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1. American Record Guide 243
and Arrau takes some very dangerous chances
in it. On the other hand, some passages are
played with the most delectable, limpid, pearly
tone imaginable. The tempos of certain sec-
tions are too slow and grandiloquent (especial-
ly in the Allegro agitato section of I) and that
detracts somewhat from the whole. Still, this
performance comes close to the definitive
recordings—Richter (Philips) and Zimerman
(DG)—and in some ways exceeds them.
The sound restoration must have been dif-
ficult. The orchestral sound is boxy and there
are instances of extraneous electronic noise,
distortion, and slight out-of-tuneness (all of
relatively minor importance and mentioned in
the notes). But the balance of piano and
orchestra is excellent, as is the piano tone.
The Schumann, from 1951, is a poetic,
dreamy, immaculately poised account, yet full
of temperament. I find the unusual character
and expressivity of tone Arrau draws from the
piano on this occasion enthralling, including
the timbre of his wondrous octaves. There is
little question that Arrau is the pacesetter here.
The Finale is glorious—effortlessly fluent and
dashing in its unceasing rhythmic sweep.
Recorded sound is better than in the Liszt, and
again the piano-orchestra balance is excellent.
Weber’s Konzertstück seems never to have
caught on in the US; it has remained almost
exclusively a province of European pianists.
Among the older pianists, Brendel, Casadesus,
and Schnabel performed and recorded it; but it
is safe to say that Arrau was incomparable in
this arresting, often riotous program-concerto.
In this 1947 New York performance (about the
time I first heard Arrau in person in Town Hall
in his Beethoven sonata cycle), the orchestra
sounds tentative and uncertain at first. But
Kleiber maintains a more closely-knit partner-
ship with the soloist than did either Mitropou-
los or DeSabata. Arrau’s way of projecting the
moods of the four movements is remarkable,
and his pianism is absolutely dazzling in every
measure, with the result that this may be the
rarest of the three gems on this release.
MULBURY
LISZT: Piano Sonata; Transcendental Etudes
1,2,3,5,7,8,10,11; Funerailles
Sviatoslav Richter—Palexa 537—75 minutes
The sonata is from a May 1965 Carnegie Hall
performance, the etudes from 1956 Moscow,
and Funerailles 1958 Budapest. Collectors
probably already have these, but they may be
worth replacing since Palexa has worked won-
ders with the not-so-splendid sound. No, not
all of the distortion has been removed, but
enough has so that enjoying the remarkable
playing is not just for the faithful.
If you must have all of Richter’s recordings
of the sonata this may well fill a gap in your
collection. It has an intensity that is hard to
resist, though it does not differ noticeably from
the others he recorded around the same time.
Funerailles still breaks up in loud passages, but
it is at least tolerable to listen to.
With the eight selections from the Transcen-
dental Etudes we have some truly amazing tech-
nical legerdemain. Readers believing that they
may have discovered a new cache of recordings
should be advised that a previous issue wrongly
attributed the date of recording to 1946.
BECKER
MENDELSSOHN: Elijah
Harold Williams (Elijah); Parry Jones, t; Clara Ser-
ena, a; Isobel Baillie, s; Tom Purvis, b; Wireless
Singers, BBC/ Stanford Robinson
Divine Art 27802 [2CD] 94 minutes
Mendelssohn’s Elijah, first performed in Lon-
don in 1846, became a cornerstone of the
choral repertoire in Victorian Britain, even to
rivaling the great Handel. So popular was it
that a recording was a prime desideratum, and
the feat was accomplished in April 1930, when
the oratorio was released by Columbia on 15
10-inch discs. While I am no authority in such
matters, the BBC performers sound like what I
imagine the Victorian tradition must have
been, scaled down somewhat for the recording
studio and with some minor cuts to accommo-
date disc spacing. The singers have the English
timbre and enunciate in such a way as to be
understood verbally as well as musically. While
a printed text is included, it is hardly neces-
sary, not least because this discographic rarity
has been restored with considerable care.
What pleased before will please again in this
moving and dramatic performance.
RADCLIFFE
MOZART: The Abduction From the Seraglio
Erika Koth (Konstanze), Lisa Otto (Blonde),
Rudolf Schock (Belmonte), Murray Dickie (Pedril-
lo), Kurt Bohme (Osmin); Vienna Opera Chorus &
Philharmonic/ George Szell
Orfeo 652 052 [2CD] 126 minutes
It is ironic that my two favorite recordings of
Mozart’s delightful singspiel are both nearly 50
years old: Beecham and Szell. I have two oth-
ers, by Mackerras on Telarc and Hogwood on
Oiseau-Lyre, as well as a decent one by Mehta
on TDK DVD. Any one of the five is satisfacto-
ry, but Beecham and Szell give the score an
extra lilt that makes it particularly attractive.
Of course Beecham’s is in good early stereo. Its
greatest cast advantage is in Gottlob Frick, who
sings the pompous role of Osmin to perfection.
