r fieneility tannoy's omni speakers pe 2040 changer · high fidelity. this full -color...

1CD 08398,cr-H1113H JULY 1971 75¢

FIENEILITY"

t Consumer's

Oa! Guide to

areo ControlsWhat they do...

How they do it...

The Musician

As Political

Activist

LAB TEST REPORTS

Tannoy's omni speakers

PE 2040 changer

Altec Lansing music center

Ortofon / Martin cartridge system

Nikko STA -1101 receiver

e, but not very expensive,ir. The Fisher 601.

C

DI IDDOODIID.....

switch to activate a special circuit thatlets you create 4 channels out of 2 -channel material. The circuit extractsambiance information from the chan-nels that you otherwise couldn't hear,and feeds it into the two rear channels.This information, which represents thesum of the reflected signals from theoriginal recording source, enhances thestereo effect. The result is as close asyou can get to true 4 -channel sound,without actually starting with four sep-arate signals.

So now you can hear your entirelibrary of stereo LP's, tapes, and evenFM -stereo broadcasts in 4 -channel. Andeven more important, Fisher's 2 +2 mat-rix system will let you play the variousdifferent stereo records and tapes thathave been encoded with 4 -channel' in-formation for playback on a 4 -channelsystem. Of course, if for some reasonyou shouldn't want the 4 -channel effect,

Iel receiver. The Fisher 701.

01 031 r, rs r

you can still play your stereo recordsin stereo, and your mono source mat-erial in mono.

Speaking of sound sources,meet the Fisher CP-100.The CP-100 is the ideal source of

real 4 -channel For many reasons. Itplays 8 -track cartridges with several 4 -channel programs on each cartridge.And there's quite a repertoire of car-tridges available, from rock through popto classical. (The CP- 100 also plays thestandard 8 -track stereo cartridges.)

And the CP-100 is the only car-tridge player built to Fisher standards.Wow and flutter are extremely low. Fre-quency response is 50 to 12,000 Hz,which compares favorably even withopen -reel machines. And the CP-100 isextremely versatile. It will play one pro-gram after another, repeat one programas long as you want, or you can skip to

The 701 is a true 4 -channel AM/FMstereo receiver with 250 watts of power,push-button electronic tuningwithout moving parts (from the front panelor by remote control), toroidal filterson FM and other ultra -sophisticated electronicsIn addition to being the most advancedpiece of 4 -channel equipment you can buy.it's also a sensationally fine receiverfor conventional 2 -channel stereo.Not to mention mono. $699.95.

The Fisher CP-100

whatever you want to hear. The cost?Only $169.95.

Plug the CP-100 into the 601, hookup four good speakers, and you're readyto listen to a 4 -channel stereo systemthat's expensive, but not as expensiveas it sounds.

Shown at right:four Fisher XP -7B speakers.

Fisher XP -7B speakers gobeautifully with the new Fisher 601.The reason they sound so smooth

is that they're 4 -way systems,each with a massive 12 -inch woofer,

two 53/4 -inch drivers (eachassigned a different section of the

midrange), and a pair of 3 -inchwide -dispersion cone tweeters.At $/59.95 each, the XP-7B's

aren't even expensive.

The FisherWe invented high fidelity.

Introducing our expensiv4 -channel receive

Last year, Fisher brought out theworld's first true 4 -channel receiver, theFisher 701.

Now, you have to understand thata true 4 -channel receiver requires nearlytwice the electronics of an equally good2 -channel receiver.

And since the 701 was to be theworld's first 4 -channel receiver wepulled out all the stops when we de-signed it. Which resulted in a piece ofequipment that was very expensive In-credibly good, but very expensive.

But now we think it's time to bringout a top-quality 4 -channel receiver thatmore people can afford One that doesn'tcost a lot more than the best 2 -channelreceivers. So we're introducing theFisher 601 4 -channel AM/FM receiver

Meet the Fisher 601. $599.95.Even though the 601 is not the top

of the Fisher 4 -channel line, it's a no-

compromise piece of equipment.It's got everything: power, sensi-

tivity, versatility, and wonderfully clean4 -channel sound. (We think 4 -channelis as much of an improvement over 2 -channel as 2 -channel was over mono.)

200 watts is a lot of power.The Fisher 601 has 200 watts of

clean power. It's fully capable of drivingtwo sets of speakers-four main, four re-mote And it will drive them at concertlevels with no sign of strain.

The FM tuner section has 1.8microvolts sensitivity, which is on a parwith the tuners in the finest 2 -channelreceivers Fisher makes. You'll get clearreception on stations that nor -Fishertuners pick up as static.

A full complement of controls.The new 601 receiver is equipped

with bass and treble controls, of course.

Only 25f! $2 value! Send for your copy ofThe Fisher Handbook, a fact -filled 80 -page guide tohigh fidelity. This full -color reference book also includescomplete information on all Fisher stereo components.Enclose 25c for handing and postage.*

Fisher Radio, Dept. HF-7, P.O. Box 1367Long Island City, N.Y. 11101

Name

Address

city State Zip

Please glue or tape coin on picture of handbook above 0107711

: :C.C

They're of the Baxandall variety, whichis a little more expensive than the kindother makers like to use. But they're alsobetter. (They leave the midrange alonewhile you adjust the bass or treb'e.)

A muting switch quiets the noisebetween FM stations. There's a highfilter so you can cut out unwanted highfrequencies on the front chaine's, if youchoose. There's a balance control, loud-ness contour and tape monitoringswitches for front and rear charnels.

Of course, the 601 has controls formode, selecting speakers, aid selectinga sound source. And the front and rear -channel volume controls slide iike pro-fessional sound -studio faders.

The Fisher 2+ 2 matrix system.4 channels out of 2.Not only does the Fisner 601 give

you fantastic sound with trLe 4 -channelprogram material, it also incorporates a

Our very expensive 4 -chain

el el 01 el riN

Prices slightly higher in the Far West Overseas and Canadian residents please writeto Fisher Radio International. Long island City, N.Y. 11101.

Real 4 -channelstereo is expensive.

But now1 it doesn't have to be

very expensive.

(Lift flap.)

The History Savers at work.

Deep inside a building at New York's LincolnCenter for the Performing Arts, recorded history isbeing recorded again. At the Rodgers andHammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound,technician Sam Sanders is busy continuallytranscribing all sorts of old recordings, transcrip-tions and acetates. Not only will there then bea more permanent record of this valuable material,but access to it is made easy through a sophisticatedcatalogue system, by which interested persons canhear material that was otherwise unavailable.

The Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives ofRecorded Sound are part of the New York PublicLibrary, Research Library of the Performing Arts,and encompass virtually the entire history ofrecorded sound. But to get these early (and oftenirreplaceable) discs onto tape wasn't easy. Because

until the recording industry estab-lished its own standards, playingspeeds, groove widths anddepths were widely varied.

Stanton engineers workedclosely with Archive Head DavidHall and engineer Sam Sanders

David Hall and Sam Sander, discuss a fine point.

when the Archive Preservation Laboratory was beingset up. Standard Stanton 681 cartridge bodies werechosen for their superior reproduction characteris-tics. However, some 30 different stylus types had tobe prepared to give the tape transfer operation thevariety needed to match the various old groovespecifications. Each was hand -made by Stantonengineers to fit a particular disc's requirements.So when Sam Sanders begins the careful disc-to -tape transfer, he must first match the stylus tothe record. Both microscope and trial -and-errortechniques must be often used together. But one ofthe special styli will enable every last bit ofmaterial to be extracted from these recorded rarities.

It goes without saying that a company willing totake such care in helping to preserve recordedhistory must also be interested in superior reproduc-tion of today's high fidelity pressings. Which isone reason why Stanton cartridges remain the choiceof professionals the world over.

For an informative brochure aboutour professional -quality cartridges,write to Stanton Magnetics, Inc.,Terminal Drive, Plainview, N.Y. 11803. SIIINT011

CIRCLE 46 ON READER -SERVICE CARDHIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE

July 1971VOL. 21 NO. 7

music and musiciansLeonard Marcus THE GALLEY RECORDS

A letter from the Editor

Christa Ludwig SPEAKING OF RECORDSA singer's choice

Charles Fisher vs. Paul Henry Lang THE TAMERLANO CONTROVERSYPros and cons of Handel's operatic style

William Zakariasen MUSICIAN AS ACTIVISTMusic and politics can be an explosive mixture

John McClure IGOR FYODOROVITCH STRAVINSKYA remembrance

audio and videoTOO HOT TO HANDLE

HF answers your more incisive questions

NEWS AND VIEWSStereo -4: the box score

EQUIPMENT IN THE NEWSThe latest in audio gear

EQUIPMENT REPORTSElpa PE 2040 automatic turntable . . . Nikko STA-1101 receiver

Ortofon SL-15/MP235 cartridge . . . Tannoy Orbitus-1 speaker systemAltec Lansing 911A stereo compact

Leonard Feldman WHAT'S BEHIND THE KNOB?A layman's guide to audio controls

Robert Long FOUR -CHANNEL DISCS -1971Several systems, none yet standard

Leonard Marcus FOUR -CHANNEL DISCS -1904A unique system for royalty

4

27

18

50

20

28

32

34

41

56

64

65

recordingsFEATURE REVIEWS 67

A Rachmaninoff eruptionThe St. Matthew Passion on original instruments

An ideal Pierrot Lunaire

CLASSICAL REVIEWS 72Heifetz on television . .. Youthful genius and the BSO

IN BRIEF 100Capsule wrap-ups of new releases

R. D. Darrell THE TAPE DECK 102Dolbyized cassettes: foreign and domestic

POP REVIEWSColombier's musical adventure . . . Liberace love festival

104

JAZZ REVIEWS 110Ellington in church . . . The complete Jelly Roll Morton

etc.LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 8

Our anniversary issue . . . A stamp for Kreisler

PRODUCT INFORMATION 15An "at home" shopping service 97

ADVERTISING INDEX 96

What Jid they do? See page 50.

What does this do? See page 56

Did this do anything? See page 64.

111:1111:1:1 Published at Great Barrington. Mass. 01230 be Billboard Publications. Inc

Copyright C$ 1971 by Billboard Publications. Inc The design and contentsal High fidelity Magazine are fully protected be copyright and must not be

repMduced in any manner Second class postage paid at Geer Barington and at additionalmarling offices. Authorized as second -crass mail by the Post Office Department. Ottawa andIle unman, of postage in cash High f idelity 'Musical America Edition is published monthlySub-colition in the U S A. and its Possessions. Ilk elsewhere. $15. Subscription includingConvert Artist Directory published in December. $20 it the US A and to Possessions- elsewhere.Ill Regular issues $1 25 a copy National and other editions publisied monthly. Subscriptionin tee U S.A and its Possessions, $7.95. Subscription rates foe all otner countries available onreqi est Regular issues 751. a copy Indexed in the Reader's Guide to Periodical literature.

Cur ant and bash copies of High Fidelity and High fidelity.AIL seal Amer ea available on

mir,ofilm from University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Michigan 4R106 Change of address noticesand ninfolivered rabies (font 3579) stmakt be addressed to High Fidel ty. SubscriptionDeportment. P.O. Bee 14154, Cincinnati. Ohio 45214. lose stale both old and new addresseswhen requesting a change.

The Calley Records

DEAR READER:

Unfortunately, the Calley verdict was not controversial. When only nine percent of the people (according to a Newsweek poll) approve the verdict, andopposition spans the political spectrum from Bella Abzug to Lester Mad-dox, you don't have a controversy, you have a definition of contemporaryAmerican culture. Somewhere along the line the old American ethic that aman is responsible for his own actions has been subverted. We are now tohold either that when others share responsibility in a crime its perpetrator isinnocent, or that the shooting of defenseless civilians (or POWs for that mat-ter) under custody and in the protection of a capturing force is no crime. Ineither case, we would have to disavow both the Nuremburg Trials and theGeneva Convention. I for one was proud to be an American the day thecourt-martial jury determined in effect that we bind ourselves to the samemoral code we bound the Nazis to, and which made retroactive the pre-viously questionable moral foundation of Nuremburg-that it established aminimum level of tolerance for international misbehavior and was not sim-ply a ritual revenge upon defeated enemies.

Since the overwhelming majority of Americans apparently felt otherwise,it was only to be expected that some record companies would now take theirturn to make a killing. Empathy for Calley's predicament could be converted intocash if the lieutenant were transformed into a hero through sone. I have no

,

quarrel with political music. As William Zakariasen's article in this issuemakes clear, musicians and their music have long been involved in politicalactivism. From time immemorial, balladeers have romanticized outlaws.And certainly in our own time the antiestablishmentarians have had morethan their share of activist music. But what degree of avarice must one haveto be able to glorify a baby -murderer who happened to get caught?

A quick -acting one, at least. In what must have been the fastest marketingof a news -oriented recording since Pope Paul VI visited America. pro -Cal -ley discs flooded record stores. Within days of the verdict, Plantation Rec-ords and Royal American Records had each brought out Battle Ht'mn ofLt. Caney. To the tune of Battle Hymn of the Republic. we learn about thelittle boy playing soldier with a "wooden sword in one hand and an Amer-ican flag in the other" who grew up but "never let go of the flag" "I'm justanother soldier;' he sings, who "tried to do my duty'? but "they" have "mademe out a villain' Within a week one of the recordings had jumped into Bill-board's "top 100" chart at number 41 and the other was "bubbling under" at114. A third record, Morning in My Lai (which I haven't heard), was issuedalmost immediately, and a week later came Indictment of a Nation fromWestpark Records. Indictment, despite its title, is another glorification of theyoung officer whose "friends all called him 'Rusty" and whose constant re-joinder is "Sir, I'll do my best", all to the background ofAmerica and BattleHymn of the Republic.

Now steps in Stan Gortikov, the head of Capitol Records. While un-known artists were used on the above -mentioned discs, Capitol had cut Bat-tle Hymn of Lt. Callev with country star Tex Ritter. Imagine the money to bemade there! But Gortikov stopped the release. Executive 'censorship ofartistic expression? No more so than Mercury's decision to bar dope -pro-moting songs. Rather, the record industry had come up with a man of moralsensitivity who refused to let his company benefit from the unspeakable-if still expressible. "If we want to glorify a war hero:' he explained, "let'sfind somebody other than Lt. Calley:'

My choice, right now, would be Stan Gortikov.Next month, in a SPECIAL TAPE ISSUE, we will point out 9 CAS-SETTE SOUND -SPECTACULARS, discuss THE DOLBY BOOM, de-scribe the ADVANTAGES AND LIMITATIONS OF CASSETTES,8 -TRACK, AND OPEN -REEL, examine THE NEW TAPE FORMULA-TIONS, and much more. And in AIDA'S CREATOR you will read theincredible story of, no not Amonasro, or Verdi. but the archaeologist -turned -pasha Auguste Edouard Ferdinand Francois Mariette. Who?

LEONARD MARCUSEditor

NORMAN EISENBERGAudio -Video Editor

PETER G. DAVISMusic Editor

SHIRLEY FLEMINGEditor, Musical America Section

ROBERT LONGAssociate Audio -Video Editor

EDITH CARTERAssociate Editor

SHEILA SCHULTZAssistant Editor

ROY LINDSTROMArt Director

ROBERT MADDOCKSAssociate Art Director

RUTH W. DUNTONProduction Editor

MORGAN AMESR. D. DARRELLALFRED FRANKENSTEINHARRIS GOLDSMITHDAVID HAMILTONPAUL HENRY LANGGENE LEESROBERT C. MARSHGEORGE MOVSHONH. C. ROBBINS LANDONContributing Editors

MILTON GORBULEWCirculation Director

STANLEY BINDERCirculation Manager

CLAIRE N. EDDINGSAssistant Publisher andDirector of Advertising Sales

WARREN B. SYERPublisher

ADVERTISING

Main Office: Claire N. Eddings. The Publishing House.Great Barrington. Mass. 01230. Telephone: 413-528-1300.

New York: 165 W. 46th St., New York, N.Y. 10036. Tele-phone: 212-757-2800. Seymour Resnick, Eastern Adv.Mgr.: Charlotte Gilbert: Steven R. Twomey.

Chicago: Billboard Publications, Inc.. 150 North WackerDr.. Chicago. III. 60606. Telephone: 312-236-9818.Leonard Levine

Los Angeles: Billboard Publications, Inc., 9000 SunsetBlvd.. Los Angeles, Calif. 90069. Telephone: 213-273-1555. Andrew Spanberger.

Nashville: Billboard Publications, Inc., 1719 West EndAve., Nashville, Tenn. 37203. Telephone:615-329-3925.Robert Kendall.

London: 7 Carnaby St., London W.1, England. Telephone:(01) 437-8090. Andre de Vekey.

Frankfurt/Main: Eschersheimer Landstrasse 69, Frank-'urtiMain, West Germany. Telephone (0611) 590805-6.Walter B. Rios.

Milan: Piazzale Loreto 9, Milan 20131, Italy. Telephone:28.29.158. Germano Ruscitto.

Tokyo: Japan Trade Service. Ltd., Ikejiri 3-1-1-1008.Setagaya-ku. Tokyo. Japan. Telephone: 413-2871.Kanji Suzuki.

4 HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE

Out of the Research that Produced the 901

BOSE brings you the SecondDIRECT/REFLECTING Speaker System

The BOSE 901* The BOSE 501*DIRECT/REFLECTING Speaker System

THE 12 YEARS OF RESEARCHTwelve years of research into physical acousticsand psychoacoustics produced this unconven-tional speaker that has met with unprecedentedsuccess. Copies of the Audio Engineering So-ciety paper, by Dr. A. G. Bose, describing thisresearch, are available from BOSE Corp. forfifty cents.

THE RAVE REVIEWSThe 901 is the most highly reviewed speaker onthe market, regardless of size or price. Circlenumber 5 on your reader service card for re-prints of the reviews.

THE SOUND OF THE 901Ask your franchised BOSE dealer for an A -Bcomparison with the best conventional speakershe carries, regardless of their size or price. Youwill only appreciate why we make this requestafter you have made the experiment.

DIRECT/REFLECTING Speaker System

THE DESIGN GOALOur opjective was to produce a speaker in the$125 price range that would audibly outperformall speakers costing less than the 901.

THE DESIGN APPROACHWe preserved as many of the features of the 901as possible to produce a speaker that sells for$124.80.

Circle No. 6 for information on the design ofthe BOSE 501.

THE PERFORMANCEYou are the judge. If we have succeeded in ourdesign goals, the result will be obvious to youwhen you A -B the 501 with any speaker sellingfor less than the 901.

"You can hear the difference now."

.17AWAE- Coyered by patent rightsissued or applied for

Natick, Massachusetts 01760

Circle # 5 for information on the BOSE 901Circle # 6 for information on the BOSE 501

65797 GABOR SZABOBlowin' Some Old SmokeBudda LP, 8TR, CASS

67517 THREE DOGNIGHTGolden BiscuitsDunhi LP, 8TR, CASS

21597 RIMSKY-KORS-AKOV ScheherazadeYorks LP, 8TR, CASS

66764 ELTON JOHNTumbleweed ConnectionUni LP, 8TR, (-ASS

IVA S CH ittSTMRS"! AM

41213 JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR(2 record set)Decca LP, 8TR, CASS

- .442780 LED ZEPPELINIIIAtlan LP, 8TR, CASS

33093 IAN & SYLVIAGreatest Hits(2 record set)Vangu LP, 8TR, CASS

33182 SUSAN SINGSSESAME STREET SONGSScept LP, 8TR, CASS

39089 5th DIMENSIONGreatest HitsSetiCi LP, 8TR, CASS

33184 DIONNE WARWICKVery DionneScept LP, 8TR, CASS

37833 ROD McKUENIn The BeginningSense LP, 8TR

43871 STATLER BROSBed of RosesMercu LP, 8TR, CASS

44765 SHIRLEY BAS- 21551 BEETHOVENSEY Is Really Something Piano SonatasUniAr LP, 8TR, CASS Yorks LP, 8TR, CASS

30618 DIANA ROSS41217 BERT KAEMP- Motow LP, 8TR, CASSFERT Orange Colored SkyDecca LP, 8TR, CASS 37838 FLIP WILSON

Flipped OutSunse LP, 8TR

21633 RED ARMYENSEMBLEYorks LP, 8TR, CASS

38368 VENTURES 10thAnniversary Album(2 record set) Liber LP

66826 BOBBY SHER-MAN Portrait of BobbyMetro LP, 8TR, CASS

68023 WOODSTOCK TWO(2 record set)Cotil LP, 8TR, CASS

42988 ROGER WIL-LIAMS Love StoryKapp LP, 8TR, CASS

42986 ROGER WIL-LIAMS Golden NitsVol. IIKapp LP, 8TR, CASS

48800 B. B. KING LiveAt Cook CoLnty JailABC LP, 8TR, CASS

38373 IKE & TINATURNERWorkin' TogetherLiber LP, 8TR, CASS

See for yourself why over 11/2 million record and tape collectorsRecord Club of America when other record or tape clubs would have

Colombia RCACilariel Stereo Tame Capitol Celornbia Stereo I

Record Cloi Cartridge Unice Record Club Recent ChM Tape Cleolas ado in las adv. in (as ad in las adv. in, in las adv.TV Guide Esquire Look Playboy Esquire

Oct. 3. 1970 Nov. 1970 Jan. 26. 1970 Feb. 1971) Oct. 1970)

paid $5 to joinaccepted them free.

RECORD CLUB OF AMERICA

CAN YOUCHOOSE FROMALL LABELS,LP's OR TAPES.INCLUDINGCARTRIDGEIambicAND CASSETTETAPES'

NO NO NO NO NO

Choose any LP or tapeon any label! No med.

__ tions! Over 300 differ.YEW ant manufacturers

including Capitol. Co.RCA. Angel.

London. etc.

MUST YOU BUYA MINIMUMNUMBER OFRECORDS ORTAPES,

MANY'

10

No obligations! NaYearly quota! Take as

NONE! !""' as few, or netts-icn.i.r:t all if you so de.

NOW MUCHMUST YOUSPEND TO

LFILL YOURFULEGAL

IGATI '

$59 76To

$71 75

$63.76te

595.40

$59.76te

$71.76

$49.10to

$59.60

$41.70di

$47.70

...... You don't have to spendZtKU.P ,^1-keCe.seYWere

not "Weeny obligated"DOLLARS to buy even a single

record of tape!

CAN YOU BUYANY RECORD

TAPE YOUWANT AT ADISCOireiTT

NO NO NO NO NO

Your discount up to!"' fr. 'rOHALWAYS less than?ggNo Inceptions!

DO YOU EVERRECEIVEUNORDEREDRECORDS ORTAPES,

YES

ere are no cer swhich you must return.

NEVER! "y t be records andtapes you want are sent-and only anion you ask

NOW LONGMUST YOUWAIT FOWAITSELECTIONSTO ARRIVE'

5 to 6weeks

5 to 6weeks

5 I. 6weeks

5 to 6weeks

5 to 6weeks

NO LONG v order Mengel'day received. No

WAITS! sh.F40^1 ... cYcit

.ros

toots a51 re° ji

WITH NO OBLIGATION

68030 CROSBY STILLSNASH & YOUNGFour Way Street(2 record set)Atlan LP, 8TR, CASS

42665 CROSBY STILLS& NASHAllan LP, 8TR, CASS

43870 MELBA MOORELook What You're DoingMercu LP, 8TR, CASS

33099 P00. BACNStoned GuestVangu LP, 8TR, CASS

75002 JACKSON 5Maybe TomorrowMotow LP, 8TR, CASS

50506 BUFFYSAINTE-MARIEWanna Be A BallerinaVangu LP, 8TR, CASS

32882 JOAN BAEZJoan Baez 5Vangu LP, 8TR, CASS

68019 EMERSON, LAKE& PALMERCotil LP, 8TR, CASS

16595 VIRGIL FOXBach at the FillmoreDecca LP, 8TR, CASS

TYPICAL

"EXTRA DISCOUNT" SALE$4.98 LPs average as low as $1.96$5.98 LPs average as low as $2.25$6.98 LPs average as low as $2.56

Savings of 63% or more from recent Club sales upto $4.42 per LP. Start these giant savings now...not after you fulfill your obligation like the otherclubs.

Average

LabelListPrice

ClubPrice

Andy Williams-Love Story Colum 5.98 2.25Anne Murray Capit 5.98 2.25Ed Ames-This Is RCA 6.98 2.562001-A Space Odyssey MGM 6.98 2.56Mary Travers-Mary WarBr 4.98 1.96Creedence Clearwater

Revival-Pendulum Fanta 4.98 1.96Miles Davis-Bitches Brew Colum 5.98 2.25Love Story-Soundtrack Param 5.98 2.25Perry Como-It's Impossible RCA 5.98 2.25Bloodrock-3 Capit 5.98 2.25Santana-Abraxas Colum 5.98 2.25Worst of Jefferson Airplane RCA 5.98 2.25

RECORD CLUB OF AMERICA-The World's Largest Record and Tape ClubCIRCLE 35 ON READER -SERVICE CARD

HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE

Ally 1 Tape tditileige ShOW11TO BUY ANYTHING EVER!

erlorth,

Yes, take your pick of these great hits right now! Choose any 3 Stereo LPs (worth up to $20.94) or any 1 Stereo Tape (cartridgeor cassette, worth up to $13.96) FREE . . . as your welcome gift from Record Club of America when you join at the low lifetimemembership fee of $5.00. You can defer your selection of FREE items and choose from an expanded list later if you can't find3 LPs or 1 Tape here. We make this amazing offer to introduce you to the only record and tape club offering guaranteed discountsof 33'/3% to 79% on all labels-with no obligation or commitment to buy anything ever. As a member of this one -of -a -kind clubyou will be able to order any record or tape commercially available, on every label-including all musical preferences. No automaticshipments, no cards to return. We ship only what you order. Moneyback guarantee if not satisfied.

66738 NEIL DIAMONDTap Root ManuscriptUni LP, 8TR, CASS

41152 WHO Tommy(2 record set)Dacca LP,8TR, CASS

44726 FERRANTE &TEICHER 10thAnniversary Album(2 record set) UniAr LP

44757 BEST OFGORDON LIGHTFOOTUniAr LP, 8TR, CASS

65793 BREWER &SHIPLEY TarkioKamSu LP, 8TR, CASS

33185 JOSEPH & THEAMAZING TECHNICOLORDREAMCOATScept LP, 8TR, CASS

28082 GREGORIANCHANT TREASURYYorks LP, 8TR, CASS

42911 MAN OF LAMANCHA Original CastKapp LP, 8TR, CASS

'1r torisas as

38376 CANNED HEAT 42784 STEPHEN'N JOHN LEE HOOKER STILLS(2 record set) Liber LP Atlan LP, 8TR, CASS

33183 B. J. THOMASMost of AllScept LP, 8TR, CASS

33134 B. J. THOMASGreatest Hits Vol. 1Scept LP, 8TR, CASS

65796 CAL TJADERToder-AdeBudda LP, 8TR, CASS

67519 STEPPENWOLFGoldDunhi LP, 8TR, CASS

65775 VERY BEST OFLOVIN' SPOONFULKamSu LP, 8TR, CASS

44753 TRAFFIC JohnBarleycorn Must DieUniAr LP, 8TR, CASS

66709 ORSON VALLESBegatting of thePresident Media LP

33092 BEST OF BUFFYSAINTE-MARIE(2 record set)Vangu 1.P, 8TR. CASS

65784 MELANIELeftover WineBudda LP, 8TR, CASS

records

counts as

44746 DUKE ELLING-TON 70th BirthdayConcert(2 record set) SoISt LP

21537 TCHAIKOVSKY1812 OvertureYorks LP, 8TR, CASS

33179 DIONNE WAR-WICK I'll Never Fall InLove AgainScept LP, 8TR, CASS

NOW YOU CANVangu LP, 8TR,

CASS CHARGE IT, TOO!33065 JOAN BAEZDavid's Album

AT LAST A RECORD AND TAPE CLUB WITH NO "OBLIGATIONS"-ONLY BENEFITS!Ordinary record and tape clubs make you choosefrom a few labels-usually their own! They makeyou buy up to 12 records or tapes a year-usuallyat list price-to fulfill your obligation. And if youforget to return their monthly card-they sendyou an item you don't want and a bill for $4.98,$5.98, $6.98, or $7.98! In effect, you may becharged almost double for your records and tapes.

BUT RECORD CLUB OF AMERICAENDS ALL THAT!

We're the largest all -label record and tape clubin the world. Choose any LP or tape (cartridgesand cassettes), including new releases. Noexceptions! Take as many, or as few, or noselections at all if you so decide. Discounts areGUARANTEED AS HIGH AS 79% OFF! You alwayssave at least 331/3%. You get best sellers for aslow as 991;.

NO AUTOMATIC SHIPMENTSWith our Club there are no cards which you mustreturn to prevent shipment of unwanted LPs ortapes (which you would have to return at yourown expense if you have failed to send writtennotice not to ship). We send only what you order.

HOW CAN WE BREAK ALL RECORDAND TAPE CLUB RULES?

We are the only major record and tape club NOTOWNED...NOT CONTROLLED...NOT SUBSIDIZEDby any record or tape manufacturer anywhere.Therefore, we are not obliged by company policyto push any one label. Nor are we prevented bydistribution commitments from offering the verynewest LPs and tapes.

SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY MEMBERSHIP OFFERJoin RECORD CLUB OF AMERICA now and takeadvantage of this special Introductory Member-ship Offer. Choose any 3 LPs or any 1 tape shownhere (worth up to $20.94) and mail coupon withcheck or money order for $5.00 membership fee(a small handling and mailing fee for your free

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letters

Our April Anniversary Issue

With more than sixteen years of HIGHFIDELITY back issues resting on a closet shelf,it seemed inappropriate to let your twentiethanniversary pass without extending congrat-ulations.

I literally grew up with your magazine atmy side and it would be difficult to guess howmany enjoyable hours your publication hasprovided. Thank you for a superior job andmy best wishes for your continued successand prosperity.

David A. WilliamsPromotion Manager,WNDU/WNDU-TVSouth Bend, Ind.

May I compliment you on your fine TwentiethAnniversary Issue. My continuing interest inboth music and high fidelity dates from yourfirst issue in 1951, when as an impressionablefourteen -year -old I realized that the old familyradio was not giving out all one might wish.Most of your technical articles have fadedfrom my memory. along with my custom-built 20 -watt Williamson amplifier, my Rek-o-Kut turntable. and an enormous bass reflexenclosure. What remains, however, is thenostalgic memory of your reviews over theyears. especially the early discographies.

In response to your article "The Story of anIdea': I'd like to know what happened to someof the critics whose reviews I followed soclosely. For example, what became of C. G.Burke? I remember his reviews disappearingfrom your pages in the late Fifties. And J. F.Indcox- is there still a "Music Box" on MainStreet in Great Barrington? And what aboutDavid Randolph, Paul A ffelder, *and RayEricson?

Watching the growth of high fidelity andstereophonic sound over the past twenty yearsthrough the pages of HIGH FIDELITY has beenquite an experience. I hope you're around foranother twenty years so my son can enjoy thesame.

Ronald H. McDonaldSyracuse. N.Y.

Here is a brief updating on the activities of a fewof HF's former critics. C.G. Burke lives inretirement in upper New York State; he's wellon in years and since he no longer drives a car,is not able to visit the Publishing House. Jacklndcox still lives in Great Barrington. Thoughhe has given up the storefront on Main Street,he continues to sell records to a limited groupof collectors. David Randolph is still very activein the musical world as a lecturer and directorof the Masterwork Chorus. Paul Affelder's free-lance musical writing continues apace and RayEricson is now music editor of the New YorkTimes.

In his perceptive survey of pop music duringthe Sixties, Gene Lees made some brilliantobservations but also some questionableones. First, I am sure that few would agreewith Mr. Lees that the decade's music was.in general, poor. Rather, it was a time when

anyone who thought he had something musi-cal to say, regardless of talent, was given theopportunity. But natural selection applies tomusic as well as to biology, and only the fittestsurvive. By that criterion, the music of theSixties is so far the best of the century.

Second, Mr. Lees continues to insist on acausal relationship between rock music andthe drug culture. Actually, the drug scenewas a logical outgrowth of the despair thatcharacterized the entire decade-the recordcompanies were not offering a cop-out whenthey said that their product was simply areflection of the times.

What caused this despair? Mr. Lees hintedat it when he viewed the music of the earlySixties in terms of the hope generated by theKennedy administration. President Kennedy'sassassination generated a shock that was feltthrough our whole culture. Despair and unrestnaturally followed and brought with them alltheir cultural "reflections": the electric guitar,long hair, psychedelia, LSD, etc. The Beatles,the cultural harbingers of the Sixties, becameestablished in America less than one monthafter the assassination, at a time when someoneor something was needed to lead Americanyouth (and the youth of the world) throughthe shattered dreams. The entire Beatle outputwas an almost logical development, from/ Want to Hold Your Hand through Lucy inthe Sky to their inevitable breakup.

If anyone wants to know where pop musicis heading in the Seventies, they should con-sider the most recent cultural shocks, thedeaths of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin.The drug scene has worn itself out because,instead of offering consolation, it has broughteven more despair. It has proven to be a cop-out. The recent changes in pop music reflectthis dissatisfaction with the drug experience.The highly individual statements by suchpeople as James Taylor (whom Mr. Leeswrongly considers as characteristic of theSixties) and the Beatles indicate a more down-to-earth trend in pop music. Jesus -rock fore-tells a restoration of religious values. Let'shope for the best.

Wayne BergenElmhurst, N. Y.

The reappearance of Gene Lees in the Aprilissue was cause for jubilation. It has seemedmonths since you've printed one of his engag-ing little essays about his culture heroes,Spiro Agnew and Art Linkletter, and mean-while I've been forced to turn to the "Letters"column for my moral education. It just hasn'tbeen the same. I mean, sure Leonard Marcusand all those super -earnest philosophy profsout in Nebraska were laying it on us (oh,were they laying it on us!) about how demondrugs obscure the real and true appreciationof music, which only they can know, and thatwas terrific stuff. Just terrific.

But the moral tone began to get a littleambiguous when Marcus confessed that heisn't especially turned on by the sound ofmusic anyway (preferring silent score -reading)and that gunshots and women's screams arethe sounds that he really digs at the visceral

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level. So who do you trust? 1 mean, my motherwarned me about people like that whenshe warned me about drugs!

And then I turned to page 69 and foundthat good old Gene was back again. WhatI like about Gene is that he's so reliable. Ifhe secretly hates music and prefers the snapof black leather, you can be sure he'll nevercome out and say so in print. And best of all,nobody puts anything over on him. If a youngperson smiles, Gene can always see the snarlunderneath. Somebody says "love,' and oldGene never misses the overtones of "hate"echoing around it. They say "life" and hehears "death" every time. Nobody fools oldGene.

And what a grasp of history and sociology!Gene is the audiophile's Edmund Burke.Who would have thought that you could pickup a magazine about records and amplifiersand stuff and find the whole decade of theSixties put together for you in a page anda half? Heavy!

The only thing I missed was that he didn'tsay a word about the cancellation of theLawrence Welk Show. Maybe next month,Gene?

George R. PatersonChicago, Ill.

I have rarely witnessed such pompous, pre-tentious ego-tripping as the April lettersconcerning the music/drug question. Withthe exception of Craig Stacey's correspond-ence (which came close to the mark). theletters are wasted space in a magazine thatneeds more space. Gary Ralph, for example,insists upon an intellectual approach to musiclistening: never permit simplicity to creepinto art. I will listen to this pap when Mr.Ralph writes something that will make medislike Boheme (I am very fond of Wozzeckbut damn if I cannot enjoy Boheme also).

Unfortunately, among all these peoplepronouncing the last word on music listening,the worst offender is Leonard Marcus. Notonly does he suggest that he knows whatapproach to take to get the most out of music(a rather clinical means), but in an offensive,snobbish little paragraph reveals how he,unlike most mortals, is one of the elite, thegreat Master Score Reader. He forgets thatmusic came before notation. I would love tosee how well Professor Marcus could readevery bit of Carter's Piano Concerto projectedpage by page on a screen with pages changingat full tempo.

If I seem harsh, perhaps it is because Ifeel that vain boasts and silly pretense havelittle to do with artistic communication. I

certainly do not know how I listen to musicor why it moves me, and I don't really wantto know. Let music happen and do what itwill to you. At the risk of sounding presump-tuous myself, I feel that people who can ex-press the mysteries of music so simplisticallyare missing the point themselves.

The rest of the issue was splendid, however,especially Gene Lees's inspired comments.

Alan KleinPittsburgh. Pa.

I noticed with interest the April 1971 issuewhich discusses the Great Recordings of thepast twenty years.

On the list were Ansermet's performance ofFa!la's El sombrero de tre picos (formerly

on London) and the Beecham versions ofHaydn;s Salomon symphonies (formerly onAngel). We are happy to announce that withinthe next four to six months, both will be re-released on the Everest label.

In the same issue, Peter G. Davis ["RepeatPerformance"] pointed out that Ernest Anser-met was in all likelihood the conductor ofBloch's Schelomo as well as A Voice in theWilderness on Everest 3284-not the composeras noted on the jacket. London, which orig-inally released this disc, supplied us with theincorrect credit; only after releasing therecord did we discover that Ansermet wasin fact the conductor and London apologizedfor their error. In the near future we willcorrect the labeling.

Bernard C. SolomonPresidentEverest RecordsLos Angeles, Calif.

Peter G. Davis senses correctly [April 1971]that the incorrectly labeled Arensky "Fantasy"which he reviewed on Turnabout 34345 is infact the composer's Piano Concerto, Op. 2and is now so listed in Schwann. The onlyrecording of the one -movement Fantasy is onSoviet MK D-16581-2 with Nikolaeva andFedoseyev. Your correspondent must takecredit for advising Turnabout and Schwannof the error some months ago.

Saul KrugerSilver Springs, Md.

A Stamp for Kreisler

Recently at a spa near Lucerne, I happenedto see a poster announcing a semiprofessionalperformance of Fritz Kreisler's operetta Sissy.

I intended to see it but found, to my disap-pointment, that it was sold out.

This brought back to me a project that Ihave been carrying in the back of my mindfor several years now, one of those good in-tentions one never carries out; to initiate someaction that would cause the Austrian postalauthorities to honor our beloved FritzKreisler's memory by issuing a stamp com-memorating the centenary of his birth in1975, only four years away. Thai this has notalready been done is a source of amazementto me. How could it be that a unique figurelike Kreisler-whose name evokes so muchthat was a part of Austria and Vienna, thecomposer of Caprice viennots, of Liebesleidand Liebesfreud, the incomparable violinistwith that Viennese lilt-should have been for-gotten by those who make decisions in thephilatelic field?

Although I am not a philatelist myself, Iknow how all countries, especially those con-cerned with the tourist industry, are on thelookout for symbols that help to create the"image" of what they set out to propagandize.I am thinking of the French stamp series ofthe great French painters, of Hungary's utili-zation of Bartok's prestige, and so on. Is thereanything more natural than that Austriashould stress the fact of the great Kreisler'sOesterreichertum?

Knowing a thing or two about bureau-cratic red tape, I decided not to approach theauthorities myself. Instead, I decided thatyour magazine with its international reader-ship and prestige could achieve the resultmuch more effectively. After all, the gramo-

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phone industry and all that the gramophonemeans to music owes a debt to Fritz Kreislerwho, along with Caruso and. perhaps MischaElman and Wilhelm Backhaus. was one ofthe principal artisans of the gramophone'semergence as a major factor in music.

Joseph SzigetiClarens, Switzerland

The Image of Delius

While perusing HIGH FIDELITY'S April issue,my heart jumped for joy when I came acrossthe full -page review of Angel Records' newDelius Appalachia/Brigg Fair release, butafter reading what Donal Henahan had tosay my joy turned to disappointment.

I'm a concert cellist with a profound loveof Delius' music, and I always approach thesubject of this great composer with keen inter-est. Mr. Henahan's attitude is condescendingand rather offensive when he uses phrasessuch as "seriously addicted Delians," "folkytunes" "allowing for the inevitable purplepatches': "harmonic gouache "Hollywoodishclimax':

He also points out. that "some practicalreason also may explain his [ilarbirolli's]elimination of the choral part for three meas-ures (at ten bars before letter v), though it isnot obvious' Upon checking the recordingwith my score, the tenors made their entranceexactly as indicated at ten bars before letterv, with nothing eliminated. Something defi-nitely is obvious.

I don't want to be a nitpicker, but I think itis a sad indictment of the current trend in ourconcert halls that this sublime and supremelybeautiful music is almost totally neglected.Delius is music's nature poet incarnate, mysticvisionary, peace lover, true humanitarian, anAquarian in this age of Aquarius. If ever theworld needed to understand this great man'smessage, it is now. Let us by all means, withhonor and respect, do what we can to encour-age a greater understanding.

David EverhartNew York, N. Y.

Magical Flute

I would like to take strong exception to PaulHenry Lang's review of the new London/Solti Magic Flute [April 1971].

The most exciting aspect of this recordingis, to me, the utterly fresh perspective em-ployed in approaching a work and a composerwhose visionary potential is so often neglectedin performance. From the excitement anddynamism of the orchestral treatment, its dra-matic emphasis and unity, to the sublime effectobtained by using male instead of femalesopranos as the three boys, everything aboutthis recording contributes to what is virtuallya complete revitalization of this most vitalof operas.

While Mr. Lang seemed to have shared myopinion of these particulars, it seems to methat he did not respond to their freshness andvibrancy, but rather to an incidental con-formity with his standards of execution. Con-fronted with something truly imaginative,like Cristina Deutekom's breathtaking andunearthly Queen, all Mr. Lang could managewas to whip out his pharisaic metronomeand pick vocal nits, never realizing that whatrubbed him the wrong way was not the inter -

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pretation's lack of "temperament" but itsunfamiliarity.

While conservatism of this sort has his-torically done little damage-to true artists,that is. who invariably react to a lack ofpopular acceptance by withdrawing deeperinto their creative sources-the same unfor-tunately cannot be said of a recording com-pany whose product must sell if it is to survive.Surely London's management should beencouraged in their innovative policies in thistime of cheapening products and tastes. Weknow only too well the profitable alternativesthat can be taken.

Michael NewmanFlushing, N.Y.

Much Ado About Reger

I have been reading record reviews by Clif-ford F. Gilmore for some time now and havealways been impressed by his enlightened andarticulate criticism. His review of the Tele-funken recording of the Reger organ worksin the March issue, therefore, gives me theimpression that he was either not quite seriousor not quite sober when he wrote it!

As an organist. I am-unfortunately-morethan casually familiar with the works reviewed.To describe Reger's music as "intricately con-trapuntal" implies a conception of polyphonythat is. to say the least, rather quaint. Reger's"polyphony" is a sham, intended to give theimpression of melodic independence in musicconceived entirely in the late or, rather, hyper -romantic idiom of the turn of the century.Seen from our vantage point. Reger's outputis. like that of so many of his contemporaries,a frantic and futile attempt to stem the tide ofa rapidly declining musical culture. Thosewho see in him genius, or a synthesis of Bachand Brahms, only betray their inability to seebehind a façade. Where Bach and Brahmswrote profoundly, Reger wrote pompously:where they wrote forcefully. he wrote loudly:where they wrote dramatically. he wrotehysterically.

Stravinsky once described Reger's musicas being "As repulsive as the man himself.'but Shakespeare unwittingly described itbetter than anyone else 300 years before itwas written: there is in Reger's music, indeed,much ado about nothing.

Richard SigginsHamburg. Germany

High Fidelity, July 1971. Vol. 21. No. 7. Publishedmonthly by Billboard Publications, Inc., publisher ofStereo. Stereo International, Modern Photography,American Artist, Billboard. Vend, Amusement Business.Merchandising Week. Photo Weekly, Gift & TablewareReporter. Record Retailer. Record Mirror, DiscografiaInternazionale. World Radio TV Handbook.

High Fidelity/Musical America. Edition publishedmonthly. Member Audit Bureau of Circulations

Editorial correspondence should be addressed to TheEditor, High Fidelity, Great Barrington, Mass. 01230.Editorial contributions will be welcomed. Payment forarticles accepted will be arranged prior to publication.Unsolicited manuscripts should be accompanied byreturn postage.

Subscriptions should be addressed to High Fidelity.2160 Patterson St Cincinnati, Ohio 45214 Subscrip-tion rates' High Fidelity Musical America: In the U.S.A.and its Possessions. 1 year $14, elsewhere. 1 year $15.National and other editions published monthly: In theU.S.A. and its Possessions. 1 year $7.95 Subscriptionrates for all other countries available on request.

Change of address notices and undelivered copies(Form 3579) should be addressed to High Fidelity. Sub-scription Fulfillment Dept. P.O. Bon 14156, Cincinnati.Ohio 45214

14CIRCLE 25 ON READER -SERVICE CARD


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JULY 1971


!7

Fisher vs. Lang

Long Live the Little Knife

I feel that Paul Henry Lang's review of ourrecording of the opera Tamerlano [May 19711-an important and brilliant addition to theHandel discography-is an incredibly super-ficial and capricious concoction of bias andfaulty scholarship.

Mr. Lang's first theme is to disparage thewhole effort because he lacks the imaginationto accept mezzo-sopranos in Handel's castratoroles, even though Handel in his operas wrotetwenty-six male roles for women singers.Most critics accept the mezzo compromise.and the opera public certainly expects womento sing Orfeo. Cherubino. and Octavian.

In Tamerlano the "male" mezzo voices areeffectively contrasted with each other and withthe female roles. But Mr. Lang quips: "howcan you tell them apart in a fast-movingrecitative?" Well. Mr. Lang. since you are notfluent in Italian. which I will prove, you mustdo what you did with the five low men's voicesin the recent DGG Giulio Cesare: you payattention! You find fault with the Italian of ourmezzos (which is quite good) but you ignoretenor Young's habitual un-Italian glottalstopping in cases like unico/avanzo. On SideI alone of Giulio Cesare you ignored twenty-six incorrect vowels (including "Chay-zareh"for "Chez-areh"), five incorrect single con-sonants, and ten wrong double consonants.Italian "quotations" in your book (GeorgeFrideric Handel) do not restore my confidence:I find at random canto for cantate. dissente forsenti, si for se, complesso for amplesso, andoffere for offese.

