Aug - AmericanRadioHistory.Com

RECORDS
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NUCLEAR PRODUCTS CO.
10173 E. Rush St., El Monte, Calif.
68
WHAT IS HI -FI?
A journey behind the
scenes with Kurt List, Westminster's
musical director, describes
high fidelity and the making of
high fidelity records. Informative,
interesting, of permanent
value to every record buyer. For
your free copy, send a card to:
WESTMINSTER RECORDS
DEPT. HE
275 Seventh Ave.. New York I. N. Y.
tive; Siegfried's death; Brünnhilde's Immolation.
Frida Leider (s), Brünnhilde;
Richard Schubert (t), Erik Schmedes (t),
Siegfried; Ludwig Hoffmann (bs), Hagen.
Various accompaniments. ETERNA ELP
480. 12 -in. $5.95.
-Act II: Scene 3. Josef Greindl (bs);
Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus
of the Bavarian State Opera, Fritz Rieger,
cond. DECCA DX t2r. Two 12 -in. $7.96
(with Die Walküre, Act 1).
-Act III: Brünnhilde s Immolation. Kir -
sten Flagstad (s); Philharmonia Orchestra,
Wilhelm Furtwängler, cond. RCA VICTOR
LFIMV 1072. 12 -in. $4.98 (with excerpts
from Tristan said !solde).
-(same; same performing elements).
RCA VICTOR LHMV 1024. I2 -in. $4.98
(with excerpts from Sieg fried).
-(same). Helen Traubet (s); NBC Symphony
Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini, cond.
RCA VICTOR LCT iI16. 12 -in. $3.98
(with Siegfried Idyll).
-(same). Margaret Harshaw (s); Philadelphia
Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy, cond.
COLUMBIA ML 4742. 12 -in. $3.98 (with
Funeral Music; excerpt from Tristan und
!solde).
GOEITERDAEMMERUNG (orchestral excerpts)
Ordered primarily by content and chronology
within the work, then by opinion of
merit, the recordings below cover the usual
concert excerptions quite well. The Urania
is not at all bad, but is not notable. The
new Capitol is very well conducted by William
Steinberg, and is quite splendidly
engineered, taking an edge over the interpretive
polarities offered by Victor. Of
these, personal preference alone puts the
Furtwängler rubato and majesty before the
brilliant, electric Toscanini. The new London
is an example of musicianship that is
sure but less important than these or than
the aging Weingartner, which as a reading
is superlatively fine and belongs, interpretatively,
at the very top of the list. The
Beecham, new in sound and very well
executed, is not very exciting or, actually,
anything more than a good, routine shaping
of the music. The Leitner is honorable,
the Stokowski as lurid a rape case as there
is on vinylite. "F. Wentzel ?" Who he?
-Rhine Journey; Funeral Music; Finale.
Orchestra of the Munich State Opera, Franz
Konwitschny, cond. URANIA URLP 7065.
52-in. $3.98 (with excerpts from Siegfried;
Parsi /al).
-Rhine Journey; Funeral Music. Pittsburgh
Symphony, William Steinberg, cond.
CAPITOL P 8185. 12 -in. $4.98 (with excerpts
from Tristan rind Isolde).
-(same). Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra,
Wilhelm Furtwängler, cond. RCA VICTOR
LHMV 1049. 12 -in. $4.98 (with Siegfried
Idyll; excerpts from Die Walküre; Die
Meistersinger) .
-(same). NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo
Toscanini, cond. RCA VICTOR LM
602o. Two 12 -in. $7.96 (in "A Wagner
Concert ").
-Dawn and Rhine Journey; Funeral Mu-
sic.
L'Orchestre de la Société des Concerts
du Conservatoire de Paris, Carl Schuricht,
cond. LONDON LL 1074. 12 -in. $3.98
(with excerpts from Tristan und Isolde).
-(same). L'Orchestre de la Société des
Concerts du Conservatoire, Paris, Felix
Weingartner, cond. COLUMBIA ML 4680.
I2 -in. $3.98 (with Siegfried Idyll; excerpts
from Tannhäuser; Tristan und Isolde).
-(same). Royal Philharmonic Orchestra,
Sir Thomas Beecham, cond. COLUMBIA
ML 4962. 12 -in. $3.98 (with excerpts
from Der Fliegende Holländer; Die Meistersinger:
Parsilal).
-(same). Württemberg State Orchestra,
Ferdinand Leitner, cond. DECCA DL 4072.
co -in. $2.98.
-(same). New York Philharmonic-Sym -
phony Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski, cond.
COLUMBIA ML 4273. t2 -in. $3.98 (with
Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet).
-Funeral Music. Philadelphia Orchestra,
Eugene Ormandy, cond. COLUMBIA ML
4742. 12 -in. S3.98 (with vocal excerpt,
Act III; excerpts from Tristan und Isolde).
(- Prague Opernhaus Orchestra, F. Went -
zel, cond. ALLEGRO 3065. 12 -in. $5.95.)
1882
PARSIFAL ( I Edition)
Called by Alfred Einstein "Wagner's sermon
to his flock," Parsi /al is the final
triumph of refinement in his art at the
same time that it is a grandly developed
recital of his personal religious faith. It is
an amazing work to experience - for
simply "hearing" or "seeing" it cannot be
imagined by anyone who has -a work that
long before the end of the first act can obviously
become no more elevated in tone,
but that keeps on becoming so all the long
way to its close. Whether the profession
of faith is in God, and if so which; whether
it is in Wagner himself; whether it is in
the ultimate power of sheer theatrical syn-
thesis, cohesive and in staggering mass -
that is for the individual to decide for himself.
He may be transfigured, or repelled,
or merely bored, but he can hardly deny
that Parsi /al is one of the most impressive
of musical- theatrical creations.
The London recording was made at the
1951 Bayreuth Festival and the performance
is one of those rare recorded ones that
the listener can actually feel come to life
and pulse. The sound has its quota of
audience noises and the singing is not always
perfection, but the encompassing
sweep of the occasion is all - and most
imposing it is, especially under the broad,
devoted beat of Hans Knappertsbusch.
Martha Miidl is a marvelously dramatic
Kundry, in all her multiple personalities;
and if her singing is not always tidy, it tells
unfailingly. Wolfgang Windgassen's Par -
sifal, especially in the later scenes, is several
cuts above average. George London is a
very moving Amfortas, Ludwig Weber
strong and knightly as Gurnemanz, Hermann
Uhde (who is to come to the Metropolitan
next season) superbly evil as
Klingsor - and so on. Big, bulky, not for
every taste, and expensive, but one of the
truly great opera recordings ever made.
-Martha Mödl (s), Kundry; Hanna Ludwig
(s), Elfriede Wild (ms), Esquires;
Lore Wissmann (s), Erika Zimmermann
(s), Paula Brivkalne (s), Maria Lacorne
(s), Hanna Ludwig (s), Elfriede Wild
(ms), Flower Maidens; Ruth Siewert (ms),
A Voice; Wolfgang Windgassen (t), Par -
sifal; Walter Fritz (t), A Knight of the
Grail; Gunther Baldauf (t), Gerhard
Stolze (t), Esquires; George London (b),
Amfortas; Hermann Uhde (b), Klingsor;
Ludwig Weber (bs), Gurnemanz; Werner
Faulhaber (bs), A Knight of the Grail;
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE