New Records

Haydn: The Creation (Trude Eipperle, soprano; Georg Hann, bass; Julius Patzak, tenor; Isolde Ahlgrimm, cembalo; Vienna State Opera Chorus, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Clemens Krauss conducting; Haydn Society, 6 sides LP). This is one of Haydn's finest works, but paradoxically, one that sounds least like Haydn. Already in his late 50s, Haydn went to London, heard the choral singing in the huge Handel Festival of 1791, and returned to Vienna feeling liberated from the classical form he himself had done so much to develop. When he got around to composing this work, seven years later, he followed his predecessor Handel's example, wrote to conform more to a text (a theme from Milton's Paradise Lost) than to classical form. In so doing, he wrote music that hints at many a thing to come--the later Beethoven, even early Wagner. Performance and recording: good.

Bach: Preludes and Fugues 1-8, The Well-Tempered Clavier (Wanda Landowska, harpsichord; Victor, 12 sides 45 r.p.m.). Bach composed this cornerstone of contemporary contrapuntal music "for the use and profit of young musicians anxious to learn, and as a pastime for others already expert in the art." Here the first eight (the rest are to come) are masterfully set forth by the foremost living expert. Recording: excellent.

Beethoven: Sonata No. 7, Op. 30 No. 2 (Joseph Szigeti, violin; Mieczyslaw Horszowski, piano; Columbia, 2 sides LP). Violinist Szigeti's expressiveness and devoted musicianship go a long way towards making up for his often raspy tone--far enough in fact to make this an excellent performance. Recording: good.

Dello Joio: Ricercari for Piano and Orchestra (Germaine Smadja, pianist, with the Concert Hall Symphony Orchestra, Henry Swoboda conducting; Concert Hall Society, 1 side LP). A ricercare (literally: to seek out) was a 16th Century form which later grew into the fugue. U.S. Composer Norman Dello Joio, 37, finds a few clever switches of his own. Performance: good; recording: fair.

Gliere: Symphony No. 3 (St. Cecilia Academy Symphony Orchestra of Rome, Jacques Rachmilovich conducting; Capi-tol-Telefunken, 2 sides LP). Although his Red Poppy ballet music is better known, this is probably the best work of 75-year-old Reinhold Gliere, dean of Russian composers (see above). Finished in 1911, it is based on the legend of the Paul Bunyan-like Russian folk hero, Ilya Murometz. Huge in concept, it sometimes sounds like such non-Russians as Sibelius or Bruckner. Performance and recording: good.

Offenbach: The Tales of Hoffmann (Raoul Jobin, tenor; Renee Doria, soprano; Vina Bovy, soprano; Geori Boue, soprano; Fanely Revoil, mezzo-soprano; Louis Musy, baritone; Andre Fernet, bass, Charles Soix, bass; Roger Bourdin, baritone; Chorus and Orchestra of the Paris Opera-Comique, Andre Cluytens conducting; Columbia, 6 sides LP). Offenbach's witty and brilliant opera is done to a turn, even to the sound of wine gurgling from a bottle. Recording: excellent.

Stravinsky: Mass (Double wind quintet and chorus of men and boys, Igor Stravinsky conducting; Victor, 5 sides). Stravinsky intended this Mass to be "absolutely cold," avoiding sentimentality. It is skillfully and coldly composed, but rather dull. Sung in church, it might induce more apathy than reverence. Performance and recording: excellent.

Verdi: Excerpts from Falstaff (Mariano Stabile, baritone; Afro Poli, baritone; Vittoria Palombini, mezzo-soprano; Giuseppe Nessi, tenor; Luciano Donaggio, bass; La Scala Orchestra, Alberto Erede conducting; Capitol-Telefunken; 6 sides). Baritone Stabile, now 61, was the best Falstaff in the business when these recordings were originally made before World War II. Capitol's repressing job is good.

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