According to this double standard it seemsthat the Italian does not matter so long as thecastrato roles are transposed for men-inGiulio Cesare, for instance. Mr. Lang says"the results are felicitous" even while admit-ting that Fischer-Dieskau could not handlethe coloratura at all. Mr. Lang's book actuallyadvises removing excessive roulades andornaments when transposing so that mencan manage. The very essence of rage ariaslike Caesar's "Al lampo dell'armi" and Tamer -lane's "A dispetto" is the frenzy of three orfour consecutive allegro bars in sixteenthnotes. Today these can be sung brilliantly bywomen, at original pitches: it is difficult toconceive what would be left of them afterMr. Lang's "competent editing" for men.Transposing Handel's vocal line down anoctave perverts-and inverts-the harmonic

Charles P. Fisher

architecture of his often deceptively simple,transparent orchestration. Accompanimentsand countermelodies are trampled or ma-rooned and the voice gets mired in the bass.Retouching as endorsed by Mr. Lang merelyaggravates the vandalism.

His opinion of the recitative in Tamerlanoas compared to that in Giulio Cesare seems tobe the result of his anti -mezzo bias. He isbored by it: although it is "fast-moving" hefinds it "fuzzy" and lacking in dramatic timing.This is strangely at odds with the opinion ofWinton Dean. author of Handel and theOpera Seria, who in a recent letter wrote."The recitative is conspicuously good-far

"When facts do

not suit Mr. Lang,

he bends them."

better than in any other Handel recording..."Stereo Review's Bernard Jacobson writes

.. in the recitatives... there is none of thatpious mooning about what is unsuitableenough in Handel oratorio, and quite un-conscionable in opera. Instead, we are sweptalong, as we should be. by the passionateintensity of the action!' This double standardseems confirmed in Mr. Lang's book: ex-plaining the function of recitative in Handelopera he writes on p. 158, "the dramatic ex-pression was left to the recitative": onp. 160. "the emotion -free and often perfunctoryrecitatives restore the temporal continuity!'(Italics are mine.)

When facts do not suit Mr. Lang, he bendsthem. He is entitled to dislike Killebrew'svoice. but attacking her style, recitative de-livery, and technique (all of which are widelyadmired-see Jacobson) because he wouldhave preferred a baritone is dubious journal-ism. A reader hearing "A dispetto" or "Vubdar pace" might well wonder if Mr. Langlistened to them.

If one thing more than another has pro-liferated in the LP era it is the appreciationand knowledge of baroque performancepractices: yet Mr. Lang is flatly opposed tovocal embellishment. He praises the un-adorned da capos in Giulio Cesare for showingthat Handel's great melodies "easily bearliteral repetition!' and he represents thatornamenting a Handel aria is a wild impro-visational excursion for which no modernsinger is trained. Nonsense! As in baroqueinstrumental music, it is a matter of decoratinga tune without obscuring it-with turns. trills,slides, divisions, and so forth. The assertionthat today's singers. unlike string, wind, andkeyboard players. are incapable of this ispreposterous. Of course, Handel's great tunesbear literal repetition. but they respond grace-fully to the modest and stylish embellishmentadded in Tamerlano. The pettish abuse it drewfrom Mr. Lang is pure spleen.

He ventures out on another limb and itbreaks. He argues that Asteria, the youthful.initially naive daughter -figure. should havebeen sung by a dramatic soprano, finding oursinger "at a disadvantage when pitted againstthe heavy mezzos!' as in the duet with An-dronicus. Well nothing in the entire recordingis more obviously right than the exquisitebalance of quality and dynamics between


Bogard and Steffan in this piece. Mr. Langmisunderstands the magnificent aria "Cor itpadre" (another misquote, for "Cor di padre")-as well as the entire role-or he would notcall for a dramatic soprano in this young girl'ssorrowful affirmation of filial devotion andrejected love, while tacitly approving theextremes of fiery desperation and grief in her"Mirami. io quella son" and "Padre amatorFrancesca Cuzzoni sang the role for Handel,as well as Cleopatra and Rodelinda, both ofwhom are more worldly than Asteria: to callthem dramatic soprano roles would beincongruous.

Mr. Lang is finally trapped in a glaringerror. He says that in the opera's final coro "the

It is regrettable that an occasional individual isunable to separate legitimate disagreementwith a critic from personal insult and innu-endo. Mr. Fisher categorically rates his com-pany's recordings as "brilliant and important:'and imputes my contrary opinion to "un-wholesome motives:' a "pattern of hostility:'etc. (At least two other generally unfavorablereviews, by the way, have already appearedin reputable American publications.) In fact, Iam always happy to see a new Handel re-cording, and would have much preferred topraise this one. My judgment was fairly madeon the basis of a not inconsiderable musicalexperience. I began my training in one of thegreat opera houses in Europe, first in theorchestra, then as repititeur rehearsing manyof the great singers of that day, and I knowsomething about singing. But though I calledthe Tamerlano production "a valiant effort...done with dedication:' Mr. Fisher is resentfulbecause I found DGG's Giulio Cesare a betterexecuted job, so he throws the book at me.Apparently I have been thoroughly researchedfor past malfeasance; Mr. Fisher even read mybook on Handel. Too bad that all he got out of700 pages, besides a couple of quotes nicelylifted out of context. was a half -dozen obviousmechanical errors, already corrected for thenext printing.

But all this is of little importance. What isreally at issue is the profound dilemma thatstands in the way of the revival of baroqueopera: Urtext vs. the living theater. DGGfaced it squarely; Cambridge took the easyway out. (Incidentally, it is rather small of Mr.Fisher to make snide remarks about the com-peting company just because they werefavorably reviewed.) Leaving aside the vitupera-tion. Mr. Fisher's sole argument against myadvocacy of men for the castrato parts is thatHandel himself substituted women when thepampered and expensive evirati were notavailable. He seems ignorant of the well-known fact that Handel was a ruthlessimpresario. willing to butcher his own scoresfor expediency. Since eighteenth -centuryoperas were custom made for a particulartheater and a particular group of singers.whenever the production shifted to anothercity radical changes were made based onpracticality. Furthermore, since Handel wasrunning an Italian opera house he neverquestioned the prevailing Italian conventions.

top part. marked by Handel 'soprano', i.e.,Asteria. was allotted to one of the mezzos sothat with her powerful voice the treble wouldprevail:' Mr. Lang. in Handel's autograph thetop part is marked "Dotti:' and the others"Senesino:' "Pacini:' and "Boschi:' respec-tively. Dotti sang Irene for Handel, and Irenethe treble for us. As a Handel expert youshould also know that characters disabled atthe ends of operas are not usually recalled tosing the coro: this one has no Cuzzoni and noBorosini (Bajazet).

This is not all: Mr. Lang had anotherstrange lapse in contrasting Bajazet's "Fig/iamia" with his death scene; the former is ac-tually the centerpiece of the latter. Through

Paul Henry Lang

To the Italian public of his time only onething mattered in opera: superlative singing.and it was willing to put up with every ab-surdity to get it. "Long live the little knife:'the audience thundered when the castratocame through with a good performance.This could be tolerated in the usual Neapolitantype of opera, but the use of castratos and.even more, of female singers in male roles.becomes instantly untenable when the com-poser presents not faceless types but recogniz-able individuals, when he characterizes inmusic. Handel had the true dramatic instinct

... the paper

tolerates more than

the ear."

another score -reading error he accused us ofimproperly silencing the harpsichord wherethe score is in fact marked "senza cembalor

There are seven other abusive inanitiesin the review which, having little or no basis infact. reveal more about the author than therecording. Through all his distortion andmisrepresentation there emerges a pattern ofhostility for which I cannot imagine a

wholesome motive.This is a distressing exception to HIGH

FIDELITY'S high standard of journalism.Charles P. FisherPresidentCambridge Records, Inc.Wellesley. Mass.

-and power-and though he unfortunatelyoften bowed to the conventions, he did soonly as to framework and technical means:his characters are not puppets. In Handel'soratorios, essentially operas but no longergoverned by the rules of the opera seria, theuse of the castrato or of women in men's rolesis exceptional. Mr. Fisher's citing of Cheru-bino and Octavian in favor of his thesis onlyshows his innocence in matters of operaticdramaturgy. Cherubino is a youngster justpast puberty (Strauss patently modeled hisOctavian on Cherubino) and Mozart de-liberately created this delicious borderlinesituation by giving the role to a mezzo. As toGluck, he rewrote Orfeo for a tenor; that westick to the Italian version (bowdlerized atthat) just shows a similar lack of understanding.

Only two or three decades ago, almost noperformer, conductor or producer would payany attention to musicologists; we were tryingto communicate our findings, but were ridi-culed. (Sir Thomas Beecham made a real sportout of this.) Then musicology was discoveredby the lay fraternity and taken even moresolemnly and rigidly than by its professionalpractitioners. However, once the research hasbeen done, the correct score and the groundrules for performance established, the scholarmust yield to the performing artist. This isfar more than a simple exchange of roles, forthe historian deals with the past, the performerwith the present; the paper tolerates muchmore than the ear. DGG has a pride of mu-sicologists in its pay; unlike laymen. they un-derstand that we can never exactly reconstruct,only approximate, this long -departed music.They know that intelligent adjustment isnecesary, especially in the case of operaticmusic. The castrato both as an institution andas a stylistic norm is gone forever; we com-promise willy-nilly. When a castrato role isallotted to a woman, far from remaining faith-ful to Handel's conception. we ruin it. Wesubstitute for the castrato's white, neutral voiceone that is warm, colorful. and feminine. Thesubstitution of a tenor or a baritone is lessfalse, and need not hurt the score at all. I

reiterate that strict adherence to the Urtext,even where physically possible, is not theanswer to the problems of the living theater.About the similarly misunderstood questionof embellishments, some other time.

Paul Henry Lang

JULY 1971 19

Oranienbaum 1882 New York City 1971

Igor Fyodorovitch Stravinskyby John McClure

Director of Masterworks, Columbia Records

MAY 1966. After the final session of Persephone, I droveStravinsky home, small -talking our way along SunsetBoulevard, propelled by our fatigue and the vision of aChivas Regal at the other end. During our ceremonialtoasts and desultory plans for tying up the loose ends ofthe I.S. recording project which had occupied us for eightyears, I became increasingly depressed.

He seemed so frail that by the time I left I was over-whelmingly convinced that I had seen him alive for thelast time. As I drove slowly down Wetherly Drive tearsforced me to pull over. So this was how it would end. Iphoned my wife to share my feelings. I was inconsolable,and as a dozen meetings in the next four years proved,entirely mistaken.

However, this incident, melodramatic as it was, seemeda bellwether for our few remaining recording collabora-tions and marked roughly the beginning of the terribleroller -coaster years of strokes, recoveries, embolisms,hospitals, miraculous rallies, pneumonia, and the cruelfatigue and heartbreaking vigils that Vera Stravinskyand Robert Craft were to undergo.

These travails, signaling an end to our professionalencounters in the studio, altered our relationship in otherways. Towering under me as he did by a full foot, theimpact of his talent and personality was at times like aphysical blow. By accepting me into the "family" hemitigated both my awe and the age gap of forty-sevenyears between us, thus making it possible for meto function.

Now all this was changed perforce. There was no pro-fessional or personal contribution I could make to de-flect these crises. Each time he returned miraculouslyfrom death's border, a bit less man, a bit more myth, Iwould undergo another withdrawal exercise, progres-sively insulating myself from the real loss when it wouldfinally come. In this sense, my private mourning hasextended over the past three years.

But who is the public Stravinsky that we must nowmourn ceremonially? Is he simply the sum of the parts?St. Petersburg, Rimsky-Korsakov. Diaghilev. Panache.Firebird Paris. Picasso. Petrushka. Nijinsky. Cigaretteholder. Sacre. Riot. Histoire. Neoclassicism. Pulcinella.Beret. Symphony of Psalms. Hollywood. Money. Fan-

tasia. Balanchine. The Rake. Robert Craft. Scotch.Schoenberg. Conversations. Serialism. Invective. Illness.That Stravinsky?

Or, Mr. Twentieth -Century Music. Acerb. Profes-sional. Rich. Hot-tempered. Doctorphile. Conductor-phobe: "What most people call interpretation, I callbad habits!' Collector of prominent friends. Maker offamous enemies. Scourge of critics: "Music means noth-ing!' Artificer of brittle neoclassic ballets: "I composewith a stopwatch!' A facade as glinty and off-putting asSalvador Dali's. That Stravinsky?

Or, "Oh, yeah. That Firebird is pretty, but I can't standthat noisy piece he wrote for Walt Disney'.' That Stravinsky?

Yes, all those Stravinskys and many thousands more.Being public property, each person's Stravinsky will bemourned in his own way. Even the word "mourn" isperhaps inappropriate. Neither Stravinsky nor his twoclassmates at Seminal High School of Art, Class of1910-James Joyce and Pablo Picasso-worked overlyhard at leaving a mournable image. Lovability is OKfor politicians and doomed young poets, but is not chicfor avant-garde artists, steady in their orbits, thriving onrejection. These three giants dominating a half centuryof art were too engrossed in projecting new slides on ouraesthetic scrims to concern themselves with positivePR for the man in the street.

More important than public grief, I.S. would em-phasize, is for some of his less popular offspring toreceive a fair hearing and the popularity that is theirdue. Why not the Symphony in Three Movements,Oedipus, The Rake's Progress, Apollo, Requiem Canti-cles? A slow public misled by slower critics. This wouldtrigger the adrenalin, the flashing eyes, the deep voice."Jone [sic], tell me please, has X ever looked at myviolin concerto? I doubt he could even play it!' Annoyingomissions and aggravations, but fortunately no lost sleepover his musical hegemony.

Now the ghost will be bobbing and weaving accus-ingly over my sleep like Petrushka's ghost, summoninghidden Stravinsky tears not shed. The last heartbreakingimages of an active, avid intelligence trapped inside aracked and deteriorating body, communication graduallyfading. Now the offspring will carry on. Pace.


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speaking ofrecords

A Singer's Choice by Christa Ludwig

LISTENING 10 RECORDS is a problem forany musician who constantly jet -hopsthe continents. Only when I settle for aperiod of time in New York or Vienna doI have a chance to hear something otherthan my own voice and those of my col-leagues in rehearsals and performances.Actually, I listen to vocal records only onvery special occasions. For instance, I

love to lie comfortably in a hot bath withAct III of Tristan on the phonograph-the live Bayreuth performance on Deut-sche Grammophon (2713 001) with KarlB6hm conducting. The aging voice ofWolfgang Windgassen is so right for themusic of Tristan in his dying moments-so incredibly poignant and beautiful.

Not long ago I happened to hear arecording of Wagner's Wesendonk Liederon the radio, but I didn't know who wassinging. After the performance I learnedthat it was Marilyn Home who gave suchwonderful meaning to the words throughher pronunciation and phrasing (LondonOS 26147). I sing this music, so I know.Also I am dazzled by her "Mira, o Norma"with Joan Sutherland in London's com-plete Norma recording (OSA 1394).Although these nineteenth-century Italianoperas are not part of my tradition, I dolove the first Callas Norma (Seraphim IC6037, mono), especially her "Carta diveAnd when I was pregnant I listened onlyto her Tosca (Angel 3508, mono)-don'task me why!

Of the older singers, I have long ad-mired Frida Leider's singing of DonnaAnna's vengeance aria, "Or sai chi l'onore"from Don Giovanni (Eterna 745, mono)and Rosa Ponselle on the now deletedCamden "Art of Rosa Ponselle" or theVictrola recital reissue with arias fromNorma. Aida, etc. (VIC 1507. mono). Sheis a real paradigm for singers, so healthywas her technique and vocal sound.When I prepare to sing Bizet's Carmen,my inspiration is always the incompa-rable Conchita Supervia, whose Odeondisc of Carmen excerpts is unfortunatelynow unavailable.

One of the most remarkable Liederinterpretations I have ever heard isElisabeth Schwarzkopf's Gretchen amSpinnrade(Angel 35022, mono): here sheseems as if she were hypnotized by asnake. There are so many other greatrecordings: Hans Hotter's unforgettableWinterreise cycle of Schubert (SeraphimIC 6051, mono), Dietrich Fischer-Dies-kau's special way with In der Fremdefrom Schumann's Liederkreis (Angel S36266), and an old 78 I have of Elisa-beth Schumann singing Schubert's DerNussbaum. As for my own records, I

enjoy recording and the possibility ofrepeating a passage until it is the way Iwant it. Although I never find much timeto listen to myself, I do like the disc ofStrauss duets with Walter [Berry] on Vic-trola VICS 1269-perhaps because Idon't sing the role of Elektra and we didthe Recognition Scene. I can't go to thatopera because I cry from beginning to end.

In the orchestra repertory, I wouldsay that my tastes reflect my German -Austrian background, for more thananything I love all the Beethoven andBruckner symphonies-despite a recentarticle in Der Spiegel chastising us forusing Beethoven as a substitute forchurch! When I come home after a medi-ocre Beethoven concert, I immediatelyrun to my shelves and dig out Furt-wangler's Eroica or Fifth Symphony(both available on Seraphim IC 6018,mono, with the Seventh). I also have thenine symphonies conducted by Toscaniniwith the NBC Symphony (Victrola VIC8000, mono), because the contrast withFurtwangler in temperament and temposis extraordinary.

Bruckner opens the heavens to me. Hisorchestra was made for stereo-yet thismusic also impresses me by its simplicity.For the Bruckner Eighth and Ninth Sym-phonies I prefer Herbert von Karajan'sinterpretations with the Berlin Philhar-monic (Angel S 3576 and DGG 139011)-while I also have Klemperer's record-ings of the Fourth. Fifth, Sixth, and

Seventh (Angel S 36245, S 3709, S 36271,and S 3626, respectively). I am alsoeagerly awaiting Karl Bohm's recordingof the entire nine which is due to appearon DGG before long. Brahms is a prob-lem for me and I have not yet found thekey: he is complicated and the sym-phonies confuse me. But for his beautiful,ethereal Deutsches Requiem I will againchoose Karajan on DGG (2707 018) withGundula Janowitz, Eberhard Wachter,and the Berlin Philharmonic. Bach hasonly recently come into my life. WhenI studied the piano, I hated Bach and foryears I did not listen to any of his music.Then I began to sing his oratorios andpassions. I now love Bach, particularlythe unaccompanied works-for instance,Nathan Milstein's performance of thechaconne from his deleted Capitol re-cording of the Partita No. 2 and the solocello suites by Janos Starker on Mercury(SR 3 9016).

As for pianists, my heroes are DinuLipatti and Vladimir Horowitz, espe-cially the latter in that brilliant perform-ance of the Tchaikovsky First PianoConcerto with Toscanini (Victor LM2319, mono)-it is also very rewarding tocompare this fiery reading with the morestately version of Sviatoslav Richter andKarajan (DGG 138822). Also I could notbe without Horowitz' unforgettablePictures at an Exhibition from his Car-negie Hall recital (RCA Red Seal LM2357, mono). There are several record-ings by Lipatti which have a valued placein my library, including his Chopinwaltzes (Odyssey 32 16 0058) and hisBach/Mozart/Schubert/Chopin last re-cital on Angel 3556, mono.

In the area of contemporary music Iam drawn to Gyorgy Ligeti, who I thinkis the successor to Bartok-and particu-larly to his Atmospheres as conducted byBernstein with the New York Philhar-monic on Columbia (MS 6733). Justrecently I bought a recording for my son,Wolfgang, of the soundtrack from 2001:A Space Odyssey (MGM S 1E13ST)-it's quite a heady experience to leapfrom Ligeti to Richard Strauss's mightyAlso sprach Zarathustra and then toJohann Strauss's Blue Danube.

On my nonclassical shelves I have every-thing from Eileen Farrell's I've Got aRight to Sing the Blues to Sammy Davissinging I've Gotta Be Me and some Streis-and albums. And I'm crazy about DannyKaye's children's songs, particularlyMommy, Gimme a Drink of Water andI Love Old People-probably because Ican listen to them with my son. We alsohave a recording of What is Jazz? withBernstein-no longer in Columbia'scatalogue, but one of Wolfi's favorites.Bernstein explains that to be a bluessinger you must sing a little bit flat. Oncewhen Wolfi and I were at a concert givenby another singer, he whispered to me,"She would be a great blues singer."

JULY 1971 27

I have bought a Shure V-15 Type II Im-proved pickup, but your review [May 1970]says it will only perform up to design specswith "a shunted capacitance of 400 to 500pF:' which may or may not be provided bythe leads and the preamp. How can a neo-phyte-and there are many of us-determinethe capacitance of the cartridge leads andassociated preamp circuitry? And howwould you add compensation?-Harry J.DeLaney, Ottawa, Canada.It's very difficult to determine the capa-citance you've already got. The leads fromtone arm to preamplifier generally runabout 200 pF-less on an arm like the SME,which has relatively short, low -capacitancecables, and sometimes higher on inexpen-sive equipment using cheap cable. Shuretells us that the input capacitances of pre -amps they have checked in this respectvary around a median value of about 100 pF.So chances are that a typical system willrun just a little shy of the ideal 450-pFfigure. The difference probably won't beaudible, so most users simply don't worryabout it. If you're a worrier, you could writeto the manufacturers of both your arm orturntable system and your preamp or re-ceiver in the hope that they can supplycapacitance figures. (On the preamp,particularly, you may be out of luck.) Let'ssay the two figures add up to only 150 pF.You would then want to add 300-pF capac-itors between hot and ground leads in eachchannel to obtain an ideal match. Theeasiest place to do this usually is at theterminals where the separate wires fromthe arm are connected to the shieldedcables that carry the signal on to the pre -amp. Incidentally discussions such as thismay become academic before long. Untilrecently the input capacitance of preampswas of little importance; but the new super -compliant pickups are making it morecritical and Shure is not alone in designingfor the 400-to-500-pF input capacitancerange. Consequently preamp manufacturershave every reason to design circuitry ac-cordingly so that the electronics will makethe most of state-of-the-art pickups.

When KFAC in Los Angeles broadcast atrial run of quadriphonic sound they wroteand talked about it as though the desiredresult was to make you sit right in themiddle of the orchestra-instead of themiddle of the hall. the basic idea of four -channel sound as I understood it. I wrotethe station about this big difference andgot a reply saying. "As described by themanufacturers of four -channel tape ma-terial (RCA and Vanguard). their micro-phone placement was such as to createthe effect of the listener being in the middleof the orchestra. (Surround Sound is the

Vanguard trademark for their process.) We,therefore, followed the same procedure onthe placement of our microphones at theMuseum for the Roger Wagner live portion:Is this right? Who wants to listen as if hewere in the middle of the orchestra?-W.R. Augur, Claremont, Calif.Your correspondent of KFAC either hasn'tread the literature carefully, or he's over-simplifying in order to give you a quick andeasy answer. You're right in believing thatthe original thrust of four -channel soundwas toward the re-creation of hall sound or"ambience" rather than the musician's -earperspective implied by KFAC. Even Van-guard's original description of SurroundSound hinged on the capturing of the re-verberant field within the concert hall andthe reproduction of its acoustics in thehome. But some of the tapes in the initialVanguard release (particularly the BuffySainte -Marie) took a much less "natural"approach and laid the groundwork for thesurround -and -conquer technique that hasbecome all but standard in subsequentfour -channel releases,basic program information come from allsides of the listener. This plan may be ap-propriate for rock music, for example, butnot, we agree, for most concert fare. Theimpetus behind most of the recent quadri-phonic recordings seems to. be a swellingdesire to demonstrate that sounds can beplaced wherever the producer wants them.

I have a Scott LT -112B tuner. which I builtfrom the kit. Some of the more distantstations I would like to receive sound ex-cessively noisy when I listen in stereo.though the sound is fine in mono. I'vechecked the tuner's alignment, using thebuilt-in meter and following the proceduresspecified in the manual, but without im-provement. Do I need a bench alignment,an adjustment elsewhere in the circuit, ora new tuner?-William G. Styn, Wheaton, Md.With one sample of our acquaintance, theLT -112B came in at about 2.5 microvoltssensitivity when aligned by its builder usingonly the front -panel meter. A bench align-ment subsequently improved the figure toabout 2 microvolts: not a big change, butenough to show that bench alignment cando a better job. And assuming no malfunc-tion elsewhere, these figures demonstratethat buying a new tuner probably won't netyou much, if any, gain in sensitivity. Try bor-rowing a new unit with a good sensitivityrating and using it in your system. If it im-proves significantly your LT -112B probablyneeds a trip to the repair shop. Weak sta-tions become noisier when you switch tostereo on any tuner of course; the differ-ence is intrinsic to the stereo broadcastprocess. So if you want quieter reception of

too hotto handle

these broadcasts, the logical point of attackmight be your antenna, about which you saynothing. If you have one of the garden-vari-ety jobs we'd suggest a high -gain modelwith a rotator.

i seldom see anything about the EVR(photographic) and SelectaVision (holo-graphic) home video cartridges in yourmagazine any more. How come?-RichardWitolski, Port Chester, N.Y.EVR costs have inched upward since itsinitial announcement by CBS and it appearsto have priced itself out of the home marketfor the moment. Recent publicity from CBS-aimed at the education market-seems tosupport this view. RCA apparently has runinto unforeseen technical problems with itsproposed holographic system; it now saysthat the name SelectaVision may be used tocover any audio/visual system that RCAadopts for marketing and that the holo-graphic system per se is probably at leastfive years away in terms of marketability.

Being in Viet Nam I have run across manynew names in stereo equipment-particu-larly Akai and Dokorder. I haven't read any-thing in your magazine concerning thesecompanies. How can I find out about thereliability of their products?-Sgt. E. Pinto,Jr., APO, San Francisco, Calif.At present only by reading reports pub-lished in those areas (including Europe)where the products are sold. Very soon,however, the full line of Akai products is ex-pected to be in the U.S. now that the com-pany has set up American offices, and weundoubtedly will begin to review them here.

Why do stereo equipment manufacturerspersist in power operating requirements of117 volts when residential electric poweris supplied at 110 volts? Won't the defi-ciency in the supply harm the equipment-or at least compromise its performance?-D. R. Williamson, Chester, Pa.You're being too literal, D. R. House cur-rent is nominally standardized at 120 volts,although it can and does vary from time totime and from place to place. Designationsof 110, 115, 117, and so on are intendedonly to distinguish a unit's power require-ments from radically different supplies-the220 volts (also nominal) used for electricstoves and similar utility circuits for exam-ple. If supply voltage is critical for an in-tended use-say, in X-ray work or photo-graphic color printing-voltage regulationmust be built into the equipment. But it isnot critical in stereo components: even theinduction motors in many record changersand tape recorders should suffer only mod-est speed changes from a rise or drop of 5volts or so in the supply. Don't worry about it.

F11611 FIDELITY' MACiAZINE

AR; JBL Altec-Lansing°Bozak: loverstake heart...

there's aHeathkit: Speakermade just for you.

0 New AS -103... the highly praised AR -3a in low cost kitform. Uses the three Acoustic Research AR -3a drivers in asealed acoustic suspension enclosure. 12" woofer providescrisp, clean bass down to the limits of hearing ... special hemi-spherical dome midrange & tweeter, combined with a precisely -engineered crossover network, deliver the clean, transparentAR sound. Separate level controls for midrange & tweeter. 4ohms. Luxurious oiled walnut cabinet 25" H x 14" W x 113/4" D.68 lbs. $189.95*

0 New AS -102... an outstanding 3 -way system with famousBozak speakers. A 12" woofer, 6" midrange and two 21/2" tweet-ers in an infinite baffle design offer clean, natural response towell beyond audibility on both ends of the audio spectrum. An8 ohm, medium efficiency system; handles up to 50 watts. Com-plete with a beautifully designed and finished factory assem-bled Mediterranean cabinet ... measures 295/8" H x 273/4" W x197/8" D. Finished in pecan veneers & hardwoods.114 lbs. $259.95"© Heath AS -48 ... featuring custom -designed JBL speakers.Two custom -designed JBL speakers in a classic, one-piecepecan finish damped reflex, tube -ported cabinet deliver extra-ordinary bookshelf performance. Special 14" woofer deliverscrisp, pure bass you can feel as well as hear; clean, lifelikehighs come from the 2" JBL direct radiator. Three -position highfrequency level control. 8 ohms. Handles up to 50 watts. Meas-ures 14" H x 231/2" W x 12" D. 57 lbs. $184.95"

QD Heath AS -38 ... a medium-priced, efficient system with fa-mous JBL speakers. The 12" JBL woofer produces rich, full-bodied bass down to the limits of hearing; 2" direct radiatortweeter delivers clean, natural highs to beyond audibility. Han-dles up to 40 watts program material. 8 ohms. High frequencylevel control. Assembled, air -tight walnut veneer cabinet, dampedreflex, tube -ported. Measures 14" H x 231/2" W x 113/4" D.49 lbs. $154.950 New Heath AS -101 ... a superb 2 -way system with Altec-Lansing speakers. A remakable 2 -way bass reflex system in-corpora:ing a high compliance 15" woofer and high frequencysectoral horn to bring you extremely faithful reproductionthroughout the audio range. A high efficiency 8 ohm systemcapable of handling up to 50 watts. High frequency level control.Luxurioys Mediterranean styled cabinet measures 295/8" H x273/4" W x 19%" 0; finished in rich pecan veneers and hard-woods. 128 lbs. $259.95"

HEATH COMPANY, Dept. 11-7Benton Harbor, Michigan 49022 Enclosed is $ , plus shipping.

Please send model (s)

Please send FREE Heathkit Catalog. Please send Credit Application.Name

Address

City

a a cum pan,

State ZipMail order prices; F.O.B. factory.

Prices & spec.fications subject to change without notice. HF247

Jun' 1971

-aCIRCLE 24 ON READER -SERVICE CARD

29

Our new receiverincorporates an advanced

engineering conceptmade famous bya leading

tea bag.Not long ago, the tea people demonstrated that it was

possible to increase the performance of a tea bag simply by changing itsfundamental structure.

A similar approach has given birth to a whole new line of stereoreceivers, the first of which is here now: the Harman-Kardon 930.

The 930 is the first receiver ever built with twin power.Unlike every other receiver, it has two separate power supplies-two separatetransformers, two separate rectifier circuits and two separate filter sections.

To really appreciate what this means, you have to hear it in action.Let's say you're listening to an orchestra through a

conventional receiver. Suddenly a stirring bass passage comes along -a protractedorgan chord for example.

To reproduce all that bass, a huge amount of electrical power is required.In conventional stereo receivers, both amplifiers pull that powerfrom a common source. The amplifiers begin struggling for whatever they can get.The result is a loss in acoustical power- and a debilitating interactionbetween the two amplifiers.

This can't happen with the 930. The demand for poweris just as frantic. But the amplifiers, each with its own power source,have no trouble meeting these demands. Each supplies the needed power withoutaffecting the other. No fuzziness or veiled effect.

The result is virtually distortionless sound-not just at 1,000 Hz, whereeven ordinary receivers do fairly well, but throughout the entirefrequency spectrum. Total harmonic distortion remains below 0.5%from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz (at full rated output, 45/45 watts RMS, both channelsdriven simultaneously into 8 ohms). The distortion curve isn't a curve.You can draw it with a straight edge.

Because of twin power, the 930 offers remarkable square wave response:less than 5% tilt at 20 Hz; rise time is less than 2 microseconds.

But there's more to a receiver than amplifiers and power sources.The 930 also offers a tuner every bit as sophisticated as the rest of the system-and quite a few other things we'd like to tell you about.

Write to us and we will: Harman-Kardon, Inc., 55 Ames Court,Plainview, New York 11803. The Harman-Kardon 930.

The first receiver with twin power.


harman kardonA subsidiary of Jervis Corporation

4 -channel sound

news andviews

Stereo -4: The Box ScoreElectro-Voice has released some facts and figures to docu-ment the acceptance of its Stereo -4 compatible 2/4 -channelsound process now that the E -V Model 7445 encoder has be-come available. The way things go these days, the figures aresure to be out of date by the time you read them; but they il-lustrate the rapidity with which Stereo -4 is making itself felt-or rather heard.

To begin with, E -V lists twenty-six FM stations broad-casting Stereo -4 sound:

California: KBIG-FM, Los AngelesK MET, Los AngelesK PEN. Mountain ViewKSAN. San FranciscoK VEZ. San Mateo

Colorado: KLIR-I- M. DenverDistrict of Columbia: WASH, WashingtonFlorida: WPEX-FM, PensacolaIllinois: WCLR, Chicago

WFMT, ChicagoMassachusetts: WCRB-F \I. Waltham

Michigan: WKNR-FM, DearbornMinnesota: WLOL-FM, MinneapolisMissouri: KMBR-FM, Kansas CityNew Jersey: WDHA-FM, DoverNew York WNEW-FM, New York

WNYC-FM, New YorkWRFM, New YorkWZOW-FM, Utica

Ohio: WHFD, ArchboldTexas: KWXI, Fort WorthTennessee: WLAC, NashvilleUtah: KSL-FM,Salt Lake CityVirginia: WRNL-FM, Richmond

WBCI, WilliamsburgWashington: KIRO-FM, Seattle

Then there are the recording studios presently set up withthe encoding equipment: four of them in New York Cityand one each in Chicago and Hollywood. And there are fiverecord labels already producing Stereo -4 discs for the con-sumer market: Crest. Crewe, Ovation, Project 3, and Radnor.

Tape Duplication:A Hot New Process?

Tape, we are told by those who make it, is the mediumof the future. Well and good; but as sales figures prove,we haven't stopped buying discs just because pre-recorded tapes are available. Cost is a major reasonConsistency of the finished product is another.

One LP per minute is considered a pretty poor out-put even for a manual press these days, and the recordsit produces are virtually identical. In tape duplicationan average production rate of one copy a minute wouldbe considered excellent in most cases, but that mightrequire making a dozen or more copies simultaneously.And with that many "slave" units to co-ordinate, main-tain, and feed, it's easy to overlook a level that's a fewdB too high here, or an excessive number of dropoutsthere. Unlike records, tapes don't lend themselves tovisual inspection.

The search for alternative, more efficient methodsof tape duplication has been going on since the adventof prerecorded tapes some twenty years ago. Thesimplest expedient-increasing transport speed-en-tails extra problems of equalization (made even morecomplex if the copy is to be Dolbyized) and of bandwidthin the electronics and heads of the system. If only somesystem could be devised comparable to the high-speedprinting of movie film-that is, one in which the contentis transferred directly, without intervening signal re-covery and re-recording. (Continued on page 34)

Present (perhaps temporary?) state of the art: Ampex saysthis $10,000 stereo cassette duplication system, whichdrives both master and copies at 75 inches per second, is"five times faster than any previous cassette duplicator:'


The $95 Misunderstanding.It seems there's been some confusion about the

price that appeared in our first ad for the new KLH ModelThirty -Two loudspeakers. To clear up any misunderstand-ing, the price is, indeed, $95 the pair ($47.50 each). t

If you're wondering how we could make a KLHloudspeaker for $47.50, it's really quite simple.

We had two choices.Either we could make a fair speaker and a lot of

profit. Or we could make a lot of speaker and a fair profit.We chose the latter. We always do. That's why KLH

speakers sound like KLH speakers.Of course our Model Thirty -Two won't deliver as

t Suggested retail price. Slightly higher in the west.A trademark of The Singer Company

much bass response as, say, our Model Severteen_ But thebasic listening quality of the new KLH Thirty -Two is superbby any standard. In fac-, match the Thirty -Twoagainst any speaker in its price class: even cgainst mostspeakers costing -wice its price. For when it comes tomaking reasonably -priced speakers that &Jiver an in-ordinate amount of souna, that's reary what Ki.1-1 is allabout.

And about that, there can be no misunderstanding.For more informatior on the Model Thirty -Two, write

to KLH Research and Development, 30 Cross St.,Cambridge, Mass. 02139. Or visit your KLH dealer.

1011111111111 1 11111iiiiimjjjjiliNif

JULY 1971CIRCLE 28 ON READER -SERVICE CARD

33

NEWS & VIEWS Continued from page 32

Well, Du Pont has developed such a system for usewith Crolyn tapes; and other, apparently comparable,systems are in the works. The Du Pont process relieson the "Curie temperature" of the magnetic coating-the temperature at which the coating loses its ability toretain magnetization much the way that ice loses itsphysical shape when it is warmed above the meltingpoint.

A blank tape, heated above its Curie point, is broughtin physical contact with a master tape and then cooledrapidly. (The master tape will suffer erasure only if itsown temperature is allowed to creep up close to theCurie point.) The heated copy will assume the magneticpattern of the master with which it is in contact, and thecooling "freezes" this pattern, making a permanentcopy-barring subsequent erasure of course.

Since the duplication speed is basically unrelatedto playback speed-it can take place at any rate theheating and cooling equipment can manage-the proc-ess makes a strong bid to break what has been a majorbarrier to the promised ascendancy of tape.

Harry and the PiratesI he I tarry Fox Agency has been conducting a notably suc-cessful campaign on behalf of its music -publisher clients tobring suit against record pirates who have been abscondingwith hit tunes and producing copies, royalty -free, on the QT.Big profits can be made from such .pirated editions. Asidefrom the royalties. the purveyors don't have to worry aboutoriginal studio costs-easily in five figures for a present-day.L P.

We were aware that piracy was a widespread abuse, ofcourse: but we were not prepared for a recent statement byAlbert Berman of the Fox Agency: "Bootleg recordings un-believably now account for more than one third of the salesof recordings in the U.S. and produce illegitimate revenueinto the hundreds of millions of dollars:'

The report in which this statement appears goes into thedetails of one operation that the courts, following a Fox suit.have closed down. It reads like a scenario for The Avengers.Contacts with local dealers were handled by answering serv-ices and shipments were made by commercial airlines toavoid all person -to -person contact in the distribution pro-cess. ( Remember w hat Mr. Steed must go through to find thereal big boss?)

The description of the "home office" is particularly strik-ing: "The Phoenix operation, doing business as the NationalManufacturing Company. was located in a 17,200 -square-

foot modern facility in an industrial park. Private investiga-tion had revealed that the plant previously had been locatedin lower California, but had moved to Phoenix when its lo-cation was uncovered . . .. Five U.S. marshals confiscatedthe entire operation. which included approximately 150.000tape cartridges, 17 winding machines, duplicating equip-ment, wrapping and labeling machines, and numerousother equipment. The highly organized plant had specialareas for office work, maintenance, testing, quality control.labeling, shipping, and receiving-and even a kitchen andlounge area for the employees. It is estimated that the plantemployed approximately 100 people in around -the -clockshifts':

No wonder the :egitimate companies sometimes find ittough sailing.

equipment in thenews

Digital tuner from SAE

In the new stereo FM tuner from Scientific Audio Electronics (betterknown as SAE) of Los Angeles, the stations are tuned in the usualway, using a rotating knob, but the tuned frequency appears onnumerical display tubes via a crystal -controlled reference circuit.A miniature oscilloscope, rather than a meter, is used as a tuning aid,and it can be switched to show the radio -frequency signal (for centertuning, assessment of multipath interference, etc.), the audio output(for instance, to evaluate stereo separation), or an audio input fromyour preamp or tape recorde' (for similar evaluation of non -FMsignals). When the display selector is set to "audio" the scope willshow output until the tuning knob is touched; then it will switch auto-matically to the RF as a tuning aid until the knob is released. Thetuner costs $950; its walnut case, $30.


Koss's Mephistophelian headphone

It's called the Red Devil, its model number is KRD-711, and it costs$49.95. It's the newest Koss dynamic stereo headset, a lightweight(12 -ounce) model with a 10 -foot coiled cord and single -piece head-band molded of flexible red polypropylene. The earpiece enclosures,too, are red-very red. That explains part of the name; as for the"Devil:' that seems to be just for . . . well, just for the heck of it.



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IF YOU RECOGNIZE THE LOOKS, YOU KNOW THE QUALITYSansui 5000 X AM/FM Multiplex Receiver

If you immediately think, "That's a Sansui", when you spot the distinctive styling, youknow enough to assume it will also have sumptuous sound, velvety operating feel, fabulousspecifications and deluxe features to match. And you' -e absolutely right.

Continuous power is 60 watts per channel at 8 ohms, by our own tough standard(or 200 watts of IHF music power). At a total harmonic distortion below 0.5%, not "under1%." With IHF power bandwidth of 15 to 30,000 hz, not 20 to 20,000. FM sensitivity is 1.8 p,vIHF-and the sensitivity curve bends sharply beyond that point for real pickup power.

It's got a microphone input with its own control for blending in live voice andinstrumental performance with disc, broadcast, tape cr any other input. Tape in/outfacilities for up to four decks. Exclusive stereo -only FM mode. Linear -tuning FM dial.Separable pre- and power amplifiers. Foolproof pushbutton speaker connectors . .. tomention just a few features. Of course it's a Sansui $399.95

Satts-ui SANSUI ELECTRONICS CORP.Woodside, New York 11377 Gardenia, California 90274SANSUI ELECTRIC CO., LTD., Tokyo, Japan Sansui Audio Eurepe S. A., Antwerp, Belgium


JUNE 1971 35

Power amplifier from MarantzThe Marantz Model 250 is designed to replace the Model 16, addingextra power and features at no additional cost, according to Super -scope (parent company of Marantz). The new model is rated at 125watts continuous power per channel. Output level meters are switch -able for two sensitivity ranges. The unit sells for $495.


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IMP

Concord deck has bias switch, auto stop

The new Concord F -106E stereo cassette deck not only stops at theend of the cassette side, but disengages the drive mechanism-eliminating both tape tension and "flats" on the pinch roller due tocapstan pressure when both are stationary. At the same time, push-buttons return automatically to the stop position, and a signal lightindicates that the tape has run out. The bias switch adapts record-ing characteristics for either standard or the new "high -density"iron -oxide cassette tapes. Other features include pause control,noise filter, headphone monitoring, and VU meters. The F-106EBdeck, supplied with patch cords, costs $99.79; the F -106E, whichalso includes a remote -control switch, microphone, and one cas-sette, sells for $119.79.


New top integrated amp from Kenwood

Kenwood's KA-7002 amp, rated at 50 watts per channel continuousoutput power into 8 -ohm loads, has a number of interesting features.One of the two phono inputs is switchable for extra-low-level car-tridges (down to 0.06 mV). There are also two aux inputs and com-plete connections and switching for two tape decks. The tone -control system, in addition to the usual gain -or -loss treble and bass

.-knobs, includes three-way switches providing two turnover pointsplus defeat.for each. There is a null balance switch tor setting chan-nel balance exactly and switching for up to two pairs of speakers ata time out of a total of three pairs that may be connected to the set.Predmp out and main -amp in connections allow the unit to be usedwith special controls or in multi -amp systems. The KA-7002 costs$299.95.


Roberts glass -head reversing deck

The new Roberts GH-500D is an open -reel deck with automaticreverse in the playback mode. The erase head is conventional; rec-ord and playback heads are a new crystal ferrite and glass type.The new heads, described by Roberts as "virtually indestructible"because of their glass surfaces, employ a narrow gap with a"focused field:' Other features include an automatic level controlsystem, magnetic braking, a pause/edit button with a remote con-trol release, three -speed synchronous capstan motor, plus specialfacilities like input mixing and sound -on -sound. The GH-500D costs$699.95.


3(,CIRCLE 103 ON READER -SERVICE CARD---).

CUT CUT AND MAILZERO 100 is the newest,most advanced automatic turntable. The namestands for Zero Tracking Error-up to 160 timesless than with any conventional tone arm-newfreedom from distortion-new life for yourrecords. This revolutionary Garrard unit, pricedat $189.50, was introduced with a specialpresentation booklet, bound into the June issueof this magazine. There are 12 explanatory pages,with clear illustrations and diagrams, valuableto anyone interested in fine record playingequipment. If you missed the insert last month,or would like a better copy, we'll be glad to sendyou one. The coupon is for your convenience.

British Industries CompanyDept. AG271Westbury, N. Y. 11590

Gentlemen: Please send me the GarrardZero 100 presentation booklet.

Name

Address

I City

I State

British Industries Company, a division of Avnei, Inc

OM NINO OEM OEM OM J

Zip

Ufg. by Plessey Ltd.Cist by British Industries Co

FIC:01Ar hi hFrom$50

SR-RF935-FM/Multiplex Converter Converts your AM car radio to anAM/FM multiplex radio in minutes. Automatic stereo switching. FM beaconlight, tone and volume control to blend stereo broadcasting to perfection.Easily mounted under dash or almost anywhere in your car.

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I MI I 1.Ilk1.1.1.1017

PM -158 Amplifier Ideal for all uses. 20 watts music power(IHF). Pre-amped for magnetic cartridge, tape in and out,switched AC outlet. Up -front headphone jack. Walnut -finishedwood cabinet.

A I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I MI I I I Iareco...cp

0 0 b .*1

PM -403 Amplifier 15/15 watts RMS both cnannels driven.Dual speaker system selector, tape monitor, loudness controland up -front headphone jack. Walnut -finished cabinet.

.1111""wwW/MIIIi

TU-108- AM/FM Multiplex Tuner Black -out dial, Vu meter,flywheel tuning. Stereo indicator light. AM antenna insidewalnut -finished wood cabinet. Matching tuner for PM -158and PM -403 amplifiers.

A111111111111111111111111\MI ern+. a.m.

SR-207-Budget-priced Stereo Receiver 30 watts (IHF) power.FM sensitivity: 2.5 uV. Pre-amped for magnetic cartridge.Taps for X'tal phono, tape in/out.

