New Records

It was Verdi's month on records. Victor reissued a superlative performance of one of the most remarkable works of all time: the Requiem (4 sides LP). The music has all the passion and dramatic impact of a Verdi opera, and the soloists, Beniamino Gigli, Maria Caniglia, Ebe Stignani and Ezio Pinza, were all able to do it justice when this version was originally recorded in 1939. Conductor Tullio Serafin does his share with the Royal Opera Chorus and Orchestra of Rome. The recording is good.

Also notable is Cetra-Soria's Aida (6 sides LP). An Italian cast, including Tenor Mario Filippeschi, Soprano Caterina Mancini, Mezzo Giulietta Simionato and Baritone Rolando Panerai, gives a fine performance, as does the Orchestra and Chorus of Radio Italiana under Vittorio Gui. The recording is excellent. Less successful: Remington's Rigoletto (6 sides LP), performed by undistinguished soloists and a lackluster orchestra and chorus of Florence's Maggio Musicale. The recording is fair.

Other new records:

Bruckner: Symphony No. 1 (the Austria State Symphony, Volkmar Andreae conducting; International Masterworks, 2 sides LP). This C-minor symphony is almost a brevity compared to the lengthy ones that followed, but just as fine in form and spirit. Performance: good. Recording: fair.

Mozart: Six "Haydn" Quartets (the Roth String Quartet; Mercury, 6 sides LP). Mozart acknowledged that "from Haydn I learned how to write string quartets,"and dedicated these six notable specimens to him. The album brings them all together for the first time. Performance and recording: good.

Schumann: Symphony No. 1 (Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch conducting; Victor, 2 sides LP). Munch's glowing performance captures some of the white-hot inspiration that Robert Schumann must have felt when he composed this "Spring" symphony in four days. Recording: excellent.

Johann Strauss: One Night in Venice (Vienna State Opera soloists, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and chorus of the Bregenz Festivals; Columbia, 4 sides LP). This charming romance of disguise and intrigue is the ninth of the Waltz King's operettas; it sparkles with some of the same gaiety as the other eight. Performance and recording: excellent.

Ten Tenors (Victor, 2 sides LP). A chance, though not an absolutely fair one, to compare tenors of the past and present. The two sides offer Enrico Caruso, John McCormack, Beniamino Gigli, James Melton, Jussi Bjoerling, Jan Peerce, Set Svanholm, Ferrucio Tagliavini, Giuseppe Di Stefano and Mario Lanza singing favorite arias. Lanza has as good a natural voice as any of them, but it begs for training.

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