User manual | Dec - American Radio History

High Jideiiiq
DECEMBER
THE
MAGAZINE
FOR MUSIC LISTENERS
50 CENTS
°X:40:0
e0
°
zì
;ng this
A TOSCANINI DISCOGRAPHY
by Robert Charles Marsh
WY LN api
QN
conger
new type
gives you
...on
C
cum-ding
50% MORE
CIP
C Fill
_tM
recording time per reel
stronger, more durable
lUyIar*
polyester film
With Type
LR
Audiotape, you
get the equivalent of
a
reel- and -a -half of ordinary
tape ..
900 ft on a 5" reel
1800 ft on a 7" reel
3600 ft on a 10V2" reel
.
Type LR Audiotape is made on
a 1-mil base of stronger, more
durable " Mylar" polyester film
withstands extreme temperatures, is virtually immune to
moisture, gives maximum tape
life under all conditions of use
and storage.
-
This
new Longer -Recording Audiotape saves time and effort,
eliminates reel changes, gives uninterrupted continuity of recording and playback for any application where recording time
exceeds the conventional reel capacity.
Laboratory tests, as well as unsolicited testimonials by radio
stations and recording experts, have conclusively demonstrated
the superiority of LR Audiotape -in both performance and
durability. It is also important to note that the largest users of
longer playing tape are now insisting that, it be made on
"Mylar" polyester film, the base material used for LR Audio tape additional proof of its superior quality.
Ask your dealer for a supply of longer -lasting, longer- recording
Type LR Audiotape. A copy of Bulletin No. 211, giving complete data and specifications on LR Audiotape, is yours for
the asking.
0u Pont road. Mark
-
AUDIO DEVICES, Inc.
444 Madison Avenue, New
York 22, N.
Y.
Offices in Hollywood- Chicago
Export Dept., 13 East 40th St., New York 16, N. Y., Cables "ARLAB"
LONG - PLAYING 33'/3
R.P.M. HIGH- FIDELITY
00
811ASTIRPIECESs
NOT $ino EACH! --BUT $lóo FOR ALL EIGHT!
SCHUBERT
Symphony No. 8 (The "Unfinished "),
Zurich Tonhalle Orcb., Otto Ackerara,'', (.oudurliug
BEETHOVEN
gong
The Ruins of Athens (March and Choir),
Netherlands Philh,unrouic Choir and Ortiz,
II a//,, (.refit, (: nude mug
BRAHMS
Academic Festival Overture,
Utrecht SI in pho o,
.
Paid l I
,,,
s;f,
c
ou,Iuthiug
MOZART
Piano Concerto in
E Flat, K 107
Amur Balsam, piano, Winter/bar Symphony Orch.,
Otto Ackerman,, Conducting
BACH
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor,
Alexander Schreiner at the Organ of the Tabernacle
Salt Like Cis
NO STRINGS ATTACHED
!
Without any obligation to ever buy another record from us -now or
later -you can now obtain all the advantages of trial membership.
EIGHT!
Of course, this price hears no relation to the
value of the recordings. Even for TWENTY
times that amount, you could not buy these
masterpieces in recordings of equal quality.
Why We Make This Amazing Offer
Actually we were FORCED to make this "giveaway' offer
for two reasons: (I) Only by
.
.
6e
1
The Musical Masterpiece Society, Inc.
Dept. 1111, 43 W. 61st St., New York 23, N. Y.
Dir
WAGNER
MOUSSORGSKY
Me in,.
r,inar., l',. Huir.
SCHUBERT
:ivmpAra.v Na. I
Piano
MOZART
Con'''',
ix E Flat
BACH
Tnrrata nxrl grüne in n Anna,
IN CANADA address: 686
L,
DECEMBER, 1954
you how our
new trial mem-
There Shall Be Music In Your Home
Think how much beauty and serenity
these recordings will add to your life -at
.,
trifling cost. Think how they will set
',Wrenn
l iLy
on Bald
-
arr,e
7,one... Slat..
Bathurst St., Toronto
.ur family apart as one interested in the
things of life. Think what a cultural advantage your children will gain by
having great music as an everyday inspiration.
better
4,
Ont.
a
ririn r,D,,c
Philhar monic, Walter Goehr. Conducting
-
-I
e
MOUSSORGSKY
Night
Mountain
.thu /.rods
.
I enclose $1.00 ás comple e payment: please send me the
recordings of the eight great masterpieces listed above. Also
enroll me as a Trial Member.
I am not obligated to buy any other recordings from the
Society. I am to receive an advance description of future
monthly selections. I may try any cf these -free of charge
-without paying a penny in advance. I may reject any
recording before or after i receive It. And I may cancel my
trial membership at any time.
In the future. for each selection I decide to keep
will
pay special member's price of only $1.50 plus few cents
shipping charges
a saving of as off the usual retail price'
...
hrr,n, Paul Hopp.. ,,.
-
BEETHOVEN
1
u s,,.un,, Cued,, eting
DUKAS
works. As a trial member, you are not
obligated to buy any other recordings
from us -note or later.' You do, however,
have the right to try -free of charge
any of the Society's monthly selections
which interest you. You receive prior
notice of these. You pay nothing in advance. And you are not obligated to keep
those you try
even after you have
played them and hear the interesting music
notes which accompany each selection
You pay only for those which-after having tried them
you decide you really
want to own. And for these, you pay
only the low member's price of $1.50 per
long -playing disc, embodying on the aver
age about 40 minutes of music by the
great masters. A saying of also,"
the usual retail price!
Rui., o/ A.Arn," , mnrrA. rh,.,,
It
Sorcerer's Apprentice,
Utrecht Si
hership plan
ALL EIGHT FOR $1.00
DUKAS
Die Meistersinger, Prelude, Act
Zurich Trr,/a//. Ore b.. Otro
.
.
BRAHMS
WAGNER
putting our recordings in
your hands can we convince
you how extraordinary their
tonal quality is. Performed
by internationally -renowned
orchestras, conductors, and
soloists. Custom. pressed on
the
purest vinyl plastic.
Reproduced with a fidelity
of tone which encompasses
the entire range of human
hearing . .
50 to 15,000
cycles!
(2) We want to show
NO' ' YOU can get a real start on a complete record collection for only a dollar.
Yes. You get ALL EIGHT of these great masterpieces-complete to the last note -for only $1.00.
Just imagine -NOT $1 each, but $1 for ALL
Mail Coupon Now
keep "handing
such magn'hcent long -playing record -
Of course, we cannot
out.'
indefinitely. Once our membership
rolls are filled -and they are limited by our
production capacity-the offer will have to
he withdrawn. So avoid disappointment.
Rush coupon with a dollar today.
The Musical Masterpiece Society, Inc.,
Dept. III2, 43 West 61st Street
ings
Ne..' York
33.N.
Y.
Internationally Acclaimec!
"The recording is of such perfection
seems to bring the artists into your
living room"
Glorious Sounds. Amtin,len. Holland.
It
-
"The discs can be recommended
without reservation to record lovers"
-The Action. Zurich. Switzerland.
"Excellent series of records"
-The Saturday Review, New York
"The beautiful reproduction is a
great merit of the Society"
-The Evening Pout, Frankfurt, W. Germany.
"Uncommonly fine. even for these
days of technical advancement"
-Los Angeles Examiner. Calif.
I
...
In every field of endeavor
manufacturing,
the theatre, concert or contest .. .
there is always one standout.
In HI -FI equipment the standout is Pi c k e r i n g . . .
pioneer in this field, responsible
for the development and introduction of outstanding
components for highest quality performance;
every product bearing the Pickering name
is engineered to conquer the challenge of
in their manufacture
optimum performance
the most stringent quality controls are
exercised to assure and maintain the "Ne Plus Ultra"
reputation for products featured by the ®emblem.
PirKri'ùig
...
Audio
C OtIIflOiltiliS...
SYNONYMOUS WITH HIGHEST QUALITY
lDesi
i i
...111(i itu factul'e...1Jel' foriitance
It's with good reason that professionals use
Pickering Audio Components ... they know
the values built into Pickering equipment.
INVESTIGATE and you too will use Pickering
components for your HI -FI system...
You'll thrill to new listening experiences .. .
.
you'll have the same high quality performance
as leading FM /AM good music stations, network
REMEMBER, leading
and recording studios
record companies use Pickering Components
...
for quality control.
m
PICKERING and company incorporated
PICKERING
PROFESSIONAL AUDIO EQUIPMENT
or //ode weh caw
hat
Oceanside,
L.!.,
New lórk
afperlee
Demonstrated and sold by Leading Rodio Parts Distributors everywhere.
For the one nearest you and
for detailed IAaaRale; wale Daps. H.6
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
Hiqlt
T H
M A G A Z
E
O R
I
The Cover. Ah, yes, the Yuletide spirit
is
amove again, bringing us a minor but recurrent woe. The record companies always
save some of their best releases for the pre Christmas weeks, too late for magazine
coverage. Unable to do anything realistic
about choosing Christmas gift records, we
decided to deal unrealistically with the
problem hence the Grunfeld article on
page 43.
Fortunately, audio -equipment
makers turn out their bright new bounty
somewhat earlier, so we can (and do) make
some gift suggestions there (page 52). We
also suggest, not that you haven't thought
of it, that a complete high -fidelity installation is one of the nicest whole -family gifts
conceivable.
-
Next Issue.
Are writers reading aloud
worth listening to? We asked a very well
known writer
William Saroyan.
His
answer will appear in January; very entertaining, too.
-
M U S I C
L I S
T
Volume 4 Number io
E
N
E R S
December 7954
AUTHORitatively Speaking
Noted With Interest
4
9
Letters
27
As The Editors See It
39
Toscanini on Records: 1920 -1954, by Robert Charles Marsh
40
An evaluative introduction
to the discography.
The Sinister Art of Discal Giving, by Frederic Grunfeld
Don't let that Yuletide glow endanger your record-con-
43
noisseur status.
This Issue. The big news
is, of course,
the Toscanini discography, which begins
this month (see page 40 and the record
section). Just for variety's sake, and because author Robert Marsh emphasizes
the three historical stages in Toscanini
recordings, we illustrated his introduction
with sketches of the Maestro by his onetime fellow-artist, Enrico Caruso.
Jidclítq
A Brave Echo From
Vanished Vienna, by Martin Mayer
45
The story of the Deutschmeister Kapelle band. once the
Emperor's Own.
Custom Installations
Case Histories of Creation, by James Hinton,
Jr
46 -47
48
A guide to biographies of the great composers.
Help Wanted! by Henry T. Kramer
5o
In which a reader reviews record reviewers.
Shopping List of Audio Oddments and Trinketry
The Music Makers, by Roland Gelatt
A
Record Section
52
54
55-93
Review; Building Your Record Library;
Dialing Your Disks; Toscanini on Records, Part I,
Records In
CHARLES FOWLER, Publisher
JOHN M. CONLY, Editor
4.
Roy H. HoopEs, JR., Managing Editor
ROY F. ALLISON, Associate Editor
Roy LINDSTROM, Art Director
Editorial Assistants
Miriam D. Manning, Cora R. Hoopes
ROLAND GELATI, New York Editor
1920-1948.
Tested In The Home
97
Angle- Genesee Junior Cabinets; Audubon Bird Call;
Bakers Soo -K Triple -Cone Speakers; Bogen B5o -4x
Turntable and Arm; Dubbings Test Tapes; Fisher FM -8o
Tuner; G & H Rebel V Enclosure; Kral Rek -O -Kleen Brush
The Ultimate Amplifier, by Emory Cook and Gus José
107
You can't buy this, but maybe you could
Contributing Editors
C. G. BURKE
Audio Forum
JAMES G. DEANE
JAMES HINTON, JR.
Professional Directory
Books In Review
MANSFIELD E. PICKETT, Director of
Advertising Sales
WARREN B. SYER, Business Manager
FRANK R. WRIGHT, Circulation Manager
Branch Offices (Advertising only):
New York:
Room 60, 6 East 99th Street. Telephone:
Murray Hill 5 -6332. Fred C. Michalove, Eastern
Manager. - Chicago: John R. Rutherford and Associates, 230 East Ohio St., Chicago, Ill. Telephone:
Whitehall 4- 6715. - Los Angeles: 1052 West 6th
Street Telephone: Madison 6 -1371. Edward Brand,
West Coast Manager.
.
DECEMBER, 1954
Traders Marketplace
Advertising Index
build it.
113
132-133
134
137
139
High Fidelity Magazine is published monthly by Audiocom, Inc., at Great Barrington, Maas. Telephone:
Great Barrington 1300. Editorial, publication, and circulation offices at: The Publishing House, Great
Barrington, Mass. Subscriptions: 66.00 per year in the United States and Canada. Single copies: 50 cents
each. Editorial contributions will he welcomed by the editor. Payment for articles accepted will be arranged
prior to publication. Unsolicited manuscripts should be accompanied by return postage. Entered as
second -class matter April 27, 1951 at the post office at Great Barrington, Mass., under the act of March 3.
1879. Additional entries at the post office, Pittsfield. Mass., and Albany, N. Y. Member
Bureau of
Circulation. Printed In the U. S. A. by The Ben Franklin Press, Pittsfield, Mass. CopyrightAudit
by Audiocorn, Inc. The cover design and contents of High Fidelity magazine are fully protected by 1954
copyrights and
must not be reproduced in any manner.
3
AUTHORitatively Speaking
Lb'tói PRODUCTS
O#e Record
WALCO
STATI - CLEAN
ANTI -STATIC
RECORD SPRAY
STOPS STATIC DUST.
)60sWatet
Walco
Stati -Clean is your best
defense against dust -major
cause of record and needh
wear. Stati -Clean spray cleans the disc
surface, stops static electricity that
attracts dust. Handling and "dusting"
no longer builds up static. Stati-Clean
improves fidelity, eliminates static
"crackle." Lasts dozens of plays, no
need to reapply each time. Tested safe
thousands sold. Complete with special
applicator cloth.
HERE'S THE PERFECT GIFT
FOR YOUR HI -FI FRIENDS
(and yourself!)
-
RECORD CARE
WALCO
PROTECTIVE SLEEVES
FOR RECORDS
KIT
Walco DISCOVERS
-now with the new
contoured bottom -are
the perfect answer to record
protection. You slide your records into
DISCOVERS, then into the original
jacket. No more scratches, moisture or finger marks from handling.
DISCOVERS seal out dust, protect
against extremes of temperature, accidental spillage of liquids. They keep the
sound safe and sound! Packaged 12
12 -in. sleeves or 15 10 -in. sleeves.
WALCO
REPLACEMENT
1.
FOR
NEEDLES
LONGER RECORD LIFE
A handsomely boxed kit containing
N
i
a can of Walco STATI -CLEAN
Anti-Static Record Spray; two
dozen Walco DISCOVERS, 10and 12 -inch sizes; a comprehensive
Record Care Guide Book, packed
with vital information on record
and needle care and wear, how to
handle and store discs,
how to get 10 times the
wear from your LP
records, etc.; and a
camel's hair brush for the
all- important job of
keeping your needle tip
z.%c«a
clean and dust -free. Your
friends will thank you all
year long for this useful
and thoughtful gift.
Osmium and sapphire- tipped styli are rated
only about 20 to 60 hours of play, after which
they develop chisel -edged flats. These flats
shear highs from your records, ruin groove
walls. Periodic needle replacement is an absolute necessity for the serious music lover.
You replace with the finest when you replace
with Walco needles (and the superb Walco
Diamond) -first choice of major cartridge
manufacturers.
SEND
FREE BOOKLETS
ON NEEDLE AND RECORD CARE
FOR
AT YOUR RECORD DEALER'S
r
4
Waic 0
PRODUCTS, INC.
60 Franklin St., East Orange, N.
J.
Robert Charles Marsh, our Toscanini-
discographer, has taught philosophy at four
American universities, most recently as
visiting professor in the State University
of New York, and has been a student at
four American universities, Oxford, and
Trinity College, Cambridge. His original
ambition was CO sing in opera, and this has
led to a number of musical activities, which
include study at Harvard under Paul Hindemith and a season as conductor of the student orchestra at the University of Illinois.
His present ambition is to combine his
philosophical and musical interests and become "a really competent critic." The
quotation -marks are his own and probably
indicate modesty, which we think uncalled for, after reading his evaluation of Toscanini
as a conductor. Marsh was born in Ohio,
grew up in Chicago and is at present a member of Trinity College, Cambridge.
Each time James Hinton prepares to attack
another installment of his series on books
about music, he writes a long letter explaining that it is impossible to write about reading
about music, after which he goes ahead and
does it. He is afraid, he explains, that he
will seem to be saying that reading about
music is a substitute for listening to it.
Henry T. Kramer, the audacious reader
who takes record -reviewers to task on page
5o, is in the reinsurance business, which he
describes as a mystery not worth solving
for the uninitiate. He adds that he plays
the clavichord when his record- player is
silent, that he envies record -reviewers and
that he is against naming hurricanes after
women (some women are windy, but not
that windy). He has been in print before
but not, he says, in any publication so elegant (his word) as HIGH FIDELITY. If his
convictions on the proper content of record reviews seem strong, he explains, it is because all his convictions are strong, which
he can't do anything about. The saving
factor is that he doesn't expect everyone to
agree with him. He lives in Marblehead,
Mass., and his clavichord was made for him
by two young men who have gone into the
ancient -instrument business in a big way.
Mr. Kramer thinks we should have an article
on the subject. Lute-lore, anyone?
While Emory Cook was being interviewed
on the subject of his career in sound (HIGH
FIDELITY, October 1954), he kept interrupting the discussion about himself with
remarks about his amplifier, which seemed
from his comments to be the marvel of the
age. Seeing only one way to get back to
the main topic, we asked him to write an
article about the amplifier (which is not
available commercially and probably won't
be). He did. See page 107.
For more information about
products advertised in HIGH
FIDELITY use the R eaders' Service
Card facing page 124.
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
MO
3
ANNUAL
NOW! SEE
- HEAR
THE LATEST IN
AUDIO EQUIPMENT
AUDIO FAIR j LOS ANGELES*
OVER 100 HI -FI AUDIO COMPONENT MANUFACTURERS
from all over the world will exhibit the newest
innovations in audio equipment at the
3rd Annual West Coast Audio Fair.
Don't miss this year's great "Audio Roundup
-Western Style " presented in cooperation
with the Audio Engineering Society, the Audio
Components Distributors Association and
the Audio Components Industry at large.
-
- HEAR - APPRAISE the newest and
latest high fidelity components, specially
designed for home -music systems -an exciting
"Audio Roundup" of all nationally advertised
audio equipment representing the greatest
developments yet offered for the reproduction
of recorded or broadcast program material.
YOU WILL SEE
PLAN NOW TO
ATTEND...
ADMISSION FREE TO ALL EXHIBITS
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
WRITE. WIRE. PHONE:
THE ALEXANDRIA HOTEL / FEBRUARY 10, 11, 12, 13, 1955
WILLIAM L. CARA, FAIR MANAGER
358 5. BENTLEY AVE.
LOS ANGELES 49, CALIF.
RICHMOND 7.4650
DECEMBER, 1954
*In
the interests of the consumer as well as
the Audio Components Industry, :Indio Fair
Los Angeles exhibition space has been
limited to audio Component Manufacturers.
Products to be displayed are subject to approval
of the AFLA Admissions Committee.
the
11
itiI1t05I1 `aho?ad[onai
AUDIO COMPENSATOR
AND
PRE
-AMPLIFIER
McINTOSH alone provides the complete flexibility of tone control
required to bring out the finest, or even the hidden qualities in an audio
system. It's now so easy to bring laboratory standard performance to your
home. You can quickly connect the McIntosh self- powered C -8P to your present
system.
The C -8P brings to your fingertips the most advanced in high fidelity compensation techniques, yet operation, as well as installation, is surprisingly easy.
Abundant control is made possible by five Bass (turnover) and five Treble
(roll -off) switches, an Aural Compensator, a Rumble Filter, separate wide-range
Bass and Treble controls, and a five program- source selector control for Tuner,
Tape Recorder, Microphone, and two phonograph cartridges.
The C -8P makes any record or system sound better. Enjoy the supreme
satisfaction of complete and uncompromising audio control, with the marvelous
McIntosh. There's nothing else like it. Hear it at your dealer's.
9950
Model C -8P
(without wooden cabinet)
With Mahogany cabinet
(illustrated)
Model C -8PM $107.50
Model C -8, powered
by McIntosh ampli-
fiers, without cabinet
$88.50.
C -8M, with Mahogany cabinet $96.50.
Model
The McIntosh provides stability, adequate
frequency resopnse, and lowest distortion -features
as important in the pre -amplifier as in the power
amplifier. Distortion less than .3% at full 4 volts,
20- 20,000 cycles. Hum level (inaudible) - 110 db.
All controls silently operated.
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
A TYPICAL HOOK -UP OF THE McINTOSH
0 0
NTER.UNIT CABLE
C o
OUTPUTS
C7 MAIN°
O
C7
AU,
Au
O
A
AAr
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Flat channels 1, 2 and 3, each
with pre -set level control, for
Tuner, Tope Recorder, and
Microphone.
WTOSHei,AB., INC.
AUDIO
COMPENSATOR
MODEL C. 8P
AL N0. ODOO
07
AG
Channel 4 terminated for Pickering Cartridge, but readi y
modified for any other magnet c
cartridge.
V
60,
Intosh power amplifiers.)
Three auxiliary 117 v. outlets so
that record player, tuner, power
amplifier and compensator can be
turned on or off simultaneously.
(Three extra 117 v. outlets are
provided on scoarate flower supply
P
urS
no r.,., at,
Auxiliary output for
recorder in addition
to main output to
power amplifier.
(Not needed for Mc-
C -8
Switch allows Channel 5 to be used
with Weathers,
All- purpose channel
5, for G.E.,
Audak,
Fairchild, Weathers,
Phansteil or ceramic cartridges.
Phansteil, ceramic,
as
well as any
magnetic cartridge.
Variable load resistor, calibrated from 0 to 100,000
ohms, easily set for best
performance of any cartridge on channel 5.
unit.)
'
,
.iIJ
`CCrLIP'
t
The McINTOSH C -8P Professional Audio
Compensator is a complete control center for your
entire system. Its extreme versatility simplifies your
audio installation, yet expands its usefulness.
A
V
IO
I_j
t
`/y
0.61
Inadequate compensation may cause changed or clouded reproduced
sound, which cannot be overcome through even the most expensive audio installation. With
the McIntosh compensation switches, exact tone balancing is obtained for any possible recording curve. The true, transparent qualities of the original sound are therefore faithfully
re- created. Annoying high frequency record hiss, surface static, and noisy radio reception, are
also filtered out with a welcome effectiveness. Precise audio control is at your command to
match the natural sensitivity of high fidelity reproduction, exactly as your keenest listening
taste may dictate.
You'll be proud to own a McIntosh, world -honored for outstanding performance, built
with superb craftsmanship -truly a masterpiece in high fidelity sound.
Send for FREE McIntosh Record Compensation Guide
for finest playback results.
lIHutosh
LABORATORY, INC.
322 Water Street
Separate power supply, 51/2" x 434" x 2% ", allows
main control unit for maximum convenience of installation
prevents any possible induced hum problem from
associated equipment.
smaller
-
DECEMBER, 1954
Binghamton, N. Y.
Export Division: 25 Warren St., New York 7, N.
Y.
CABLE: SIMONTRICE NEW YORK All Codes
7
Exciting High Fidelity Firsts!
INTERELECTRONICS
Now ... in these superb matched instruments ... enjoy the foremost
design advances in High Fidelity
every desirable feature:
startling realism, greater power, lowest distortion,
precision craftsmanship, gleaming polished
chromium chassis, attractive price.
...
IMO
r
owe
v
v
3
W
INTERELECTRONICS
"Coronation 100"
40 WATT Amplifier
Greatest amplifier buy today and here's why.
RESERVE POWER
80 watt peak. EXCLUSIVE
NOVALOOP CIRCUITRY
completely new, non ringing multiple path feedback design, over 50
DB feedback. 40 WATT HIGH EFFICIENCY, WIDE
RANGE OUTPUT TRANSFORMER-sealed multiple section winding, thin strip core. FOOLPROOF
DAMPING CONTROL- continuously variable, exactly matches loud speaker for startling performance. 5 to 200,000 cycle response. DISTORTION
FREE -less than 0.05% at 30 watt level, exceeds
FCC requirements for FM broadcasting. POWER
RESPONSE -at 30 watts ± 0.1 DB from 16 to
30,000 cycles. HUM AND NOISE LEVEL- virtually
non -measurable. DESIGNED FOR THE FUTURE
finest sealed components mounted on Bakelite terminal board for decades of trouble -free listening pleasure. Plug -in filter capacitor. Critical networks of precision components, lifetime encapsulated. BUILT -IN PREAMPLIFIER
POWER SUPPLY. BUILT-IN POWER FOR NEWEST ELECTROSTATIC TWEETERS. Other f
-
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$9950
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..
a
0
r
FREE -virtually nonmeasurable, exceeds FCC requirements for FM broadcasting. 5 to 200,000 cycle response. HIGHEST GAIN- no transformers required with all present phono
cartridges. LOUDNESS CONTROL -continuously variable to your exact preference. MAXIMUM BASS AND
TREBLE COMPENSATION -over 20 DB distortion -free
boost and attenuation. FIVE INPUT SELECTIONS. 16
PRECISION PLAYBACK CURVES -lifetime encapsulated
precision plug -in networks, instantly replaceable if
equalization curves change. ULTRA COMPACT, EASY
MOUNTING. Built -in power for Weathers cartridge,
film projector photocells, condenser microphones. Distinguished satin -gold LUCITE front panel. Custom
finished table cabinets available. Many extras.
all controls on full. DISTORTION
INTERELECTRONICS
"Coronation"
CONSOLETTE
50
$
PREAMPLIFIER -EQUALIZER
Worthy companion to the incomparable "Coronation
100" 40 watt amplifier. ADVANCED EXCLUSIVE CIRthe only preamplifier- equalizer operating
CUITRY
entirely thru negative feedback. REVOLUTIONARY
INPUT
TUBE, Z -729, phenomenal low noise, folNEW
lowed by premium 12AY7 tube. HUM INAUDIBLE with
-
For the Hi -Fi
thrill of your life, hear
the Coronation Twins today!
2432 Grand Concourse
New York 58, New York
Some dealerships still available.
EXPORT OFFICE:
S
INTERELECTRONICS
Electronics Manufacturers' Export Company, Hicksville, N. Y.
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
matched systems are
your best buys in high fidelity
ALLIED'S
High Fidelity is not
expensive at
ALLIED. Complete
systems are available for as low
as $98.50. ALLIED
systems offer these
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Easy Installation:
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FEATURE VALUE SYSTEM
SPECIALLY PRICED
UNTIL JAN. 1, 1955
Color -Coded Leads:
We shall start this month's column
with an item about a subject which
as far as we know, has nothing to do
with music, high fidelity, or much of
anything else normally covered by this
magazine. In fact, this item should
properly appear in the Rural New
Yorker. It has to do with a hen. We
regret to say that our report does not
even concern a recording of a hen; it
was a live hen, and she didn't cackle.
She swung a baseball bat.
This hen was in a wire cage about
4 ft. long and maybe a foot wide. At
one end was a feedbox. The hen
would peck some feed, then run to
the other end of the cage, stick her
neck out and grab a loop which was
tied around the end of a small baseball
bat. She would pull the bat back, then
release it (it was on a spring, apparently). The bat would hit a ball
into a miniature diamond, studded
with miniature players. If the ball
struck a player and coasted back
toward "home plate" the hen would
pull again on the bat; if the ball hit
the back fence, the hen would dash
back up to the feed box and grab a
few more kernels of grain.
Reinvigorated, she'd trot back to the bat,
pull some more, restoke herself after
a home run, and so on, endlessly.
In the "dugout" were three more
hens; strictly unionized, they worked
on three -hour shifts.
This baseball-playing hen appeared
at the Chicago Sight & Sound Exhibition, courtesy Howard Sams, and
afforded a lot of entertainment and
amusement for visitors, particularly
those who were glad to get their
minds off certain other goings -on in
the baseball world at the time in New
York and Cleveland.
What has this to do with hi -fi or
music? Nothing, like we said at the
beginning. Just thought you'd like a
change, once in a while!
And now back to business, with a
note that Mr. Leo W. Sudmeier, 3017
Continued on page
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Changer (9 x 14 x 14') with G.E. RPX -050 triple-play magnetic cartridge
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'"-.
EXPERT
HI -FI HELP
Write today for
ALLIED'S 308 -page
1955 Catalog -your
Our audio consultants
will help you make the
best selections at lowest prices.
complete guide to the
world's largest
selections of Hi -Fi
systems and units.
If it's anything in Hi -Fi,
it's in stock at ALLIED.
EASY TERMS
Hi -Fi is available from
ALLIED on easy payments: only 10% down,
12 months to pay. Write
for details.
e
Send for our
informative 16 -page illustrated booklet: "This Is High
¡
-
Fidelity"
- valuable
guide
to understanding Hi -Fi.
ALLIED RADIO CORP., Dept. 49 -M -4
100 N. Western Ave., Chicago 80, III.
E
ALLIED
RADIO
Everything in Hi -Fi
Send FREE 1955 Catalog.
Ship the folio ing
enclosed.
Nome
Address
City
zr
DECEMBER, 1954
Send FREE hi -Fi Booklet.
zone
State
J
9
www.americanradiohistory.com
Maybe you DON'T have a tin ear!
Does your music system really sound the way you hoped it would?
Make it supremely worthy of a true golden ear by replacing your old-fashioned
phonograph pickup with the sensational new ESL electrodynamic cartridge.
EL&
4
diamond $29.0
Io
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ff -5MLLL L200`LL iLE2 , tilL
Thirty -sixth Street, Long Island City t, N.
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S sapphire $14.95
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
NOTED WITH INTEREST
Continued from page 9
Stocker Place, Los Angeles 8, would
be a happy man if he could acquire
copies of HIGH FIDELITY NOS. I, 2, 4,
6 and 7. D. Quan, Box 87, Ft. Bragg.
N. C., and C. A. Kelly, 1564 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge 38, Mass.,
want No. 4; C. H. Anthony, 205 Speen
St., Natick, Mass., wants Nos. 14 and
Outstanding
noise and interference rejection
with the new
/
15.
Alabamans Please Note
Marier, music director of the University of Alabama's
Radio Station WUOA (FM), tells us
that the celebration of their fifth anniversary on December 5th will be particularly newsworthy because they will
be increasing their radiating power
(ERP) nearly four-fold. Since about
6o% of their programing is music,
that will be good news for music
lovers in Alabama.
Double congratulations to WUOA!
A letter from David
FM TUNER
Lowest
ignition noise
More Binaural
Interest in binaural keeps forging
ahead. We had an item some issues
ago asking for reports on binaural
broadcasts and at that time, received
only desultory response; in other
words, not much doing. There are
things going on, however; for instance, in San Francisco KEAR -KXKX
put on the first binaural broadcast in
that city on September 18, with a two
hour show. Program materials were
tapes and disks.
And there are sure
to be more things going on as program
materials become more readily available; that seems to have been the
major drawback so far.
Keep us
posted, will you, please?
-
Dept. of Utter Confusion
We would now like to say "tsk" to
the manufacturer of a speaker enclosure who recently issued a little bulletin in which he got things pretty well
mixed up, in our opinion, even to the
point of making statements which
could result in dissatisfaction with
some fine products.
Talking about factors to be considered in recommending speakers.
this bulletin says: "Take the problem
of the high end. Too much high -end
results in harshness and stridency."
This, to begin with is not necessarily
Continued on page 13
DECEMBER, 1953
Lowest
interference
Wide -band
detector
and limiters
Single -sweep
tuning
Interstation
noise
suppressor
2- microvolt
sensitivity
Tuning -signal
strength meter
Unique
convenience
Quality of FM reception
k determined largely by wont
is not
heard.
particularly in Metropolitan areas where noise.
interference and reflection effects arc high.
The new 310 FM Broadcast Monitor Tuner Features
wide-hand circuit design permitting outstanding rejection
or ignition noise. image and other station interference.
Multi -path fading and spurious responses
(which show up as reception of the same station
at many spots on the FM hand) are virtually eliminated.
The 2 me wide -hand detector and limiters and full 150 Lc
wide flat bandpass IF characteristics make tuning
completely non -critical and drift -free
and give essentially distortionless reproduction
at all signal levels. The 2 microvolt sensitivity
at 20 db quieting (4 microvolt at 40 (lb quieting) allows
interference-free reception with full limiting action
even on weakest signals. The inter -station noise
suppressor is adjustable on the front panel and allows
complete inter -station noise elimination but also reception
of very weak stations. 'The fine -tuning control and
combined tuning meter and signal strength indicator
are useful for tuning weak signals and antenna orientation.
Rejection of spurious responses resulting from
cross -modulation by strong local signals is better than
85 db, an outstanding design accomplishment. We believe
that the 310 provides the best overall design balance
possible at this stage of the art. incorporating all
significant features and refinements known today.
Unique convenience of operation.
attractive styling and moderate cost
enhance its desirability
to the serious music lover.
°vnd
ond
\°
H. H. SCOTT
FREE BOOKS[ T
385 PUTNAM AVENUE.
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HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
NOTED WITH INTEREST
Continued from page r r
true. Given a good high -end reproducer, the highs simply get out of
balance with the lows
and that is
all- important. A violin (live) is not
strident simply because you listen to
it from 5 feet away rather than 5o,
which is what the unqualified statement in the bulletin would indicate.
The bulletin goes on: "This has
been a major complaint of the audiophile with most of the available speakers. There are, of course, two solutions to this problem: decrease the
high frequency power of the speaker or
increase the bass response of the
speaker. The Tannoy and RCA LC -IA
.
speakers take the first solution
Naturally, this is not a very good
method of getting results
This seems to us an unnecessary
slam at two excellent speakers, and
we can assure you that the goal of
every speaker manufacturer is to get
as near as possible to flat frequency
response from as low to as high a frequency as possible. It is not difficult
to get efficiency at high frequencies;
it is very hard to get it at extreme low
frequencies. Hence it is imperative
that speaker manufacturers do hold
down the high end efficiency relative
to that at the low end. Careful design
and wise (and often advisable) use of
level controls on the high end are
required for anything like level frequency response.
We could go on at some length and
all too easily get into a discussion
.
of speaker and enclosure design
so let's skip on to the department of
confusion. Having slammed Tannoy
and RCA's LC -1A and said that they
wouldn't work in this particular enclosure, the bulletin then says, "Any
woofer will be tremendously improved
if used in a
." What, please,
is a 15 -in. Tannoy?
"The ultimate that
Still further:
we have been able to find so far is
the Jensen Triaxial . ." and on the
next page the bulletin says, "Two and
three way systems are now obsolete."
What is a Jensen Triaxial if its not a
three -way system? We are sure that
Messrs. Jensen, Klipsch, Electro- Voice,
Jim Lansing, Altec- Lansing, University, Brociner, Tannoy, Wharfedale,
well, practically every speaker
and
manufacturer in business will be pleased
to hear that they are now obsolete!
Well, pardon us while we've blown
-
amazingly quiet,
convenient,
the new
attractive,
...
...."
710 -A
TURNTABLE
Motor rumble down
more than 60 db
Wow reduced
to less than 0.1 %,
Instant
push- button selection
of three speeds
..
.
Stroboscopic speed
and pitch adjustment
Torsional
and dual -stage
mechanical filtering
6 -lb.
cast aluminum
turntable
The 710 -A JuoLo.
pie
lira,l,
,
t
Turntable
achieves reduction of motor rumble more
than 60 db below recording level. and decreases
wow to less than 0.1%. by a unique torsional
and dual -stage mechanical filtering system.
Constant unvarying speeds are obtained with
the heavy. non -magnetic, balanced turntable
machined from a single aluminum casting. Instant
selection of 33 -t/a. 45 and 78 rpm speeds by convenient
push -buttons. Automatic braking stops the hoe- wheeling
turntable quickly when the off button is pressed.
for quick record removal. Each speed is independently
adjustable ±5% to permit exact tuning to the pitch of an
accompanying musical instrument such as organ or piano,
or to compensate for off-speed recordings. Built-in
neon stroboscope permits precise speed adjustment
regardless of line
voltage. Pickup -amr
mounting and turntable bearings are rigidly connected to
minimize differential vibration and acoustic feedback.
This system has shock mounting isolation from both
motor and turntable base. facilitating installation since
the unique mounting makes vibration isolation of turntable
base from cabinet unnecessary. Effects of very low
frequency arm resonance and system noise below 20 cps
(where best sound systems begin to cut off) are reduced
by more than 50 db. an outstanding design
accomplishment. Quiet nylon spindle bearings
never require lubrication. in our opinion. the 710 -A
Stroboscopic Broadcast Turntable affords n new
standard of excellence in turntable performance,
with unique convenience of installation.
operation. adjustment. and maintenance.
together with outstanding styling and
moderate cost.
-
Continued on page
DECEMBER, 1954
75
FREE BOOKLET
385 PUTNAM AVENUE,
CAMBRIDGE 39, MASS.
r3
I\1\
HORIZON 20
20 -Watt Amplifier
$84.95
B1
1
/af
HORIZON
Preamp Control
'
$49.95
HORIZON 10
10 -Watt Amplifier
$79.95
N
7P,10
D _O
HORIZON CRITERION
Binaural AM -FM Tuner
$169.95
HORIZON
HORIZON CRITERION
HORIZON 20
\latrhle -- ,\ \I, drift -free FM,
both at the same time or new
binaural reception. Exclusive
FM Mutamatic Tuning eliminates hiss and noise between
Revolutionary new Unity - Unity -coupled output circuit.
