl Alwin and famed Wagnerian Singers (Victor, $15)--Tenor Lauritz Melchior, who looks like any fat boy when he sings Siegfried at Bayreuth and Manhattan's Metropolitan, proves an excellent phonograph artist. Contralto Maria Olszewska and Soprano Frida Leider, expert members of the Chicago Civic Opera, sing Erda and Briinnhilde. Die Meistersinger, the aria Wahn! Wahn! (Victor, $2)-- As Cobbler Hans Sachs, Baritone Friedrich Schorr advances Wagner's famed soliloquy on the comedy of human ways. Symphonic:

Schumann's Symphony No. 1 by the Chicago Symphony under Frederick Stock (Victor, $8)--A scholarly reading of the happy Spring Symphony written by Schumann soon after his marriage to rigid .Clara Wieck. Schumann's Symphony No. 2 by the Berlin Staatsoper Orchestra under Hans Pfitzner (Brunswick, $7.50)--Schumann in a graver, more classic mood capably interpreted. Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe by Philippe Gaubert and Orchestre des Concerts Straram (Columbia, $4)--An excellent performance of the symphonic suite commissioned by the late Serge Diaghilev for his Russian Ballet. The originality and finish which marked even Ravel's earliest work is shown in this month's release of his Menuet Antique (Brunswick). Chamber Music: Ravel's Quartet in F by the Krettly Quartet of Paris (Victor, $5)--The popular French composer caught in a deeply personal mood. Piano:

Bach's Preludes and Fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Nos. 10-17 by Pianist Evlyn Howard-Jones (Columbia, $8)--A continuation of the Clavier series begun by Pianist Harriet Cohen (Nos. 1-9). Evlyn Howard-Jones, a capable London musician, was coolly received when he played in the U. S. Songs & Ballads:

Beethoven's Adelaide by Baritone Heinrich Schlusnus (Brunswick, $1.50)--A foremost lieder singer displays his fine phrasing, his immaculate diction. Sing Something Simple and Happy Feet (Victor)--The Revelers again get the effects of a full-piece band. Body and Soul and With a Song in My Heart by Jack Hylton and his orchestra (Victor, $1.25)--A famed British jazzman embroiders neat concert versions of two deserving songs. Dance Records: You're Lucky to Me and Memories of You (Okeh)--For those who like hot jazz with husky singing, husky trumpets. The band is Louis Armstrong's Sebastian New Cotton Club Orchestra. Embraceable You and / Got Rhythm (Victor)--Arden's and Ohman's- percussive ways are best suited to George Gershwin's music. The tunes are the best from Girl Crazy. Can This be Love? and Three Little Words (Columbia)--Two best-sellers mellowed by the Ipana (Toothpaste) Troubadours. What a Fool I've Been and After All, You're All I'm After (Brunswick)--Tom Gerun plays these smoothly, with plenty of pace. Bolero and La Seduccion (Victor)--The inevitable popularized version of Ravel's symphonic hit coupled with a teasing tango.

* Prices listed are for entire albums which include several records. Where the price is not given, it is 75-c-, standard price for popular 10-inch records.

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