New Records

Mozart: Requiem (the New York Philharmonic-Symphony, Westminster Choir, conducted by Bruno Walter on a Columbia LP; Vienna Symphony and State Opera Chorus conducted by Eugen Jochum on Decca; Vienna State Opera Orchestra and Academy Chamber Choir conducted by Hermann Scherchen on London Ducretet-Thomson). The limpid choruses of Mozart's last work have always resisted the efforts of record makers, and are still a bit troublesome on these three latest versions. Conductor Walter's has a certain dramatic excitement but also a rather thick tone; Scherchen's (in the same performance recorded two years ago on the Westminster label) is a bit shaky in the soprano area, and his lugubrious tempos do not help; Jochum's is sometimes buried in sound, but all in all, his version is the best of the lot. The soloists (Soprano Irmgard Seefried is on both Columbia and Decca) are all excellent.

Music at M.I.T. (Unicorn). Recorded in M.I.T.'s new Kresge Auditorium (TIME, Dec. 26), records in this series are hard to beat for sheer aural excitement. Roger Voisin and the remarkable brasses of the Boston Symphony add a dimension of rare virtuosity to four modern works in The Modern Age of Brass. Beethoven Piano Sonatas (Op. 109, 110) make the instrument sound iridescent and almost inhumanly-clear, which is as it should be, and Ernest Levy's performance has the ring of truth.

Schubert: Octet (David Oistrakh and other Soviet artists; Angel). The Op. 166 that 27-year-old Franz Schubert wrote for a clarinet-playing patron gushes bewitching melody and charm, gets a fine performance from the distinguished ensemble.

Beethoven: Sonatas Nos. 30, 31, 32

(Glenn Gould; Columbia). Young triple-threat (composer, conductor, pianist) Musician Gould again displays his phenomenal ability to make the piano talk. He indulges his youthful exuberance, which results in some spectacular speed but also--at least in this late Beethoven--gives the impression of skimming the surface.

Cello Colours (Andre Navarra; Capitol). A varied recital of fine celloing, effective whether in the melancholic atmosphere of Faure's Elegie or the gee-whiz intricacies of Tchaikovsky's Pezzo Capriccioso. French Cellist Navarra gives the lie to the old saying that cellists are incurable sentimentalists.

Debussy: Songs (Suzanne Banco, soprano; Guido Agosti, piano; London). A dozen samples of ecstasy in the French manner, i.e., the music sometimes croons languorously, sometimes soars dizzily, sometimes seems almost paralyzed with rapture. Debussy is the perfect composer for all this, French is the perfect language, I and the pure, true, warm voice of Soprano Banco is practically ideal.

Gottschallc: The Banjo (Eugene List, piano; Vanguard). A reminiscence of pre-Civil War New Orleans in the form of brief compositions by a onetime resident, Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829-69). The first American to win an international reputation as pianist and composer, Gott-schalk's arrangements of Creole songs and dances were as popular in Paris of the mid-19th century as Chopin's mazurkas.

Poulenc: Concerto for Organ, Strings and Timpani (Richard Ellsasser; Hamburg Philharmonia conducted by Arthur Winograd; M-G-M). A highly colored work that finds Composer Poulenc at his most charming. It is tuneful, with moments of surrealist shiftiness, brooding melancholy, sheer pyrotechnics. The disk has excessive surface noise.

Prokofiev: Love for Three Oranges (members of the Slovenian National Opera conducted by Bogo Leskovich; Epic, 2 LPs). The fairy-tale opera whose failure when first produced by the Chicago Opera Association in 1921-22 caused Prokofiev to leave the U.S. in dismay and disgust. (Twenty-seven years later it was a big success at the New York City Opera.) This recording is in Russian, but the performance is high-spirited and technically brilliant.

Strauss: Scenes from "Salome" and "Elektra" (Inge Borkh, soprano; Chicago Symphony conducted by Fritz Reiner; Victor, 2 LPs). A rising German-born soprano in two of her finest roles. The excerpts include her biggest scenes, including the only warm moments in Elektra --when the demented woman recognizes her brother. The orchestral climax is terrible in its intensity; Borkh is splendid.

Stravinsky: Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments (Nikita Magaloff; Suisse Romande Orchestra conducted by Ernest Ansermet; London). A wry and multigaited 1924 masterpiece, which also reflects the dawning jazz age. Pianist Magaloff makes it lively listening.

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