I., -- than .2' ¿ harmonic, .3%
Coupled output circuit. Completely eliminates impulse distortion caused by transformers
in conventional amplifiers.
intermodulation distortion.
stations! Phenomenal Sensitivity
.5 microvolts!
-
HORIZON
TO
Built -in preamp control unit
with record equalizer, loudness
control, bass and treble controls
three inputs.
-
5
Four inputs, 7 equalization
curves, loudness- volume and
bass and treble controls. Slips
into tuner or 20-watt amplifier.
For complete specifications write Dept.
THE CHRISTMAS GIFT THAT IS
4
NATIONAL COMPANY, INC.
61 Sherman St., Malden 48, Mass.
ationa
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
NOTED WITH INTEREST
Continued from page 13
our top, but we do think that material
such as is contained in this bulletin
does not serve to clarify the complex
problems of sound reproduction for
the high fidelity enthusiast; we do
not want you to be led to believe that
there is any single panacea which will
solve all speaker and speaker- enclosure problems. There is no single
solution; there are many partial ones,
some better than others.
patented! exclusive!
J
//
L /.
DYNAURAL dynamic noise suppression
What Next?
Having worked ourselves into something of a bad humor with the previous item, let's return to normalcy
and good humor by bringing to your
attention a large advertisement which
appeared recently in the Boston Daily
Globe, in which the words "High Fidelity" were decidedly dominant. They
referred, this time, to "the new, the
with a criss -cross
finest, corselette
inner belt that holds your tummy in!"
Anybody told M. Dior about high
...
The new 210 -C DYNAURAL Laboratory Amplifier
with dynamic noise suppression
The DYNAURAL Noise Suppressor
virtually eliminates turntable rumble
fidelity?
(Thanks for the clipping and the
laugh to Lt. D. E. Lundstrom, of the
USS Norfolk.)
Fairtime
By the time this issue appears, the
season of audio fairs, exhibits and
shows will be under full steam. The
Chicago show will have filled a floor
and a half at the Palmer House; the
New York Audio Fair will have jammed
three and a half floors of the Hotel
New Yorker. In Boston, the stomp of
hi -fi feet will have invaded the Hotel
Touraine. And there will be more to
come: Los Angeles is planning its
show for the loth through 13th of
February; there's an audio shindig
scheduled for Philadelphia, probably
in February but the dates have not been
finalized at this writing; Washington
will repeat last year's success at the
Hotel Harrington on March 4, 5 and 6
By no stretch of the imagination are
we going to try to take you on a tour
of the New York (or Chicago or Boston) show
the New York Audio
Fair directory listed 141 exhibitors;
they filled 31/2 floors and occupied
nearly zoo rooms.
Masses of new
products were shown, with new lines
coming from unexpected quarters. But
...
Continued on page z6
DECEMBER, 1954.
The 99 -A Transcription Amplifier set a new styling
trend by incorporating "front
end" and 12 -waft power amplifier, with power supply in
a compact, attractive case.
Like all H. H. Scott amplifiers, its clean. symmetrical
clipping when overloaded affords power output audibly
equal to much higher formal ratings, based on comparative listening tests. With
control flexibility matched by
few amplifiers at any price,
we believe the 99 is preeminent in performance and
value in the hundred -dollar
price field.
The I14-A DYNAURAL Noise
Suppressor, styled to harmonize with the 99 -A Amplifier
and 120 Equalizer- Preamplifier, offers the DYNAURAL
feature to those wishing to
add it at a later date in the
development of their high
and record scratch and hiss,
but without losing audible music
as with fixed filters.
DYNAURAL noise suppression is almost essential
if the musical response now possible
with new extended -range speaker system
and program material is to be enloyed fully
unmarred by extraneous noise.
The new 210 -C DYNAURAL Laboratory Amplifier
includes the best, most practical features
we have developed over the years
and at a -best buy- price.
Resembling an attractive -control unit".
the 210 -C incorporates
-
complete equalizer -preamplifier.
23 -watt power amplifier.
DYNAURAL noise suppressor
operable on all input channels.
versatile record equalizer and input selector.
unique flexibility
in tape recording and monitoring.
and many other features.
In our opinion.
the 210 -C offers the outstanding combination
of over -all features, performance,
and price.
good
fidelity systems.
W°
H. H. SCOTT Inc.
385 PUTNAM AVENUE,
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FREE BOOKLET
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(AMBRIDGE 39, MASS.
NEW STANDARD OF PROFESSIONAL TAPE RECORDING
NOTED WITH INTEREST
Continued from page 15
practically all of them have long since
been announced in the advertising
pages of HIGH FIDELITY (we had over
15o "exhibitors" in our October issue
alone). Instead, let's skip around very
and our
rapidly for a few highlights
apologies to the many who will be
-
omitted.
REVERE: a model T -tit which accommodates NARTB (10 -in.) reels and
has a hi -fi output (ahead of power ampreamp
FAIRCHILD:
plifier stage).
and 5o -watt amplifier. BELL: a tape
recorder for $149.95; record and playback, packaged unit with hi -fi output;
also a 12 -in. coaxial speaker and a
matching pair of table -top units (we
mean the totally- enclosed, compacted
style) housing an FM -AM tuner and a
12 -watt amplifier. KLIPSCH: a "Shorthorn" kit for $39.00 (wood only);
stands 361/2 in. high. BEAM INSTRUMENTS:
Stentorian speakers with
4,
multiple impedance voice coils
8 and 15 ohms available from one
speaker. V -M: a tape recorder for
$179.95; many interesting features but
no hi -fi output at present. SONOTONE:
a loudspeaker line, also an amplifier and
preamplifier, in the preliminary specifications stage (at Audio Fair time).
KRAL (Philadelphia): a radically different pickup arm; the cartridge moved
along a horizontal bar held firmly over
the record; no tracking problem here
and other interesting features.
.
.
.
H. H. SCOTT had a device which,
from a distance, appeared similar.
We never did get close enough to see
what it was all about and apparently
it was still in the experimental stage.
Scott jammed them in because of an
almost completely revamped line with
many additions and two entirely new
items: turntable and FM tuner. LAN GEVIN, long in the professional field
with studio equipment, entered the
home market with a to -knob preamp
and a powerful power amplifier. GRAY
RESEARCH, another primarily professional- equipment company with many
fingers in different electronic pies and
best-known to the home market for
their pickup arms, was "getting reactions" to an immense preamp -amp system comprising three big chassis (two
for power supply, one for power amplification) plus a standard-size pre amp- control box, using deluxe components throughout and delivering
interest was rearound 6o watts
-
Now
for the
first time
...
a
professional tape recorder that offers both
MAXIMUM OPERATING CONVENIENCE
plus UNMATCHED DEPENDABILITY
Dynacord is engineered to exceed the rigid
requirements of broadcast stations, sound studios,
industry and government. Its wide dynamic
range and many convenient operating features amaze
engineers and audiophiles alike. Compare
it in every way with any other professional tape
recorder and see why Dynacord sets
the new standard of professional recording.
Model DTM Tape D-ansport Mechanism, $350 net.
Model DP-100 Broadcast Amplifier, $150 net.
Model DS -10 Audiophile Amplifier, $75 net.
Write for
details and
bulletin
Exclusive 2- speed, inside -out Hysteresis synchronous
motor. Direct capstan drive.
Exclusive dynamic braking, fast, positive, fool-proof.
Frequency Response: 50- 15,000 CPS at 15 in. /sec. ± 2DB
Signal to Noise Ratio: better than 55 DB
THE PENTRON CORPORATION
777 South Tripp Avenue, Chicago 24, Illinois, Dept. HF -12
Canada: Atlas Radio Corp., Ltd., Toronto
Largest Exclusive Makers of Tape Recorders
and Accessories.
...
Continued on page 21
t
(
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
17,0,!E
S P WAMER
,
r2N SION
a new approach to personalized listening
...`
by
A modest budget need no longer limit the quality and
caliber of your hi -fi aspirations. University offers, for the
first time in audio history, a tremendous selection of uniquely
designed speaker and network components so brilliantly
conceived and executed that it is now possible to develop your
loudspeaker system in successive, relat vely inexpensive
until what you have meets
stages
your listening requirements.
...
Progressive Speaker Expansion by University nakes it possible
for you to buy a speaker today in terms of the system
you want tomorrow! You are thus able to devote your present
budget primarily in the initial selection of quality amplifying
and program source equipment which cannot be economically
altered or substituted at a later date. P -S -E makes your
speaker choice an easy one. Depending upon your goal and space
limitations, there are numerous University speaker systems
that can be started at minimum cost with
immediate listening satisfaction.
*
start planning today ..
the
.
way!
amplifier and program source ecuipment which will
justice to your eventual University speaker system .. .
and start with one of the versatile top quality
speakers or combinations recommended in the P -S E chart.
Buy good
do
so
Build up to a deluxe speaker system with University components
designed that speaker and network can be easily integrated for better
and better sound reproduction- without fear of obsolescence.
Own a P-S -E speaker system which meets hi -fi quality standards
from the very beginning -and reach the highest standard of all -YOUR OWN.
STYLE
--
Do it with University P -S -E! Only University products can meet
flexibility
of application and demanding performarce requirements.
such
Ouauly
RAFTSMANSHIP
CRAFTS/AA-
80 SOUTH KENSICO-AVENUE, WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK
The Dean.
For use in a corner or equally efficient flat
against a wall. You'll be amazed at the results from the C15W
15" woofer, Cobreflex -2 with T -30 driver for the mid -range and
the HF-206 for the highs. N -3 network used to cross over at 350
and 5000 cycles. The enclosure is a newly designed compression
type folded front -loaded horn so completely independent of the
walls and floor of a room that it is truly the one and only "corner less corner" cabinet. By unique internal design, wasted space
has been eliminated so that the overall dimensions of this sensational system are only 361/4" high, 36" wide, 22" deep. Available in Cherry Mahogany or Blond at no extra cost. Impedance
8 ohms, power capacity 50 watts. The DEAN enclosure is available
separately as Model EN -D in Cherry or Blond.
CUSTOM DESIGNED FOI:
A
The Classic.
Containing the incomparabl e C15W 15" woofer,
Cobreflex -2 with T -30 driver for rich full -bodied middles, the new
HI-206 Super Tweeter and the N -3 network complete with "Brilliance" and "Presence" controls, the Classic incorporates some
of the finest University engineering achievements. The enclosure
is the versatile, newly designed folded front -loaded horn which
operates the C15W woofer as a compression driver for maximum
efficiency. Due to this design, the acoustic performance of the
CLASSIC is independent of the walls and floor of the room and
may be used either as a "lowboy" console or "highboy." Base is
adjustable for this purpose. Dimensions: 341/2" x 401/2" x 243/4 ".
Available in Cherry Mahogany or Blond at no extra cost. Impedance
8 ohms, power capacity 50 watts. The CLASSIC enclosure is
available separately as Model EN -C in Cherry or Blond.
014405* SPEAKER SYSTEMS
selection of fine speaker enclosures engineered to acoustically
enhance the performance of University speakers. Tastefully styled to complement
the decor of your home rather than dominate it.
EN -15
Master.
The EN -15 is a continuation of the principle refined by University in which the best features of rear -horn
loading, phase inversion, and direct radiation are integrated to
result in a highly efficient, extended range enclosure capable of
unusual power handling capacity and excellent transient response.
The EN -15 is equipped to mount either a 12" or 15" coaxial or
triaxial speaker. Accommodation has also been made to take
University mid -range and high- frequency reproducers for use in 2
or 3 way combinations. A 12" woofer such as the C12W Adjustable Response Low Frequency Reproducer, or the Dual Impedance
Range C15W 15" woofer may also be used.
Made of heavy, fully -cured woods throughout and finished on 5
sides, the EN -15 may be used in either a corner or flat against
a wall. Available in Cherry or Blond Mahogany at no extra cost.
Dimensions: 37"
x
28"
x 191/4
removable side (usually the back) should be secured at the corners, as well as approximately
every 4" along the edges. All of the back side
and fifty per cent of the remaining inner surfaces
of the cabinet should be lined with a sound ab-
\. TsSa:
lu
1.,
.\1
In
1..
creased bass efficiency. Only 253/4" x 18" x 12 ".
The EN -8 may be used ideally with the new Model 308 Triaxial
speaker. It also has cut -outs for the 4401 tweeter and C8W 8"
woofer combination, if desired. Available in Cherry or Blond
Mahogany at no extra cost; also in unfinished Mahogany.
i
sorptive material, such as celotex, rockwool, etc.
Tuning the Port. The port of a bass reflex
baffle is considered properly tuned for best low
frequency response of the speaker system when
the bass response has been equalized and spread
out over as wide a range as possible. Peaking or
~
properly dimensioned port.
The chart shown indicates optimum port area
for given cabinet volumes and loudspeaker free
air resonances. Once the port area is determined,
the actual dimensions will not be found to be
critical. The heavily shaded lines on the chart
are for use with the size University speakers
indicated.
°
"mhos
i
...
.
/..i%!
'
.
111111
NS
1
o
a
I
;
MAaap./YYp;Wli'
ílYf1NNP_:dP::m®_r/!i®BF d1Po
VgIV°.rlilpi:'m?µEiidlMragrin
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/8E
excessive boominess is an indicatior of an im-
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK
Hit of every Audio Fair across
enclosure which was originally designed to demonstrate the remarkable Diffusicone -8 coaxial speaker. Incorporates combination
rear horn loading for unexcelled power handling and distortion
control, and tuned horn mouth for phase inverter action for in-
®®
'0==x Sv4t9A4
r'nrun
Mighty Midget.
the nation, University now makes available this special 8" speaker
".
Popularity of the bass reflex type baffle is due
to its relative ease of construction, small space
requirements, and satisfactory overall performance. Decide upon the dimensions of the baffle
to be built, in accordance with physical requirements, but try to keep the inside depth of the
cabinet to not less than 12 ". All sides should be
made of heavy, seasoned wood (preferably 3/4"
plywood). All corners must be thoroughly braced
to prevent buzz noises at cabinet resonance. The
,r,.rr ,di..ovro
EN -8
rmiMi/®
110/.
,/'r,'
I
:%:%
1
..
PORf AREA-
SO.IN l.
Write for latest catalog describing
the entire University high fidelity
line of speakers and accessories.
NOTED WITH INTEREST
From NEWCOMB'S
Big, NEW HI -FI LINE
Continued from page 16
ported to be keen. RADIO CRAFTSMEN
showed their new lines, including a
table -top preamp and amplifier in one
compacted and totally -enclosed chassis;
several interesting features. ISI (International Scientific Industries Corp.)
appeared on the scene with a tape recorder of unusual mechanical design:
a magnetic "fluid drive" arrangement
controlled tension and speed of take up and supply reels, thus eliminating
separate motors, friction clutches,
brakes, and what have you; this development bears close watching; unit
accepts up to six heads, costs just
under $400 with three heads, preamplification and equalization channels.
TANNOY: a big "Autograph" enclosure and a preamp, amplifier, and
pickup cartridge. CRESTWOOD: 401
and 303 recorders mounted in consoles.
MARANTZ: previewed a power amplifier; novel feature: a built -in meter
to check bias and tube balance (important on many amplifier types).
MARINE VIEW: preamp, tuner, amplifier, and "Wigo" speakers. TELECTROSONIC:
redesigned
recorders.
A.R.F.: an FM tuner covering range
from 54 to 216 megacycles; purpose is
to tune all TV channels (as well as FM
broadcast band) for sound, thus adding better fidelity to low -fi TV sets.
FENTON: an extension earphone (plug
type) for attachment to TV or radio
sets for hard -of- hearing or to permit
"silent" listening; also imported tape
decks and recorders. WEMBLEY SOUND:
a compact, novel -design enclosure,
utilizing an Axiom speaker. GENERAL
ELECTRIC: a chairside console cabinet
for their components. INTERNATIONAL
ELECTRONICS: speaker system with
enclosure of unusual design. GROMMES (Precision): a table -top amplifier.
AMPEX:
the 62o, companion to the
600 recorder: an amplifier and speaker
in a small portable case, carefully
matched to give surprisingly good
sound.
Oddments: AMI showed a "hi -fi"
juke box; sound was certainly a lot
better than we hear in our local drug
store
The number of imports is increasing rapidly, not only speakers
and changers being represented but
cartridges and a wide range of FM,
AM and shortwave table and console
models
even a car radio with four
short -wave bands; multiple speakers
...
-
Continued on page 22
DECEMBER, 1954
The two new Compacts, with amplifier, preamplifier and control unit
all in one...the new Classic 200 FM -AM Tuner, the answer to years
of demand ... just three of the twelve all new components in the
Newcomb line
line which offers an amplifier for every hi -fi need.
All twelve reflect the engineering leadership for which Newcomb
has been famous since 1937. Visit your dealer ... see and hear the full
Newcomb line priced from $59.50 to $297.50. You'll understand why
Newcomb is your best buy in hi -fi!
-a
-
HI -FI COMPLICATED? EXPENSIVE?
NOT WITH NEWCOMB'S COMPACT 12!
Newcomb offers every music lover authentic high fidelity with a minimum of
expense and trouble in the new Compact 12. Provides unequalled flexibility
and range of sound control. Needs no cabinet. Just plug it in, connect it to a record changer and speaker. But if you prefer to use cabinetry, it includes Newcomb's
exclusive "Adj usta- Panel" feature for easy installation. Simple to move ideal
for apartments! U/L approved.
-
Compact
1O- Asimplified
-watt version of exceptional
10
performance at only
$7950
audiophile net
®C
Compact 12 Specifications
12-watt
high fidelity
amplifier- preamplifier
-
control unit
less than 1% distortion at 12 watts
response +1 db 20
to 20,000 cycles separate crossover and rolloff controls give
36 different recording curves
input selector and rumble
filter . 7 inputs mike input . tape input . output to tape
wide range separate bass and treble tone controls, bass range
-15 db to +18 db, treble range -18 db to +16 db . hum
balance control . new level control
advanced design loud.
ness control . size only 41/2" high x 121/2" x 9 ".
FOR SUPERIOR RADIO RECEPTION
NEW Classic 200 -2 knob FM -AM Tuner
For years now, satisfied Newcomb amplifier
owners have asked for a tuner by Newcomb. Here
it is- the Classic 200 high fidelity tuner to deliver
the utmost to a fine amplifier! It, too, is compact
in size.
Designed for use with any amplifier having its own Controls.
Fully enclosed, beautifully finished to use as Is, or the ex.
elusive "Adjusta- Panel" makes cabinet installation simple.
U/L approved. Output is 10 volts at less than 4c %. 1 volt at
less than 4/100 %. Effective to 200 feet from amplifier. Many
new circuit advances in both FM and AM sections. Results:
30 db of quieting with only 11
microvolts input on FM. I
microvolt AM sensitivity for 1 volt output. Only 61ye" high x
111/2" x 111/2".
" Hi-Fi Is For Everybody" Explains the how and why of authentic
high fidelity How to buy and install economically Informative and thoroughly illustrated
Not a catalog
r-
NEWCOMB
Here's 25c for new book,
"Hi -Fi Is For Everybody."
Please send free catalog
of Newcomb's complete
line of 12 new hi-fi products, plus name of my
nearest Newcomb dealer.
NEWCOMB,
®SINCE 1937
High Fidelity Amplifiers and Tuners
Dept. w
12
6824 Lexington Ave., Hollywood 38, California
Name
Address
City
lone
State
21
NOTED WITH INTEREST
Continued from page
sr
even in table model sets are common
and improve sound notably.
The ultimate in sublime happiness
will soon be attainable for kit builders.
Or, to put it another way, this ought
to shut up the kit nuts but for good:
early in 1955 they will be able to buy
a complete electronic organ, with
two or more manuals and a couple of
dozen pedals, all in kit form. The price
depends on how complex you want it,
how many manuals you want, and so
forth; all the electronic equipment is
said to add up to less than $5oo.
How loud you get depends on how
many amplifiers and speakers you use.
As far as we are concerned, we will
now make two statements: first, if
Mr. R. H. Dorf (who is behind all this)
will send us a kit for a "Tested in the
Home" report we will guarantee to
count the number of parts, but no
more; if we ever got it assembled, we
positively will not undertake to disassemble it for return shipment; that's
Mr. Dorfs lookout. Second, we wish
to urge all and especially those
living within zoo ft. of their nearest
to give careful consideraneighbor
tion to the amount of money which
can be saved by omitting amplifier
Just use
and loudspeaker stages.
earphones.
(Zwaß the night
before Chríßtmao
-
houe
and all through the
not a tweeter waß
tweeting
-
-
-
Kiddie -Fi
Don't let anyone think the youngsters
are not interested in hi -fi. There were
times when it seemed that at least to%
of the visitors at the New York Audio
Fair were under 10 years of age! They
Merry Chrísrmas
L
F C
T
R
O
N'
C 5
were in everything from push -carts to
daddy's arms (mummy's arms carried
the catalogs). At least one pair of
young men, age about 5, were seen
sitting quietly on the stairs, thumbing
through catalogs. Asked where their
daddy was, one replied, "We've lost
our daddy." Said the other: "No we
haven't. He lost his daddy; I'm his
guest." They were transferred to the
Fair HQ room, where they continued
to study catalogs.
Free Trial
Permoflux has announced a free home
trial plan: you can take either the
Largo or the Diminuette home on a 15day trial basis and, if you don't like
-
Continued on page 24
22
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE:
* Listening Quality
The prime function of your hi -fi TONE ARM
...
The GRAY
viscous- damped
108
B
TONE ARM
Gray offers a radical departure in tone
arm design to assure the ultimate in
performance from new and old recordings
33 %, 45, and 78 RPM
up
to 16" in diameter. The NEW suspension principle "damps "vertical and horizontal movement of the arm
stops
groove jumping and skidding
prevents damage if arm is dropped. Instant
cartridge change
Pickering, GE,
Fairchild
with automatic adjustment to correct pressure.
...
For TRUE reproduction of concert quality High
Fidelity music, depend on the Gray Tone Arm.
It gives you perfect compliance and tracking for
all records
new or old
at lowest stylus
pressure. Virtually eliminates tone arm resonances. Today, more and more High Fidelity
enthusiasts are achieving TRUE musical realism with the Gray 108 B Tone Arm. Specifically
designed to meet the most exacting listening
demands.
0.1106
...
...
...
...
L
RESEARCH
AND DEVELOPMENT CO. Inc., Hilliard St.. Manehester, Conn.
Diri.ion of the CRAY MANUFACTURLNG COMPANY
Originator. of the Gray Telephone Pay Station and the
Cray Aodograph and PhonAndograph
DECEMBER, 1954
Gray 106 SP
Transcription Arm
Chosen by professionals for superb
...
Visit your nearest. High Fidelity dealer today
. examine the precision construction of Gray
Tone Arms . . . hear them reproduce perfect
Hi -Fi performance.
...
tone reproduction
...
for every speed
record.
Gray 103 S
Transcription Arm
Leading audio engineers recognize the
true tone reproduction. Specifically designed for 78 RPM
records.
r
GRAY RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT CO., INC.
Hilliard Street, Manchester, Connecticut.
Please send me complete descriptive literature on
Gray Tone Arms.
Name
Address
City_
Stute
23
NOTED WITH INTEREST
for silence and unwavering speed
no changer
compares
with a
ft
Continued from page 22
it, get a t00% refund at the end
trial period. Fine idea; a speaker
demonstrates well in a dealer's
room may not sound so well
THORN5
which
showin the
different acoustic surroundings of
living room.
World's Largest
,i 6.
Powered by the world- famous
Swiss -made direct -drive motor!
of the
a
. . .
This story should come from Texas,
by all rights, but instead it is from Pittsburgh, and from the eminently respectable Buhl Planetarium, at that.
It all started when a certain Antony
Doschek, once a professional musician
and now a development engineer and
high fidelity enthusiast, met his next
door neighbor, Leland Weed, executive V.P. of a Pittsburgh contracting
firm.
Whether you seek your first record changer or wish to replace your
present unit, you should know these important facts about the Thorens
Record Changer. It is the world's most silent changer, with a noise
level far below any other changer. Thorens' direct -drive motor makes
the important difference. The inadequacies of conventional phono
motors have been recognized, but it remained for the skillful Swiss to
create this incomparable direct -drive unit for all playing speeds. Because these are integrated, precision -built units, Thorens Changers can
without variation in quality from unit to unit.
be made uniformly
...
What Makes
a Thorens So
The final result was the installation
in the Buhl Planetarium of a loudspeaker (see photo) which is 3 ft.
high and 12% ft. in diameter! Reports
are that the sound is stupendous, and
we'll go along with the "world's
biggest" claim until Texas or some
other state presents contrary evidence.
Silent?
The design of the direct -drive motor reduces all sources of noise. Direct drive permits a slower turning rotor, therefore vibration is minimized.
plus
Precisely balanced, positioned, machined, fast -rotating parts
cast -iron frame, eliminate the major source of rumble. There are no
rubber belts, pulleys, idler wheels (or other elements common to rim or
friction -drive units) to cause unwanted noise or speed variation due to
wear or slippage. Elimination of "weak sister" parts also adds durability. Lastly, a mechanical filter adjacent to the electronically -balanced
rotor shaft provides freedom from undesirable gear vibrations and
noise. If you are a music lover who appreciates the true meaning of
because it is the
the Thorens Changer is for you
"high fidelity"
only true high fidelity changer.
...
...
...
All Thorens units are powered by the direct-drive motor
1-
'
I
CD -43
High Fidelity
3-Speed
Record Changer
CBA -83
Player
S
-
Automatic
Control button
for each record size actuates turntable, lowers
tone arm. After play,
arm lifts, motor shuts
off. Adjustable tracking.
-S3PA Transcription
Turntable comparable
to other professional
models costing many
E
Also available: CB -33G,
CB -33P, CB -33S Manual
Record Players.
THOR5 COMPANY
DEPT. HF. NEW HYDE PARK.
N.
Y
Add to your list of cabinet makers
recommended by readers: Mrs. (that
is correct) Jean Russum of Monkton,
Md. Contemporary (or Modern) work
only, says Reader Little.
Back Copies
-
times more.
Cabinet Maker
See
your
Deals/-
Write for new brochure.
-71
Those of you who have been unsuccessful in obtaining back copies of
some of the scarce issues of HIGH
FIDELITY might try The Readers Museum Book Shop, 177 Greenwich Street,
New York 7, N. Y.
Or, write Paul H. Paulson, 64 Pet tey's Ave., Providence 9, R. I. He has
a complete set of HIGH FIDELITY (with
exception of issue No. rz) which he
wants to sell.
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
AXIETTE 101
8.inch
5
was
40 15,tt000 cps
$23.20
Admittedly, the performance quality of a
AXIOM 80
10 -inch
4.6 watts
20- 20,000 cps
$68.50
loudspeaker depends upon design and
construction. But we know that you intend neither to design nor
build one. You will select one already designed and
built. And when you sit back to an evening of musical enjoyment,
the chances are you won't be thinking of flux density,
AXIOM 150
12- nch
impedance or cone suspension.
15 watts
30.15,000 cps
$53.50
Certainly, the facts and figures are available for
Goodmans High Fidelity Speakers ... and we know
they will impress you. But, the point we make is that you
select your speaker as you intend to use
it...
not on paper but by critical listening. The more
Olk
critical you are, the more confident are we
that your choice will be Goodmans -for the best
-
reason in the world because they sound better.
Complete Service Facilities maintained for your convenience
Sold by Leading Sound Dealers
Prices Slightly Higher on West Coast
For Complete Literature, write to:
ROCKBAR CORPORATION 215
AXIOM 22
East 37th Street, New York 16,
N.Y.
12.inch
20
walls
30.15,000 cps
$72.95
DECEMBER, 1:954
The sensitive fingers of Gennaro Tabricatore molded a lyre guitar in Naples (1806)
in a shape which seems to be an abstract visualization of sonority. 7n the language
of acoustics such beautiful lines are called "exponential curves ", and scientists
produce an infinite variety of them by mathematical formula. Engineers in the
dim Lansing atelier use the formulae of science when designing speakers and
enclosures, but to them they add the intuitive imagination which leads to basic
design advancements. They add, too, the traditions of craftsmanship devotion
to detail, infinite care in production, meticulous assembly which takes perfection
-
as its Only goal.
-
YOUR BASIC SPEAKER -
The Jim Lansing Signature extended range Model D130 is your basic speaker. Never a compromise, the D130 by itself, in a suitable enclosure such as the Signature C34 folded exponential
horn, will reproduce a perfect quote of every recorded note. If you wish to convert to a divided
network system later, your D130 will serve as an excellent low frequency speaker, perfectly
balanced with other Jim Lansing Signature units.
JAMES B. LANSING SOUND, INC.
2439 Fletcher Drive, Los Angeles 39, California
craftsmanship
carried to
the point
of artistry
Photograph is by Irvin Kershner of a Lyre Guitar In the
Erich Lachmann Collection of Historical Stringed Musical
Instruments reproduced through the courtesy of the
Allan Hancock Foundation and the University of Southern
California. Printed reproductions suitable for framing of
4 of the photographs used in this series are available for
one dollar. Send remittance to James B. Lansing Sound,
Inc. Be sure to print your name and address clearly.
IIw
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Ni Si
SIR:
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1110
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1111
I50
Back in the dark ages of record reviewing the tendency was for the reviewers
to give the recorded performances
under scrutiny the same sort of treatment that the critics of the press gave
the previous nights' clambakes in the
morning newspapers. Some of this
stuff was pretty high -flown, to say the
least, and I read their pretentious bombast from month to month and from
year to year with ever- increasing distaste. Along about 1940 I had had
enough; so I went back over the various magazines and house organs then
in my files and culled some of the
choicest examples of meaningless pleonasm and strung them together to
produce the review of the wholly
mythical work discussed in the clipping attached hereto. (See below). This
was run in my own house organ in
(tine 1941 and, believe it or not
orders for the thing resulted!
Albert J. Franck
Richmond Hill, N. Y.
-
"Probably no more significant recording has come off the presses in recent
years than Symphony No. 3. 1416 by
that superb but generally neglected
Icelandic composer, C. Maxwell Katzenstein. The reading of this supremely nostalgic work gives an insight into
the pathos, rhythmic coquetry and
poetic flow of langurous grace which
characterize the later works of this
curiously mystical composer, and we
owe to the conductor of the East
Bronx Philharmonic Orchestra, Dr. V.
Throckmorton Le Vine, a debt of profoundest gratitude for an interpretation of outstanding luminosity. It is
positively definitive.
"Discriminating music lovers, hearing the sixty -nine records of this set
for the first time, will be overwhelmed
by the unusually sonorous and brilliant
recording which prevails almost uninterruptedly from the first evocative
note to the last despairing sigh of the
double bass at the close.
Continued on page 28
DECEMBER, 1954
Now! You Can Have
Professional Tone Control
with the new
SARGENTRAYMENT
Tuner Model aoa
SR
HERE IS
A
professional-quality tuner,
preamplifier and tone control in one compact unit. Advanced design and simplified construction give the new SargentRayment 808 instrument audibly truer
performance on AM, FM, TV, phono.
Most flexibility, too, with precise accuracy of control over the full range from
highest practical treble to lowest bass.
LEAST EXPENSIVE professional combination of
preamp, tuner and pro-
fessional tone control,
the SR -808 is priced at
$216
FOB OAKLAND
Compare the audibly better performance of the
BETTER BECAUSE
independent of treble control
eliminates heterodyne
whistles, record scratch,
close proximity TV whistles,
high frequency audio hash,
but enables treble boost up to
actual point of interference.
Dual concentric bass con-
trol with
1- position cut -off
filter independent of bass
eliminates turncontrol
table rumble, amplifier overload, low frequency hum.
Plus 2- position bass boost
turnover: 250 cycle for voiced
selection programs; 350 cycle
for concerts or where bass
reinforcement is desired.
...
Dual concentric volume
control with optional 2 -position volume control. Flat
volume response or FletcherM unson curve.
3- position record com-
pensation.
Two types of phono input:
constant velocity and constant amplitude.
Low -distortion SR AM
detector, universally recognized by professionals.
SR -808
at your local dealer
The SARGENT-RAYMENT Co.
1401 Middle Harbor Road
Oakland 20, California
Artisans in electronics since 1926
-
Dual concentric treble
control with 5 position filter
LETTERS
Continued from page 27
announcing
"The intriguing second movement.
the mood is almost
entirely abstract, is in itself a syn.
thesis of all the emotional and ina scherzo in which
BELL'S
TINS
G01d
tellectual qualities of the maturer details of Katzenstein's earlier works.
and evidences with inescapable forcefulness the sound musicianship of
Katzenstein, the man. There is no
room for atrabiliousness in discussing
this aspect of the meaningful work.
"The provocative third movement.
on twenty -two sides, with its haunting
ocarina cadenza after the first ninety one measures (in 7 /11 time!) which
is here given authoritative expression
by the impeccable Sascha X. Flanagan, is at once self-revelatory and
intensely introspective. The playing
of Flanagan is pure virtuoso artistry
angular.
and amazingly fast, and
The conception is a novel one for
barbaric energy and rhapsodic fire, for
almost any other musician would fail
to reveal its full emotional expanse
by playing it only half fast.
"The Colonic Record Company is
to be congratulated upon this outstanding contribution to the recorded
repertory of our day."
-
SIR:
liked your story about Emory Cook
(October 1954) except for one thing:
you say that tape appeared out of
conquered Germany and initial recording was no longer done on disk.
Actually, the tape that was used for
recording disks here was made by
Mr. W. W. Wetzel and his boys at
Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co.
Some German tape was
liberated and brought back here but
not enough for any large scale use.
It was the development of high quality
tape by Wetzel that really started tape
on its way in the phonograph recording industry, and that tape was different from and much better than the
Magnetophone tape.
I
Now Bell engineers bring you a pair of matched high fidelity
...
units
AM -FM tuner and a 12 -watt amplifier in golden -hued
twin cabinets for the ultimate in listening enjoyment and the
maximum in eye appeal. Put them on a table as they are or
mount them in a console
both units fit in a space of less
than a cubic foot. And the new Golden Twins incorporate circuit
design features which have placed the Bell name among
hear them .
at
the foremost in high fidelity. See them
your high fidelity dealer, or write today for Catalog 542 -A.
-
Jeanne Lowe
New York, N. Y.
...
SIR:
Those who demand the finest always choose Bell
Bell
Sound Systems, Inc.
555 -57 Marion Road Columbus 7, O.
Export Office 401 Broadway, New York 13, N. Y.
A
Subsidiary of
Thompson Products, Inc.
'
was very pleased to note Roy Hoopes'
article in the October issue of HIGH
FIDELITY on the subject of Audio
Books.
If you will note our advertisement on
Page 136 of the same issue, you will
see that we are now manufacturing a
Continued on page 3o
I
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
NOW,ou CAN BUY
A
REK-OKUF
PRECISION TURNTABLE
For some time, there has been an expressed need for a high quality turntable with
only the two currently popular record speeds.
This has arisen mainly among the newcomers
to high fidelity who have found that they can
fill all of their music requirements with either
331/2 or 45 rpm records.
In considering this situation, Rek -O -Kut realized that the exclusion of one speed would
simplify many of the design and construction
procedures, and would permit a lower cost
without compromising quality. The result .. .
the Rondine,
is an achievement we
Jr....
regard with considerable pride.
The most significant feature of the Rondine,
Jr. is the employment of the floating idler,
now adopted in all Rek -O -Kut Rondine
turntables. This development has virtually
eliminated accoustical coupling between
motor and turntable
thereby reducing
...
vibration, rumble, and noise to below the
threshold of audibility.
The Rondine, Jr. is powered by a 4 -pole
induction motor. Other features include a
built -in retractable hub for 45 rpm records, a
permanently affixed strobe disc, plus the many
design and construction elements which have
made the Rek -O -Kut name world -renowned
in the field of sound reproduction.
For complete specifications write to Dept. TM -2
REK -O -KUT COMPANY
Makers of Fine Recording and Playback Equipment
Engineered for the Stadio Designed for the Home
38 -01 QUEENS BOULEVARD, LONG ISLAND CITY 1, N. Y.
DECEMBER, 1954
LETTERS
Continued from page 28
4 -speed turntable capable of playing
the 1635 rpm. speed. Since the ma-
It's New! It's Terrific!
T'H
FISH Eli
FM TUNER
MODEL
FM -80
World's Best by I. R. E. Standards
before in the history of Frequency Modulation has there
been a tuner to match the remarkable, new FISHER FM-80.
Equipped with TWO meters, it will outperform any existing
FM tuner, regardless of price! The FM -80 combines extreme
sensitivity, flexibility, and micro - accurate tuning. It has an unusually compact, beautifully designed chassis. Like its renowned
companions, the FISHER FM -AM Tuners, Models 50 -R and
70 -RT, we predict the FM-80 will be widely imitated, but never
Only $139.50
equalled. Be sure; buy THE FISHER.
NEVER
Outstanding Features of THE FISHER FM -80
TWO meters; one to indicate sensitivity, one to indicate center -of- channel
Armstrong system, with two IF stages, dual
for micro -accurate tuning.
Full limiting even on signals as weak
limiters and a cascode RF stage.
inputs: 72 ohms and 300 ohms balDual
antenna
as one microvolt.
Sensitivity: 11/2 microvolts for 20 db of quieting on
anced (exclusive!)
72 -ohm input; 3 microvolts for 20 db of quieting on 300 -ohm input.
