New Records

Record collectors had good news this month: the first issue on American LPs of classical recordings by RCA Victor's British associate, the Gramophone Co., Ltd. ("His Master's Voice"). Some of the H.M.V. recordings are old, but British technique was always good and the sound quality is acceptable.

Standouts in the first release: Master Pianist Artur Schnabel (who died last year) playing two important Mozart concertos, the portentous D Minor, K. 466 and the C Minor, K. 491, with strength and tenderness; Conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler, making the Vienna Philharmonic perform with the best in Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, Schubert's Unfinished and Mozart's Symphony No. 40 in G Minor; Violinist Yehudi Menuhin at his dazzling peak in Paganini's popular, pyrotechnical Concerto No. 2.

Aside from the big names so dear to Victor's catalogue, there are good performances by less famous musicians: Guido Cantelli and Milan's La Scala Orchestra in Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5; the late Fritz Busch with the Danish State Radio Symphony Orchestra in Haydn's Symphony No. 88; Sir Adrian Boult and the BBC Symphony in Hoist's The Planets.

Other new records:

Debussy: Pelleas and Melisande (Suzanne Danco, Pierre Mollet, Heinz Rehfuss; L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande conducted by Ernest Ansermet; London, eight sides LP). Maeterlinck's fairy tale floating along the stream of Debussy's consciousness. The voices of the principals are all excellent and so is their French diction; Ansermet's subtle direction could scarcely be bettered.

Berlioz: Harold in Italy (William Primrose, viola; the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham; Columbia). The passionately romantic symphony with its viola solo representing Childe Harold; Beecham and Primrose give it its best performance on records.

Joys and Sorrows of Andalusia (Luis Maravilla, guitar; Pepe Valencia, voice; Westminster). The guitar is one instrument that sounds better on records than in the concert hall, and flamenco music, with its sensuality and its thumping outbursts, is the guitar's most exciting province. The vocal parts add an Oriental flavor. An Andres Segovia Recital (Decca) is a more reflective guitar record: the soloist specializes in pure versions of Bach, Schubert and Mendelssohn.

Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D Minor (Camilla Wicks; Symphony Orchestra of Radio Stockholm conducted by Sixten Ehrling; Capitol). An ingratiating piece by the Finnish composer, played with warmth and vigor by a talented young (23) American.

Bernstein: Three Dances from "Fancy Free" (Philadelphia Orchestra "Pops" conducted by Alexander Hilsberg; Columbia). Frothy music, but the month's most vibrant recording job.

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