(Immimummimmil Imo ma um um

T-391DK -8 -track Record/Playback Deck Selector switch allowschoice of programs to be recorded. Complete record or stopafter program 1, 2, 3 or 4. Pause and F. F. control. A.L.C.recording system. Wow and flutter below 0.25% RMS. A perfectmatch for all Standard amplifiers and receivers.

T-180DK - Stereo CassetteRecord/Playback Deck Super dynamicnoise suppression system. Bias switch

for high fidelity tape and chromiumdioxide tape. Automatic record levelcontrol. Automatic shut-off of AC or

cassette. Wow and flutter below 0.2%RMS. Vu meter accurate to 2 dB at

0 Vu. Frequency response 30 to15 KHz - 1dB.


fj o c

SR-A1000-Moderate-priced AM/FMStereo Receiver 20/20 watts RMS(8 ohms:. FM sensitivity: 2.5 uV.FET plus 4 IF stages double tuned.Rocker switch controls. Walnut -finisher wood cabinet.

it Di hical.

6 6

6

the fiSR-500-Stereo Receiver IC for all

audio stages, FET'd front end.15/15 watts RMS (8 ohms). Dualspeaker system selector, Hi filter,

FM muting, tape monitor controls.Large tuning meter. Black -out dialface. Walnut -finished wood cabinet

included.

,A1111111111111111111111111111111116..

SR -1500 AM/FM StereoReceiver 40/40 RMS

(8 ohms) THD of less than 0.5%.FM sensitivity: 1.8 uV (IHF).

Capture ratio: 1.5 dB.Separate pre and main

amplifiers. Center tuning,signal strength meters, dual

ganged stepped bass andtreble controls. Handsomewood cabinet. Much more.

SR -4500 AM/FM Stereo Receiver 100/300 RMS (8 ohms).FM sensitivity: 1.5 uV. THD: less than 0 3% at rated output.Separate pre and main amplifiers, lever action controls for Hiand Low filters, tone cancel, loudness, tape monitor, FM muting,audio muting. Dubbing in and out, mi.:rophone jack and mixing control.Walnut -finished wood cabinet. Much mcm,

You've seen stereo receivers selling fornext -to -nothing. And others costingthousands. Two basic elements arelargely responsible for the difference.The performance features. And the"niceties." Performance featuresinclude IHF sensitivity, S/N ratio, THD,frequency response, capture ratio andthe like. All are important variables thatalter both the sound and the price.

If you're on a budget, sound shouldbe your only consideration. If the sky'sthe limit, it should be your majorconsideration. Standard's receivers allaccentuate the sound. And some alsoprovide the extras for those who wantthem. Whether you plan on spending$50 or $600 or something in between,we can offer you many sound reasons forchoosing Standard. Write us for thename of your nearest Standard dealer.Then ccme in and hear us out.*Prices may vary shuht/y in different locations.

STANDARDSTANDARD RADIO CORP.60-09 39th AVENUE, WOODSIDE, N.Y. 11377;13518 SOUTH NORMANDIE AVENUE,GARDENA, CALIF. 90249.

To $600

CIRCA 45 ON READER -SERVICE CARD

NEW DYNACO QUADAPTOR®

esurinco

Only

'19951(T$29.95 factory -

assembled

ANDTWO MORE SPEAKERS

CREATESRIGHT FRONT

FOUR-DIMENSIONALk

MI ins --am am

SCA-80 ($169.95 kit; $249.95 assembled)

9

DYNAQUAD® STEREOThe new Dynaco Quadaptor® can be used with

virtually any existing stereo receiver or amplifier.Dynaquad8) four-dimensional stereo does not requirean additional stereo amplifier . . . just two matched,

eight ohm speakers inback of the room. The fourspeakers are connected tothe Quadaptor® which inturn is connected to theamplifier.

The Quadaptor® is nota synthesizer. Rather itreveals depth and concert -hall sound already on manyof your present stereo re-cordings but not enjoyeddue to the limitations ofthe conventional two -speaker stereo system.The manner in which thenew two back speakers are

LEFT REAR

connected unmasks this hitherto hidden informationto fully utilize everything that has been included onyour recordings all along. Not only will the Qua-daptor' give you four-dimensional stereo from yourpresent recordings, butyou can enjoy tie sameDynaquad® stereo fromyour present FM stereotuner too.

Best results are realizedwhen the back eight ohmspeakers have as constantan impedance as possible.The Dynaco A-25 ($79.95each) speakers were de-signed specifically to pro-vide constant impedance.The Stereophile Magazinecalls them "probably thebest buy in high fidelitytoday."

Dynaco A-25 speakers ($79.95 each-assembled only)

Send for literature or pick some up at your dealer where you can see and hear Dynaco equipment.

dyntaco INC 3060 JEFFERSON ST. , PHILADELPHIA, PA. 19121IN EUROPE WRITE: DYNACO A/S, HUMLUM, STRUER, DENMARK

CIRCLE 19 ON READER -SERVICE CARD I liou IIUF.LIIY MAGAZINE

new equipmentTHE CONSUMER'S GUIDE TO HIGH FIDELITY EQUIPMENT reports

Top -of -the -line Turntableat Less Than Top Cost

The Equipment: PE 2040, a three -speed automatic turn-table with integral arm. Dimensions: chassis, 14 by 12inches; clearance required above, 5 inches; below, 3'/2inches. Price: $145. Manufactured by Perpetuum Ebnerof West Germany; distributed in the U.S. by Elpa Market-ing Industries, Inc., New Hyde Park, N.Y. 11040.

Comment: The PE 2040 is now the top -of -the -line auto-matic turntable offered by Elpa. A three -speed model(33, 45, and 78 rpm), it is supplied with two spindles(long and short), and may be used in several waysdepending on which spindle is inserted and how youoperate the unit.

In automatic single play, using the short spindle, thearm will lift and cue a record automatically; at the endof the record the arm returns to its rest and the motorshuts off. In manual single play, the short spindle alsois used, but this time you can cue by hand to any portionof the record. You also can use the built-in cueing de-vice if you desire, and you can cue a nonrotating recordand then start the turntable. During manual play you canstop the turntable manually whenever you want or usethe main control lever to do so automatically. Or you canlet the record play to its end, when the arm will returnto its rest and the motor will shut itself off.

As an automatic changer, the PE 2040 will play upto eight records of the same diameter in sequence,shutting itself off at the end of the last record. An auto-matic sensing device determines the size of the firstrecord and adjusts the arm for set -down in the lead-ingroove of all the records in the pile. During this se-quence you can interrupt the normal cycle to reject,or to repeat, a record. The repeat option also is availablein single -play, as a one-time repeat or an indefiniterepeat.

The 2040 uses a fairly heavy platter (a seven pound,six ounce nonferrous casting that is critically drilledout for good balance and flywheel effect) driven from

a four -pole induction motor via a stepped pulley. Op-eration is very quiet: the measured AR LL rumble figureof -56 dB is the best rumble figure we've yet had forPE turntables and one that compares favorably withother top -line automatics. Flutter is insignificant at anaverage value of 0.04 per cent. The vernier speed ad-justment enables you to zero in on exact speeds at allthree settings, using the strobe disc supplied with theunit. The tested range of this adjustment ran from -1per cent to plus 5 per cent. Actually, the motor systemis quite stable; if you set the 33 -rpm speed to be exact,the variations at the other two speeds (even withoutusing the vernier adjustment) are hardly worth worryingabout, as indicated in the accompanying speed table.

The arm on the PE 2040 is a metal tubular modelwith negligible friction :less than 10 milligrams later-ally and vertically). It requires only 0.4 gram to acti-vate the automatic trip to the end of a record. Its reso-nance occurred at 6.5 Hz and showed an 11 -dB rise.The arm is fitted with an adjustable rear counterweightfor initial balance, and a separate adjustment for verticaltracking force. A third adjustment adds antiskatingbias. The tracking force knob is calibrated from 0 to6, and apparently these numbers represent generallyabout a half -gram more stylus force than is actuallybeing applied. The following knob settings producedthe indicated stylus force in grams, according to CBSLabs tests: for 1, 0.8 gram; for 2, 1.6 grams; for 3, 2.6grams; for 4, 3.6 grams; for 5, 4.5 grams; for 6, 5.6grams. Be that as it may. the arm will permit today's top -line pickups to track satisfactorily at their recommendedstylus forces: for instance, the Shure V-15 Type II wasused at 1.25 grams. The antiskating knob is calibratedfrom 0 to 10, with five subdivisions between each num-ber, making a total of 100 possible settings in all. A tableof values, included in the owner's booklet, explains theuse of this knob; generally CBS Labs found that therecommended antiskating values were slightly but not

REPORT POLICY

Equipment reports are based on laboratory measurements and controlled listening tests. Unlers otherwise noted, test data and measurementsare obtained by CBS Laboratories. Stamford. Connecticut. a CiViSICNI of Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc.. one of the nation's leadingresearch organizations. The choice of equipment to be tested rests with the editors of HIGH FIDELITY. Manufacturers are not permitted to readreports in advance of publication. and no report, or portion thereof, may be reproduced for any purpose or in any form without written per-mission of the publisher. All reports should be construed as apply ng to the specific samples tested; neither HIGH FIDELITY nor CBS Laboratoriesassumes responsibility for product performance or quality

Jt \ 1971 41

significantly on the conservative side-that is, a bit low.You can, however, double-check antiskating (if thesmall values involved bother you) by a method alsodescribed in the owner's manual, using an unmodulatedrecord.

The front end of the arm is offset to minimize lateraltracking angle error, and an adjustment of the plat-form on which a pickup is mounted in the arm shellpermits further correction for stylus overhang. Theshell also has a vertical angle adjustment (with a 5 -degree range); CBS Labs found that the optimum ver-tical angle-i.e., the particular vertical angle of the car-tridge being used-does indeed occur when the settingof this adjustment matches the record number playingin any given stack. However, since this is an automatic,a compromise setting corresponding to half the totalnumber of records in a pile will produce zero error withrespect to the middle record in a pile, and minimumerror for all the other records in that pile-which is, ofcourse, as it should be.

Other noteworthy features of the PE 2040 includeits excellent cueing device; the pickup, when raisedand lowered by the lever, returns to the same groovewith no "side drift' The change cycle takes 18 sec-

onds, is very gertle on the records, and is silent, thanksto the built-in muting system.

The PE 2040 is supplied less base and cover whichare available as optional accessories: the base, ModelBV20, costs $8; the dust cover, Model TX18 / 20, alsolists for $8. Properly mounted, the PE 2040 goesthrough its paces flawlessly, has a healthy immunityto the effects of external shock, and strikes us as anexcellent automatic with advanced features, and anot -so -advanced price.


PE 2040 Turntable Additional Data

Speed Accuracy°SpeedSetting(rpm) 105 VAC 120 VAC 127 VAC

33 0.1% slow set exact 0.1% fast45 0.4% fast 0.6% fast 0.7% fast78 0.5% fast 0.6% fast 0.7% fast

°With reference tavern ier adjusted for exact speed at 33 rpm. Abso-luteaccuracy at a I speeds also can be adjusted by the vernier speedcontrol, using strabe disc supplied.

u II

1 I

Receiver Offers Many FeaturesThe Equipment: Nikko STA-1101, a stereo FM/AM re-ceiver. Dimensions: 181/2 by 6'/2 by 14% inches. Listprice: in black metal case, $399.95; in walnut cabinet(as Model STA-1101W), $419.95. Manufacturer; NikkoElectric Corp. of America, 5001 Lankershim Blvd., NorthHollywood, Calif. 91601.

Comment: One of the most versatile-and certainly themost novel-receivers we've yet encountered, the NikkoSTA-1101 combines a sensitive tuner with a medium -powered control amplifier. The set obviously has beendesigned to look different and it does, but its appear-ance serves a functional as well as a decorative pur-pose. The larger portion of the front panel is dividedinto four main areas: the first section contains the AMand FM tuning dials; the second, a group of rotary con-trols; the third, a group of sliding controls; the last sec-tion is given over to several lever switches and twometers. Yet another area, under the main front panel,contains additional controls and facilities that may behidden behind a sliding panel.

Now for the details and some surprises: the AM andFM tuning dials are completely separate, and sinceeach is controlled independently by its own tuning knob,you can tune a station on one and switch to the other

band and tune it without disturbing the previous tuning.This section is a cosmetic triumph: when you switchto AM, a maximum -strength tuning meter, the AM chan-nel markings, and an adjacent logging scale all light up;these are intersected by a dial pointer in two-tone red,the brighter section catching the glow from the tuningdial; above the dial a blue rectangle glows; and abovethat the letters "AM" glow. When you switch to FM, thesame tuning meter, the FM channel markings with theirlogging scale and their two-tone red pointer light up;a green rectangle glows above the dial; the letters "FM"glow above it; and if you are tuned to a stereo station,a long red rectargle lights up, and the word "stereo"comes on.

While this is all visually attractive and certainly unique,we wish the designers had also taken the trouble to pro-vide a longer tuning dial-at least for FM-since tuningfor a station with a set as sensitive as this one (whichpulls in a large number of stations) is not particularlyeasy with a dial that allows only 11/4 inches of space be-tween 88 and 108 MHz.

In addition to the FM and AM tuning knobs, part twoof the front panel contains matching controls for signalselecting (AM, FM, phono, mike, and auxiliary), and forregulating the volume of a second or remote speaker


0

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Channels individuallyLeft at clipping 36.1 watts at 0.26% THDLett for 0.3% THD, 39.6 wattsRight at clipping 38.2 watts at 0.24% THORight for 0.3% THD: 39.6 watts

Channels simultaneouslyLeft at clipping, 35.7 watts at O.Right at clipping, 35.7 watts at 0.28% TNO

POWER BANDW ITH

for 0.3% DID; zero dB = 38 watts

I

below 10 Hz to 23 kHz

FREQUENCY RESPONSE, 1 -watt level

+0, -3 dB, 20 Hz to 45 kHz AIAIN

1 10 20 :_0 1K

FREQUENCY IN HZ

10K 20K 100K

MINIM111111111111111111

1111111111Ix 20 50 100 200 500 1K 2K

FREQUENCY IN HZ

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3

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5K 10K 20K

IM CHARACTERISTICS

LE- &ohm load, 0 5% to 33.5 wattsload, 1 0% to 40 watts output--

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li-ohm load: -- 11.5% to 22.5 watts output

1 2 3 4 5 10 20 30 £0 50 100

POWER OUTPUT, WATTS

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Left channei 30 dB 100 H2 to 7 kHz dB, :8-IF-r= Right channel. > 30 dB. 120 Hz to 6 2 kHz. 20 di

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FREQUENCY IN HZ

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1.8 microvolts at 98 MHz1.7 microvolts at W MHz2.0 isccroolts at 108 MHz

10 100 1K

RF INPUT, MICROVOLTS

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Nikko STA=1101 Receiver Additional Data

Tuner Section

Capture ratio

S/N ratio

IM distortion

THD Mono L ch

2 dB

74 dB

R ch

2%

40 Hz 0.54% 1.4% 1.2%400 Hz 0.54% 0.68% 0.95%1 kHz 0.56% 0.56% 0.78%

19 -kHz pilot38 -kHz subcarrier

Amplifier Section

Damping factor

Input characteristics(for 38 watts output) phono

mikeaux

Sensitivity4.5 mV4.7 mV250 mV

-62 dB-44 dB

23

S/N67 dB67 dB87 dB

JULY 1971 43

system (more of this later). The main volume controlis part of the next group of slide switches. There arethree pairs of sliders in all: blue for volume, yellow forbass, and red for treble. Each pair handles its own leftand right channels independently so that you can adjustchannel response individually or simultaneously. Thevolume sliders, in this arrangement, also serve as achannel balance adjustment. This control grouping isparticularly well thought out and useful.

The top row of lever switches at the right end handle,in order, mono/stereo mode, tape monitor, high filter,and interstation muting (which operates on both AMand FM). The bottom row, from left to right, includesloudness contour, speaker system 2 selector, speakersystem 1 selector, and power off ion.

The speaker selectors, in conjunction with suitableterminals at the rear of the set, permit operating either,both, or neither of two pairs of stereo speakers. Themain volume control (blue sliders) set the output levelof speaker system 1; this control also sets the thresholdat which volume control 2 begins to have an effect onthe sound level from speaker system 2. In other words,you get virtually no output from speaker system 2 unlessthe main volume control is set to a given level; then youcan adjust speaker system 2 on its own control. Thisarrangement may sound complicated but it is quicklymastered. It also is quite useful in that it lets you operateeach pair of stereo speakers at its own level. It thus per-mits running the added speakers for "center -fill" or"flankers" in the same room without the need to buyand insert L -pads for balancing the whole array. Finally,it permits accurate A / B testing of speakers, since youcan readily balance their outputs so that both soundequally loud.

Another cosmetic touch at the right end of the panelis the pair of illuminated VU meters centered betweenthe rows of lever switches. The VU meters merely moni-tor the amplifier's output (they are not tied into the tape-record feed or monitor circuits), a marginal function.

Across the bottom section, behind the sliding door,are additional controls: a pair of screw adjustments toset the VU meters for zero reading, a stereo pair ofmicrophone (high -impedance dynamic) jacks, a stereopair of recorder feed jacks, and two separate head-phone jacks with an associated headphone level con-trol. The first headphone jack is controlled by this leveladjustment, while the second headphone jack is con-trolled by the main volume slider.

The front -panel recorder jacks permit several options.You can patch in a tape recorder here in addition to therecorder that may be connected at the rear and thereby,a) record without interruption an extra -long program byswitching from one machine to the next, b) record onboth machines simultaneously, or c) dub from one tothe other. The headphone jacks, which are live at alltimes regardless of the position of either of the speakerselectors, may be used for tape monitoring and forgeneral listening. Some additional decor notes: themeter adjust controls are blue; the headphone 1 levelcontrol is red; the lever switches are in grey and white;the front escutcheon itself is matte black framed in semi-glow silver stripping.

The rear of the set contains more features and morecolors. There are three circuit -breaker buttons (red)for the left- and right -channel outputs and for the mainAC power line. The speaker terminals are the push -to -insert type, with red for "hot" and black for "ground"connections. They are clearly marked for system 1 and2 as well as for their respective right, left, and ground

hookups. Similar push -to -insert terminals are used forantenna connections: the AM pair are colored whiteand black; the FM pair are green. Provision is madefor 300 -ohm and 75 -ohm FM antenna lead-in and for along-wire AM antenna in case the built-in movable loop-stick isn't adequate for AM reception. The increasinglypopular "circuit interrupt" feature also is offered herein the form of a stereo pair of "preamp out" and "mainin" jacks, connected normally by two jumper cablessupplied-yellow for the left channel, red for the right.This feature, by the way, permits using the Nikko's pre-

amp and power amp as separate entities-for instance,to patch in accessory devices such as room equalizersor reverb units or electronic crossovers. Another optionfound at the rear is a "speaker compensator" switch;when it is "on" it boosts the bass to compensate forbass -shy speaker systems. Its tonal effect (see accom-panying graphs) is slightly different from either theloudness contour lift or the bass tone -control boostand while it may seem something of an electronic redun-dancy, it could serve a useful purpose in some play-back systems. Input jacks at the rear include stereopairs for tape monitor, magnetic phono, and an auxiliary(high-level) source. In addition there's the pair for feed-ing signals to a tape recorder, plus a DIN (5 -pin) recep-tacle for European recorders that use a unitized cablefor both record and playback hookup. Finally, there'sthe set's power cord and three convenience AC outlets,one of them switched.

The Nikko's internal circuitry employs many ad-vanced design features including plug-in circuit boardsthat facilitate servicing. An FET demodulator in theAM section is said to be the world's first circuit of itstype. A screw adjustment on the chassis permits operat-ing the set on standard U.S. voltage or on the 220/240 -volt AC lines found abroad.

The tuner section of the Nikko acquitted itself verywell in CBS Labs' tests. IHF sensitivity was measuredas 1.8 microvolts, and the sensitivity curve descendssteeply, reaching a maximum quieting of -45.5 dB foronly 7.5 microvolts of input signal. No front-end overloadwas encountered at higher input signal levels. In ourcable -FM test, the set logged a healthy total of 49 sta-tions of which 31 were deemed suitable for critical lis-tening or off -the -air taping. The AM section, in listeningtests, performed quite well in terms of the number ofstations it received and their sound.

The amplifier portion of the Nikko shapes up as acompetent medium -powered unit that should proveadequate for driving any available speaker system.The roll -off in the low end of the frequency response(down 3 dB at 20 Hz) isn't what we'd call "state of the art"but it's not terribly serious either, since distortion at nor-mal listening levels remains very low, and the bass boostoptions can be used without increasing the distortion.Low -frequency square -wave response shows the effectof the bass roll -off; high -frequency square -wave re-sponse has fast rise -time and no ringing.

If the Nikko thus offers average performance, it cer-tainly offers more than average in the way of featuresand styling. Its control system (especially the built-inlevel adjustment for the added speakers), its tape -recorder hookup options, its twin headphone jacks,the circuit -interrupt -and -patch feature, and the generalcircuit stability that permits running four loudspeakersand two headsets simultaneously all are commendablefeatures which many a prospective owner will welcomein a receiver.



Ortofon AddsA "little Black Box"

The Equipment: Ortofon SL-15/MP 235, a moving -coilphono pickup with solid-state preamp. MP 235 preampdimensions: 81/2 by 2% inches. List prices: $150; SL -15cartridge alone, $90; MP 235 preamp alone, $75. Manu-facturer: Cartridge by Ortofon of Denmark; preamp byMartin Electronics of Kansas City, Mo.; distributed byElpa Marketing Industries, Inc., Thorens Bldg., NewHyde Park, N.Y. 11040.

Comment: The Ortofon long ago established its fameinternationally as one of the very best phono pickups.However, since it is a moving -coil design, its signaloutput is characteristically very low. To suit it for usewith normal magnetic phono inputs (on preamps, inte-grated amps, or receivers) its designers at first builta tiny transformer directly into the cartridge body. A fewyears later, in order to decrease the cartridge's weight,Ortofon removed the transformer from the cartridge andmade it available as an external accessory to be con-nected to the output of the cartridge. This option alsoenabled buyers to obtain only the cartridge for directhookup to the very few preamps that had a specialinput to accommodate a moving -coil pickup without anintervening booster. Somewhere along the line, a fewenthusiasts began talking about the desirability of doingaway with the transformer altogether and replacingit with a solid-state device that would perform the sameboosting function. A few solid-state "pre-preamps:' asthey came to be known, were built privately and experi-mentally. Their advocates insisted that the small in-crease in high -gain transistor noise was a small priceto pay for the absence of transformer distortion andthe improved clarity and firmness of sound that resultedwhen the Ortofon was used the new way. Thus, another"audio controversy:' The anti -transformer crowd alsopointed out, on obviously less debatable ground, that apre-preamp would enable the Ortofon to be used withany preamp, amp, or receiver-and since the trans-former already had been eliminated by Ortofon itself, thesmaller and lighter pickup also would work correctly inany quality tone arm, including those on automatics.

The present Ortofon pickup system incorporates justsuch a pre-preamp in the form of the Martin MP 235,a small black box fitted with its own AC power cord andfour phono jacks for left- and right -channel inputs andoutputs. The MP 235 is connected to an AC source(preferably through a switched AC outlet, so that it turnson with the system); the cables from the tone arm con-nect to it, and additional cables run from it to the ordi-nary magnetic phono inputs on whatever equipmentyou're using.

And it does make a difference. Although the basicpickup is the same as the previous Ortofon we tested(see HF test report, November 1967), the new combina-tion offers measurable and audible superiority. Themost dramatic improvement is in distortion. The newsystem consistently shows harmonic and IM distortionfigures that are twice to three times lower than in thepast; in fact they are among the lowest yet measuredfor any phono pickup. For instance, the previous Orto-fon showed, on the left channel, 2.5% THD at 1,000Hz; the new version reads only 1.2%. In the formerOrtofon, IM laterally and vertically was 3.5% and 5%respectively; in the present model, we read only 1.7%and 1.8%. Output voltage in the former model was found

+50

L. -5-10

t;--; -15

-20-25-30

FREQUENCY RESPONSEall

Left charnel +5, -1.25 dB. 20 Hz to 20 kHzi---- Right channel: +4, -2 dB. 20 Hz to 20 kHz

CHANNEL SEPARATION

Left channel. 20 dB 55 Hz U 13 kHz---- Right channel: 20 dB, 24 Hz to 12 kHz

20 50 100 200 500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K

FREQUENCY IN HZ

respectively (through the transformer); in the new model(through the MP 235) it is higher at 9.0 and 8.5 millivolts.In the opinion of our listening panel, these excellentcharacteristics outweigh the few dB of noise contrib-uted by the MP 235.

Frequency response and channel separation charac-teristics are about the same in both versions. There areslight variations between both models but they add up toa standoff between the two. Either way, the Ortofonis a wide -range pickup with no peaks in the audiblerange, and a response that continues to beyond audi-bility. It is, in fact, one of the few pickups often usedfor laboratory tests that involve ultrasonics, includingthe checkout of test records and, more recently, ex-periments with four -channel discs that employ super-sonic subcarriers for two of the channels.

Such uses aside, the Ortofon is a very good cartridgefor playing ordinary discs. Its two channels are veryclosely balanced, and its separation is adequate for afull stereo effect. It is not the lightest pickup available,although it is light enough. The minimum vertical track-ing force it needed to track the torture test bands of theCBS test records was 1.25 grams; in normal use, aforce of 1.5 grams was used. Its vertical angle, at 17degrees, was very close to the 15 -degree standard.Its resonance (in an SME arm) was clocked as a few dBat 11 Hz. Compliance was measured as 15 (x 10cm/dyne) laterally and veritcally. The elliptical tip wasfound to be well formed to the dimensions of 0.2 by 0.6mil. Listening to ordinary records with this new pickupsystem we got a sense of full tonality, very wide andclean frequency response, very wide dynamic range,and an excellent and firm stereo image. An ample, hum -free signal level also contributed to the pleasure. Sowhile the debate over transistors vs. transformers con-tinues, we'll enjoy the new Ortofon.


JULY 197 1 45

Tannoy Debutsan Omni Speaker

The Equipment: Tannoy Orbitus I, a full -range speakersystem in enclosure. Dimensions: 29 by 17 by 17 inches.Price: $245. Manufacturer: Tannoy Ltd. of England;USA branch, Tannoy (America) Ltd., 1756 Ocean Ave.,Bohemia, N.Y. 11716.

Comment: Known here and abroad for many decadesas a manufacturer of quality loudspeakers, Tannoyhas now introduced its own version of the increasinglypopular "omnidirectional" type of speaker system.It doesn't take much listening to discern that the newOrbitus I is right up there with the best.

A floor -standing model, the Orbitus I employs a spe-cially modified version of Tannoy's 12 -inch dual -con-centric loudspeaker which, in other design configura-tions, has enjoyed a long and enviable history as one ofthe favored reproducers among serious audiophiles.The present version incorporates Tannoy's principleof a concentrically mounted high -frequency exponen-tial horn tweeter, the curve of which blends into theshape of the larger surrounding woofer. Nominal cross-over, provided by a network housed within the cabinet,is at 1,000 Hz. This dual driver faces upward and radi-ates against a curved deflector whose own shape fol-lows that of the speakers; the sound is thus dispersedin a full circle and emerges from the four-sided grillesurrounding the enclosure's top section. To better suitthe speaker for the horizontal mounting this design en-tails, and at the same time achieve the stability andthe compliance required for full response, both its sur-round material and its diaphragm suspension have beenmodified. A duct, terminating in an opening on theunderside of the enclosure, permits the low -frequencysection to function as a bass -reflex type.

In keeping with its omni design-which implies that itcan be positioned virtually anywhere in a room andaway from the traditional wall-the Orbitus I is finished(in walnut) on all four sides. Its top surface, also in wal-nut, could conceivably serve as a lamp stand. Con-nections are made to the underside of the enclosurevia screw terminals marked for polarity. Here you'llalso find two high -frequency controls: one, a four -stepswitch, sets the rate and degree of roll -off from about2,500 Hz and upward; the other, a five -step switch,adjusts the amount of high -frequency energy radiatedfrom about 1,000 Hz and upward. Between the twocontrols the system's response can be adjusted to suita wide variety of room conditions. Having them on thebottom of the unit makes the initial installation adjust-ments inconvenient, but obviously the controls had to

be placed there to permit the cabinet to be finished onall four sides. Be that as it may, our tests show that thecontrols are effective and do the intended job. Themeasurements made at CBS Labs were taken with bothcontrols set to their indicated "level" positions (mini-mum treble roll -off and maximum treble output). Insubsequent listening tests using normal program ma-terial, most listeners opted for the "level" position ofthe roll -off control and one step below "level" on theenergy control. The actual measured differences in theeffect of the roll -off control averaged 1 dB for each stepof the control up to about 7,500 Hz, then about 2 dBfrom here to 16,000 Hz, then 1 dB again out to 20,000Hz. The level control produced an average steady1 -dB difference for each of its settings from 1,000 Hzto 20,000 Hz.

Rated impedance is 8 ohms; the measured impedancejust beyond the characteristic bass rise was 7 ohms.This value rises generally across the audio range, aver-aging about 12 ohms and never going below 7. Tannoysare obviously perfectly safe to connect in pairs to thesometimes critical outputs of solid-state amplifiers orreceivers. A fairly efficient reproducer, the Orbitus I canbe used with any associated equipment. It required aminimum average power of 10.5 watts to produce anoutput of 94 dB. It also is a very robust system and couldnct be driven into significant distortion with an averagepower input of 257 -watt pulses (514 -watt peaks), a fac-tor that also attests to its excellent dynamic range (theoutput at this level was measured as 108.2 dB-probablylouder than, or certainly as loud as, what you'd hearin the first row at a concert hall). Indeed, at any listeninglevel, the Orbitus I provides a full, clean response; we'dsay it would do well in just about any type of room.

More good news about the Orbitus I is found in thefrequency response curves reproduced here, which aredefinitely confirmed in listening tests. The average

90

0 80

70c,

60

ON AXIS RESPONSE

- AVERAGE FRONT HEMISPHERIC RESPONSE

AVERAGE OMNIDIRECTIONAL RESPONSE

5020 50 100 200 500 1K 2K

FREQUENCY IN HZ

5K 10K 20K


omnidirectional response is clocked as within plus orminus 6.5 dB from 39 Hz to 18,000 Hz, a very good meas-urement indeed. Across the broadest portion of theaudible spectrum the response is very linear with nomore than plus or minus 3 dB variation from 55 Hz to10,000 Hz. On test tones, we found a slight doublingat 50 Hz, which did not increase as frequency was low-ered. The system responded to tones as low as 25 Hz,albeit faintly and with increased doubling. In any eventthe Orbitus I certainly makes its claimed low -frequencyresponse down to 30 Hz -and then some. Its high endis just as exemplary, with no sense of directivity all theway up the frequency band, and its response continuesto beyond audibility with a slope beginning at about15,000 Hz. White noise response sounded very smoothand extremely well distributed throughout the listeningarea.

On a wide variety of program material the Orbituspleased all who heard it. A pair playing stereo providesa beautifully spaced -out orchestral panorama, yet theyretain the ability to locate instruments and sections.On solo material, the signal is nicely centered between

Tannoy Orbitus Harmonic Distortion*

FrequencyOutputLevel(dB)

80 Hz

% 2nd % 3rd

300 Hz

% 2nd % 3rd

70 0.2 0.15 0.15 0.3575 0.18 0.25 0.1 0.38BO 0.2 0.3 0.12 0.4385 0.3 0.75 0.18 0.5890 0.6 0.85 0.2 0.7195 3.0 1.1 0.25 0.83

100 5.0 2.0 0.45 0.8

Distortion data is taken on all tested speakers until a level of 100dB is reached, or distortion exceeds the 10 -per -cent level, or thespeaker produces the spurious output known as buzzing, which-ever occurs first.

the two systems. Over-all, the effect is one of musicalintegrity and virtually nc sonic coloration. These vir-tues always have charac:erized Tannoy systems; in theOrbitus I they are joined with yet another: the natural,easy "spread" and firmness of stereo image con-tributed by omnidiectionality.


Tandberg 6000X: New S/N Figures

Tandberg has recently pointed out, and CBS Labsconfirmed, that the Model 6000X tape recordercan be used in a mainer that produces a morefavorable signal-to-noise ratio on record/play-back than hitherto urderstood and originally re-ported here (see Equipment Reports, December1970). Instead of the 40 dB and 34 dB for left andright channels respectively, Tandberg claimsmuch better figures: 57 and 58 dB.

The apparert discrepancy has to do with theModel 6000X's sensitivity which is greater than inmost other braids. When tested in the usual way,i.e., taking advantage of the unit's full sensitivitywith its gain "wide oxen:' the S/N figures origi-nally reported are what the unit produces. How-ever, when more typical input signal levels areused for recording, such as 100 mV to 500mV,the Tandberg's S/N improves to the 57dB and58 dB claimed for the. unit.

So, a word of advice for owners of the Tandberg6000X (in any of its versions) or the 3000X (thesame deck with fewe- features): you actually canget an improved S/N ratio when making yourown recordings by not driving the inputs from verylow-level signal sources. Make certain that yoursignal input levels fall within the 100- to 500 -mVrange, and you will produce extremely quiet tapes.


True Components in Compact FormThe Equipment: Altec Lansing Model 911A Music Cen-ter (a stereo FM, AM receiver combined in the samecase with a Garrard SL 95B record changer and ShureM -93E pickup). Dimens ons: 19% inches wide by 191/2inches deep (plus at least 1 inch allowance for heatsinks and connectors) by 7'/4 inches high without dustcover 101/4 inches high with dust cover, but additionalspace must be allowed or removal). Price: $499. Manu-facturer: Altec Lansing Co., 1515 S. Manchester Ave.,Anaheim, Calif. 92803.

Comment: Altec Lansing finally has done it -produceda stereo compact that cuts no corners in adapting highfidelity componeits to the stereo compact format.Nobody said it couldn't be done, of course; it's just thatuntil now it hasn't been done quite this way: combininga top-quality receiver with a top-quality turntable andpickup, all of which are integrated not by the expedi-ency of compromise, but by an attractive walnut wrap-around, period. The choice of loudspeakers is strictlyup to the buyer, and these can be any that might bechosen for the Altec 714A receiver -that is, without

.Illy 1971 47

reference to any circuit limitations or special require-ments just because the electronics are packaged to-gether with a turntable. To put it another way, the partsthat make up the 911A would be at home in a traditionalseparate component system: the Altec 714A stereoFM/ AM receiverthe Garrard SL 95B turntable, and theShure M -93E cartridge. Together they form a logicaland harmonic ensemble, both in terms of technicalperformance and with respect to styling. The woodtrim of the SL 95B, for example, makes it a particularlyattractive model to combine with the wood case ofthe 911A.

The row of switches along the bottom of the frontpanel (from the left) control selection of FM, AM, phono,auxiliary input, and tape monitor; a high filter for noisyrecords or FM broadcasta; FM interstation muting (on/off); loudness compensation; mono/stereo mode;"volume range" (a switch that reduces output by 10dB and can be used for background -level listening);and on /off switches for the two sets of speaker out-puts. At the far right, beyond the headphone jack, is thepower on/off switch. Above these switches are the FM /AM tuning dial (with its tuning meter and stereo indi-cator), sliders for volume, balance, treble and bass, andthe tuning knob. On the back panel are the antennaconnections (300 -ohm twin -lead for FM, long-wire forAM), aux input, input and output for tape recorder,a center -channel output, speaker connections for mainand remote pairs, and a convenience AC outlet. Thecontrols for the record changer are, of course, all onits top plate and allow use as a full automatic changer,an automated single -play turntable (with automaticset -down and arm return), or a manual single -play unit.

We have reported already on the two major elementsin the ensemble: the Garrard changer in January ofthis year and the Altec receiver in February. Lab testsproved both units to be excellent performers in all re-spects. In cable -FM tests, the receiver logged a recordnumber of stations, thanks partly to its unusually finecapture ratio of 1.1 dB and excellent sensitivity of 1.9microvolts. In such respects as distortion and signal-to-noise ratio, performance also was well above average.The power -amplifier section produced better than 44watts per channel of continuous power for a total har-monic distortion rating of 0.5 per cent. In other wordsthe unit is capable of delivering cleaner -than -averagesignals to two stereo pairs of speakers with power tospare even if speaker efficiency is on the low side.

The Shure cartridge used here is a medium-priced($40) Hi -Track model with an elliptical stylus of 0.4 x0.7 mils. Other cartridges can of course be substitutedif you want; the Garrard slip -in cartridge mount makessubstitution unusually easy. In listening tests we coulddiscern no differences between the SL 95B and M -93Eas used in the Altec 911 A and the separately avail-able models.

There are some differences in the receiver section,however. The original Model 714A has two phono in-puts; the 911A only the Garrard/Shure combination.The 714A has a local/distant FM sensitivity switch onthe back panel and separate front -panel tuning metersfor AM and FM; the 911A has no sensitivity switch anduses a single tuning meter, for center tuning on the FMband and for maximum signal strength on AM. The714A has both switched and unswitched AC conveni-ence outlets; the 911A but a single, switched outlet.The 714A has back -panel jumpers connecting preampand power -amp stages; the 911A does not. And finally,

the 714A has a vertical front panel; that on the 911A isset at an angle.

Most of these changes strike us as consistent withthe quasi -compact product concept. For instance, wedoubt that buffs who demand two phono inputs wouldbe attracted to the prepackaged format in the first place.The single tuning meter does everything the dual metersof the 714A are capable of. Such esoterica as roomequalization or biamplification can be added to the911A almost as easily as to the 714A by using the tape -monitor connections instead of the preamp/ ampjumpers found on the latter version. Another wall outletcan be used instead of the unswitched convenienceoutlet of the 714A. And we found the angled front panelto be a distinct advantage.

The array of switches at the bottom, as we said inour report on the 714A, makes a handsome design. Andby tilting the faceplate of the 911A toward the user,Altec has made it easier to identify these controls,particularly if the unit is installed at lower -than -eyelevel (the normal case, in our experience).

In sum, we are impressed by the 911A. It is an ex-cellent choice in our opinion for the purchaser whowants true component high fidelity sound with minimumfuss and is eager (or at least willing) to forego the moreesoteric complications.


Teac A-1230 Addendum

FOR TAPE EDITORS ONLY: In our report on the TeacA-1230 open -reel tape deck (April 1971) there wasconsiderable discussion on the operation of the unit'spause control. To recap: when the A-1230 is in therecord mode "the pause control releases the drivepuck and activates the tape lifters but does not stopthe capstan motor nor switch off the heads:' In play-back its action is like that of the stop button.

As inveterate tape editors know, this action preventsuse of the pause control in cueing up the tape to aprecise edit point; and our report had mentioned asuggested modification that would keep the pausecontrol from tripping the tape lifters. Teac subsequentlyhas pointed oJt, however, that since a single solenoidoperates both the tape lifters and the pinch roller onthe A-1230, no simple modification will produce thedesired result-namely, to free the tape from the drivesystem while keeping it in contact with the playbackhead.

Teac says, "We would like to suggest that for thoseaudiophiles who wish to do splice editing there is asimple procedure that works very effectively with alittle practice. Put the tape recorder in play, retractthe pinch roller slightly with the thumb of the right hand,and move the :ape by turning either reel. This will pro-vide the ability to locate precise positions on the tape:'

Some users might prefer an alternate procedurewe mentioned in our report on the Teac A -6010U (April1970): thread the tape on the wrong side of the capstanand then switch the deck into play. The rethreadingtakes a bit of care, to avoid damaging the tape, but itleaves both hands free to "rock" the two reels easily.


REPORTS IN PROGRESS

Fisher 701 Receiver

Empire 598 Turntable

48I11011 FIDI I IlY \/.INI

Do you ever wonderwhat happens to your records

when youplay them?You should.Chances are, your record collection

is worth hundreds or even thousands ofdollars. And some unhappy things might behappening to your records while you'reenjoying the music.

To appreciate this, let us follow thestylus down into the grooves of your records.

!Whirs la dm graysTo the stylus, the record groove

presents one long, torturous obstaclecourse. And the stylus must go through thatgroove without a trace that it's been there.

Stylus in groove. Recordwear, if any, tikes placewhere edges of stylustouch groove walk

As the record rotates, the rapidlyChanging contours of both groove walkforce the stylus to move up, down andsideways at great speeds.

Thus, when you hear the bass drumfrom the right-hand speaker, the right wall ofthe groove is causing the stylus to vibrateabout thirty times a second. And when youhear the piccolo from the left speaker, thestylus is responding to the left wall about15,000 times a second.

By some miracle, all these vibrationsbring a full symphony orchestra right intoyour living room. That is, if all goes well. Forthere is on unequal match in the forcesconfronting each other.

Diamond nviayl.As you know, your records are made

of a soft vinyl that has to contend with adiamond, the hardest substance known to man

If the stylus can't respond to therapidly changing contours of the groove,especially the hazardous peaks of the highfrequencies, there's trouble.

Instead of going around the peaks,the stylus will simply lop them off. And withthose little bits of vinyl go the high notes, therecord and your investment.

A B

Peaks of high frequencycontours can be literallylopped off as shown inlower half of A. Less fragilelow frequency contours ofright channel are indicatedby B.

TY Means laths MOILActually, cll this needn't happen. Your

precious records con be preservedindefinitely. And sound as good as newevery time you play them. It all depends onthe tonearm, wFich is to the stylus as thesurgeon's hand is to the scalpel.

There is a vast difference amongtonearms. Some are little more than "stickson a swivel." But the best ones are designedand engineerec to a high degree ofprecision. For very important reasons.

Consider the simple movement of thetonearm from record edge to center,guided by the outer groove wall nudg ngthe stylus along The tonearm must be freeto follow without resistance.This requiresvirtually friction -free pivots.

Another subtle but demanding aspectof tonearm performance is the need forequal tracking force on each groove wall.This setting ("anti -skating") calls forexquisite precision.

Some other factors that affecttonearm performance include its over -311length (the longer the better), its dynamicbalance, and the position of the cartridge inthe tonearm head (affects tracking error).

Ildll mon lo madder.And while the tonearm is performing

all these functions, other things are going on.For example, the record must be

rotating at precisely the right speed, orpitch will be off. The motor must be quietand free of vibration, or rumble will beadded to the music. The platter must weighenough to provide effective flywheel actionto smooth out speed fluctuations. And, ofcourse, the stylus must get to and from thegroove as gently as possible.

A reassuring thought.vviti, all mese consicierations, it's good

to know that Dual automatic turntables havefor years impressed serious record loverswith every aspect of their precision perform-ance. In fact, many professionals won't playtheir records on anything but a Dual.

A precision tonearm likethe Dual 1219's provides:

A) Vernier -adjustablecounterweight.

B) Four -point gimbalsuspension with near -frictionless pi of bearings.

C) Seeing to provide perfecttonearm angle for single playand changer rik.,iks.

D) Direct -reading trackingforce dial.

E) Setting to equalizetracking force on eachgroove wall.

E) 8-3/4" Ow* to stylus.

If you would like to know more abouttonearms, turntables and us, we'll send yousome interesting literature that we didn'twrite. A booklet on what to look for inrecord playing equipment. And a series ofindependent test reports on Duals.

Better yet, visit any authorized UnitedAudio dealer and ask for a demonstration.

At $99.50 to $175.00, Dual automaticturntables may seem expensive at first. Butwhen you consider your present and futureinvestment in records, they may begin tolook inexpensive.

United Audio Products Inc., 120 So.Columbus Ave., Mt. Vernon, New York10553.

1215. $99.5C

Dual

1219. $1751:0

JULY 1971


49

The Musicianby William Zakariasen

MUCH HAS BEEN WRITTEN of the role that musicand musicians play in the world of politics. Argu-ments often erupt when this subject is brought intoconversation, particularly when it involves the be-havior of certain musicians during World War II.Throughout that period and for the five years fol-lowing, an endless debate took place in journalisticcircles between such unlikely combatants as ErnestNewman and Walter Winchell, and the picketing ofsuspect artists extended into the mid-Fifties-some-times causing the cancellation of performances.The apology for these artists was usually a variationof Newman's theme: "The cobbler should stick tohis last-therefore, art and politics don't mix:' Thefact is that the artist is always a part of history andis often, directly or indirectly, required to place hiscareer, his reputation, sometimes even his life onthe line.

The interrelationship of music and politics re-mains very much with us. Popular liberation move-ments are still expressed in popular song, and someof the composers and interpreters, such as Theo-dorakis, are in and out of jail. A Western Establish-ment composer, Hans Werner Henze, becomes con-verted to world revolution, and must therefore becontent to hear much of his later music only onrecords-live, it might be far too dangerous, as wasproven by the abortive premiere of his The Raftof the Frigate "Medusa!' An Eastern Establishmentperformer, the cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, at-tacks Soviet Socialism in print when his nation'sleading novelist, Alexander Solzhenytsin, is pre-vented by his government from accepting theNobel Prize. Rostropovich is then prevented fromfulfilling his American and Finnish commitmentsin early 1971.

In Greco-Roman times, the court musician wasoften used as a political instrument to viciouslysatirize forces growing too powerful. The Renais-sance court jester often had to be both a composerand a performer. No doubt the prototype of Rigo-

Mr. Zakariasen, a former member of the Metropolitan OperaChorus, is a frequent contributor to HIGH FIDELITY.


as ActivistRostropovich

and Baez are followingletto knew his music-certainly in the sophisticatedcourt of Francois I-and sang his insults to court a centuries -oldfactions as required. No doubt he met as ignomin-ious an end for his efforts as does Rigoletto.Through the murder of Mary Stuart's court musi- tradition.cian, David Rizzio, the history of Scotland tooka fatal turn. Agostino Steffani, Handel's prede-cessor as court composer of the house of Hanover,was one of the most important opera composersof the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Hewas also a clever enough politician to assist severalEuropean thrones. Steffani's political genius wassuch that the Pope appointed him Bishop of Stigaand eventually Papal Prothonotary at Dusseldorf.