Chassis completely shielded and shock -mounted, including tuning condenser, to eliminate microphonics, and noise from otherwise accumulated
Variable AFC /Line- Switch. Sensitivity, and
Three controls
dust.
Two bridged
Station Selector PLUS an exclusive Output Level Control.
follower type, permitting output leads
cathodeoutputs. Low- impedance,
Dipole antenna supplied. Beautiful,
Il tubes.
up to 200 feet.
WEIGHT: 15 pounds.
Self- powered.
brushed-brass front panel.
deep including control knobs.
SIZE: 123/4" wide, 4" high, 8l
-
/"
Price Slightly Higher West of the Rockie
WRITE TODAY FOR COMPLETE SPECIFICATIONS
L. I. CITY 1, N. Y.
21 -25 44th DRIVE
FISHER RADIO CORP.
minimlull llllllllllllln11llllllllllllllllllllullHllI IIIIIIll111lIl Il Illllllllknll11111llll lllllla
jority of the phonographs and transcription players which we manufacture go into public schools, libraries
and churches, we long ago recognized
the importance of the talking book in
the fields of education and religion.
With some of the latest recordings of
the Audio Book Co. mentioned in
his review, it appears that they also
have a great future in home entertainUnfortunately, most of the
ment.
product of the Audio Book Company
is being played by means of a very
inadequate adapter which greatly distorts the voice and causes low warble
to which Mr. Hoopes refers in his
article. Its unsteadiness also accounts
for some of the groove skipping, although at 400 lines per inch, the pickup arm bearings can have much to do
with the tracking.
At the recent Convention of the
National Audio Visual Association,
we introduced our new line of players
with the 4 -speed turntables, and those
in attendance who have had previous
experience with the Audio Books were
amazed to find how good the quality
actually is. It is fully comparable to
the good commercial fidelity on the
faster speeds which preceded today's
high fidelity recording. At this Convention we played all of the Audio
Books except the Bible completely
through, and we did not run into a
single instance of groove jumping. It
is unfortunate that Mr. Hoopes did
not have better equipment with which
to play these recordings before writing his review, as the Audio Book Co.
is being unfairly judged unless their
recordings are played on equipment
which can reproduce the really fine
recording job which they have done.
Robert G. Metzner
President, Califone Corporation
Hollywood, California
SIR:
have just read C. G. Burkes
article, "In Defense of the Faithful," in the September issue of your
fine publication. Before I go any
further, if Mr. Burke's tome was
written with tongue -in -cheek (despite
the note on page three), then please
have a good laugh at my expense .
Continued on page 3r
I
.
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
LETTERS
Continued from page 3o
1 have to come to the defense of the
Lampooners. I don't know where the
Lampooners Mr. Burke mentioned got
their information, but I'll wager your
Mr. Burke never spent a few hours
at a retail record store just listening to
customers. Believe me, I've been on
the Hi -Fi kick for more than any zo
persons (engineers excluded) you can
name .. , . but to call the record buyer
of today a music lover, for shame!
They are sound collectors.
Before coming to Grauer Productions, I worked at The Record Hunter
in New York City .... Salesmen there
will recount any number of unfunny
bouts with the hi -fi bug. To cite one
instance that I handled myself: A
lady came in with her son. She whispered to me in that confidential tone
hi -fi bugs use that her boy had just
assembled a superb hi -fi set at a cost
of over $2,5oo, and that she'd like to
start a record library. So, I got her a
batch of goodies to sample in the
demonstration booth. I wasn't ten
feet away when I had to turn around
and dash back to hear him gurgle:
"Isn't this wonderful? And just wait
until you hear these highs on my set!"
And wasn't Mother beaming proudly?
and wasn't the demonstrator twirling
at 45 rpms instead of 33 1 /3 ?!!! Believe me, this happened, with a slight
variation here and there, many, many
times . . . and it's happening right
now, somewhere. All right, it's human
to make a mistake and play a record
at wrong speed, but you should detect
it once it's started and correct this
How about the great music lovers
who won't purchase a superior performance because it's on Westminster
and not RCA Victor or Columbia?
And all this ffrr and FDS? We made
no bones about records at Record
Hunter: When a customer asked a
salesman for his opinion, the salesman
first found out "if you're interested in
sound or performance."
I'm all for Hi -Fi, the thing and the
magazine
but let's face it
the
thing's getting 'way out of hand
J. Robert Manlier
Riverside Records
New York, N. Y.
....
....
-...
World's
Finest
BY I.R.E.
STANDARDS
M O D
L
E
7 0
P
-
I
FISHER
A/04.J
Jewell
FM -AM TUNERS
THE truest index to the quality of FISHER Tuners is the roster
of its exacting users. An Eastern FM station chose the FISHER
to pick up selected New York and Washington programs direct,
for rebroadcast to its own community. Reception of FM stations
over 150 miles distant, terrain permitting, is a regular occurrence,
if you own a FISHER Professional FM -AM Tuner, 70-RT or 50-R.
MODEL 70 -RT
Features extreme sensitivity (1.5 my for
'n db of quieting); works where others fail.
Armstrong system, adjustable AFC on switch.
adjustable AM selectivity, separate FM and
AM front ends. Complete shielding and
shock -mounting on main and subchassis. Distortion below 0.04% for volt output. Hum
level: better than 90 db below 2 volts output on radio, better than 62 db below output
with 10 my input on phono. Two inputs.
Two cathode follower outputs. Self- powered.
Exceptional phono preamplifier with enough
gain for even lowest -level magnetic pickup.
Full, phono equalization facilities. 15 tubes.
Six controls, including Bass, Treble, Volume,
Channel /Phono- Equalization, Tuning and
Loudness Balance. Beautiful Control Panel.
SIZE: 141/4" wide, 81/2" high. 91/4" deep.
1
MODEL 50 -R
MASTERPIECE OF TUNER
Identical to the 70 -R"1" but designed for
with an external preamplifier -equalizer,
such as the FISHER Series 50 -C.
use
M O D E
L
5 0
R
MODEL 70 -RT
$18450
.
MODEL 50 -R
$16450
PRICES SLIGHTLY HGHER
WEST Or THE ROCKIES
SIR:
If your reviewer(s) erupt once again in
shower of unqualified huzzahs for
Maria Callas' much -touted Norma, I
Continued on page 32
Write for Full Details
a
DECEMBER, 1954
DESIGN
FISHER RADIO CORP.
21 -25 44th DRIVE
LONG ISLAND CITY 1,N.Y.
i
tuuuuLUUUtuuuuLluuul\
LETTERS
WE ARE PROUD TO
ANNOUNCE
Continued from page 31
cancel my subscription even
though I enjoy your magazine like
no other.
Admittedly tastes differ and I certainly concede La Scala's singing
heroine has an extraordinary range and
vocal color (one I dislike almost
will
The Greatest Advance
IN AMPLIFIER DESIGN
IN TWENTY YEARS!
I oo%) .
M
merely wish to correct the impression that simply because Miss Callas
has become a vogue among disk reviewers and some discophiles that we
anonymous, opera -loving peasants are
swallowing her work whole. So far
among her output in this country,
Puritani strikes me as the best Callas.
All the others, including, alas, the
Norma, are marred by the maddening
fast -tremolo and that hooty, underwater quality which has hypnotized,
apparently, so many opera lovers.
Miss Callas' own colorful estimate
of herself as set forth in a recent issue
of HIGH FIDELITY, could well include
the realization that her voice, as she
now uses it, strikes some ears as freak.
ish rather than beautiful
John B. Fisher
Weston, Mass.
I
FISHER
Z -MATIC
-
*AT. PEND.
both are a regular and traditional
product of our engineering laboratories. But never before
have we offered a technological advance so obviously needed, so
long overdue, as the exclusive FISHER Z- Matic. Regardless of
the speaker system, be it a modest 8" unit or a giant assembly,
the vast acoustic improvement contributed by FISHER Z -Matic
is instantly apparent and truly astonishing. For Z -Matic has at
one stroke eliminated the energy -wasting, distortion- producing
mismatch that has prevented the complete union of speaker and
amplifier ever since the advent of electronic sound reproduction.
Z -Matic is now standard equipment on all FISHER amplifiers.
THE unusual, the choice
...
What Z -Matic Does
Multiplies the efficiency and effective audible
range of any speaker system, regardless of size.
The continuously variable Z.Matic control
permits any setting, according to personal taste
or the requirements of the speaker system.
Eliminates need for oversize speaker enclosures and automatically corrects inherent deficiencies in speaker or speaker housing.
Z.Matic must not be confused with tone,
equalization, loudness balance or damping factor controls. It is an entirely new development.
Only FISHER amplifiers have Z- Matic.
A
50 -Watt Amplifier
Model 50 -AZ
100 watts peak! World's finest all.triode
amplifier. Uniform within
db. 5 to
100,000 cycles. Less than 1% distortion
1
at 50 watts. Hum and noise 96 db below
full output. Oversize, quality components
and finest workmanship.
$159.50
-
Master Audio Control
sáC
Radio and
"Finest unit yet offered."
TV News. 25 choices of record equalization, separate bass and treble tone controls, loudness balance control. 5 inputs
and 5 independent input level controls,
two cathode follower outputs.
With cabinet, 597.50
Challis, 589.50
Word to Our Patrons
Your FISHER 50 -A or -0 -A amplifier can be
readily equipped with Z- Matic. A complete kit
of parts and easy -to- follow instructions are
available at a cost of only $2.50 to cover
handling. Give serial number and model.
25 -Watt Amplifier
Model 70 -AZ
50 -watts peak! More clean watts per dollar.
Less than f /2%o distortion at 25 watts (0.05%
at 10 watts.) Response within 0.1 db, 2020,000 cycles; 1 db, 10 to 50.000 cycles. Hum
and noise virtually non -measurable!
$99.50
Prices Slightly Higher West of the Rockies
WRITE TODAY FOR COMPLETE SPECIFICATIONS
FISHER RADIO CORP.
A
21
-25 44th DRIVE
a
L. I. CITY 1, N. Y.
wwt
SIR:
...
The present letter is provoked by
my recent acquisition of a preamplifier- equalizer, which has, of course,
plunged me into the maelstrom of recording curves. My collection of long playing records, something over zoo of
them that is, now has to be cataloged
according to curves. This brings up
my point. I am not complaining of
the multiplicity of characteristics (I
have the Fisher 5o -PR which offers 16
combinations) but rather of the confusion surrounding their application;
which curve for which records, specifically. In this connection, then, it is
that I want to express my hope that
you are not associating your preeminent magazine with this misguided campaign to reform all recording curves to the new one, defined
variously to the public confusion as
the RIAA, ORTHOPHONIC and now
I believe with the AES and NARTB
labels as well. About the only two
things in a dissolving world which may
be called secure are the curves used
by London and Columbia. You can
pick up any of the records made by
either of them and know to a cerContinued on page 33
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
.5
LETTERS
Continued from page 32
minty what equalization to use, as
they appear to have used only one
curve each. My thesis is that it is far
more important to have the curves
presently used well defined than to
have them all the same, starting now!
It certainly is quite evident that the
equalizer is here to stay for some
time, regardless of any action taken
at this late date. Therefore, I should
be very sorry to see any move to
change the curve used by a specific
company, as this would pile only
chaos upon confusion, as the changeover point might well be in doubt and,
even if noted on the envelope by the
company (which many seem reluctant to do), would still leave a situation in which the listener would have
to be highly alert.
My proposal then is for a vigorous
campaign to make manufacturers mark
their curve on jackets in a standard code
(for example, NARTB today could
mean any of three curves), or better
yet in figures. (Urania does the latter.)
I think this is a basis on which all
audiophiles could agree, provided, of
course, that a new crop of characteristics does not turn up
.
...
/,r
J'll!>n
e
7/
TO COMPLETE YOUR
HOME MUSIC SYSTEM
FISHER
ACCESSORIES
MIXER -FADER
Model 50 -M
NEW! Electronic mixing or fading of any two signal
sources (such as microphone, phono, radio, etc.) No
insertion loss. Extremely low hum and noise level. High
impedance input; cathode follower output. 12AX7 -ube.
Self- powered. Beautiful plastic cabinet. Only $19,95
50-PR
PREAMPLIFIER- EQUALIZER
Professional phono equalization. Separate switches for
HF roll-off and LF turn -over; 16 combinations. Handles
any magnetic cartridge. Extremely low hum. Uniform
response, 20 to 20,000 cycles. Two triode stages. Fully
shielded. Beautiful cabinet. Self- powered.
$22.95
Munroe Dolph
Clarks Green, Pa.
SIR:
r-
There have been several letters, as well
as editorial comment, concerning proposed changes in frequencies allocated
to FM and other services. Each writer,
including the editor, has exhorted the
reader to rush a telegram to Senator
Charles Potter protesting any change in
the FM channels. I am in sympathy
with all of the writers; however, I feel
that their suggestion, while having
merit, will not accomplish much in the
long run. Much more might be accomplished if an alternative plan were
offered and supported by all interested
parties including FM station owners.
Such a proposal should recognize and
resolve several basic facts:
r. The FM segment of the industry
has once previously been forced to
change operating frequencies at a huge
cost to broadcasters and set owners,
and against the best judgment of
competent engineers.
2. The mobile services are in urgent need of additional room.
3. The UHF peek -a -boo telecaster
cannot compete against the VHF teleContinued on page 34
DECEMBER, 1954
PREAMPLIFIER -EQUALIZER
50 -PR -C
WITH VOLUME CONTROL
50 -PR -C. This unit is identical to the 50 -PR bu: is
equipped with a volume control to eliminate the need
for a separate audio control chassis. It can be connected
directly to a basic power amplifier and is perfect fcr a
high quality phonograph at the lowest possible cost.
$23.95
HI -LO FILTER SYSTEM
Model 50 -F
Electronic, sharp cut-oft filter system for suppression of
turntable rumble, record scratch and high frequency
with absolute minimum loss of tonal range.
distortion
Independent switches for high and low frequency cut -off.
Use with any tuner, amplifier, etc.
$29.95
-
PREAMPLIFIER
Model
PR -5
A self -powered unit of excellent quality, yet moderate
cost. Can be used with any low-level magnetic cartridge,
or as a microphone preamplifier. Two triode stages.
High gain. Exclusive feedback circuit permits long output leads. Fully shielded. Uniform response, 20 to 20,000
cycles.
$1 2.57
PROFESSIONAL PHONO CARTRIDGES
America's first factory -sealed, moving coil phonograph
cartridge. You are the first to handle the cartridge you
buy. High compliance improves low frequency response,
reduces record hiss and wear. Exclusively with diamond
stylus. Model 50 -LP (33 -45) or Model 50-ST (78
Each
$29.75
Prices Slightly Higher West of the Rockies
WRITE TODAY FOR COMPLETE SPECIFICATIONS
FISHER RADIO CORP.
21
-25 44th DRIVE
L. I. CITY 1, N. Y.
nuuu uuuuuuuuuutuuItuuuIuuuuuiutttuufuuuuttuuusuuuuuuutnttuusutu\
LETTERS
Continued from page 33
Says...
Eddie Bracken
1%re
"ße1
Ja
f the
and into the room)
your speaker hoarnsi''and wheezes.
ives out with g
and sneezes.
ud has you
o see
e
y
has the p
ng
us hair
your p
ANWE dealer
:
lee...
he speaker with
one _
re!
caster economically in the foreseeable
future. The great American mass will
no more buy an extra tuner or converter
to receive an additional TV station in
the 88 to 98 mc. region than they
will to receive one on its existing
frequency.
4. The present split assignment of
VHF and UHF stations was set up by
a few "with monopoly in their hearts,"
to quote one U. S. Senator. The UHF
telestation is in the same position relative to the VHF telestation as the FM
broadcaster is to the AM with the exception that the UHF station has
technical difficulties and disadvantages
only to offer to a prospective viewer.
There are other factors that could
be listed; however, it should be obvious that the only solution that is
equitable to all segments of the industry, including the public, is one
that would combine all television
stations in one continuous spectrum
in the existing UHF allocation. This
proposal has already been made to the
commission, and is actively supported
by at least one FCC member. In addition, it represents a common ground
upon which those who are partial to
FM can unite, not only with other
segments of the electronic industry,
but more importantly with the great
majority of people who believe in
fair play.
M. M. Chase
Los Angeles, Calif.
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Regarding James Hinton's macabrilarious story of Haydn's reunification (In
One Ear), in your September issue:
Gustinus Ambrosi is Austria's most
thus an
famous veteran sculptor
"expert" on the construction (and reconstruction) of a skeleton.
The name of the cemetery in which
Haydn was first buried is grotesque
enough without being misspelled and
wrongly divided. It is not "Hundesturm" which would mean "dogs'
storm," but "Hundsturm" (divided
"Hunds- turm ") which means "Dog Tower."
"Non omnias moriat" was certainly
not Haydn's favorite tag from Horace
or from anyone else, because that
makes no sense whatever. The Latin
phrase should read "Non omnis moriar" which means "I shall not wholly
die."
-
Continued on page 36
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
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LETTERS
Continued from page 34
Unless I am mistaken, Mr. J. H.'s
article otherwise preserves high fidelity
and what facts!
to the facts
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Mr. Klaus George Roy is most temperate in his manner of calling attention to faults so egregious, and I am
grateful to him. His clarification of
Gustinus Ambrosi's status is especially
interesting. It is reassuring to know
that the bones of Haydn are in the care
of a distinguished artist, and I only
regret my lack of information about
The
him at the time of writing.
spelling " Hundesturm" was copied
with uncritical delight from one of the
sources I consulted; it was much too
good to be true, I realize, and should
have been checked with proper sobriety. The end -of-line hyphenation
is unfortunate, too, but this is a kind
of problem that is seldom completely
solved by publications whose contents
are multilingual. Still, even with the
correction, I am inclined to worry
about those dogs, especially since the
tower doesn't belong to them. Where
would they go if a dog's storm were to
blow up? As to the garbling of Horace,
I plead not guilty. It needs no gold medal scholar to tell that the lines as
they stand in print are meaningless,
whether in Latin, Choctaw, Uzbek, or
any other language. It isn't even a
It is typographical
misquotation.
gibberish. However, so long as men
write and read, such things will turn
up. To paraphrase, at the risk of
sacrificing M. Valerius Martialis on the
altar of the keyboard: Sint bona, mint
quaedam mediocria, mint mala plura quae
legit hic: aliter non fit, Klaus George,
liber. OK?
James Hinton, Jr.
New York, N. Y.
SIR:
It seems
to me that some thought
should be given to the handicapped
persons that attend the audio shows
and must compete with the crowds that
swarm through those small rooms.
I am sure that their intent to buy is
of a much higher percentage than
so why not have a
most who attend
day set aside for attendance by the
handicapped, even if it does require
an extra day?
Marvin Kaplan
Easton, Pa.
-
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
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HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
AS THE
EDITORS
AT THIS time of year it seems appropriate to consider
that phenomenon of the high fidelity industry known as
the audio show. It is a little hard to determine how many
there have been so far this season, since deciding what constitutes an audio show is just about as hard as specifying
what is and what is not high fidelity. However, up to now
we have paid for an exhibit room in shows at San Francisco, Chicago, New York, and Boston. Before the season
is finished, we expect to participate in shows at Los Angeles,
Philadelphia, and Washington. That makes a total of
seven, of which the longest established and biggest is
New York.
The exhibitors' directory for this "Audiorama" listed
141 companies who used nearly zoo rooms for their displays, spread out over three and a half floors of the Hotel
New Yorker. We have no idea how many products were
displayed, but five per exhibitor would be very conservative; to each is more likely. At the time of this writing,
attendance- figures have not been released; again, 30,000
is probably conservative.
Perhaps we should now voice an exultant huzzah
and
which would summarize our feelings excellently
move on to other topics
but the shows need a second
and a thoughtful look from all concerned: visitors and
exhibitors. What, for instance, does the visitor expect and
get? For one thing, he can expect to see (and hear) pracand
tically every piece of high fidelity equipment made
that is exactly what is on display. Does he see (or hear)
it? Well, unless the visitor is hardy, persistent, and has
plenty of time, the chances are he will not see it all.
Figure it out for yourself. Even if we are ultra-conservative and say only five pieces of equipment per exhibitor,
the total to be admired is over 700. Then if we really
pound along, giving our average visitor only 6o seconds
for each piece of equipment (and that includes time required to squeeze through the halls from one room to
another, waiting in line to talk with the exhibitors' representatives, and so forth)
well, that adds up to almost
12 hours of steady, hard sight- seeing. It certainly cannot
be done in one day (the longest day at the New York
show was nine hours), and two days of exhibit- seeing
would be enough to discourage even the most hard -bitten
of hi -fi enthusiasts.
Aside from seeing equipment, the visitor can hear some
types of hi -fi components, notably loudspeakers. Whether
he can judge them is another matter. There seems to be
no real answer to the loudness problem. Hattie Richardson, of Audio Magazine, toured the New York show with
a sound -level meter. In the HIGH FIDELITY rooms, which
had a sign outside "Come in and rest your ears," the
loudness level ran between 75 and 8o db, or about the same
as a noisy factory. In rooms where equipment was being
...
--
-
DECEMBER, 1954
SEE IT
demonstrated, the pain level was frequently approached.
Why? Because, as one exhibitor after another put it, "if
I keep it soft, they drift out; hit it hard, and they come
in in droves." And droves are what exhibitors want,
naturally.
From the manufacturer's -- as well as the visitor's
point of view, the shows are both a marvelous opportunity
and something of a problem, the problem having to do
almost exclusively with the cost. Seven fairs per season,
for example, add up to a heavy expense and a considerable
drain on manpower. Not all manufacturers attend all
shows, of course; but the number of major shows increases
every year. Does business and profit increase proportionately? That's the $64 question that only time is going
to answer.
All this is not intended to imply that we think that
audio shows are not worth while, educational and helpful
to all concerned. Rather, we have pointed out some of the
problems, as we see them, in the hopes that it will encourage you, the visitor, to write us your thoughts and
opinions, so we may relay them to audio -show entrepreneurs, and so that the shows can be made more worth
while and interesting next year. The subject of audio
shows is now on the table for discussion; what do you
think is right
and wrong
about them?
-
-
-
READERS may remember our discussion on this page
of the question of standardization
of playback characteristics for tape equipment.
We are glad to report that industry reaction to the
editorial was generally favorable and all agreed that standardization should be achieved as soon as possible. Since
then, the Magnetic Recording Industry Association has
held its second annual meeting and set up a series of subcommittees to move ahead promptly toward securing agreement within the industry on several sets of standards,
including playback characteristics and arrangement of heads
for binaural recording.
Since there are basically only two ways of arranging the
heads for binaural recording
vertically stacked, one
above the other, or horizontally staggered, one following
the other
the problem of standardization there is reasonably simple. Nearly everyone we have talked to seems
to be in favor of the stacked arrangement, with which we
heartily concur, for one reason alone if no other: tape so
recorded can be edited.
Playback characteristic standards will be slower in coming, because there is all sorts of room for discussion.
Nevertheless, the MRIA is to be congratulated for getting
to work quickly, and we wish them every success with a
complex but urgent problem.
C. F.
in our September issue
-
-
-
39
Toscanini on Records: 1920 -1954
by
ROBERT CHARLES MARSH
Mr. Marsh began assembling materials for this project several years ago;
the actual writing started after the Maestro announced his retirement
last spring. This magazine commissioned the work, though it will appear
later between hard covers as part of a book. For convenience's sake, we
have separated the introduction from the actual discography. Part 1
1920 through 1948- will be found in the Record pages.
of the latter
BETTMANN ARCHIVE
-
Sketches and caricatures of the Maestro in mid -career by Enrico Caruso.
ON DECEMBER 18, 1920, Arturo Toscanini gathered members of an Italian orchestra with which
he was touring the United States into a compact
group before the acoustical apparatus of the Victor Talking Machine Company in a Camden, New Jersey, studio
and made his first recordings: a minuet from a Mozart
symphony and a Respighi transcription of a work by the
father of Galileo.
Toscanini was at the mid -point of a long and remarkable
career. A man of 53, he had been conducting for 34 years;
34 more years were to pass before he retired from the active direction of his last, and probably finest, orchestra.
Since the Nineties he had been regarded as the foremost
Italian conductor of his time, and many were now hailing
him as a musician of unequaled powers. Between that
day and this, some 225 Toscanini recordings have been
made and approved for release, giving the Maestro a recorded repertory of about 16o works, roughly 7o of which
exist in more than one version. (The champion in this
field is the Scherzo from Mendelssohn's Midsummer
Night's Dream music: five different recordings.) Over
20,000,000 copies of Toscanini records have been sold
for more than $33,000,000, according to RCA Victor sales statisticians.
This is a listing and evaluation of his records, a preliminary appraisal of the documents in sound which
Toscanini has left for the generations who will never hear
him in a concert hall and who will have to rely upon recordings to understand the principles of honesty -in -musicianship for which he always stood and to appreciate his
contribution to the art of orchestral performance.
Recording is not a new thing, but faithful reproduction of anything as complex as the sound of a symphony
orchestra is a recent phenomenon. The acoustical method
was adequate for preserving human voices; recordings
of singers made even 5o years ago give a reasonably accurate impression of the artist. Pre -electrical recordings
of symphony orchestras, on the other hand, are poor as
a group; and although some early electrical recordings
have life in them in spite of limited fidelity, really faithful
reproduction of orchestral sound is less than 20 years
old. Now, if one were to document phonographically the
68 years of Toscanini's career, it would be necessary first
to have adequate disks from his early period, and then to
have widely spaced re- recordings of a number of works so
40
that major changes in his manner of performance could
be noted. The recordings necessary for such documentation do not exist, though acetates of NBC Symphony
broadcasts, air -check recordings of his broadcasts with
the Philharmonic- Symphony of New York, and similar
materials extend the available recordings far beyond the
list of commercially released disks given here. Unfortunately, technicalities prevent the circulation of recordings
of broadcasts, rehearsals, etc., even for study purposes.
One hopes, however, that in time some of this additional
Toscanini material will be available to students in the form
of society issues or on some other restricted basis.
For half of his career Toscanini made no records. In
middle life we have a brief acoustical series from 192o /21
and early electrical recordings from 1926 and 1929. At 69,
Toscanini made the great 1936 series with the Philharmonic- Symphony Orchestra of New York, and from that
date to the present there have been recording sessions at
frequent intervals, though there have been some seasons
in which Toscanini made no records. It is the septuagenarian Maestro who began to record liberally after 1937,
and it is the octogenarian Toscanini who comes to us
with high fidelity. He has said in the past that he would
conduct until he is 9o, and I feel that if he wishes he can
fulfill this promise. Although he no longer wants to be
committed for a winter season, I do not think that the
last Toscanini concert or recording session has taken place.
Nonetheless, what we have on modern disks comes from
the final decades of a very long career. Toscanini the
musician has been before the public and the critics since
1886; the high fidelity recordings are the work of the
Old Man.
Toscanini has always viewed making records as an
ordeal, and until fairly recently he was not especially interested in putting his performances on disks. The drastic reduction of the relative levels of volume, the lack of
presence, and the loss of tonal values, together with the
general artificiality of recorded sound, made it difficult
for him to understand how one could secure musical satisfaction from records. Coupled with this was his perfectionism and his demand that no record should be released
without his approval. This made a Toscanini recording
session something of a nightmare. On 78 rpm a single
four minutes of tense, and otherslip could ruin a side
wise perfect, work. A series of slips could result in his
-
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
rejection of an entire album. One factor in the increase
of Toscanini recordings in recent years has been the
introduction of tape recording and the resultant ease in
editing masters.
The most celebrated instance of a long and expensive
series of recording sessions producing nothing at all for
commercial release was Toscanini's 1942 series with the
Philadelphia Orchestra, when the Pathétique, La Mer, Death
and Transfiguration, the Schubert Ninth and Berlioz's
Queen Mab Scherzo were recorded. Technically the performances had minor flaws, though some were approved,
but the recording was at too low a level to permit correction
by dubbing, and in some instances no second masters
were cut; so when in a tragic accident the masters were
damaged in the electroplating process, the whole series
became an almost total loss, so far as concerns commercial
release. Happily all these works have been remade with
the NBC Symphony, though not, of course, with the
Philadelphia's distinctive tone.
Early in the Forties, Walter Toscanini constructed a
sound system for his father which made use of 16 speakers
wired in parallel and mounted in groups of four. This
provided a sense of nondirectional sound emerging from
a wide source, and with adequate volume the Maestro
was able to secure some feeling of orchestral presence.
Since then the household's audio furnishings have changed
and multiplied vastly. Walter Toscanini now presides
over a very well equipped sound -laboratory in what was
once a billiards room. The Maestro's studio is fitted with
a coaxial speaker in a folded -horn enclosure; in his enormous
living room he listens to an Altec 82o -A, fed by a 90 -watt
custom -built amplifier in the laboratory. The increase in
the number of recordings he has made
in recent seasons can be attributed in
part to his realization of advances in
recording techniques.
A great deal has been written to explain the unique qualities in Toscanini's
musicianship. Such explanation is difficult, and since simple, misleading answers
are easier to give than complex, accurate
ones, a great many naive or incorrect
statements have been made. We are
told, for example, that the impact of a
Toscanini performance derives from absolute fidelity to the score. This, certainly, is misleading; for though Toscanini is scrupulous in making no unwarranted changes in the music and has
come to loathe the word "interpretation"
BETTMANN ARCHIVE
and what is done in its name, he does
deviate from the printed music. Unlike a Stock, he does
not add extra bars to a Schumann symphony or an organ
to Chaussons, and unlike a Stokowski he does not subject
Wagner to "symphonic synthesis" or eliminate the coda
to Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet. But he does make
changes. I have looked at some of the scores on his
shelves and they are full of the sort of markings that one
would expect to find in a scholar's library: corrections of
printer's errors, inconsistencies in the composer's notation,
DECEMBER, 1954
and (most important) mistakes in the composer's calculation, such as bad disposition of parts which obscures
harmonic progression or which buries melodic lines under
the texture of the orchestration. If Brahms gives the
horn a low note that does not sound well, Toscanini reserves the right to cut it out, and in this he is merely fulfilling his duties as a conductor.
In eighteenth- century works the printed score often gives
incomplete instructions as to the details of performance,
particularly with respect to dynamics, and here careful
study and editing of the parts is a necessary responsibility
of a conductor. Toscanini is a fine enough scholar to do
this extremely well, while Koussevitzky, for instance, was
notoriously weak along these lines. Toscanini's wonderful
performance of La Mer is due partly to the painstaking
manner in which he has edited the score, doubling the
parts to make them sound, when he felt the original orchestration was too light, and adjusting the dynamics so
that every line of the instrumentation could be heard.
For these changes he went to Debussy seeking permission,
which was granted. However, it is not this fidelity or
musical scholarship of itself that accounts for Toscanini's
excellence as a conductor, since he shares these qualities
with musicians of lesser stature.
We are told that Toscanini is a master of the orchestra,
that he is familiar with the technique of all the instruments,
and that with years of experience to draw upon he should
be expected to use their resources to maximum effect.
This, too, is true but incomplete. Many conductors are
thoroughly familiar with the resources of the orchestra
and can produce effects which, as effects go, are just as
spectacular as those Toscanini can command. The Boston Symphony under Koussevitzky and
the Philadelphia Orchestra under Stokowski were both just as fabulously
beautiful as any orchestra under Toscanini. One can agree, then, that Toscanini knows the orchestra forward and
backward, but this is not the reason for
his primacy among conductors.
The same must be said of his supposedly unique evocative power. He is a splendid disciplinarian, as are many other conductors; more than this, he can get men
to share his intensity and give themselves
to the music without holding any feeling
or emotional energy in reserve. This is a
rare quality, but I do not think that
Toscanini is the only conductor of our day
to possess it, and it is not the thing that
sets him apart from his contemporaries.
Another explanation tells us that Toscanini is the
master of styles, that he always plays music in the idiom
best suited to it, thereby stating it in the most effective
manner. This is another partial truth. Toscanini is really
the master of only one style, his own, but this is based
so securely on what seem to be fundamental principles of
good musical performance (for example, that the ensemble
should be so balanced that every line of the orchestration
can be heard) that it is virtually a universal style and right
41
for everything. Persons who make an issue of style usually
mean by this the traditional manner in which works are
played, and in this sense Toscanini rejects style completely. He spurns the distortions and sentimentality that
usually go with Tchaikovsky, the Romberg approach to
Schubert, the muddy sounds that are supposed to capture
the spirit of Brahms, and the emasculating "Viennese"
mannerisms that are inflicted upon Beethoven. The Toscanini style is based upon years of analytic study of scores
with the determination to play them honestly and effectively.
THERE ARE other generalizations that are equally
faulty: that Toscanini's tempi are always faster than what
is usual for the work, that they never vary from one performance to another, that they are always metronomically
exact. Certainly, Toscanini's sense of tempo is extraordinarily keen, but his tempi in a given work do change from
one performance to the next, and over the years his performances of some works have altered a good deal. He
has played a Brahms symphony one way in the spring
and another way the following autumn. Some works he
has speeded up and others he has slowed down. Similarly,
though some of his performances are markedly faster
than those of other conductors, some are also slower. The
fact is that in these things Toscanini is no different from
many of his contemporaries. His performances are living
things, produced from the heart and mind of an intense
and perceptive musician, and it is inevitable that they
should
at different times and under different conditions
change.
The truth of the matter, it seems to me, is that Toscanini's unique qualities come from his understanding of
the nature of music and from a sense of dedication
to an ethic of honest musicianship in
which it is not the great maestro but the
great composer who speaks through the
orchestra. For him the task of the conductor is to master the score and combine
intelligence with musical skill in giving
voice to what the composer has written.
The gap between Toscanini and the "interpreter- conductor," who places himself
above the composer and uses the music
and the orchestra as vehicles for the assertion of his will and the enlargement of his
ego, cannot be bridged; and because so
many conductors have allowed themselves to be affected in this way the selfless
musicianship of Toscanini is alone sufficient
to place him in a category by himself.
It is not straining an analogy to speak of
music as a language. In a word -language
used expressively, as in poetry, we have
the elements of the meaning of words,
accent, rhythm and tempo; the combination of these things, as we read a poem,
gives us our feeling of coherence, continuity and form. A poem is an artistic unity.
- -
42
If we change words, drop out or rearrange lines, or read
with accents other than those the poet expected the words
to have, we destroy the integrity of the work and substitute an artless muddle. In music the units are not words
but combinations of sounds, and just as any word cannot
follow any other word and still make sense, so certain
combinations of sounds have a significance when followed
by certain other combinations of sounds that they would
not otherwise possess. It is this fundamental thing about
tonality, certain sounds seeming to lead naturally into other
sounds, that gives us a basis for harmony and that allows
the creation of feelings of tension and repose which, in a
rhythmic pattern, are the fundamentals of musical structure.
The basis of a Toscanini performance is the rhythmic
pattern he has selected as best fitted to the expressive content of the music. This rhythmic foundation does not
change in the work except when the composer has indicated that it should. There is consequently a line to the
performance, a steady propulsive force which is always
felt and which is never sacrificed to a special effect, but is
always present and gives the work coherence and cumulative power. The wonderful plastic qualities of Toscanini
performances come from the fact that within this rhythmic
pattern he can pass from the softest to the loudest dynamic
levels and through a score of changes in expression or
orchestral color without losing the integral drive of the
harmonic rhythm. The nature of a work of music is that it
must be revealed as a sequence in time, but the composer
and the conductor musc see it as a structural unity in which
all parts are properly balanced in terms of the entire composition. The unique quality of Toscanini performances
comes, essentially, from his magnificent sense of form.
In recent years that sense has caused him to eliminate
the most elementary of rhetorical devices. We are all
familiar with the habit of slowing up on concluding chords,
so that they come dah DUM dah (say).
Toscanini once did this to a limited degree,
but today he has eliminated nearly all
rhetorical expression from his playing, and
this is probably the greatest contrast between his conducting and that of German
musicians. Those who say they don't
like Toscanini are probably saying that
they don't like the absence of rhetoric;
but after one senses the greater intensity of
Toscanini's "singing style" most rhetoric
seems crude and tasteless.
Let us contrast Toscanini with his bête
noire, Furtwängler. The Furtwängler method is to allow the music to fall naturally
into phrases and groups of phrases, and
these simple statements are spun out to
the length of the work. In music for which
Furtwängler has special affinity, such a
performance can be eloquent, moving and
beautiful, though lacking in intensity, cohesion and cumulative power. In works
for which Furtwängler has no special
affinity, or in which he wishes to make a
BETT MANN
great effect, this
Continued on page 122
ÍI ARCHIVE
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
The Sinister Art of Discal Giving
Afraid
Hindemith old-bat this
season, or Brahms bromidic? Do collectors awe and
phonophiles frighten you? Take heart. All you need
is a smattering of know -how
and malice aforethought.
to pick a gift- record? Is
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by
FREDERIC GRUNFELD
AMONG TWO DOZEN classic examples of how to
give records for Christmas, only one is of Midwestern
, who
origin. The case concerns Ballard Bestoon H
,
lorded it over all other audiophiles in the town of A
Michigan, only to be taken down several pegs by the
seasoned Record Connoisseur, Wilfred G. Crane, now a
successful oil man and since removed to Tulsa, Oklahoma. However, at the time, Crane was only a 10 -watt
amplifier bank clerk.
