The New Records

Bartok: Piano Concerto No. 3

(Gyorgy Sandor, with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting; Columbia, 6 sides). First recording of one of the major works of a composer whom the U.S. is only beginning to appreciate (TIME, March 18, 1946). Dying in Manhattan in 1945, Hungarian Bela Bartok put aside other projects to write this concerto, hoping it would help support his widow. He had finished all but the last 17 measures (and had outlined them) when he died. The concerto, melodic and original, is free of the harmonic obtuseness which put listeners off many of his earlier works. Performance: excellent.

Brahms: Sonata in F Minor (William Primrose, viola; William Kapell, piano; Victor, 6 sides). One of Brahms's last compositions, written originally for piano and clarinet, but alternately for piano and viola, in Brahms's heavy romantic style. Performance: good.

Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 5 (Reformation) (London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Thomas Beecham conducting; Victor, 7 sides). One of Mendelssohn's least attractive symphonies, in which the brassy ponderousness of the two outer movements smothers the charm and simplicity of the woodwinds in the two inner movements, done as attractively as possible by Sir Thomas. Performance: good.

Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro (Glyndebourne Festival Opera Company, Fritz Busch conducting; Victor, 33 sides, three albums). A re-issue of a fine performance in which sound and surface suffered slightly in the process; a worthy collector's item. Performance: good.

Schubert: Quartet in E Flat Major (Guilet String Quartet; Concert Hall Society, 6 sides). The freshness and tunefulness of Schubert at 20, without the skill and maturity of Schubert at 30. Performance: excellent.

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2 (Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, Dimitri Mitropoulos conducting; Columbia, 10 sides). A slightly vapid piece of music, but with vague whisperings of the strivings and yearnings which burst out in the composer's Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Symphonies. Performance: fair.

Susan Reed: Folk Songs and Ballads --Volume II (Victor, 6 sides). More in 20-year-old Susan Reed's artfully simple style. The singing (accompanied by Irish harp or zither) is uneven, but the best of it makes very pleasant listening. The album includes, among others, Danny Boy, Greensleeves (which Shakespeare mentions in The Merry Wives of Windsor) and the plaintive Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair. Performance: good.

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