SYMPHONIC, ETC.

Brahms: Concerto No. 2 in B Flat Major (Vladimir Horowitz, pianist, with the NBC Symphony under Arturo Toscanini; Victor: 12 sides; $6.50). The Brahms concertos are as massively splendiferous as the Brahms symphonies. In this one, Toscanini, his pianist son-in-law and the recording engineers (it was made in Carnegie Hall instead of in NBC's woolly-sounding Studio 8-H) do a superb job.

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 3 in D Major ("Polish") (National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Hans Kindler; Victor: 10 sides; $5.50). A melodious, unaccountably little-played work, whose title "Polish" has almost no relevance, gets a fine performance by Washington's able young orchestra.

Patter Songs from Gilbert & Sullivan (Nelson Eddy, baritone, with chorus and orchestra conducted by Robert Armbruster; Columbia: 6 sides; $2.75). Baritone Eddy's fans--but not Savoyards--will forgive his rather apologetic, Yankeefied impersonations of the Mikado, Jack Point, the Lord Chancellor, John Wellington Wells, Major General Stanley, First Lord of the Admiralty Sir Joseph Porter, K.C.B. The last one sounds like an odd, unconscious parody of President Roosevelt speechmaking.

Aaron Copland; Music for the Theatre (Eastman-Rochester Symphony Orchestra. Howard Hanson conducting; Victor: 6 sides; $3.50). First performance of one of the best of contemporary scores: a set of sharp, finely orchestrated pieces for no particular play.

Selections from Six Wagnerian Operas (Lauritz Melchior, tenor, with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy, the Victor Symphony and the San Francisco Opera Orchestra conducted by Edwin McArthur; Victor: 10 sides; $5.50). In fine fettle, so well in the groove that you can almost see him bounding Wagneriously, Tenor Melchior gives voice to airs from Lohengrin, Tannhauser, Die Meistersinger, Flying Dutchman, Siegfried. Soprano Kirsten Flagstad joins him in the opening duet from Die Goeiterdaemmerung.

Medieval and Renaissance Choral Music (Choir of the Pius X School of Liturgical Music, conducted by Mother Georgia Stevens, R.S.C.J.; Victor: 12 sides; $6.50). As glowing as a rose window, these early church melodies are sung to perfection by Mother Stevens' famed female choristers. (The Pius X School trains liturgical teachers chiefly, since women are ordinarily not supposed to sing in Catholic churches.) As result of a mix-up in pressing, however, Tenor Melchior (see above) displaces the choir on one record.

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