New Records

There was good news for Haydn-lovers last week: nine symphonies (of the composer's massive crop of 104) were released by three different companies. From Boston's Haydn Society, on three LP records (6 sides) came seven which are seldom heard, performed with more spunk than spirit by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra under Jonathan Sternberg. Most interesting of the seven: Haydn's First, composed when he was 27, and his Thirteenth ("Jupiter"), which seems to reflect his happiness with his new job as musicmaker at the Esterhazys, a job he held for 30 years. Also of particular interest: No. 48 ("Maria Theresa"), which heralds the arrival, in the distance, of the mature symphonist. Of his later and more familiar works, RCA Victor offers a superbly warm performance of No. 93 (the NBC Symphony Orchestra, Guido Cantelli conducting; 6 sides). Recording, on 45 r.p.m.: excellent. London FFRR'S release of No. 101, "The Clock" (L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet conducting; 2 sides, LP), is less warm, more straightforward. Recording: good.

Other new records:

Bartok: Concerto No. 2 (Andor Foldes, pianist, with the Lamoureux Orchestra, Eugene Bigot conducting; Vox-Polydor, 2 sides, LP). First recording of this great work, which the late Bela Bartok composed in the same period as the brilliant and bold Quartet No. 4. Stubbornly unrelenting in its harmonies and fierce rhythms, it is sterner stuff than the later Concerto No. 3. Hungarian-American Pianist Foldes gives it a powerful performance. Recording: excellent.

Britten: Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge (the Boyd Neel Orchestra, Boyd Neel conducting; London FFRR, 6 sides). This is one of Britten's best early works; sometimes dramatic and austerely orchestrated, it is also obviously an ancestor of Peter Grimes. Recording: good.

Mozart: Concerto In C, K. 467 (Robert Casadesus, pianist, with the New York Philharmonic-Symphony, Charles Muench conducting; Columbia, 2 sides, LP). One of the greatest concertos, played beautifully but somewhat bloodlessly. Recording: good.

Concerto In B Flat, K. 450 (Andor Foldes, pianist, with the Lamoureux Orchestra, Eugene Bigot conducting; Vox, 2 sides, LP). Also one of the greats, performed with equal precision and more life. Recording: good.

Prokofiev: Cinderella (the Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden, Warwick Braithwaite conducting; Columbia, 6 sides). The score for the ballet now being performed in Russia and by England's Sadler's Wells (TIME, Nov. 14), and what Russian Expatriate Igor Stravinsky calls "Soviet music--bah!" Completely undistinguished, it sounds more often like so-so Soviet Composer Khachaturian than great Composer Prokofiev. Performance and recording: good.

Stravinsky: Orpheus (the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky conducting; Victor, 8 sides, 45 r.p.m.). The tight, dry, subdued but dramatic music for the Stravinsky-Balanchine ballet performed with great success at Manhattan's City Center last year (TIME, May 10, 1948). Performance and recording: excellent.

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