New Records

Mozart: Requiem (Pia Tassinari, Ebe Stignani, Ferruccio Tagliavini, Italo Tajo; orchestra and chorus of the E.I.A.R., Victor de Sabata conducting; Cetra-Soria, 16 sides). Mozart began writing this masterpiece in the last few months of his life, for another's memorial. Finished by his pupil Sussmayer, it has since served well as Mozart's own memorial. This is a recording of the magnificent performance in the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Rome on the 150th anniversary of his death (1941). Recording: good.

Bach. Musicraft goes on a Bach bender. Best of the lot: Preludes and Fugues (Carl Weinrich, organist; 6 sides) includes the fine A Minor and A Major. The Concerto in C Major for Two Harpsichords and Strings (Manuel and Williamson Harpsichord Ensemble; 5 sides) comes out muggily; the light-hearted Coffee Cantata (chamber group and soloists; 7 sides) gets a somewhat heavy-footed performance. Recordings: fair.

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9. (The Boston Symphony Orchestra with Robert Shaw chorus, Serge Koussevitzky conducting; Victor, 16 sides). Anyone who heard Toscanini's magnificent broadcast will want to avoid this album: the accents are muffled, the tempos sluggish and the heartbeat missing. Recording: poor.

Bloch: String Quartet No. 2 (Stuyvesant String Quartet; International, 8 sides). Good, but not the most brilliant Bloch. He got off to a fine start but faltered along the way. Performance: fair.

Kabalevsky: The Comedians (New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, Efrem Kurtz conducting; Columbia, 4 sides). More of the bright, noisy foolishness that has already made Kabalevsky's fellow Russian Khachaturian a U.S. jukebox favorite. Performance: good.

Puccini: La Boheme (Bidu Sayao, Richard Tucker, and others with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Giuseppe Antonicelli conducting; Columbia, 26 sides). No mistaking this for the Met; some nice singing, and a great deal that is ordinary, uneven and sometimes shrill. Recording: good.

Stravinsky: Concertino and Three Pieces for String Quartet (Gordon String Quartet; Concert Hall Society, 4 sides). Stravinsky has written little for string quartets. This alburn includes all of it. Acrid and tart, but powerful, this will make Stravinsky fans wish he had written more. Performance: good.

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