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Gramophone Notes

J. Gray

Having Made their spectacular entry into the LP field, the E.M.I. chain of companies are settling down to a steady issue of microgroove discs, both at 33 1–3 and at the mid-way speed of 45, these latter obviously being intended as a convenient substitute for the old style 78, being, indeed, a 78 disc ‘boiled down’. As promised, the companies are not neglecting the humble 78 user, and two of their newest achievements, the Sibelius concerto recorded by Isaac Stern and Sir Thomas Beecham, and the long-awaited Mahler ‘Kindertoten-lieder’ by Kathleen Ferrier and the Vienna Philharmonic under Bruno Walter, have been issued almost simultaneously in both LP and 78 versions. The E.M.I. people in New Zealand have issued a price-list for their new records, both 33 and 45, so doubtless we may soon expect supplies of the discs to vary our already rich diet of Decca and Nixa.

Decca appear to have forgotten that 78 exists—at least in the sphere of serious music, but their regular LP lists seem well planned. A Kathleen Ferrier recital of Bach and Handel arias looks most attractive on paper—for besides the expected numbers from ‘Messiah’ and ‘St. Matthew Passion’ there are some quite unfamiliar ones from ‘Samson’ and ‘Judas Maccabeus’ (LXT 2757). The Grillers have turned their attention to some of the neglected early quartets of Mozart. Clemens Krauss and the Vienna Philharmonic are forging ahead with the major works of Richard Strauss, Backhaus seems to be involved in recording all the Beethoven piano sonatas, and Max Rostal and Franz Osborn have almost completed recording those for violin and piano. Works by Carl Nielsen, Sibelius, and some lesser known Scandinavian masters are being endisced by the brilliant orchestra of the Danish State Radio (formerly a prized member of the H.M.V. group of orchestras), and to the list of Decca complete operas you may now add ‘Tosca,’ ‘Aida’, and ‘Lakme’.

What have E.M.I. to say to all this? A complete ‘Tristan and Isolde’ for one thing. This is conducted by Furtwangler and features Flagstad. There will be regrets that the recording could not have been made while Lauritz Melchior was in his prime, the Tristan here being the German tenor Ludwig Suthaus, who has also sung the role in another complete recording, put out by the Urania company in America. The H.M.V. issue covers six discs (ALP 1030–5). Perhaps the most interesting of the H.M.V. symphonic releases is a performance of Walton's symphony, conducted by himself with the Philharmonia Orchestra (ALP 1027). Many will recall Decca's brave enterprise in recording this work under Sir Hamilton Harty at the time (1935) of its world premiere and personally I am intensely curious to hear it in a really modern recording. This grim and powerful work should appeal to those with a liking for modern music that never becomes too extreme.

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