By virtue of an immoderate income as a grain- elevator
operator, H
could afford a house completely wired
for sound, sporting the best and most expensive sorts of
equipment. At his weekly "musicales" as he liked to call
them, he would demonstrate to a small coterie of admiring
friends a stunning range of sonic effects.
gift -wrapped
At Christmas time, Crane gave H
package which upon opening was found to contain a
single 78 -rpm record protectively swathed in tissue
paper and corrugated cardboard. "It's something I want
you to have, specially," Crane announced with the excited air of a spaniel flushing his first covey.
"It's Dajos Bela and Salon Orchestra," he said, reading
the label upside -down, "Been looking for it for years.
The way he plays these Hungarian Dances is beyond
comparison. Finally found it on my last trip to Chicago.
Some allowances you may have to make, but for 1933
don't you think the sound is spacious and resonant, eh ?"
Of course, Crane had actually found the disk in a pile
left in the attic of his mother's boarding house, and had
then rubbed dust and grit into the grooves in the manner
of a furniture- dealer "antiquing" or liming oak.
H
, at first nonplused, later reciprocated graciously
with a three-record LP album, apologizing for "not having
had time to go out and get something special, but you
know how hard it is to choose the right music for an exH
has since become extremely 78pert anyway."
conscious and now owns a large collection of bad- sounding rarities. He is no longer in any danger of being thought
hi -fi bourgeois or nouveau- musical, and is well known as
a man with "high respect for lasting values in recordings."
The knob on his rolloff switch is nearly worn out. On the
other hand, Crane never bothers with 78s, though his
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DECEMBER, r954
Record Connoisseur status originated well back in the
78 era.
Drdla was one of the few pieces of out-of-the -way information one had to remember in those days, when to
be a "Record Connoisseur" one was only required to converse fluently on the merits of one (better) version as
compared to the flaws of another (worse). There were
never more than two of anything and in many cases not
even one, so the only hazard was being caught off-base
discussing non -existent issues.
Many of the early Record Connoisseurs had to throw
in the sponge once LP really got under way. As though
new artists, orchestras, composers and titles weren't
enough, new labels and trademarks, were added in such
numbers as to tax the memory of even a multiple -game
chess player. Maintaining Record Connoisseur status has
become almost impossible for amateurs, who are apt to
be accosted without warning by friends who ask "Have
you heard the new version of the War March of the Priests
from Athalie?" whereupon the answer must be unhesitatingly automatic: "Which do you mean, Artur Spiessburger
and His Collegium Musicum, or the one with Dragée and
L'Orchestre Symphonique de France, the Paris pick -up
group ?" Such facts are pay -off knowledge for the Connoisseur but they must be cultivated assiduously.
(Simeon Weeks, of the Harris-Moeran Office, recently
devised a strong counter-thrust in the "Weeks Parry." Unable to keep abreast of all new LP developments, Weeks
specializes in complete Beethoven Quartet issues. "Sorry,
I haven't got around to that yet," Weeks replies in a thinly
disguised tone of contempt, "I've been busy comparing
the new Barstow Quartet series with the earlier complete
Beethovens. Takes a while, y' know. ")
Yuletide Record- Giving, now properly recognized as
an art apart, is one field of action still left open to the
non -professional Record Connoisseur, for it depends less
on actual information than on shrewd musico- psychological
perception. A single record, properly selected and bestowed, can serve to establish beyond question the authority
of the giver for the period of a year and longer.
(It should be noted that early attempts to improve
Christmas Connoisseur techniques were stimulated by the
43
introduction of Stephen Potterism in the United States.
Not since Emil Coué
"Day by day in every way I am
getting better and better"
has a foreign philosophy
gained so firm a foothold in this country. Potter has
formulated the principles of "Christmas Giftmanship"
(though never concerned with Record Connoisseurmanship per se) and outlined numerous situations in which
Potterites can seem "nicer than anyone else really, and
yet never lose the unassailable one -upness of the expert."
Space considerations prevent a detailed analysis here of
the English Behaviorist's ideas: Such is easily available in
the basic handbook, Gamesmanship, or The Art of Winning
Games Without Actually Cheating, and the subsequent
studies in Lifemanship and One - Upmanship. Suffice it to
say that he cannot but have had a powerful impact on
efforts to refine the crude methods of pioneer Connoisseurs.)
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ONE VERY STRONG record -giver, Roger B. Lustrand,
bachelor of my acquaintance, originated the Children Know- What's -Best- For -Them Tactic for use on relatives
and friends. Having discovered that most of the children
on his Christmas list possess large collections of such
records as Quacky Clarinet and Otto the Ophicleide, Roger
makes a habit of bringing them LPs of the most recondite
sort of music: Schönberg, neo-classic Stravinsky, or
Varèse. "Children don't have preconceived notions about
art and aesthetics," he explains earnestly to the parents,
who squirm in their seats with embarrassment. "Before
they acquire the antiquated taste- patterns of our generation,
let's give them a chance to make up their own minds; let's
see if the unfettered, unconditioned child won't have a
favorable reaction to the music of our time."
A few of the modern parents in Roger's circle actually
rear their children according to these principles; roughly
in the order Mozart -Schubert -Prokofieff-Bartók. For them,
Lustrand thoughtfully provides a present of the Terry the
Timpani variety, the most banal he can find, which inevitably becomes the favorite item in the nursery library
and is played day and night for over a month, much to
the parents' chagrin. Lustrand is always spoken of as a
keen judge of character
and more knowledgeable about
records than anyone else in B
, Mass.
Bonnard Harvey, of the Maryland and Astoria Harvey
family, was recently hard put to establish Connoisseur's
, a
authority in a duel of wits with Earl Benson D
prosperous dealer in cotton futures whose record- collection far exceeds Bonnard's and who maintained, until
recently, a far-flung reputation as an expert on chamber music releases. D
could discuss trio and quartet recording with a maddening self- effacement and a technical
assurance that extended to keys, themes, devices; he could
furthermore speak of their relative merits with a fluency
which Bonnard (whose English is rather poor despite the
fact that he was born in Chevy Chase) could never hope to
equal. Until last Christmas it seemed that the ill- favored
Bonnard was destined to occupy a permanent back seat
whenever he and other chamber devotees met at the D
apartment.
a
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44
One holiday party last year, however, Bonnard arrived
as if slightly in his cups, bearing a gaily- wrapped Scheherazade recording which he had bought at the corner drugstore for well under a dollar. This he presented to D
with the assurance that here was a diamond in the rough:
"Oh, it may have a few reproduction flaws," he said, "but
this cheap little music- for -the -masses disk contains a flamboyant Scheherazade worthy of your steel."
Smiling a little incredulously between compressed lips,
D gave the cheap LP a test. Being out- as well as well -
-
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spoken, D
lost little time refuting Bonnard's claim,
for
"was this a joke or something ?"
only a tin -eared
eccentric could find anything praiseworthy in the record.
elaborated. He produced one
Bonnard asked why; D
of the ten great high fidelity records of the piece, opened
the score, and proceeded to give Bonnard and his friends
a detailed, hour -long analysis of what made it tick.
was certainly
Bonnard was chastened. He allowed D
right. A week later he appeared with a second "find"
Scheherazade of questionable antecedents. Again his good natured gift was received haughtily and critically. Though
a certain restlessness might have been discerned among
embarked on a second
the chamber -loving onlookers, D
and more emphatic Korsakoff analysis that would have
done credit to a Tovey.
But, even as he was playing, stopping, illustrating, D
's
preeminence among chamber cognoscenti was draining
away by degrees. Word went out later that "D
has
finally revealed his true colors." William Stebbins, who had
been present both times, commented: "A chamber -music
man my foot!" And that was the consensus. "He talked
all night about Scheherazade; enthused about it. Ever hear
him talk that way about the Lark Quartet? He's a sham,
that fraud." And conversely, "Bonnard may not know
his Korsakoff, but have you ever noticed his dedicated
silence when he listens to Mozart? Still water runs inarticulate, I tell you." Bonnard now is recognized as one of the
leading Connoisseurs in all greater Astoria.
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PERHAPS THE past master of Yuletide Record-Giving
strategy is Shelley Morton Tonner, a Record Connoisseur
I know who wears, year- round, the cheerful countenance
of a woolly Santa Claus, but who actually suffers from an
evil disposition inherited from his father, Noah, the stock manipulator mentioned in Meininger's Wall Street Tales
and Follies. It was Tonner who presented Mrs. Johnson
Degroat S
, author of Among the Stars and Diamond
Horseshoe Nights, with an album of Mario Esperanza selections taken from the sound -track of the technicolor musiis his maternal aunt.
cal, Song -time in San Marino. Mrs. S
Buttel, the concert pianist, received from Tonner the complete Chopin piano music in Korzibsky's recording, just
after Buttel had begun his own Town Hall Chopin cycle.
Tonner, I think, rates as a semi -pro Connoisseur. He
worked with Elgar Green of Acoustic Disks on Subway
Tunnel and Armor Plate (17 kinds of ricochet) and has
just finished producing The Voices of Silence, nine varieties
of sound -free pickups made on location in Grant's Tomb
and other still places around New York Continued on page 116
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HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
A Brave Echo From Vanished Vienna
by Martin Mayer
No young men wear the uniform nor blow the brasses of the beloved
Deutschmeister Kapelle, to whose music emperors once marched and danced.
PAGEANTRY HAS BEEN at the heart of every Empire,
but nowhere so overwhelmingly as in the shell that held
the show of Austria- Hungary. Here at Vienna, a city
planted on the single break in the chain of hills that divides Eastern and Western Europe, the Hapsburg Emperors held court; and faced in both directions, like their
Their pageantry was, as in all Empires, primarily
architectural: they tore down the city walls which had repulsed the Turk, and built along this semicircle a street
for marching armies, and the most imposing series of stone
buildings that the 19th century could conceive. But the
pride of their pageantry was music, and along this passage
between East and West they raised in less than a century
and a half an astonishing succession of genius: Haydn
and Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, Schumann and
Brahms, Johann Strauss (Vater and Sohn, and Bruder Josef),
Mahler and Richard Strauss. This is the background before which Vienna lives today, and it is a very recent heritage: there are men still living who heard Gustav Mahler
conduct Le Nozze di Figaro at the Wiener Staatsoper.
The heritage is withering now and the background is
dead. The Empire was pulverized in the first war, the city
itself in the second. There is little grandeur today about
the stone buildings being rebuilt or patched up along the
Ringstrasse, and international squads of MP's roll in
Chevrolets (it used to be jeeps, but it isn't any more)
up and down the street made for marching Imperial armies.
Little trade and less culture pass through the gap in the
chain of hills; the city faces neither east nor west, but sits
on its site in dismayed poverty. What is left is a poverty stricken, provincial love for music; Josef Marx, still active
as a music critic; and a beloved military band, the subject
of this writing, that wears the Imperial uniform and tootles
valiantly up the street on official and unofficial occasions.
This is the Deutschmeister Kapelle, and its members
have a right to their uniforms. They are elderly men now,
flag.
The young Bandmaster: When we die there
will
he no more.
every one of them: they all served in the Imperial Army.
They all served, in fact, in the brass band of the 4th Regiment, the Hoch- und- Deutschmeister Regiment created in 1741
for the Empress Maria Theresa. The uniforms were changed
in 188o, to meet the taste of Kaiser Franz Josef; otherwise,
with one exception, the tradition remains the same. "People ask me," said Julius Herrmann, a young man of 62
who has been director of the band since 1915, "How old
is the Deutschmeister Kapelle?
I say, 'Including my
mother -in -law, two thousand years'."
The exception is the absence of strings. Before 1918
the Deutschmeister Regiment had a full Kapelle, not
much smaller than a Wagnerian orchestra; today Herrmann
has a wind band, pure and simple. Much has been gained
in the loss of the fiddles: schmalz that is syrup -sugary in
a string section takes on the proper, slightly comic color
when done by tubas and clarinets. The Deutschmeister
Kapelle's record of Waltzes is much more fun to hear
than any selection by full orchestra, especially since the
recording, technically, has caugnt the full color and naive
pomposity of the teutonic brass band. Herrmann himself
sometimes regrets the vanished fiddles, but he has a
policy. "I would never take young men into the Kapelle,"
he said. "They would not have the right to wear the uniform. And everyone would say, it isn't genuine any more.
No," he added, "when we die, there will be no more
Deutschmeister Kapelle. No more."
There was a moment's nostalgia here, but only a moment. Kapellmeister Herrmann is a man who enjoys the
instant of existence, who is always laughing at somebody's
jokes, head thrown back, features dimmed by the brilliant
gleam of white, white teeth. He is a little over average
height, stands very straight and seems taller; his eyes are
gray -blue and wide with amusement; his cheekbones are
high and his skin youthful; when he puts on over his
almost bald head his uniform cap Continued on page 114
The Band:
Two thousand years old including a mother -in -law.
r
iistooi
IllStilllItti011S
From California to Florida the sound, if not
the weather, is similar. Hal Cox installed
the radio -phono combination above in the
San Francisco home of Clarence Kane. And
Burdett Sound Company of Tampa made
the cabinet at the left, which complements
perfectly the room it is used in. Of teak oak
and rattan, with curly blonde birch tambour doors, the cabinet holds tape, TV,
radio and phono equipment, as well as a
motion-picture screen on a spring roller.
i(
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
r
,innnim,i
üiïä
lll
;
.,
í
Kierulff Sound used a three -section
walnut cabinet by Bryson, shown at
the left, in an assembly for the Steve
Kuseleys of Los Angeles. Sound for a
television set is tied into the system.
Below is a home -built installation
dating from 1941; note the speaker
grille of woven tapestry. This was
done by E. A. Hanff of Pittsburgh, Pa.
The Prades, a fine modern piece by Balladier.
A combination FM -AM tuner, control unit and
12 -watt amplifier is used, and a Webster player
with a GE cartridge. Speaker is a separate unit.
DECEMBER, 1954
47
Case Histories of Creation
by JAMES HINTON, JR.
The great composers all have left to us, in varying scope, autobiographies in sound. But behind each musical masterpiece
was a human being and a historical environment, and naturally our curiosities turn us to the pages of musical biography.
IN A century that has so far set much more value on performing virtuosity than on creativity in music, the flood of
recordings during the past six years seems to have acted,
inadvertently, as a force in the direction of re- establishing
composers as men of at least some status. "Inadvertently"
because at least part of the vector can be traced to the
point that there simply are not enough brand -name virtuosos to go round in the record industry. "Some" because the individual composers most benefited are all
dead just now, and hence unable to collect royalties, protest unrepresentative performances, or otherwise make
themselves bothersome.
Yet, for whatever reasons, Haydn and Handel and Mozart and Beethoven have all proved marketable as composers,
not just as sponsors of floats in a parade of virtuosity. To
an extent they always have been, it is true, but not in so
positive a way. It is one thing for a composer to be on
what might be called the "safe" list for subscription symphony concerts and Community Concert Association programs; it is quite another for him to be so sought after
that record companies find it profitable to press and release
works that are seldom to be heard in live performance.
And when a composer, such as Berlioz, whose standard repertoire representation is slight at best becomes the object of a fan -club, the trend can hardly be ignored.
Admirable though all this activity is, it is impossible to
keep from feeling that at least part of it might better be
the kind who are
spent in encouraging live composers
living their biographies now, for better or worse, and composing the music that has to be good if a hundred years
from now "music" is to mean an art vital and developing
still, rather than stacks of battered (but unbreakable)
-
vinyl fossils.
But be that as it may, it is most certainly healthier for
the state of music for people to be interested in even dead
composers than in conductors, players, or singers per se.
For although the composer needs the performers if he is
to address the listener at all, his is the seminal force. It is
very true that no two performances of, say, the Eroica
are ever identical. It is also very true that this eternal renewal is an essential fact, perhaps even the essential fact,
of musical life. But it is just as true that in the complicated
working out of the composer -performer- listener equation
there is one factor that never changes value. That is the
Beethoven who conceived and created the music that is
the Eroica.
4$
On a journey in search of Beethoven, for example, it
would be sheer pigheadedness to brush aside the Toscanini
Eroica as not useful. Even Beethoven must address the
listener through performance, and even the most prescient
listener must hear Beethoven through this medium. There
is no other way.
But the listener, moved by experience of the music in
performance, may very well want to find out more about
the human animal who shaped the notes of the score
and find out more than can be found out from reading the
program booklet, the notes on the record sleeve, or the
pertinent entry in Groves or Oscar Thompson. He will
very likely find out that there are, depending on the cornposer in question, either bewilderingly many books about
him or almost none at all.
There is strong disagreement on the value of musical
biography, and, assuming that it does have any value at
all, on ' l.hat values are relevant to music. The basic split
is centuries old at least. Is the work of art a self-sufficient
entity, apprehendable directly and on its own terms or
not at all? Or is the work of art to be fully apprehended
only in some larger context?
There are those who state flatly that a work like the
Eroica can be grasped in all its essentials through hearings
of it and through study of its formal structure. There are
others who state just as flatly that it is quite impossible to
grasp the work without exhaustive knowledge of external
circumstances that relate to it.
Obviously, those who hold the first view would deny
that any writing about Beethoven's life, times and character
can possibly cast light on his works. Those who hold the
second view would disagree, asserting that there can be
no real understanding of the music without some understanding of the man and his society.
Both positions have their strong points. On the one
hand, however complete and self-contained Beethoven's
idea of the Eroica may have been, his score is what is left us,
and it is no more than an outline to be filled in by performers who, without some understanding of the composer,
cannot be expected to realize his full intentions. Further,
especially for the first
can a listener really hear the music
without knowing its context? On the other hand,
time
is not the Eroica as a work of art necessarily complete in
itself and, if not, has not Beethoven then failed proportionally as an artist? And, anyway, is not the meaningful
residue of Beethoven the man just exactly the sum of his
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HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
music as it is performed and heard, no more and no less?
These are good questions, which I cannot answer, though
I enjoy thinking about them.
However, this is an article about reading, not about
not -reading. It is surely not possible to understand anything very significant about Beethoven simply from reading about him and his music and how he came to compose
it
insofar as anyone can know how he actually did come
to compose it. But neither is it enough to follow the grammar of the music itself. Somehow, through intuition or
learning or both, it is desirable to find a true rapport.
After all, the certain facts about Shakespeare could almost
be jotted down on a three-by -five card, but the poverty
of background information does not destroy the value of
Hamlet as a play. But neither does it mean that the discovery tomorrow of material for a full -dress biography of
the poet would not be enormously welcome, even to the
scholars and actors who know and love the play best.
The greatness of a Hamlet or an Eroica is not in any final
way really explainable at all, and certainly not in terms of
either biographical facts or technical analysis, or even
both. Of course, it is comforting to know that Beethoven
was a trained professional composer and Shakespeare a
thoroughly professional man of the theater. But no one
has yet demonstrated that technique pure and simple is
the cause of great art, or even its proper measure. If it
were, then, as George Bernard Shaw remarked, Swinburne
would be greater than Byron and Browning together,
Stevenson greater than Dickens, and Mendelssohn greater
than Wagner.
Neither is there any harm in knowing that when Beethoven was asked, in the middle of a fish dinner, which of his
symphonies (then eight) was his favorite he responded,
"Eh, eh, the Eroica" or words to that effect. Beethoven's remark is at least interesting as a reflection of his
mood on a particular occasion. And although the Eroica
is complete in itself, it takes on added richness of meaning
from its context in time
as does Hamlet, the Great
Pyramid, or The Rake's Progress. The creative act that
brought it to being will always be mysterious, and no one
today can hear it with the ears of its first audience. But
there is much to know of the social and artistic conventions that then surrounded it, much to know of Beethoven
as a human being. And although such information can
neither add to nor detract from the work itself, it can help
the listener to an enhanced awareness. That is all to be
hoped for
but is it not enough?
Artistic biography is a relatively recent literary form,
for not until the romantic trend of the nineteenth century
did the idea of art for the sake of art, of the creative artist
as a superior, or even exceptional being, become clearly
established; not until then did the concept of composing
for eternity rather than in fulfillment of a commission come
to be accepted. And, in consequence, not until then did
the composer come to be considered a proper subject for
formal biographical study. Just as everyone neglected to
set down the details of Shakespeare's life while they were
still remembered, so did they neglect to set down the details of Monteverdi's, although their contemporaries certainly recognized the greatness of both men.
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DECEMBER, 1954
Actually, it was not until past the middle of the nineteenth century that much systematic work began to be
done in the field of musical biography. Mozart had been
dead for more than half a century before Otto Jahn's Life
of Mozart, which may be considered the first really encompassing biography of a composer, made its appearance,
in 186o. Since then, a great deal of energy, scholarly and
otherwise, has been spent in biographical research and
writing, but with varying results. There remain sizable
gaps to be filled, and measured against the highest standard,
or any standards at all, much of what has been written is
quite remarkably uneven in scope and quality, ranging
from the excellent and complete as possible, down through
the partial but honorable, to the semi -fictional and nearly
illiterate.
But aside from a very few studies that may be regarded
as definitive, or substantially so, there are a number of
books that attempt less and accomplish what they set
out to do with varying degrees of success. In a discussion
as general and essentially introductory as this one not
much attempt can be made to indicate individual shortcomings and exceptions, or even to give a very clear idea
of viewpoints. All that can be attempted is to give a few
clues to volumes in which reliable but more or less detailed
information about individual composers, their times and
their works, may be found. Some are out of print, and
others are in one respect or another outdated, but all can
be come by at least in libraries, and all provide either information or insights, or both
or raise questions
that
are of sure value.
Another great landmark, comparable to Jahn's Mozart
study, is Friedrich Chrysander's fine, 86 -year -old G. F.
Handel. Yet another one is Philipp Spitta's 7o- year -old
J. S. Bach, recently republished in English by Dover.
And yet another is A. W. Thayer's Beethoven, published in
German in 1879, completed by Hugo Riemann, not published in English until 1921. These are the great originals
of serious musicological biography and will always have
and deserve respect. However, there are good studies, less
monumental, but more accessible.
For purposes of a survey of this kind, it seems most
efficient to proceed alphabetically by composer. Second
only to Spitta as a classic of Bach study is Albert Schweitzer's Johann Sebastian Bach, published by Macmillan in
1935 in a two- volume English translation by Ernest Newman. Also of great value are two companion books by
C. H. Terry
Bach: A Biography, concerned entirely with
the man and his career as musician and family generator,
and The Music of Bach
both published by Oxford in
1933. Those who prefer to take their Continued on page 124
-
-
-
-
49
A
..
reader criticizes the critics
.
HELP WANTED!
by HENRI
'
I
.
IRAMER
The author is a man who has long loved records, and who
not infrequently finds himself with $5.95 in his pockets.
Thereupon he goes for guidance to record reviews. He
doesn't always come away happy, and here he tells why.
RECORD REVIEWS are the newest form of art criticism and, like anything new, are not always as well done
or as useful as they ought to be. In many ways, a record
reviewer has a task more complicated, and more difficult,
than that of other critics. For one thing, a literary critic
considers a unique unchangeable work of art, while a
record reviewer may, and often does, consider several or
many performances of the same work. A dramatic critic
does review performances, but he has margin for error
perhaps the performance he saw was not typical. However, everyone who wishes to may hear the same performance as the record reviewer. These, and other differences,
serve to illustrate the new footing on which a critic finds
himself as a record reviewer.
These differences are particularly marked when a comparison is made between a music critic and a record reviewer. Music critics write for a limited number of readers,
they deal only with a specific performance, sometimes only
with a single soloist or parts of a program. Lastly, music
critics often do not affect the success or failure of a performer, or of a musical composition, or even ticket sales
as much as might be imagined. Indeed, a critic who writes
of a single appearance for the year in his city, as is so often
the case, can do little but tell what went on. But record
reviewers can and sometimes do damn a record to oblivion
quickly and finally.
A record reviewer has a hard task and a heavy responsibility. Some of our most sensitive performing artists have
expressed a fear and a dread of making a recording because
of its permanency and its wide availability, and because it
can be so easily compared with other recordings and dissected and analyzed at leisure. Taking this into consideration, a performer has a right to expect a reviewer to examine
his work with sincerity, honesty and skill.
The public has the right to expect the same. But both
public and artist are often needlessly disappointed.
To be truly useful, a record reviewer must first avoid a
number of habits that can distract his readers from the
business at hand. The first and most obvious of these is
the use of unusual and little known words, including unnecessary foreign words and phrases. Recent reviews have
included, as examples of what is meant, the following:
tempos are
light extrinsic shimmer of violins,"
Mr. Jacobs is not a thaumabroad and unfrenetic," "
-
"....
50
...
....
....
...
", and so forth.
turgist,"
to whiplashed asseverations
This is not to say that these are not perfectly good words.
But if they are not the only ones that can be used to convey the idea and if they are not commonly known and
understood, then they stand as obstacles between eye and
mind. Even the offender recognizes this when he uses
a word, a foreign one in this case, and then explains it:
Either we know that
"The secco or dry recitative
"chef d'orchestre" means conductor, as opposed, for example, to concert master, or we do not. If we do we will
not particularly admire the reviewer's superior knowledge,
for outs is at least equal to it. If we do not, the reviewer
has not only missed his mark but has also given offense
in the bargain. No one likes a snob. And a little instruction goes a long way.
In like fashion, a reviewer may be tempted into what is
commonly called "rich, beautiful prose." Take the following: "slow and hardly pliant, harmonically rich and
broadly lyrical, it can seem ponderous to ears trained to
more nervous traits, but the deep dark colors sturdily resist
wear, and if the determined maestoso evokes smiles, there is
more affection than contempt in them."
Is this not, itself, an attempt to imitate the music being
described? Too often a review reads as if the writer had
been carried away by emotions difficult to express, but
had nevertheless tried to duplicate these emotions and the
spirit of the performance in words. To do so is to invite
failure, for it is not only very difficult to do, but it is also
true that a review, by its nature, is concerned with a creative work but should not be primarily creative itself. The
essay - portion of a "creative" review too often crowds
out the critical portion.
Now all the above is more than merely an attack on style.
It is a plea to reviewers that they should so present their
thoughts that we will know what they want to say.
Once we are sure of what is being said, we may then ask
the reviewers to tell us what we want to know.
It would seem that a good record review ought to be
written as if in answer to a friend who has asked "Tell
me about this new record, what is it about, is it done well,
is there anything unusual about it, do you think I should
buy it ?" We cannot expect a reviewer flatly to assume the
responsibility of a simple "yes" or "no" to the question
of purchase. But his remarks should give most of the in-
...."
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
formation necessary to make that decision for ourselves.
In the light of that idea, let us consider a recent review
given more than usual prominence. This began as follows:
"This is an absolutely incomprehensible piece of stupidity,
one of the greatest records of the year has been ruined."
This is a pretty strong, positive statement. Now suppose
our imaginary friend were to break in here with the single
word "Why ?" The answer is that the original text in
German, this being a collection of songs, was omitted.
If our friend thereupon were to say, "But I don't understand German, never did, yet I enjoy many German language songs," the reviewer is in the uncomfortable
position of watching the limb severed between him and
the tree. Doubtless the recording would have been much
more valuable to those who know German, and love
poetry, with the text. But ruined to us all? Nonsense.
MISTAKES of this kind probably arise from the reviewer's placing his knowledge of the proper interpretation
and presentation too far above that of anyone else. This
is a dangerous habit at best. It usually reveals itself as a
matter of emphasis. That is, there is a good deal of differ-
ence between saying that music is played more slowly
than usual and that it is played too slow.
Positive statements of any kind, when applied to a
musical composition, are very difficult to defend, often
impossible to prove, and very commonly the mark of a
shallow thinker. People like what they hear or they don't,
and they are almost never all of the same opinion. Usually,
after all, we are dealing with opinion, not fact, and it is
quite outside the function of a record reviewer to make
the rules when he is really only watching the game.
Often in the course of a worth -while review, the reviewer succumbs to the temptation either to display his
knowledge, educate his readers, or both. When a reader
finds the following, in a discussion of the difference between performances of the same work on a piano and a
harpsichord:"
aided by the doubling of which the
harpsichord is capable," he may well recognize nothing
but a sheer display of knowledge (only partially correct
in this case) that has the same annoying effect as the
obscure word. This is bad enough, but when a music lecture is given, with perhaps a generous dash of history,
ethics and other assorted subjects, we are getting pretty
far away from a straightforward record- review. A lively
sense of charity keeps me from offering examples of this.
The last temptation to which all reviewers are earnestly
asked not to submit is the temptation to guide or dictate
musical taste. This is closely akin to the matter of superior interpretation just discussed, but it is more far reaching and destructive than just that. It is more destructive
in the sense that a reviewer who does this almost always
alienates those that disagree with him and encourages a
closed mind in those that agree. Either way, the value of
a record review is gone.
Consider the following: "Every company must have a
'program,' of course, but must it include another flogging
of this dead warhorse ?" This is taste -dictation in its purest
form. It is proper to pass on the qualities of the music it.
.
.
DECEMBER, r954
self with new or unfamiliar works. It becomes less so as
the music becomes more well known, until such works as
Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony or Ravel's Bolero are discussed, at which point it is idle to say that they are good
or had. Everyone is likely to have his own opinion. But
in the example just quoted the wording itself reveals that
the composition is well known (it happened to be Khachaturian's Masquerade Suite), about which most persons
have their own opinions. Those who like it, as well as
those who do not, will be likely, after reading the reviewer's remark to suspect not only the remainder of that
review but also everything else that reviewer produces.
The attempt to change our musical taste, however, is
usually less direct than the flat statement cited above.
Here is a case in point: "
It seems futile for this writer,
who is both fascinated and irritated by [Horowitz's] art,
to review these characteristic performances." This is rather
like saying, "Of course, I'm prejudiced, but
The
same review goes on: "I doubt if a standard Horowitz
release would include a Schubert sonata .
." and "If
there was any way to induce concert-hall attitudes and
sensations in the living room, this sort of thing might have
validity"
and so on. None of these comments, singly,
can be called an outright slur, but placed here and there
through a review, the effect is to guide the impressionable,
outrage the intractable and disillusion the discerning.
Many such borderline cases of taste- dictation appear.
It is an easy trap for a writer to fall into, for he smoothes
his own feathers in doing so. Here is another reviewer at
work:
In view of the emotional implications of the
texts, and in view of the care with which the madrigal
composers sought to express
should not modern performers
and "I do not maintain, of course, that we
are to over -romanticize early music . .
." And so on.
Possibly this may be regarded as a part of legitimate criticism by some, but it smacks of the classroom to me.
Often this sort of thing is welcomed by those who seek
confirmation of their own opinions. But there is a great
difference between saying that such and such is so, and
that, because such and such is so, it is "right" or "wrong."
...
...."
.
-
"...
...
..."
.
Continued on page 117
The opinions expressed by Mr. Kramer are his
own. The editors do not endorse them nor even
agree with many of them. ll "e rather enjoy,
for
little literary flavor in reviews and
objection to being told what verismo
instance, a
have no
means.
some of
However, many readers
no doubt they
Ire plan
will
share
Mr. Kramer's likes and dislikes, and
to
will
run
interest reviewers as well.
soon
an article viewing the re-
viewer and his function from a different angle.
5 r
for Santa's helpers
A
.
.
.
Shopping List of Audio Oddments and Trinketry
WE HATE TO point out the fact to hundreds of
harassed wives and an occasional husband, but Christmas
is just around the corner. So many wives would like to
give something which is more or less closely associated with
hubby's favorite hobby, but what wife would dare to pick
out, for example, an amplifier?
Well, let there be hope; here is a list of stocking-size
(provided the stocking is big enough) oddments which
will be welcome in almost any hi -fi household, with suggestions under what circumstances each item is appropriate.
Record Compensator: for the beginning hi -fi -man, whose
present amplifier does not incorporate adequate equalization. Choose one to match cartridge in use, i.e., Pickering,
General Electric, etc. Around $ro.
more elaborate version of the
above; to be preferred if budget permits. From about
$20 up.
Phonograph Equalizer:
a
Record Rack: can bring order out of chaos and in some
homes will release as many as
use. Around Po and up.
r r
chairs for their proper
Record Brush: for that stray speck of dust which makes
the loudspeaker go "pop." From $4 or so.
Turntable Mat: goes on turntables (or changers) to provide soft, dust -free (relatively) surface; in sizes to fit all
turntables. Most are sponge- rubber. $r to $3.
Record Album: Box variety suitable for storing records,
from main hi -fi room. You can get a cabinet alone, in
which hi -fi -man can install his own speaker, or a unit
complete with speaker. Anywhere from $25 on up.
Soldering Gun: the one piece of "hardware" well mention, but a real blessing every time two wires must be
soldered. Around $8 to $ro.
Antenna Rotator: if he spends half his time on the roof
re- aiming that fancy antenna (FM or TV), let him sit in
comfort inside the house and twirl knobs.
around $25 to $30.
Rotators cost
Antenna Switch: for the household with several antennas
and one tuner (or TV set), or several sets and one antenna.
$2 and up.
Timer Clock: like the one some wives have on fancy electric ranges; turns radio or TV on at a pre -set time. $5 up.
a fringe area and have trouble
distant FM station, this item may help. Better
do some subtle checking first, however. $17 and $27.
Subscription to High Fidelity Magazine: we still think
this is a fine idea, especially at the special gift rates shown
on the subscription bind -in page.
Booster: if you live in
getting
a
Hi -Fi Earphones: the perfect silencer of his sound system
-
also indispensable for editing tapes. $25 to $40.
FOR THE MAN WHO HAS TAPE EQUIPMENT:
Tape Splicer:
jacket and all. Most hold ro LPs; some are backed in simulated leather, variously colored. From $1.50 to about $3.
is he always borrowing your small sewing
scissors? Get him a splicer and stop this nonsense. From
$r up.
Record Cloths: treated dust- cloths, to remove dust and
Head Demagnetizer: there are no doubt times when you
help eliminate static electricity.
50.4
to $1.
Record Envelopes: plastic envelopes to protect particularly precious records from dust and scratches. They fit
inside jackets. Buy a dozen or so for $r and up.
Subscription to High Fidelity Magazine: guaranteed to
think this should be used on his head, but that's something
different. This is for tape recording and playback heads;
every home should have one and use it every three months
or so (some super -fussy professionals use one every 30
minutes!). About $7.5o.
keep hi -fi and music enthusiasts quietly occupied for several
hours. Special gift rates; see subscription bind -in.
Leader Tape: to use at the beginning of reels and between
Record Cleaner: sprays in Aerosol -type cans which help
Splicing Tape: an absolute must for anyone who does any
eliminate dust and static from records. Less than $r.
Pressure Gauge: measures needle pressure on record; helps
prevent excessive record wear. $1.50 to $ro.00.
Stroboscopic Disk: to check turntable speed accurately;
wonderful gift because it's available from many stores
without charge.
Portable Speaker: it's often nice to have a small, portable
speaker available, to plug in or attach in locations remote
a
52
selections within reels. 40¢ for r5o ft.
editing. More is always useful, as with leader tape. 354
for about 12 ft.
Empty Tape Reels: always handy to have, particularly if
much editing goes on. From 154 up, depending on size.
Get an assortment.
Subscription to High Fidelity Magazine: how often do
we have to suggest this?
Merry Christmas, everybody.'
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
by ROLAND GELATT
MOZART'S MUSIC for solo
piano has for long been left dangling
in a curious limbo
beloved and
belabored by amateurs, respectfully
evaluated by scholars, yet rarely
played in the concert hall.
Yes,
I know that a piece by Mozart is
sometimes to be found at the beginning of a virtuoso's recital. But it is
always in the nature of a curtain
raiser, a sort of historical obeisance
punctiliously executed before getting
down to the real business of Chopin
and Liszt, Schumann and Brahms,
Ravel and Debussy.
This is not without explanation.
From a purely sensuous standpoint
Mozart wrote ineffectively for the
modern piano. He did not have a
Steinway grand, he did not even
have the Broadwood grand favored
by Beethoven, and being a practical
kind of musician he wrote for the
instruments extant and available. His
piano music is circumscribed by the
restrictions of the pianos on which
he played. It is harmonically spare,
dynamically limited; but within these
bounds the Mozart piano literature
is pregnant with musical treasure
still largely untouched by performers
of stature.
Last year the EMI impresario Walter
Legge took steps to exhume this
treasure. Mr. Legge is a man who
does not do things by halves. As
originator and chief factotum of the
prewar HMV Society issues, he had
brought into being such largess as
the piano works of Beethoven interpreted by Artur Schnabel. Now
his heart was set on performing a
similar service for Mozart. A query
was directed to Walter Gieseking:
could he be cajoled into recording
the entire piano literature of Mozart,
from the Minuet and Trio in G major,
to the Andante in F, K.616?
He could indeed, and in July 1953
the recording sessions began in EMI's
Abbey Road studio, St. John's
Wood, London. In all, 38 sessions
of from three to four hours each were
held
most of them in the summer,
a few more in December.
-
-
DECEMBER, 1953
Not even Gieseking, the most
catholic of pianists, had explored
more than a fraction of this repertoire
in the course of his concert career.
This, he discovered as the recording
project moved forward, was more
help than hindrance. "I may confess,"
he says,
"that in the few works
which were part of my concert repertoire, the works which I should
have known better than all the others,
I experienced some difficulty. Having
lost the complete freshness of approach, I could not immediately
return to the spontaneous and inspiring pleasure, and the independence of feeling, which were such a
great help in all the music that I
had read and studied just enough to
be well acquainted with every detail."
Gieseking has always put spontaneity high on the docket of musical
virtues. He once told me that the
notion of practicing at the piano for
eight hours a day was abhorrent to
him. The bloom of even the hardiest
music, he feels, is rubbed off under
the routine of incessant fingerwork.