Like some of Shakespeare's plays, the operas ofthe Venetian baroque, commissioned as they wereby rulers, were thinly disguised histories of the goodguys who ruled and the bad guys they overthrew orwould like to have overthrown. Monteverdi'sL'incoronazione di Poppea is nothing less than abloody musical comedy aimed at the Borgias, onlyrecently overthrown. The countless operas andother musical "entertainments" during the reignof Louis XIV were designed mainly to project thedazzling wattage of the Sun King, who, like Nero,would often join in the performance.

The French Revolution caused many a musicianto change his political allegiance, sometimes at amoment's notice. Andre Gretry, previously favoredby the monarchy, found mugwumping quite sim-ple. At the outbreak of the Revolution he alliedhimself with the mob, writing several revolutionaryworks, including the opera -ballet La Rosiere repub-licaine (1793), based on tunes of the Terror such asLa Carmagnole and Ca ira. Following this flag-waving piece, he carried a musical banner for everypossible conqueror. The Directoire named streetsafter him; Napoleon gave him the Legion of Honorand appointed him head of the Paris Conservatory;Louis XVIII retired Gretry with a sizable pensionand a country house formerly owned by JeanJacques Rousseau.

In another case, Louis XVI commissioned fromLuigi Cherubini the opera Marguerite d'Anjou as

51

z

David Rizzio (born: Turin, c. 1533; murdered: Scotland,1566). Rizzio, a musician in the train of the Piedmonteseambassador to Scotland, was hired by Mary, Queen ofScots, who had need of a bass singer in her court. Aroyal favorite, he soon became Mary's valet de chambreand her secretary for correspondence with France,where she had been raised. The queen's marriage toher cousin, Darnley, took place in Rizzio's apartments,and Rizzio also became an adviser to Darnley. WhenDarnley asked Mary to give him the crown matrimonial,which would have assured his rank of king for life, Rizzioadvised the queen against it. Darnley, who also mayhave been jealous of Rizzio's intimacy with his wife,plotted the musician's murder, which was carried out onMarch 9, 1566. Among the results of this act were Mary'sescape from Holyrood Palace on the 11th and Darnley'sown murder within the year-Mary was charged withcomplicity in this act twenty years later as she wentinto her own Elizabethan tragedy.

a musical antidote to popular unrest. The line"Great God, save our queen" appears at every turn.In later years Cherubini wrote a Requiem for LouisXVIII, but intervening times found him busy savinghis own life and reputation. In 1796, at the openingof the Council of Five Hundred, Cherubini con-ducted his cantata praising the executioners ofLouis XVI. During the Terror, he was forced by amob of Jacobins to play La Marseillaise on a con-fiscated piano in the shadow of the guillotine.

La Marseillaise had a somewhat different effecton a somewhat greater composer-Hector Berlioz,a man not noted for his sympathy with the down-trodden poor. Rather he was like De Gaulle-abeliever in the glory of France and of himself,period. During the 1830 Revolution, Berlioz raninto a confused crowd which was contemplatinglooting a museum. His French conscience aroused,he began singing La Marseillaise. No one joined in-they just stood there, until the third verse, whenBerlioz roared, "Damn it, sing!" and they did, for-getting everything else. This experience resultedin his magnificent setting of the anthem-perhaps

the finest setting of its kind. Berlioz' preoccupationwith La gloire de la France resulted in at least twomore works commemorating that bloodless buteventually useless revolution: the Requiem and theGrande symphonie funebre et triomphale. If Ber-lioz' music as a whole celebrated either the artistas anarchist, contemptuous of the people, or theglory of Napoleonic grandeur as it might have been,his heroic defiance of an undecided Parisian mobgave his life a moment of raw heroic activism.Berlioz the composer became Berlioz the humanist.

Verdi, whose humanistic life mirrors his music,served for a time as representative of his district inthe first Italian Parliament despite his knowledgethat plans for a truly democratic Italy had beenbetrayed. Verdi was as responsible as Garibaldiand Cavour for the creation of Italy as an inde-pendent nation. His operas were thinly disguisedpolemics against Austrian and Papal imperialism.Nabucco's Jews singing by the waters of Babylonwere the Italians ruled from the Danube and thewestern side of the Tiber. Their choral cries for free-dom, repeated in such works as I Lombardi, Mac-beth, and Ernani-the first opera by a reputablecomposer in which the outlaw hero rejects the "sys-tem" in the attempt to bring himself and his peoplesocial justice-became the greatest collection ofnational anthems ever owned by a nation. Censors,slow -footed as they remain today, caught up withVerdi in time for Stiffelio, Rigoletto, and Un Balloin maschera, forcing the composer to fake new,supposedly innocuous plots-but by then, Europeknew: the truth, by any other name, was still knownas Verdi. Royalists took his cause as well, since theletters of his name coincidentally fit their rallyingcry: "Vittorio Emmanuele Re D'Italia!'

Therefore, money and foreign intervention (towhich Verdi paid halfhearted obeisance in one ofhis least inspired compositions, Hymn of the Na-tions) helped to create an independent, but not freeItaly. The poor were still pariahs in the sight of thenew king. In a square in Milan in 1867, whenbloody rioting broke out between Royalists andRepublicans, Verdi strode to the center of the car-nage, raised his hands, and began to sing: "Va,pensiero, sull' ali dorate"-the chorus of Hebrewslaves in Nabucco-the piece of music that startedit all. The mob joined in song and dispersed respect-fully. Verdi lived on to compose and re -composehis greatest scores, all the while giving the bulk ofhis profits to such causes as the defeated Frenchsoldiers of the Franco-Prussian War, the Italianpoor, who were always with him, and to the supportof Casa Verdi, a home for retired musicians.

In those days of great political upheaval, thedifference between Verdi and Wagner was simplythis: Wagner loved "the people!' Verdi loved "peo-ple!' Wagner's association with the anarchist Ba-kunin and the Communist Engels brought about histwelve-year exile after the 1848 Revolution. While


Wagner's nationalism was based upon the hopeof reviving and unifying dormant forces, Verdi'snationalism was based on the desire for freedomfrom outside forces. Upon Wagner's return to astill divided Germany, he used his influence withone of its richest yet weakest kings to assure himselfa dominant role in European life. But in point offact, his extravagant artistic and personal budgethelped lead to the downfall of the Bavarian mon-archy.

The involvement of a musician in the fight forhuman rights began with Mozart. In Entfuhrung,Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Cosi fan tutte, the comic,though often serious, events of the day are largelyconquered by the soubrette soprano-Blonde,Susanna, Zerlina, and Despina. Each, with herplain talk and common sense, deflates authorityand helps to create a better atmosphere for thedowntrodden. Women's Liberation is indeed olderin opera than in politics.

In embracing the Masonic order toward the endof his life, Mozart abandoned the liberation ofwoman in favor of liberation of all humanity. Ittook great courage for him, as well as for Schikanederand his other associates, to perform The MagicFlute within the police -state atmosphere of 1791Vienna. The Masons, whose secret rites upset theEstablishment, were blamed for causing the FrenchRevolution, and as a result, their ranks had becomesadly decimated. Yet Mozart, a Catholic as wellas a Mason, began the great finale of his opera witha Lutheran chorale, fully understanding its deepnational significance. He used it as a musical bridgeover the religious differences that had torn apartCentral Europe. Schikaneder's deceptively innocu-ous libretto contained the following revolutionarysentiment:

Will he have the strength to endure theordeals which await him? He's only aprince.

Much more than that-he is a man!

It is strange that Zauberflote was not banned-perhaps the tyrannical Emperor Leopold guessedthe impending death of Mozart. In truth, with Mo-zart's death, the Masonic order ceased-tempor-arily at least-to be of consequence in Austria.Its resurrection much later was as a conservativerather than as a liberal force.

A few days after Napoleon occupied Viennain 1805, the first version of Beethoven's only opera,then called Leonore, was performed to a half -emptyhouse. How the premiere of this strangely propheticwork could have occurred under these circum-stances is indeed a puzzle. The libretto was basedon a play by Jean -Nicolas Bouilly, a revolutionarywho suffered under the Terror-like Beethoven, heembraced Bonaparte but later rejected him as theJudas of Europe. It was an act of courage to attemptLeonore in an occupied city, especially since half

her citizens were collaborators. It would have beenan even greater act of courage had it been per-formed five years later, when the prophecy ofBouilly and Beethoven was coming true during thePeninsular War. "The Desired One Don Fernando-Ferdinand VII-was returning to Spain to driveout the imperialist. Beethoven knew this as hetriumphantly composed his final version of Fidelio-but he was doomed to disappointment, as he wasby the promises of Napoleon. Ferdinand VII be-came, even in the eyes of present-day Spaniards,the worst ruler in their history. Goya warned hispeople through his acute depiction of the king'shypocritical glance in his numerous paintings. Theonly statue left of "The Desired One" lies as Ozy-mandias, half buried in a junk heap in the out-skirts of Seville.

The humanist crisis of the Dreyfus Affair rippedFrance apart at the turn of this century. Zola,Clemenceau, and Anatole France at first found nosupporters in the musical profession. It was ex-pected that the conservatives Saint-Saens andD'Indy would join the Establishment, but not theavant-gardists Debussy and Degas. Liberal supportin the field of music came from a most unusualsource-Norway's Edvard Grieg.

Ignace Jan Paderewski (born: Russian Podolia, 1860;died: New York, 1941). Possibly the most politicallyactive musician of the century, pianist/composerPaderewski fought for the independence of Polandfrom Russia for many years before World War I. In 1919he became the newly independent country's first primeminister and minister of foreign affairs, suppressingthe various military factions that threatened nationalunity and obtaining from the Diet a national army. Itwas he who signed the Versailles Treaty for Poland.Long retired politically by June 1933, four months afterHitler had taken over Germany, Paderewski played abenefit concert in Paris for Jewish refugees. After theNazi conquest of Poland, Paderewski became, in 1940,

president of the Polish Parliament in Exile in Paris. Hisdeath in New York the following year occurred during atrip he undertook to promote the cause of Poland.

JULY 197153

Grieg had been invited to conduct a concert ofhis own works in the Theatre Chatelet in September1899. At this time-the crucial period of the DreyfusAffair-he was at work on his cantata Fred (Peace).set to the works of his lifelong, though sometimestruculent, friend Bj(pmstjenne 13j(prilson. This cantatawas scheduled for performance at the Paris WorldExhibition in 1900. Grieg canceled the concert witha letter that ended: "Like all other non -Frenchmen,I am shocked at the injustice in your country and donot feel myself able to enter into any relation what-soever with the French public!' The cantata wasnever finished, but Grieg eventually conducted aconcert of his music in Paris in 1903, when thepolitical climate was one of vindication for Dreyfus,who had not, however, yet been exonerated by thecourts. The anti-Semites came to wreak vengeanceon "the troll who defends his kind!' and createdone of the most violent riots in musical history.But time had passed the rioters by. In the end Grieg-and Dreyfus-conquered. But only one criticreviewed Grieg's concert favorably; he was fromLe Figaro and his name was Gabriel Faure.

The great nationalist composer of Finland isJean Sibelius. The fatal year of 1899 saw the lossof Finnish autonomy to Tsarist Russia. Ready forthe fray, Sibelius composed appropriate music forthe tableaux which were to be part of the "PressCelebrations" that November. Each tableau de-picted a scene from Finnish history or legend. Itwas the finale, however, which truly made Finnishhistory and legend. The living statues interpretedthe tableau Finland Awakes, but no one could re-main still for long. Sibelius' music aroused thetheater and the nation as no politician's oratorycould have done. This music was published underthe title of Suomi-a word which made no sense tothe Russians or their Gauleiter General Bobrikov.To the outside world it was Finlandia, and todayremains the most stirring symphonic piece of musi-cal patriotism yet written. Such works as Sibelius'Second Symphony and his cantata The CaptiveQueen (all that is left of his attempt at opera) re-minded the Finns of their national heritage. Fiveyears later Sibelius wrote In Memoriam, a Goiter-dammerung-scaled funeral march in memory of theyoung Finnish patriot, Eugen Schaumann, whoassassinated the hated General Brobrikov in broaddaylight.

Sibelius has been accused of being a "rightist"composer, and it is true that he, along with the vastmajority of his people, welcomed aid from Ger-many in both world wars. Yet, if one studies his-tory, Russia was Finland's perpetual enemy-asGermany was Russia's perpetual enemy. At theclose of the First World War, remnants of the Ger-man army joined the Mannerheim division of theWhite army to fight against Bolshevist Russia inFinland. It was the only area in Russia's last civilwar where the Whites beat the Reds. if the Reds

Bob Fitch Black Star

Joan Baez escorts her husband, David Harris, as heleaves for jail in 1969 after being sentenced to threeyears for refusing to submit to induction in the armedforces. The Harrises had long been anti -war activistsand Baez' "David's Album:' released on Vanguard amonth after the sentencing, was in effect a proclama-tion of their joint stance. Harris was released from jailthis past March 15

had won, there would be no Finland today-Si-belius cannot be blamed for the choice he madebetween two tyrannies.

The great musical movement in Tsarist Russia,despite its plethora of politically inspired operasby "The Five!' never got any composer in trouble,until Rimsky-Korsakov's Le Coq d'or, which wasthought to be a satiric comment on the fiasco of theRusso-Japanese War. This opera was banned until1909, one year after its composer's death. How thepolitical implications of such operas as BorisGodunov could have flown over the heads of theRussian aristocracy seems beyond comprehension.Of course, the history of Russia itself seems beyondcomprehension, culminating perhaps in the cir-cumstances that prompted Rostropovich's letter.

World War II drew lines in art as perhaps noother in history. In the long view it seemed that theeasiest way out of an artist's dilemma was defectionto America-after all, we were, thanks to geography,destined to win. As early as World War I, two greatmusicians, Pablo Casals and Artur Rubinstein,boycotted Germany. Casals went further, boy-cotting any nation that sported a totalitarian gov-ernment, and any nation that supported that na-tion. Casals has returned to the U.S. despite our


recognition of the Franco regime, but he cannotbring himself to go back to Catalonia. To Casals,totalitarianism, whether from right or left, is anequal abomination. He has never played in SovietRussia. On the other hand Rubinstein has played inmany countries of totalitarian and anti-Semiticbent but not Germany.

World War II saw many musicians who gladlycollaborated with totalitarianism-some are stillwith us. Others were forced to make a harder choice.Kirsten Flagstad was damned because she rejoinedher husband in occupied Norway; Frida Leider wascriticized because she refused to leave Germanywith her Jewish husband. Both were eventuallyexonerated. Conductors such as Wilhelm Flirt -wangler and Karl Bohm performed "forbidden"works in a gamble between self-respect and col-laboration, at times speaking out against the cancerthat was destroying German art. Furtwangler, whosteadfastly refused to conduct birthday concertsfor Hitler, feigning illness each time, did conductone birthday concert when informed the Fahrerwas indisposed. The incriminating photo of Flirt -wangler on the podium and foxy Adolf in the frontrow has become evidence for those who do not careto find out the ameliorating facts. Like Furtwangler,Richard Strauss was fired from his job by the Nazis,and his intercepted letters to Stefan Zweig nearlycost him his life. Carl Orff has been accused ofNazism, yet his 1943 opera, Die Kluge, was as mucha satire of Nazism as Le Coq d'or was of Tsarism.Arturo Toscanini refused to conduct in Nazi Ger-many, and events in his beloved Italy broke hisheart. At first an enthusiastic supporter of Musso-lini before his brand of socialism became "national;'Toscanini later rejected the tyrant. In 1928 Tos-canini refused to conduct the Fascist hymn, Gio-vinezza, which was to have opened a concert, andthus was barred from the podium by the authorities.He still returned to his villa every summer for vaca-tions and performances in Salzburg, but his fre-quent pronouncements to the foreign press againstMussolini and his Nazi ally caused his house arrestin the fall of 1937. The Italian underground finallysucceeded in spiriting the Maestro across the borderto Switzerland, where he caught a plane thatbrought him to New York just in time for the firstconcert of the new NBC Symphony on Christmasnight.

Ironically, and despite Ernest Newman's thesis,it was often the completely apolitical musician whosuffered most during the war. No conductor wasmore beloved by those who knew him than WillemMengelberg, who singlehandedly brought theNetherlands into the mainstream of music, aswell as bringing works by composers like -Mahler,Strauss, Bartok, and Stravinsky to light for thefirst time. In his fifty years as conductor of the Con-certgebouw, he gave concerts for millions of people,and if the Nazi occupation authorities numbered

among those millions, he didn't care. He would playfor anybody in the attempt to prove his thesis that"Only art, not politics, endures' The Dutch people,loving him as they did, expected only the best fromhim, and thus, like Oedipus, he died in exile, bereftof every honor they bestowed upon him, in 1951.Time has forgiven or exonerated many music ma-kers caught up on the wrong side during the war;Mengelberg was never exonerated during his life-time, but Holland is holding a centennial festivalin his honor this year.

Of all the tales of a musician laying down life forcountry or conscience, a special place must be giventhe Czech soprano Marie Podvalova. In Nazi -occupied Prague, staged operas in Czech were for-bidden, particularly those by Bedfich Smetana thatexalted Czech history (Dalibor, The Brandenburgersin Bohemia, and Libuie). In 1943 Podvalovaaroused her colleagues to arrange a secret concertperformance of Libuk, in defiance of the authori-ties. This opera tells the story of the legendary firstqueen of Bohemia, who founded a dynasty bymarrying a peasant. Despite its simple tale, it isamong the grandest of grand operas, containingmonumental, yet tender music such as only Sme-tana could write. The final scene, after the wedding,is a long solo sung by the queen, who as if in a tranceprophesies the future glories and terrors to befallher people. Her last phrase, taken up by the chorus(and often by the audience-I've seen it happen!),"Ces14 narod neskona!" is translated as "The Czechpeople. will overcome!" No wonder this work wasforbidden by the Occupation.

Hearing of the performance plans a bit too late,the Nazis proudly announced to the world pressthat they had allowed this performance to takeplace. The Czechs knew better and tried to con-vince their prima donna to call it off, but to no avail.At the conclusion of the work, performed as it wasin street clothes, the audience could not help butjoin in the final chorus. During the applause, MariePodvalova was quietly arrested and sentenced totwo years' internment in the concentration campat Terezin. She managed to live through it, but toher this was not so important. Asked about it later,she said: "Someone had to do it'.'

Arthur O'Shaughnessy, a member of the zoo-logical department of the British Museum duringthe tumescent quietude of late Victorianism, leftone poem, Songs of a Worker, which is remembered,but even he understood, as did Edward Elgar, wholater set it to music. It begins:

We are the music -makers,And we are the dreamers of dreams,

Wandering by lone sea -breakers,And sitting by desolate streams;

World -losers and world -forsakers,On whom the pale moon gleams;

Yet we are the movers and shakersOf the world, forever, it seems.

JULY 197155

A layman's guide to audio controls.

by Leonard Feldman

MANY STEREO ENTHUSIASTS regard an abundanceof control knobs and switches as something of astatus symbol. Others prefer only those controlsdeemed absolutely essential. Whatever your"knob -count" preference, I would like to presentwhat to my knowledge is the first layman -clearpicture of just what happens when a knob on ahigh fidelity component is turned or a switch ismoved.

To begin with, there are only two fundamentalactions that occur when any control is moved. OneI call "signal amplitude division;' the other is "sig-nal turning on and ofr or simply "switching' If youwant to take an even more simplistic view, the firstcategory of control action could loosely be termedswitching, if, by definition, switching is also under-stood to mean "partial switching"-that is switchingfrom a signal that is present in all its electrical am-plitude to a smaller replica of the same electricalsignal or vice versa.

Signal Amplitude Division

Even if you've never tried to read an electronicschematic diagram, the symbology used to repre-sent controls which fall into this major categoryclearly suggests its function. In Fig. 1, the jaggedline represents a resistor. What does it resist? Flowof current. The higher the resistance (expressed inohms), the less current will flow through it when agiven voltage is applied. This is the basis of thefamed Ohm's Law (current equals voltage dividedby resistance) taught in every high school physicsclass.

Now to make a fundamental point: in Fig. la,one end of a resistor is connected to the positiveterminal of a 6 -volt battery, and so its voltage orpotential must also be 6 volts. And since the bottomof the resistor is connected to the ground or zeropoint, the voltage there must of course be zero.If we could carefully cut into the resistor at its mid-point, we would measure exactly 3 volts. At onequarter of the way up from the bottom, we wouldmeasure 11/2 volts: three quarters of the way up.we'd get a reading of 41/2 volts. And if the whole

surface of the resistor could be exposed, and youslid a voltmeter probe from bottom to top you couldget any reading between 0 and 6 volts.

Musical programming amplified electronicallyconsists of nothing but a complex arrangement ofvarying voltages. Unlike the battery voltage used inour explanation, the voltage alternates-it is an ACvoltage. Unlike home AC power voltage, however,it is usually of much lower amplitude, and it alter-nates at all sorts of instantaneous rates (frequenciesfrom 20 to 20,000 Hz) depending upon the instan-taneous pitch of the musical note being amplified.For instance, if we were amplifying "middle A"on the piano, the voltage alternation would occur440 times per second. From the standpoint of itsfunction in "dropping" the voltage, the resistorbehaves the same whether theacross it is DC or AC. The voltage appearing at anypoint along the resistance is proportional to theratio of that partial resistance compared to thewhole resistance.

Now, suppose the resistor were built so that asliding contact could touch it at any point along itsresistive length. The schematic representation ofthis type of variable resistor is shown in Fig. lb-the familiar "potentiometer" used in audio equip-

6 -VOLTBATTERY

a

-FULL 6 VOLTS

-4.5 VOLTS

-3 VOLTS

-1.5 VOLTS

-0 VOLTS

GROUND OR-= ZERO -VOLT

REFERENCEPOINT

b

1 SLIDING TAP

Fig. 1. A resistor (zigzag line) connected across a volt-age source, as in a. develops or "drops" the full amountof voltage, of which various amounts may be tapped:b shows the symbol for a potentiometer, a resistor fittedwith a slide or a rotator (symbolized by an arrow) thatvaries the amount of resistance in the circuit and con-sequently the amount of voltage picked off from it tofeed to another circuit.


Fig. 2. The anatomy of a potentiometer (familiarly, a "pot"). At left, the complete device with its three connect-ing lugs and rotating shaft. The two end lugs get the full voltage since they are connected directly to the internalresistive element (see center photo). At right, the rotating member with its metallic wipers. One wiper contactsthe resistive element at a particular point, depending on how the shaft is rotated. In this way the center lug be-comes connected to the resistive element, and the point of connection-and hence the amount of resistancein the circuit-can be continuously varied at will.

ment for such functions as volume controls, tonecontrols, balance controls, and the like. Fig. 2 showsan actual single -section potentiometer, including anunusual view of it disassembled.

The schematic representation of the potenti-ometer in Fig. 2 is repeated in Fig. 3, this time withpictorial representations of a typical signal voltageapplied to the "top" or "high" end of the potenti-ometer. A signal of such amplitude will appearsmaller and smaller as the shaft and wiper contacts"pick off" less and less of it, as the shaft is rotatedtoward the "ground" or bottom end of the resist-ance, as shown by the series of waveform photoskeyed to various points along the continuous resist-ance of Fig. 3. Of course, the amplitude of thewaveform ultimately determines the "loudness"of the signal heard after it is retranslated from elec-trical energy to acoustical energy or sound. This,essentially, is how a volume control works.

A stereophonic amplifier is, in fact, two separateand distinct amplifiers. Its volume control musttherefore be Iwo separate volume controls, usuallyoperated by a single knob on a single shaft. Fig. 4shows such a control together with its schematicrepresentation. The better the dual control, by theway, the more exactly the two commonly drivenelements will select identical amounts of resistanceat every point of rotation. If you have ever used astereophonic amplifier in which the channels seemwell balanced at high settings of volume, but tendto become unbalanced at low listening levels, it'sdue to the increasing discrepancy between theamounts of resistance picked off by the two ele-ments as they recede further and further from thefull signal amplitude. The ability of a dual controlto pick off equal elements of resistance at all set-tings is known as its "tracking characteristic:' Agood dual control can maintain equality of signalpicked off by the two sections within a very tighttolerance all the way from maximum loudness toinaudibility.

The familiar channel balance control is very

1

r

Fig. 3. Schematic of pctentiomater showing signal am-plitudes picked off by the sliding arm at various settings.

JULY 197157

similar to a dual volume control except for the wayin which it is hooked up (Fig. 5).

The very same types of rotary controls also areused to create tone -control circuits. These circuitsemploy an additional type of electrical component-the capacitor (once known as the "condenser").A small capacitor tends to block the passage of basstones while at the same time passing on highertones with little or no diminution in amplitude.Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate schematically how this basicprinciple is used to create tone controls.

Several recent amplifiers and receivers are sport-ing a new type of control, in which vertical or hori-zontal movement of a knob accomplishes the sameresults previously achieved with rotation of a knob.The principle of variable resistance is still the same,however. A photo of a linear -motion or slide con-trol is shown in Fig. 8.

Another form of dual control which you've prob-ably seen has two knobs mounted on the samecontrol shaft, yet each knob can be turned inde-pendently of the other. Such devices are often usedfor tone controls, in which the user is given theadded flexibility of being able to adjust the tonalresponse of each stereo channel independently.Thus, the large, outer knob might control the bassresponse of the left channel while the smaller, con-centrically mounted inner knob performs the samefunction for the right channel (see Fig. 9).

Signal Turning On and Off

The second major category of controls used in highfidelity equipment involves the turning on or off(switching) of signals. The schematic representa-tion of some basic switches is shown in Fig. 10.When closed, a switch does nothing more than con-nect the ends of two wires. When open, it discon-nects them. A non -audio use of this simple idea,which makes an important point about switching,is shown in Fig. 11.

Perhaps the most simply constructed switch isthe so-called slide switch shown in Fig. 12. It is nor-mally used for turning on and off such secondaryfunctions as loudness contour, scratch filters, rum-ble filters, tape -monitor circuits, and the like.

If you can imagine several slide switchesmounted side by side, equipped with plungers at-tached to the sliders with all plungers coming outtowards you and parallel to the plane of the slidingaction, you're not too far from mentally construct-ing a multiple pushbutton switch bank. Mechan-ically, such pushbutton switches are a bit moresophisticated, since depressing one button usuallyrequires that all other buttons automatically popback out, but this action is accomplished by varioussprings, latching bars, and other mechanical nice-ties which need not concern us here. The important

Fig. 4. A dual potentiometer is simply a pair of pots con-trolled by a common shaft. In the schematic represen-tation the dotted line indicates that the sliders areganged so that they move together as the shaft is ro-tated. The tiny arrows indicate the direction of thesliders for clockwise rotation of the shaft, in accordancewith how the device is connected in a given circuit.

TOTAL SIGNAL INPUT,

CHANNEL AOUTPUT A OUTPUT B

I \

TOTAL SIGNAL INPUT,

CHANNEL B

Fig. 5. A dual pot is connected in this manner to serveas a stereo channel balance control. Note that thesliders still travel together. However, the resistive ele-ments (zigzag lines) are connected in opposite mannerfrom each other: the upper end of one element is fedthe total electrical signal with its lower end at groundor zero signal voltage, while the lower end of the otherelement is fed the total electrical signal of the otherstereo channel, with its upper end at ground, or zerosignal voltage. If both resistive elements are perfectlylinear (equal change in resistance for each degree ofshaft rotation), then rotating the shaft to its mid -pointproduces equal left channel and right channel voltagesat the respective slider terminals. If the shaft is nowrotated fully counterclockwise, the voltage appearingat the left -channel slider element will approach maxi-mum. And that's why your balance control is usuallykept in exact physical and electrical center of rotationif you want equal levels of sound from each of yourstereophonic speaker systems-or deliberately rotatedoff center if you want to raise or lower the level of onechannel relative to the other.


LARGE C

INPUTSIGNAL

OUTPUTSIGNAL

Fig. 6. This is how a pot can be wired into a circuit toserve as a "bass cut" tone control. Its slider is con-nected to a relatively large capacitor. If the slider armis moved all the way to the right, all audio frequenciescan pass directly through large C and thus will appearunattenuated across fixed resistor R. If, however, theslider is moved to the left, only the higher -frequencytones can pass through small C directly to resistor R.Lower frequencies must pass first through large C andthus through the total resistance of the potentiometer.It's as if the total amplitude of the low -frequency signalsis now appearing across a very large resistor made upof both the potentiometer and fixed resistor R. Naturally,only a fraction of the amplitude will appear across Rsince much of it was dropped along the potentiometer.As a result, low -frequency tones appear at the outputof the circuit diminished in level as compared with high -frequency tones. Thus, the "bass cut" effect.

INPUT OUTPUTSIGNAL C SIGNAL

Fig. 7. A simple pot can be used for treble, or high -frequency, cut. When the slider arm of the pot is movedall the way up, high -frequency signals will flow throughthe small C right to ground-they are lost as far as theoutput is concerned. Low frequencies, on the otherhand, cannot be "shorted to ground" by the small valueof C, and so they do appear across the output unatten-uated. Now, as the slider arm is moved downward, theprevious "short circuit" (for high frequencies) is re-placed by the finite, high resistance of the potentio-meter itself, so all audio frequencies appear at theoutput with little or no attenuation if values of resistanceand capacitance are chosen correctly. Most tone con-trol circuits offer not only treble and bass cut, but alsotreble and bass boost. While more complex circuitry isused to achieve these double-acting control functions,the control used is invariably a potentiometer.

Fig. 8. Newest form of potentiometer uses linear, insteadof rotary, motion. At left, the complete device; at right,disassembled showing the slider element and the fixedresistive element. Actually this form of control is closerin physical format to o.ir schematic representationthan the popular rotary controls, for here we have aslider that literally moves up and down or from side toside, just as it is shown schematically. Recent mechan-ical design breakthroughs have made this linear -motioncontrol as simple to manufacture as its rotary prede-cessor and, psychclogically, the listening public seemsto favor "up for louder" or "down for softer" every bitas much as they were willing to accept "clockwise forlouder" and "counterclockwise for softer"-so bothforms of controls will probably be with us from now on.

Fig. 9. Dual concentric potentiometer: each section isoperated by its own shaft and control knob. Schemati-cally, a dual -concentric pot is represented as simplytwo separate units. As a rule, the outer shaft is hollowand controls the slider of the front resistive element.The inner shaft is solid, passes through the outer shaft,and regulates the rear element slider. Often a frictionclutch arrangement enables the user to rotate bothshafts by turning ether knob. Alternatively, you cankeep one knob stationary with one hand while turningthe other independently.

JULY 1971 59

a

C

e

b

d

Fig. 10. Schematic repre-sentations of basic switchcircuits: a) single -pole, single -throw shown open; b) sameswitch closed; c) single -pole,double -throw. Many morecombinations are possible.ddouble-throw. Many morecombinations are possible.

thing to remember is that a pushbutton switch doesno more than any other kind of switch-it simplymakes and breaks electrical contacts.

Often a switch element will be mated to a poten-tiometer used for a volume or tone control. A com-bination volume control/on-off switch is shownin Fig. 13. Electrically, the two functions are com-pletely unrelated in that the "making" and "break-ing" of the power -line connection has absolutelynothing to do with lowering or raising the volumeof sound. Nevertheless, it is convenient to have thelatter action take place when the shaft of the poten-tiometer is rotated completely counterclockwise sothat the sound gets lower and lower and, finally,with a clicking sound, the whole equipment isturned off altogether. Schematically, the combina-tion is often represented with a dotted line indi-cating a mechanical linkage between the rotationof the slider element of the resistor and the openingand closing of the rear switch section. Physically, itis quite simple to attach a little tab to the rotatingshaft portion of a conventional potentiometer sothat at one point in its circular travel it trips aspring -actuated switch element. The switch portionof such a combination is shown taken apart from itscompanion resistive element in Fig. 13. Yet anothertype of combination control is shown in Fig. 14.

Despite such intriguing combinations, mostswitches are used solely as switches. Names such asslide, rotary, lever, and pushbutton (to mention buta few) describe how the switching action is initiatedby the user. The switching itself still consists ofnothing more than the connecting or disconnectingof two wire ends, or multiples thereof. For instance,the simple rotation of a selector switch from, say,the AM radio position to the FM radio positionmay "make" and "break" some or all of the follow-ing circuit points in a single motion: I. Disconnectthe wire containing AM audio from the wire lead-ing to the amplifier input. 2. Connect the wire con-taining FM radio to the same amplifier input.

Fig. 11. Quite apart from how they work, switcheshave long been a source of fascination in thatthey can be used to solve problems that are sus-ceptible to "yes -no" analysis. The concept ofswitching, refined to a very high degree, is ofcourse basic to computer design. On a moremodest scale, which still demonstrates the logicof switching, is that perennial favorite: the prob-lem of how to turn one light on or off from twoseparate positions.

POSITION A SWITCH POSITION B SWITCH

The correct wiring solves the problem simplyand effectively. This basic principle of accom-plishing as much as possible with the least com-plexity is germane to all switch -control arrange-ments, including those found in audio equipment.

3. Turn off operating voltage from the AM tunersection of the receiver. 4. Turn on operating voltageto the FM tuner section of the receiver. 5. Short outall unused signal wire ends (such as "phono,""tape:' "aux" inputs, etc.) to ground, to preventsignal "leak -through'.' 6. Open up previouslyshorted "FM" signal wire ends.

The most popular form of switch used to performmultifunctions such as those just mentioned is therotary switch, available with any number of wafersor decks depending on what it must do. A single -deck switch capable of selecting one of several pos-sible positions) such as AM, FM, phono, forexample) and able to make or break several circuitsin each of its positions is shown in Fig. 15. A mul-tiple deck switch is shown in Fig. 16. The numberof decks may be increased to three, four, or evenmore when enough switching functions are de-manded. Each deck can have as many as elevenpositions, spaced thirty degrees apart. Switches ofthis type can be designed to perform complexmake -and -break circuits in virtually every combi-nation of contacts imaginable and it is a "favoritesport" of many design engineers to see how muchswitching they can accomplish with the lowestnumber of contacts and decks.

The familiar stereo headphone jack now incorpo-rated into virtually every stereophonic amplifier orreceiver offers an example of a somewhat differentkind of switching. Here, the switching actionactually occurs when you insert the plug of your


Fig. 12. A simple slide switch, outside and inside. The latter view reveals how it works: parallel metal contactsjoin the center terminals to a pair at either end, depending on which way you move the control slide above. Byadding a plastic topping to the slide, switch manufacturers have dressed up the lowly slide switch and trans-formed it to the "rocker switch"-nicer to look at and easier to operate. This particJlar switch is a double -pole,double -throw type (see Fig. 10e).

0 -

Fig. 13. Schematic symbol and photo of a potentiometercombined with an off /on switch, a device widely used asa combination power switch and volume (or tone) con-trol. Closeup of internal section shows how switchworks: when potentiometer shaft is turned to extremecounterclockwise position, a tab on the resistive ele-ment trips switch contacts (that familiar click you hear).

Fig. 14.14. A dual -ganged potentiometer may be combinedwith a slide switch in this manner. The pots are con-trolled by a common shaft that is hollow; through it anarrower shaft extends and terminates in the grippingdevice that moves the slide switch. This design oftenis used as a volume control combined with power of` /onswitch. Schematically, the combination in the photo isrepresented as a dual -ganged potentiometer in turnganged with a double -pole, double -throw sw tch.

July 1971 6l

TO AM SUPPLYVOLTAGE POINTS

TO FM SUPPLYVOLTAGE POINTS

PHONO

INPUTS j \

OTHERINPUTS

FM SIGNAL

AM SIGNAL

/- TO AUDIOAMPLIFIER

1VOLTAGEPOWER SUPPLY

TO PHONO PHONO SIGNALPREAMP VOLTAGESUPPLY POINTS

Fig. 15. How a three -pole, three -position switch mightbe used in an AM/FM receiver. Switch is shown in AMposition: phono signal is grounded; power supply volt-ages are being fed to AM circuit points; AM signal isbeing fed to amplifier section. Keeping in mind that allthree portions of the switch move together (the dottedline means they are ganged), you can trace the threesimultaneous circuit actions for its other two positions.The photos show a closeup of the front and rear of asingle wafer or deck of a rotary selector switch, suchas might be used to accomplish the switching actionjust described. The outer rings of tabs or lugs serveas terminals for wires going off to parts of the set; theyin turn are interconnected by metallic slides or "short-ing members" that move into position as the shaft isrotated. A spring latch insures that the shaft will rotatein steps of exactly thirty degrees; mechanical stops at

the extremes of rotation limit the action of the switchto the number of positions intended by its designer.

LONG CLIP

12

11

DUMMY LUG

2

10 SHORT CLIP3

9

INSULATED BACKTO BACK CLIP 8

7 6

THRU CONNECTIONTO ROTOR BLADEON REVERSE SIDE

STANDARD TERMINALS ARE FLAT 90`BENT TERMINALS ARE OPTIONAL

Fig. 16. The rotary selector switch is widely used inaudio equipment. Its versatility-thanks to the numberof decks it may include, not to mention the possiblevariations in size and shape of its contact slider andin the arrangement of its lugs-is virtually limitless.The drawing shown here (courtesy Centralab) is anactual sample worksheet used by design engineers tocreate new switching circuits. A variation of this typeof switch is the lever switch: a long handle replaces theconventional knob to perform the same function.

stereo headset. The photo in Fig. 17 makes theaction very clear.

A Special Case

The one control that generally does not fall intothe two basic categories we have been discussing isthe AM or FM tuning knob. It neither makes asignal greater nor smaller, nor does it switch a signalon and off in the conventional sense. Its function is

to tune your radio circuits so that they will respondonly to a given radio frequency. be it AM or FM. Atuning circuit consists of a variable capacitor anda coil. From a control standpoint, the importantitem here is the variable capacitor which, as yourotate it, "tunes" the circuit that it forms with afixed -value coil and thereby selects different in-coming broadcast frequencies. This is shown sym-bolically. together with a close-up of an actual unit,in Fig. 18.

The odd thing about this widely employed tuning


t1

:

Fig. 17. Phone jacks are actually an ingenious form ofswitch, activated when the mating plug is inserted.Shown here is a stereo headphone jack, with aid with-out the plug. As the plug is inserted, one set of contactsis "broken" (opened), while another set of contacts is"made" (closed). The contacts that are broken arethose which connect the amplifier output to its speakerterminals; the contacts that are closed are those whichconnect the amplifier output to the shaft of the insertedplug. Note that the shaft itself is divided into three sec-tions, separated by insulation. The forward two sectionscarry left and right channel signals; the rear sectionhandles the ground connection. All contacts in thephone jack are under spring tension so that when theplug is removed, the original circuit hookup is auto-matically restored.

Fig. 18. Schematic representation and photo of a typicalradio tuning circuit. The combined electrical action ofcapacitor and coil determines the frequency to whichthe circuit will respond, or becomes "tuned to:' Theo-retically, varying the value of either the capacitor orthe coil will do the trick; for practical design reasonsthe capacitor became standardized years ago as thevariable element and thus the control for the circuit.(The curved arrow in the schematic indicates the vari-able capacitor.) Increasing the value of capacitancelowers the tuned frequency; decreasing the value ofcapacitance raises the tuned frequency. Therefore, theknob you turn when tuning in a station (FM or AM) islinked-usually via a system made up of a shaft, dialstring, pulleys, and drum-to a variable capacitor. Sucha capacitor, of the electrical characteristics requiredfor broadcast frequencies, consists of a group of sta-tionary plates insulated from, but interleaved with, agroup of movable plates. The more interleaved theplates become, the higher the capacitance and thus thelower the tuned frequency. At 88 MHz (the "low end"of the FM dial) the plates will be fully meshed, whileat 108 MHz (the "high end" of the dial) the plates willbe fully apart from each other.

method is that it relies on a fairly crude mechanicaleffect (the close spacing of metal plates) to performa very delicate electrical phenomenon (the preciseadjustment of a variable circuit). Nonetheless, radioequipment of all types the world over employ justsuch a device to tune in stations and obviously ithas proven eminently satisfactory.

But innovation rarely is absent from this field.Recently. sonic tuners have been introduced whichdo not rely on the mechanical interleaving of capa-citor plates. Certain semiconductors, called diodes.behave like a capacitor when small voltages areapplied to them. Furthermore, changing the volt-age applied to these diodes actually changes theirapparent capacitance. By utilizing the familiarpotentiometer with DC voltage applied to its upperterminal, as shown in Fig. 19, the sliding arm ofthe potentiometer can pick off any amount of thisvoltage and apply it to the voltage -variable capaci-tance -diode and thereby tune an FM or AM setfully across its frequency band.

With such electronic sophistication taking holdin equipment design, my dictum that all controlfunctions are a matter of either changing a voltagelevel or of switching in a "yes" or "no" fashion be-comes truer than ever. This bit of intelligence willnot make your equipment pertOrm better, but it canat least give you a keener understanding of whatgoes on behind the controls as you operate them.

COIL

Fig. 19. Back to the pot The newest form of radio -tuningcircuit eliminates the venerable tuning capacitor (afixed -value capacitor is used only for frequency sta-bility), replacing it with a semiconductor device knownas a diode in combinat on with a potentiometer. Varyingthe potentiometer appies different amounts of voltageto the diode, thereby tuning the circuit to differentfrequencies.

JULY 1971 63

Four Channelsby Robert Long

OVER THE LAST YEAR or so a number of companieshave been actively-and more or less publicly-pursuing the means by which four -channel soundcan be recorded on disc. Others doubtless havebeen working with less fanfare. All of the systemsso far available for public scrutiny are described ascompatible: the discs will play on existing stereo(or mono) equipment without sacrifice of basicprogram information. This is not to say that thesound necessarily will be as good as that on regularstereo discs.

A stereo disc can produce two virtually independ-dent left and right channels because the two planesin which the pickup stylus moves to track such arecord are at right angles to each other: a stylusmoving in plane L in our diagram will produce nooutput in the right channel (plane R). Equal motionin the L and R planes will produce a mono signal(equal outputs to left and right speakers). Thesound representing stylus motion in plane F, will

LB

L

LF

F

RF

R

B RB

L (LF+LB)

LF-LB

S.

RF-RB

R (RF+RB)

"PHANTOM" CHANNELS JVC MULTIPLEXED GROOVEL -LEFT: R -RIGHT. F -FRONT: B -BACK; ETC.)

appear to come from the front. Other in-betweensignals can be simulated by combined motion intwo planes, but these intermediate directions ofstylus motion no longer are independent of eachother. The smaller the angle between them, thegreater the interaction. The "encoded" systems forcutting four -channel discs seek to control this inter-action by adjusting amplitudes and phase relation-ships in the original signals that determine groovegeometry.

Although exact operating data on some proposedfour -channel disc systems still are guarded with acertain secrecy, basic principles are fairly wellknown. Here are the main contenders.

Stereo 4. The Feldman /Fixler system is bestknown and has resulted in the Electro-Voice en-coder designed to combine (or matrix) the original

four channels into two for optimum recoverythrough the presently available EVX-4 decoder(or a comparable kit announced by Metrotec).Scheiber, who introduced an encoding system sometime ago in conjunction with Advent, recentlyjoined forces with E -V, and the parties involvedagree that the two systems are fundamentally thesame. Stereo 4 decoders are included in a new com-ponent line from Allied Radio Shack, and similarproducts are expected from other companies. Someof the smaller record companies have issued appro-priately encoded discs.

Hafler/Dyna. These discs also can be reproducedvia one of Hafler's four -channel speaker hookups(for instance via Dynaco's Quadaptor), the simplestand least expensive road to four -channel sound.The effect is similar to that with the EVX-4 but notidentical-at least not with all recordings or allpossible hookup configurations.

Sansul. An encoder using a somewhat differentapproach to phase juggling has just been announced;it will complement the Sansui SQ-1 four -channelsynthesizer -decoder.

CBS. The darkest horse of all, this matrixed sys-tem involves relatively sophisticated control ofphase relationships between channels. So far it hasbeen demonstrated only to insiders.

JVC. The radically different approach taken byVictor of Japan places left and right (actually LF-plus-LR and RF-plus-RB for our purposes) infor-mation on the two groove walls in the usual way,then superimposes on each a supersonic subcarrier.These subcarriers are modulated, respectively, withLF-minus-LB and RF-minus-RB signals. Decodingis comparable to that in a stereo FM receiver. Sincethe two planes of groove modulation remain atright angles, the problem of channel separation iseffectively solved, but the high subcarrier frequencyrequires exceptional frequency response (to about50 kHz) in the playback cartridge and limits pro-gram content per side to some 20 minutes.

JVC discs can be played on normal stereo equip-ment but are not compatible in terms offour-chan-nel sound with those of any other system. Proponentsof encoding have refined recording techniques inrecent months to improve the four -channel effect,but none has been entirely successful in matchingthe sense of space and directionality produced bythe best of the JVC demos-which in those respectsapproximate the "discrete" four -channel tapesystems.


on !Discsby Leonard Marcus

TODAY THE RECORDING FIELD vibrates to the soundof the future. Industry talk centers less around oldrepertoire than around the salvation promised bynew formats. Whichever formats become perma-nent-quadriphony, video tape, cassettes, car-tridges-when we look back on the early 1970ssome twenty or so years hence, we will certainly seeat least the implications of that era's home enter-tainment technology in today's apparent chaos. Butif one were to pick a year that best foretold todayfrom among the ninety-four years that mark therange of phonographic history, it would have tobe 1904.

That was the year of the first double -sided record,issued by Odeon in Europe and first demonstratedat the Leipzig Fair that spring.

1904 was also the year of the first long-playingdiscs, issued by Neophone in London. The 78 rpm(one-sided) records could play up to ten minutes ofmusic since they were twenty inches in diameter!