His interpretation is sly and his low bass voice
fits the role perfectly. Szell uses Kurt Bohme,
whose voice isn’t strong enough in the lower

2. 244 March/April 2006
registers. He performs it as an outright buffoon
and lacks the nuances that Frick brings to it.
Szell has the disadvantage of being record-
ed at the 1956 Salzburg Festival. The sound is
typical of the Austrian radio at the time: dry,
close, and somewhat restricted in range. One
quickly adjusts to it as the performance pro-
ceeds. The audience obviously greatly enjoys it
and responds more to it than do most Salzburg
audiences, especially considering that this was
performed in the small Landestheatre. The
score benefits again and again from Szell’s ele-
gant pointing as he conducts.
His other four soloists are well chosen and
perform admirably. Hannsgeorg Laubenthal is
a very satisfactory Pasha Selim, which is a brief
speaking part.
One advantage that Szell had was that 1956
was the Mozart Bicentennial and Salzburg lav-
ished extra attention on its productions.
Although he had conducted three operas there
previously, this was his first appearance in
Mozart. He brought a freshness of style to the
opera that is clearly audible in this recording.
The booklet gives good background on the
performances as well as a synopsis of the
action. Orfeo seems to have improved the
sound as much as currently possible.
BAUMAN
MOZART: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik;
Divertimentos 11+17
Chicago Symphony, NBC Symphony/ Fritz Reiner
Testament 1379—58 minutes
These excellent, yet controversial perfor-
mances, in very good monaural sound, were
recorded in the 1950s. Nevertheless, they may
not please listeners brought up, or accustomed
to, the Mozart interpretations of Sir Thomas
Beecham and Bruno Walter, because Reiner’s
way with Mozart was quite different. He favor-
ed leaner sonorities and an astringent rather
than a plush string tone, and he insisted on
rigid rhythmic stability, which is not a concept
associated with Walter and Beecham. Reiner
evidently saw Mozart as a classical rather than
as a romantic composer, and this approach has
some serious limitations, as illustrated in his
performance of EKN, one of the composer’s
most popular works. Reiner’s tempos are quite
a bit faster in the first two movements, and in
contrast to Beecham and Walter he never
seems to relax. His orchestra is smaller; both of
his colleagues used larger orchestras. And
while Reiner’s strings play with better articula-
tion, his performances lack warmth and charm.
Yet I like the divertimentos very much,
especially 17, a marvelously inventive work but
a long one—it can sound boring in lesser
hands. Again, Reiner’s tempos are faster than
most; 38 minutes compared to 45 minutes
with Sandor Vegh (Capriccio). The string
sound is, again, lean but beautiful, and their
articulation unsurpassed, as is the sound of
the Chicago horns. This is an early work (1779)
and Reiner’s way with it is entirely appropri-
ate. There’s not much warmth, but it never
seems rushed.
Similar comments apply to Divertimento
11, an even earlier work, which is played by the
NBC Symphony. Except for the sound, which
is a bit more boxy, I was hard put to find any
differences in the quality of the string sections
of the two orchestras.
The Chicago recordings were made in Orch-
estra Hall in 1954 and 1955, and the NBC Sym-
phony was recorded in New York’s Manhattan
Center in 1954. I wonder why Toscanini’s
recordings weren’t made there. The notes are
all about the conductor rather than the music.
They include four photographs of him, all with
a scowl. Did the man ever smile?
MOSES
MOZART: Piano Concerto 23;
BRAHMS: Haydn Variations;
WOLF-FERRARI: Jewels of the Madonna
Intermezzos
Monique Haas, p; Berlin Philharmonic, Stuttgart
Orchestra/ Ferdinand Leitner
Profil 4063—52 minutes
These are old monaural recordings—the Moz-
art and Brahms from 1952, the Wolf-Ferrari
from 1949. They are from tape masters, and
their sound is quite good—clear and free of
distortion, with satisfactory frequency re-
sponse and dynamic range as well as impres-
sively full and well-controlled bass. The cover
and notes nowhere tell us it is monaural—that
isn’t right.
The piece de resistance, of course, is Moni-
que Haas’s performance of Mozart’s Piano
Concerto 23 in A. It is well shaped and quite
well played, though its straightforward honesty
is not especially thrilling or revealing. Leitner’s
accompaniment is likewise good but not out-
standing in any way.
The Brahms Haydn Variations, on the other
hand, is very good. It is really slow, at 20 min-
utes slower even than VPO/Böhm. It differs
from Böhm in the way the slowness is distrib-
uted internally over the various sections. Leit-
ner takes the initial statement of the theme and
also the first variation slower than I’ve ever
heard them on records. Nevertheless, it works
unexpectedly well and goes on to build one of
the more interesting performances I know of.
Also, the Stuttgart orchestra is very good.
The two intermezzos from Wolf-Ferrari’s
opera Jewels of the Madonna are delightful but
very short pieces.
McKELVEY