Angel Records issues this month
the 11 Gieseking-Mozart LPs, handsomely packed in a blue moiré
slipcase, with a booklet of notes
(by William Glock) and illustrations
superbly lithographed in France. The
price: $75. Individual records from
the set will be released periodically,
the last of them not until 1956.
Next month HIGH FIDELITY will
publish an appraisal of this ambitious
enterprise. Meanwhile, impatient Mozartians have been alerted to a magnum opus of thrilling promise.
THE HECTIC STORY of
Shos-
takovich's hectic Tenth Symphony,
recently issued in two competing
recordings (see review pages), began
in Leningrad just a year ago this
month, when it was first performed
by the Leningrad Philharmonic under
Eugene Mravinsky. Printed scores
were subsequently sent beyond the
confines of Soviet Russia, one of
them to Dimitri Mitropoulos, who
examined the work carefully between
rehearsals of Elektra at La Scala,
liked what he saw, and cabled the
Philharmonic -Symphony Society of
New York to secure rights, if possible,
to the first American performance.
This was possible, it turned out,
in return for a goodly sum (not
disclosed) payable to the Leeds Music
Corporation, which acts as agent
for Soviet music in the United States.
This brings us to 9:oo p.m. on
October 14, when the Symphony
No. ro made its American debut
to a full Carnegie Hall audience,
of which Mr. Andrei Vishinsky was
a conspicuous member. The reviews
next morning were not calculated to
enlighten the easily bewildered reader.
For Olin Downes, of the New York
Times, the new work was "obviously
the strongest and greatest symphony
that Shostakovich has yet produced"
and "the first score in the symphonic
form that proclaims the complete
independence and integration of his
genius."
For Paul Henry Lang,
of the Herald Tribune, the music
was "sprawling, noisy, lacking in
coherent style and even culture,"
a farrago of sequential passages overloaded with "endless repetitions" and
"little fugatos that do not seem to
lead anywhere."
Ah well
music
critics!
Three mornings later, on Monday,
October 18, Columbia Records, Inc.,
staged a reprise for LP. At 9:30 a.m.
the Philharmonic men
looking rather disgruntled at that hour of the
day
began straggling into Colum-
-
-
-
Herewith begins a
new regular feature, a column by
New York editor
Roland Gelati.
It
bis
is named after
recent book
Music
Makers
(Knopf,
and
N.
will
Y.)
deal
with people and events in the twin
worlds of live music and recording
that revolve in common around the
glamorous area known as New York 19.
53
bia's wood -raftered studio on East
3oth Street. Fred Plaut, the recording
engineer, was already scurrying about
"You'll
positioning microphones.
hear some real high fidelity this
morning," he promised. This leitmotiv was further developed by Howard Scott, the recording director,
who bounded over to explain with
evident delight: "Shostakovich threw
You've
everything into this score.
never heard so much sound. We
may even have to send some of the
Studio can't always
men home.
By 9:59
handle it, you know."
Plaut and Scott were ensconced in
the control booth, the men were at
their music stands, and the show
was all set to start on schedule
except for the lack of a conductor.
Could the maestro have forgotten?
Scott grabbed for the phone, began
to dial, and just then in walked
Mitropoulos very much out of countenance over having been delayed
Without wasting words
in traffic.
he took off his coat and led the
orchestra through some grimacingly
orchestrated pages while Plaut balAt io:o6
anced his microphones.
tapes started spinning and recording
began in earnest. Up in the control
booth Scott flipped madly through
the complex orchestral score, occasionally barking out comments to Plaut:
"Can't hear the clarinet, Fred....
Watch out for the percussion now
... That's beautiful bass sound there."
By ro:4o the first two movements
Mitropoulos raced
were on tape.
up to the control booth, collared
Scott and demanded: "What's wrong?
He was
Tell me, what's wrong!"
assured that nothing had gone wrong,
and for the next half hour he listened
to the playback and sipped cognac
on the rocks. At its conclusion he
too was convinced that nothing (well,
almost nothing) was wrong.
That same afternoon the tapes
were edited by Sam Carter in Studio
C of Columbia's building on Seventh
Avenue. Lacquer masters were cut
the next morning (Tuesday) and
rushed to the Bridgeport factory,
where metal matrices and a set of
test pressings were manufactured withBy Friday afternoon
in 24 hours.
Howard Scott was able to bestow
his imprimatur on the tests and
Bridgeport was instructed to begin
Eighteen
production immediately.
days after the recording sessions, Columbia ML 4959 went on sale in New
York record stores.
Meanwhile, Concert Hall Society
had beaten Columbia to the Shostakovich punch by three weeks. Concert Hall's version derived from a
July recording session by the afore-
mentioned Leningrad Philharmonic
and Mravinsky. The recording, on
magnetic tape, arrived in New York
early in September. Saul Taishoff,
of Concert Hall, listened to it at
once, thought it was great, signed a
contract to lease it from Leeds and
set a release date of October 12 for
the finished disks. "All this schedul-
-
54
the memories of the man who wasn't
there. A large audience applauded
the conductorless (and sponsorless)
orchestra with all the zeal that such
a tour de force merited. But to applaud
an orchestra and to praise its unique
powers is not enough to keep it
Right now this orchestra
alive.
needs money, and no better musical
investment could be made at this
moment than a contribution to the
Symphony Foundation of America,
Room 154, Carnegie Hall, New York
19, N. Y., which is the non -profit
corporate entity organized by the
ex -NBC men.
THE
Howard Scott aad Dimitri Mitropoulos.
ing," he says, "was done without
any certain knowledge that Columbia
would record it immediately. However, after I heard the tape I felt
reasonably sure that the work would
constitute a near- future recording date
for Mitropoulos and the Philharmonic;
that machine-gun scherzo is hard to
resist, hi -fi being what it is."
Hi -fi being what it is, the Shostakovich Tenth is already midway
on the road to familiarity barely a
year after its composer first set it
down on paper.
JUST HOW spectacularly accomplished the ex -NBC Symphony really
is we never fully appreciated until
a few weeks ago, when it performed
a long and difficult concert in Carnegie Hall without benefit of conductor. That 92 players on their own
could keep together in such tricky
scores as the Roman Carnival Overture
or the Prokofieff Classical Symphony
was wonder enough; that they could
interpret a whole evening of music
with the quivering resonances, the
coruscating attacks, the delicacy of
phrasing, and the carefully adjusted
balances of their best work under
Toscanini was no less than a miracle.
I can recall few experiences in the
concert hall as affecting as their
playing of the Largo from Dvorak's
New World Symphony, enunciated with
a quiet melancholy made all the more
poignant by the empty podium and
NEWLY REVIVED Ballet
Russe de Monte Carlo has boarded
the Berlioz bandwagon by staging
a Harold in Italy ballet with choreography by Massine. On hand to witness it in Philadelphia near the start of
this company's tour was the Berlioz Society's indefatigable, irrepressible Duncan Robinson, who regaled everyone
in earshot with news of a forthcoming
translation by Jacques Barzun of
Berlioz's absorbing volume of musical commentary, Les Soirées de
POrchestre, to be sponsored by the
Society and published by Knopf
(probably late in 1955).
DEPT. OF
HISTORICAL ACCURACY: Most collectors remember
or have heard tell of the Stroh violin,
but it takes a record company (The
Historic Record Society, no less)
to give us the real low -down in some
notes accompanying a Sarasate reissue: "In early records with 'orchestral accompaniment' a cigar box like
device called a 'straw fiddle' was
often used to simulate the sound
of the violin." Wow! Could the
stenographer have had a tin ear?
Or was she only clutching at straws?
Columbia's ads for the Schumann
Cello Concerto played by Casals bill
it as "His First Concerto in 15 Years."
HIGH FIDELITY'S review is headed:
"Casals Makes His First Concerto
in Eighteen Years." In such a situation it's often safe (and diplomatic)
to assume that neither is correct.
Actually, Casals recorded a concerto
in England (the Elgar on HMV DB6338/41S) as recently as 1945, making
the new Schumann his first in nine
Casals also recorded two
years.
movements of the Haydn Cello Concerto for HMV at the same time, then
left England never to return.
...
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
L
Jlerords in lìcviei
Reviewed by
ALFRED FRANKENSTEIN
ROY H. HOOPES, JR.
JOHN M. CONLY
C. G. BURKE
PAUL AFFELDER
RAY ERICSON
JAMES
JOHN
DAVID RANDOLPH
SALLY MCCASLIN
Toscanini on Records
55
59
72
73
Classical Music, Listed by Composer
Collections and Miscellany
Building Your Record Library
HINTON, JR.
ROBERT KOTLOWITZ
J. F. INDCOX
S. WILSON
Dialing Your Disks
The Best of Jazz
The Music Between
Children's Records
HIGH FIDELITY DISCOGRAPHY
TOSCANINI ON RECORDS
No.
78
84
88
90
14
- Part
1920 -1948
1:
by Robert Charles Marsh
-
An asterisk
before the number of a record indicates that it has been dropped
from the catalog. It is to be hoped
that some of these disks will be
available again.
Since most of these records have
been pressed under more than one
number, I give only the manual
number of a 78 set (except in the
case of a few sets which appeared
only in automatic sequence and the
single-face number of the acoustic
If a transfer to long
recordings.
play has been made, I indicate the
new number. New recordings which
never appeared on 78 are given their
long play number, except for a few
which have appeared only on 45 and
are listed in that form. All listings
are Victor numbers, unless otherwise
stated.
This list is not exhaustive in
giving all the various couplings in
which these recordings are, or have
been, available. My evaluations refer
only to American pressings, not to
those of the HMV Company or
its affiliates.
A Note on the Listings:
DECEMBER, 1954
WITH LA SCALA ORCHESTRA
- 1920/2I
Respighi): Gagliarda
(No.
of Respighi s Suite No. I of
Ancient Dances and Airs), recorded De'74672.
cember 18. 1920
(orch.
GALILEI:
2
-
No. 39: Minuetto,
recorded December 18, 1920- '74668;
and Finale, recorded December 21,
1920
'74669.
PIZZETTI:
La Pisanelle: Le quai du port
de Famagouste, recorded December 21,
MOZART:
Symphony
-
1920
-
*64952
-
Symphony No. 3: Finale,
recorded December 24, 1920
*74769/70
BERLIOZ: The Damnation of Faust: Rakoczy
March, recorded December 24. 1920
`74695
MASSENET:
Fête Bohtme from Suite No.
4 (Scênec Pittoresques), recorded March
3, 1931
'74725.
MENDELSSOHN:
Scherzo from Incidental
Music to "A Midsummer Night's Dream,"
recorded March 9, 1921
'74779
BEETHOVEN:
-
-
-
WOLF -FERRARI:
The
Overture, recorded
Secret
-
of Suzanne:
March Io,
66o81.
1921
BIZET:
Farandole from L'Arlésienne Suite
No. 2, recorded March r r, 1921
'64986.
Wedding March from
Incidental Music to "A Midsummer Night's
Dream," recorded March II, 1921
*74745.
DONIZETTI: Don Pasquale: Overture, part
two was recorded on March 29, 1921,
but a successful version of part one was
MENDELSSOHN:
-
not made until March
3o- '66030/31.
-
No. s: Finale,
3o,
1921
'7469o.
BIZET: Carmen: Prelude to Act No. 4 (Ara gonaise), recorded March 31, 1921
BEETHOVEN:
recorded
Portrait: Man with score and
no glasses.
Symphony
March
-
'64999
The La Scala Orchestra of Milan.
Recorded in the Trinity Church studio of
the Victor Talking Machine Company,
Camden, New Jersey.
55
(.Oil-»
RECORDS
In Salzburg with
Artur Rodzinski,
who organized the
NBC Symphony for
him in 1936 - 37.
The Maestro is reading a score by the
late Bela Bartok.
The to recording sessions listed here
-a
prolonged effort spread over three
months - undoubtedly had much to do
with forming Toscaninï s long standing
dislike of making records. The acoustical
process was not sensitive enough to capture
p or pp with accuracy, so dynamics had to
be adjusted artificially, and what came off
the record as a soft passage had gone
into the apparatus as a fairly loud one.
This was difficult for Toscanini, who
demanded perfection then as much as now,
and there were many retakes. Originally,
16 single -face disks were released, but in
the mid -Twenties the Victor Company
recoupled them as double -face records.
All of these items were withdrawn after
the introduction of electrical recording.
As acoustical recordings go, this series
is not at all bad. The sound is, of course,
distorted and lacking in presence, but it
has life and vitality. The performances
are clearly those of a powerful musician.
The Don Pasquale is virtually the same as
the second version done 3o years later.
The Mendelssohn Scherzo is essentially
The
the 1929 and 1946 performance.
Beethoven is slightly broader than later
The Minuetto of the Mozart
versions.
is too slow, although thé Finale is obviously the way the Maestro wants it to
go and very similar to the 1948 broadcast
performance, which is the only time Toscanini ever played this work between 1925
and 1954. Six of the 14 items in this series
have been rerecorded on high fidelity disks.
WITH
NEW
YORK
1926/36.
PHILHARMONIC
-
Scherzo and Nocturne
from Incidental Music to "A Midsummer
Brunswick 50o74,
Night's Dream"
later recoupled as Scherzo and Walkiirenritt (under Mengelberg) on Brunswick 5o161.
The New York Philharmonic OrRecorded in Carnegie Hall
chestra.
in January or February 1926.
MENDELSSOHN:
-
-
This is the only record that Toscanini
ever made for a company other than Victor
(or its HMV affiliate). It is an early example of the electrical process, and though
superior to the acoustical series is nevertheless quite ancient in its sound.
Toscanini was guest conductor of the
Philharmonic for the first time during the
1925-26 season, and these works appear
56
in his programs for January 17 and February 1. Presumably the recording was made
about then. The Maestro has never liked
this record. The performance is dull and
inferior to other versions, though it was
considered something of a wonder in its
day.
-
The Sorcerer's Apprentice, recorded
March 18, 1929
*7021.
VERDI: La Traviata: Preludes to Acts r & 3,
recorded March 18 & 29, 1929
`6994.
DUKAS:
-
Symphony No. tot (Clock), recorded March 29 & 3o, 1929
*M -57.
MENDELSSOHN:
Scherzo from Incidental
HAYDN:
-
Music to "A Midsummer Night's Dream,"
recorded March 3o, 1929
in *M -57.
MOZART:
Symphony No. 35 (Haffner),
recorded March 3o & April 4, 1929
*M-65
GLUCK:
Orfeo: Dance of the Spirits, recorded November 21, 1929
in *M -65.
ROSSINI:
Barber of Seville: Overture, recorded November 21, 1929- *7255
-
-
-The Philharmonic- Symphony Orchestra
of New York. Recorded in Carnegie Hall.
Played on modern equipment capable
of eliminating surface noise with electronic
filters, these old disks have a pleasant,
if greatly limited, sound that reproduces
the fundamental elements of a Toscanini
performance. The Mendelssohn is the
same reading as other versions and surpassed by the 1947 recording. The "Haffner' is here played with a relaxed beauty
that is lost in the 1946 recording, but the
Dukas is less intense and more enjoyable
in the 195o performance.
The Gluck,
Haydn and Rossini are best heard in
the later versions.
.
Götterdämmerung:
WAGNER:
Siegfried's
Rhine Journey (concert version by Toscanini); Lohengrin: Preludes to Acts s & 3;
Siegfried Idyll, recorded February 8 &
*M -308.
April 9, 1936
BEETHOVEN:
Symphony No. 7, recorded
,April 9 & to, 1936- *M -317 & LCT-
-
to 13.
BRAHMS:
-
Variations on a Theme of Haydn,
'recorded April to, 1936
*M -355 &
LCT -ío23:
The Italian Woman in Algiers:
RoSSINI:
Overture, recorded April to, 1936*14161.
ROSSINI:
Semiramide: Overture, recorded
April 1o, 1936- *M -4o8.
.
-The Philharmonic- Symphony Orchestra
of New York. Recorded in Carnegie Hall.
If one asks why, in eleven seasons with
the Philharmonic, Toscanini made records
only on three occasions, the answer must
include three factors: (r) he did not especially want to make any records at all; (2) the
Depression and radio had supposedly
killed the record business; and (3) there
were efforts to make recordings that failed
to meet with his approval, for example
a Beethoven Fifth, recorded simultaneously
on disk and film (optical sound method)
The 1936
during a broadcast in 1931.
series was obviously made in continuous
recording, the engineers switching from
one cutter to another without stopping
the music, since Toscanini has always
hated having to halt at the end of a four minute side and attempt to pick up the
exact same tempo and rhythmic drive after
the break. It should be noted that alternate versions of some sides of the
Beethoven have been released through
the years and that the original of side one
was slower than the second version later
introduced and used in the transfer to LP.
These are unusually good records for
1936: the volume level is high; and though
the top is limited, the bass line has a formidable vitality. The transfers have tried
to soften this, with a resultant loss of
The originals were
life in the sound.
somewhat coarse but really smashing in
effect. There are new versions of all these
works except the Italian Woman, but the
1936 performances of the Rhine Journey,
Semiramide and the Beethoven convey
a sense of greater control than I find in
the newer recordings by the Old Man.
WITH BBC SYMPHONY
-
1937/39.
Symphony No. 1, recorded in
Queen's Hall, London, October 25, 1937
BEETHOVEN:
-
*M -5o7
BEETHOVEN:
&
LCT-1023.
Symphony No. 6 (Pastoral), re-
corded in Queen's Hall, London, October
21 & 22, 1937
*M -417 & LCT-1042.
in *M-5o7.
Tragic Overture
BRAHMS:
The BBC Symphony Orchestra. Recorded in Queen's Hall, London, October
-
-
-
25, 1937.
MOZART: The Magic Flute: Overture, recorded in Queen's Hall, London, June 2,
15190 & 49-0903.
1938
ROSSINI: The Silken Ladder: Overture, recorded in Queen's Hall, London, June 2,
*15191.
1938
WEBER: (orch. Berlioz:) Invitation to the
15192.
Dance
The BBC Symphony Orchestra. Recorded in Queen's Hall, London, June 14,
1938.
Leonore Overture No. z, reBEETHOVEN:
corded in Queen's Hall, London, June 1,
1939
*15945 & LCT -1o4t.
*M -676.
Symphony No. 4
BEETHOVEN:
The BBC Symphony Orchestra. Recorded in Queen's Hall, London, June 1,
1939.
- -
-
-
In 1935 and from 1937 -39, Toscanini
appeared in London with the symphony
orchestra of the British Broadcasting CorThe three recording sessions
poration.
which grew out of these concerts give us a
nearly perfect example of the best prewar recording: clean, well balanced, and entirely
suave and agreeable in sound. The range is
limited and the presence is not too good,
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
RECORDS
but as low -fi shellac technique goes, the
HMV engineers gave Toscanini far better
recording than he received from Victor
in the six years following. The Beethoven
First and Sixth Symphonies, from the 1937
London sessions, were transferred to long
play as a stop -gap measure until new versions could be prepared. Some may feel
that the First benefits from the somewhat
broader treatment of this performance.
The Brahms was on Toscanini's first concert
program in 1896 and is a work he plays
extremely well. It has never been rerecorded
by him.
From the second London sessions only
the Mozart has been transferred, to 45
rpm. There is a new Invitation to the Dance
that eliminates the need for this 1938
version, but the Rossini overture is too
enjoyable to lose. So too is the relaxed
performance of the Beethoven Fourth
.from the 1939 sessions, a highly preferable
interpretation to the overly tense 1951
version. Apparently continuous recording
was used in this work, and side seven ends
with a spectacular cliff- hanging effect.
An LCT reissue is decidedly needed here.
WITH NBC SYMPHONY- 193842.
(Recordings made with NBC Symphony from 1944-47 will be surveyed
in Part II of the discography.)
BEETHOVEN:
Quartet No. r6 (Op. 135):
Lento & Vivace, recorded March 8,
-390 & LCT -1041.
1938
-M
HAYDN: Symphony No. 88, recorded March
8, 1938
-454 & 'LCT -7.
-'M
Symphony No. 40, recorded
March 8, 1938 & February 27, 1939
MOZART:
--
*M -631.
These and all subsequent recordings
with the NBC Symphony Orchestra.
Recorded in Studio 8 -H, Rockefeller
Center, New York.
On Christmas 1937, Toscanini returned
to New York and at the age of 7o became conductor of the NBC Symphony,
an orchestra that had been engaged and
trained for him by Artur Rodzinski. One
of the persistent myths about Toscanini
is that he destroys orchestras rather than
creates them, the usual evidence for this
being the decline of the Philharmonic
after 1936. This is an argument against
the facts. The Philharmonic had been
placed in the hands of a conductor who
could maintain neither the artistic standards nor technical discipline established
by Toscanini and revived by him when
he returned to conduct the orchestra in
While it slipped into
1942 and 1945.
mediocrity, Toscanini was building the
NBC Symphony into an orchestra which
attained a brilliance equal to the Philharmonic.
In these early recordings of the NBC
Symphony we hear a fine professional
ensemble, but not an orchestra that has
as yet learned to give Toscanini the type
of performance he received from the
Philharmonic or the BBC after a few
seasons. This series is an example of studio
recording at its worst. The sound is coarse
and dry, giving the impression that the
musicians are playing in a rather small
Everything about the sound is
closet.
DECEMBER, 1954
dead and unnatural, and the use of artificial resonance in some LP transfers only
makes this more apparent. The highs and
lows are greatly limited, the monitoring
makes the range of volume shallow, and
with the high overtones of the instruments
missing one often hears only the grumbly,
distorted sound of the fundamentals.
This is especially true of the brass, which
always has an unpleasant quality.
The Beethoven is beautifully played
and preserves the feeling of a string quartet
very well. The Haydn is well played, but
the sound is poor; and the Mozart is far
too intense and is poor sound. Fortunately,
the 1950 version of the Mozart is more
relaxed and quite beautiful to hear.
Symphony No. 5, recorded
February 27, March z, & March 29,
1939- 'M -64o & LCT -root.
ROSSINI:
William Tell: Overture, recorded
March r & 29, 1939
-605 & LMBEETHOVEN:
-M
14.
PAGANINI:
Moto Perpetuo,
in *M -590.
17, 1939
-
-
recorded April
Recorded in Studio 8 -H.
-
-
Technically these are all dreadful, alas in 1938
the original performances must have been excellent. The
long play version of notorious old M -64o
is somewhat improved in sound, though
still coarse and wooden most of the time.
The Rossini is very thin; take care that you
don't get it instead of the 1953 version,
which is virtually the same performance,
beautifully recorded.
though
BEETHOVEN:
Symphony
-
No.
(Eroica),
3
recorded during a broadcast, October
28, 1939
*M-765.
BEETHOVEN:
Leonore
Overture
No.
3,
recorded during a broadcast, November
HMV DB- 5703/04.
4, 1939
BEETHOVEN:
Egmont Overture, recorded
during a broadcast, November 18, 1939
HMV DB -5705.
-
-
BEETHOVEN:
Leonore
Overture
No.
2,
recorded during a broadcast, November
25, 1939 -HMV DA- 1753/54.
Recorded in Studio 8 -H.
These four items represent RCA Victor's
next effort to record the Maestro. The
breaks between sides are bad, the sound
is execrable, the performances are wonderful. Only one of the series was ever released in America, the Eroica that begins
with a cough. It and Leonore No. 3 are here
played with greater inflection and more
rhetorical emphasis that one finds in the
later versions of these works. Aficionados
will be interested in these recordings;
but, like others, they will find them something to weep about.
Egmont has been recorded again.
Apparently this is the only Leonore No. 2
there is going to be from Toscanini.
BEETHOVEN:
Violin
Concerto
-
(Op.
On the whole the recording is so dead and
artificial that at times the thin line of
violin sound reminds one of something
from the golden age of Thomas Edison's
tinfoil cylinder rather than of 1940. Heifetz's
performance is not my cup of tea, but
there is some vitality and musical pleasure
in Toscanini's fine handling of the orchestral part of the work.
Piano Concerto No. 2, recorded
May 9, 1940- 'M -74o & LCT-1025.
Vladimir Horowitz, piano.
Recorded in Carnegie Hall.
BRAHMS:
-
Although the Second Piano Concerto contains some lovely passages, on the whole
it is one of those inferior works in which
Brahms tries to write more ambitiously
than he feels and thus builds up large
sections of the music from what are actually
no more than pretentious formulae. A
performance of this work, to be enjoyable,
must be sympathetic and exhibit restraint.
Horowitz, certainly, is not a ham. His
playing is hard and percussive, and one
feels that each note has been turned out
of brass and chromium plated. Trills are
rattled off with the brisk mechanical
efficiency of a turbine. The balance in the
recording favors the piano, and what one
in spite of a
hears of the orchestra
is not well defined,
trip to Carnegie Hall
limited in range, and rather coarse. Those
who want to hear Toscanini's Brahms
would do well to listen to something
other than this.
--
BEETHOVEN:
-
Symphony No. 8, recorded
1941
M -908.
Götterdämmerung: Immolation
February 24,
WAGNER:
-
(with Helen Traubel, sporano),
M -978
recorded February 24, 1941
& LCT -1116.
Lohengrin: Prelude to Act r,
WAGNER:
recorded February 24 & May 6, 1941
11 -8807.
BRAHMS: Symphony No. r, recorded March
IO, 1941
*M.875.
VERDI:
Preludes to Acts
La Traviata:
18r & 3, recorded March Io, 1941
080.
Tritscb- Tratsch Polka, recorded
STRAUSS:
May 6, 194r
17.9188 & 49-1082.
Scene
-
-
-
-
6r),
recorded March 11, 1940
*M -7o5
& LCT -toto.
Jascha Heifetz, violin.
Recorded in Studio 8 -H.
-
Heifetz is still active, and one wonders
why this set was not remade rather than
transferred from old records. It is still the
same diamond in the rough with the harsh,
dry sound of the studio. At normal volume
one loses pp and hears/. as wooden grunts.
Maestro and son, Walter Toscanini, listen
to records on pre -high fidelity phonograph.
57
II1 ul<I)
-
Recorded in Carnegie
Hall.
All of these works that are not available
in new versions have been added to the
The Immolation Scene
LCT or 45 series.
is well sung and conceived on a magnificent scale, but the recording was originally
rejected until a trumpet passage could
be inserted at a higher volume level. Since
this had to be done during a recording
ban, it was necessary to obtain dispensation
from Petrillo before Harry Glantz, first
trumpet of the orchestra, could come
The transfer is
before the microphone.
good, but the sound is still pale and tired.
The 1952 Beethoven Eighth is more relaxed than this 1941 interpretation and
better recorded, and the 1951 Brahms
First eliminates the need for the earlier
version.
The 1936 Lohengrin had more
body than this; the Verdi lacks bass.
In both cases the newer versions are preI suggest the Strauss for the
ferable.
children and beer- busts.
Piano Concerto
TCHAIKOVSKY:
recorded May 6 & 14, 1941
No.
& LCT -ío12. Vladimir Horowitz, piano.
Recorded in Carnegie Hall.
song called "Tonight We
Love" transformed the opening episode
of this work into the adolescent's dream
of tonal ecstasy; overnight everyone from
hillbilly virtuosi on the washboard and
harmonica to Toscanini and Horowitz
was taking this old war horse for a ride.
Nobody who lived through those days will
ever want to hear this concerto again, but
there is always a new generation, so it
should be noted that the performance is
a fine one, perhaps too intense but tremendously exciting, and that the recorded
sound
coarse, clangy, and lacking in
is ideal for juke boxes.
body
In
1941
a
--
Götterdämmerung:
Siegfried's
Rhine Journey and Funeral Music (concert
versions by Toscanini), recorded May
17,
1941
'M -853 & (Rhine
14 &
Journey only) LM -1157.
Adagio for
BARBER:
Quartet, Op. rr:
11Strings, recorded March 19, 1942
WAGNER:
-
-
8287.
STRAUSS:
recorded
- II.8580.
On the Beautiful Blue Danube,
March
Mignon:
19,
-
1942
Overture, recorded
11 -8545.
March 19, 1942
Tristan and Isolde: Liebestod,
WAGNER:
in *M -978
recorded March 19, 1942
& in WCT-1116.
Recorded in Carnegie Hall.
THOMAS:
-
-
Toscanini had a falling out with NBC
in the summer of 1941 and as a result
conducted no regular broadcasts during
the 1941.42 season, though he appeared
with the orchestra in five radio concerts
for the benefit of the war bond drive.
Early in 1942 he made a series of recordings
with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and when
it turned out that none of these was satisfactory for release, only the 1941 Götterdämmerung set and seven sides cut with
the NBC in anticipation of a recording ban
were available to tide Victor over the two
years of what proved to be the Great
Petrillo Interdiction.
As music to carry us through war, tragedy
and crisis, only the Wagner was of adequate
proportions. The performance is not so
58
N AIN
MfAl.0loA1%'ACfMf: CYMIeANY
1941
The Moldau,
(an
121
December 13,
exceptionally fast per-
formance).
BRAHMS (orch.
THE NBC SYMPIIONY ORCIIESTRA
:
(latl ÍN.A\ NRiR
Pralin>
UY...ywl.N. o
+-rVu.: Mr
5,.d...a..,.cMm.
.
.
....rd NN.
,..
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
1Na
Nr,
.
m,
..
-
95.
PONCHIELLI:
-31.
April 4, 1943
TCHAIKOVSKY:
ils
14
-
La Gioconda: Dance of the
63.
Hours, April 4, 1943
SOUSA: The Stars and Stripes Forever, April
William Tell: Passo a Sei (incorrectly labeled Dance of the Soldiers),
IROIANM IOR NEW YEAR Nn Jfl
JANl'ARY I. IS
R rN1.
r..H.....,,. L.. ,I44 Q4444 F
aii..,A....ow44 .1..4144
I.....
-
226.
-
The Nutcracker Ballet:
261/62
Suite No. r, April 25, 1943
also as 501/02.
VERDI: Don Carlos: O Don Fatale (with
Quartet
Nan Merriman) & Rigoletto:
(with Ribla, Merriman, Peerce and
Valentino), July 25, 1943
Program offirst Toscanini-NBC broadcast.
powerfully inflected or dramatically paced
as that with the New York Philharmonic
in 1936, and the recording lacks solidity.
The long play transfer is a genuine high
phooey recording, with the volume level
of the highs boosted but the lack of actual
high frequencies in the recording making
for coarse and unpleasant sound.
The
Liebestod was cut as a filler; it is ruthlessly
fast and inexpressive.
Happily there are
new versions of these works.
was
The Barber
given its world premiere
by Toscanini and is a fine work, deserving
of transfer to 45. The Strauss seems more
like Vesuvius in eruption than the Danube
at Vienna.
The opening pages of the
Mignon are played with great beauty, but
lovely as they are this is not enough to
compensate for the light weight of the
music.
The new version is technically
superior and identical as an interpretation.
V -DISKS
BY TOSCANINI
-
-
-
4,
1943
ROSSINI:
Mk...A
..bw .... .a.... w. ,I. ow.
,-.i..
-
Dvorak): Hungarian Dance
No. r, January to, 1943
593.
GROFE
Grand Canyon Suite: On the Trail
561.
& Cloudburst, February 7, 1943
Quintet, Op. 13, No. S:
BOCCHERINI:
226.
Minuet, April 4, 1943
Zampa Overture, April 4, 1943
HEROLD:
ARTURO TOSCANINI
.
1,
-'M -Boo
-
-
SMETANA:
NU:
1941 /48.
-
GARIBALDI'S WAR
31.
1943
-
75.
September 9,
BIZET:
Carillon from L'Arlesienne Suite
No. r & Carmen: Act 4, March of the
Toreadors, September 19, 1943
53.
November
Jota Aragonese,
GLINKA:
7, 1943
WAGNER:
-
-
593.
-
Tristan und Isolde:
November 28, 1943
-
Liebestod,
361.
Symphony No. 1 (Classical),
PROKOFIEFF:
June 25, 1944
481 (a very rapid per-
formance).
-
Leonore Overture
BEETHOVEN:
October 29, 1944
392.
-
The Swan
SIBELIUS:
13, 1945
333.
of Tuonela, January
-
-
-
-
606/07.
-
ELGAR: Enigma Variations:
18, 1945
No.
7
ROSSINC
April
-
-V
La Gazza Ladra:
12, 1941
461.
STRAUSS:
On the Beautiful Blue
December 6, 1941
151.
-
Overture,
Danube,
"Troyte,"
6o6.
-
CASTELNUOVO-TEDESCO: Overture to a Fairy
Tale, November 25, 1945
607.
-
MOZART: Symphony No. 40: First Move638.
ment, January 27, 1946
La Forza del Destino: Overture,
VERDI:
638.
January 27, 1946
La Bohème: 0 soave fanciulla
PUCCINI:
(finale, Act I) (with Albanese & Peerce)
& Quando men vo (Musetta's waltz song
and finale, Act 2) with Anne McKnight,
other principals, chorus, etc.), February
654.
3, 1946
Excerpts from Ariane and Blue
DUKAS:
836/37 (TosBeard, March 2, 1947
canini conducted the first American
performance of this opera at the Metropolitan in 1911).
Symphony 51/2, September 2 I,
Gluts:
-
-
1947
VERDI:
-
- 826.
Otello:
-
Willou Song & Ave Maria
(with Herva Nelli), December
WAGNER: Götterdämmerung: Orchestral Finale
(incorrectly labeled Immolation Scene),
-Disk 36r.
February 22, 1941
r,
No.
Overture,
KABALEVSKY:
Colas Brea gnon:
January 21, 1945
675.
Prelude to the Afternoon of a
DEBUSSY:
Faun, February II, 1945
708.
Il Signor Bruschino: Overture,
ROSSINI:
November 11, 1945
637.
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Fantasia on a Theme
by Thomas Tallis, November I t, 1945
November
The V -Disk project was carried on by
the American armed forces from 1944-49.
The records were 12 -inch 78 disks pressed
on vinylite for distribution in service installations in this country and abroad.
The Toscanini series was taken from
acetates of broadcasts. Because of union
regulations, contractual obligations of the
artists, etc., these records were never available commercially, and when the project
ended the masters were destroyed. None
the less, there are 13 Toscanini items in
the series that cannot be had in another
form, though the remaining 24 Toscanini
V -Disks duplicate other records. I offer
the list so that collectors may take a morose
interest in its contents. The date of the
broadcast which supplied the source recording is given in each instance; also
the numbers of the V- Disks.
HYMN,
13, 1947
847.
MARTUCCI:
848.
Noveletta,
March
13,
1948
Part II of the Toscanini Discography
will appear in January.
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
Kf<
CLASSICAL
ANTHEIL
The Capital of the World
tBanfield: The Combat
Ballet Theater Orchestra, Joseph Levine,
cond.
CAPITOL P8278. 12 -in. 23, 23 min. $5.95.
Two pieces of effective theater music robbed
of their chance to achieve a more impressive effect by the paltry sound of a
small pit orchestra thinly recorded
A. F.
BACH
The Art of the Fugue (orchestrated by
Kurt Redel)
Orchestre de
Redel, cond.
Chambre
WESTMINSTER WAL 220.
Pro -Arte,
Two
12
J. S. Bach for artistic exploitation of the
Protestant chorale. Much less well known
are his modest, almost humble harmonizations of the 69 chorale tunes issued
as part of a book of hymns and sacred
songs by Georg Christian Schemelli and
comes a cropper. Those on sides 1 and 2
are played on the harpsichord, those on
side 3 on the organ. These are disturbing
intrusions, an effect not at all mitigated
Kurt
-in. $11.90.
A reverent transcription, for strings, oboes,
and bassoons, of the complete work,
including the final, unfinished triple fugue.
The playing in the fugues is warm and
fairly sensitive, the recording brilliant
and spacious throughout. Redel employs
the woodwinds somewhat as a discreet
organist would use reed stops; he achieves
variety of tone-color without calling attention to specific timbres for their own
Bach's lines are not obscured, and
sake.
there are no shenanigans about shifting
It is in the canons that Redel
registers.
by the deadly mechanical rigidity with
which they are performed.
The clarity
of the recording is a bit cruel to the organ,
which has a sour note or two. I suppose
we should not complain when a recording
company for a change gives a work like
this without any cuts, but perhaps the two
fugues for harpsichords, which are the only
arrangements of the two versions of Fugue
XIII that precede them on the same side,
could have been spared.
But what miracles Bach wrought with a
theme no more promising than any given
to a beginning student in counterpoint!
After all, one can always skip over the canons.
published in 1735 by Christoph Breitkopf.
Almost none of these melodies are by
Bach himself; all he did was to supply
the traditional strains with a figured bass,
and to incorporate very slight melodic
alterations and elaborations here and there.
It was an heroic deed of Westminster
to issue this monumental collection (which
includes, in addition to the 69 Schemelli
songs, six similar pieces from the Notenbuch for Anna Magdalena Bach)
heroic,
since there is no getting around the fact,
Bach's harmonizations
notwithstanding,
that we have here eight full LP sides containing, essentially, nothing but hymns,
sung alternately by two solo voices, and
all accompanied by harpsichord and cello.
Offhand, therefore, it seems a poor
choice for a $23.80 record album. But
the moment one begins to play the records,
the surprising fact emerges that these
pieces are so full of sheer beauty of melodic
line and harmonic imagination, and the
from
melodies themselves so varied
simple, almost naive syllabic chorales to
others of quite elaborate contour and
superbly expressive setting
that one
simply cannot stop listening.
Hildegard Roessel -Majdan and Hugues
Cuenod both succeed in striking a tasteful
-
NATHAN BRODER
BACH
Geistliche Lieder
Hildegard
Roessel -Majdan,
contralto;
Hugues Cuenod, tenor; Richard Harand,
cello; Franz Holetschek, harpsichord.
