LPs: Nature and Art

By William Bender

Walter Carlos: Sonic Seasonings (Columbia, 2 LPs, $6.98). When the Roman philosopher Seneca said, "All art is but imitation of nature," he didn't know the half of it. Today's electronic composer no longer bothers to imitate nature the way Vivaldi did in The Four Seasons. Tape recorder in hand, he simply camps at the seashore or in a rain forest, and lets Mother Nature herself compose an accelerando of breaking waves or a pizzicato polka of storm effects. Then he adds electronic sounds--whirrr, ping, eeeeeee, r-r-r-roar--and voila!, the new art of sonic environments, "music" to the ears of those who would rather "hear" sound than "listen" to it. Walter (Switched-On Bach) Carlos here presents four tone poems--spring, summer, fall, winter--that give a good approximation of what a year's hike might be like on the Appalachian Trail. Possible uses: mellifluous Muzak for a flower shop or Japanese tearoom, or dozy balm for the pastoral-minded insomniac trapped in the big city.

Mozart: The Wind Concertos (various soloists, the Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan conductor; Angel, 3 LPs, $17.98). An exquisitely executed anthology for the Mozartean who has everything--or thinks he does. The selections range from what might be called the camaraderie concertos, the Sinfonia Concertante, K. 297b (featuring oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn) and the Flute and Harp Concerto, K. 299, to the solo works for bassoon (K. 191), flute (K. 313), oboe (K. 314) and clarinet (K. 622). Von Karajan's soloists, drawn from the Berlin Philharmonic, are superb.

Mozart: The Four Horn Concertos (Barry Tuckwell soloist, Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Neville Marriner conductor; Angel, $5.98). As a solo instrument, the French horn lacks the innate variety of the piano or violin. That is a fact to be noted, then forgotten, while listening to this ravishing LP. Tuckwell plays the concertos as though they were as emphatically profound as anything Mozart ever wrote--which in the case of Nos. 3 (K. 447) and 4 (K. 495) is not too far from the truth.

Mozart: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola, K. 364, Symphony No. 32 (Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Neville Marriner conductor; Argo, $5.95). Whether accompanying French-horn players (see above) or reinterpreting the Baroque repertory (the Bach orchestral Suites, the Handel Concerti Grossi, Op. 6), Neville Marriner is one of the best and busiest maestros on the London recording scene. His Mozart, an artful shading of sinew, sensuousness and sonority, is as good as anything he does. Indeed, Nachtmusik is the freshest, rosiest reading of that serenade to come along in years.

Franz Liszt's Greatest Hits of the 1 850s (Jorge Bolet pianist; RCA, $5.98). Considering the lethargy of the classical-record business these days, RCA may be forgiven for dressing this LP in the sales-proven "greatest hits" garb. For in this 40-minute collection of piano transcriptions by the granddaddy of all transcribers, Bolet has come up with what will surely be one of the piano records of the year. Liszt's Reminiscences of Lucia di Lammermoor or Concert Paraphrase on Rigoletto requires a fusion of talents comparable to those of an expert novelist who is also a master of the sonnet. Bolet's combination of intricate line and bold sweep is just such a fusion.

Dvorak: The Golden Spinning Wheel, Symphonic Variations (London Symphony Orchestra, Istvan Kertesz conductor; London, $5.98). Mention the words "tone poem" and the average post-Romantic music buff will think of Franz (Mazeppa) Liszt or Richard (Don Juan) Strauss, but rarely of Dvorak. A pity, since Dvorak, too, was a master of the genre. His subjects varied from The Watersprite to The Midday Witch, but he was never more magical than in The Golden Spinning Wheel. Recounting the fairy tale of a lovely spinning girl who pays somewhat gruesomely for a king's love, Dvorak filled his 26-minute score with bold slashes of color, rich turns of melody and moments of high dramatic point, all much to Conductor Kertesz's obvious relish. The Symphonic Variations, on the other hand, is Dvorak at his nonprogrammatic best -- the Old World side of the man who wrote the "New World" Symphony.

Stravinsky: Petrushka (New York Philharmonic, Pierre Boulez conductor, Columbia, $5.98). Boulez's first recording with his new charges at the Philharmonic, and a sonic dazzler. When Stravinsky conducted this music, he deliberately gave it a kind of squeeze-box accordion sound, as though trying to match the marionette-stage milieu of the puppet hero. Boulez's performance is much broader in both aura and atmosphere, as if his touchstones were the gay, extroverted Shrovetide Fair scenes that open and close the work. The approaches are opposed but, happily, of equal validity.

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