December Records

SYMPHONIC, ETC.

Schubert: Trio No. I in B-Flat Major for Piano, Violin and Cello

(Artur Rubinstein, Jascha Heifetz, Emanuel Feuermann; Victor; 8 sides). One of the most ingratiating of all chamber-music compositions, Schubert's Trio, in a previous recording by Cortot, Thibaud and Casals, was once a sensational bestseller, today is out of print. Victor's new version, with the latest, most scrupulous sound engineering, is one of the finest chamber-music recordings ever made. Rubinstein, Heifetz and Feuermann (each a famed concert soloist) play its lilting melodies with virtuoso finish and a subtle teamwork seldom heard when prima donnas of this caliber get together.

Samuel Barber: Adagio for Strings (NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini conducting; Victor). Toscanini reads a poetic sample of one of the few younger U.S. composers with something to say.

Beethoven: Symphony No. 8 (New York Philharmonic-Symphony, Bruno Walter conducting; Columbia; 6 sides). Less heady than Toscanini's for Victor, Walter's 8th is as mellow as well-aged Viennese slivovitz.

Mozart: Quintet in G Minor, K. 516 (Budapest Quartet with M. Katims, viola; Columbia; 8 sides). A fine ensemble continues working the richest musical seams.

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