WESTMINSTER WAL 402. Four I2 -in. $23.80.
-
The Protestant chorale is the most significant musical outgrowth of the Reformation.
It has provided generations of composers
with immensely durable melodic raw
material on which to build a host of different
musical forms and structures, encompassing
every conceivable degree of complexity.
No composer is better known than
-
Brandenburg Bounty: Six Concertos for the Price of Four
THIS MAKES the third complete recording of the Brandenburgs
LP that attempts to present them in their original instrumentation. The other two are the Westminster set conducted by Haas
and the London set directed by Münchinger. All three have virtues
on
and defects.
All in all, I should say that the Vanguard set wins first place.
The instrumentation is almost exactly what Bach called for, the
only deviation being the use of a flute instead of a recorder in
No. 2. This substitution is excused in the notes by the hazard of
combining a recorder with the high trumpet part. But even the
flute is a little faint here. There are other flyspecks in matters of
The solo violin in the
balance, recording, and interpretation.
third movement of No. 5 sometimes overwhelms the flute; the
basses throughout are not as resonant as in the London set; and
the recorders in No. 4 do not distinguish perceptibly between piano
and forte. But Prohaska performs these wonderful works with the
right combination of manliness and tenderness, and his tempos,
to these ears, are unexceptionable. If some of the fast movements
are taken rather deliberately, it soon turns out that this is done to
prevent very rapid or difficult passages from becoming scrambled.
Only in the first movement of No. 2 does the tempo seem a little
impatient in spots. The troublesome horn parts in No. t are beautifully played, as is the famous trumpet part in No. 2. We are not
told what kind of trumpet is used there, but whatever it is, it sounds
mellow and, while it lacks the sharpness of the excellent trumpet
in the London set, it blends better with the other instruments.
It is handled with such virtuosity by Helmut Wobisch that we don't
have to sit on the edge of our chairs and pray for the poor man.
Anton Heiller, the harpsichord player, presents an unidentified
cadenza in No. 3. It is longer than the short one in the Westminster
set and the mere arpeggio in the London and consequently makes
a better -balanced interpolation between the two fast movements.
Heillet's playing conveys the excitement of the magnificent cadenza
in No. 5. The recorders in No. 4 come through bright and clear,
not thin and wheezy, as in the Westminster performance. No.
6 has a rich, round sound.
In performance and recording the London set is in most respects
good and in one or two respects better. But Münchinger
ordinary violin in No.
instead of a violino piccolo and
flutes instead of recorders in No. 4. In the Westminster set the
tempos are rather slow and heavy, particularly in Nos. 3 and 5
and the Minuet of No. 1; the harpsichord is often too pronounced;
the horns in No.
are less clear and clean, the trumpet in No.
2 plays an octave lower than it should, and the sound of No. 6
is rather dull and thick.
NATHAN BRODER
almost
as
uses an
1
1
BACH
Brandenburg Concertos, Nos. r -6, Complete
Chamber Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera, Felix Prohaska,
cond.
BACH GUILD BG
for the set.
540.42.
Three
12
-in.
$5.95 apiece, or 511.90
Prohaska conducts the Brandenburgs: "manlinessand tenderness."
DECEMBER, 1954
59
www.americanradiohistory.com
Rl
(
(
)RI),
not differing much in pace or accent from
a number of others, has the firmest sound
of any.
C. G. B.
BEETHOVEN
Concerto for Piano, No
asterisks
3,
in C Minor,
Op. 37
tMozart: Concerto for 2 Pianos, in E Flat,
KV 365
Emil Gilels (and Thersites Zak in the
Mozart); Moscow Radio Orchestra, Kiril
Kondrashin, cond.
PERIOD 6ot. 12 -in. 36, 24 min. $5.95.
If
we let our concerns vacillate between
magnetic tape and the explosives which
are our proudest contribution
we may be heartened by the
Backhaus: third man to complete the
32.
to sociology,
quality of recorded tape oozing from the Soviet Union.
Since this is so bad, can their bombs be
better?
balance between trained -voice solo style
and intimate expressiveness and simplicity,
thus retaining the directness of spirit
which animates these songs.
I have only two mild complaints: i)
many of the fermatas seem to be held
too long, so that they impair the musical
and textual coherence, and 2) the organ
would have been much more appropriate
accompaniment furnished for the music
than the harpsichord.
The recorded sound is excellent despite
occasional blurring of the enunciation.
The balance between voice and accompaniment is perfect. Kurt List has provided
more than 8,000 words of program -notes,
but the chorale -texts are not furnished.
KURT STONE
BANFIELD
The Combat
-
See
-
BEETHOVEN
Concerto for Piano, No. 2, in B Flat,
Op. 19; Coriolan Overture, Op. 62;
Die Weibe des Hauses Overture, Op.
124
Badura -Skoda
(Concerto);
Vienna
National Opera Orchestra, Hermann Scherchen, cond.
WESTMINSTER
to min.
WL
5302.
12 -in.
25,
8,
$5.95.
The pianist's affinity for the music of
Mozart creates, in one of the very few
major Beethoven works imitative of Mozart,
a fastidious, limpid and mobile narrative.
Music -lovers familiar with Scherchen records may be surprised at the elegant
deftness of his leadership here. Precision
is very much a feature, emphasized by Mr.
Badura -Skoda's remarkably balanced hands,
but there is no impression of prissiness.
The interpretation is delicately scaled,
and reproduction should be kept at judicious volume to match it. When that is
done, the piano will have a lovely soft
reality and the orchestra a seductive refinement.
The Scherchen versatility is attested by
the rugged Coriolan and devout -jubilant
Weihe des Hauses backing the Concerto.
The Consecration of the House seems decisively the best recorded, in this playing
and this rich recording.
The Coriolan,
6o
2, 5, 6, 7, 11,
14 IS, 26,
27,31,32.
Wilhelm Backhaus, piano.
LONDON (see text) Six 12 -in. $5.95 each.
a final pile of six LPs containing
fourteen Sonatas, London completes her
recording of the 32 Piano Sonatas of
Beethoven in performances by Wilhelm
Backhaus.
Mr. Backhaus is the third
pianist
the others were Prof. Kempff
and the late Artur Schnabel
to have
recorded the entire array. A few of the
Schnabel versions, made on 78s in the
early 19305, have been reissued on Victor
LPs.
The Kempff edition, a product of
Deutsche Grammophon, exists on 15
12 -inch Decca
disks.
The Backhaus,
which has been appearing spasmodically
over the last five years, occupies 27 sides.
London thus has the advantage of a smaller
pile of records and of dollars demanded,
and she throws in a Chopin Sonata out of
pure grace.
With
Antheil.
BARTOK
Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin
See Kodaly.
Paul
we may ask; and the question is
undeniably comforting in its implied answer.
But analogy is a pitfall: maybe the Russians
are indifferent to recorded tape, and unquestionably the budget is more indulgent
to the Bombs; and anywhere, art is harder
than science. But we are tired of Russian
tapes even when they present good musicians
as they do here, for pianos should be truer
to themselves than to marimbas.
This
record from Russian tape is junk: if it is a
plot to lull us, the pain of listening is too
great to lull many.
C. G. B.
BEETHOVEN
Sonatas Nos. I,
-
The Sonatas in the Backhaus- London
edition are distributed as follows, the
six new records indicated by prefixed
-
(a):
26, 27. 1.1.949. 14, t6, 12 min.
*Nos. 2, II. L1948. 19, 21 min.
Nos. 3, 17. LL627. 22, 22 min.
*Nos. 4, 7.
LL95o.
18, 19 min.
Nos. 5, 6, 25. 11393.
14, to, 9 min.
'Nos. 8, 9, 15. LL952. r6, 11, 19 min.
Nos. Io, 22, 24. LL603. 13, io, io min.
(and Schumann's "Warum ?').
Nos. 12, 21. LL265. 19, 21 min.
Nos. r3, 14, 19, 20. LL705 14, 151 7.
7 min.
'Nos. 16, 18. LL951. 19, 18 min.
Nos. 23, 28. 11597. 20, 17 min.
No. 29. LL602. 41 min.
No. 30. 11266. 17 min. (and Chopin:
Sonata 2).
'Nos. 31, 32. LL953. 17, 21 min.
The 14 Sonatas on the six new records
confirm what the earlier records had taught
us about Backhaus in Beethoven. Stalwart
and devotedly romantic, favoring
the
broad stroke and the forceful attack, he is
discriminating and experienced, intelligent
enough to know the requirements of
classical style. That he is entirely at home
in that style may be doubted: he is usually
best when feeling dominates form.
His
truly remarkable pianism evokes admiration even when the direction of his musicianship does not convince.
In the First Sonata, airy, mischievous
and refined alternately or at once, the
performance relies too much on deftness
and must be called disappointing, while
Sonatas No. 26 and 27, on the same record,
have excellent interpretations in full real-
'Nos.
1,
ization of their continuous romanticism.
The first movement of No. 2 lacks the
engaging 9ipness we could like, but the
overside No. 1r is thoroughly convincing.
The combination of Nos. 4 and 7 is successful: both are beautifully presented and
music -lovers ought to have the record.
Nos. 8, 9 and 15, on a single record, seem
deficient here and there, sometimes in
grace, sometimes in the nature of their
We can bow to the pleasant
phrasing.
lyricism of No. 15, but surely its caprices
understated.
No. 18, in the opinion here, is the best
side of all, and the most desirable version
of this lovely music. Its overside, No.
16, enjoys scintillating pianism, not invariably to its advantage.
Finally, the
moving eloquence of No. 31 is backed
are
Badura Skoda and Scherchen: Mozartian Beethoven performed with vigor and elegance.
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
RECORDS
by a No. 32 whose arietta is just that
trifle too fast to hurt it beyond repair.
The sonatas previously issued have all
been noticed here. Like the components
of any complete edition, they vary in
value. They are in great part much better
in sound than the Kempff edition, but
few will think that the Backhaus strength
countervails the vivacious symmetry of
Prof. Kempff. There are 190 recordings
of Beethoven piano sonatas, and among
them five or six of the Backhaus versions
are outstanding, an impressive accomplishment.
C. G. B.
BEETHOVEN
Sonatas for Piano: No. 3o, in E, op. tog;
No. 31, in A Flat, Op. zio
Myra Hess.
RCA VICTOR LHMV
zo min. 55.95
1o68.
12
-in. 21,
Restrained in force but poetic in mind
and fervent in phrase, Op. t to as Dame
Myra gives it and HMV -Victor has registered it melts this critic to a sentimental
enthusiasm. Op. tog is played in the same
general manner
soft, intense but symmetrical
and may be as magisterial a
presentation; but the critic has always
been puzzled by its simpler music, and
cannot declare how he thinks it stands
in relation to other interpretations.
He
prefers this Op. 110 to all, and the sound
of both to all. The high octaves here are
real as real, and nowhere is reproduction
troublesome.
C. G. B.
- -
BEETHOVEN
Sonata for Piano and Violin, No.
in F, "Spring," Op. 24
Josef Palenicek, Alexander Plocek.
SUPRAPHON LPM
129.
to -in.
21
5,
min.
The violinist has a darkly- honeyed tone
and a sweet cantilena, but the pianist
accepts a lackey's rôle and the recordists
have minimized his bass if any. The line
of beauty in the adagio is worth hearing.
The last two movements are awkward.
C. G. B.
BEETHOVEN
Sonatas for Piano and Violin; No. 7,
in C Minor, Op. 30, No. 3; No. to,
in G, Op. 96
Friedrich Gulda, Ruggiero Ricci.
LONDON LL
$5.95
1004.
12 -in.
26, 26 min.
-
These are half of Beethoven's four greatest
Sonatas for these instruments. No. to,
in the pure linearity of its expression by
these intelligent and intuitive young players,
demands a place at the top of the list of
recordings. In fact, with this sound, exact
but unemphatic, clear and sweet for the
violin and sturdy for the piano, with
the instruments in satisfying equipoise,
Fidelio Again, or, A Tale of Two Cantatas
CHARITY demands that we try to understand the stresses on
malefactors before we execrate them. Both new editions of Beethoven's solitary opera, Fidelio, excise all the spoken dialog except
that in the dungeon scene's "melodrama," a short section in which
the whispered apprehensions of Leonora, rescue -bent wife of the
imprisoned hero, and Rocco the jailer are substantiated by the
orchestra. Arguments can be raised to oppose the inclusion of
spoken dialog in opera for the phonograph, but such arguments
cannot fitly be applied to all operas. The prose repartee of Fledermaus
or The Magic Flute is of unexciting quality when first heard and
dismal when heard repeatedly. The spoken words are no more
than contrivances to provoke a situation justifying music. The
book of Fidelio, dear to Beethoven, is a heroic drama which he
garnished with his overwhelming convictions on loyalty, hope,
freedom, love and treachery. Its drama, clear and uncomplicated
as serious opera dramas ought to be, is conveyed in nearly equal
measure by spoken word and by words with music.
Since the latter is not there, neither is Fidelio. Without the dialog, we have nothing but a spasmic procession of wonderful
musical numbers, intruding on each other's effect.
The two interpretations of this concert are in nice harmony with
what we should expect from their leaders. Prof. Furtwängler is
deliberate, Mr. Toscanini impetuous.
The respective manners
carry both reward and punishment. For example, Rocco's aria
"Hat man nicht auch Geld bei Leben" (roughly, "What is life without
money? ") has in the accompaniment a cascade of benevolent
chuckles to show that the cynicism is only fooling, and the Furtwängler beat relents to clarify this, in contrast to the Toscanini
refusal to recognize the underlying implications. On the other
hand, the terrible, barren blasts of frozen hopelessness of the Introduction to Act II are consummate in the vehemence of Mr.
Toscanini's summoning, making Prof. Furtwängler's reticence
pallid in contrast. And the gratulatory last scene in its entirety
is a triumph for Mr. Toscanini's unreserved fervor.
In general, the Toscanini direction is more convincing in the
finales and where the orchestra is dominant. The pliancy of Prof.
Furtwängler allows more expression to the arias under his direction.
Differences in recording play a part in the effectiveness of the
performances. The Victor sound, reincarnated from a 1944 broadcast, is amazing among similar resuscitations. The new His Master's
Voice sound decidedly does not show to years' improvement.
More distant than the Victor, it has an expected gloss without
an expected crispness of detail or much force of impact. Orchestrally it must be called disappointing although it is not bad, and
while naturally it is kinder to the solo voices than Victor could
be in 1944, the margin of kindliness is not so great as we could hope.
The principal Victor singers, although hard -pressed by the
baton, have the better voices. Miss Bampton is vocally the most
appealing of recorded Leonoras, and Mr. Peerce will be a revelation to those who have not imagined him in a German rôle. (He
is almost as convincing as another revelation, Mr. Ralf, in the old
DECEMBER, 1954
Toscanini
Furtwängler
Vox version.) Miss Steber's appeal is evident, but not what it
would be with a more modern recording. Messrs. Janssen and
Moscona are excellent.
For HMV Miss Mödl's big mezzo is splendid when under real
control, and not when not, with the microphone indiscreet in
betraying some mezzo mechanics. It is not likely that any soprano
living can improve on Miss Jurinac's Marzelline. Mr. Windgassen's
bright, healthy tones do not suggest a starving Florestan. The
Pizarro and Rocco of Otto Edelmann and Gottlob Frick are entirely commendable. HMV has forgotten to supply a libretto,
thinking perhaps that for a concert version none was necessary.
Victor offers German text and translation.
There are two older versions, one of a poor performance, the
other of the best performance on records. The latter is the Vox
edition, the vagaries of whose sonics may infuriate. But it contains
enough of the dialog to make sense and retain drama and emotion; it is as a whole well sung, and the direction by Dr. Karl
Böhm is sensitively poetic and dramatic without mannerisms.
This edition is marked for withdrawal, and music-lovers who
cannot wait for a Fidelio truly realized at every point of performance and reproduction will have a simulacrum with the Vox,
even if they have to cringe at certain freakish features of the sound.
C G. BURKE
Martha Mödl (s), Sena Jurinac (s), Wolfgang Windgassen (r),
Rudolf Schock (t), Otto Edelmann (bne), Alfred Poell (bne),
Gottlob Frick (bs); Chorus of the National Opera, Vienna, and
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Wilhelm Furtwängler, cond.
His MASTER'S VOICE ALP 1130.1132. Three 12 -in. 2 hr. 12 min.
320.85. (Available from Addison Foster, t 226 Montgomery Ave.,
Narberth, Pa.)
Rose Bampton (s), Eleanor Steber (s), Jan Peerce (t), Joseph Laderoute (t), Herbert Janssen (bne), Nicola Moscona (bs), Sidar
Belarsky (bs); Chorus and NBC Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini,
cond.
RCA VICTOR LM 6025. Two 12 -in. I hr. 52 min. $11.90.
61
j.Í( ()lZl)'.
we have sonically one of the very best
piano -violin records of any music. The
success of No. ro exceeds that of No. 7
because the players' restraint accords so
well with the former's continuous lyricism,
while the latter demands more savagery
C. G. B.
than they display.
BEETHOVEN
Sonatas for Piano and Violoncello: No.
I, in F, Op. 5, No. r; No. 3, in A, Op.
69; No. 4, in C, Op. 102, No. r; No.
5, in D, Op. 102, No. 2
Rudolf Serkin, Pablo Casals.
COLUMBIA
ML
ML 4878
(Nos.
3
4876 (Nos. r & 5) and
Two I2 -in. 26,
& 4).
21, 28, 21 min. $5.95 each disk.
No. 2, was
The Second Sonata, Op. 5,
recorded by the same players a few years
ago on Columbia ML 4572, a poor disk.
The Sonata is now announced on ML
4877, and all five in album SL 2or. It is
to be presumed that this ML 4877, which
was not submitted here for review, is a
new effort; and it may further be presumed
that if it was made at the same later Casals
Festival as the other four Sonatas now
under consideration it is a great improvement over its forerunner.
Mr. Serkin, after that earlier disk in
which his modesty was maddening, is a
revelation of strength and grace. That
grace is especially valuable in association
with the amazing variety of intensity
contributed by the cellist, who bows
every phrase on strings grave as a bass,
as responsive as a violin, alternately whispering and haranguing. In this forthright
romanticism, roughnesses and wrong notes
do not matter, nor the cellist's muttered
interjections. Mr. Serkin, with plenty of
sympathy, has not this heat, but his poise
keeps the musical structure intact. The
Sonatas are played in an expected slow
time, the familiar No. 3 particularly, but
Clear and rich
not to their detriment.
sound which seems complete, with the
reality of the cop of the piano to be noted
C. G. B.
as an admirable rarity.
BEETHOVEN
Symphony No. r, in C, op. 21
Overtures, Egmont and Leonora No. 3
Philharmonia Orchestra, Herbert von
Karajan, cond.
ANGEL 35097. 12 -in. 23, 8, 15 min. $5.95,
or $4.95 thrift pack.
The Symphony has received a splendid
performance of good -tempered masculine
jocularity, with subtleties in the score
acknowledged as they are not often. The
pp beginning the andante is a triumph for
conductor, orchestra and engineers, and
the healthy breadth of animal spirits in
the scherzo -called-minuet and finale has
been achieved with an ebullience whose
restraint by taste is not at first apparent.
Masterful, really, in its proof that the
Beethoven of Op. 21 was as much Beethoven
as he of Op. 92, if less experienced.
Prof. von Karajan has had to make his
Egmont a little different. The very slow
introduction and the very fast allegro
are less
involving a retard in the coda
In the
effective than straight playing.
third Leonore Overture tempos are modified
- -
62
more discreetly, and its vast sweeps are
in the proper grand manner. The two
Overtures have been favored with the
most imposing sound that this reviewer
has heard from an Angel orchestral disk,
but its spaciousness has some tendency
The
to swallow contrapuntal elements.
smaller orchestra in the Symphony is not
C. G. B.
so affected.
BERLIOZ
The Damnation of Faust
Legend, O. 24
BEETHOVEN
$17.85.
Symphony No. 5, in C Minor, Op. 67
New Orchestral Society of Boston, Willis
Page, cond.
COOK
1067.
10 -in.
(binaural). 28 min.
(standard);
12
-in.
$4.00 or $5.95.
through a well-adjusted binaural
apparatus, the demanding tumult of the
Fifth Symphony surges from all directions
in a reality of irresistible power that makes
one exult and say, "This is it, at last."
Heard
perfect pairing at Prades: Casals and
Serkin play the five Beethoven sonatas.
A
Such is the effect of judicious binaural
Turning
recording and reproduction.
then to the conventional one-channel
disk, one hears Mr. Page without a magic
cloak, and says, disillusioned, "This is
not it." For the performance has a haste
without an object, the recording an undue
emphasis on extremes: drums, trumpets.
C. G. B.
Binaural or nothing.
BEETHOVEN
Variations in C Minor,
Bagatelles, Op. 126
Leonid Hambro, piano.
COOK 1039. Io -in. II,
G 191
15
min. $4.00.
pretty good record burdened by
some pretty bad literature. The envelope
bears the title "A Perspective of Beethoven
Pianoforte," distastefully pretentious, and
inaccurate. The notes. childlike, create an
untruth by naive statements of irrelevant
fact, and they are capable of repelling people
from the disk. The Bagatelles in Mr. Ham bro's impetuous but studied and responsive
interpretation are too good to be submitted
to someone's verbal vagaries. Perhaps the
Variations here search too hard for color:
the performance is not conventional. Excellent bass and good treble in the piano
reproduction; and where the central octaves
seem hard this is probably an effect of the
C. G. B.
pianist's very crisp staccato.
This is a
-
-
Dramatic
Suzanne Danco, soprano; David Poled,
tenor; Martial Singher, baritone; Donald
Gramm and McHenry Boatwright, bassos;
Harvard Glee Club; Radcliffe Choral
Society; Boston Symphony Orchestra;
Charles Munch, cond.
Three 12 -in.
VICTOR LM 6114.
RCA
Hector Berlioz chose exactly the right
year to be born, showing foresight amazing
in one so young. The 15oth anniversary
of his birth fell on December I1, 1953
just when there was a stir of public appetite
for music like his, and when recording
techniques had advanced enough so that
the huge instrumental and vocal forces
of his massive scores could be given the
realistic reproduction they deserve.
There has been a flood of new recordings
of his works, and certainly one of the
best yet issued is the new, complete Damnation of Faust, made under the inspired
direction of one of the great Berlioz interpreters of our day, Charles Munch.
Berlioz wrote The Damnation of Faust
as a "dramatic legend" -- an oratorio
without stage action. It has since been
tried in operatic form, but the original
undramatized version is usually preferred
today. And well it may be for the magic
of this work is its ability, through music
alone, to conjure up a picture of the
Faust drama far more vivid and exciting
than could be evoked by any visual setting.
No stage representation. for example,
could possibly recreate the terror of the
onward -rushing Ride to the Abyss and the
ensuing Pandemonium.
Those who know The Damnation of
Faust only from the three commonly
played orchestral excerpts will have their
ears opened. These movements may be
effective as symphonic program matter,
but how much more thrilling they are
when heard in context! When the Hungarian March bursts forth after the related
preliminary fanfares, heard behind Faust's
recitative, it truly quickens the pulse.
The performance under Munch is an
extraordinary one. He whips the orchestra
and superbly trained chorus into a veritable
frenzy when the music calls for it, yet he
evokes the most plaintive sounds when
The soloists are all
these are needed.
excellent, with Martial Singher's sinister
and thoroughly French Mesphistopheles
outstanding. David Poled sings Faust's
lines with fervor and practically no forcing,
and Suzanne Dancó s Marguerite is simple
and movingly beautiful.
Victor's "New Orthophonic" sound
captures the vast forces with complete
Perfidelity and believable perspective.
ceptive notes by John N. Burk, together
with complete French and English text,
P. A.
are included.
BERLIOZ
-
Marche TroyLes Troyens à Carthage
enne
Minuet
La Damnation de Faust, Op. 24
of the Will-o'-the-Wisps; Dance of the
Sylphs; Hungarian March
-
Roman Carnival Overture, Op. 9
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
RECORDS
--
Benvenuto Cellini
Overture, Op. 23
Roméo et Juliette
Dramatic Symphony,
Op.
Romeo Alone; Sadness; Concert
and Bal; Grand Fite at Capulet's House
17-
smoother, neater and admirably coalesced
in her more expert recording, suggests a
delicacy in her violinist a little inadequate
to the music, and not improbably the work
of the engineers.
This critic wavers
in his preference, and calls attention
to Milstein- Steinberg and Stern -Beecham
editions not displaced because the new
ones are newer.
C. G. B.
-
Lamoureux Orchestra; Willem van Otterloo,
cond.
EPIC LC 3054.
12-in.
For the collector who may be somewhat
overawed by the vast amount of Berlioz
music released on disks during this 15oth
anniversary year, this record will provide a
generous and representative sampling of
that master's principal orchestral works.
(Take note, however, that Les Trayent à
Carthage, La Damnation de Faust and Roméo
et Juliette are available in complete performances already on microgroove.) The readings here are generally robust and straightforward, though short of subtlety and refinement. Strangely, the strings and brasses
of this French orchestra sound better than
the woodwinds, and come off best in the
bright, wide -range recording.
P. A.
BIZET
L'Arlesienste Suites, Nos
and 2
L'Orchestre Symphonique de la Radiodiffusion Nationale Belge, Franz André,
cond.
TELEFUNKEN LGX 66011. 12-in. 36 min.
1
$5.95.
This is the third version of the popular
Bizet suites to come my way in the past
six months, and taking everything into
consideration, the most satisfactory. While
the sound may not be the highest fi around,
it is excellent and well balanced, and
Andres performance has both the proper
style and firm direction necessary to the
score. Epic (March 1954) boasts of a good
performance by Fournet, but the sound
is poorly equalized, while Angel (August
'954) though slightly superior in sound,
has the routine work of Cluytens as a
liability.
J. F. 1.
BRAHMS
Concerto
for
Piauo and Orchestra, No.
I, in D Minor,
Op. r5
(2
Versions)
Clifford Curzon; Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam, Eduard van Beinum,
cond.
LONDON LL 850. 12-in. 47 min. $5.95.
BRAHMS
Symphony No. r, in C Minor, Op. 68
New Orchestral Society of Boston, Willis
Page, cond.
CooK 1o6o. 11 -in. (standard); two I1 -in.
(binaural). 42 min. $5.95 of $8.95.
Hector Berlioz:
1803 was exactly
right.
BRAHMS
for Violin and Orchestra, in
D, Op. 77 (2 Versions)
Concerto
Christian Ferras; Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Carl Schuricht, cond.
LONDON LI. 1046. 12-in. 39 min. $5.95.
Julian Olevsky; National Symphony Orchestra, Washington, Howard Mitchell,
cond.
WESTMINSTER WL 5273. 12 -in. 39 min.
$5.95.
For review these were heard in full three
times each. Both made a distinct impression, the more distinct for being opposite,
but the comparative values in terms of
selection are elusive because they are
incompatible. As the record presents it,
the Ferras -Schuricht performance is vast
vaster from the violinist than is perhaps
plausible, while the other record offers
a view from the other end of the telescope.
Mr. Ferras is extraordinary in the size
and quality of his tone and his ability to
keep a suave line pure, while Mr. Olevsky's
miniature is like a confession. This makes
the latter s adagio lovely. But the qualities
of performance have been influenced by
the qualities of recording. London, loud
and billowing, adds the eloquence of
strength to her fiddler and the Vienna Philharmonic.
Westminster, smaller,
-
Wilhelm Backhaus; Vienna Philharmonic
Orchestra, Karl Böhm, cond.
LONDON LI. 91 I. 12-in. 44 min. $5.95.
These are majestic records, twins in value.
They differ a little in style, not at all in
concept.
Curzon -Beinum score their
points by verve and dexterity, a more
persistent rubato, a sharper narrative. Is
this better than a steady progress, a sturdier,
more masculine discipline, and in the slow
movement a more fluent lyricism?
It
may not be, through most of the work,
but it is the difference that prevails for
C -B in the rondo.
Sound excellent in
both, the choice one of hall- sound, brighter
and more detailed in Amsterdam, better
for the orchestra; more voluminous in
Vienna, better for the piano. Your reviewer has wavered in choice between
the two editions until he is sure that it
is right to prefer either.
C. G. B.
MILLER OF WASHINGTON
Howard Mitchell: two new versions of the
Brahms violin concerto differ in size.
DECEMBER, 1954
The comments applied to the same corn pany's production of Beethoven's Fifth
Symphony are not inappropriate here,
although this Brahms is better performed
than that Beethoven. Still, the great
pounding of the drums from the beginning
pales later climaxes, the pianos are pretty
hearty, and the few departures from expected tempo do not add illumination.
Nevertheless, the suffusion of binaural
grandness may make the binaural version
seem like a great musical happening,
something that the standard disk of this
performance cannot do.
C. G. B.
BRAHMS
z, iu C Minor, Op. 68
Philharmonic Orchestra, Joseph
Keilberth, cond.
TELEFUNKEN LGX 66003. 11 -in. 44 min.
Symphony No
Berlin
55.95.
After 17 predecessors, a record of the
Brahms First to acquire acclaim would
have to be sublimely glorious or insolently
awful. This is just another good one,
leaning to ponderosity, grand in the
external movements, rather sodden in the
central.
Broad recording and effective
except for a certain dryness of tone noticed
before in disks of this company, but clean
and strong in an impressive bass. C. G. B.
BRAHMS
Symphony No. 4, in E Minor, Op. 98
Orchestra of the Stadium Concerts, New
York, Leonard Bernstein, cond.
DECCA DL 9717. 12-in. 39 min. $5.85
Mr. Hugh Mulcahy, who just before the
war occupied with frequent distinction the
podium of the Philadelphia Phillies, suffered
from an uncertainty of delivery in his overtures. After the first inning one could expect him to be formidable, and if during
the first inning he donated no more than
two runs to his opposition his chances of
winning were accounted very good. Mr.
Leonard Bernstein, playing to a larger audience than the sodden Phillies of Mr. Mulcahy's day could attract, has discernible
trouble, too, with his opening measures.
Mastery comes after the first inning. This
Brahms Fourth, after a rather girlish and
tentative start, develops muscles as it proceeds, and if we discount the opening minutes of uncertain control, we hear a tough
and domineering projection of a masterpiece so elastically abstract that its shape is
clear even when the hand that moulds it is
rough; and Mr. Bernstein's calculated roughness contributes more than it removes.
The New York Philharmonic- Symphony
63
www.americanradiohistory.com
KI( l)KI),.
Orchestra, in summer shorts and Truman
shirt, play robustly with an appropriate
inelegance, and are reproduced in a concerthall totality which gives the whole precedence over the parts, with an excellent
stringtone and notably solid chords. In
brief, first class after a couple of bases on
C. G. B.
balls at the beginning.
interpretations are uniformly excellent.
Mitchell's Appalachian Spring and Salon
Mexico have somewhat less tension and
variety of pace than Koussevitzky s, but
by the same token they place heavier
emphasis upon Copland's rich harmony
and glossy orchestration. The old Boston
wizard remains an old wizard, but the
younger man is well worth hearing, too.
BRAHMS
Variations and Fugue on a Theme by
Handel, op. 24
Variations on a Theme by Paganini,
DEBUSSY
Op. 35
Abbey Simon, piano.
EPIC LC
3050.
12 -in.
26, 23 min.
$5.95.
Music -lovers ought to remember that
this is primarily pianists' music, its great
appeal not in feeling or design, but in the
It
movement and mutation of design.
demands gaudy pianism, and on this
record manipulation and understanding
in some of the
are both estimable
variations splendid. However, the sound
has a peculiarity that may keep discophiles
at a distance: it seems faulty but is really
not. The piano used has tonal qualities
with which Americans are unfamiliar,
and throughout gives an impression of a
C. G. B.
harpsichord magnified.
-
CHOPIN
Piano Concerto No. r, in E Minor, Op.
rr
Piano Concerto No.
2,
in F Minor, Op.
21
Paul Badura -Skoda, piano.
Vienna State
Opera Orchestra; Artur Rodzinski, cond.
WESTMINSTER WL
min.
5308.
I2 -in.
33, 29
$5.95.
Inclusion of both Chopin concertos, excellently performed and superbly reproduced, make this disk quite a bargain.
Mr. Badura-Skodá s playing is all youthful
innocence, delicate, clean, animated; the
piano tone is lovely; the balance between
solo instrument and orchestra is perfect.
In this dewily fresh vein, the Romanze
of the E Minor Concerto and to a
lesser extent
the Larghetto of the F
Minor yield less than their maximum
interest, and two small, pardonable cuts
are made in the Rondo of the E Minor
Concerto in order to crowd it on one side
of the record. Other than this, it seems
impossible to find fault. The more mature,
more penetrating versions of Artur Rubinstein (E Minor and F Minor, on separate
RCA Victor disks) and Guiomar Novaes
(F Minor, on Vox) interest me more than
Badura -Skoda's do, but only in the Rubinstein E Minor is there comparable engineering. Chalk up another winner for West-
-
-
A. F.
Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune;;
Marche écossaise; Trois nocturnes.
Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion
Francaise; D. E. Inghelbrecht, cond.
ANGEL
12 -in.
35103.
12, 10, 22
min.
$5.95.
Debussy, who relies so much upon subtle
nuances, especially demands good recording, and his music has seldom had a better
recording than this one, which was recently
awarded the Grand Prix du Disque. The
color, depth and richness of the Debussy
orchestra are marvelously reproduced here,
and the interpretations are by one of the
most authoritative of contemporary Debussians. Neither the Faune not the Nocturnes needs any discussion, but the Marche
écossaise is very little known. Its full, official
title is as delightful as the music itself:
March of the Ancient Earls of Ross, Dedicated
to their Descendant, General Meredith Read,
Holder of the Grand Cross of the Royal Order
of the Redeemer. The ancient earls of Ross
marched to a typical Highland bagpipe
tune, and Debussy, fulfilling a commission
from General Read, produced an enchanting arrangement of it that should
long since have made the rounds of the
pop concerts, but Inghelbrecht seems to
be the only conductor aware of its exA. F.
istence. Vivid recording.
DONIZETTI
Lucia
di Lammermoor (excerpts)
See Gounod.
-
DVORAK
Symphony No.
(
5
in E Minor, Op. 95
"From the New World ")
Philharmonia Orchestra; Alceo Galliera,
cond.
12 -in.
ANGEL 35085.
$5.95, or $4.95
thrift pack.
This is the fifteenth New (World to enter
the LP catalog, and what makes matters
worse, many of the r S are really worth
R. E.
minster.
COPLAND
Appalachian Spring; El Salon Mexico;
Suite from Billy the Kid; Fanfare
for the Common Man.
National Symphony Orchestra,
Mitchell, cond.
WESTMINSTER WL
18, 3 min. $5.95.
5286.
12
-in.
Howard
23, 12,
This is the fourth Appalachian Spring,
the fourth Billy the Kid, and the fourth
Salon Mexico to appear in the LP catalog.
In each case it is the best of the four from
the point of view of recording, and the
64
Feike Asma plays César Franck chorales
on the organ of Amsterdam's Old Church.
-
while
Toscanini, Kubelik, Szell, Dorati
and Ormandy, to mention some which
come to mind. However, Galliera's certainly ranks with the best of them. He
treats the work sanely, with tempi and
dynamic shadings that are just right, and
he elicits an exceptionally warm tone
a tone that has
from the orchestra
been transferred to microgroove with
fidelity and concert -hall spaciousness. P. A.
-
FRANCK
Three chorals for organ: No. r, in E
Major; No. 2, in B Minor; No. 3, in
A Minor. Pièce héroique.
Feike Asma, organ.
12 -in.
EPIC LC 3051.
9, 15, 15, 13 min.
$5.95
These luxuriant, richly romantic interpretations of Franck's beautiful organ
chorals and of his pompous Pike héroique
seem more attractive than most of their
kind. The organ is that of the Old Church,
Amsterdam.
Some of the organ stops
sound unusual, and they have frequently
been combined in individualistic registrations. The instrument as a whole is
massively brilliant, with much echo produced by the church. In spite of this,
there is a remarkable, if not ideal, clarity
to the musical texture, and Epic has captured the reverberating racket in all its
In his playing
special kind of glory.
Mr. Asma savors fully the sweetish tunes,
chromatic harmonies, and splendiferous
effects, but dignity and discretion are ever
present to keep the manner from growing
Clarence Watters' recording
overripe.
of the chorals (with the Prière) for Classic
occupies two disks, but in its meditative,
quiet way is probably purer in style and
will prove more satisfactory to certain
R. E.
tastes.
FRANCK
Prelude, Chorale and Fugue
tSchumann: Carnaval
Artur Rubinstein, piano.
1822.
RCA VICTOR LM
min. $5.95.
12
-in.
17, 27
Until this record came along, the Joerg
Demus version of the Franck work (WestMr. Rubinminster) was outstanding.
stein's new recording is a shade superior,
I believe, with its vigor, tonal brilliance,
formal perfection, and over-all grandeur.
The older pianist brings off the same effects
with less self -consciousness and deliberation than his younger colleague. I would
not part with the Demus recording, however, for its slightly mystical quality, more
melting tone, and occasionally more subtle
nuance are to be treasured.
Mr. Rubinstein's Carnaval is equally
good, and no one will go wrong acquiring
his interpretation. But here the competition
is Guiomar Novaes (Vox); despite missed
notes and echoey reproduction, the Brazilian pianist projects the necessary qualities of humor, tenderness and fancy to
One example:
a slightly greater degree.
her treatment of the dotted -note figure
to achieve a Passionato effect in the Chiarina
section. Perhaps the crisp, close -to sound
on the Victor disk gives Mr. Rubinstein's
playing a drier, more matter -of -fact texture,
but it is also a definitely more virile and
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
RECORDS
-
at the one from Lucia di Lammermoor
is that given over to Gounod's still living
opera, Mireille.
