New Records

Bach: The Brandenburg Concertos

(Vienna State Opera Chamber Orchestra conducted by Felix Prohaska; Vanguard, 3 LPs. Vienna soloists conducted by Jascha Horenstein; Vox, 2 LPs). The Vanguard set of these masterpieces is played more cohesively and soulfully, particularly in such spots as the dissonant slow movement in Concerto No. 1. Vox's interpretations are more rugged and, in the low-toned No. 6, merrier. Standout performer: the Vanguard trumpeter, who tootles his sky-high part in No. 2 with insolent ease. Vox says it used a "clarino" for the part, which sounds more like a clarinet than a trumpet.

Donizetti: Elixir of Love (Margherita Carosio, Nicola Monti, Tito Gobbi; Rome Opera chorus and orchestra conducted by Gabriele Santini; Victor, 2 LPs). A 123-year-old take-off on the Tristan legend involving a desirable and wealthy wench, her two swains, a phony love potion and a welter of sunny tunes (including Una furtiva lagrima). A painless score, handsomely performed.

Haydn: Trumpet Concerto (George Eskdale; Vienna State Opera Orchestra conducted by Franz Litschauer; Vanguard, 1 LP). This is a must. The soloist is brilliant London Trumpeter Eskdale, who amazed and delighted collectors when he recorded excerpts of the concerto some 20 years ago. His style is effortless, his tone is clear and martial, recalling a soldier preening himself in his full-dress uniform.

Hershy Kay: Western Symphony (New York City Ballet Orchestra conducted by Leon Barzin; Vox, 1 LP). A grab bag of American tunes, famous (Good Night, Ladies) and infamous (Rye Whisky), written to order for George Balanchine's crack ballet company. Comments Balanchine aptly on the album cover: "It was exactly as if I had ordered . . . riding clothes, admirably cut, free in the seat, smart at the hips, and unobtrusively if personally elegant."

Mozart: Oboe Concerto in C (Mitchell Miller; Saidenberg Little Symphony conducted by Daniel Saidenberg; Columbia, 1 LP). This disk is recommended as an antidote for aches and pains caused by some of Hitmaker Mitch Miller's pop creations (he is a Columbia Records executive as well as an oboist). Miller's oboe tone is sweet, his technique impeccable. In the plaintive slow movement, his sense of graceful phrasing makes Mozart sing.

Riegger: Symphony No. 3 (Eastman-Rochester Symphony conducted by Howard Hanson; Columbia). Manhattan's Composer Wallingford Riegger, 69, was one of the "bad boys" of the 20s, and his symphony makes abundant use of tone clusters then fashionable. He is also interested in more stringent twelve-tone technique, and dips into that idiom every now and then. The work, which won the New York Music Critics Circle Award (1947-48), is full of dissonance, but consistently strong and appealing.

Strauss: Wiener Blut (Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Erich Kunz, Emmy Loose, Nicolai Gedda; Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus under Otto Ackermann; Angel, 3 sides of 2 LPs). Not so grand a ball as Die Fledermaus, Johann Strauss's masterpiece, this operetta is slighter but in spots even more delightful. A composite of Strauss music not originally written for the stage, the score is full of surprises: when sung, some of the waltzes and polkas take on a warbling charm they do not have as orchestra pieces alone. The libretto is preposterous, but offers linguists an unusually rich sampling of Viennese slang, a quaint, native dialect distantly related to German. (Samples: charmuziern, v., to flirt; G'spusi, n., girl friend; Remasuri, n., big shindig; tulli, adj., first-rate.) Soprano Schwarzkopf, veteran of Mozart and Brahms, has a fine romp. General performance and recording: tulli.

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