New Records

Bartok: Sonata No. I (Adolph Bailer, piano; Yehudi Menuhin, violin; Victor, 8 sides). Composed in 1921, when Bartok's own distinctive style was first beginning to take form, the sonata foreshadows the lyric power and rhythmic force of the great Concerto for Violin (1938). In this performance, Bailer's piano overshadows Menuhin's violin. Recording: fair.

Beethoven: Sonata in F Major, Opus 24 (Emanuel Bay, piano; Jascha Heifetz, violin; Victor, 4 sides). Playing cleanly, Heifetz makes the delightful "Spring" sonata blossom. Recording: good.

Brahms: Double Concerto in A Minor (Georg Kulenkampff, violin; Enrico Mainardi, cello; L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Carl Schuricht conducting; English Decca, 8 sides). This performance of Brahms's fussy but formidable work is not up to the Thibaud-Casals or Heifetz-Feuermann versions. Recording: good.

Kabalevslcy: Sonata No. 3, Opus 46 (Vladimir Horowitz, piano; Victor, 4 sides). Contemporary Soviet Composer Dmitri Kabalevsky's melodic, if Mussorgsky-ish, piece is more Pianist Horowitz' meat than the Mozart Sonata in F Major, K. 332, also available this month. Both recordings: good.

Mozart: Symphony No. 38, K. 504 (L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet conducting; English Decca, 6 sides). Conductor Ansermet, a champion of new music, proves with the great "Prague" symphony that he is also a master of the old. Recording: excellent.

Mozart: Quartet in C Major, K. 465 (the Griller String Quartet; English Decca, 7 sides). Mozart dedicated this quartet (and five others) to Haydn. After hearing them, Haydn said to Mozart's father: "Before God ... I tell you that your son is the greatest composer known to me . . ." Performance and recording: good.

Schumann: Manfred Overture (the NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini conducting; Victor, 3 sides). One of Toscanini's greatest performances on records. Beethoven's Consecration of the House Overture, on the remaining three sides, doesn't give Toscanini as much to work with. Recording: excellent.

Verdi: Aida (Beniamino Gigli, tenor; Maria Caniglia, soprano; Ebe Stignani, mezzo-soprano; Gino Bechi, baritone; Italo Tajo, bass, and others with the Rome Opera Orchestra and chorus, Tullio Serafin conducting; Victor, 40 sides). With such a cast, Aida should have come off brilliantly; instead, it just barely comes off, with some good singing (Ebe Stignani's) and some bad (e.g., Gigli's Celeste Aida is painful). Recording: fair.

Verdi: La Forza del Destine (Maria Caniglia, soprano; Ebe Stignani, mezzo-soprano; Galliano Masini, tenor; Tancredi Pasero, bass; Carlo Tagliabue, baritone, and others with the EIAR Symphony Orchestra and chorus, Gino Marinuzzi conducting; Cetra-Soria, 36 sides). Some of the singers made Verdi's less worthy opera sound far better than the Aida. Recording: good.

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