Unlike Faust, which is
international property, Mireille is maintained in the repertoire only in France,
where it is supported by a coterie of special
admirers. In this country, every once in
a while someone will rediscover Mireille,
but there hasn't been a performance for
years. After hearing as much of it as can
be gotten on a 12 -inch side, a good many
people may want to join the Mireilleclub, for it is perfectly charming music
graceful, sweet, touching, simple, pastoral.
In the title role, Mado Robin sings with
rippling tone and even with some expression, and inserts some gratuitous
but quite striking high notes.
As her
-
Rubinstein offers Franck and Schumann in
performances more vigorous than melting.
less poetic performance. Let the listener's
predilections be his guide, for Mr. Rubin -
stein's musicianship and pianistic greatness
are never in doubt.
R. E.
GLAZUNOFF
Valse de Concert No. z in D Major,
op. 47
tMeyerbeer: Fackeltanz No. tin B flat
Major
Orchestre Symphonique de la Radiodiffusion Nationale Belge; Franz André,
cond.
TELEFUNKEN TM
68014.
to-in. $2.95.
It is a delight to have Glazunoff's charming,
tuneful Vale de Concert No. t in this bright,
straightfoward reading by André.
That
pleasure could have been doubled had the
Vale de Concert No. 2 been recorded on the
other side. Instead, the conductor has
chosen the thumpy, overblown Fackeltanz
No. z of Meyerbeer. A Fackeltanz is an
old German torch dance, a processional
in the style of a polonaise, which was
played at importnat weddings. Meyerbeer
scored his originally for brass band, and
it is in that form that it should have remained. It may sound fine in a beer hall,
but it's a mighty heavy- footed companion
for the Glazunoff waltz.
The reproduction in both works is fairly brilliant,
and well balanced.
P. A.
GOUNOD
Mireille (excerpts)
tDonizetti:
Lucia di Lammermoor
(excerpts)
Mireille (opera in four acts; libretto by
Michel Carre), Act I: Vincenette a votre
age: 0 légère hirondelle;
Act II:
Trahir
Vincent! and Mon coeur ne peut changer;
Act IV:
Heureux petit berger; Ah! parle
encore.
Mado Robin (s), Andrée Gabriel (s),
Michel Malkassian (t); L'Orchestre de la
Société des Concerts du Conservatoire de
Paris; Richard Blareau, cond.
Lucia di Lammermoor (opera in four acts;
libretto by Salvatore Cammarano, after
Sir Walter Scott's The Bride of Lammermoor);
excerpts from Act I and Act Ill.
Mado Robin (s), Libero de Luca (t);
L'Orchestre de la Société des Concerts
du Conservatoire de Paris; Richard Blareau,
cond.
LONDON
LL
922.
12 -in.
$5.95.
-
The half of this disk worth owning
except to mad -scene collectors, who no
doubt already own Mado Robin's go
tenor, Vincent, Michel Malkassian sounds
bleak and underexperienced, but his duties
are minimal here, and Andrée Gabriel is
a very satisfactory duettist. On the turnover,
Miss Robin's mad -scene Lucia is preceded
by her first -act Lucia, which sounds in the
main pretty shrill and inexpressive by
any standards and is not helped at all
either by Libero de Luca or Richard Blareau,
who conducts Donizetti as if he wishes
he were conducting Gounod.
Recommended for the Gounod, but avoid the
Lucia duet except for laughs. No texts,
which is a hindrance in the Gounod, but
sensible notes. Recordings: good Paris style London.
J. H., Jr.
HANDEL
Messiah
Huddersfield Choral Society and Liverpool
Philharmonic Orchestra, with Elsie Morison
(s), Marjorie Thomas (a), Richard Lewis
(t), Norman Walker (bs); Sir Malcolm
Sargent, cond.
ANGEL 3510 C. Three 12 -in. 2 hr. 22 min.
$17.85.
good- humored observations on
"authentic" presentations of old music
Some
are included with the notes and text furnished with the album. The observations
are written by the conductor, Sir Malcolm
Sargent, and express skepticism on the
necessity, desirability or even possibility
of duplicating the first performance of an
agreed with here. Sir Mal old score
-
colm's opinions counter the present trend,
and his performance differs condiserably
from the last two recorded editions.
He has omitted seven numbers usually
ignored in public performance but included in three recordings. He tas paid
no attention to strict "authenticity' in
the orchestration, using the ideas of various
editors, including Mozart and himself,
where it pleased him.
usual.
The sound is spacious, noble, enveloping,
sweet even in the violins, house -shaking
without grind in the mighty bass of the
organ. The chorus is distributed with
unusual advantage to the hard combination of force, clarity and balance. The
soloists are a trifle too prominent, and the
solo women are registered with the faint
occasional microphone -hoot so hard to
exorcise. On the whole a sound superior
to Westminster's of Messiah, and probably
equal to London's, although they are
differently focused. These three all surpass
elder versions in sound.
C. G. B.
HAYDN
The Man in the Moon
Friedel
Schneider (s), Hanne Muench
(ms), Albert Gassner (t), Willibald Lindner
(t), Karl Schwert (bne), Walter Hagner
(bs); Orchestra of the Munich Chamber
Opera, Johannes Weissenbach, cond.
PERIOD 703. I2 -in. 57 min. 35.95
Haydn in 1777 composed a dramma giocoso,
ll Mondo della Luna, one of several to
texts by Goldoni.
For the Haydn bicentennial in 1932 the German composer
Mark Lothar compressed and altered it
to suit twentieth- century notions.
The
pace was accelerated, German was substituted for Italian, and there were interpolations of music from other works by
Haydn. How appealing this may be on
the stage few of us know, and it is not
easy to determine the action on the record,
for no libretto is supplied with it.
No reservations will be entertained
about the gush of animated and graceful
tunes which constitute the synthesis,
delivered in lively and easy style by a
pleasant group of singers under brisk and
rhythmic leadership.
In these intimate
proceedings the tenor Gassner and the
soprano Schneider are highly persuasive,
and the enunciation of all is so clear that
most of what occurs can be understood
despite the absence of a libretto.
The
sound is by far the best this critic has
heard from this company
evenly bright,
close, defined and thorough, without
strain or hardness.
C. G. B.
-
Strings carry ac-
companiments originally allotted to harpsichord or organ, but the organ is retained,
mainly to reinforce the bass. Thus the
newest version has none of the novelty
of antiquity that characterized the two
editions immediately preceding it, by Sir
Adrian Boult for London and Dr. Hermann
Scherchen for Westminster, of which the
former may be called without unkindness
the manners of the nineteenth century
in the dress of the eighteenth, and the
latter is severely
and rather wonderfully
reconstruction of what Dr. Scherchen
believes the eighteenth to have been in
manners and dress.
-a
Sir Malcolm has more alacrity, more
nervousness than Sir Adrian.
He has
produced from his superb chorus a range
of dynamics probably without recorded
precedent. The solo soprano has a remarkable variety of vocal deliveries, and the
tenor, Mr. Richard Lewis, is excellent as
-
DECEMBER, 1954
Sir Malcolm Sargent pooh-poohs "authentic "Messiah's- and presents orle of his own.
65
www.americanradiohistory.com
KI
(
uKI)
aerated and extremely complex;
much of the drama of the score derives
from its clash of lines, which arouses the
listener's intense concern for fear that
everything may not turn out all right,
but everything does. The Walton is the
last word in production- numbers for a
solo instrument and a big orchestra, but
to my ear it says little that has not been
said with greater eloquence and point
by Sibelius and Prokofieff in their concertos
for the violin. Both recordings are techA. F.
nically excellent.
small,
IVES, CHARLES
Songs
tRevueltas, Silvestre:
Primrose plays Hindemith and Walton: is
he more than today's greatest violist?
HAYDN
Quartets No. 58, in C, Op. 64, No. s;
No. 6o, in B Flat, Op. 64, No. 3
Vienna Konzerthaus Quartet.
WESTMINSTER
min.
WL
5314.
12
-in. 25, 23
$5.95.
First LPs, of music so supple and natural
that its enormous sources of knowledge,
insight and experience are not always
Almost as airy as air, esapprehended.
pecially No. 58, puckish and unconcerned
with anything except beguilement. They
are played with those extremes of energy
and tenderness which always characterize
The piercing violins, which
the VKQ.
may have been altered by the microphone,
are not a joy to hear. If the fault is the
recording's it is a pity indeed, the viola
and cello having been cut with superb
accuracy, especially remarkable when they
C. G. B.
are piano and staccato.
HINDEMITH
Der Schwanendreber
Walton: Concerto for Viola and Orchestra
William Primrose, viola; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Malcolm Sargent,
cond.
COLUMBIA ML
4905.
I2-in.
24, 22 min.
$5.95.
merely the world's greatest
the greatest of all tuck It is a
under- the -chin string players?
great pleasure and relief to hear him perform
the Schwanendreher when ones previous
knowledge of this work has been limited
to the composer's own interpretation;
Hindemith is a great composer but a dull
Perhaps oddly, perhaps not,
virtuoso.
Primrose makes less of its virtuoso characteristics than its creator did, but in his
hands it remains a fabulously interesting
It is a concerto for viola
display -piece.
and small orchestra composed at a moment
in Hindemith's life when he was much
interested in old German folk tunes. The
most monumental expression of this interest is his opera, Mathis der Maler, and
the symphony drawn from that opera is
his most popular work, but the Schwan endreher has little of the grandiose, epical
character of Mathis; its sonorities are
Is Primrose
violist or
66
is he
unexpectedly obvious and rises to a genuinely creative level only in the frenzied
final dance.
The performance is superb
A. F.
and so is the recording.
LISZT
Sonata in B Minor; "Après une lecture
du Dante" (Fantasia quasi Sonata);
Etude d'exécution transcendante No. 7,
"Eroica "; Etude de Concert No. 2,
F Minor, "La leggerezza"; Concert
Etude No. z, "Grromenreigen."
Orazio Frugoni, piano.
Vox PL 8800. 12 -in. 24,
14, 4, 4, 3
min.
$5.95.
Songs
With good reason, the Liszt sonata continues
to fascinate pianists, and Mr. Frugoni's
Charles Ives: When Stars Are in the Quiet
Skies; Tolerance; A Night Thought; At the
River; At Sea; Christmas Carol; Walt Whitman; Mists; Ell Not Complain; In Summer
Fields; At Parting.
Silvestre Revueltas: Little Horse; Five Hours:
Nonsense Song; Cradle Song; M r. and Mrs.
Lizard; Serenade; It Is True; The Owl; Bull
Frogs.
Jacqueline Greissle (s).
piano.
SPA 9. 12 -in. $5.95.
Josef Wolman,
In view of Charles Ives' place among the
most controversial creative figures in American musical history, it is a special pity that
he is so poorly represented on records as a
song composer, for he was as uneven as he
was prolific, and these particular examples
of his work are neither radical nor especially
and they are badly sung. The
interesting
Revueltas songs on the turnover side have
much more character and charm. Their
stylistic affinities are post -Ravel French and,
occasionally, Spanish, but what is defining
is Revueltas' own compositional personality,
which is attractive and individual. Jacqueline Greisslé s singing of them is passable,
perhaps, but no more. Texts on the jacket.
J. H., Jr.
Engineering: all right.
-
KODALY
Peacock Variations
tBartok:
Suite from The Miraculous
Mandarin
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Antal Dorati.
cond.
24, 22 min.
MERCURY MG 50038. 12-in.
$5.95.
The Kodaly ostensibly derives its name
from the fact that it is based upon a Hungarian folk tune called Fly, Peacock, Fly,
but something of the legendary character
of the bird itself entered into the making
of the 16 variations and finale. In other
words, this is a brilliant orchestral showpiece, displaying all the colors of the
ensemble with the most lustrous pride and
with the melodious clarity, logic and good
sense so typical of Kodaly's genial talent.
The Bartok is drawn from the score to a
ballet, written early in the composer's
career; it is all about a prostitute who
lures men to be beaten and robbed and
the strange Chinese gentleman who, despite
the violence with which he has been treated,
refuses to die until the girl delivers the
expected service. The music is characteristic of Bartok in its mastery of grotesque,
fantastic and macabre effects, but it is also
A superb
Mozart bassoon concerto is one
of Rodzinski's
first Westminster records.
the ninth LP version. The Italian -born
pianist gives a modern performance of the
work
nervously energetic, fast, tech nically exciting, with a driving force that
holds the work together. It is the equal
of any other recorded version except
Edith Farnadi's on Westminster, which
in its greater concern for detail and slower
tempos achieves more grandeur, meaning,
and conviction. The inferior Dante Sonata
comes off about as well here as in the
recent recording by Peter Katin for London,
although there are differences in detail.
The three nicely contrasted etudes vary
in presentation, "La leggerezza" being
the only poorly played work on the disk
it sounds much too fast and matter of
fact. This may be the first performance
on LP of the "Eroica" etude. The piano
stingingly
tone has a fine astringency
vibrant and a little dry, and it is crisply
R. E.
recorded by Vox.
is
-
-
-
MACDOWELL
Indian Suite
Eastman Rochester Symphony Orchestra,
Howard Hanson, cond.
MERCURY MG 40009.
12
-in. 3o min. $5.95.
There is an old American proverb that
runs "I can take care of my enemies, but
God save me from my friends." It was
Edward MacDowell's tragedy that he
could handle neither his enemies nor
his friends, but his enthusiastic propagandists, in their efforts to put him in a
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
R1 1)R1)'
with Beethoven and Brahms, did
him the greater harm. Viewed for what
he was
a
contemporary of Grieg and
a musician of approximately equal stature
he takes his place as a figure of considerable interest and importance.
The
Indian Suite may be his purely orchestral
work; at all events what emerges from this
fine recording is sincere, dignified and
extremely adroit in its symphonic handling
of Amerindian motifs.
One wonders
how many of the folkloric American
pieces of the present day will sound as
good 6o years from now. The music calls
for rich, vivid recording, and gets it.
A. F.
class
-
-
MENDELSSOHN
Sonata for Violoncello and Piano, No.
2, in D, Op. 58
See Schubert.
-
MEYERBEER
Fackeltanz No.
1
in B Flat Major
Glazunoff.
-
See
MOZART
for Bassoon and Orchestra,
in B Flat, KV 19r Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra, in A, KV 622
Concerto
Karl Oehlberger (bassoon); Leopold Wlach
(clarinet); Vienna National Opera Orchestra, Artur Rodzinski, cond.
WESTMINSTER
min.
WI.
5307.
2 -in.
20,
30
$5.95.
astonishing virtuoso-achievement for
the soloist.
The orchestra is in accord;
and if the volume is kept down, this is
a sweetly delineated registration.
C. G. B.
an
MOZART
The Four Concertos for Horn and Orchestra; No. 1, in D, KV 412; No. 2, in E
Flat, KV 417; No. 3, in E Flat, KV
447; No 4, in E Flat, KV 495
Dennis Brain, horn; Philharmonia Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan, cond.
ANGEL 35092. 12 -in. 8, 14, 16, 16 min.
$5.95. or $4.95 thrift pack.
Here a record of surpassing art blows its
predecessors to the four winds. On reflection one is amazed that the four Concertos have not previously been collected
upon a disk.
Mr. Brain, whose family
all play horns, may have peers but it is
hard to imagine his superior: he skips
over the bland hurdles and around the
delectable pitfalls contrived by Mozart
with a shining assurance, while Prof. von
Karajan maneuvers his skillful orchestra
with ebullience and grace, inciting Messrs.
EMI, whose agent the Angel is, to capture
the sound with a felicity uncommon for
the King of wind instruments and a sweet
insinuation equally rare for orchestral
strings. A salient record among the year's
production.
C. G. B.
MOZART
Concertos for Piano and Orchestra: No.
9, in E Flat, KV 271; No. 15, in B
Flat, KV 450
Wilhelm Kempff; Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra and
Winds from L'Orchestre
de la Suisse Romande, Geneva, Karl
Münchinger, cond.
LONDON LL 998. 12 -in. 26, 32 min. $5.95.
is a procedure known to every
phonophile, a procedure morose and expensive to him, the procedure of renewal.
For most of us the music comes first,
There
and certain music we must have.
Dennis Brain: in four Mozart concertos,
be blows the competition into oblivion.
a choice of riches
in the records of the Clarinet Concerto,
this being the sixth good one of six!
Please acknowledge the limitations of
space and permit a mere bow to Messrs.
Wlach and Rodzinski and the deftly
tripping strings of the Vienna Opera
Orchestra, while the Bassoon Concerto
is examined, because the one disk in
competition with this one is not good,
and the lesser work may determine selection
of the pair. The Bassoon Concerto is
perfect musical lathe -work, but the lathe
was turned by Mozart; and between the
expert outer movements he chose to slip
a romance of sly, simple magic designed,
apparently, for Messrs. Oehlberger and
Rodzinski. In their hands the Concerto
is a living, sinuous piece of music and still
We are embarrassed by
DECEMBER, 1954
Suppose
our appetite is for Mozart concertos.
We buy a recording of KV 271, say, when
the first appears, or of KV 450, or both.
Frankly, the first of these were lemons,
but we had the music, or a likeness of it.
Then considerably better editions appeared,
which spoiled our enjoyment of the pioneers. These we had to buy, pushed by
self-esteem and a need for peace.
Finally an edition appears which expresses entirely what we have been imagining inwardly the music must truly be.
The compulsion to the third purchase is
even greater than to the second. Lovers
of Concertos 9 and 15 are warned that
a hearing of London LL 998 will infallibly
involve the purse.
For this record supplements the playing
of Prof. Wilhelm Kempff, a pianist unequalled in the conveyance of classic
poise, with that of an expert ensemble
under a conductor brightly alive to the
curious sparkle, both dour and lighthearted, of these Concertos.
Memory
fails to put forward a better statement of
Mozart concertos, or a more successful
Kempff disk, or a Münchinger, for the
sound is crisp in its nearness for soloist
and orchestra, with very little distortion
if the volume is not high, a splendid crackle
of woodwinds
and
a
substance healthy
all through.
But above all, a performance of distinctive refinement and boldness combined.
C. G. B.
MOZART
Concertos for Piano
and Orchestra: No.
in C Minor, KV 491; No. 26, in D,
"Coronation," KV 537
24,
Robert Casadesus;
Orchestra, George
COLUMBIA ML
Columbia Symphony
Szell, cond.
4901.
12 -in. 28, 28 min.
$5.95.
Aside from
the first movement of the
we have here an aloof
and mechanical elegance of projection as
depressing in the ominous No. 24 as in
"Coronation,"
the gallant pageantry of No. 26.
It is
possible that both works were hurried
to fit: the larghettos are played andante.
Too bad.
Excellent orchestral sound,
especially of the strings.
C. G. B.
-
MOZART
A Musical Joke,
KV 522
Serenade No. 13, in G, "Eine kleine
Nachtmusik," KV 525
Vienna Konzerthaus Quartet (with string
bass added in Eine k N, and two horns in
A Musical Joke).
WESTMINSTER WL 5315.
12 -in. 23,
17
min. $5.95.
The Joke is broader and funnier here than
usually, the players giving it a fine gusto,
particularly the horns, who maintain a
glowing tone even in their discords. Beautiful sound for these instruments, and
for viola and cello, but the violins need
treble -reduction.
The first movement
of Eine kleine Nachtmusik (the seventeenth
version noticed here) has a jauntiness
close to ideal, but that is followed by a
slow Viennese andante, and the finale
needs more spirit than it is accorded.
C. G. B.
MOZART
Sinfonia Concertante, for Winds and
Orchestra, in E Flat, KA 9
Serenade No 13, in G. "Eine kleine
Nachtmusik," KV 525
_Iona Perlea conducts Mozart symphonies
in tempos which may arouse disagreement.
67
1tEI
(
)Kl)
Philharmonia Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan, cond. (with Sidney Sutcliffe, oboe;
Bernard Walton, clarinet; Cecil James,
bassoon; and Dennis Brain, horn, in the
Sinfonia).
ANGEL 35098. 12 -in. 33, 16 min. $5.95.
or $4.95 thrift pack.
The Sinfonia Concertante, in this poised,
expert expression, has a gracious affability
not usually associated with Prof. von Karajan's name. It is certainly the best performance on records; and the registration,
subdued and intimate, has an Angelic
string -tone and bears the gift of comfort
without seizing effects. Eine kleine Nachmusik is a bolder recording, impressive
with sweeping strings, but its two central
movements are slowed in the Viennese
way, as if their great simplicity needed
C. G. B.
a treatise to explain it.
MOZART
Symphonies No. 25, in G Minor, KV
183; No 29, in A, KV 2o1; No 33,
in B Flat, KV 319
Vienna State Philharmonia Orchestra, Jonel
Perlea, cond.
Vox PL 8750. 12 -in. 17, 18. 20 min.
$5.95.
Mr. Perlea has wrought well, although
In
his tempos will evoke disagreement.
this trio of representative symphonies,
nearly every movement is a little faster
or a little slower than we have come to
expect. Opinions will vary on their degree
Notice should
of pertinence or error.
be taken of the very delicate organization
of the orchestra, every choir effortlessly
distinct, no episode neglected. The sound,
generally clear, has a hugely exaggerated
treble which must be subdued; there is
audible seepage from adjacent grooves,
and some rumble is interpolated from
C. G. B.
time to time.
MUSSORGSKY -RAVEL
Pictures at an Exhibition
tFranck:
Psyche and Eros (Episode
No. 4 from Psyche)
ballet, a tuneful score in the same style,
fills out the second side of the record.
Both scores receive the benefit of Victor's
new superbly brilliant hi -fi sound.
J. F. L
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini, cond.
RCA VlcroR LM
1838.
12 -in. 49 min.
$5.95.
PALESTRINA
Missa Papae Marcelli; Choral Music
from the Lowlands: 15th and 16th
Under ordinary circumstances, I am a
little wary of applying the term "definitive
to any recording. However, this is no
ordinary circumstance, no ordinary performance and no ordinary recording, and
the word is used advisedly for this electrifying performance of the Mussorgsky
The Maestro's handling of the
score.
magnificent Ravel orchestration is a feat
of unparalleled musical pointilism. Every
small detail is caressed, placed in proper
perspective, and woven into the orchestral
fabric with consummate artistry, contributing to as complete and satisfying an
exposition as we are ever likely to experience. Exciting as is the performance,
it is almost matched by the astonishing
quality of Victor's new sound, as clean,
brilliant and splendrous through the entire
spectrum as any to be found today. The
recording, which is very close -to, has some
tremendous climaxes, which may bother
some reproducing systems as well as some
listener's ears. The Franck excerpt, quiet,
reposeful, and a little dull, is beautifully
played, but not as well recorded. Most
J. F. I.
highly recommended.
OFFENBACH
Guilt Parisienne
tMeyerbeer: Les Patineurs
Boston "Pops" Orchestra, Arthur Fiedler,
cond.
RCA VICTOR
LM
1817. 12 -in. 56 min. $5.95
This is choral singing of a very high order.
Everything about this record is beautifully
balanced, and the term applies equally
to both the performance and the recording.
There are no excesses in the performance,
which is tonally pleasing, expressive, and
understandingly directed. The recording
was made in an acoustical setting that
avoids both the dryness of a studio, and
the excess echo of a church. So felicitous
are the acoustics, in fact, that one has no
tendency (and no need) to visualize the
physical setting.
The only negative criticism is the fact
that no texts are supplied. Otherwise, the
quality of the performance and the recording, together with the fine jacket
notes by Klaus George Roy, make this a
D. R.
commendable disk indeed.
PISTON
Symphony No.
3
Eastman Rochester Symphony Orchestra,
Howard Hanson, cond.
MERCURY MG 40010. 12 -in. 35 min. $5.95.
The jacket of this recording is adorned
with an excellent photograph of a great,
low rock against which a deep sea -wave
is breaking. The analogy is apt, for this
is a very profound symphony, one of the
Its
most important of modern times.
four movements alternate like those of
slow,
an 18th century sonata da chiesa
but there the eighteenth
fast, slow, fast
century parallel ends. The sonorities of
the slow movements are very large and
resonant, with strong emphasis on the
darker colors; to this is contrasted a singularly vital, brilliant scherzo, and a broad,
fine, march -like finale. The whole thing
is mature, ripe, reasoned, and elemental
in feeling; it is a symphony in the grand
Hanson
style and the great tradition.
plays it with full, keen appreciation of
engineers
have
its stature, and Mercury's
A. F.
given the music their best.
-
MUSSORGSKY
Pictures at an Exhibition
Leonard Pennario, piano.
CAPITOL LAL 8266. to -in. 28 min. $4.94.
For all the magnificence and popularity
of Ravel's orchestral version of Mussorgsky's work, the original piano piece still
gets played a good deal, with good reason.
Mr. Pennario's recording is the sixth in
the LP catalog and, all told, as good as
the best. The work has technical hazards
not always apparent to the listener, but
Mr. Pennario sails through them blithely
-
every note is sharply etched whatever
the tempo. There is plenty of color in
the recording, although for the most part
the pianist lets the music make its own
points. The to-inch disk comes boxed
with extensive notes by Alfred Frankenstein,
one of HIGH FIDELITY's reviewers and an
authority on Victor Hartmann, whose
paintings inspired Mussorgsky's composition. In the program booklet are reproduced
in black and white many Hartmann works,
plus works by contemporary Cleveland
artists who were in turn inspired by the
music. Cleanly and carefully engineered,
this is altogether an attractive album,
and cheaper than most competing issues.
R. E.
68
Centuries
The Netherlands Chamber Choir, Felix
De Nobel, cond.
EPIC LC -3045. 12-in. 53:17 min. $5.95.
-
RAMEAU
Six Concerts en Sextuor
With Leonard Pennario's Pictures you get
not only Mussorgsky but Victor Hartmann.
sparkling new recording of the lively,
frothy ballet suite Manuel Rosenthal
The
arranged from Offenbach music.
performance, beautifully played, is bright,
humorous and light- hearted, and confirms
the impression gained from Fiedlei s earlier
recording of 1947, still available on Victor
LM toot, that the conductor has a real
flair for this music. The shorter Meyerbeer
A
First Concert: La Coulicam, La Livri, Le
La Laborde,
Vezinet; Second Concert:
La Boucon, La Agacante, Menuet; Third
Concert: La La Popliniere, La Timide,
Tambourin; Fourth Concert: La Pantomime,
L'Indiscrete, La Rameau; Fifth Concert:
La Forqueray, La Cupii, La Marais; Sixth
La Poule, Menuet, L'EnharConcert:
monique, L'Egyptienne.
HAYDN SOCIETY HSL 99. 12 -in. $5.95.
Despite the frivolous- sounding subtitles
appended to all the 20 movements on this
disk, the music is quite exquisite, and
supplies an important insight into the works
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
R ECORDS
Each of
a too -little -known composer.
the works repays repeated hearings, for
its revelation of both the craftsmanship
and the expressive powers of its composer.
These are not "monumental edifices,"
in the 19th century symphonic sense,
but as miniatures in abstract music they
are masterpieces all the same.
The performances are beautifully proportioned, and the recording is "close to"
D. R.
and vibrant.
of
HMV more cushioned, one
cannot ascribe a definite superiority to
either.
The differences in editing and cost will
of course be noticed at once. Four sides
for the one, two for the other; 14 dollars
against six. Also, Westminster presents a
separate booklet with the text printed
in German and English, while HMV gives
is crisper, the
Sonata for Piano and Arpeggione (Cello),
in A Minor
tMendelssohn: Sonata for Violoncello
and Piano, No. 2, in D, Op. 58
REVUELTAS, SILVESTRE
See Ives.
Claude Helfer (pf), Roger Albin (vo).
12 -in. 18, 24
66015.
TELEFUNKEN LGX
min.
$5.95.
ROSSINI
Cambio della Valigia
Or, L'Occasione fa it Ladro (farce in one
act; text by L. Prividali): Gianna Russo
(s), Berenice; Giuseppini Salvi (ms), Ernestine; Flavio Sacchi (t), Count Albert;
Piero Besma (t), Don Eusebius; Nestore
Catalani (b), Don Parmenio; Tito Dolciotti (bs), Martino. Chorus and Orchestra
of the Societa del Quartetto, Rome; Giuseppe Morelli, cond.
12 -in.
$5.95.
PERIOD SPL 595.
This is hardly best -grade Rossini, though
not the worst either, but there is little about
the performance here to make it an item
worth searching the ends of the earth to
acquire. As with other recordings in this
Rome- Period series, the singing and playing
is not bad enough to be really disqualifying,
but it is certainly not, with its chippy
soprano and buffo -till-I -die basses and
baritones and wavery tenors, anything
People engaged in
to enchant anyone.
collecting all of Rossini will want it anyway.
Recording: so -so,
bother.
Others needn't
with bad surfaces on review copy. J. H., JR.
SCHUBERT
Quartet No. r4, in D Minor, "Death and
the Maiden"
Vienna Philharmonic Quartet.
TELEFUNKEN LGX 66o16.
$5.95.
12 -in.
min.
35
That such a mechanical mastery without
sensibility could come from Schuberis
Vienna is an accomplishment of sorts.
Acoustical environment has made the strings
so wooden as to preclude any ambiguous
C. G. B.
opinion about this record.
SCHUBERT
Die Schöne Müllerin
(2
Versions)
Dietrich Fischer -Dieskau, baritone, and
Gerald Moore, piano.
His MASTER'S VOICE ALP 1036-7. Two
12
-in.
r
hr.
5
min.
$13.9o.
Petre Munteanu, tenor, and Franz Holetschek, piano.
hr.
12 -in.
5291.
WESTMINSTER WI.
2 min.
$5.95
1
three editions already issued are
either disappointingly sung or poor in
The two new ones are
reproduction.
Internotably better musical products.
pretation and reproduction will not shame
the sponsors. The latter factor is not a
determinant between them: in both cases
voice and piano are registered with easy
clarity, and while the Westminster sound
The
DECEMBER, 1954
makes the difference.
It seems very likely that RCA Victor
will issue its own pressing of the HMV
C. G. B.
performance in the near future.
SCHUBERT
SongsIl
rigid; and his accent brings smiles: his
singing is more straightforward and presumably in better taste but less moving
at its heights than F-D's at its. Mr. Moore
The performance of the Arpeggione Sonata
The sedate
is sedate and we have better.
Mendelssohn Sonata is sedately played
and harms no one. It is hard to be enthusiastic when the players do not seem
to be. Smooth sound, little bite. C. G. B.
Howard Hanson: MacDowell's Indian
Suite emerges sincere, dignified and adroit.
SCHUBERT
the translation only, sprawling over the
backs of the two envelopes. Finally, one
of those gaieties of editorial inspiration
has prompted HMV to isolate two songs
that insistently cry to be together, "Die
liebe Farbe" and "Die böse Farbe," one ending
Side 3 and the other introducing Side 4.
Thus all the accoutrements of presentation favor Westminster, but HMV has a
better " Schöne Müllerin."
That is, if one does not mind having
several courses of the cycle well larded
with ham. It has always been moot how
much is palatable in cantatas like this,
and especially in this cantata where the
singer declares his personal distress, narAt any rate,
rates an autobiography.
Mr. Fischer -Dieskau, a lied- singer of
impressive and proved abilities, has not
stinted ham in an intense Teutonic way.
How we will accept it depends on the
To the
degree of our cosmopolitanism.
whimpering selfpity of the verses Schubert
gave a musical response far beyond self pity's deserts, but in the fevered air of early
romanticism, Schubert unquestionably felt
in the words things we cannot feel now.
The baritone, indulging his three registers
without embarrassment, has tried to bring
us back to the days when people uttered
heroic abstractions and in words exalted
their lusts and crudities, calling them
something other. So if we enter the romantic mood evoked by Mr. F -D and
believe in it temporarily we have a large
experience of emotion through music.
If we balk at entering, we have 15 of the
20 songs in beautiful expression and five
We have
we must think overwrought.
invariably from Mr. Gerald Moore, the
pianist, a commentary of studied, knowing
mastery.
Mr. Holetschek, at the piano for the
Westminster tenor, is an able player, hardly
Mr.
at the level of Gerald Moore here.
Munteanu's tenor has been commended
now.
In
the
here, and is not depreciated
"Schöne Müllerin" he does not reach Mr.
F -D's heights, nor does he disturb us by
melodrama as the baritone does on occasion.
But the M projection is often angular,
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Antal Dorati,
cond.
23, 18 min.
12 -in.
MERCURY 50037.
-
Symphony No. 8, in B Minor, Unfìnisbea
tTchaikovsky:
Romeo
and Juliet
$5.95.
is possible to lose enthusiasm for the
Unfinished Symphony after listening to
nearly zo recordings of it, but Mr. Dorati's
effort is a good one, dramatic and lyrical,
with strong contrasts and outspoken brass,
assuredly what the design specifies. Schubert's contrasts are trifling in comparison
with the alternating trysts and Armageddons
of Tchaikovsky's crazed and arousing
Romeo and Juliet, and the orchestra makes
a fine spree of its brasses, drums and
cymbals, not neglecting the composer's
very individual writing for woodwinds.
A strange coupling but a good record,
with a great dynamic range and some
thunderous climaxes. The brass timbre is
excellent, as it is on most of the Mercury "Olympian" series. The bright acoustics do not appeal to everyone: this is
not for playing in a small room or one
It
sparsely furnished.
C. G. B.
SCHUMANN
Carnaval- see Franck.
SCHUMANN
for
and Orchestra, in
in G,
Introduction and Allegro,
Op. 92;
in D Minor, Op. 134
Concerto
A Minor,
Piano
Op. 54; Konzertstück
Joerg Demus; Vienna National Opera
Orchestra, Artur Rodzinski, cond.
12 -in.
31, 15,
WESTMINSTER WL 531o.
13 min.
$5.95.
A year ago reproduction this good would
have elicited the highest praise: now it
seems only what we have a right to expect.
One will find the pianist in good form in
these concerted pieces, too, with the
qualification that his impulsive spirits
have not influenced Dr. Rodzinski, while
the latter's decorum has from time to time
influenced the pianist. Decorum is not
what we expect from Dr. R, but his phrasing
is neither pungent nor sweeping, in this
69
RECORDS
-
music that needs to be let go.
Perhaps
we are beginning to expect too much.
disk
is
a
good
musical
product,
The
offering
a first LP edition of the workmanlike
Konzertstiick as well as a version of the
C. G. B.
concerto far from the top.
SCHUMANN
Concerto
for Piano and Orchestra, in
A Minor, Op. 54
Kinderscenen, Op. 15
Guiomar Novaes, with the Pro Musica
Orchestra, Vienna, Hans Swarowsky, cond.,
in the Concerto.
Vox PL 8540. 12 -in. 31, 18 min. $5.95.
Vox's piano -sound is admirable in substance and cleanliness in the two works
Mme. Novaes' playing
presented here.
of the Scenes of Childhood is charming
with tenderness and sunny sentiment not
overworked. The concerto is less successful,
but this is in part because of an uncertainty of agreement between soloist and
conductor, which makes one hurry when
the other would linger, producing an
artificial rubato and some confusion of
mood in the two quick movements. The
placement of the orchestral strings diminishes their importance and dilutes the
rhapsody in centering attention too strongly
on the soloist. Not bad, but disappointing
C. G. B.
after the overside.
SCHUMANN
Fantasy in C Major, Op. r7
Kinderscenen, Op.
15
Clifford Curzon, piano.
LONDON I-L -1009.
$5.95.
12 -in.
29,
17
min.
At this late date, with nine LP versions
of Schumann's Fantasy already
on the
market, along comes Clifford Curzon with
a
recording that easily outstrips them
all -even the very good one by Joerg Demus
on Westminster. Mr. Curzon's is the kind
of performance that so revitalizes the
music that the listener is left marveling
at the miracle of Schumann's inspiration,
wondering why anyone has ever referred
to the work as long, diffuse, or repetitious.
Greater praise than this for a performer
I do not know.
After several playings it is possible to
try to consider the performance itself,
to observe how perfectly Mr. Curzon
responds to the widely varied moods.
Still, however noble, passionate, grand,
or meditative the music, it is always allowed
to sing, and this factor seems to unify
the work, to keep it poised and floating
in the air. The English pianist's tone, as
reproduced by London, is ravishing, as
beautiful as any I have heard in a long time.
It sounds to me as if the coda at the end
of the second movement comes from a
tape other than that for the rest of the
movement, but this was the only flaw
a trivial one
I could detect in the re-
-
-
cording.
Mr. Curzon's way with the Kinderrcenen
likewise could not be improved upon.
The performance may not be superior to
Walter Gieseking's on Columbia, Guiomar
Novaes' on Vox, or Jacqueline Blancard's
on Vanguard, but it is their equal musically
and quite a bit better mechanically.
A
truly distinguished recording.
R. F
SHAPERO
Symphony
for Classical
Orchestra
Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Leonard
Bernstein cond.
COLUMBIA ML 4889. 12 -in. 45 min. $5.95.
The jacket notes that come with this recording quote some fairly ancient magazine
articles on and by Harold Shapero, but
they tell us nothing whatsoever about his
Symphony for Classical Orchestra. One would
at least like to know when it was written:
one trusts it was early in the composer's
career, because it does not measure up
to the estimate of his abilities one had
derived from other works. It is tuneful,
vigorous, entertaining, decidely beholden
to Copland and Stravinsky, and, while
it goes down well on first exposure, it
does not contain a single bar one wants
to hear again. The performance seems to
be flawless and the recording is magnificent.