And it was the year of the first four -channelsound reproducing system. Four years earlier, atthe 1900 Paris Exposition, the Columbia Phono-graph Company had exhibited a three -track cylin-der phonograph created by its Bridgeport, Con-necticut plant manager, Thomas Hood Macdonald,the Peter Goldmark of his day. Three tracks werecut simultaneously and side by side along a cyl-inder, the cutting styli being powered through threehorns. Playback was accomplished through thesame three horns. Columbia called the apparatusits Multiplex Graphophone Grand. The "uniqueand marvelous instrument" cost $1,000 and thefirst sale was to the Shah of Persia, who had it sent"together with thirty-two barrels of records toBatum on the shore of the Black Sea:' according to

a Columbia copywriter, "whence the shipment wascarried on the backs of dromedaries to far awayTeheran with its great gold dome glistening in thesunlight:'

What was the purpose of this unique and mar-velous gadget? Trinaural sound? Hardly. The hornswere placed as close together as possible in order tolessen any distinction among the channels. But inthose early pre -electric days, a great aestheticobstacle was lack of volume. Three channels andthree horns simply ensured that the music wouldbleat three times as loudly as it would through onehorn.

A couple of years later the Bridgeport plant man-ager designed an even grander "multiplex" phono-graph to be exhibited by Columbia in 1904 at theLouisiana Purchase Centennial Fair in St. Louis.Not only would there now be four styli playing fourrecords through four horns, but the records wouldbe discs-the new fad-rather than cylinders. Inorder to guarantee the greatest fidelity to the vari-ous segments of the frequency range, Macdonaldinstalled horns of different sizes: one fifty-six-incherwith a large bell; two of the same length but withsmaller mouths; and, on the bottom, a forty-two-incher. As with the Multiplex Grand, a metal standwas supplied to support the horns; otherwise, ofcourse, the whole thing would have toppled over.

Whatever happened to it? Nothing. It apparentlywas never put on the market. The problem of per-fect synchronization proved beyond solution by1904 technology, and the cost would have beenbeyond the capacity of most 1904 pocketbooks.

Simply put, the public was not ready for a four -channel playback system. Whether it is ready nowremains to be seen.

JULY 1971 65

You don'thave aHorowitz

albumlike it.

HoRoWITZPLAYSRACHNIANINOFFNATA

IN B -FLATMINOR,

OP. .36

PRELUDEIN GSHARP

MINOR,OP 32

MOMENTMUSICAL

IN 8 MINOR,OP16

IHREE

E -FLATMINOR.

OP 33

C MAJOROR 33/D

MAJOR,OP. 39

M 30464

For the first time in his career, VladimirHorowitz has recorded a Rachmaninoff solo album.

The first side features his new recording ofthe Sonata in B -Flat Minor. It's some of Horowitz'most fiery and dynamic playing.

And on the other side are additional newrecordings of five more Rachmaninoff pieces:Prelude in G -Sharp Minor, Moment Musical in BMinor, and three Etudes -Tableaux.

Horowitz' performances of these piecespossess all the lyricism and poetry of tle composer.And of the artist himself.

Both sides have been recorded in concertat Carnegie Hall, Philadelphia's Academy ofMusic, and Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.

But what's really special is what themusic reflects: his close friendship withSergei Rachmaninoff.

MS 7106'MS 7264

- And listen to these three otherfine performances by Vladimir Horowitz.

On Columbia Records,

I(

by(

HOROiN CON

RecordcWERTd si his 1966 Carnegiefun mcmah"

11:1=....

M2S 757' (A 2 -record set)

'Also available on tape

Total Victory in the Bach RevolutionThe Concentus Musicus' outstanding "original

instrument" performance of the St. Matthew Passion.

by Clifford F. Gilmore

THIS IS THE first "original instrument" version of theSt. Matthew Passion, but that's only one plus factor ina long list of qualities that make this the most outstand-ing Bach choral recording of the year, if not the decade.There are several first-rate groups who currently spe-cialize in performances of early music on instrumentsof the period and in as historically accurate a manner aspossible, but so far only Nikolaus Harnoncourt and theConcentus Musicus of Vienna have tackled the bigchoral works of Bach. The group first began attractinginternational attention with their recording of the Bran-denburg Concertos back in 1965, then went on to raisequite a flurry of controversy with their absolutely unique,scaled -down. original -instrument version of the St. JohnPassion a year later. It's now just two years since theirequally revolutionary recording of the B minor Massrenewed much of the same controversy (though thatrecording went on to win the Gold Medal of the HIGHFmEuTY/Montreux International Record Award), and

this St. Matthew will surely provoke many of the samearguments all over again. On the other hand, this ap-proach to early music can hardly be called revolutionaryany more, and according to my own private opinion poll,tastes have progressed quite a lot in the five years sincethat pace -setting St. John appeared; audiences are nowmuch more ready to understand and accept Harnon-court's outspoken iconoclasm. In addition, in terms ofmatching achievements to intentions, this St. Matthewseems to be Harnoncourt's most successful venture yet.

For those Rip van Winkles who have missed the dis-cussions of the earlier recordings in the series, let me tryto describe just what makes Hamoncourt's unique read-ing so important. The use of the instruments of Bach'stime (or modern reproductions) is actually of less impor-tance than many of the interpretive details, but it is avital first step in establishing the internal balances thatBach heard and was writing for. Once the process is be-gun, it must be carried all the way: if you substitute an

JULY 1971 67

eighteenth -century oboe for a modern one, it will beoverpowered by a mass of today's violins with their steelE strings and brilliant regulation. Most theorists of thetime agreed that one oboe would balance well with threeor four violins, and these are the proportions on thisrecording: each of the two orchestras is made up of twooboes and six violins, with a viola, cello, violone, bassoon,and two flutes.

But far more important in producing the special"sound" of this performance is the manner in whichthe band of specialists plays. The strings, for example,use vibrato sparingly, almost as an ornamental device,and everybody involved articulates Bach's carefullyindicated phrasings with utmost accuracy and distinct-ness. Bach, with characteristic attention to the minutestof details, has carefully drawn in slurs throughout thepiece, typically over groups of two, three, or four notes;only rarely does a slur last more than one measure. Theresult here is a texture of quite astonishingly beautifultransparency and utter clarity of detail. If ever a pieceof music demands this kind of clarity, it's the St. Mat-thew Passion, which is scored for two four-part choruses,a third soprano in ripieno choir, and two full orchestras,often all playing independent parts.

On both the St. John Passion and B minor Mass re-cordings the Concentus Musicus was joined by the boysand youths of the Vienna Choir Boys and the ViennensisChorus. Inexplicably, they were passed by for this re-cording and instead we have choruses made up of boysfrom the Regensburg Cathedral Choir (sopranos) andthe men of the King's College Choir, Cambridge (altos,tenors, and basses), directed by David Willcocks. Har-noncourt's over-all direction, however, is still moststrongly felt and these choristers sing with every bit asmuch accuracy, purity, and sweetness of tone as theearlier Vienna group. I was fearful that the Germandiction from the Englishmen would not match that ofthe native German sopranos, but those fears were soonput to rest.

Many listeners will initially be surprised at the un-usually brisk tempos of the opening chorus and of thechorale chorus which closes Part I. However, the ex-tremely articulate phrasing and light textures make thequicker tempos acceptable, even desirable, and afterthe second hearing the logic and necessity-and effective-ness-of these tempos convinced me completely.Throughout the work the shorter dramatic choruses aresung with exquisite delicacy, grace, or intensity as theoccasion requires. Only in the chorales are there a fewdisappointments: Willcocks/Harnoncourt (mis?)inter-pret the fermatas at the ends of phrases as holds in abouthalf the chorales; in the others they make a full breakat the end of each phrase, even when no pause is calledfor in the text.

At last we come to the soloists, and here again Harnon-court has gone to the limit in providing exactly whatBach calls for. In the last of his several revisions Bachassigned every note in the St. Matthew Passion either toCoro I or Coro II or both, whether it be aria, recitative,chorus, or instrumental solo. The usual procedure nowa-days is to employ two choruses, two orchestras, and onequartet of soloists for all the arias, plus a separate Evan-gelist, a Jesus, and perhaps additional soloists for thesmall roles of Judas, Peter, Pilate, etc., ignoring com-pletely Bach's Coro I and Coro II assignments. Harnon-

court provides a quartet of soloists each for the twochoirs, plus an additional bass for the role of Jesus. Thetwo quartets then take all the small roles according totheir voice and choir as well as their several arias. Forinstance, Max van Egmond (Coro I) sings two of the bassarias (as well as the roles of Judas, Peter, Pilate, andothers) while Michael Schopper (Coro II) sings the othertwo. The recording engineers have followed through bychanneling everything from Coro I through the leftspeaker and everything from Coro II through the right.For the antiphonal numbers this is an obvious procedure,but the employment of two complete sets of soloists (theyare never called upon to sing together) and the engi-neers' insistence on keeping them separated, even whenseveral consecutive numbers emanate from one chorus,seemed at first to be a rather pedantic extravagance.However, after two or three sides had gone by, the char-acters on the left and right began to take on very specialspatial identities, and I began to get an inkling of theeffect this work must have had in Bach's church with thetwo choirs (and their own soloists) on opposite sides ofthe building responding to one another and occasionally(in the chorales) joining together in unison. The workthen took on an altogether new dramatic impact that,frankly, I had never before thought to look for.

The outstanding solo work in this performance isundoubtedly the Evangelist of Kurt Equiluz, now thefinest St. Matthew Evangelist on records. He narratesthe story as if he were telling it for the first time, with afresh directness and simplicity and no wasted gesturesor sentimental meanderings-though he can be tender orpoignant or intense when the occasion warrants. Hisnimble reading would be an asset to any performance,but he seems particularly at home with Harnoncourt'ssimilarly unsentimental reading. He also does a mag-nificent job with one of the two tenor arias, "Ich willbei meinem Jesus wachen." Nigel Rogers handles theother aria, "Geduld," with ease.

There have been more effective readings of the roleof Jesus than Karl Ridderbusch's, although his is beauti-fully sung and in perfect accord with Harnoncourt'sover-all view of the work. The other soloists have allbeen carefully chosen to match the requirements oftheir parts. Furthermore, they display an amazingunanimity of purpose in matters of style, such as orna-mentation, which surprisingly is sparsely applied by theway. Special mention should also go to the (unidentified)boy from the Vienna Choir Boys who sings the sopranoarias of Coro I with a quite spectacularly beautiful tone,and to countertenor Paul Esswood, who turns in tre-mendously moving readings of the "Erbarme dich" andthe other alto arias of Coro I.

In sum, a well-nigh perfect realization of a master-piece; a comparison with the many other available re-cordings would be meaningless since they are all birdsof a distinctly different feather. By all means hear thisone as soon as possible.

Baal: St. Matthew Passion, S. 244. Paul Esswood, Tom Sut-cliffe, and James Bowman, countertenors; Kurt Equiluz, Evange-list and tenor I; Nigel Rogers, tenor II; Karl Ridderbusch, bass(Jesus); Max van Egmond, bass I; Michael Schopper, bass II;soloists of the Vienna Choir Boys; Regensburg Cathedral BoysChoir; King's College Choir, Cambridge (David Willcocks, cond.);Concentus Musicus, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, cond. TelefunkenSAWT 9572/5, $23.92 (four discs).


A Rachmaninoff Eruption by Harris Goldsmith

Horowitz, Weissenberg, Estrin, Ponti, and Bernettematch their virtuosity against the composer's.

SERGE' RACHMANINOFF, like most great performer/com-posers, penned his piano music to suit his own veryextraordinary digital technique. The D minor Concerto,for example, was written, frankly, as a vehicle for thevirtuoso's first American tour in 1909, and most of thesmaller morceaux undoubtedly were specifically tailoredto be encores at solo recitals through the years. Theworth of Rachmaninoff's oeuvre as music has been dis-puted in some quarters-there are still many who cannotabide the slithery chromatic density of the writing or itsfrequent diffuseness of form. There is no disputing Rach-maninoffs decisive and easily recognizable stylistic pro-file, however: this music abounds with kaleidoscopic,shifting rhythms, and passages of glittery complexity-few composers before him had written so many notesand yet intended so few of them to be actually heard.Yet, as many "simplifiers" have found out to their dis-tress, it is virtually impossible to fake Rachmaninofrspassagework: every note must be played with impeccableand uncompromising accuracy if the requisite "swirl"is to be reproduced.

Understandably, a large portion of Rachmaninofl'smusic followed him to his reward, for few could matchhim in it. He did, of course, hear a few superb perform-ances from certain colleagues and on these he bestowedhis wholehearted blessings. The late Benno Moiseiwitschwas an "approved" re -creator, and when Rachmaninoffheard the young Vladimir Horowitz' brilliant expositionof the Third Concerto, he swore never to touch the workagain (a vow he fortunately broke in 1939 when he gaveposterity a heavily truncated recording). Horowitz, for-tunately, is still very much with us, and in 1968 he playedRachmaninoffs rarely heard Second Piano Sonatahonoring the twenty-fifth anniversary of the composer'sdeath. This act of homage-taped at the concert-nowappears on a splendid all-Rachmaninoff Columbiarecording simultaneously with an unprecedented delugeof other new Rachmaninoff discs.

It is doubtful whether this stupendously difficult sonatawill ever achieve the popularity of, say, the C minor

Concerto: the music tends to drown in its own com-plexity. To my ears it has the aesthetic and structuraldrawbacks of the D minor Concerto without that work'soccasional irresistible melodic attraction. For all that,Horowitz makes one listen to the, composition anew,and he "puts it over" splendidly. The very specialdemonic intensity of this remarkable performance is butone of the many qualities that give this very specialartist a decided edge over even so fine a player as JohnOgdon, who has recorded both of Rachmaninoff's so-natas for RCA. Horowitz also possesses a miraculouslyrical sense, and his wonderful diversity of texture andnuance couldn't be better suited to the music. The over -side of this magnificent collection contains shorter worksalso taped "on location '' to judge from the occasionalcough or audience noise. In every instance, Horowitz'extra voltage and insight are manifest in innumerableways. The G sharp minor Prelude is played with brood-ing intensity and a certain patrician detachment; thescampering Op. 33, No. 6 Etude has a quivering felicitythat makes it seem almost faster than light itself; theOp. 39, No. 9 peals out with thunderous sonorities. Oneremarkable feature of Horowitz' Rachmaninoff im-presses me anew: for all its magnificent singing lushnessand color, the tone remains spare, limber, and even amite sec. So much the better, for it eats its way into themusic like lye into grease. The impactive reproduction,while not really beautiful (e.g., the recent HorowitzSchumann Kreisleriana), is thoroughly airy and lifelike.

Alexis Weissenberg's complete edition of the Rach-maninoff preludes for RCA shares some of Horowitz'pianistic virtues-the former Leventritt prize winnerwas obviously one of the young keyboard lions spawnedunder the Horowitz star in the '40s. One can praise theextreme power and electric clarity of Weissenberg'sfingerwork, for in many ways he is a sensational pianist.Alas, he is also a sensationalistic one: quite often musicalvalues are sacrificed here for outrageous extremes oftempo. The phrasing is often tortured and fragmentary,lacking simple melodic cogency and flow, and his rubato

JULY 1971 69

is stilted. Dynamics (pianissimos especially) are fre-quently disregarded so that every note sounds with adefinition that I am sure Rachmaninoff never intended.On the whole, Weissenberg's rendition of the Op. 32preludes is far more successful than those of Opp. 3 or 23.The later pieces are more infused with velocity and neu-rosis. It is my hunch that Weissenberg is at his best whenhis fingers are kept busiest, and my suspicion is fullyborne out by the evidence at hand. RCA's recording isextraordinary for its bite and tonal penetration, thoughthe studio acoustics do not always flatter this contro-versial pianist's bloodless type of sonority.

Michael Ponti's Vox album is the first of Vox's pro-jected integral edition of all the Rachmaninoff pianomusic. I have liked some of Ponti's earlier recordings(particularly his Moscheles, Henselt, and Moszowski)but am sorely disappinted with his work here. To be sure,this strong technician gives an admirable, unprettifiedaccount of the variations on La Follia (mistakenly at-tributed to Corelli) and a relatively secure and unaffectedone of the Op. 32 preludes. On the whole, though, Pontishows precious little affinity for Rachmaninofrs stylehere. These are thuddy. perfunctory run-throughs,square -toed and stolid in phrasing, usually percussiveand unsinging on top, and sometimes (as in the EtudesTableaux and Op. 23 preludes) sloppily articulated. Vox'ssonics are, moreover, quite unpleasantly metallic.

Morton Estrin's account of the thirteen Op. 32 pre-ludes, on the other hand, is an honest, admirable affair.In a way, it's a shame that Connoisseur didn't have himrecord the Op. 23 works instead. The competition, lessextreme in the earlier preludes, is just a bit too much forEstrin in Op. 32. On the whole he is a sensitive, clean -fingered player with an attractive sense for cogent, un-fettered phrasing and a pleasing lyricism. As his nimbleperformances add up, however, a certain blandness andneutrality of temperament manifests itself. (I also felthis G sharp minor Prelude. Op. 32, No. 12 to be a shadetoo static and tentatively phrased.) Estrin, one mightsay, is caught between the extremes of Weissenberg'ssometimes apropos driving brilliance and the more

The Fantasy Worldof Pierrot Lunaire

Nonesuch presents an idealintroduction to Schoenberg's

seminal masterpiece.

by David Hamilton

diversified color and lyricism achieved by a Brazilianpianist Yara Bernette, who plays an assortment of Rach-maninoff preludes on a single Deutsche Grammophondisc. Miss Bernette's entry may not seem seriously com-petitive if completeness is desired; on closer scrutiny,her collection is very competitive indeed. For one thing,DGG has managed to squeeze all but No. 3 of the Op. 23preludes onto a single side, and all but Nos. 11 and 13of Op. 32 on the reverse, without in any way compromis-ing their very beautiful sound quality. Such generosity,needless to say, would be of little concern if Miss Ber-nette's interpretations were undistinguished. Fortu-nately, she plays the pieces exquisitely. A very fine mis-tress of the keyboard, Miss Bernette sails into all thedifficulties with perfect aplomb and without ever con-fusing pianism with egotism. Her basic sound has sheenand solidity, attractive coloristic variety, and a superb,singing clarity. She may not achieve such an avalancheof tone as Weissenberg does in the appassionato Op. 32,No. 6 and she may not take the more difficult alternativesin some of the Op. 32 pieces as both Weissenberg andPonti do, but her playing is the most balanced of all. Isuspect it will have the most staying power-except, ofcourse, for those astounding performances by Richter,Horowitz. or the composer himself.RACHMANINOFF: Preludes for Piano: Op. 23 (No. 3 omitted);Op. 32 (Nos. 11 and 13 omitted). Yara Bernette. piano. DeutscheGrammonphon 2530 007, $6.98.RACHMANINOFF: Preludes for Piano, Op. 32. Morton Estrin,piano. Connoisseur Society, CS 2028. $5.98.RACHMANINOFF: Etudes Tableaux, Op. 33: No. 6; No. 2; EtudesTableaux, Op. 39: No. 9; Moment Musical, Op. 16, No. 3; Pre-ludes for Piano, Op. 32: No. 12; Sonata for Piano, No. 2, in Bflat minor, Op. 36. Vladimir Horowitz, piano. Columbia M 30464,$5.98

RACHMANINOFF: Etudes Tableaux, Op. 33; EtudesTableaux. Op. 39; Fantasy Pieces, Op. 3; Preludes forPiano, Op. 23; Preludes for Piano, Op. 32; Variations ona Theme by Corelli, Op. 42. Michael Ponti, piano. VoxSVBX 5456, $9.95 (three discs).

RACHMANINOFF: Preludes for Piano, Op. 23; Preludes for Piano,Op. 32; Fantasy Pieces, Op. 3: No. 2. Alexid Weissenberg. piano,RCA Red Seal LSC 7069, $11.96 (two discs).

B

THAT THERE ARE currently more recordings of Schoen -berg's nearly sixty -year -old masterpiece in the cataloguesthan of, say, Schumann's Frauenliebe and Leben is acircumstance I take to be a sign of musical health. Notthat there is anything wrong with Frauenliebe, after all;but Pierrot is one of those seminal works that stand atthe portals of our century's music. As Charles Wuorinenobserves in his notes for the new Nonesuch recording,"The art of every age contains a few works that we allmust confront:' and the echoes of composers' confronta-tions with Pierrot can be found resounding through thesucceeding decades in vastly dissimilar works rangingfrom Berg's Wozzeck and Walton's Façade to Boulez'Le Marteau sans maitre and Maxwell Davies' Revelationand Fall. The general public has been much slower toassimilate Schoenberg's score and its implications-nodoubt in part because it doesn't fit easily into any of ourconventional concert -hall formats; the forces requiredare unusual, and it turns up most frequently on "modern -


Jan DeGaetani

music" concerts rather than in conjunction with standardrepertory. Whereas Stravinsky's Sacre and other path -breaking orchestral works are long since part of the gen-eral listening experience, Pierrot remains off the beatenpath.

There are many facets to Pierrot, and the ten record-ings we have had to date illuminate the score from dis-tinctly different perspectives. The most substantialdivergences hinge upon that imaginative yet contro-versial device, the Sprechstimme ("speaking voice"),the pitched declamation of text that Schoenberg firstused in Die glackliche Hand, Op. 18. We have had record-ings at both poles, speaking and singing. Ilona Stein-gruber, in a now deleted Vanguard recording, literallysang the voice part despite the composer's explicit decla-ration that this was incorrect, and Marie Therese Escri-bano, on the new Turnabout disc, comes perilously closeto doing the same thing. Erika Stiedry-Wagner, in a 1940recording conducted by the composer himself, inter-preted the notation with great freedom, and Schoenbergconfirmed on other occasions that he approved of thisperformance.

Yet there is no doubt that musical coherence is aidedif the notated pitches can be clearly projected, and manymusicians would agree that Schoenberg had not clearlythought through all the problems posed by the technique;there are certainly anomalous spots in the score, wherea strict rendering according to Schoenberg's instructions(both his verbal preface and his musical notation) cangive contradictory, even ludicrous results. Among thecurrently available performances, that by Helga Pilar-czyk and Pierre Boulez (Everest 3171) leans most pro-nouncedly towards speech. Like most dramatic sopranos.the German singer has a rather low-pitched speakingvoice, and she tends to stay within the rather limitedtessitura that a more or less natural speaking tone per-mits; thus, the two -and -a -half -octave notated range getsshort shrift at the higher end. The result has some advan-tages, for it sounds "natural;' avoiding the heavy expres-sionisticovertones, the "spooky" quality that many foundin the Stiedry-Wagner performance.

Bethany Beardslee's performance with Robert Craft(Columbia M2S 679, the first volume of the apparently

abortive Schoenberg series) makes much more use ofthe lyrical possibilities of the voice, and the interpreta-tion, though free, is always dramatically compelling,with a superb realization ofDer kranke Mond (especiallythe troublesome final line); unfortunately, her less thanidiomatic German pronunciation may constitute a draw-back for some listeners. Alice Howland's sensitive read-ing (Concert -Disc CS 232) has always seemed to me onthe pallid side, and Miss Escribano, aside from her tend-ency to sing, simply doesn't have the vocal thrust; herlittle -girl's sound cannot summon up the weight neededfor the big dramatic pieces.

The remarkable thing about Jan DeGaetani's per-formance on the new Nonesuch disc is how close she hasmanaged to stick to Schoenberg's instructions; this is notsinging, yet a very high proportion of the pitches aremade clear and the various pieces brilliantly and indi-vidually characterized. Miss DeGaetani has emergedin recent years as one of our best singers, and her inter-pretation of Pierrot is an exciting proof of her eminence.

Instrumentally, too, the new Nonesuch version isexceptionally distinguished for its qualities of ensembleand balance. In no other recording of the work do somany details come clear, even the fiendishly complextexture of Der Mondfleck, probably the most difficultnumber of the sequence, makes sense here (to be sure,Arthur Weisberg takes it more slowly than anyone else,but what good is the "correct" tempo if the result is ascramble?).

Indeed, my only complaint with this new recordingis the matter of balance; the instruments are not in quitethe same aural plane as the voice, and the total impactof the textures lacks the requisite immediacy. Fortu-nately, the sound is very clean, so that little is lost-butI recommend playing it at a slightly higher volume levelthan usual, so that the instrumental fabric stands outmore clearly.

Certainly the new Nonesuch is the best Pierrot wehave, and happily at a bargain price. I will not give awaythe old Schoenberg version, which has some extremelysensitive instrumental work as well as the uniqueauthority of the composer's direction (and the participa-tion of players long associated with Pierrot, includingEdward Steuermann and Rudolf Kolesch; nor theBeardslee-Craft, still an enthralling interpretation withsome very strong support from excellent players: nor thePilarczyk-Boulez, a sec and almost chilly reading thatilluminates what the composer/conductor finds fasci-nating about Schoenberg's masterpiece. But Weisbergand DeGaetani bring out both the wit and the fantasyof the score to a greater degree than anyone else.

Another factor that makes this recording an idealintroduction to Pierrot -and an obligatory purchasefor Schoenbergians as well-is the inclusion of a brillianttranslation of Hartleben's poetry by Robert Erich Wolf,perfectly evoking the fin-de-siecle extravagance of thepoetry; in addition, there is the fine program note byCharles Wuorinen. By dismal contrast, Turnabout re-quires you to write in for a translation!

B

B

ScHoeNsERG: Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21. Jan DeGaetani.voice: Contemporary Chamber Ensemble. Arthur Weis-berg. cond Nonesuch H 71251. $2.98.SCHOENBERG:: Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21. Marie ThereseEscribano, voice; instrumental ensemble, Friedrich Cerha,cond. Turnabout TVS 34315. $2.98.

JULY 1971 71

classical

reviewed byROY AL S. BROWN

R. D. DARRELLPETER G. DAVIS

SHIRLEY FLEMING

ALFRED FRANKENSTEIN

CLIFFORD F. GILMORE

HARRIS GOLDSMITH

DAVID HAMILTONPHILIP HART

DONAL J. HENAHAN

PAUL HENRY LANGROBERT C. MARSH

ROBERT P. MORGAN

GEORGE MOVSHON

H. C. ROBBINS LANDONSUSAN THIEMANN SOMMER

BACH: Cantatas: No. 51, Jauchzet Gott inalien Landen; No. 199, Mein Herze schwimmtim Blut. Elly Ameling, soprano; Maurice Andre,trumpet (in No. 51); German Bach Soloists,Helmut Winschermann, cond. Philips 6500 014,$5.98.

Elly Ameling has given us in recent years manysparkling, poised. intelligent, and musicalreadings of various items from the concert andoratorio repertory. I, for one. highly praisedher work on the London recordings withMfinchinger of the Christmas Oratorio, theEaster Oratorio, and the Magnificat. Now ona new Philips disc she tackles Jauchzet Gott,which may be called the supreme trial piecefor all those who would claim the title of Bachsoprano par excellence. If she is not a completesuccess here, at least she comes as close to itas any of her recorded competition.

I recently waxed ecstatic over CaroleBogard's vocal and interpretive fireworksdisplay on a Cambridge recording of this can-tata. but the instrumental accompanimentthere (G hitalla's trumpet playing excepted)is miserably inadequate. Agnes Giebel is

definitely in the running with a wonderfullyrestrained and elegant Orformance on Tele-funken, but my favorite has been (and in somerespects still is) Maria Stader's tremendouslyincisive and forceful reading with Karl Richteron an ancient (early stereo) Archive recording.Ameling misses some of the excitement thatStader and Richter offer, but it cannot bedenied that she is in better control of the notes.She floats effortlessly through many of the longphrases that force Stader to gasp and lunge.and she has no difficulty articulating cleanlythe torturous coloratura of the brisk openingmovement and the very fast closing choraleand alleluia. Needless to say. Ameling's grasp

of the stylistic requirements is unsurpassed.Cantata 199 is a lesser -known solo cantata

(probably written in Weimar) whose sequenceof four arias and recitatives progresses froma mood of profound remorse at the sinful stateof the soul (adagio; solo oboe and strings) toone of tender confession (andante; strings).The catharsis is a remarkable chorale move-ment with viola obbligato, followed by a joyful(vivace) concluding aria in jig time which isreminiscent of Handel at his folksiest. Exceptfor a dull but accurate viola player, Amelinget al. do a superb job with this cantata, easilysurpassing the only competition, Stader's so-soreading with Helmut Muller-Briihl on None-such. C.F.G.

BR

Baca: Harpsichord Works: PartiteNo. 2, in C minor, S. 826; Fantasias: inC minor, S. 906; in C minor, S. 919;Prelude, Fugue, and Allegro, in E flat,S. 998; Capriccio on the Departure ofHis Beloved Brother, S. 992. WandaLandowska, harpsichord. RCA VictrolaVIC 1594, $2.98 (mono only) [S. 826.S. 906, and S. 992 from RCA Victor LM2194, 1957; S. 998 and S. 919 fromRCA Victor LM 1217, 1940s].

"The Landowska Collection of HarpsichordMusic. Vol. I" reads the promising inscriptionon this disc: Landowska recorded frequentlyfor RCA so the series should be an extensiveone. The first all -Bach program has been beau-tifully planned, with three extended butformally contrasted pieces separated by thetwo brief C minor fantasias. With so muchmusical variety in the hands of such an excit-ingly musical harpsichord player, this recitalcould hardly fail to impress. Landowska'scommand of Bach has rarely been surpassedby other harpsichordists-the magisterialsweep of the partita's sinfonia, the deliciouslyplayful postiglione effects of the capriccio,or the passionate impetus of the S. 919 fantasiaare all delivered with precise accents andmasterful insight. The 1957 recordings stillmake an impressive sonic impact, and theearlier pieces are only marginally less wellreproduced. P.G.D.

BACH: "Organ Works, Vol. 17 Preludes, Fan-tasies, Toccatas, Fugues, Trio Sonatas.Helmut Walcha, organ (Schnitger Organ of St.Laurenskerk at Alkmaar; Silbermann Organ ofthe Church of Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune, Stras-bourg). Archive 2722 002, $36 (eight discs).

Helmut Walcha has been with us for quite afew years; his first recordings of Bach organworks began to appear during the last days ofthe 78 -rpm era. Then between 1947 and 1952Archive added to its LP catalogue some eight-een discs of Walcha playing almost all theorgan works on the Schnitger organs at Cappeland at the St. Jakobi Church in Lubeck. Withthe advent of stereo, Walcha began the task ofrecording for a second time the complete

works on the magnificent Schnitger organ inthe St. Laurenskerk at Alkmaar. The projectwas begun in 1956, but the bulk of the workwas done in 1962, and these records beganappearing in this country in or about 1964,as the older mono versions were withdrawn.After a hiatus of seven years, in 1969-70Walcha decided to complete the unfinishedstereo set, using however the Silbermannorgan in the Strasbourg Church of Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune to record those works notpreviously recorded at Alkmaar. This hand-somely produced eight -record box, then, con-sists of four and a half discs of material fromAlkmaar, available in this country since themid -Sixties in several different coupling for-mats, plus three and a half discs of brand newmaterial from Strasbourg. Labeled "Vol. 17it contains almost all the preludes, fantasies,toccatas, fugues, and trio sonatas; in otherwords, all the organ works not based on achorale. (In a couple of years we should seeVol II, which promises to be even larger, con-taining all the chorale -based works.) What hasbeen omitted from this first volume is pri-marily those works of which Bach's author-ship is in doubt. For instance, absent are theeight "little" preludes and fugues, all of Vol. IXof the Peters edition which includes the so-called "jig" fugue, Little Harmonic Labyrinth,Pedal Exercise, the Aria in F, etc. In addition,none of the six concertos is included nor areany of the single -movement trios. To be sure,everything of substance is included on theseeight discs, and some of the ditties omittedwell deserve their excision.

A detailed description of each of the thirty-nine works here would be superfluous becauseWalcha's playing has remained remarkablyconsistent from his earliest mono recordingsright up to 1970. His tempos are invariablymoderate or slow, and his once highly praisedmetronomic regularity now sounds relentlesslysquare: even the improvisatory nature of theopening of the G minor Fantasie fails to swayhim.

Archive's recording of the celebrated in-strument at Alkmaar, even of those five piecesrecorded in 1956, is extremely well done; therUckpositiv is recorded very close up, the restof the organ further away, with just the rightamount of warmth and large room reverbera-tion. If Walcha had used the organ's generoussupply of upper work more, rather than themasses of 8 -ft. sound, the instrument would

Explanation of symbolsClassical:

BudgetHistoricalReissue

Prerecorded tape:Open Reel

e 8 -Track CartridgeCassette

H


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JULY 1971


She's416 conquereck

the world.But herheart

belongsto Spain.

Soprano Victoria de los Angeleshas explored virtually every musicalcorner of her homeland. She hasdusted off manuscripts in cathedralsand castles to bring to life a musicalheritage that dates back to theMiddle Ages.

Happily, she has recorded thatwealth for Angel, accompanied by au-thentic ancient instruments. She singsin original dialect, in a voice of almostinstrumental purity. And each songglows with her love.

"She seems to save her freshest,sweetest, most feminine and subtlynuanced tonal coloring for the Span-ish repertory. The performances arebewitching." (High Fidelity)

Her 7 albums of Spanish repertorymay well be her most glorious.

Cantos de Espana (S-35937)Song of the Renaissance (SL -35888)Songs of Andalusia (SL -36468)Songs of Catalonia iS-36682)Spanish/Sephardic Songs (S-36716)Zarzuela Arias (S-36556)20th Century Spanish Songs (S-35775)

Angel

surely have sounded even better, as it does inE. Power Bigg's recordings. The Silbermannorgan, used for the recordings made in 1969-70. has been subjected to numerous "resotra-tions" over the years (carefully documentedin the accompanying booklet) with the resultthat it sounds like no Silbermann of myacquaintance. It cannot compare in magnifi-cence and dignity to the Schnitger at Alkmaar.It is. furthermore, fuzzily recorded.

In the words of the Dylan song, "The times,they are a'changin:" and Helmut Walcha andhis style of playing are now, at best passé.you're shopping for a complete set of Bachorgan works, the effort necessary to turn upeither of Lionel Rogg's two separate eighteen -record sets will be well spent. C.F.G.

BACH: St. Matthew Passion, S. 244. KurtEquiluz, tenor; Nigel Rogers, tenor; Karl Ridder-busch bass; Max van Egmond, bass; MichaelSchopper, bass; et al.; soloists of the ViennaChoir Boys; Regensburg Cathedral Boys Choir;King's College Choir, Cambridge; ConcentusMusicus, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, cond. For afeature review of this recording, see page 67.

BACH, C.P.E.: Die lsraeliten in der Wiliste(The Israelites in the Desert). Sylvia Gesztyand Catherine Gayer, sopranos; Ernst Hafliger,tenor; Hermann Prey, baritone; Chorus of theBerliner Singakademie; Radio Symphony ofBerlin, Mathieu Lange, cond. Archive 2708021, $13.96 (two discs).

When Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach shookthe dust of Frederick's court from his heelsand removed to Hamburg in 1767 to take overTelemann's job, he found himself chargedwith the duty of providing music for no fewerthan five churches. This necessitated a healthyamount of corner -cutting, and Carl Philippborrowed right and left in patching togetherscores on what seems to have been perpetuallya rush basis. Occasionally, however, he wroteworks for broader consumption, destined forrepeated church and/or concert performancesboth in Hamburg and beyond, and with thesehe took great pain and minted every phraseafresh. Such a composition is the 1769 oratorio(or cantata, as Karl Geiringer calls it), TheIsraelites in the Desert.

Heinz Becker, in the notes accompanyingArchive's fine recording, describes this workas a link between the oratorios of Handel andthe more secular pictorial essays on Biblicalsubjects by Haydn. I admire the designationfor its historical tidiness, but it places Israelitesin flattering company. C. P. E. Bach deliber-ately turned his back on the polyphony andtextural complexity of J. S. Bach and theorchestral richness and vocal drama ofHandel; and the neoprimitive, illustrativebent of Haydn represented another tempera-ment and another age entirely. Israelites isstately, solid, and firmly unexciting. Thereis, to be sure, some character depiction in thecast: the two Israelite Women are the com-plainers on every tour; Aaron is the soothing,everything -is -going -to -be -all -right figure ofreassurance; Moses is awesome, irritated,and commanding. Much of this comesthrough in the recitatives, which are extensiveand which embody the most individuallyexpressive writing in the score. But there is

not a line of counterpoint in the oratorio, andwhile the arias-particularly those for the twowomen-are limpid and flowing, there is littlecontrast among them. The showiest aria goesto the First Israelite Woman, sung by SylviaGeszty with authority, vigorous projection,and a clarion -bright tone entirely appropriate;in a song of thanksgiving (No. 21) she nego-tiates the high coloratura with a flexibilitythat falls just a shade short of being totallyeasy. The next most impressive role is that ofMoses, who in a song of jubilation (No. 18)wheels impressively through some florid pas-sages of his own. Hermann Prey sings the partwith a lift, a tonal focus, and a vocal thrustthat are a joy to hear-all the more fortunatein that the one dramatic episode of the workfalls to him, at the moment when the crowd ofIsraelites interrupts him repeatedly with inter-jections of despair (a pale reflection of "Eilt,ihr angefochrnen Seelee from the St. JohnPassion), whereupon Moses strikes the rockand water pours forth. (Even Carl Philippcouldn't resist the running figuration of stringsto illustrate this point, much as his father mighthave done.) Catherine Gayer, the SecondIsraelite Woman, is just sufficiently darkerthan Miss Geszty in vocal timbre to providecontrast and create an extra dimension of in-terest in their one duet. Ernst Hafliger's Aaronrings out with a fullness of tone and resilienceof rhythm that do not desert him even in someexceptionally low-lying phrases. The BerlinSingakademie chorus renders its crowd -de-piction willingly and with strength, and con-ductor Lange paces the music well. It is allpretty, but the really great oratorios leave it inthe shade. S.F.

BermovEN: Mass in C, Op. 86. Elly Ameling,soprano; Janet Baker, mezzo; Theo Altmeyer,tenor; Marius Rintzler, bass; New PhilharmoniaChorus and Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini,cond. Angel S 36775, $5.98.

If one includes the old Beecham version, thereare now four LPs of the Beethoven Mass in C,a work scarcely known in America when Igraduated from college a quarter of a centuryago. Giulini certainly has, after Beecham, thebest soloists, choir, and orchestra of the variousversions. The recording is full-bodied andexpertly balanced, and the performance ischaracterized by Giulini's usual precision,good tempos, and fine sense of taste.

If one distinguishing adjective were todifferentiate his reading of the Mass from theothers, it might be the suave elegance he bringsto a work which can be subjected to scrutinyfrom various artistic aspects. There is no doubtthat urbanity is one side of Beethoven's mid-dle -period music which the biographers oftenchoose to play down or even overlook (it is notpart of the party -line "Titan" portrait). Possiblythe Giulini approach is a little too sophisti-cated; it sometimes leaves one wondering ifthe conductor's balanced objectivity alwaysdoes justice to the music. Certainly the work isrelatively new to the British orchestra andchoir, as is the whole wealth of late eighteenth -and early nineteenth-century Roman Catholicchurch music from Austria. Possibly one feelsa certain lack of tradition, a lack of "identifi-cation" (as the saying goes nowadays) withthe style.

To illustrate my point, listen to the rivalCIRCLE 8 ON READER -SERVICE CARD


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version on Telefunken by Herbert Kegel withthe Leipzig forces. Despite the Third Reich andthe Communist government thereafter, thereis a strong sense of tradition for this kind ofchurch music in Protestant Leipzig: Haydn'sand Mozart's Masses have always been per-formed at Leipzig, ever since the eighteenthcentury, and Beethoven's religious music hasa long and distinguished history in Bach'scity. This reviewer at any rate, feels that HerrKegel with his Leipzig musicians may havecome closer to the spirit of this problematicalwork than have the British musicians underMaestro Giulini. There may be other factorsinvolved; it is hard to say (does the slightlyquicker tempo of the Kyrie under Kegel seemless "seraphic:' more businesslike, but alsopossibly more honest?). The sturdy Decca re-lease is not really in the running, consideringthe formidable opposition of Beecham, Giu-lini, and Kegel, and as I had occasion to pointout recently, the Beecham is now sounding itsage. Others may find that Giulini's per-formance is more interesting than Kegel's:try them both, and see how different theapproaches are, and yet how difficult it is to pin-point what makes them so dissimilar. H.C.R.L.

BRAHMS: Sonatas for Violin and Piano: No. 1,in G, Op. 78; No. 2, in A, Op. 100; No. 3, in Dminor, Op. 108. MOZART: Sonata for Violin andPiano, in B flat. K. 378. Liszt': HungarianRhapsody for Violin and Piano. Marshall Moss,violin; Adam Mekler, piano. Lizard C 20105.$9.96 (two discs). Tape: 40* M820105, $6.95;45* M520105, $6.95.

"The problem with classical music is that mostpeople view it as a dead phenomenon. Brahms,for example, made the same statements in hiswork about humanity and nature that you canhear in today's rock. The statement is the same,all that differs is the means of expression."

MARSHALL MOSS

"Right on. After all, Brahms grew up in awhorehouse..."

ADAM MEKLER

"Classical music, to most people is synonymouswith sterility, with self -isolated cultureniks, andwith the past."

ANON, ANNOTATOR OF BLURBSENT WITH ALBUM

I didn't check out Brahms's background, butthe performances on this Lizard album makeme suspect that Moss and Mekler grew up ina Gypsy cafe! They are musicians of talent,but sound like a couple of gifted amateurs.The pianist has a lovely lilting keyboard style,a sense for color and line, a singing, liquidlegato, a natural, though undisciplined, sensefor phrasing. His bow -wielding accomplicedraws a warm, gorgeously sensuous sonorityfrom his instrument but is hopelessly addictedto slithering shifts and slides that would havemade even the late Mischa Elman blush. Inthe Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody (billed as aWorld Premiere Recording) said floweryapproach adds up to a groovy record. Brahms(whatever he did in his spare time) tended tobe more discreet in his musical expression.And if any duo played Mozart like this in theconcert hall. they would have to be stoned (inmore ways than one).

What today's longhairs don't understandabout longhair music is that there is a needfor restraint and style. I don't want to be a sadsack, fellas, but leapin' Lizards, Brahms andMozart are a different bag from Liszt (andfrom each other). I can enjoy some of thisplaying for its genuine feeling and spontaneity,and the recorded sound is rich and sonorous;but I sooner turn on to Szigeti and Petri orSzeryng and Rubinstein.

Dig? H.G.

BRITTEN: The Prodigal Son, Op. 81. PeterPears (I), Tempter /Abbott; Robert Tear (t),Younger Son; John Shirley -Quirk (b), Father;Brian Drake (b), Elder Son; English Opera Groupand Orchestra, Benjamin Britten and Viola Tur-nard, cond. London OSA 1164, $5.98.

Britten's effort to resurrect the medieval litur-gical music drama continues, and continues tointerest. Curlew River and The Burning FieryFurnace were the earlier works in this series ofParables for Church Performance, as he callsthem. Now we have a recording of The Prodi-gal Son. First performed in 1968 at the Alde-burgh Festival, the third Parable has, like theothers, a libretto by the poet William Plomer.a highly stylized theatrical manner, and enor-mously skilled use of minimal instrumentaland vocal forces.

On this single disc, in an hour and eightminutes of music, Britten's retelling of theancient story unfolds with economy andformal elegance. It opens and closes withplainchant processionals, which serve as bookends for the story of the Prodigal's abandon-ment of home and Father, his revels and un-happy revelations in the big city, and hisreturn to the forgiving family. Peter Pears, inthe pivotal dual role of Tempter and Abbott,is convincingly insidious. The score requiresthe Tempter to sing in a "lively" but "smooth"manner, and when he is doing his seductivebest he is accompanied by slithering music(double -bass' glissandos on harmonics, withmuted horn). There is a great deal of this kindof obvious, but effective, pictorialism: the"Voices Of that sensuously beckon theProdigal to the city's evil joys are boy so-pranos, accompanied by glissandos on mutedviola, with harp and organ contributing allur-ing harmonies.

Benjamin Britten conducts his third parable.

Thus, when the Prodigal leaves home andagain when he heads back seeking forgiveness,his tread is marked by a rhythmically shakengourd and a double -bass pizzicato. When theParasites of the evil city swarm forward andsurround the young man, the drums go intoa jazzy dance. At various times, the scoreforces reminders of Stravinsky, The Rake'sProgress and L'Histoire du Soldat, presentingparallels both in sound and story. But Britten'saim is clearly not to bring the Prodigal Son'stale up to date, as Stravinsky and others havetried to do, but to take us, the listeners, backto another, more pastoral time. Comparedto a Nick Shadow, Peter Pears's Tempter is acardboard devil, and is no doubt intendedto be that-a stock figure from an old moralityplay. Giving the roles of the Abbott and theTempter to one singer injects a certain ironyand ambiguity into an otherwise rather flatnarrative and Pears handles his dual charactershrewdly, though he strains at his top F sharpsand his one G, pianissimo, is a hollow squeak.

There is an odd interpolation in this re-corded version that does not appear in therehearsal score (for some reason, Faber hasnot yet published the official score), or in thepublished libretto. The opera is coming to ahappy close, the Prodigal having been takenback, and the Abbott is unctuously explainingthe moral to the congregation. Suddenly Pearsreverts for a moment to the voice of theTempter and exclaims shrilly: "Have you notseen me, did I not tempt him-craftily, craftilyaway?" The Devil, defeated, wants his mo-mentary victory over Father and Son to be amatter of record. It makes a startling, theatri-cally effective moment, and though it mightbe difficult to manage in a staged performance,not unthinkable.

The Father is portrayed with proper bari-tonal gravity by John Shirley -Quirk, and theProdigal, the tenor Robert Tear, often soundslike a younger Pears, which is an effective bitof casting: the Tempter is supposed to be thetempted one's inner voice, urging him on to sin.

