Classical Records

Lester Trimble: Four Fragments from the Caunterbury Tales (Adele Addison, soprano; Robert Conant, harpsichord; Charles Russo, clarinet; Martin Orenstein. flute; Columbia). A remarkably effective evocation of Chaucerian moods in a score that is clear, nimble and rhythmically sensitive to the text. U.S. Composer Trimble, 37. with admirable help from Soprano Addison. musically meditates on the characters of the Knight, the Squire, and that lover of both "bigamye" and "octogamye." the Wife of Bath.

Anna Moffo Arias (Rome Opera House Orchestra, conducted by Tullio Serafin; RCA Victor). One of the youngest (25) and most gifted of the new generation of home-grown U.S. divas visits some familiar operatic landmarks, examining them with taste, agility and dramatic flair. The voice--silvery in the upper registers, amber in the lower--has rarely sounded surer.

Among the stopping points: the Jewel Song from Faust, Mi chiamano Mimi from Boheme, Signore, ascolta from Turandot. For insatiable Moffo fans, Angel also offers an album of Coloratura Arias (Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Colin Davis) that are every bit as distinguished, with the single exception of the Lucia di Lammermoor Mad Scene: the delivery is splendid, but Moffo sounds about as mad as a hermit thrush.

China's Instrumental Heritage (Professor Liang Tsai-ping and Group; Lyri-chord). A fascinating collection of Chinese folk songs, dating from the yth to 18th centuries and played on such authentic instruments as the zitherlike cheng, the hsiao ('vertical flute), and the nan-hu (violin). The wiry melodic lines, wavering and falling away, have the delicate but hypnotic fascination of ancient Chinese watercolors, and the songs have subjects to match: Wild Geese Alighting on the Sandy Shore, The Spring River in the Flowery Moonlight.

Lauritz Melchior 50th Anniversary (Asco, 2 LPs). This handsome salute to the great Heldentenor introduces him in the days (1913-18) when he was singing in opera and recital as a baritone, and carries him to his 1960 recording of Esultate from Otello. Even as a baritone--and even through the sizzle of old shellac--his voice had the tenoresque freshness, vigor and ringing power that later carried him trii umphantly through 24 years at the Met and 223 Tristans. Among the album's treasures: a 1924 scene from Siegfried ("Nothung! Not hung! Schmiede mein Hammer"), and the Bridal Chamber Scene, from Lohengrin, recorded in 1926.

Malcolm Arnold: Guitar Concerto, Op. 67 (Julian Bream, guitarist, with the Melos Ensemble; RCA Victor). A haunting, fantasy-ridden score by the composer of Tarn O'Shanter and The Bridge on the River Kwai that gives the guitar a chance to sing, emote, or simply brood, as it rarely can elsewhere. Britain's Bream knows the instrument's moods as surely as any guitarist now playing.

Riegger: String Quartet No. 2 (the Kroll Quartet; Columbia). A 75th-birthday salute to one of America's major composers. The language is harsh and astringent, the style as uncompromisingly original as that of any composer now writing. A fascinating contrast to this 1948 work is the accompanying Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello, completed in 1920. The feeling is just as direct and the technique just as adroit, but the style is suffused in a kind of Gallic haze--sweetness without sentimentality.

Klemperer Conducts Wagner (the Philharmonia Orchestra; Angel). Another 75th-birthday memento, this one dedicated to the conductor. The disk contains some of the most persistently played Wagnerian excerpts: the Overture to Meistersinger, the Tristan und Isolde Prelude and Liebestod, the Gotterdammerung Siegfried's Funeral March. Klemperer's Wagner is not as passionate as some, but for fire it substitutes a sense of Germanic grandeur, and for rhythmic impetuosity an almost voluptuous intoxication with sheer masses of sound.

MacDowell: Concerto No. 2 in D Minor (Van Cliburn, pianist; the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Walter Hendl; RCA Victor). In 1952, when he was 17, Van Cliburn made his big-time concert debut with the Dallas Symphony, playing the Second Concerto, written by MacDowell in 1884. On the podium was Walter Hendl. This fine new recording demonstrates that neither pianist nor conductor has lost his affinity for the concerto's romantic moods. Cliburn plays with fluency and grace, and Hendl gives him the sensitive support that soloists dream about but seldom receive.

Dimitri Bashkirov: Piano Recital (Artia). Another recruit to the vast ranks of Russian pianists. At 29, Pianist Bashkirov belongs with the best. He can make his piano sing or shimmer mistily, and his rhythmic control is razor-honed. But in these selections by Schumann, Liszt, Prokofiev and Scriabin he demonstrates that he is that comparative rarity in an age of keyboard athletes--a pianist who can alter his style with his composers' changing musical visions.

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