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Two Aspects of a Rhapsody
• GERSHWIN: Rhapsody in Blue; An
American in Paris.
Reid Nibley with the Utah Symphony Orchestra,
Maurice Abravanel condo Westminster
XWN 18687.
• GERSHWIN: Rhapsody in Blue (jazz
orchestration); 7 Songs.
W inifred Atwell (piano) with Ted Heath
and His Music & with guitar, bass and drum
t rio. London LL 1749.
Chief interest in the London recording
lies in the use of an orchestra of jazz proportions
as the instrumental partner in the
performance. To ears accustomed to hearing
the symphonic sound, the stringless,
saxophone-rich timbres of the Ted Heath
aggregation are uniquely indigenous to
the music-up to the point where the big
romantic theme of the piece appears (th~
melody used for so long by Paul Whiteman
as his identifying theme music).
Here, the scoring for saxophone ensemble
sounds for all the world like a poor man's
imitation of the Ray Anthony band imitating
the sound of Glenn Miller.
The competing Westminster recording
offers the standard Ferde Grofe symphonic
orchestration, handled in fine style by
Abravanel and quite surprisingly well
played by the Utah Symphony Orchestra.
The pianist, a respected member of his
local community, but almost totally unknown
outside of it, is revealed as a sensitive,
responsive musician. I find more
of a rhapsodic, jazz flavor in this performance
than in the consciously, affectedly
jazz version on the London disc. The
Westminster is now my preferred recording
(with Morton Gould's a close second)
of this enduring American classic.
On the reverse of the W estminster disc
Abravanel offers a splendid reading of An
American in Paris, one which can compare
favorably with Bernstein's nearly
decade-old performance for RCA Victor.
Atwell, for her part devotes the other
side of her disc to seven of Gershwin's
finest songs, playing them with fluency
and contagious enthusiasm. The accompanying
trio ( guitar, bass and drums ) is
caught up in the· spirit and tlus side
emerges as a winner.
Both discs are well-engineered, with
good sound and a natural balance between
piano and orchestra.
M. B.
that the music is not simple enough.
When Mr. Moore wrote it in 1937-38, he
could not quite manage to avoid Puccinian
lushness and to score with the economy
he has since brought to his increasingly
brilliant operatic ventures. Yet, he
and Benet did come up with a stage piece
that has stood the test of tinle and of
many performances. It is, in its way, masterly.
It tells a good story and provokes
thought. Moore has always known how
to write a tune and how to illustrate an
idea trenchantly.
This performance, by American soloists
and an unidentified "Festival Choir
and Orchestra" under Armando Aliberti,
lacks one thing conspicuously: a dramatic
director. Kurt List, who produced the
DOV Gl-AS M O OR,
e il Ina
aniel ~bster
I
disc, is an excellent musician; but he did
not succeed-if he tried-in making the
singers become actors too. Lawrence
Winters, for instance, who sings Daniel
Webster with rolling sonority, is unconvincing
when he speaks. Joe Blankenship
and Doris Young make mere cardboard
figures of Jabez and Mary Stone, though
they too sing most beautifully. The one
fine characterization is given by Frederick
Weidner as Mr. Scratch (the diabolic
"Boston lawyer") , and he followed closely
by James de Groat as the Fiddler at
the terrifying wedding celebration. There
is also a sense of haste in the performance
which may have had something to do with
the lengtll limitation of a 12-inch disc.
These reservations aside, it is good to
have this delightful piece on records at
last; may it help to bring about many
more live performances of what has become
a real American classic.
K. G. R.
• SC HOE N BERG: Orchestral Variations,
Op. 31; Serenade for low voice and
septet, Op. 24; Four Vocal Pieces, Op. 27;
Canon , Op. 28, No. 1.
Vocal Soloists and Orchestra, Robert Craft
condo Columbia ML 5244.
By more or less common consent, the
four composers represented on these tluee
discs are the most potent influences in the
music of this century thus far. Hardly a
montll passes witllout an addition to their
works-on-record.
Stravinsky's Piano Concerto of 1924 is
a coruscating score. It is an incisive, refreshing,
and highly satiric stylization of
17tll and 18th century musical practice.
When played with tlle motoric brightness
that Seeman brings to bear, it is a
genuine delight. Scherman conducts with
understanding, and the entire effort may
be a match for the other existing version,
MagalofF's with Ansermet (which, however,
contains also the perfect complement
on the overside, the Capriccio of
1929 ).
In the Bartok Sonata (1937), Seeman
is joined by a competent partner and two
good percussionists, for one of many fine
readings that have been made of tills
major score. Fascinating music, tills, by
turns transparent and impenetrable, hilarious
and grim. One could stand I think
to have the percussion miked clo ~er to get
full value from tlle fantastic sonorities.
Although the individual movements vary,
the overall timing of this performance
comes witIun seconds of Bart6k's own:
22'24".
Decca's new Hindemith disc is very
enjoyable, all works in their first (or only
current) recordings. The Concert Music,
Op. 49, I cannot warm up to. It belongs
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