The hardworking Elder Son, whose pro-vincialism and filial loyalty always make himfar less attractive than the young wastrel,finds some dignity in the interpretation ofBrian Drake, a baritone. For the rest, thereare Servants, Parasites, Beggars, Young Serv-ants, and Off -Stage Voices. Harlots are referredto but do not appear in this all -male produc-tion. At the U. S. premiere two years ago atthe Caramoor Festival, the eight instrumen-talists dressed as Lay Brothers and took partin the plainchant -accompanied processionaland recessional that frame the opera. On therecord, these comings and goings are enlivenedby a stereo treatment that evokes a smallchurch's ambience. One's only cavil aboutthe recorded sound is the disconcerting prom-inence given at times to the double bass, whichis positively seismic.

Now that we have the Three Parables, aswell as the work that in a way set the stagefor this series, Noye's Fludde, it is possibleto see the dimensions of Britten's ambitions.Nowhere in his Trittico has he achieved, assome contend, a Play of Daniel for our time.The Prodigal Son is at best an unbodied echo,an aesthete's dream of olden days. But theselittle church operas do take some resonancefrom the medieval past and contribute a fewsweet chimes of their own. The Prodigal Sonhas the marks of a minor master all over its


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enameled surface. And it did drive at leastone listener back to Luke 15.11-32. Theremay be more joy in heaven over that than overninety-nine Elder Sons who know the parabletoo well to have to look it up.

BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 1, in C minor. Vi-enna Philharmonic Orchestra, Claudio Abbado,cond. London CS 6706. $5.98.

There is an obvious parallel between theearly symphonies of Bruckner and the earlysymphonies of Beethoven: in each case thereis abundant anticipation of the greater worksto come within a score that, quite on its ownaccount, exhibits all the content and inventionrequired to sustain interest.

The Bruckner First is the sort of work mostconductors ignore and some adopt as aspecialty. Otto Klemperer might be cited asan example; Abbado is another. In the recentpast the work has been very active in theyounger man's repertory throughout theworld, and thus it is good to have his perform-ance on records. It is a most interesting foilto the other available edition, that of EugenJochum, contrasting traditional Brucknerinterpretation with a more Italianate, lyric-

dramatic viewpoint. The complete Bruck-nerite will, 1 suspect, want both discs sinceeach reveals its own special insights into thescore. Younger listeners and those to whomBruckner is still new territory are likely torespond most forcefully to Abbado's intensity,his fine ear for orchestral sonorities and thepropulsive, singing quality he brings to themusic. R.C.M.

CHIHARA: Tree Music. Various instrumentalists.Composers Recordings CRI SD 269, $5.95.

Paul Chihara is a young composer who teachesat UCLA and has a real genius for makingmusic with tonal color. The present workconsists of five separate pieces, each for adifferent instrument or combination of instru-ments. The first and last of them, to my taste,are the finest.

The first piece is called Willow Willow andis for bass flute, tuba, and percussion. Theflute is handled in Oriental style, with low,breathy sounds and subtle bending of pitches:the tuba adds a delicate smoke; the timpani,vibraphone, suspended cymbal, and gong arehandled with unprecedented beauty of tone,and the recording of the whole is just aboutthe finest I have ever heard. Serenity, quietude.and long silences are also part of Chihara'stonal world, which relies very heavily on thevirtuosity of his performers: in the case ofWillow Willow, Harvey Sollberger, flutist:Herbert Price, tuba; and Kenneth Watson.Raymond des Roches, and Richard Fitz,percussionists.

The second piece in the series, Logs, isalmost entirely a demonstration of virtuosity,that of the incredible string bass player,Bertram Turetzky. The jacket notes creditTuretzky with inventing new effects whichhe calls the "flutter finger:' the "unbowedsmear:' the "pulled harmonic:' the "handlegliss:' the "woodknock:' and the "flutter piz-zicato:' Logs seems to use them all and thensome, and many of the sounds that emergeduring the course of the piece cannot he con-

ceived as coming from the old doghouse;after a while, however, you've had enough.

Driftwood, for string quartet with two violasinstead of two violins, is a pleasant piece, alsofull of fantastic effects but containing somestrongly lyrical episodes too. It is played bythe Philadelphia Quartet. Branches, for twobassoons and chromatically tuned drums,presents some marvelous work on the partof the percussionist, Watson; the drums tossthe bassoons around like so many sticks inthe wind even though one of the bassoonistsis none other than Arthur Weisberg, the con-ductor of the Contemporary Chamber En-semble; the other bassoonist is DonaldMacCou rt.

Last and longest of the five pieces is LogsXVI, which gets its numeral from the factthat the published recording is the sixteenthtake that was made in an effort to capturecompletely the richness, subtlety, and dramaof the sounds produced by Turetzky's bassalong with the Moog and Buchla synthesizers.The effort involved was worth it; this workhas a symphonic magnificence quite unlikethe freely soloistic music of the precedingpieces and it ties everything together in ahighly impressive and monumental way. Thequality of the recording here-and indeedthroughout the disc-is one of the finest thingsabout this outstanding contribution to theliterature of contemporary music. A.F.

Harem M.: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra,in A-See Viotti: Concerto for Violin and Orches-tra, No. 22, in A minor.

HOFFMEISTER: Duo for Violin and Viola, inG-See Mozart: Duos for Violin and Viola: inG, K. 423, in B flat, K. 424.

KODALY: Psalmus Hungaricus, Op. 13; ThePeacock (folksong setting); Peacock Varia-tions. Lapps Kozma, tenor; Brighton FestivalChorus and Wandsworth School Boys' Choir(in the Psalm); London Symphony Chorus (inthe folksong setting); London Symphony Or-chestra, Istvan Kertesz, cond. London OS26186, $5.98.

From the very first performances, Kodaly's1923 setting of Psalm 55 has been internation-ally recognized as one of the choral master-pieces of the twentieth century: a profoundlyoriginal work with only a slightly provocativepost -echo of Delius' Sea Drift and pre -echoof Walton's RcIshazzar's Feast. Yet from itsfirst recording, over twenty years ago, mostdisc versions have been unsatisfactory eitherin performance or in their substitution ofEnglish or German for the original Hun-garian text. I haven't heard the 1967 Mark-evitch/Ilosfalvy version for Mercury, but Idoubt that it possibly can match the idiomaticauthenticity or even the magnificently robuststereo recording of the present version. Thetenor soloist here may seem merely competentat first, but before long he achieves irresistibleeloquence which, backed by thrillingly dra-matic choral and orchestral sonics. endows thework with the full grandeur of the composer'sinspired conception.

In comparison, the overside orchestralwork of 1938-39 seems somewhat academi-


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cally contrived despite the skill with whichits sixteen variations are constructed and theextraordinary coloristic imagination withwhich they are scored. Nevertheless, Kertesznot only plays the work with much more verveand conviction than any other conductor I

know (including, most recently, Leinsdorf),but helpfully prefaces his performance withKodaly's simple, unaccompanied male -choralsetting of the folk tune on which the variationsare based. I'd be glad to see this practice fol-lowed in other recorded or concert perform-ances of major works in variation form.

R.D.D.

LIADOV: From the Apocalypse, Op. 66; FromDays of Old, Op. 21b; Baba Yaga, Op. 56; TheEnchanted Lake, Op. 62; Kikimora, Op. 63;Eight Russian Folk Songs for Orchestra, Op.58; A Musical Snuff -Box, Op. 32b. U.S.S.R.Symphony Orchestra, Yevgeny Svetlanov, cond.MelodiyaiAngel SR 40159, $5.98.

Poor Anatol Konstantinovich tiadov (1855-1914)-perhaps the most notorious example inall music history of a gifted composer whomissed the boat. Liadov was Diaghilev's orig-inal choice to write the music for The Fire -bird ballet, a task he dithered with so long thatit was given instead to a young, obscure stu-dent of Rimsky-Korsakov named Igor Stra-vinsky. Liadov's "laziness" in this and manyother instances throughout his life may wellhave been the consequence of a psychological"block" or a too acute faculty of self-criticism.At any rate he wrote (or at least completed)relatively few, mostly small -scaled works.Indeed, the present program includes themajor part of his oeuvre apart from pianopieces and songs. Yet every one is a miniaturemasterpiece of lyric fantasy and polishedcraftsmanship, with a kaleidoscopic paletteof tone colors that Rimsky himself mighthave been proud to claim. The amusing littleMusical Snuff -Box, originally for piano, isonly a pops -encore trifle, to be sure. But thedelectable settings of Russian folk songs aretrue gemlike genre pieces. They and the threelittle fairy tale tone pictures, Opp. 56, 62, and63, long have been favorite recording choicesby non -Russian, as well as Russian, conduc-tors. The other two works, which have seldombeen recorded, are likely to be new to mostAmerican listeners, but the somber fragmentsFrom the Apocalypse and balladlike FromDays of Old are perhaps even more con-vincing demonstrations of Liadov's evocativeand coloristic talents.

Ansermet and Szell, among others, havebrought more poetry and tonal refinementto the familiar symphonic miniatures here, butSvetlanov's straightforward yet infectiouslyzestful readings have the incomparable virtueof idiomatic authenticity, attractively en-hanced by substantial recorded sonic qualities.A worthy, however belated, tribute to a quiteunique music -maker, this Liadov programshould be a delight for music -lovers seekingfare that's at once piquantly novel and easilydigestible. R.D.D.

LiSzr: Hungarian Rhapsody for Violin andPiano-See Brahms: Sonatas for Violin andPiano.

A Mahler document from Jascha Horesmein.

MAHLER: Symphony No. 3. Norma Proc-tor, contralto; Ambrosian Singers;Wandsworth School Boys' Choir; Lon-don Symphony Orchestra, Jascha Hor-enstein, cond. Nonesuch HB 73023,$5.94 (two discs).

What is the role of the seventh recording ofthis music, especially when the preceding sixare all of reasonably high quality? Severalanswers are possible. Anything by Horensteinthese days immediately becomes a historicdocument of an important conductor longassociated with this repertory. If that isn't sufficient, this Dolby -processed recording offerssound of demonstration quality. And the in-strumental and vocal performances are on avery high level, both technically and interpre-tively. Most of all, for the economic man, theset is deliriously inexpensive, competitive inevery way with the high-priced labels and notnearly so severe a drain on the budget. If thepocketbook pinches and Mahler beckons, nocompromises are involved in making this yourchoice. (By the way, the eight -track master ofthis performance, mixed under the conductor'ssupervision, offers the promise of a four -trackedition that ought to give the new format areal opportunity to show its advantages overdual -channel sound.)

Horenstein's greatest advantage in thismusic is that he knows how to give it the neces-sary thrust and movement and at the sametime providing all the gracious stylistic felici-ties that are often sacrificed in a more propul-sive musical approach. A little more romanceis possible. Mahler assigned the solos in thethird movement to a posthorn but here theyare performed on what I take to he a B flat altoflugelhorn. They are well played (intonationon this instrument is more trustworthy), butthe sound is rather too close to the microphoneto suggest the distant mountain vistas thatMahler, I suspect, intended. I also object to aside break between the fourth and fifth move-ments: but nearly everyone is forced to present

an interruption at this point, even though itwrecks a great effect-the entry of the chil-dren's voices at the start of the angel chorus.(Kubelik's DGG edition, among the higher -priced sets, eliminates this break, as well asoffering a remarkable realization of the music.)

The Mahler Third is one of the last greatmonuments of German Romanticism. Why ittook so long to achieve popularity in thiscountry will always be a mystery, but clearlythe symphony is now here to stay. And in thisedition it ought to reach many new listenerswith the full radiance of its praise of love andnature. R.C.M.

MAHLER: Symphony No. 7. ConcertgebouwOrchestra, Bernard Haitink, cond. Philips 6700036, $11.96 (two discs).MAHLER: Symphony No. 9. ConcertgebouwOrchestra, Bernard Haitink, cond. Philips 6700032, $11.96 (two discs).

A complete edition of the Mahler symphoniesfrom the Concertgebouw Orchestra, such asPhilips is bringing us, has the historic signifi-cance of allowing us to hear this music from abody of players to whom the Mahler traditionhas been a living entity for sixty-eight years.These things do get passed along in orchestras(ask any seasoned conductor on the interna-tional circuit). The fact that Mahler has beendead for sixty years does not diminish the factthat the Concertgebouw learned a good dealof his music from him directly and continuedto play it for many years under one of his mostdedicated advocates, Willem Mengelberg.Vienna is not the only Mahler town. Amster-dam is a rival of equal stature, and when wego there we are also going to a shrine and asource.

But if places and musical institutions canfill this role, so can people. The most interest-ing question raised by these albums is whetherwe should give first weight to a city and anorchestra with a Mahler tradition, now in thehands of a later generation, or to living musi-cians. such as Otto K lemperer. who knewMahler as a contemporary and are thus pri-mary rather than secondary sources of insightinto his work. The interesting thing is that therecordings offer no clear-cut answer; indeed,the technical aspect of Philips vs. EMI engi-neering aesthetics is more to the point formany record buyers. The Concertgebouwdiscs have a greater degree of clarity, a muchcloser point of view, a higher sense of personalinvolvement with the orchestra than the Klem-perer albums with their longer perspectiveand more resonant space. In something likethe two Nachintusik sections of the Seventh,this lends atmosphere and enhances the mood(and Kelmperer may well get more out ofthe music). But in the opening and closingmovement of the Ninth, for example, the cleanquality of the Philips sound adds greatly to anotherwise impressive performance that placesHaitink in the front rank of the Mahler inter-preters of his generation.

So let's be very pragmatic about the wholething. On interpretive and technical groundsthe Abravanel and Berstein editions of theSeventh are now past their prime. If you wantthe work with maximum atmosphere, Klem-perer provides it in a highly individual per-formance. If you want the best possible sound,

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This is what people say when they hear the Sony 6200

The unusually high price of the new Sony 6200 receiver is acome-on. For once you know it, you can hardly resist the temp-tation to hear it perform and justify its lofty price. Ard once youhear it perform, you'll have to own this superb component.

The real joy of the 6200 lies in its performance. Balancedpositive and negative power sup-plies permit direct coupling all theway through to the speakers forunusual clarity. There is power tospare by whatever measure: 360 I HFwatts into 4 ohms. 70+70 wattscontinuous power into 8 ohms withboth channels driven; a minimum of60+60 at all frequencies from 20to 20,000 Hz.

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Haitink provides it as the vehicle for a vigorousand effective statement of the music. (And ifyou're in no hurry, a Solti/Chicago Symphonyedition is due to be on tape by the time youread this.)

In the case of the Ninth, where so manyhistoric recordings exist, Haitink will appealto those who prefer the work without heavyinterpretive underlinings and overdramatizedwoes. This performance has great dignity.noble lyricism, and the first three movementsstand on their own content rather than asanticipations of the finale. R.C.M.

MOZART: Divertimentos: in B flat, K. 287; in F,K. 138. English Chamber Orchestra, DavidBlum. cond. Cardinal VCS 10082. $5.98.

The English Chamber Orchestra never dis-appoints; they are loyal professionals who playwell under a variety of conductors. The hornsare worth their weight in brass, the violins racewith exciting unanimity, the usually inconspic-uous violas are valued partners, and thebasses are light and nimble. Blum knows theconductor's business, though he lacks theultimate in refinement. The magnificent ada-gio in K. 287 requires more warmth andimaginative melodic inflection, but his strict-ness pays off in the fast movements whereuninterrupted pace and élan are essential. Thevirtuosity Mozart demands in these light worksis astonishing. Nowhere, not even in his lastsymphonies, does he drive the violins to suchheights, nor demand such perilous hornpassages. The indicated repeat in the firstmovement should have been observed; itwould have assured a better perspective forthe development section. Though "entertain-ment music'? this movement is genuinelysymphonic.

The second, earlier divertimento is reallya little three -movement sinfonia in ChristianBach's Italian style. Everything sings here,and the accents are operatic. The work showslittle thematic development, but it is genial,melodious, and the first movement has a re-markable sweep for a sixteen -year -old com-poser. The full and sonorous string writingin particular is admirable. The sound isexcellent. P.H.L.

MOZART: Duos for Violin and Viola: in G. K423; in B flat, K. 424. HOFFMEISTER: Duo forViolin and Viola, in G. Arthur Grumiaux, violin;Arrigo Pelliccia, viola. Philips 839 747, $5.98.

If there is a pair of pieces in the active reper-tory today that deserves to be called the StringPlayer's Delight, it is surely Mozart's duos forviolin and viola. Lives there a fiddler-orfiddle fancier-with an ear so callous that hedoes not rejoice in the invention, the sonori-ties, the twining interplay, the sheer happybounce of these works? The present recordingis, with one or two small reservations, goodnews, for Grumiaux and Pelliccia form a verypoised partnership, and their musical purposeand technical accomplishment are withoutblemish. One of my reservations is hard todefend. I'll grant: it concerns the fact thatwhen the viola is performing a merely accom-panying role it drops to a fairly subdued level.An obviously rational maneuver, but I can'thelp wishing for a slightly darker viola color-

ing in some of those passages, and I wouldhave favored Pelliccia putting himself moreto the fore. He takes over with authority,though, when the ball is in his court.

At moments, particularly in the B flat Duo,the romantic temperature gets a little high:Grumiaux heats up a couple of shifts with anineteenth-century portamento I could havedone without, and the pronounced retard atthe close of each variation in the finale seemsto me to break the pace unduly. But these areminor matters. This is a disc that will makeyou feel good. And Franz Anton Hoffmeister,Mozart's publisher, keeps up a busy stir in hisrather obvious but jolly and unoffending work.

S.F.

MozART: Idomeneo. Sena Jurinac (s),Ilia; Lucille Udovick (s), Electra; RichardLewis (t), Idomeneo; Leopold Simoneau(t), Idamante; William McAlpine (t), HighPriest; James Milligan (b), Arbace;Hervey Alan (bs), Voice of Neptune;Chorus and Orchestra of the Glynde-bourne Festival, John Pritchard, cond.Seraphim SIC 6070, $8.94 (three discs)[from Angel 3574, 1958].

EMI's 1958 recording of Idomeneo, based onthe 1956 Glyndebourne production and hereissued in stereo for the first time, is a ratherperplexing mixture of plus -and -minus qual-ities. There are two really outstanding per-formances-Sena Jurinac's exquisite Ilia andLeopold Simoneau's elegant Idamante-andat the modest budget price Seraphim's reissuemight be recommended on the strength oftheir contributions alone.

The principal drawback is the heavy cutting:many recitatives are pruned away, most of theset numbers undergo internal surgery, andseveral arias are simply omitted altogether.Idomeneo may be a long and overly stately

Sena Jurinac-an exquisite Ilia in Idomeneo.

opera seria for impatient modern audiences,but such a ruthless abridgement badly falsifiesMozart's careful musical architecture. Fur-thermore, both Richard Lewis and LucilleUdovick lack the technique and vocal bril-liance to do justice to their difficult roles.Philips' recent version, not absolutely com-plete but more sensibly edited, is a betterbalanced performance-thanks primarily toColin Davis' poised conducting-althoughneither the Ilia nor Idamante match Sera-phim's counterparts. The early stereo re-cording enhances the acoustic somewhat, butthe sonics are still a trifle thin. P.G.D.

MOZART: Quartets for Flute and Strings: inD, K. 285; in A, K. 298; in G, K. 285a; in C, K.285b. Jean-Pierre Rampal, flute; Isaac Stern,violin; Alexander Schneider, viola; LeonardRose, cello. Columbia M 30233, $5.98.

The most famous thing about the flute quartetsis that they prompted Mozart to make theoften quoted comment (in a letter to his father,February 14, 1778) that he couldn't stand theinstrument. His fudging on the commissionfrom the Dutch dilettante who was promisedthree flute concertos and four quartets (andgot considerably less) seems to bear out thestatement, but the music itself is perfectlypalatable Mozart, and the flute writing in K,285 is particularly idiomatic. (It is much lessspectacular in K. 298.) The two half -works,K. 285a and 285b, are two movements each,and the problem of their identification makes asplendid historical muddle-the author ofColumbia's album notes questions their au-thenticity, but Alfred Einstein seemed satisfiedabout K. 285a, at least in his introduction tothe Hinrichsen edition of the score.

The present recording, in any case, givesus some superb flute playing and some lovelyensemble work-it is a measure of the com-pany Rampal keeps here that in the adagioof K. 285, flute melody with pizzicato accom-paniment throughout, it is actually the pizzi-catos, in undulating, shapely waves, that im-part the character of the movement. As youmight predict, tempos are brisk-fine in theallegro of K. 285, which goes like clockwork,but creating a very highly charged finale in-deed. In the remaining works, however, thetempos, combined with the unfailing rhythmicaplomb, seem entirely suitable. S.F.

MOZART: Sonata for Violin and Piano, in B flat.K. 378-See Brahms: Sonatas for Violin andPiano.

PADEREWSKI: Concerto for Piano and Orches-tra, in A minor, Op. 17; Fantaisie polonaise forPiano and Orchestra, Op. 19. Earl Wild, piano;London Symphony Orchestra, Arthur Fiedler,cond. RCA Red Seal LSC 3190, $5.98.

nPADEREWSKI: Concerto for Piano andOrchestra, in A minor, Op. 17. Rums -STEIN: KonzertstUck for Piano andOrchestra, Op. 113. Felicja Blumental,piano; Vienna Symphony Orchestra,Helmuth Froschauer, cond TurnaboutTVS 34387, $2.98.

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bered more for their creative than for theirre -creative gifts. This situation has held trueeven for those fortunate enough to leave pos-terity some mementos of their playing (Rach-maninoff and Prokofiev, to name two ex-amples). Ignace Paderewski-save for theMinuet in G-is almost totally forgotten inhis creative capacity: even as a pianist he isunjustly disparaged and most people remem-ber him best as Poland's first prime minister!His only piano concerto dates from 1884when the twenty -four -year -old musicianwas still studying with Leschetizky and onlydreaming of a career as a pianist. The pieceis a thoroughly competent and even enjoy-able opus, even though it borrows heavilyfrom Romanticism's complete bibliography.The orchestration is euphonious and thepiano writing works well enough (more aboutthat later).

Paderewski played his concerto oftenenough but never recorded it. Actually,though, he did vicariously take part in thework's disc debut by Jesus Maria Sanromaback in 1939. The jacket for the new RCAversion documents that occasion by way of aphoto which shows the white-haired composer-who had come to supervise the session-shaking hands with Arthur Fiedler. Along-side that photograph is another shot of thepresent soloist, Earl Wild, with MaestroFiedler himself now very much the white-haired patriarch. Fiedler, as before, providespeppery support, sharply focusing everystrand of instrumental sound and propellingthe music forward with rather rapid tempos.But in so frankly a virtuoso affair, it is ofcoursethe soloist who comes first. Wild is a brillianttechnician. He does his darnedest to "putthe work over'.' He can crash thunderously,he can ripple over the keys effortlessly, hecan scintillate with affettuoso delicacy. Hedoes, indeed, do all of these things and alsomilks the lyrical pages for all they are worth(and they curiously sound less attractive forbeing treated so preciously).

Mr. Wild has also snazzed-up some of thepassagework. I don't wish to imply puristicsnobbery or even that such editing is repre-hensible, but was it really necessary? Of thegreat keyboard virtuosos, Paderewski wasprobably one of the least virtuosic. Even so,his piano writing-even in 1884-was perfectlyadequate to express his ideas. In the original,one or two runs fail to cut through the orches-tration with incisive impact and a few otherfigurations sound slightly clumsy and opaque.For all that, the Urtext has a certain modestyof means that tells us something about Pade-rewski's style, his assets and limitations. Thefireworks of Wild's emendations lend a face-less brilliance to the music and tend to erad-icate the individuality. The facelifting alsoreduces the distinctions that might have beendrawn between the piano concerto and thelater Fantaisie polonaise-which was writtenafter Paderewski had become a world-beater(Wild touches up that work, too). In sum,the Wild/Fiedler production makes themusic more immediately striking and acces-sible, but in the process, reduces it to a kindof anonymity.

Blumental, who recorded the PaderewskiFantaisie polonaise twice (once on an oldLondon mono and once for Vox, with lesshappy orchestral support), now turns herattention to the concerto. From the outset

it is obvious that she approaches it as musicrather than as a confectioner's delight. Hertempos are all a shade less precipitate thanWild's but quite brilliant enough. And sheopts for a warmer -hued, more intimate ap-proach. Her dynamic gradations may be morelimited than Wild's, but the tone sings withmore personal involvement. The ViennaSymphony, apart from a strident and thinsound or two, compares favorably with thesuaver London Symphony, and Froschauerleads them with great gusto and spirit. At onepoint-the second theme of the finale-theTurnabout conductor actually surpassesFiedler: that problematical episode, dubiouslyscored for brass chorale, can sound danger-ously like a Gilbert & Sullivan reject whenstated literally. Froschauer broadens it andminimizes the square -toed banality. There is,incidentally, yet another recording of theConcerto by Barbara Hesse-Bukowska andthe Warsaw Philharmonic for the PolishMuza label (XL 0196). That performance,nearer to Blumental but a mite more brilliantand detached, is very much in the running.In terms of sound, though, Turnabout andRCA hold the edge (the Muza surfaces arerather noisy), and why pay import prices whenthe domestic alternatives are excellent?

Rubinstein's KonzertstUck is a Weber -derived affair that verges on bombastic empti-ness, and as you have undoubtedly surmised,I like the Paderewski Fantaisie polonaiseconsiderably less than his concerto. H.G.

PAGANINI: Twenty-four Caprices for Solo Vio-lin, Op. 1. Paul Zukofsky, violin. Cardinal VCS10093/4. $11.96 (two discs).

Paul Zukofsky is a formidably talented youngviolinist who first came upon the New Yorkscene several seasons back with a three -con-cert series of contemporary violin music: hisrecordings since that time have concentratedon the likes of Penderecki, William Schuman,Mike Sahl, and J. K. Randall, but don't for amoment think that Zukofsky is a man to bepegged in any particular idiom. Don't think,either, that he is one to bring out a set of thePaganini Caprices just to prove that he canhandle flying staccato, running passages intenths, and left-hand pizzicato-that doesn'tneed proving. No, the purpose is more serious-a "rethinking" of the Caprices, stemmingprincipally from the fact that Zukofsky feelsthat sheer speed has been too long emphasized.Seeking "moral support" for this view, he tellsus in his album notes that he dug out a photo-copy of the original manuscript from the pub-lishers in Milan (G. Ricordi), and a Xeroxcopy of the first edition from the Library ofCongress. And behold, enough discrepanciesbetween the two warrant taking a second lookat the whole opus. (Since the Caprices wereamong the few works to be published duringthe composer's lifetime, the question arises asto whether Paganini himself authorized anychanges. I suppose we shall never know.) Spe-cific details will be available when Zukofsky'sown edition is published in the near future.Meanwhile, here are the fruits of his labor,some of it brilliant, some of it repugnant, noneof it casual.

Zukofsky's ideas are strong medicine, andthe strongest dose is offered in Caprice No. 6."Why not:' he remarks in the notes, "play this



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Paul Zukty..41-a PaganiniI.SChuman whiz kid

flautando sul ponticello: emphasize upper par-tials (even let harmonic speak .... ):' The ques-tion might be, rather, why? What emerges is aseries of vaporous squeaks, whistles, and ex-traneous wails, adrift in a watery ambience ofambiguity wherein the melodic line is all butlost. It is a really extraordinary exhibition, andif a lesser man had undertaken it you wouldsimply run for the exit. (And frankly, I haven'tyet thought of a more attractive alternative.The piece lasts eight minutes and twelve sec-onds. and I counted every moment.)

The main thing on Zukofsky's mind, how-ever. is tempo. and he slows down certain ofthe Caprices monumentally. They sound likeworks you never heard before. No. 8. for ex-ample, marked maestoso, opens with a four -measure passage of octaves; another violinistwhose Caprices 1 admire takes eight secondsto play those four measures; Zukofsky takestwenty-eight. Truly. this is rethinking with avengeance, and it characterizes Zukofsky'spoint of view. Essentially. he has strippedmany of the Caprices of their traditional vir-tuoso glamour: often the pace is deliberateto the point of laboriousness (Nos. 2, 3. 7).often the melodic line is slighted for the sakeof emphasis and articulation-the figurationin thirds of the No. 8. for example, explodeswith tremendous individual impact, but theover-all line almost disintegrates under theimpact.

The second thing on Zukofsky's mind isdynamic contrast -1 do not mean the contrastof whole sections. but the extreme accentu-ation of punctuating notes or notes that outlinemelody such as occur in Nos. 4,8,11.15, 19. allof which the violinist throws out like hand gre-nades. They utterly shatter the texture. I ad-mire the ability to command such contrast, butI think the present instances verge on thegrotesque.

But then there are the dazzling aspects ofZukofsky's accomplishment. Nothing to dowith bowing or right-hand articulation is be-yond his reach, and the occurrences of a realpresto or agitato or vivace in Paganini's scoreis enough to send him skyrocketing-take asexamples the clarity, precision, and bite ofNos. 5 and 10, the brilliant speed of No. 16. thebreathtaking scales of No. 21. And he has ele-

gance and resilience of rhythm-they captivatethe ear in No. 9. where his "imitation flute" ischaste enough to please the heart of Diana. Butenough of chapter and verse. Try some of Zu-kofsky's strong medicine-it is quite a tonic.

S.F.

PISTON: Symphony No. 2. SCHUMAN: Concertofor Violin and Orchestra. Paul Zukofsky, viol n(in the Schuman); Boston Symphony Orches-tra, Michael Tilson Thomas, cond. DeutscheGrammophon 2530 130, $6.98. Tape: IVOL 3103, 71/2 ips, $6.98.

Two boy wonders of recent years team uphere to provide a second time around for twoAmerican works of thirty years ago. The Pis-ton comes off marvelously well, the Schumanrather less so.

People tend to dismiss Walter Piston asanother academic composer, but his SecondSymphony, written in 1942, proves that onecan be a Harvard professor and a great creatorof music as well. The symphony has every-thing, in generous measure, that its traditionrequires: themes that appeal to the ear andcommand the respect of the mind, forms ofthe utmost clarity and logic, and a sense ofdrama in the building of proportions that con-fers dignity on rhetoric. This, in short, is asymphony to place alongside those of Ivesand Vaughan Williams-the foremost worksof their kind this century has produced.

William Schuman's Violin Concerto, com-posed in 1947 but revised in 1959, is in twolarge movements, each subdivided into severalshort sections. The slow sections are extremelyeffective, lyrical, and beautiful, but the fastsections often come embarrassingly close tothe violin concertos of Prokofiev-and overand beyond that they contain a lot of merefiddling. Zukofsky fiddles magnificently, tobe sure, but one expects more musical justi-fication for technical display than is offeredhere, especially from a composer of Schu-man's stature.

The recordings are adequate but not espe-cially remarkable. A.F.

RACHMANINOFF: Piano Works. For a featurereview of recordings of Rachmaninoff's pianomusic played by Yara Bernette, Morton Estrin,Vladimir Horowitz, Michael Ponti, and AlexisWeissen berg, see page 69.

RUBINSTEIN: Konzertstiick for Piano and Or-chestra, Op. 113-See Paderewski Concertofor Piano and Orchestra, in A minor. Op. 17

SATIE: Les Pantins dansent; Tendrement;Ludions; Trois poemes d'amour; Choses vues

droite et a gauche; Quatre petites melodies;Prelude de la porte heroique du ciel; Le Piegede Meduse. Mady Mesple, soprano; NicolaiGedda, tenor; Gabriel Bacquier, baritone; YanPascal, violin; Aldo Ciccolini, piano; Pierre Ber-tin, Hubert Deschamps, Joseph -Marie Falcucci,and Marie Laurence, actors; Lamoureux Or-chestra. Aldo Ciccolini, cond. Angel S 36713,$5.98.SATIE: Trois morceaux en forme de pole;Apercus desagreables; En habit de cheval;Trois melodies; Trois poemes d'amour; Quatrepetites melodies; Ludions; Je to veux; La Divade l'Empire; Tendrement; Choses vues

droite et 6 gauche. Elaine Bonazzi, mezzo;Millard Taylor, violin; Frank Glazer and RichardDeas, piano. Candide CE 31041, $3.98.

These two recordings-the umpteenth roundin what seems to be an attempt to put on discevery note Satie ever wrote-offer, amongother things, a selection of the composer'svocal music that has never been recorded. Al-though there is some overlapping between thetwo discs, the Candide release does include theimportant Trois melodies (also available withBernac on Odyssey) and the other two "pop-ular" songs that go with Tendrement. Thestrengths of Satie's "art songs" lie in the texts.most of which are witty, absurdist vignettes byvarious authors, including Satie himself. Oneof the most amusing is the song Danseuse, inwhich Jean Cocteau, Satie's literary counter-part, compares a ballerina dancing with herhands curved above her head to a crab walkingon its claws and "smiling from ear to ear:' Thebest songs musically, however, are probablythe Ludions and the Trois melodies, whichmanifest many more of the typical Satie ear-marks than a work such as the almost asceticTrois poemes d'amour. The other pieces will nodoubt appeal either to those who dote on"camp" or to devotees of the music hall.

I cannot say that the singing on either recordis particularly noteworthy. Even NicolaiGedda, on the Angel recording, seems strainedand uncomfortable, while some happy medi-um should be found between Mady Mespleswispy, almost nonexistent soprano on Angeland the rather heavy mezzo of Elaine Bonazzi,who performs all of the songs on the Candidedisc. I will say, however, that Bonazzi, who isbetter recorded than Angel's singers, oftendoes a splendid job in interpreting the varioustexts, and her characterization in the dialoguesof Dapheneo are particularly effective.

One of the show -stoppers (included on bothdiscs) is Choses vues a droite et a gauche. athree-part work for violin and piano which re-ceives, if I am not mistaken, its double -record-ed premiere here. After an opening "hypocriti-cal chorale" (quite haunting in spite of itself).there is a "groping fugue" based on an amus-ing puerile theme, arid finally an absolutelyhysterical "muscular fantasy: Here Satie man-ages, within a very short space of time, to satir-ize many hackneyed tricks characteristic of"virtuoso" violin writing. For this composi-tion, the performances by Pascal and Ciccolinion Angel are decidedly superior to the Taylor/Glazer version on Candide, although Taylorpulls off the humor of the "muscular fantasy"quite well. But Yan Pascal is obviously a vio-linist of considerable merit, and his teamworkwith Ciccolini is nothing short of perfect. Fur-thermore, the Angel sound here is sharp andwell defined. to my ear, ii i, pick:1,11e to C.111-dide's Dolbyized sonics which, for all their vel-vety smoothness, had me constantly runningto the treble control on my amplifier.

The second side of the Angel recording istaken up with a complete performance ofSatie's "lyric comedy:' Le Piege de Meduse,which includes seven absolutely marvelousdances that are delightfully performed (withCiccolini conducting) and sumptuously re-corded. The play itself is, to my mind, an ex-cellent and very funny piece of before -the -facttheater of the absurd, complete with a satire ontraditional theatrical conventions and plotsand a broadside attack on verbal logic. Fur-thermore. Satie. a devout Socialist, did not fail


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to include a bit of humorous social commen-tary: one of the best scenes occurs when BatonMedusa finally tames his servant, Polycarpe,by resigning from the Socialist "union" found-ed by the latter. In general the performance isquite good-Hubert Deschamps in particularis hilariously brutish in the role of Polycarpe.However, Pierre Bertin's hammy, whiningBaron wears quite thin, all the more so sincehis voice, which dominates the "drama:' neverleaves the right speaker. It seems to me thatone of the tenets of good Satie interpretation,musically or theatrically, is to "play it straight"-nobody embodies this principle better thanpianist -conductor Ciccolini, who skillfullybrings out the proper nuances at the propermoments and simply allows Satie to interprethimself.

A note should also be made of the FrankGlazer/Richard Deas performances of thefour -hand piano music on the Candide release.Although their interpretations seen overlysubtle and restrained at first, it all comes intofocus upon subsequent hearings and conse-quently offers a fresh point of view on these oftrecorded pieces. Candide does not supply textsor translations; purchasers of the Angel discwill be supplied with a text leaflet free ofcharge by writing to Angel Records Merchan-dising, 1750 North Vine, Los Angeles, Califor-nia 90028. R.S.B.

SCARLATTI, A.: Endimione e Cintia. Reri Gristand Tatiana Troyanos, sopranos; MatthiasSiedel, harpsichord; Hamburg State SymphonyOrchestra, Matthias Lange, cond. Archive 2533061, $6.98.

To most discophiles Alessandro Scarlatti isthe father of a famous son. While a good dealof Domenico Scarlatti's brilliant keyboardmusic is heard and recorded, of Alessandro'swell over a hundred operas there is only anold mono version of his Trionfo dell'onore.Yes, there is perhaps also another cantata-out of six hundred-some arias, and a fewinstrumental pieces. This meager offeringcannot even faintly bring home the fact thatmuch of the great music written in the hun-dred years after the elder Scarlatti's death wasinfluenced by this extraordinary composer.

The dividing line between cantata and sere-nata, the latter actually a small opera, is slightand often nonexistent. Baroque composerscut their operatic teeth on the cantata, whichwas very popular in the seventeenth and eight-eenth centuries, and thousands were com-posed: Handel alone managed a round hun-dred of them. They ranged from the simplesolo cantata with harpsichord continuo tovirtual little operas with orchestra. A longcantata-serenata like Endimione e Cintiaequals a whole act in a full-fledged opera.(Incidentally, some of Bach's secular cantatasbelong in this category and were probablystaged.) While it's only a drop in the bucket.this cantata gives a fair idea of Scarlatti'spowers, of his exquisitely polished and pliablemelody, of his dramatic accents, and of theforms and devices all of his successors con-sidered mandatory. The work consists of abrief overture and a number of recitatives andarias in which the two singers alternate, thoughthey also unite in some fine duets. The cantatais written for two sopranos. and the two singersare billed as such, but while Reri Grist is vcrymuch the true soprano. Tatiana Troyanos is

obviously a mezzo; however, she can climbupstairs very nicely. Just the same, it was amistake to give Grist, who has a girlish, freshhigh soprano, the role of the male lover, whileTroyanos, whose voice is darker and heavier,sings the fair Cynthia. But both do very well,the orchestra is neat, the harpsichord is good,and the sound is excellent. P. H L.

SCHOENBERG: Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21. JanDeGaetani, voice; Contemporary ChamberEnsemble, Arthur Weisberg, cond. (Nonesuch).Marie Therese Escribano, voice; instrumentalensemble, Friedrich Cerha, cond. (Turnabout).For a feature review of these recordings, seepage 70.

SCHUMAN: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra-See Piston Symphony No. 2

B SCHUMANN: Kreisleriana, Op.16; Ro-mance in F sharp, Op. 28, No. 2; Sonatafor Piano, No. 3, in G minor, Op. 22.Walter Klien, piano. Turnabout TVS34317, $2.98.

This record is deceptively packaged but I

doubt whether anyone will complain: theRomance, though fully noted on the label.is not mentioned anywhere on the jacket! Thefirst thing one notices about Klien's Schu-mann is the lack of sensuality: it's a stark,sparely pedaled sonority and the effect is em-phasized by rather close-up recorded sound.Before long, the pianist convinces me that hisapproach is a just one. He presents this musicin a manly, vibrant fashion-firm but tender,and full of direct, unaffected sentiment. Atten-tion to all sorts of details is evident in each ofthe three performances. In the first section ofKreisleriana, the offbeat accentuations andstarkness remind me of Rudolf Serkin's ap-proach to this composer. It is Germanic, to besure, but never in the least rigid or unfeeling.Sometimes, as in that initial movement ofKreisleriana, the new look is at first anythingbut soothing to ears jaded by innumerablestandard "dreamy" interpretations, but Klienusually has the penetrating musicianship tomake his divergent view convincing. He has awonderful sense of rhythmic motion: rollick-ing vigor is decidedly preferable to sicklyaffetuoso in this problematical literature.Some of the slow sections move along freelybut nonetheless somehow convey all theirrapt stillness.

I think that the secret of Klien's successhere is his ability to play really softly (an assetshared by Horowitz in his recent Columbiaversion of the Kreisleriana). Another plus isKlien's extreme clarity of voicing. He hastrue digital independence, and the active (butnot overactive) imagination to seek and coaxthese inner lines from the text. I also applaudKlien's meticulous attention to note valuesand internal timing (quite a different thingfrom his sense of good rhythm). He is, in short,a superbly good musician as well as an excel-lent piano player. The sonata and Romancefare equally well, and all three compositionsare rendered with potency. fantasy, and anexquisitely controlled passion. Klien, by theway, plays the revised edition of the sonata.

Don't pass up this disc; it's a remarkablebuy. H.G.

CIRCLE 4 ON READEF.-SERVICE CARD


SCRIAIiiti: Sonatas for Piano: No. 3, in F

sharp minor, Op. 23; No. 4, in F sharp, Op.30; No. 6, in G, Op. 62; No. 10, in C, Op. 70;Vers la flamme, Op. 72. Ruth Laredo, piano.Connoisseur Society CS 2034, $5.98.

Perhaps the most outstanding aspect of RuthLaredo's second Scriabin disc is her brilliantlyoriginal interpretation of the Fourth Sonata.This short, two -movement work, one of theleast known of the ten, represents a definitemove toward the style of the later sonatas,particularly in its thematic and rhythmicstructure. Since it is a transition work, how-ever, the Fourth Sonata often eludes attemptsto give it real shape or direction; here Laredohas, to my mind, succeeded better than anypianist I have ever heard in bringing out theover-all musical meaning of this piece. Sheyields with the music, so that instead of impos-ing external heavy-handed ideas, she allowsScriabin's elusive language to evolve naturallyfrom measure to measure. This is not to saythat Laredo has no interpretive ideas of herown: her playing of the repeated, upper -register chords in the quietissimo section ofthe first movement is both eerie and ethereal,while she imparts such rhythmic precision tothe highly syncopated last movement that shecreates an almost jazzlike impression.

Unlike the Fourth Sonata, there is littledoubt about the direction of the Sixth which,like all the sonatas after the Fourth, hasbut one movement. This mystical, shim-mering, quiescent vision exists wholly withinits own harmonic language, which is con-stantly, obsessively defined and redefinedthrough a perpetual give-and-take betweenchords, trills, and broken chords, interruptedoccasionally by quasi melodies that seem likenostalgic reminiscences from the real world.For this piece Ruth Laredo has perfectlycaptured Scriabin's troubled mysticism-moreso, in fact, than she did for the Seventh andNinth Sonatas on her admirable earlierScriabin disc. I will give a slight edge to Richter(MK 1582) for his more effective contrastsand his trills; but even this great pianist doesnot match Laredo's subtle pedaling andcrystalline sonorities for the staccato chordsat the end of the work.

Laredo's pedaling is not quite so successfulin the Tenth Sonata. This, together with herrather indecisive trill -work, represents adefinite weakness both here and in Vers laflamme. What really surprises me, however,is Laredo's rather restrained playing in theThird Sonata which, according to FaubionBowers' somewhat precious liner notes, is herpersonal favorite. As the last of Scriabin's"first -period" sonatas, the Third would cer-tainly seem to invite the sort of romanticflair manifested so beautifully on the pianist'sprevious recording. Yet she never attains anyreal feeling of contrast between loud and softpassages, especially in the first movement;indeed, there are more than a few dynamicmarkings she has inexplicably ignored. Onthe other hand, her impeccable attention todetail enormously enhances the alreadyconsiderable interest of the music.

I strongly suspect that Laredo's intentionshave not been served altogether faithfully bythe recorded sound, which definitely lacksthe incisiveness and vitality of the first Laredo/Scriabin release. Nonetheless, Ruth Laredois one of the best Scriabin interpreters today,

A galarofstars inOpera,Ballet andInstrunientalmastenneces

onLondoesJulyrelease.

Saint-Saens: SYMPHONY NO. 3 IN C MINOR FORORGAN AND ORCHESTRAThe Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra-Zubin Mehra -AnitaPriest (organ)CS -6680

Delibes: COPPELIAL'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande-Richard BonyngeCSA-2229Schubert: SYMPHONY NO. 4 IN C MINOR ("Tragic")

SYMPHONY NO. S IN B FLAT MAJORThe Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra-Istvan KerteszCS -6682

HANDEL OVERTURES-Vol. 2Semele; Julius Caesar; Faramondo; Judas Maccabeus; Rada-misto; Arminio; Deidamia; Scipio; Belshazzar - The EnglishChamber Orchestra-Richard BonyngeCS -6711

Catalani: LA WALLY-HighlightsRenata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco, Piero Cappuccilli, JustinoDiaz-The Monte Carlo Opera Orchestra-Fausto ClevaOS -26202

Delibes: LAKME-HighlightsJoan Sutherland, Alain Vanzo, Gabriel Bacquier-The MonteCarlo Opera Orchestra-Richard BonyngeOS -26201

Verdi: LA TRAVIATA-HighlightsPilar Lorengar, Giacomo Aragall, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau-Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper, Berlin-Lorin MaazelOS -26193

Cherubini: MEDEA-HighlightsGwyneth Jones, Pilar Lorengar, Fiorenza Cossotto, BrunoPrevedi, Justino Diaz-Orchestra of L'Accademia Nazionale diSanta Cecilia, Rome-Lamberto GardelliOS -26184

Schubert: FANTASIA IN C MAJOR (Op. 15) ("Wanderer")IMPROMPTU IN E FLAT MINOR (D.946, No. 1)IMPROMPTU IN E FLAT MAJOR (D.946, No. 2)

Jean-Rodolphe Kars (piano)CS -6714

Beethoven: QUINTET IN C MAJOR (Op. 29)SEXTET IN E FLAT MAJOR (Op. Sib)

Members of The Vienna OctetCS -6674

Now on LondonR. Strauss: ARIADNE AUF NAXOSLeonie Rysanek, Roberta Peters, Sena Jurinac, Jan Peerce-The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra-Erich LeinsdorfOSA-13100

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and in spite of the more apparent flaws on thissecond release, I would not be without it.

