SYMPHONIC, ETC.

Ernest Bloch: Concerto for Violin & Orchestra (Orchestre de la Societe des Concerts du Conservatoire, Charles Munch conducting, with Joseph Szigeti; Columbia: 8 sides). Not for many years has 59-year-old musical Zionist Bloch wailed so fine a rhapsody. Violinist Szigeti gives his Oriental oratory superb diction.

Brahms: Concerto for Violin & Orchestra (Boston Symphony, Serge Koussevitzky conducting, with Jascha Heifetz; Victor: 9 sides). One of the two or three violin concertos that rank with the greatest of symphonies. Magnificently recorded.

Handel: Concerto Grosso No. 5 in D Major (London Philharmonic, Felix Weingartner conducting; Columbia: 4 sides). Last fortnight war forced the 126-year-old London Philharmonic, England's No. 2 orchestra* and one of the world's finest nine or ten, to disband. This well-tooled "first" of Handel's serene, 18th-- Century score becomes its first posthumous release.

Lully: Orchestral Excerpts from the Operas "Prosperine," "Atys," "Amadis," "Thesee" (Symphony orchestra conducted by Maurice Cauchie; Columbia: 4 sides). Father of French opera was Jean Baptiste Lully, who tailored stage performances for paunchy Louis XIV. Lully's operas are now as dated as snuff and ruffles. But the sunny, melodious music he wrote for them is still as fresh as an enameled daisy.

Beethoven: Quartet in F Major, Op. 18, No. 1 (Coolidge Quartet; Victor: 6 sides). Best recording to date by the top U. S. chamber-music ensemble.

*No. 1: the BBC Symphony.

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