R.S.B.

B SHOSTAKOVICH: Concerto for Piano,Trumpet, and String Orchestra, No. 1,in C minor, Op. 35; Concerto for Pianoand Orchestra, No. 2, in F, Op. 102;Three Fantastic Dances, Op. 5. LudovicValliant, trumpet (in Concerto No. 1);Dmitri Shostakovich, piano; FrenchNational Radio Orchestra, Andre Cluy-tens, cond. Seraphim 60161, $2.98(mono only).

Considering Shostakovich's early ambition tobecome a concert pianist, one would haveexpected the composer to make an importantcontribution to twentieth-century piano lit-erature. In fact, however, nothing Shostako-vich has written for piano-from the twenty-four preludes and fugues to the music recordedhere-quite measures up to his works in othermedia. Nonetheless, the First Concerto is anenjoyable work, a fact largely due to its manyskillfully communicated shades of humor-even the concerto's moments of lyricism andmelancholy, especially in the second move-ment, seem to function primarily as a kind ofacrid "tragic relief,' while the comedy rangesfrom sarcasm (with its numerous near -quotesfrom other composers and its unpredictablefalse starts and endings) to outright hilarity.

As performed by Shostakovich in this 1957recording, the concerto takes on an appro-priate dryness that is only suggested on otherrecorded performances (and there have beenquite a few). Shostakovich's brittle tone setsthe piano off beautifully against the stringorchestra and the solo trumpet, the latter add-ing an important and ingenious third shadeof instrumental color to the work. The com-poser also plays with a good deal of verve andenergy: he starts the first movement, for in-stance, at a somewhat slow tempo and gradu-ally works up to an almost frenzied pace. Here.however, it must be said that Shostakovichdoes have a tendency to rush, as if he could notplay the notes fast enough to suit himself.This has a detrimental effect, both on thesoloist's technique. which is far from impec-cable, and on the orchestra's ability to keeppace. However, the late Andre Cluytens pro-vides an impressive accompaniment and thegeneral spirit is so infectious that one can for-give the various technical slips on both sides.

Although the keynote of the Second Con-certo is also humor, the work is almost totallylacking in the incisiveness of its more brilliantpredecessor, and there is consequently littlehere to compensate for the juvenile treatmentof the deliberately banal melodic material.Even the Rachmaninoff (cum Poulenc andSaint -Sans) lyricism of the second movementand the rhythmic variety of the last strike onemore as exercises in style than as sincere ex-pressions. The performances have the samemerits and drawbacks as those of the FirstPiano Concerto-this is a less finished rendi-tion than the one by Shostakovich and theU.S.S.R. Radio Symphony conducted byGauk ( MK 201), but it has more depth, if suchan adjective can be applied to this work.

The three attractive Fantastic Dances (nowofficially the composer's Op. 5 and not Op. I)that fill out the second side are the pianistic

disaster of this recording. It is difficult to criti-cize a composer for interpretations of his ownmusic, but I can see little justification in Shos-takovich's monochromatic, monodynamic,and rhythmically flaccid execution of theseexpressive pieces. At any rate, the mono soundon this release is bright and nicely detailed-the fidelity is high, even if it is not stereo. Thisis, as far as I know, the only recording Shosta-kovich has made of his First Piano Concerto,and considering the special flavor the com-poser gives to what is perhaps his finest pianocomposition, this disc is therefore a must.

R.S.B.

SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 1, in E minor, Op. 39;Luonnotar, Op. 70. Phyllis Curtin, soprano (inLuonnotar); New York Philharmonic, LeonardBernstein, cond. Columbia M 30232, $5.98.

Bernstein's Sibelius First now appears in single -

disc format. It remains an inspired but flawedperformance; as I suggested in my discographyof the Sibelius symphonies [May 1969], thisreading was probably a brilliant accomplish-ment in actual concert, but the roughnessesof tone and ensemble show up more in therecorded presentation. What adds to the disc'sinterest is the filler on Side 2: a first domesticrecording of the legendary (to Sibelians)Luonnotar. Written in 1913, between theFourth and Fifth Symphonies, the eight -minute cantata deals with the creation of theheavens (Luonnotar is the mistress of the airin Finnish mythology). The work is rarelyperformed for several reasons. For one thingit has never been published and is availableonly in facsimile of Sibelius' manuscript (afriend was kind enough to lend me his fac-simile of the facsimile). Secondly-and prob-ably more to the point-the soprano part isexcruciatingly difficult. With all its registerleaps and almost atonal chromaticism, thevocal line is practically unsingable.

Rumor has it that Eva Turner and ElisabethSchwarzkopf both made abortive attemptsat recording the music and that the presentCurtin/Bernstein effort (dating from 1965)very nearly joined those on the discard pile.Finally released, it makes a very interestingfoil for the Gwyneth Jones/Antal Dorati/LSOversion issued last year in England by HMV.It also is strikingly different from the livebroadcast performance which directly pre-ceded the recording session. At the publicconcert, Bernstein tended to race throughthe music at a bracing clip, leaving little roomfor plasticity, nuance, or even interpretation.The recorded version is still on the fast side,but is a bit more relaxed, inflected, and sensi-tive to mood. Phyllis Curtin, in turn, phraseswith more involvement and rubato on therecord, and offers a really savage interpreta-tion, full of anguish and bleakness. To be sure,her singing is also full of strained chest tones,shrieky coloratura, and ambiguous pitcheswhere precision most counts. It must also beadmitted that Bernstein's interpretation stillrather misses the serenity and introspectionalso inherent in the music. Jones and Dorati,by contrast, are much more on top of the notestechnically. The British singer takes time(Dorati gives it to her) and is able to placeeach tone securely. In the long run, thoughJones/Dorati miss some of the savagery, theirsubtler performance lets us hear more of what


is in the score. Since the coupling (En Saga,Nightride and Sunrise, and The Oceanides)conveniently offers a lot of rare Sibelius, Iwould have to give preference to the Doratidisc. Angel (or Seraphim) should by all meansissue the record domestically. H.G.

STRAUSS, R.: Don Quixote, Op. 35; DerRosenkavalier: Waltzes (arr. Reiner).Antonio Janigro, cello; Milton Preves,viola (in the Don Quixote); Chicago Sym-phony Orchestra, Fritz Reiner, cond.RCA Victrola VICS 1561, $2.98 [the DonQuixote from RCA Victor LSS 2384,1959; the Waltzes from RCA Victor LSC2112, 1957].

At its new budget price, Reiner's Don Quixotebids fair to he the preferred edition-unless theoptimum in stereophonic reproduction is re-quired, in which case Bernstein's recent Col-umbia disc gets the nod. The Chicago per-formance is typical of Reiner's distinguishedStrauss series for RCA: superb balance of thecomplex orchestral texture, cool but expressiveemotional temperatures, and an uncanny con-trol of lyrical distention-especially in theDon's vision of his magical isle. Janigro'ssoft -grained cello lacks something of theorchestra's firmly fibrous tone, but both he andviolist Preves are given an accurate middle-distance perspective by the engineers in thisstill fine -sounding record. The RosenkavalierWaltzes make a pleasant filler, althoughReiner's arrangement is all too obviously apatchwork job. P.G.D.

STRAUSS, R.: Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40. Con-certgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink, cond.Philips 6500 048, $5.98.

Once More the Concertgebouw has chosen torecord a work from its own history: Heiden-leben was dedicated to the orchestra and itsgreat father figure, conductor Willem Men-gelberg. Many old-time collectors will stillinsist that Mengelberg's performance of thismusic as recorded more than forty years agowith the New York Philharmonic was thegreatest ever heard. Haitink has the advantagesof four decades of engineering progress, anorchestra that has the style of this music in itsblood, and the conductorial authority to shapegreat rolling phrases, command hammer -blow attacks, and yet give full heed to the factthat some of the best writing in the score isto be found in the descriptive and atmosphericquieter pages.

The "critics" in that notorious satirical sec-tion of the score are unusually pleasant (areAmsterdam critics like that?), and Mme.Pauline Strauss, who clearly is the inspirationfor the hero's lady, seems unusually sweet -tempered in the violin solos of Herman Kreb-bers. Indeed, for those who demand a per-formance drenched in every possible emotionand exploited for every possible effect, thisversion will probably seem understated onoccasion. But rehearings make it clear thatHaitink's interpretation has great dignity. Itwears well. It holds your respect. And if youwant that kind of Heldenleben, in spacious,up-to-date sound. this is the clear-cut choice.

R.C. M.

STRAUSS, R.: Lieder. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau,baritone; Gerald Moore, piano. Odeon C 163-

50043/51, $53.72 (nine discs).

As an encore to their twenty -five -disc SchubertLieder marathon, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskauand Gerald Moore have tackled the Strausssong repertory-a comparatively modestenterprise to be sure but one of almost equaldocumentary value. Although Strauss is con-sidered one of the major German Lieder com-posers, recitalists invariably program the samefifteen to twenty "hits',' while the rest of his 178published songs remain virtually unknown.Fischer-Dieskau sings 134 of them here, by-passing those that are clearly intended forfemale interpreters, the orchestrally accom-panied songs, and nineteen bits of juveniliafrom the composer's teenage years. One item-Erschaffen and Beleben, Op. 87, No. 2 for bass-was omitted presumably out of simple dis-cretion; the two -octave -plus range, the mur-derous leaps in the vocal line, and floridcoloratura are virtually insurmountable (onewonders how the dedicatee, Michael Bohnen,faced up to this challenge).

Songs framed Strauss's creative career fromthe Christmas carol that he scrawled out forhis parents at age six to the Four Last Songsnearly eighty years later. The majority of themwere written by the turn of the century beforeopera claimed his attention, but even then hewould often "mark time" while waiting for alibretto by dashing off a set of Lieder. Therather syrupy sentimentality of the most popu-lar lyrics gives a very unfair picture of hisachievement in this area-these early works

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are obviously the products of a young com-poser eager to gain acceptance in fashionablemusical salons. Later on Strauss refined his .

art considerably as his technical facility andsense of declamation began to match the me-lodic invention and sensitive feeling for mood.There's no reason, aside from artistic laziness,to neglect such a profusion of lyrical beautyand characterful musical portraits.

Of course one finds a certain amount ofdross here-Strauss had an annoying penchantfor second-rate poets and sometimes.he simplyspins the notes out with compulsive absent-mindedness. Then, too, he will occasionallymisunderstand the poem. Befreit (Freed) is aclassic instance; the social -minded RichardDehmel was ironically describing a divorce

proceeding here, while Strauss interprets thewords as a kind of weepy death -bed parting.But the successes far outnumber the failuresand anyone who listens to these discs is boundto gain a fresh perspective on Strauss's Liederoutput.

One singer cannot hope to cope with thevariety of vocal writing contained here: Strausswas notoriously partial to the soprano voiceand even when the text does not specificallycall for a woman one feels that he had a so-prano in mind-many of the songs were in factcomposed for his wife. This is a built-in handi-cap for Fischer-Dieskau despite his polisheddelivery and sophisticated artistry. Further-more, such effusive outbursts as Cacilie,Frahlingsfeier, and Liebeshymnus can only

by Shirley Fleming

"Heifetz on Television"It seems probable that opening diplo-matic relations with Red China wouldbe simplicity itself compared to makingarrangements with Jascha Heifetz forthe filming of an hour-long televisionfeature on Jascha Heifetz. His personalreserve, his prickliness in business mat-ters, his exacting demands on collabor-ators, his distaste for publicity are alegend in themselves. But somehowthe wall was crossed and the Bell Sys-tem produced "Heifetz" late last Aprilfor its NBC-TV Family Theater.

It was scarcely a family affair, and itcertainly wasn't theater-there wereonly a few compromises for kiddieswho couldn't sit up to the Chaconne,for instance-and of drama there wasnone. No peeps into private domain,unless you count a peep under the hoodof the violinist's electric automobile;no glimpse into either of the Heifetzhouses, in Los Angeles or at Malibu;no tour of the rare violin and bowcollection; no reminiscences. Exceptfor a rather terrifyingly high -voltageping-pong game ("no matter what yo,udo, you should do it well-better thansomebody else, that in itself is some -thine,' intones the Heifetz voice duringthis shot), and except for a rather un-convincing moment or two of an out-door lesson with a young French pupil-you can't tell me Heifetz would dilutethe concentration of a violin lessonwith sunshine and breeze and hugs-the program stuck largely to concertiz-ing. It was done with dignity and taste,completely in keeping with its subject.

The focus on playing explains whythere was nearly enough music to makeup a fifty -minute recording-with thenote that the Bruch Scottish Fantasiaon RCA's disc is not the televisionperformance, which was condensed(and performed with the French Na-tional Orchestra sans conductor), butan earlier recording made with the

New Symphony Orchestra of Londonunder Malcolm Sargent. For those whodid not watch the TV program therecord will demonstrate what the restof us saw, that the Heifetz phenomenonstill exists unimpaired-the pitch razor-edged, the tone brilliance itself, theclarity of thought dazzling, the occa-sional arrogance intact (the blindingspeed of the Mozart Rondo does notincline our thoughts to attributes of thecomposer). The Chaconne, made hu-man by two doubtful notes and warmedby portamento here and there, is amarvel of lucidity in phrase and lineand builds up in a crescendo of in-tensity that is formidable. And I guessIt Ain't Necessarily So was necessarilythere, a part of history as a Heifetztrademark.

The recording is more than a me-mento of the television show; theChaconne and the beautiful per-formance of the interpolated Bruchsee to that. And there is the bonus7 -inch disc included in the package,consisting of a snippet from Korngold'sGarden Scene, the complete Rach-maninoff Daisies, and Heifetz himselfphilosophizing on various matters-including what is possibly his mostfamous personal characteristic, the un-yielding format of the Great Stone Face.

"HSWETZ ON TELEVISION:' BIIUCH: Scot-tish Fantasia, Op. 46.13404: Partita forSolo Violin, No. 2, in D minor, S. 1004:Chaconne. MOZART: Serenade No. 7,in D, K, 250: Rondo (arr. Kreisler).DEBUSSY: Preludes for Piano, Book 1:La Fille aux cheveux de lin (trans.Hartmann). DERSIMIN: Porgy andBess: It Ain't Necessarily So (trans.Heifetz). Jascha Heifetz, violin; BrooksSmith, piano; New Symphony Orchestraof London, Sir Malcolm Sargent, cond.(in the Bruch). RCA Red Seal LSC3205, $5.98.

make an effect in sheer vocal terms-all thesubtlety in the world cannot disguise the needfor a healthy, plush, flexible instrument.Fischer-Dieskau simply does not operatecomfortably when a large, full -voiced gestureis required and he is often heard strainingbadly to fill out the line with sufficient tone.That said, one must admit that no other singercould probably handle all this material withsuch consistency, insight, and shrewdness. Byturns puckish, sarcastic, ironic, pleading,down -in -the -mouth, the baritone provides anincredible interpretational tour de force. Andthere are many lovely vocal moments too,especially when Fischer-Dieskau spins out thesort of pearly legato mezza voce that heachieves in Waldseligkeit.

Strauss's accompaniments are frequentlyfiendishly difficult and Gerald Moore, who isalso undoubtedly coming to much of thismusic for the first time in his long career, has afew rocky moments; but he is in superb formmost of the way and there are innumerabledeliciously turned phrases-I can't resist call-ing attention to the marvelous way in whichhe brings out the nibbling figure in the first ofthe Kramerspiegel songs as the "goat" of Boteand Bock grazes on the composer's hard-earned profits. The balance places the singer abit too prominently in the foreground andthe reverberant acoustic is not always ideal.Notes and texts are in German only. (Angel,by the way, has already issued the first of thenine records domestically-on S 36483-andpresent plans call for a disc -by -disc releaseover the next year or so.)

Flaws and all, this set is unquestionably anotable achievement, and no one interested inGerman Lieder should miss it. P.G.D.

TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 1, in G minor,Op. 13 (Winter Dreams). Boston SymphonyOrchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas, cond.Deutsche Grammophon 2530 078, $6.98.Tape: WO Ampex L 3078, 7Y2 ips, $7.95; OPDGG 3300 107, $6.95.

This is my first hearing of a DGG recording ofthe Boston Symphony and my first oppor-tunity to study in some detail the work ofMichael Tilson Thomas. I must confess thatI am somewhat overwhelmed by both en-counters. DGG's work in Boston has alreadybeen noted in these pages and I can onlysecond any acclaim that this association hasaroused for the fine sound engraved on DGG'scustomarily quiet discs. Thomas, for his part,may well be the most exciting new Americanconductor of his generation: here, at least,he shows a fiery imagination, a thrilling abilityto project a long musical line, and a completemastery of the conducting art far beyondmere promise.

In a sense, this record offers two demonstra-tions of youthful musical genius-in bothcomposer and conductor. The symphony re-veals premonitions not so much of Tchaikovskyas the highly original symphonist of theFourth, Fifth, and Sixth,but a glimpse of themaster composer of great ballet music. Not-withstanding the minor key of the First, or theconnotations of its somber subtitle, the presentwork has little of the innovative structure,expressive intensity, and characteristic moodi-ness of the later symphonies; it does, however,contain a basic melodic fluency and rhythmicgrace that not only served the composer well in


the last symphonies, but which he raised tohigh art in the ballet scores.

Thomas quite rightly makes no effort toinflate the score, but he never condescends toit. In fact, with superb élan and fluent sense ofmovement he projects far more musical de-light than I have heard on any previously re-corded version. He seems to share the balleticapproach of Igor Stravinsky, who virtually"discovered" the early Tchaikovsky sym-phonies for the modern international audi-ence, but he brings a much stronger sense offorward movement to the music than I recallfrom the late composer -conductor's perform-ances of early Tchaikovsky.

Thomas' controlled enthusiasm for thismusic is reflected in a superbly responsiveperformance by the Boston Symphony: bothfor its soloist, notably Ralph Gomberg's lovelyoboe tone in the slow movement, and for itsensemble precision and tonal finesse, this im-presses me as one of the finest records, or-chestrally speaking, this great orchestra hasmade in some time. P.H.

Viorn: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra,No. 22, in A minor. HAYDN, M.: Concerto forViolin and Orchestra, in A. Arthur Grumiaux,violin; Concertgebouw Orchestra, Edo deWaart, cond. Philips 839757, $5.98.

Giovanni Battista Viotti, often called thefather of modern violin playing and so splen-did a performer that he was courted on bothsides of the English Channel, wrote twenty-nine violin concertos, of which only two(including this one) are to be found in the cur-rent catalogue. As a man he was, by all ac-counts, a gentle and noble soul, ill suited todealing with the festering intrigues of MarieAntoinette's court, where he served neverthe-less with considerable pride: and equally illsuited to the wine business. which he under-took in England after fleeing the French Revo-lution. The A minor concerto reflects some-thing of this quality of character: it is a gentle.elegant work, melodic in a natural, free -breathing way. and reaching its apex in alovely slow movement of fine filigree work-rendered with especial sweetness by ArthurGrumiaux. The dancing finale has its share ofvirtuosic display, but even this is restrained.Grumiaux matches this quality in his per-formance, which is self-possessed, refined, andboasting no special brilliance of tone. (Itdoesn't matter.) The Concertgebouw underDe Waart is disciplined, precise. perfectlymeshing with the soloist.

The same performance qualities are broughtto bear on the Michael Haydn with equal justi-fication, but that work is less individual: it is,in fact, quite Mozartean in figuration andbalance of phrase-thoroughly pleasant, ifnot much more. S.F.

R

WAGNER: Der fliegende Hollander: Wieaus der Ferne; Die Walkiire: Act III,Scene 3. Birgit Nilsson, soprano; HansHotter, bass -baritone; PhilharmoniaOrchestra, Leopold Ludwig, cond.Seraphim S 60167, $2.98 [from AngelS 35585, 1959].

In a sense this disc belongs to Hotter. Thefinale of Die Walkiire reissued here is perhapsthe best representation of his magnificent

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QUADFor 20 years and throughout the world the trade markQUAD has identified the high quality audio equipmentmade by this Company.

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Wotan on commercial discs-London's inte-gral recording was made too late. Here is allthe vocal authority, thrust, and majestic in-flection that one remembers from his Bay-reuth and Vienna performances of the Fifties.The Dutchman duet is marginally less perfect-this music demands the kind of evenly con-trolled legato singing that Hotter rarely com-manded outside of his work in Lieder-butmuch of the brooding fanaticism of the doomedsailor comes across vividly.

Birgit Nilsson has grown tremendouslysince these sessions; the top is now much fullerat mezzo voce, the tendency to sharp underpressure is no longer a problem, and her in-terpretations, especially of Brithnhilde, havedeepened and developed to an extraordinarydegree. The singing here, admirable though itmay be in many respects, is primarily inter-esting as a reminder of a good artist before shebecame a great one. Ludwig's conducting isroutine but solid, and the sound remainsthoroughly contemporary. P.G.D.

recitalsand miscellanyB "THE ART OF DENNIS BRAIN, VOL. 3:'

MOZART: Divertimento No. 14, in B

flat, K. 270. IBERT: Trois pieces breves.JACOB: Sextet. Dennis Brain, horn;Gareth Morris. flute; Leonard Brain,oboe; Stephen Walters, clarinet; CecilJames, bassoon; George Malcolm,piano. Seraphim 60169, $2.98 (monoonly).

What sort of distended legend would we havemade of Dennis Brain by now, do you suppose,if records of his live performances did notexist? The actual playing of Paganini andLiszt, that is to say, must have been far moreinteresting to musicians of their day than wecan deduce from the opaque eulogies thatmake up the bulk of their written histories.But no speculation is necessary about whyand how Dennis Brain churned up so muchexcitement in his day: in addition to his fa-mous Mozart, Strauss, and Hindemith con-certo recordings, we have this extraordinarilyvaluable Seraphim series, most of it concen-trating on his performance as a chambermusician. Or perhaps it would be better to saynot concentrating on his performance, sincenothing documents more clearly than this BBCstudio broadcast, taped just four days beforehis death in a sports car accident on Septem-ber. I. 1957, how a great solo artist shouldsound and act as an ensemble member.

After a few moments, while listening to theGordon Jacob Sextet, one easily lets Brainand his horn slip into perspective. It is pos-sible simply to enjoy Jacob's pleasant piece,with its skillful writing in a rather French stylethat suggests Milhaud or Poulenc much ofthe time, and, in the bustling finale, Prokofievin his mock-classique manner. Here and evenmore particularly in the lbert, Brain's charac-teristic technique could not be more apposite:the prominent tongue, the French -soundingattacks, the trumpetlike articulation, thehand -in -glove blending of tone with essen-tially dissimilar instruments. But ever andalways one hears an ensemble, and a fine one.not Dennis Brain. Now and then one can

notice a slightly cracked tone from flute oroboe, a reminder of the radio source of thisdisc. But on the whole the performances meas-ure up quite well with the best of their genre,and the sound, though mono, is clear andsharply detailed, a tribute to the BBC'stechnical routine and to EMI's lily -gildingspecialists.

The Mozart Divertimento is a wind sextetoriginally for pairs of horns, oboes, and bas-soons, heard here inexplicably but effectivelyarranged by Anthony Baines as a quintet forflute, oboe, clarinet, horn, and bassoon. It isgarden -party fluff, but the fluff of genius, andcompletely delicious in this lithe, springingperformance. D J. H

MONTSERRAT CABALLE: "Great Operatic Hero-ines- VERDI: Otello Willow Song. Ave Maria.Un Ballo in maschera Ecco l'orrido campoDONIZETTI: Anna Bolena: Piangete voi Aldolce guidami. CHARPENTIER: Louise Depuisle jour. Puccin Tosca: Vissi d'arte. Mont-serrat Caballe, soprano; Barcelona SymphonyOrchestra, Carlo Felice Cillario, cond. RCARed Seal LSC 3209. $5.98.

Considering RCA's previous Caballe recitals-each one a carefully planned collection de-voted to one composer or style-this is a curi-ous hodgepodge. Furthermore, the presenta-tion is extremely sketchy: instead of a text/translation leaflet we are only given a roughprécis of the arias. According to one RCAsource, the material here was recorded aboutfive years ago for a Spanish label, which mightpartially account for the olla podrida flavor.

Taking the five excerpts in order, we are firstgiven Desdemona's scena (beginning at "Miamadre aveva una povera ancella," withoutEmilia's comments). Caballe's affinity for thismusic is unmistakable and the entire sequencedraws out all her finest qualities. There is acompelling aura of hushed doom to the "Sake'refrain, the asides to Emilia are nicely differ-entiated. while the intonational purity in the"Ave Maria" is ravishing. Amelia's anguishedgallows aria follows hard upon and here Ca-balle seems less comfortable. She pecks gin-gerly at the opening recitative, the melodic lineis slack in the aria, and the melodramatic con-clusion lacks sufficient vocal weight.

Side 2 opens with a bit of the final scenefrom Anna Bolena-the cavatina and a few in-terjections from the chorus. The dreamily ele-giac recitative is again very much in Caballe'sline and she catches Anna's gentle volubilityhere quite successfully. The aria itself is alsogorgeously phrased. although the trills thatform a vital component of the melodic line areonly approximated.

Both the Louise and Tosca arias turned upon Caballe's new recitals for DGG and Angelrespectively, and these later versions are clear-ly superior. The soprano has worked on herFrench pronunciation since recording this pe-culiarly inflected "Depuis le jour" and theDGG interpretation is also far less mannered."Vissid'arte" sounds much the same, althoughI can't imagine Caballe really singing the en-tire role.

Cillario's accompaniments are handsomelyplayed and the closely miked engineering hasconsiderable presence. A record primarily forthe Caballe fan, I would say-unless you wantto add one of the really great recorded versionsof Desdemona's two arias to your collection.

P.G.D.CIRCLE 31 ON READER -SERVICE CARD


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JULY 1971CIRCLE 37 ON READER -SERVICE CARD 95

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DIETRICH FISCHER-DIESKAU: "Haydn andMozart Rarities:' HAYDN: Un cor Si tenero;Spann' deine lenge Ohren (from La Vera cos-tanza) Tergi i vezzosi rai; Dice benissimo.MOZART: Manner suchen stets zu naschen; Ichmochte wohl der Kaiser sein; Nach der Wel-schen Art (from La Finta giardiniera); Mentreti lascio, o figlia; Cosi dunque tradisci; Unbacio di mano; Hai gilt vinta la causa . . .

Vedro mentr'io sospiro (from La Nozze diFigaro). Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone;Vienna Haydn Orchestra, Reinhard Peters.cond. London OS 26182, $5.98.

One thing about that insatiable Dieskau appe-tite for repertory: it brings about recordingsthat might well not have happened but for thefact that our versatile baritone has alreadyrecorded just about everything in the standardliterature. The Haydn arias here-all but oneof them composed for insertion in Esterhazyperformances of operas by other composers-are pleasant enough pieces, but in this juxta-position with Mozart, one sees some of thereasons for the older man's relative lack ofsuccess as an opera composer. There is rarelymuch interpenetration between the vocalline and the orchestral fabric; although thelatter's ritornello naturally presents the samematerial as the singer, it tends to run on, as ifin response to the demands that Haydn theinstrumental composer would place on hismaterial rather than the economy and con-cision that Haydn the opera composer shouldbe demanding. The vocal line too is primarilycarpentry rather than melodic writing. Al-though the materials here are obviously ofthe later eighteenth century, the time scale isstill that of the baroque.

The Mozart pieces are not all masterpieces,for that matter. We have the little ariettabeloved of sopranos as a song entitled War-nung (Mozart actually completed only thevocal line and bass, plus a few orchestraldetails; the realization used here is by oneHirst. and seems stylistically unexception-able); a tedious marching song with Turkishinstrumentation; a buffo ana from an operaof 1775 (this and the aria from Haydn's LaVera costanza are sung in German, for ob-scure reasons); three fine insertion arias, twoserious and one buffa: and finally a revisionof the Count's aria from Figaro, apparentlymade for the same 1789 revival that gave riseto "Un mow di gioia' a soprano aria that re-placed "Venire. inginocchiatevr The revisionwas apparently to accommodate a Countstrongest in the higher register, for it eliminatesmost of the lower notes in the fast section,keeping the singer above the staff most of thetime; near the very end some material is re-written, bypassing that troublesome measureof coloratura in triplets.

Some of these are curiosities, but the con-cert arias most definitely are not, and theyhave been very poorly represented in the cata-logues (sopranos have recently done ratherwell by their share of this literature, but nottenors or basses). I have numerous reserva-tions about the singing-its wearisome tend-ency to hammer on downbeats, exaggeratedItalian vowels, patches of rough intonation,rhythmic fussiness, and the lack of true legatoline-but I wouldn't wish to dissuade anyadmirer of Mozart from hearing these pieces.To my knowledge, only Mentre ti lascio isotherwise available, in a late Pinza recording(Odyssey 32 16 0335) which has more of the

appropriate vocal manner, although hardlythe involvement and security of that singer'swork in his more usual repertory.

The accompaniments are well executed,with a good deal of spirit. (By the way, cananyone tell me if this conductor is the sameReinhard Peters who once recorded Mozartviolin sonatas with Charles Rosen, on a mid -Fifties London disc?). The advance pressingsent for review did not include packaging, butLondon will doubtless provide texts, trans-lations, and background information. D.H.

ANDRE KOSTELANETZ: -And God CreatedGreat Whales:. HOVHANESS: "And God Cre-ated Great Whales- SIBELIUS: The TempestIncidental Music, Op. 109 (three excerpts).SKALKOTTAS: Three Greek Dances. WEILL:Die Dreigroschenoper: Mack the Knife.GLINKA: Jota Aragonesa. Orchestra, AndreKostelanetz, cond. Columbia M 30390, $5.98.

Whatever one may think of Kostelanetz as aconductor (and I've had some hard criticismsto make on occasion), he must be rankedamong the most happily imaginative of pro-gram makers. Apart from the Glinka piece,familiar enough if by no means hackneyed,everything here has markedly novel appeal-so much, indeed, that even I am not going toquibble about some slight tonal coarseness.Even that recent hit, Mack the Knife, is spicedby the now rare use of the original scoringfor theater orchestra. The Sibelius pieces(The Mermaids, Miranda, and Caliban'sSong), while innocuous or inconsequentialenough in themselves, haven't been availableon records for some years. The three more

vital Greek Dances by the tooshort-lived and too little-known Skalkottasare currently available (along with nine moreof the thirty-six he composed) in a 1957 Fan-tasy disc that is no sonic match for the vividpresence here.

But the prime feature of this program isthe premiere recording of the Hovhanesswork, originally commissioned by Koste-lanetz and embodying the actual sounds ofwhales "singing!' It's a very curious piece,like most of this distinctive composer's music,and magnetically fascinating even when itmay not be completely satisfying. I ratherdoubt that the inclusion of the wails, whines,grunts, and blurps of whales is as aestheticallyeffective as the composer's strictly orchestralevocations of leviathans disporting them-selves in calm and stormy seas. Just the same,the piece as a whole is surely one of the mostprovocatively "different"-without beingaurally difficult or irritating-compositions inthe whole contemporary repertory. R.D.D.


therecordingsof

-1.

To cap the 200th anniversaryof Beethoven's birth,

these critiques, originallypublished in High Fidelity

-and now updated-cover all the available

recordings of the works of the mostpopular of all classical composers.

CONTENTS:

Symphonies by Paul Henry LangConcertos by Harris Goldsmith

Other Orchestral Music by David HamiltonPiano Music by Harris Goldsmith

String Quartets by Robert P. MorganOther Chamber Music by Robert C. Marsh

Fidelio and the Songs by George MOVV109Choral Music by H. C. Robbins Landon

$6.95

At your books:ore crwrite to High Fideliti Magazine

2160 Patterson Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45214

Published by Charles Scribner's Sonsand The Wyeth Press

1971 99

ARENSKY: Concerto for Piano with OrchestralAccompaniment, Op. 2; Trio for Violin, Cello, andPiano, in D minor, Op. 32. Maria Littauer, piano;Gyorgy Terebesi, violin; Hannelore Michel, cello;Berlin Symphony Orchestra, JOrg Faerber, cond.Candide CE 31029, $3.98.

in briefI'll wager that the Heifetz/Piatigorsky/Pennario version of Arensky's trio (RCA LSC 2867)and Blumental's of the concerto (Turnabout TVS 34345) have already pre-empted the limitedmarket for these attractive but faded period scores, but if not, I'll put in a plug for the new arrival.It seems to me that Maria Littauer is an altogether warmer and more spirited protagonist of thepiano part in the trio than Pennario, and is better supported by the orchestra than Blumental inthe concerto. Terebesi and Michel may not be Heifetz and Piatigorsky, but they are, in this workat least, undisputably fine instrumentalists in their own right and better chamber-music players.The strings sound unduly raspy on Candide's Dolbyized disc. Could it be that whoever did themastering forgot to unstretch the signal on the tape? H.G.

BARTOK: Miraculous Mandarin: Suite. PROKOFIEV:Scythian Suite; The Love for Three Oranges: Suite.BBC Symphony Orchestra (in the Bartbk); LondonSymphony Orchestra (in the Prokofiev); AntalDorati cond. Mercury SR 90531, $5.98.

This record has at least two shortcomings: liana's score for the Miraculous Mandarin is moresuccessful in its complete form, notably as recorded by Solti on London; secondly, Dorati'srather unyielding and literal rhythmic drive as well as the orchestra's chilly tone do not reallyserve any of this music well. Though one of Bartok% less tender scores, there is more expressive-ness in the Mandarin than Dorati evokes. Similarly there is more wit and relaxation in theProkofiev suite than he projects. However, both orchestras play superbly. P.H.

BEETHOVEN: Christus am Oelberge, Op. 85.Cristina Deutekom, soprano; Nicolai Gedda, tenor;Hans Sotin, bass; Chorus of the Bonn State Theater;Bonn Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra, VolkerWangenheim, cond. Angel S 36696, $5.98.

Angel's new Christ on the Mount of Olives is the fourth current version of Beethoven's problem-atical, interesting, and occasionally gripping oratorio (Ormandy's performance on ColumbiaCMS 6841 is missing from Schwann although the disc was never officially deleted). There aremany things to commend it: a serious, even dedicated approach to the score; Nicolai Gedda'sprofound reading of Christ; the solidly dependable choir and orchestra; the clear and well-balanced recording. What disturbs and disturbs badly is the fact that Cristina Deutekom isdecidely strained in the upper ranges of her voice and presses most uncomfortably when singingabove G. The Ormandy version with Judith Raskin and Richard Lewis remains unsurpassed.

H.C.R.L.

BEETHOVEN: Trio for Violin, Cello, and Piano,No. 6, in B flat, Op. 97 ("Archduke"). Sandor Vegh,violin; Pablo Casals, cello; Mieczyslaw Horszowski,piano, Turnabout TVS 3441, $2.98 [from Philips900016, 1963].

These three distinguished musicians were decidedly having an off night when this live perform-ance was taped at the Beethovenhaus in Bonn. One might pass the poor tonal balances, fre-quently ragged ensemble, and sour intonation had the interpretation some really blindingrevelations to offer; but the deadly slow tempos rob the music of all vitality-the notes seem tobe simply falling on the floor at random. It would have been far better to let this disc pass quietlyinto limbo. P.G.D.

BERLIOZ: Symphonic fantastique, Op. 14. FrenchNational Radio Orchestra, Sir Thomas Beecham,cond. Seraphim S 60165. $2 98

This is not a reissue of Sir Thomas' Fantastique which used to be available domestically as CapitolG 7102. The unpredictable baronet, in the final years of his career, made separate mono andstereo versions of Berlioz' Fantastique, Franck's D minor, Brahms's Second, and Beethoven'sSeventh. In the case of the present work, the two -channel account was consigned to domesticlimbo; now that it has finally arrived, I can see why. On the whole, the mono was a much strongerperformance. The rhythmic control was tighter, the

Onsleeker and more assured, the

engineering more forthright and forward in texture. On the newly released disc, the playing issluggish and tentative (only one tiny detail represents an improvement: in the introductoryphrases of the Witches' Sabbath, the wind instruments insert eerie glissandos that make one shair stand on end). Of course, Beecham is Beecham, and there is much that is genuinely poeticand affecting even when he is below par. H.G.

CLAY: Ages Aga Soloists, with piano, harmonium,and harp accompaniments; Frederick S. Roffman,cond. World Premiere Recording, $7.98 (two discs).Available from Frederick S. Roffman, 230 RiversideDrive, New York, N.Y. 10025.

Here is a real curio. Frederic Clay was a contemporary of Arthur Sullivan and his once popular1869 operatta, Ages Ago, predated the G & S series by about two years (it was, in fact, dunng arehearsal of Ages Ago that Gilbert and Sullivan first met). Clay's music is not especially mem-orable, but Gilbert's libretto offers some fascinating glimpses of themes hewas to develop later on.The living portrait gallery turns up again in Ruddigore of course, while the Gilbertian obsessionwith age-young, old, and middle-here receives its definite paradoxical working out. Givencomplete with dialogue, the performance is a rough-and-ready affair and the sound is distinctlyhomemade. Even so, confirmed G & S fans should give it a try. P.G.D.

COUPERIN: L'Apotheose de fully. Eduard Melkusand Spiros Rantos, violins; Friederiche Schadner,flute; Bernhard Klebel, oboe; Johannes Koch, violada gamba; Leo Carmaltz, bassoon; Huguette Dreyfus,harpsichord. Archive 2533 067, $6.98.

This is refined playing by excellent instrumentalists; only in the slow pieces is there an occasionallack of variety. They refrain from overornamentation, which is praiseworthy; however, some ofthe trills and appoggiaturas are a trifle perfunctory. Curious how some of the finest musiciansfail to integrate the ornaments with the melody. But this is a very good performance, madeparticularly interesting because instead of the usual cello they use the original gamba. First-classsound. H.L.

HANDEL Water Music. English Chamber Orchestra,Raymond Leppard, cond. Philips 6500 047, $5.98.

The combination of this fine orchestra with a conductor whose sense for balance and the de-mands of part writing is exceptionally acute usually results in superlative orchestral performance.This recording is no exception. We know that in order to achieve this extreme clarity Leppardoccasionally meddles with the score, but whatever he does is musical. Perhaps the gorgeous airis a little sentimental, perhaps an allegro here and there is a little too brisk (though always impres-sively articulated), perhaps the staccatos in the first Bourree are a bit Mendelssohnian, but every-thing is delight to the ear. Throughout the recording Leppard maintains a very pleasant intimatetone, rightly assuming that while this is outdoor music, it is not the "massive baroque" of theRoyal Fireworks Music. Sound carries well over water and Handel never makes acoustic mis-takes. I shall listen tathis fine recording whenever I am tired of heavy-footed orchestral playing.


JOACHIM: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, inD minor, Op. 11 ("In the Hungarian Style"). CharlesTreger, violin; Louisville Orchestra, Jorge Mester,cond. Louisville LS 705. $5.98.

Joseph Joachim (1831-1907) is remembered principally as a virtuoso violinist of uncompromisinghigh ideals and for his friendship with Brahms. He composed a bit too, and this large-scaleromantic concerto is considered his best work. The dark orchestral coloring and gypsy flavorsuggests Brahms, but the harmonic idiom is closer to Schumann. while the solo writing has atouch of Lisztian deviltry. An eclectic work, in short, but an attactive one that certainly meritsan occasional revival. Charles Treger easily surmounts the fiendish technical demands and makesfine capital of the music's soaring Hungarian lyricism. Mester and the orchestra give him re-spectable support, and the sound will do. P.G.D.

LALO: Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, in D Minor.SAINT-SAENS: Concerto for Cello and Orchestra,No. 1, in A minor, Op. 33. FAURE: Elegie for Celloand Orchestra, in C minor, Op. 24. Maurice Gendron,cello: Monte Carlo Opera Orchestra, Roberto Benzi,cond. Philips 6500 045. $5.98.

MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition. RACHMAN-INOFF: Preludes: in G minor, Op. 23, No. 5; in G,Op. 32, No. 5; Etude Tableau in B minor, Op. 39,No. 4. Viktor Yeresko. piano. Melodiya/Angel SR40162. $5.98

In the April 1970 issue I commented enthusiastically on Leonard Rose's performances of thesesame three French works for cello and orchestra. Maurice Gendron's versions here have much tocommend them for those interested in a more thoroughly French stylistic approach. Gendrondoes not bring the overpowering technical mastery that Rose lavishes on this music: his moreintimate interpretation, lighter tone, and more restricted dynamic range, however, combine withan impressive range of tone color to produce extremely musical performances that are fully upto the requirements of the scores. The recording places the soloist considerably to the forefrontof the sonic perspective, whereas Rose's sound was cradled and surrounded by the PhiladelphiaOrchestra. Moreover, the Monte Carlo orchestra is by no means in a class with the Philadelphia:though its solo woodwinds play with real distinction, the brass and strings are anemic and theover-all sound lacks real body. P.H.

I am quite agreeably taken with the present folio of Pictures. Viktor Yeresko plays the work ona broad scale: he is definitely the architect and muralist rather than the patrician master of thethumbnail sketch. He plays with basic strength and, as in the Ballet of the Chicks in Their Shells,with quite a lot of fanciful rubato phrasing. He doesn't quite achieve Richter's unbearableintensity of expression in Catacombs, nor that older pianist's obsessive frenzy in sections likeBaba raga; but by ordinary standards, this is as moving and well played a Pictures as I've heardin quite a while. The Rachmaninoff selections are all well done too, with a particularly broad,massive G minor Prelude. The sound (as heard on an acetate reference copy) is bold, massive,and spacious. Excellent notes by our own Alfred Frankenstein. H.G.

NIELSEN: Symphony No. 4 ("Inextinguishable").New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein, cond.Columbia M 30293. $5.98.

On the basis of his recordings of Nielsen's symphonies Three and Five, one would expect Bern -stein's version of the Fourth to be the most energetic and compelling of the current offerings.Bernstein's grasp of the composer's ideas and orchestral idiom is one of those cases of nearlycomplete composer -conductor identification: it leads to performances that set standards foreveryone else. No one else quite matches his skill in making this music move, in revealing howevery thematic line has a pulse, how every dab or orchestral color is part of a total design. TheFourth is Nielsen's most often recorded symphony. If it's already a favorite of yours, you'll findample discoveries in this performance. If you don t know it yet, opportunity is knocking loudly.

R.C.M.

PERSICHETTI: Symphony No. 8. RIEGGER: Study inSonority. Louisville Orchestra, Jorge Mester, cond.Louisville LS 706, $5.98.

The Persichetti is a pleasant, tuneful, academic symphony, easy to listen to and easy to forget.The Riegger, however, is a masterpiece. It was composed in 1927 and is one of the first, if notthe very -first work in the modern literature to subdivide the string sections of an .orchestra intomany parts. It is for ten violins, or multiples of ten, and for violins only; but its polyphony is soeloquent, its color so strong, its phrasing so dynamic that a full string orchestra seems to beinvolved. This piece has a profile; it really thrusts out at you, and you'll never forget it. Theperformances are excellent and so is the sound. A.F.

RAVEL: Daphnis et Chloe: Suite No. 2; Ma Merel'Oye: Suite; La Valse. Los Angeles PhilharmonicOrchestra. Zubin Mehta, cond. London CS 6698,$5.98.

Mehta's Ravel program is beautifully played and recorded, but his Mother Goose is interpreta-tively limp and prosaic in comparison with the 1969 Martinon version for RCA, and his Va/se,while lusciously sensuous, tends to sag at times and be rushed at others. But in the familiarDaphnis et Chloe showpiece Mehta skillfully avoids the usual interpretative traps; he achieves alimpid freedom from tension in the first two sections and gives no feeling of haste in the excitingfinale. If you haven't heard the Los Angeles Philharmonic (and its unspecified choral group)lately, you'll find this disc to be convincing proof of its current high executant stature. Certainly,I've never heard it sound better than it does here. R.D.D.

SCARLATT1, A.: Su le sponde del Tebro; Endimionee Cintia (excerpts). TORELLI: Concerto for TwoTrumpets, Strings, and Continuo, in D; Sonatas (2)for Trumpet, Strings, and Continuo, in D; Sinfoniafor Trumpet, Strings, and Continuo, in D. BarbaraSchlick, soprano; Adolf Scherbaum, StanislavSimek, trumpets; Scherbaum Baroque Ensemble.Deutsche Grammophon 2530 023, $6.98.

If the Scarlatti cantata is what draws your attention to this record, I would suggest CaroleBogard's far more satisfactory reading on Cambridge CRS 2710. The DGG version is based ona "corrupt- text which, among other details, omits the second strophes of the three principalarias (DOG's playing time is fifteen minutes to Cambridge's twenty-four minutes). Besides.Miss Schlick can't hold a candle to Bogard's absolutely spectacular vocal fireworks. The two ariasfrom Endimione e Cintia on the DGG disc are breathtakingly effective. Torelli's trumpet andorchestra pieces are delightfully vigorous, bouncy affairs in a Vivaldi style. Scherbaum is thor-oughly dashing and his Baroque Ensemble,' five strings and harpsichord, play with clean-cutvigor and intensity. But a whole record side of unrelenting D major! C.F.G.

RUGGIERO RICCI: "Bravura!" LOCATELLI: The Har-monic Labyrinth, Op. 3, No. 12. PAGANINI: Vari-

ations: on "Nel cor piu non mi sento"; on "God Savethe Queen"; on a Theme of Joseph Weigl. ERNST:Hungarian Airs, Op. 22; Variations on "The Last Roseof Summer!' VECSEY: The Wind (Caprice No. 1).

WIENIAWSKI: Variations on the Austrian NationalAnthem. Ruggiero Ricci, violin; Leon Pommers,piano. Decca DL 710172, $5.98.

A trip through the funhouse with that now -extinct species. the violin virtuoso -composer. I lovedevery minute of it. including the really disgraceful ravishment of the Austrian National Anthemby Wieniawski and some things that ought not to have been done to God Save the Queen-evenby Paganini. But if left-hand pizzicatos. running passages in double stops and double -stoppedharmonics, catapulting across strings, etc., are your cup of tea, you will enjoy this recording.Ricci sails into all of it with gusto, grit, and flair. S.F.

JULY 1971 101

the tapedeck BY R.D. DARRELL

Dolby: London and Elk Grove Village.The progress of cassette Dolbyizationhas been proceeding slowly after its faststart earlier this year. Ampex has beenreleasing a considerable number of popprograms but relatively few classicaltapes; of the latter only one has reachedme for review. It's the one I wanted most,though, not only for its own exceptionalartistic and technical merits but also asan index to American vs. British exploi-tation of Type -B Dolby technology. Forthis release (London cassette M 10238,$6.95) is the Ampex processing of thesame Boskovsky/Vienna Philharmonic1970 New Year's Concert, "ViennaImperial," I had heard earlier in an Eng-lish Decca processing (SXC 6419, not onsale in this country) as well as in the Lon-don disc edition (CS 6641) which I re-viewed last April-a program thatwarrants a treasured place in everyJohann Strauss or Viennese music col-lection no matter what the medium orformat.

Direct comparisons between discs andcassettes demonstrate once again thatthe best of the latter are a close matchfor their disc equivalents in every respect,including-with Dolbyized processingand playback-minimal surface noise.But A/B-ing the British and Americancassette processings suggests that pro-ducers on this side of the Atlantic are not(in this particular case at least) taking fulladvantage of the new technique's poten-tials. The London/Ampex (Elk GroveVillage, Illinois) production, while boast-ing first-rate technical quality, has beenprocessed with a 6- to 8 -dB lower modu-lation level than the British version. Un-less the playback levels are equalized,the American version, for all its warmthand lucidity, will seem far less thrillingsonically: and if the levels are equalized,its noise -reduction characteristics willbe far less dramatic.

The higher the modulation level thegreater will be the risk of program -peakdistortion, as every amateur as well asprofessional recorder knows. But theBritish engineers prove that their Ameri-can colleagues have been too timid-here-to make use of an optimum high,yet still safe, modulation level. I hopethat the lesson they teach in this case willbe taken to heart, especially since theAmpex engineers proved earlier (on theB side of the "Mantovani in Concert"cassette program I discussed a couple ofmonths ago) that they too are perfectlycapable of handling distortion -free,

high -modulation levels. And I wish toothat it weren't too much to hope that theEnglish Decca (as well as the DGG andPhilips) practice of providing cassetteannotations would be emulated in Lon-don/Ampex releases. Even the briefnotes in RCA Red Seal and Angel musi-cassettes are better than none at all. Nowthat cassettes can provide close technicalas well as artistic competition for stereodiscs, their higher cost certainly shouldcover the helpful inclusion of liner notes.

Rolling Rubinstelns Gather No Moss-in my car, anyway, where every 8 -tracktape cartridge featuring the great Artur'spianism is more likely to be worn out byoveruse. Heard more objectively athome, the same programs may raise atleast minor quibbles over some execu-tant or interpretative details, but eventhere Rubinstein's relish for what heplays is irresistibly infectious. And as aGood (traveling) Companion he's one ofthe most delightful, as well as the mostrewarding, one can find anywhere.

He's in great form both in an anthologyof earlier recordings, "The Chopin ILove" (RCA Red Seal 8 -track R8S 1172,$6.95) and a cartridge edition of his fa-mous "Three Favorite Beethoven Sonatas"(RCA R8S 1173, $6.95). Except for theG minor Ballade of 1959, the Chopinprogram comprises shorter works: threenocturnes; three waltzes; two polonaises;the Op. 33, No. 2 Mazurka; and the Fan tasie-Impromptu, originally recorded in1963-65 and still sounding as piquantlyfresh and vital as ever.

The Beethoven favorites are predict-ably the Moonlight, Pathetique, andAppassionata sonatas of (I think) 1962-63, and they too sound as if they wereRubinstein's personal discoveries ratherthan warhorses long ridden to death. Myonly adverse criticism, applicable to boththese releases, is that the RCA processors(generally the most careful of all 8 -trackcartridge producers) slip badly herewhere surface noise standards are con-cerned and in permitting adjacent chan-nel spill-overs. Such defects are normallyinaudible in carborne listening, to besure, but they're unpleasantly evident inhome audition-and in any case they'retechnically inexcusable.

There's considerable "spill" too in therecently released 1969 recordings of twolong-time Rubinstein concerto favorites:the sparkling Saint -Sans Second in Gminor and Falla's atmospheric Nights inthe Gardens of Spain, accompanied here

by the Philadelphians under Ormandy(RCA Red Seal 8 -track R8S 1165, alsocassette RK 1165, $6.95 each). Saint-Saens's romantic, frankly old-fashioned,but still exciting virtuoso work is idealas an invigorating car companion, butannoying "breaks" as well as more spill-overs make the cassette edition prefer-able for home listening. In the fascinatingSpanish masterpiece, however, neitheredition is really satisfactory, even thoughRubinstein himself is surely no lesspoetic here than in his memorable read-ings of old, and the orchestral playing,while perhaps a bit routine, is certainlynot lacking in tonal beauty. But themusic's magic is brutally dispelled byunconscionably close and realisticallyvivid recording.

In any case the Rubinstein solo pro-grams best stand up to constant en -routerepetition-and none of them are betterthan the very first Arturian cartridge sentme for review: the RCA Red Seal R8S1071 Chopin waltzes. After some threeand a half years of frequent (and con-sistently delightful) rehearings, my copywas accidentally damaged- a relativelyinfrequent event nowadays, but one thatdoes happen occasionally. Within a fewweeks its absence became so achinglyunbearable that I had to go out and buya replacement. And when a reviewer digsup cash to pay for a recording, in anymedium or format, he can make no moresincere recommendation of an indispen-sable work!

Back -Seat Romance. For travelers, orparkers, seeking environment -enhance-ment background music, there's a warmlycolorful addition to Tutti Camarata'sseries of popularized bits and piecesfrom the classics. This "Magic of Boro-din" program includes the expectedPolovtsian Dances, String Quartet Not-turno movement, and In the Steppes ofCentral Asia-but also the Prince IgorOverture and an orchestrated "Melody"from the String Quartet in D. There areof course more refined and authoritativereadings of all these, but Camarata'senthusiasm is hard to resist and his first-rate British Orchestra is superbly re-corded (London/Ampex 8 -track M95052, also cassette M 94052, $6.95 each).There's likely to be even more mass -public appeal in an Ormandy anthologyof earlier recordings starring "TheRomantic Philadelphia Strings" Theserange from the same Borodin Notturnothrough the Tchaikovsky Andante can-tabile, Barber Adagio, Mascagni Caval-leria Rusticana Intermezzo, MassenetElegie and Thais Meditation, etc., totranscriptions of the Londonderry Air(by Harris) and MacDowell's To a WildRose (by Frost). Capsule comment:Juicy! (Columbia 8 -track MA 30066,$6.98.)

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JOHN GABREE

JOHN S. WILSON

LIBERACE: Love and Music Festival-Live.Liberace, piano; orchestra. Love Story; MyBuddy; Nikki: five more. Warner Bros. WS 1889,$4.98. Tape: 4i. M 81889, $6.95; to M 51889,$6.95.

Years ago when I began reviewing. I wasasked to do a Liberace album. On the coverwas a color photo of Liberace in one of thoseincredible evening jackets, all sequins andbeads. I listened to the mindless music andfound nothing to say. So I reviewed his jacket.

Time passes. Eras and auras change. Liber-ace has become an institution, a charming andoutrageous public personality. He has alwayshad ten reasonably disciplined fingers at hispianistic disposal. The rest was a matter oftaste. It made him a fortune.

This album, recorded live and in concert,reveals a different Liberace from his studio -made discs. Here he laughs and kids with hisaudience as easily as if they were in his livingroom sipping his best sherry. Once one viewsLiberace as a personality phenomenon ratherthan a musical one, all is well. Things thatonce drove one wild begin instead to charm.The first thing to realize is that the man istotally sincere. The second is that he is funnyin his gentle, offbeat way, whether he's playing,talking, or showing off his jewelry. ("Well,look me over. I didn't get dressed like this togo unnoticed'.')

About the music. It's better than any yetheard from Liberace. The surprisingly tastefularrangements do a great deal to enhance hisplaying (particularly We've Only Just Begun).Unforgivably. the arranger is unlisted. Nordoes Liberace give the arranger credit duringthe concert, though he does compliment theorchestra, whose string section is flat andwhose horns are sluggish.

There is some stretching out in terms ofprogram material here, which includes theabove -mentioned Carpenters' hit; Nikki byBacharach and David; The Long and WindingRoad by Lennon -McCartney; and even theoverture from Peter Townshend's rock operaTommy. It seems that Liberace is one of manypre -rock era performers who has benefitedfrom recent musical influences. Several pre-

dictable ditties are also included: Over theRainbow, My Buddy. Tea for Tivo.

Liberace ends the concert as only Liberacecan, with a song called Ciao ("Never saygoodbye. say Ciao"). He wrote the song. Heeven sings it for the occasion. You've neverheard such corn. Its ultimate charm lies in thefact that everyone leaves the hall with thefeeling that Liberace wrote and sang it for himpersonally on this wonderfully personal evening.

This is a smiling album, and 1 finally get themessage. Yeah, Liberace. M.A.

JOHN DENVER: Poems, Prayers & Promises.John Denver, vocals and guitar; rhythm accom-paniment. Let It Be; Junk; The Box; Fire andRain: My Sweet Lady; Around and Around; sixmore. RCA Victor LSP 4499, $5.98.CAROL! KING: Tapestry. Carole King, vocalsand piano; rhythm accompaniment. So FarAway; It's Too Late; Home Again; Beautiful;Where You Lead; Tapestry; six more. Ode 70SP 77009, $4.98. Tape: I. 77009, $6.95;11 77009, $6.95.

These aioums record the deepening abilitiesof two of the finest young singer/songwriters.With "Poems, Prayers & Promises" JohnDenver regains the stride he lost somewhat onhis last couple of outings: the new disc includes some of his best writing. His songs, asalways, would be too sentimental if theyweren't so melodic and if he didn't deliverthem so beautifully. His singing is more as-sured and he seems to have lost the needto show off-his worst fault in the past. Hestill has an unerring ability to find themost overrecorded songs when going outsidehis originals, this time offering Let It Be andFire and Rain. But the whole works well enoughto make such criticisms seem niggling.

Carole King's third album (she has re-leased one previously under her own nameand another using the group name City)finally begins to fulfill the promise that she hasheld out since the beginning of her performingcareer (her songwriting goes back to 1960).The City album (Ode 70 ZI2 44 012) was quitegood and included at least two superb cuts;but her first solo album was muddled andconfused, as if she couldn't decide which ofseveral successful female singers to chooseas a model. On "Tapestry" she seems to havefound her groove.

At first glance, because her style grew outof the New York sound of the early '60s andbecause she plays piano, she resembles LauraNyro, who works with the same material.However. King is a much less mannered per-former than Nyro and her songs are morestraightforward and less romantic. Most ofthese songs are new but she does dip back topast writing successes with Will You Love MeTomorrow? and (You Make Me Feel Like) ANatural Woman. Her basic support of DannyKootch, guitar, and Charles Larkey, bass,receives solid assistance from people like

an exceptional recording

James Taylor and reedman Curtis Amy. Therecord is also nicely packaged. Congratula-tions to all hands. J.G.

JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLORDREAMCOAT. Rock cantata by Andrew LloydWebber and Tim Rice for choir and orchestra;Andrew Lloyd Webber, arr.; Alan Doggett,cond. Spepter SPS 588. $4.98.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream -

coat was the first product of the collaborationbetween Andrew Lloyd Webber and TimRice that culminated in the fantastically suc-cessful Jesus Christ, Superstar. Written in1967, Joseph is essentially a series of songsaround a single story line, much the same asPeter Townshend's Tommy though not nearlyas successful. There is the first faint glimmerof characterizations in the personages ofJoseph and the Pharaoh, but for the mostpart the songs simply recount the Biblicalstory of Joseph in contemporary speech.

Tim Rice's work here already demonstratesconsiderable skill as a lyricist, but Webber'smusic is at best unmemorable and sometimesmuch less than that. The performance is so-so,uninspired, flat. Most of the time, the pieceparodies various rock styles, only occasionallydeliberately. The album is being given a bigpush by Scepter, hoping to make the most outof the popularity of Superstar-even the jacketcover resembles the sleeve on the opera, butI doubt that the album will interest any butpop historians. It was ignored by the publicwhen it was released in Britain and rightly so.It's an amateur job. J.G.

Michel Colombier-a multicolored flight.

MICHEL COLOMIHER: Wings. Composed,orchestrated, and conducted by MichelColombier; lyrics by Paul Williams; BillMedley, Lani Hall, Paul Williams, HerbAlpert, and Vemettya Royster, vocals.Freedom and Fear; Thalassa; Earth;seven more. A & M SPX 4281, $5.98.

This adventurous album has been the sourceof much interested studio talk in Los Angeles


for nearly a year. It seems that A & M Records'owner/producer Herb Alpert met France'sdistinguished composer/conductor, MichelColombier, while both were involved in aTijuana Brass TV special a few years ago.The result of that meeting is this extensiveproject, labeled a "pop symphony!'

The spine of the music was recorded inParis, using a symphony orchestra of morethan a hundred players. To this Colombieradded a French pop orchestra of twenty-sixmen (including the noted jazz violinist, JeanLuc-Ponty). The tapes were then broughtback to this country, where they were "sweet-ened" by a group of sixteen Los Angeles brassand woodwind players (including Kai Wind-ing, Buddy Childers, and Tom Scott). Atwenty -four -voice vocal chorus was also addedin L.A., and finally, the five vocal soloists.

How's that for a massive undertaking?Enormous credit must be given to Herb Alpert,who produced the whole thing. Anybody canthink big, but Alpert has the courage to put hismoney where his mouth is.

As for the album, it is not a "pop symphony:'nor need it be weighted down with such atitle. The album is a prism, a fantasy. It's atrip. The interesting lyrics are by Paul Williams,the fine young (twenty-one) writer who is re-sponsible for the Carpenters' hit, We've OnlyJust Begun. The best of these songs tells oflove still felt but on its way out. The beautifulbridge ends: "In the end it was good, God itwas good!' And later: "You are the song thatthe world should be singing!'

The vocal solos are spread among severalartists, several moods. Bill Medley, formerlyof the Righteous Brothers, sings the powerfulFreedom and Fear. Strong as his singing is,he seems to lose the lyric. Vemettya Royster isregal and moving on For Those Who CannotHear. Paul Williams himself turns in the bestvocal performance on Doesn't Anybody Know?Producer Alpert saved the best song for him-self to sing (All In All) and who can blamehim? He makes a friendly sound.

Colombier's orchestrations are vast andexciting: the sounds are so subtly placedthat they are difficult to analyze. His under-standing of American -style, large -orchestrapop music is impressive, and underneath itall is a fondness for jazz, a control of tech-nique, and a deep urge to make romanticmusic.

This is a multicolored journey, full of spiritand skill, engineered with loving care byA & M's Larry Levine. It's the kind of discthat gets played from front to back withoutinterruption on FM stations. May it remindthe professionally frightened, stingy, andulcerous among us that better vibrations areavailable and waiting. May it encourage therest of us. M.A.

SLIM CRITCHLOW: The Crooked Trailsto Holbrook. Slim Critchlow, vocals andguitar. The Last Wagon; Wild Buckaroo;Snag Tooth Sal; Whiskey Bill; BuckingBronco; The Brazos River; Goodbye OldPaint; The Trusty Lariat; ten more.Arhoolie 5007, $5.98.

The term "counts music" now almost ex-clusively applies to that variety of commercialmusic produced in Nashville. When earliercountry music is thought of at all it is usuallythe earlier commercial styles of Bill Monroe'sbluegrass, the Western swing of Bob Wills, or

the Carter Family. Country music as sungand played by real country folk for their ownamusement and enjoyment has been virtuallyforgotten.

Slim Critchlow, who grew up in Utah andOklahoma and was a singing cowboy of somefame in the Southwest in the 1930s. made thiscollection of eighteen cowboy and countrysongs just before he died in 1969. The songswere learned from a lifetime of listening topeople sing. Most of the tunes were "madeup" in the late 1800s by working cowboys, buta few "hand-written" songs are included.Mostly they recount daily events on theprairies-cattle drives, broncobusting, mule -teaming, eating, hunting, dying. Critchlowsings plainly and directly in a gentle, folk -singer's drawl, and supports himself withsimple patterns on an eight -string guitar (thetop two strings doubled). The album jacket iswell designed and includes an autobiographyand an introduction (history and glossary)for each song. For anyone interested in thehistory of the American West, this is a basicdocument. It is also a lot of fun. J.G.

CAREY Bali: Blues Harp. Carey Bell,vocals and harmonica; rhythm accom-paniment. I'm Ready; I Cry So Much; SadDreams; Last Night; Come On OverHere; five more. Delmark DS 622, $4.98.JUKE BoY BONNER: The Struggle. JukeBoy Bonner, vocals, harmonica, andguitar; Alvin J. Simon, drums. RailroadTracks; Watch Your Buddies; I Got MyPassport; I'm In the Big City; RunningShoes; Just a Blues; six more. ArhoolieS 1045. $5.98.

ARTHUR "BIG BOY" CRUDUP: Crudup's MoodArthur Crudup, vocals and guitar; rhythm ac-companiment. Crazy House Blues; Strictly aWoman; When I Lost My Baby; Any Old WayYou Do; I Lost All I Had; five more. Delmark DS621, $4.98.JIMMY "FAST FINGERS" DAWKINS: Fast Fingers.Jimmy Dawkins, vocals and guitar: rhythm ac-companiment. I Wonder Why; Triple Trebles;Night Rock; Little Angel Child; Breaking Down;five more. Delmark DS 623, $4.98.

SLEEPY JOHN ESTES: Electric Sleep.Sleepy John Estes, vocals and guitar:rhythm accompaniment. I Ain't GonnaSell It; Mae West; Laura Had a Dream; Ifthe River Was Whiskey; Sweet LittleFlower; five more. Delmark DS 619, $4.98.

The blues roll on, as the old song says, andthis batch of new recordings proves it.

Carey Bell and Jimmy "Fast Fingers"Dawkins are both newcomers to records. Ofthe two, I find Bell considerably the more ap-pealing as a vocalist. He has a hard -edged andexuberant voice that reminds me of JamesCotton's, and his harp playing is mellow bycomparison. Dawkins plays guitar on four ofthe cuts on Bell's album and they work verywell together, but the two -guitar interplay byEddie Taylor and Royal Johnson on the re-maining tracks is more interesting. In anyevent this is a first-rate debut release.

There is no denying that Dawkins deserveshis nickname and "Fast Fingers" offers apretty fair sample of his work. His playing iscleaner than almost any Chicago blues guitar-ist you name. He sprays out short, sharp burstsof notes and though he sometimes lacks imag-ination in his solos, he is nearly a perfect sup-port for a vocalist. His own singing is

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somewhat uninspired, although he gets off ona couple of these numbers. In general he seemsto relate better to the harp/vocals/guitarsituation of Bell's LP than to the guitar/vocals/piano/reeds here, but that may be because heisn't sharing the lead. (The review copy I

received was badly warped, so be careful.)Bell and Dawkins both turn up on Sleepy

John Estes' new album (Bell also plays bass onone track) as part of a band that includesSunnyland Slim on piano and Odie Payne IIIon drums backing the leader on vocals andguitar. Estes is one of the legendary old bluesplayers who has usually been closer toMemphis' blues than Chicago's and to thecountry rather than the city. He shines in thisnovel context and the effect of the band maybe enough to make this his best album (atleast I know I am more likely to listen to itthan to any of his others). I hope blues fanswon't be turned off by the obvious steal fromMuddy Waters' "Electric Mud:' because ifthey are they'll miss a helluva good record.

Arthur Crudup was a big influence on theearly Elvis Presley, so that gives you someidea of the quality of his approach. He hasstayed pretty close to country blues throughouthis career though his voice and playing soundquite "sophisticated:' His earlier release onDelmark was something of a letdown becausehe didn't live up to his legend. But the newalbum is everything it promises to be. Thebluesman he resembles most is Lonnie John-son. but the comparison is inexact. Anyway, ifyou're looking for a nice, relaxed, vocal -oriented set, this is it. (Delmark has con-siderably improved its packaging and all ofthese albums are attractive, although Crudup'sLP isn't improved by not having liner notes.)

Juke Boy Bonner. a Houston blues singer.guitar and harp player. enjoys considerablerenown among serious blues fans. "TheStruggle" is a chronicle of the life of a blackin the "new urban South" which doesn't soundvery much different from the old rural South.For example, / Got My Passport tells ofBonner's hassles with the civil bureaucracyover a trip to Europe. Another notable track-Over Ten Years Ago-tells about being downand out in Los Angeles. Bonner is first-rate onboth his instruments and he has a fresh andexpressive voice. An author's choice.

None but the biggest record retailers anda few specialty shops carry the products of thesmall labels and if you live outside the two orthree biggest cities you may have troublefinding most of these releases. They can heordered direct, however, from Delmark Rec-ords. 7 West Grand Street. Chicago. Illinois60610: and Arhoolie Records. Box 9195,Berkeley. California 94709. Also, there is anew quarterly magazine devoted to this musiccalled Living Blues (50 cents per issue, $2 peryear: 917 Dakin Street. Room 405. Chicago,Illinois 60613). Four issues so far. J.G.

JIMMY MCGRIFF 8 JUNIOR PARKER: TheDudes Doin' Business. Junior Parker,vocals; Jimmy McGritt, organ; instru-mental accompaniment. Workin': Oh!Darling; Ain't That a Shame; A LosingBattle; five more. Capitol ST 569, $5.98.

JOHNNIE TAYLOR: One Step Beyond. JohnnieTaylor, vocals; rhythm and vocai accompani-ment. Time Alter Time: Party Life; Don't Take MySunshine; A Fool Like Me; four more. Stax STS2030. $4.98. Tape: .4fe M 2030, $6.95.


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sort of neotribal primitivism, these LPs shouldprove a pleasant surprise. The teaming ofjazzman Jimmy McGriff and Junior Parker,whose sweet r & b vocal style has earned himthe nickname "Honeydripper7 is nothingshort of inspired. Johnnie Taylor, who hasdeveloped over the past several years from arough shouter into a sophisticated exponentof the Memphis sound, continues to refineand extend his style.

Taylor is an upbeat performer and evenwhen dealing with unrequited love he can'tquite hide his sense of humor. Pop music isbasically a set of conventions and cliches thatare given depth and feeling by a performer'sinterpretation. Taylor is unafraid to use soulconventions, including spoken introductionsand gospel changes, and he is even willing toattack Time After Time, one of the all-timewarhorses for r & b singers aspiring to a littleclass. On "One Step Beyond" everythingworks perfectly-the rhythm section, thehorns, even the strings. If there is a flaw, it isthat Taylor somewhat underestimates his au-dience, almost the way a Hollywood moviedoes. Taylor is entertaining, but there is a littleless to chew on than there might have been.

Parker and McGriff don't make the samemistake. Although they do offer material thatis chart-oriented-and Capitol would make amistake if they did not release Drownin' OnDry Land and It Ain't What'cha Got as singles-the Dudes offer some of the most exactingand satisfying sides of the year. Whether theyare into blues -based material, old pop tuneslike Ain't That a Shame, or new ones like Oh!Darling, Parker is never less than elegant, andMcGriff never falters with the perfect support.The band, arranged and conducted by HoraceOtt, is solid throughout; in fact all hands, in-cluding McGriff, work unobtrusively to showParker off to best advantage. A superb effort.

J.G.

PRISCILLA COOLIDGE: Gypsy Queen. PriscillaCoolidge, vocals; rhythm accompaniment. Onthe Road; Let It Shine; Gypsy King; Salty Haze;"T" My "T"; Spring Rain; five more. A & M SP4297, $4.98.RON NAGLE: Bad Rice. Ron Nagle, piano andvocals; rhythm and instrumental accompani-ment. Frank's Store; Family Style; 61 Clay;Dolores; Party In L.A.; six more. Warner Bros.1902, $4.98. Tape: S. M 81902, $6.95; WsM 51902. $6.95.JERRY RIOPELLE. Jerry Riopelle, vocals; rhythmaccompaniment. She My Woman; Promenade:Elaine; To Tell the Truth; Devil's Song; six moreCapitol ST 732, $5.98.

CARLY SIMON. Carly Simon, vocalsrhythm accompaniment. Alone; OneMore Time; The Best Thing; Reunions,Just a Sinner: five more. Elektra EKS74082, $4.98.

Despite declining record sales, especially ofrock LPs, new first albums continue to pro-liferate.

Priscilla Coolidge is another studio back-upvocalist-like Donna Rhodes, Rita Coolidge,and Merry Clayton-who is attempting tomake the move into the spotlight. It neverquite seems to work, although "Gypsy Queen"is a somewhat more successful outing than itspredecessors. For one thing, Priscilla Coolidgewrites pretty good songs-in fact, on the wholethey suit her better than the ones supplied herby outsiders. Also, the simple settings provided

by Booker T. Jones and company are imagina-tive and accomplished (e.g., the guitar work onLong Rivers Flow). It's good to see someonetrying something original instead of dippinginto the gospel bag once again. On the otherhand, Coolidge's voice has a limited dynamicrange and a quite unpleasant vibrato that canreally become offensive on the slower num-bers. Side 2 especially, where she is not singingher own songs, gets to be rather tiresome. Still,there is enough happening here to make thisa worthy debut effort.

I can't pinpoint why I like the Ron Naglealbum. The songs are quite good, it's true, butthe elaborate arrangements sound muddy andNagle's hard -edged voice (like Neil Young's)is not really pleasant to listen to. Nagle's pianois very appropriate to his purposes throughoutthe LP, however, and some of the solo work isquite good. The songs are really the album'sstrongest point, a couple of them rather polit-ical without being propagandistic, and most ofthem with sharp insights housed in pleasingmusical settings. This sort of thing has beendone before and better, of course-by GaryWright and Dennis Linde to take two extremes-and I suspect that part of my reservationsabout Nagle would disappear if the productionhere were cleaner. What seem like muddyideas may only be muddy engineering.

Jerry Riopelle seems to be just goofing offthe styles of several well-known current faves-Randy Newman most obviously, but alsoNilsson, J. Taylor, Sal Valentino, and EltonJ.-and this release could be ignored exceptthat there is some evidence of talent buriedhere. A few of the tracks might be thrownaway, but most of them are good and Riopelleknows how to create effective albeit derivativesettings for them. He also has good pipes andshould he ever figure out where his head ishe could develop into something.

Carly Simon is simply superb. Her post -rockstyle defies categorization and I won't tryexcept to say that she meshes Broadway andcabaret, pop, rock, jazz, and country elementsinto a sound that is internally consistent andunmistakably her own. Her songwriting isvaried and assured and several cuts couldprobably make it as singles if they got theright breaks. Her voice is lovely, clean, andstrong, and she uses it skillfully to get acrossher moods and stories (she is so good that shenearly steals the show with that one song in themiddle of Milos Forman's movie Taking OM.A first album of unusual quality. J.G.

DAVE MASON & CASS ELLIOT. Dave Mason.guitar and vocals: Cass Elliot, vocals: rhythmaccompaniment. Walk to the Point; PleasingYou; Next to You; seven more. Blue ThumbBTS 8825, $4.98. Tape: . 8XW 8825, $6.98;elk 4XW 8825, $6.98.

Out of high regard for both its artists, I wantedto love this album. Britain's Dave Mason,formerly of Traffic, is a formidable guitarist/singer/songwriter (he wrote Joe Cocker's hit,Feelin' Alright. plus his own hit, Only YouKnow and I Know).

If I recall correctly, Cass Elliot started outwith a folk group called the BrandywineSingers and reached her zenith as a singerwith the Mamas and Papas. After the disband-ing of that milestone group, Mama Cass wentout on her own. Strangely, she didn't identifywith the rock element that made her famousnor with folk music where she began. Instead,

CIRCLE 17 ON READER -SERVICE CARDIn",


she gravitated toward the overripe world ofstandard popular music. She also shows up onTV shows with Andy Williams and DeanMartin, and on talk shows, cavorting with theentertainment world's old guard and revealinga comedic flair and sharp personality.

She has had a hit single. a pasty and flavor-less version of Dream a Little Dream of Me.Her fans thought it was a put-on; it wasn't.Miss Elliot could have been-may still returnto being-one of the most exciting of popsingers. All she has to do is open her mouthand really let go. Hearing that Mason andCass Elliot had teamed up, I hoped that thiswould provide the catalyst to bring her outof her shell. It didn't happen.

Dave Mason is his own man, fully devel-oped, self-contained, assured. His songs,singing, and playing are first-rate. The vocalarrangements are worked out carefully, oftenintricately. But while Mason's efforts emergewith a sense of spontaneity and pleasure, MissElliot sounds overrehearsed and in over herhead. She does little but slow Mason down;her time and intonation are sluggish, andnothing he can do helps the case.

Most fine artists produce disappointingalbums, but this one has proved to be par-ticularly frustrating. M.A.

ALEX TAYLOR: With Friends and Neighbors.Alex Taylor. vocals: rhythm accompaniment.Baby Ruth; All in Line; Southern Kids; five more.Capricorn SD 860, $4.98. Tape: S. M 8860,$6.95; ti M 5560, $6.95.

The I aylor-of-the-Month is Alex. There arefive Taylors altogether: the first and mostextraordinary is James, next came brotherLivingston and then sister Kate. There isanother brother. Hugh, who is not (yet?) seek-ing a musical career. But this month it's Alex.

My first impression was that Alex had thesame appeal as brother James, but with lessimpact. Also, he is a bit more country -flavoredthan the others (he went to Macon. Georgia,to make this album).

This record grows more satisfying withrepeated listening. Alex is comfortable in themilieu he has chosen. To be sure, he sharesthe infectious Taylor sound. He approachessongs straight on, finding an even keel andthen settling in rhythmically in a way that issimultaneously loose and tight. He is perhapsless adventurous than James. It is too soonto tell if he shares his brother's magnetism,but my impression is that he does not shareJames's inner tension. If James is the fragilefamily thoroughbred, then Alex may be thefamily peacemaker-sturdy, relaxed, and warm.

Unlike his brothers, this performer neitherwrites nor plays guitar-at least not here. Hesimply sings, surrounding himself with a first-rate rhythm section. However, Alex shares thefamily attraction to meaningful material, nomatter who writes it. The songs are excellent,including Southbound, by Gregg Allman andDavid Brown; Take Out Some Insurance, acountry blues by Charles Singleton and Wal-dense Hall -Roosevelt: and two of James'ssongs, Night Owl and Highway Song (thelatter not yet recorded by James).

The family is close-knit. James appears inthe background here, and I thought I heardKate as well. I am pleased that the familyexists and is accessible to me. Alex is a wel-come and worthwhile addition to the Taylorphenomenon. M.A.

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jazzDUKE ELLINGTON: Second SacredConcert. Cat Anderson, Cootie Williams,Mercer Ellington, Herbie Jones, andMoney Johnson, trumpets; LawrenceBrown, Buster Cooper, Chuck Connors,and Benny Green, trombones; JohnnyHodges, Harry Carney, Russell Procope,Paul Gonsalves, and Jimmy Hamilton,reeds; Duke Ellington, piano; Jeff Castle-man, bass; Sam Woodyard and SteveLittle, drums; Alice Babs, Tony Watkins,Devonne Gardner, Trish Turner, and Ros-coe Gill, vocals; A.M.E. Mother ZionChurch Choir; Choirs of St. Hilda's andSt. Hugh's School; Central ConnecticutState College Singers; the Frank ParkerSingers. Fantasy 8407/8, $5.98 (twodiscs).

Duke Ellington's second Sacred Concert, per-formed at New York's Cathedral Church ofSt. John the Divine in January 1968, seemeda notch or two above his first, despite occa-sional choral uncertainties. Yet it took threeyears for Ellington to find a label willing torelease this recording. How could any recordcompany, given the opportunity, not enrichits catalogue with a major work by a majorcomposer definitively performed?

Fantasy Records has gotten all this andmore: the recording also includes a perform-ance of incredible brilliance by Alice Babs.This singer possesses a voice of amazing rangeand flexibility that seems to be in completecommunion with the unusual and challengingmusic. Miss Babs's four appearances are thehigh spots of the recording-first in a lovelyvocal parallel to Johnny Hodges' saxophone,followed quite logically by Hodges himself,who melts into an exquisite Ellington melody.She then vocalizes in a lyrical blues duet withRussell Procope's chalumeau clarinet, andlater with the Duke's electric piano in a breath-taking bit of vocal agility; finally she leads aclimactic ensemble magnificently.

In addition to Miss Babs, there are somechoice matings of Ellington composition andEllingtonian performance-the majesty ofHarry Carney's declamatory baritone saxo-phone in the opening Praise God; the sinuous,growling trumpet of Cootie Williams in amusical portrait of Pastor John Gensel; thebroad gusto of Lawrence Brown's tromboneon It's Freedom; and the full, swinging spiritof the whole Ellington band.

The concert has its weak points, primarilyin the choral recitatives which, lacking theEllingtonian style of the instrumentalists orthe spoken style of the Duke himself, becomea drag. Similarly one misses the Duke's inimit-able spoken introductions which form anessential colorful contribution to the live per-formance. And the vocal vehemence of TonyWatkins' full, juicy projection of every syllableof a lyric comes very close to caricature. Butthere is so much that is superbly right aboutthis recording that these quibbles scarcelyweigh in the balance. J.S.W.

JOHN W. "KNocKY" PARKER: The CompletePiano Works of Jelly Roll Morton. KnockyParker, piano, celeste, and barrel organ; MarvinMontgomery, banjo; Dick Brightwell or George

ID HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE

Pryor, bass; Ruth Brightwell or Harvey Kinder-vater, drums. Superior Rag; Wolverine Blues;King Porter Stomp; Spanish Swat; forty-fourmore. Audiophile 102/5, $19.95 (four discs).

On the face of it, this would appear to be alandmark collection-all the compositions ofJelly Roll Morton in one four -disc set, somenever before recorded, two tunes previouslyunpublished and unrecorded. And they areplayed by Knocky Parker, one of the moreeminent exponents of the Morton piano style(in Leonard Feather's Encyclopedia of Jazz,Parker lists Jelly Roll as his favorite musician).

There is no question that Parker can playa Morton tune with full -flavored Morton fire,vitality, and phrasing. Listen to him here onFreakish, on Troublesome Rag, slinkingthrough the Spanish tinge of The Crave andCreepy Feeling. swinging easily on 35th St.Blues, roaring through Fingerbusting at anelectrifying pace. or rolling through the mar-velous, break -tilled descending line of Mor-ton's Tribute to Bert Williams.

Parker, however, has never been a particu-larly consistent performer and uncertaintyplagues him on several selections in this set-selections on which he stumbles or fumbles,selections on which he gets into a ploddingattack that all but drives the piece into theground. If that were the only problem, the setmight balance out quite favorably since thegood performances are delightful and thoseon which he is joined by Marvin Montgomery'sbanjo are full of brightness and vitality.

But for some reason Parker has chosen toplay almost half the tunes on what soundslike one of those barrel organs that grindsaround with merry-go-rounds-it is not identi-fied in any of the sparse, uninformative writtenmaterial that comes with the discs. The soundis absolutely ghastly and Parker seems to becapable of only the heaviest, most lumberingtype of performances on it-about as far re-moved from Morton's easy swing as one canimagine. Worst of all, some of Morton's finesttunes are put through this horrendous masher-The Pearls, Milenberg Joys, New OrleansBlues. Wolverine Blues, Mr. Jelly Lord, KansasCity Stomps, Wild Man Blues, Black BottomStomp. The list goes on and on and it's heart-breaking-one entire side is devoted to thislugubrious monster.

The only consolation is to turn to Side 2of disc 104 which is all Parker -on -piano (withthe frequent support of Montgomery's banjo)in a fine series of properly Mortonesque per-formances of Fickle Fay Creep, Fat Frances,Crazy Chord Rag, Pep, Sweet Peter, and SweetSubstitute. If only the other seven sides hadmeasured up to this. J.S.W.

WORLD'S GREATEST JAZZ BAND: What'sNew? Yank Lawson and Billy Butter-field, trumpets; Vic Dickenson and EdHubble, trombones; Bob Wilber and BudFreeman, saxophones; Ralph Sutton,piano; Bob Haggart, bass; Gus John-son, Jr., drums. Dogtown Blues; MyInspiration; Smile: eight more. Atlantic1582, $5.98. Tape: . M 81582, $6.95:it M 51852, $6.95.

It has been a long, hard struggle-financiallyand musically-for the World's Greatest JazzBand. But with this disc it has gotten over thehump of musical identity and at the same timeit seems to have stopped being a financialdrain on its sponsor. Dick Gibson. One point

brought out by the two -and -a -half year effortneeded to get the band functioning is that noteven seemingly limitless funds, an all-starline-up, and unflagging promotional energycan produce a viable jazz band overnight. Butthat's what the World's Greatest is now.

What comes through unmistakably on thisrecord for the first time is a distinctively indi-vidual musical personality. It is not the BobCrosby band. It is not an oversized Dixielandband. The WGJB is itself-and the primeevidence may be heard on several selectionshere that might have emerged sounding likethe same old stuff, but they don't. BourbonStreet Parade has become a Dixie chestnutbut the World's Greatest gives it a new, zestfulsound as the soloists emphasize their individu-ality over the exultantly propulsive rhythm ofRalph Sutton's rolling piano and Gus John-son's quick -step drumming. Bud Freeman'sold showpiece. The Eel, takes on a new lifewith a shouting big -band backing. and BillyButterfield's What's New? has a fresh adven-turousness that makes it seem newly minted.

The band now plays contemporary material-Mercy, Mercy, Mercy and Walk Him Up theStairs-with a joyously natural drive that nolonger leaves the impression that they're read-ing the arrangements through their bifocals.The unique bite of Yank Lawson's mutedtrumpet, Bob Wilber's lovely soprano saxo-phone, Vic Dickenson's wry trombone com-ments flow freely in and out of all the pieces,weaving the musical fabric that has nowemerged as the vitalizing identity of this band.

J.S.W.

CHARLES Minaus: Town Hall Concert. JohnnyColes, trumpet; Eric Dolphy and Clifford Jordan,reeds; Jaki Byard, piano; Charles Mingus, bass;Dannie Richmond, drums. So Long, Eric; Pray-ing with Eric. Fantasy JWS 9, $4.98.

Despite its title, this disc has no connectionwith the Mingus Town Hall concert releasedseveral years ago on the United Artists label.This new disc was recorded at the TyroneGuthrie Theater in Minneapolis, evidently atleast seven years ago (no other recording infor-mation is given), since Mingus' quintet in -

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cludes Eric Dolphy, who died in 1964. The twolong pieces that make up the disc are dedi-cated, in retrospect, to Dolphy and includesamplings of his fascinating and very indi-vidual use of the bass clarinet and flute. Bothselections are quintessential Mingus, filledwith his hallmarks-the shifting tempos, pas-sages of gorgeous melody, passages of mount-ing fury, the vocalized use of instruments.

At this time, Mingus' closeness to the Elling-ton idiom was particularly evident. It keepsrising out of the long Praying with Eric, whichtakes up the second side. The piece is a beau-tifully realized example of the Mingus concept,colored by Jaki Byard's all -encompassingpiano, some marvelous drumming by DannieRichmond, brilliant contributions by Dolphy,and rich, soulful bass work by Mingus himself.

J.S.W.

in briefSKEETER DAVIS: Skeeter. RCA Victor LSP4486, $5.98. Tape: 0. P8S 1694, $6.95.Skeeter Davis, whose little -girl voice is themost expressive in Victor's catalogue, bowswith another excellent collection. One flaw:there are only ten tunes. J.G.

AL GREEN: Gets Next To You. Hi/LondonSHL 32062, $4.98.Al Green gives a very funky reading of stand-ards like Roosevelt Sykes's Driving Wheel,pop tunes like the Doors's Light My Fire, andseveral r & b originals. There are only tentunes. J.G.

B. B. KING: Live in Cook County Jail. ABCABCS 723, $4.98. Tape: 0. GRT 8022-723.$6.98; 4E115022-723, $6.98.Blues -master B. B. King and band do theirthing in jail. Standards and hits, but the showat the Regal (ABC 509) remains their bestlive album. J.G.

Eou Loso. A & M SP 3035, $4.98.Many experts on Brazilian music, includingBrazilians, feel that young Edu Lobo may bethe most important talent of that countrysince Jobim. Lobo has written many of thebest-known Brazilian songs, those whosenames you can't remember. His guitar playingis vivid and urgent, yet beautifully controlled;his singing mournful and soft. The album ispresented by countryman Sergio Mendes.Anything Edu Lobo does is excellent, includ-ing this disc. But I look forward to the nextalbum, with fresher material and fuller scoring.

M.A.

JOHNNY & JONIE MOSBY: Oh, Love Of Mine.Capitol ST 737, $5.98.One of c & w's most successful duos, theMosbys favor traditional country over thecontemporary variety, but their forceful pres-entation overcomes any limitations of material.There are only ten tunes. J.G.

Tuner RucHRRos: Expressions. Warner Bros.S 1918, $4.98. Tape: WM8 1918, $6.95; 41M51918, $6.95.Warner Brothers has found another winner.Richards is one of those rare singers with somuch natural musicality that his soundemerges with seeming effortlessness. He writes

with equal ease, bending toward earthy blues(Virginia Woman) or tunes with a folk -countryfeel. He's a knockout. Listen to him. M.A.

SIREN: Strange Locomotion. Elektra EKS74087, $4.98. Tape 0. 84087, $6.98; EFF54087,$6.98.Siren is a British version of Brownsville Sta-tion or the Flamin' Groovies. Good old-fash-ioned rock-and-roll. J.G.

Joe Some So The Seeds Are Growing.Capitol ST 637, $5.98. Tape: 0. 8XT 637, $6.98;

4XT 637, $6.98.Odd-people who like Neil Diamond andRay Stevens tend to overlook Joe South. Heis as good a songwriter and a better singerthan either one. Only five of these tunes areSouth originals, though he also claims Mother-less Children which is a black folk tune. Thereare only ten tunes. J.G.

CAT STEVENS: New Masters. Deram DES18010, $4.98.Last month I offered an aside to the effectthat "Mathew & Son',' which was releasedseveral years ago, is still the best Cat Stevensalbum. Now there are two. Stevens' talentwas rougher back then, but less pretentious,fresher, and more engaging too. J.G.

SWAMP Doaa: Rat On! Elektra EKS 74089,$4.98. Tape. 0. 84089, $6.98; WO 54089,$6.98.Swamp Dogg, a soul septet that is mostly some-body named Jerry Williams, Jr., is the bandthat toured the Army bases with the JaneFonda/Donald Sutherland antiwar show.Overenthusiastic. J.G.

KATE TAYLOR: Sister Kate. Cotillion SD 9045,$4.98.With all the good talent around unrecordedand unlistened to, Kate and brother Alex getbig buildups because they are related to Jamesand Livingston. And for no other reason. J.G.

LILY Tomlin: This is a Recording. Polydor 244055, $4.98. Tape: V. 8F 4055, $6.98; OM CF4055, $6.98.Laugh-In's Lily Tomlin deserves a prize forgiving us the most bizarre characterizationof the year-Ernestine, the telephone operator.If you can't give Miss Tomlin a prize, thenbuy this album, in which Ernestine goesthrough all her weird changes. M.A.

BILLY EDD WHEELER: Love. RCA Victor LSP4491, $5.98.Billy Edd Wheeler was one of the first, withJohn D. Loudermilk and Roger Miller, of thenew -wave Nashville songwriters. Includedhere is Coal Tattoo, one of his best early tunes.He is also a first-rate performer with a finemellow voice. Now that he's with RCA heshould reach the wide audience he deserves,though like everyone else he loses some of hisindividuality to the Victor formula. Tentunes. J.G.

FAROS YOUNG: Step Aside. Mercury SR 61337,$4.98. Tape: ' MC8 61337, $6.95; OM MCR461337, $6.95.Faron Young, one of the most agreeablecountry vocalists, sings Hello Darlin; Gettin'Soft On You, etc. backed up by Jerry Kennedyand the gang. Mercury likes to compromiseat eleven cuts. J.G.

CIRCLE 38 ON READER -SERVICE CARDI 12 HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE

20 2010 TEAC 10

AR

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REC. BIAS

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TEAC announces a current event:Minn.It's the latest and greatest in dual capability:TEAC has incorporated a bias -current switchin the superlative A-1230 stereo deck. We callthis feature BiaTron because it lets you choosethe right bias for both standard and low -noise,high -output tapes.

The A-1230 has lots of other good news goingfor it, too. Like the remarkable Edi-Q PauseControl that lets you edit and cue the cleanest,click -free, pro -quality tapes while recording.And three precision motors: hysteresis -synchronous for capstan drive, eddy currenttypes for turntable drive. TEAC constant -contact hyperbolic heads. And hair-triggersolenoid controls that make this one of themost humanly engineered decks to be foundanywhere. No wonder it deliversthis kind of high-performancecharacteristics: 30 to 22,000 Hzfrequency response, 55 dB orbetter signal-to-noise ratio, 0.08%or less wow and flutter at 7172 ips.

Add to that such TEAC exclusivesin a deck of this class as MIC

TEAC.

and I. INE mixing, TAPE and SOURCEmonitoring, turntable height adjustment,independent headphone monitoring with bjilt-involume control. And the price is a surprisinglylow $349.50.

Then to double your enjoyment, we added anauto -reverse mechanism to the A-1230, andcalled it the A-1250. Tnis one is still a buyat $449.50.

Whatever your choice,you can't help keepingcurrent when youstay tunedto TEAC.

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