A. F.
SIBELIUS
Concerto
for Violin, in D Minor,
Op. 47
Ginette Neveu, violin; Philharmonia Orchestra, Walter Susskind, cond.
tSuk: Four Pieces, Op.
17
Ginette Neveu, violin; Jean Neveu, piano.
ANGEL 35129. 12 -in. 32, 16 min. $5.95.
factory sealed; $4.95, thrift pack.
Much Ado About the Shostakovich Tenth
UNASHAMEDLY to repeat
an observa-
tion that appeared in this magazine not
long ago, Shostakovich is acknowledged,
by both his admirers and his detractors,
to be the most popular symphonist of the
present day, but his enormous reputation
is based almost entirely upon two of his
the first and the fifth.
10 symphonies
The second, third, and eighth have completely disappeared and the fourth has
the
never been played or published;
sixth, seventh, and ninth linger in reare
very
seldom
performed
but
cordings,
and do not remotely challenge the first
and fifth so far as the interest of the public
-
and the musical profession is concerned.
Comes now the tenth symphony of
Shostakovich, completed last year, One
suspects it is destined to join the company
of the sixth, seventh, and ninth. In its
general layout it is much like the fifth,
but it lacks the freshness and thrust of
that celebrated work.
It begins with a broad, epical, grandly
sonorous slow movement. Next is a very
short, dramatic scherzo, with little of the
tuneful grotesquerie on which Shostakovich usually draws in movements of
that kind; this is the most individual
section of the four. An Allegretto serves
mostly to separate the scherzo from the
finale, which opens with a slow introduction and ends in the spirited, ram-
bunctious, affirmative mood that is so
essentially a part of the Shostakovich for-
70
sOVFOTO
Shostakovich family
and
noisy friend.
mula. The music is, of course, magnificently
made, but on the whole it says little that
Shostakovich has not previously said
elsewhere with more conviction and point.
It is at its best, I think, in its plaintive,
wistful, mysterious episodes, notably at
the end of the first movement and the
start of the fourth.
The Mravinsky is the better of the
two performances available on these reIt is the more finely conceived,
cords.
and it has more variety of pace and color.
The Mitropoulos is by far the better recording in its reproduction of the total
sound of the orchestra; it has great richness,
depth, color, and dimension. The Mravinsky is comparatively flat and thin in its
rendering of the complete orchestral tone,
but it does extraordinarily well with the
sounds of the solo instruments.
Concert Hall's jacket claims, with
italicized emphasis, that its recording is
the only authorized one. Just what this
means is anyone's guess, for it is, to say
the least, difficult to imagine Columbia's
issuing a record of anything without the
publishers knowing about it. One thing
is perfectly clear, however:
Concert Hall
did not expect to have the tenth symphony
business all to itself.
The publicity attending Mitropoulos' recent New York
performance of this work (the first in the
United States) and the fact that Columbia
has rushed it onto disks only a few weeks
thereafter, would seem to indicate that
the New York Philharmonic and the
recording companies are hoping for a
repetition of the furore whipped up when
Shostakovich's
seventh symphony was
introduced here during the war. If so,
they are respectfully referred to the song
about the old gray mare.
ALFRED FRANKENSTEIN
SHOSTAKOVICH
Symphony No. to, Opus 93
New York
chestra,
Philharmonic- Symphony Or-
Dimitri Mitropoulos, cond.
12 -in. 48 min.
$5.95
Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, Eugene
Mravinsky, cond.
1313.
tz -in. 46
CONCERT HALL CHS
min.
$5.95.
COLUMBIA ML4959.
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
RECORDS
Left to us by the late Ginette Neveu: a
vivid and musicianly Sibelius concerto.
Ginette
Neveu, one of France's most
talented postwar musicians, was tragically
killed in an air crash in 1949, while on
her way to start an American tour. We
were given little opportunity to hear her
in this country, either in concert, or on
records, so that this memento of her
work is doubly welcome. The difficulties
of this concerto are well known to all
violinists, but Miss Neveu makes little
of them in a strong, fiery, but always
musicianly performance, remarkable for
a girl of 26. One might wish for a brighter
sound, particularly from the orchestra,
but the recording dates from 1945, and
is reasonably good in view of its age.
The Suk pieces, which, as I recall, were
the only Neveu records to be issued here
by Victor, are bright short works, which
Neveu handles with ease and artistry.
Here the recorded sound is a little cleaner.
though the balance with the piano is not
completely satisfactory.
J. F. I.
STRAUSS, JOHANN
A1r. Strauss Comes to Boston
's giebt nur ein' Kaiserstadt Polka:
Bijouterie Quadrille; Pizzicato Polka;
Tales form the Vienna Woods; Morgenblatter Waltz; Kreuz Fidel Polka;
Bouquet Quadrille; Freikugeln Polka;
On the Beautiful Blue Danube; Jubilee
Waltz.
Boston "Pops" Orchestra, Arthur Fiedler.
cond.
RCA VICTOR
S5.95-
LM
1809.
12
-in. 54 min.
Three Strauss rarities, the Bijouterie, Krell:.
Fidel and Freikugeln polkas, and the Jubilee
Waltz, into which the composer worked
A few bars of "The Star Spangled Banner"
are the most interesting items in this
collection of Straussiana, taken from the
programs of a series of concerts the composer conducted when visiting Boston
in 1872. The balance are all pretty well
known numbers, and are available in more
idiomatic performances than those offered
here by Fiedler, who brings more Boston
bounce than Vienna lift to the waltzes.
Lloyd Morris has supplied some interesting
liner notes concerning the International
Musical Festival and Peace Jubilee of
1872.
J. F. I.
STRAUSS, RICHARD
Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Fritz Reiner.
cond.
RCA VICTOR LM 1807. 12 -in. 44 min.
$5.95-
DECEMBER, 1954
"A Hero's Life" is the most daring, orchestrally and otherwise, of Strauss' tonepoems. With the loss of Clemens Krauss,
Fritz Reiner probably must be recognized
as the foremost exponent of the Bavarian's
music, and in this his second recording
of Heldenleben, he repeats the vivid exposition of its complexities that he achieved
in the first, with aid from the engineers
such as no Heldenleben ever had before.
Bright, entire, forceful, timbre -true and
withal velvety, this is one of the best of
all recordings of the large symphony
orchestra, seductive at low volume and
overwhelming when played loud. C. G. B,
STRAUSS
Also Sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30
Salomé: Salomé's Dance
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Fritz Reiner,
cond.
RCA VICTOR LM 18o6. 12-in. 32, 9 min.
$5.95
-
March 6 of this year is a day to salute in
retrospect. Then it was that RCA Victor
commenced the recording of certain Strauss
works by her best qualified conductor
and uncovered an orchestral sound of
great richness and detail, so cunningly
engraved that it reproduces with magnificence on any kind of competent apparatus. With this record and Ein Heldenleben,
issued concurrently, the company inaugurates a new standard for recorded
a polish
that goes
orchestral polish
Both Zarathurtra
all the way through.
and Salomé's Dance, in these perceptive.
decisive, masculine and agile interpretations, receive their best phonographic
dress, and one that will not be threadbare
C. G. B.
for years.
-
TAYLOR
Through the Looking Glass
Eastman Rochester Symphony Orchestra,
Howard Hanson, cond.
40008.
12 -in.
25 min.
MERCURY MC,
$5.95-
This work was done to death when it was
new 3o years ago, but as revived by Hanson
it turns out to be a much finer piece than
It achieves something
one remembered.
that seems very difficult for American
to
accomplish
the creation
composers
of light entertainment-music in an erudite
taste, with charm, fragrance and vivacity,
and without cloying sentiment (or at
least without much). The performance is
another testimonial to Hanson's surpassing gifts as a conductor, and the
A. F.
recording is in keeping.
-
orchestra had lust taken matters into their
own hands. The Serenade fares little better.
being graceless and unfeeling, with little
delicacy or charm to the orchestral playing.
Sonically, I find this one of the least satisfactory of the Cook classical series. The
strings seem, in general, to be poorly placed.
yet at rimes they attack with so much energy
that they might be on top of the mike.
In the Romeo, there are passages of splendid
drum sounds, but unfortunately, these almost completely blot out the rest of the
J. F. I.
orchestra.
TCHAIKOVSKY
Romeo and Juliet-See Schubert.
VERDI
Baritone Arias
Un Ballo in Maschera: Eri tu. Falstaff:
E sogno? Il Trovatore: I1 balen. Rigoletto: Pari siamo; Cortigiani. Otelln:
Credo. La Traviata: Di Provenza.
Don Carlo: Per me giunto; O Carlo
ascolta.
Robert Weede (b).
Orchestra; Nicholas
CAPITOL
P
-8279.
The Concert Arts
Rescigno, cond.
I2 -in.
$5.95.
This first LP concert by Robert Weede
offers a rather belated opportunity to hear
at some length an artist who is generally
regarded by those who know his work
well as one of the very finest of present -day
dramatic baritones. His career has been
a puzzling one, for his reputation has
outside
been largely earned the hard way
of New York, in single engagements and
short seasons, without (aside from a few
old Columbia 78s) the reciprocal stimulation of recordings. He has actually sung
at the Metropolitan a good deal, but the
company has always used him in special
contexts and has persistently avoided
granting him the kind of uncomplicated
first -class status to which he has time
after time demonstrated his right.
No
need to look for an explanation, for there
is none
at least none adequate; perhaps
it really is true that, even in the arts, some
people are good and some are lucky.
In any case, Capitol is to be congratulated.
not for having "discovered" something
that has been there all along, but for
having at long last acquired the services
of Mr. Weede.
The aria performances
as recorded
here are characteristically
strong in conception, forthright in ex-
-
-
TCHAIKOVSKY
Romeo and Juliet Overture- Fantacy
Serenade for Strings, Op. 48
The New Orchestral Society of Boston,
Willis Page, cond.
CooK /SooT 1169. 12 -in. 48 min. $5.95
had to describe this performance of
and Juliet in one word, that word
would certainly be "hectic." The series of
explosive outbursts, the waywardness of the
tempos adopted, both of which badly distort the line, made me wonder if there really
was a conductor in charge, or whether the
If
I
Romeo
Arthur Fiedler replays an 1872 Strauss
program, adding a little Boston bounce.
71
ecution, well- shaped and stylistically right.
The recording is exceptionally brilliant
and illusive in sound, but it does seem
to me that perhaps the engineers tended
to place Mr. Weede too close to the microphone for reproduction of his voice in
proper perspective. But this flaw is by no
means disqualifying, and Nicholas Rescigno's accompaniments
are clean,
alert,
and well -balanced.
No texts, only fair
notes. Recommended.
J. H., JR.
WALTON
Concerto for Viola and Orchestra
Hindemith
-
See
WEBER
Kampf und Sieg (Battle and Victory)
Lisbeth Schmidt -Glänzel (s), Eva Fleischer
(a), Gert Lutze (t), Hans Krämer (bne);
Chorus and Orchestra of Radio Leipsig,
Herbert Kegel, cond.
12 -in.
URANIA 7126.
33 min.
55.95
Belongs at the top in the reproduction
of chorus and orchestra. This sound is
immaculate, incisive, both sparkling and
grave, the chorus robust but blastless.
The music is not much, except sporadically, though there is some interest
in the military excitement. It is a jingo
cantata, in heavy allegoric celebration of
the culmination of the Prussian War of
at
Waterloo
anticipations
Liberation
stale musical journalism. Still, it is not a
bore. Lively interpretation by chorus and
orchestra, with some sad solo singing,
all illuminated by glittering sonics. C. G. B.
-
-
WEBER
Sonatas for Piano and Violin, op. ro:
No. r, in F;; No. z in G; No. 3, in D
Minor; No. 4, in E Flat; No. 5, in A;
No. 6, in C
Carlo
Bussotti,
Ruggiero Ricci
12 -in.
7,8,4,
LONDON LL 1004.
8 min.
$5.95.
5, 6,
Although most of these adhere in one
movement to the rudiments of sonata
form, they are primarily colorful, impressionistic and lively vignettes, loaded
with Weberian melody and forceful
rhythms.
They are in sum delightful
and London earns praise for digging them
up. Mr. Ricci plays them smartly, giving
full value to their daring and rather insolent
romanticism of 181o.
Unfortunately,
Mr. Bussotti's piano has been relegated
a
position
to
whence it cannot interfere
with a demonstration of who is the star,
giving us too much violin and very little
piano -bass.
C. G. B.
COLLECTIONS AND
MISCELLANY
BACH
Violin and Oboe Concerto, D Minor
Marc Hendriks, violin; Hermann Töttcher,
oboe; Chamber Orchestra, Radio Berlin,
H. Koch, cond.
HAYDN
Cello Concerto in D Major
Ludwig Hölscher, cello; Berlin Philharmonic
Orchestra, Clemens Krauss, cond.
URANIA UR -RS 7-31. L2 -in. 16:13, 24:15
min. $3.5o.
The surprise of this record turns out to be
the warm, expansive performance of Haydn's
Cello Concerto, under the late Clemens
Krauss. Although I have never heard of the
soloist, I must admit that his playing strikes
me as ranking among the most accomplished
and sensitive performances I have heard on
the cello, in a long time. Combined with
his technical adroitness, there is a wonderful sense of line, and an ingratiating tonal
warmth. This performance alone is worth
the price of the record.
For those who might be concerned over
the controversy as to whether the concerto
is actually by Haydn, or by Anton Kraft, I
might quote the following statement made
in 1951, by H. C. Robbins Landon: "the
popular Cello Concerto
is actually by
Haydn, and his own holograph manuscript
is in private possession in Vienna today."
The reverse side of the record contains a
competent performance of the Bach Concerto.
D. R.
...
CHRISTMAS ORGAN MUSIC
Bach:
-
Three chorale preludes from the
"Vom Himmel hoch, "In
Orgelbüchlein
dulci jubilo," "Lobt Gott, ihr Christen, al-
Continued on page 76
Cook's Tour: on the Trail of the Restless Microphone
EMORY COOK is hardly a stranger to these pages,
and only the newest readers will need reminding that he
is the originator of the "Sounds of Our Times" label and
probably the dean of super -fi record makers. He loves
sounds and traveling, and in these first 11 disks of "Road
Recordings" he has indulged both loves, to our gain. Not
all the records are perfect, of course. Tiroro, for instance,
self -styled "best drummer in Haiti," may fascinate composer
Henry Cowell, who wrote his record's jacketnotes, but
for me he palls pretty quickly. (The recording was made
in the hinterland, too, with spring- and -battery equipment,
and the microphone misbehaved.) K. C. Douglas, the
Mississippi guitarist, also fails to send me with his grim,
conversational blues, though others may like him. John
Hawley Cook, the upstate New York geologist in Story-
-
-
tellers No. 2, is fine when he sticks to his hobby
cave
exploration
but less interesting in a rambling discussion
of evolution. Square -dance enthusiasts will go wild over
Al Brundage's calls and string- music, recorded at his square dance school in exemplary fi. " Caribeana" makes much,
charmingly, of the musical cosmopolitanism of our southern
sea
Spanish bagpiper; calypso; a Lebanese ud.
The
southern Mexican marimba band
six men playing
a
23 -foot
instrument
is
delightful below -the- border
entertainment in highly convincing sound. Sterner stuff
is the wild and woolly music of the Texas pianist Red Camp,
who also sings in a bitter, ribald vein. Now we come to the
cream of the Cook -pot: the carnival music -gadgets, the
old sea -lore, the ocean -sounds. The ancient steam calliope
(fed by compressed air here) is wonderfully, hilariously
out of tune; the merry -go -round organ clunks and skirls
with supernatural vigor. The old whaling and codfish
captains of the Down East coast, recorded in their living
rooms and over cribbage boards (Storytellers Nos.
and
3), are mines of anecdotes and strangely impressive: veritable Americana. Best -seller of the series will be the Voice
of the Sea, which leads off forthrightly with a hair- raising
reproduction of the Queen Marys whistle, takes us to sea
on a U. S. cruiser, and then along the coast to hear the
surf beat from Mexico to the Bay of Fundy. You'll smell
JOHN M. CONLY
salt for a long time afterward.
-a
-
-
1
COOK "ROAD RECORDINGS"
Includes: American Storytellers, Vols. 1, 2 & 3; K. C. Doug(guitar); Caribeana; Tiroro (Haitian drummer); Camp
Has a Ball (duplex); Square Dance (with Al Brundage);
Marimba Band (duplex); Calliope and Carousel (duplex);
Voice of the Sea (duplex). (Duplex records can be played
on either regular LP or binaural machines.)
CooK /Soot 5001 -5011. Eleven 12 -in. 35.95, apiece.
las
A bass- voiced
72
Queen is star of Road Recordings' showpiece.
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
RECORDS
building your record library
number fifteen
FRED GRUNFELD TRACKS THE
CHRISTMAS SPIRIT THROUGH THE GROOVES
-
Despite my observations on the devious art of Record Giftmanship
(see page 43), the Christmas LP's I really like to give
and keep
suit the occasion just as much as a greeting card and convey
warmest
my
Yuletide sentiments even better. And not all need
be so narrowly seasonal as to be playable but once a year. There's
plenty of festive music as lovable in June as in December, and
that includes carols
provided they're done with a sense of style
and respect for history. (In the summertime, you'll find, carols
can sound refreshingly new and cool, listened to purely as music.)
For the traditional noels, I like small cheerful groups without
pose or pretensions: The Randolph Singers are such a one and
their two amiable volumes for Westminster (510o at 5200) are
made doubly useful by the inclusion of printed words and music.
Teutonic, brassy and hi-fi are the Deutschmeister Kapelle's
band carols, also on Westminster, and the company is going a
step further this year with sonic manipulations by audio -stunters
Arthur Ferrante and Louis Teicher in a disk winningly entitled
Christmas Hi- Fivories. I may be old- fashioned, but as incidental
music for Christmas morning I'd prefer Vanguard's Music Box of
Christmas Carols (428), which alternates singing by the Welsh
Chorale with tinkling music boxes, well reproduced. The classic
in this department, one of Emory Cook's early Sounds of Our
Times productions, offers zo antique and crystal -clear music box
selections in a fastidious recording.
Full -blown carol transcriptions by contemporaries are apt to he
disappointing. This year Columbia brings us Percy Faith in audio matic technicolor while Westminster contributes Christmas Around the World, a collection by the same Marie Joseph Canteloube
whose Songs of the Auvergne are models of musical integrity and
arranging skill. I can't say as much for these: Luxurious colnmercial harmonies prevail, though singers and orchestra emerge
light and airy.
A genuine phonographic masterpiece is to be found well off
the beaten path of carols. Rare and beautiful are the English
Medieval Carols performed a capella by the New York Pro Musica
Antiqua, under Noah Greenberg
music as direct and powerful
and glowing as a 14th Century tapestry. The singing is both animated and reverent as befits noels that treat the nativity in the
most human and personal terms: "Marvel not Joseph, on Mary
mild; Forsake her not tho' she be with child. .Joseph thou shalt
her maid and mother find, Her Son Redemptor of all mankind..."
Technically, too, this is an impressive achievement (Esoteric 5211.
The ancient and austere grandeur of Gregorian Christmas Music
echoes from the walls of a Romanesque abbey on Angel's 35116,
a memorable disk that captures faithfully the spirit, as well as
the singing, of monks at the Grand Scholasticat at Chevilly, France.
By comparison the St. Paul's Choir of London, also on Angel,
make a stuffy and Victorian impression that reminds me of a rather
damp Christmas I once spent with maiden aunts in England. The
beef -and- kidney singers sing carols on only one side of their two record album; the rest is anthems, madrigals, motets, all very
churchy. (Let it be said that Angel's luxury packages are often
so well designed that just the covers themselves would make
attractive presents. Looks may have nothing to do with content,
but they have the effect of making the records seem twice as good.
Other companies, please copy.)
One set of Christmas pieces listed here on strictly musical grounds
is the Christmas Tree (or Weinachubaum) Suite composed by
the aging Abbé Liszt as a present for his granddaughter Daniela
von Billow. With deft and simple strokes the old master painted
miniatures of Christmas scenes; included among the carols is
the most intriguing harmonization of Adeste Fidelis I've ever heard.
Unfortunately, recording of this gem offers a Hobson's choice.
Ilona Kabos' lacklustre and badly cut version is endowed with
some of the Bartok Studio's cleanest piano sound (Bas 91o). Alfred
Brendel's more satisfying performance of the whole thing suffers
from tinny, wow -plagued reproduction (OPA 26). A sort of modern
-
-
-
.
DECEMBER, 1954
-
occupies part of another Bartok release
Bela
Bartok's arrangements of zo Romanian Carols played by Tibor
Kozma (ens 918).
Three new Messiah albums are out in time for traditional Yuletide listening, and there's no doubt in my mind that Sir Malcolm
Sargent walks off with the honors (Angel 3510).
Neither the
erratic Scherchen, on Westminster, nor the plodding Sir Adrian
Boult, on London, comes near matching Sargent's deeply -felt
performance with Huddersfield's experienced Handelians and
the Liverpool Philharmonic. Only the old Beecham set (Victor
LCT 6401, complete on four disks whereas the Sargent is cut to fit
on three), can compare with it. In the last analysis Beecham's
is the most sensitive version, the measuring stick; Sargent's the
most listenable, with full -range and spacious sound.
A single
disk of Beecham Messiah Highlights (Victor LCT 1130) suggests
an economical answer to a buyer's problem.
The Bach choice is wider and more varied. The so- called
Christmas Oratorio, really a series of individual cantatas, is
acceptably done under Ferdinand Grossman in a Vox album; the
jubilant Magnificat in D finds able, though uneven interpreters
in Ferdinand Leitner's performance on Decca; and the Bach Guild
series contains three exultant cantatas on the nativity: No. 63,
Christians, Engrave Ye This Day; No. 122, The Neu -Born Child;
and No. 133, I Rejoice In Thee. Had I to confine myself to a single
Bach issue, it would be the Christmas Organ Music played by
Fritz Heitmann in a dedicated, unspectacular sort of way, on a
new Telefunken release that includes seasonal works by Böhm,
Walther and Buxtehude (1.Gx 6609). An earlier of Bach's not
inconsiderable "forerunners" is represented by the powerful His toria von der freudenand gradenreichen Geburt Gottes and Marion
Sohns, the Christmas Story majestically recorded by the Cantata
Singers, under Arthur Mendel (aEs 3).
To my way of thinking only one score that's appeared since
the Baroque is worthy of assuming a place alongside these polyphonic masterpieces. Like some splendid crèche rediscovered after a
century in a dusty storehouse, L'Enfance du Christ of Berlioz has
suddenly been revealed to us as a work of both subtlety and grand
design. The Vox version (7120) and the Columbia (se 199) both
have their virtues. Cluytens, with Parisians, holds the reins taut
and brings excitement, even terror, to the dramatic parts; Thomas
Scherman, in a more expansive mood with the Little Orchestra,
seems best in the pastoral sections. Since chorus and soloists are
roughly on a par, superior engineering gives Columbia a real
Weinachstbaum
advantage.
There's always Hansel and Gretel for the holidays, of course.
It might be cloying, but the new Angel production (35o6) is genuinely sweet, a tug -at- the-heartstrings affair, a children's delight
Kinder, Küche, Lebkuchen, Schwarzkopf and Karajan, and one
of the most brilliant opera recordings to date.
A Ceremony of Carols composed by Benjamin Britten on
medieval texts is highly regarded by those who feel he succeeded
in projecting the childlike innocence and joy of Christmas. The
score strikes me as a wan and artificial thing, but I list it here because
London has made an excellent recording with the Copenhagen
Boys, conducted by the composer (LD 9102). Another Britisher
has created what seems to me a truly modern classic for the season.
What an exhilaration it is to hear Dylan Thomas' voice hop and
skip, dance, tumble, jump and bound over the telling of his story,
A Child's Christmas in Wales (Caedmon 1002), which takes
place "Years and years ago when I was boy, when there were
wolves in Wales, and birds the color of red -flannel petticoats
wished past the harpshaped hills, when we sang and wallowed
all night and day in caves that smelt like Sunday afternoon in
damp front farmhouse parlors, and we chased with the jaw -bones
of deacons the English and the bears; before the motor car, before
the wheel, before the duchess -faced horse, when we rode the daft and
happy hills bareback
It goes on like that and it's a fine carol.
-
.....
73
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ever heard...
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Oree catalogs make your Christmas
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See your RCA Victor record dealer today -and get any one of the catalogs shown on the
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now to make it the best Christmas they've
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74
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Complete list of RCA Victor
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Recordings. Eighteen pages of
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t.neme e ria,o .Nne
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MUSIC AMERICA
LOVES BEST
INC
Complete RCA Victor catalog.
Recordings are listed by
composer, title and artist for
quick and easy selection.
Record speed, serial number
and price information included:
BLUEBIRD
CLASSICS
.,,
DECEMBER, 1954
RCA VICTOR
Uiws
rrnme.o Rit
A, AND AMC MAY
;14,,
298
75
!zugleich "; Pastorale in F;
Canonic variations on "Vom Himmel hoch "; Fantasia
in G. Georg Böhm: Variations on Gelobet
seilt du, Jesu Christ."
Johann Gottfried
Walther: Variations on "Lobt Gott, ihr
Dietrich Buxtehude:
Christen, allzugleich."
Fantasia on "Wei schön leuchtet der Morgenstern." Fritz Heitmann, organ.
TELEFUNKEN LGX 66009. 12 -in. 46 min.
S5.95.
Most of this music does properly belong
to the Christmas season, but it can be enjoyed all the year round, for the cheerfulness and splendor of the compositions
and the tranquil beauty of the late Fritz
Heitmann's playing will always be worth
hearing.
Since Christmas represents such a joyful
event in the liturgical year, the old Lutheran
chorales celebrating the event were invariably in major keys, and they serve
the basis for all but two of the works
In fact, only portions of the Bach
actually a four -part suite
Pastorale
The Böhm and
resort to minor keys.
Walther variations are simpler in style
than Bach's, but are nonetheless delightful;
the Buxtehude fantasia is properly full
as
here.
-
-
of fancy.
Heitmann, playing the organ of the Ernst
Moritz Church, Berlin -Zehlendorf, uses
the sound
relatively cool registrations
- -
and
homely at times
it falls soothingly on the ear. The texture
is correspondingly more transparent and
the melodies more clearly outlined than
in performances such as those of Finn
Vider$, and the recorded sound has a comparable naturalness without being parR. E.
ticularly hi -fi.
is plain, almost
CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN MUSIC FOR STRING ORCHESTRA
MGM String Orchestra, Izler Solomon,
cond.
MGM E 3117. 12 -in. $4.85.
Two Pieces for String Orchestra, by Aaron
Copland; Three American Dances, by Roger
Goeb; Music for Strings, by Quincy Porter;
Rounds,
by
David
Diamond;
and
The
Hollow Men, by Vincent Persichetti, this
last with a declamatory solo trumpet in
addition to the strings, after the well -
known fashion of Copland's Quiet City.
All five of these works make good listening,
but the only important one is the Diamond,
which is a small symphony in three movements and is a prime example of that
composer's gift for vital rhythms, firm
contrapuntal textures, and themes of an
exceptionally gracious, telling character.
Performances are good, and the recording
is big and bold.
A. F.
Six Indivisible, Who Helped Make Modernism Respectable
COMPOSERS, good composers, are
individualists.
"Schools" are formed
by critics and historians, not by creative
artists. It was Henri Collet who decided
in 1920 that six young French composers
and good friends were henceforth to be
known as "Les Six," as there had previously
been "The Five," in Czarist Russia. The
six musicians protested at such easy classification, but profited from common notice.
Under the benevolent guidance of the
poet Jean Cocteau, they produced abundandy; they aroused scorn, delight, and
envy; and they flourished. 84% of them
(five out of six) flourish today, and Cocteau
has explained why: "I must salute the
Groupe des Six as an example of a free
bond, of a solid block, formed of contrasts and of a single fidelity of heart."
These young people, drawing together
in the middle of World War I, believed
in themselves, in each other, and in the
spirit of the new century.
They were
determined: art was not to be another
war casualty.
They were successful, incredibly: after some 35 years, dispersion,
world
war, all six could meet
and another
again in Paris, for a gala concert in their
honor, in November, 1953. Angel Records
brilliantly recorded the program in the
few days following, under Georges Tzipiné s
competent baton. We have the splendid
result today, in an album which deserves
some sort of "prix" for its imagination,
attractiveness, and value.
You are greeted by a delightfully fanciful
drawing by Cocteau; a booklet full of fine
and unusual photos, an informative article
by the critic René Dumesnil, another
by Georges Auric, still another by Cocteau.
You discover that the last is a welcome
translation of Cocteau's spoken introduction, recorded as the first item on the two
disks, in the most beautiful of languages.
You look for detailed notes on the pieces
chosen, for the story of Auric's ballet,
the text of Poulenc's cantata; there, and
there only, are you disappointed; but
you make shift with the brief comments
offered. For you have the music to come,
six works as fascinating as you could
wish.
(Angel's note-less thrift package,
always questionable except for standard
76
works, would be exasperating for such
a release as this.)
One of Les Six is a lady, Germaine
Tailleferre (born 1892); French courtesy
demands that her Overture come first on
Effervescent, skillful, witty
these disks.
and pert, the short piece of 1935 is solid
and not at all ladylike. The Prelude, Fugue,
and Postlude by Arthur Honegger (also
1892), written in 1931, is a knotty, tonally
elusive work which grows on acquaintance.
There is a prodigality of emotion here
which is not easy to absorb; one needs,
furthermore, some familiarily with Valéry's
"Amphion" for which it was composed.
The playing is acceptable, and so is the
recording except for what sounds like an
unsuccessful tape -splice leading into the
Fugue.
On the reverse you find the cantata
"Sécheresses" (Drought) by Francis Poulenc
(1889), composed in 1937 to French poems
by Edward James. This is powerful stuff
by one of the great eclectics of our time;
macabre wit (no clowning here!), intense
lyrical impulse, a sure hand for choral
and instrumental sound infuse this work.
The performance is vital and sonorous,
but it does not suffer from over -rehearsal.
On the same side is the solo cantata "Spring
at the Bottom of the Sea," on a Cocteau poem,
by Louis Durey (1888). He is the only
one who officially withdrew from Les Six,
in 1921, and largely retired from music;
yet he remained a friend. His piece of 1920
entrancing, transparent and
is utterly
sensitive, like a Mahler Lied in a French
setting. Denise Duval sings it sympathet-
Seated:: Cocteau; standing: Milhaud, Auric
Honegger, Tailleferre Poulenc and Durey
ically, though her voice is too big.
On the second disk, the Symphonic
Suite from the ballet "Phddre" by Georges
Auric (1899). This must be tremendously
effective as stage music, with its dramatic
impact of brass explosions and color
splashes. As music merely to listen to it
gives trouble, partially because of its
frequent closeness to the popular idiom.
As Auric (best known here for his "Moulin
Rouge" music) himself said in a recent
interview, this piece of 195o was "a, turning
point in my style. ..I attempted a complete
renewal of myself." One feels this stylistic
inconsistency, the striving for a seriousness
and breadth perhaps not quite genuine.
Finally, the Second Symphony (1944)
by Darius Milhaud (born 1892). A gorgeous
work, this, free and natural, brimming
over with the composer's joy in polytonal
and polyphonic tapestries, pastoral themes
for the flutes, colors that sear and soothe.
All these are LP firsts, a gold -mine of
discovery, and thanks to Angel for tapping
it. The history of the Groupe des Six is an
intrinsic part of our new music; these
are a few of the important rivers which
flow into the ocean called twentieth-century style. "Modernism" has become more
stable with their help; maturity which is
not static has been attained, the promise
largely fulfilled.
LE
KLAUS GEORGE ROY
GROUPE DES SIX
Cocteau:
Spoken Introduction.
min.)
Germaine Tailleferre: Overture (41/2 min.)
Prelude, Fugue, and
Arthur Honegger:
Postlude (121/2 min.)
Francis Poulenc:
Sécheresses (17 min.)
Chorale Elizabeth Brasseur and Conservatoire Orchestra
Louis Durey: Le Printemps au Fond de la
Mer (61/2 min.)
Denise Duval, soprano; with Wind
Instruments of the Conservatoire Orch.
Georges Auric: Phddre, Symphonic Suite
(191/2 min.)
Darius Milhaud: Symphony No. 2 (24 mni.)
L'Orchestre de la Societe des Concerts
du Conservatoire, Georges Tzipine, cond.
Two 12 -in.
ANGEL ANG. 35117-35118.
$11.90, or $9.90 thrift pack.
Jean
(51/2
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
1:1(
FAURE
Pavane, Op.
-
50
FRANCK
Psyché
Symphonic Poem
RAVEL
La Valse
Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Paul Paray,
cond.
MERCURY MG
12 -m.
50029.
$5.95.
Once again, Paray reveals his mastery at
interpreting modern French music.
The
Fauré emerges as the essence of beauty
and simplicity, while Ravel's La Valse,
infused with new life, is made to rise to
thrilling dramatic heights.
Only three
purely orchestral movements of Franck's
Psyché are included on this disk, whereas
Eduard van Beinum and the Concertgebouw
Orchestra of Amsterdam play four on
their excellent London record. It would
be nice if someone would record the
entire six movements of Psyché, complete
with chorus. As usual, the Mercury engineers have done a splendid job of capturing the Detroit orchestra on a disk
of wide tonal and dynamic range.
P. A.
MOI, J'AIME
LES
HOMMES
Quand le batiment va; Pour les jolis yeux de
Sazie; Et bailler, et dormir; Les trois p'tiles
pommes; Leon; Fleur de Tyrol; Y'en a, yen
a pas; Moi, j'aime les hommes.
Annie Cordy. Jacques -Henry Rys Orchestra, Raymond Legrand orchestra.
ANGEL 64006.
to -in. 24 min. $3.95Miss Cordy,
pert and vivacious soubrette,
infectious quality in her voice,
and such a saucy way of selling her numbers,
that it is difficult to tell if the songs are
as good as she makes them sound.
Most
of them would seem to come from the
musical comedy stage, though not all are
of French derivation. "Fleur de Tyrol,"
as its title implies, stems from Austria,
while "Et bailler, et dormir" allegedly
comes from America, where it was known
( ?) as "I'm gonna sleep with one eye open."
We are likely to hear a good deal more
from Miss Cordy.
J. F. I.
a
has such an
MUSIC FOR BRASSES
-
t
7th Century
Claudio Monteverdi, Hermann Schein,
Anthony Holborne, Johann Pezel, Adriono
Banchieri.
Wilfred Roberts, trumpet; Albert Richman,
French horn; Carmine Fornarotto, trumpet;
Daniel Repole, trombone; Richard Hixson,
brass trombone.
MONOGRAM 817. 10 -in. 26:25 min. $3.85.
Some of the music comes from Monteverdi's opera Orfeo; some of it is taken from
the same composer's later books of madrigals, in which he began to employ instrumental introductions.
The other works
are separate dances and fantasias. Besides
having historic importance, the music
makes good listening, and the performers
play with verve, precision, good tone and
a fine sense of the music's rhythmic possibilities. Although my copy had some
surface noise, the recording itself is good.
D. R.
DECEMBER, 1954
Lovely singing from the superbly trained
Obernkirchen children
a mystery too.
-and
THE OBERNKIRCHEN CHILDREN'S
CHOIR SINGS
The Happy Wanderer, and
Edith Moller, conductor.
o -in.
ANGEL. ANG -64008
1
other
songs
$3.95
This is indeed lovely singing by a children's
choir.
The voices are fresh and pure,
and the conductor has the good sense
never to force them beyond their range.
Moreover, their pitch, ensemble and diction
leave nothing to be desired, and the
children are obviously trained to respond
to every last interpretative demand of
their understanding conductor.
The recording too, is excellent.
Most of the music, of course, is of
the simple, folk variety, consisting of
many repetitions of the same melody.
The one selection of the eight that contains
a greater degree of sophistication is Orlando
di Lasso's madrigal "Matona mia cara,"
sung here in German.
Curiously, the
conductor takes if four times slower than
I have ever heard it sung, thus making
what is actually a humorous work take on
the quality of a serious motet! There is,
however, something even more mystifying
than that, in this particular work. Although
the chorus is described as containing
only seven boys, the lowest part in this
work is sung by what, to my ears, sounds
like a group of full grown men. They
sing beautifully indeed; but somehow,
it strikes me as not quite cricket to include
a group of adults in what is billed as a
children's choir. If, by any chance I am
mistaken, and these actually are the seven
boys, unassisted, then I advise the choir
to hold on to these lads at any cost! D. R.
MUSIC FOR THE ORGAN
Robert Elmore: Pavanne.
Bach: Patita
in C Minor (Variations on "O Gott, du
frommer Gott").
Giambattista Martini:
Arsa con variazione. Thomas Arne: Flute
Joseph Hector Fiocco: Adagio.
Solo.
Karg-Elert: Legend of the Mountain.
Ernest White, organ
M. P. MOLLER, INC., Hagerstown, Md.
12 -in.
29 min.
$5.95
The Möller company, manufacturers of
organs, has followed Aeolian-Skinner in
putting out an organ record to set forth
the virtues of its instruments.
Only one
is on display here, a new organ built for
the studio of the Church of Saint Mary
the Virgin, New York, where Mr. White
is musical director.
It is an excellent
instrument, with many colorful stops
that blend well in combination, crisp
action, and clean texture. Even the prettiest
stops never sound mushy or vague.
Mr. White's version of the Bach variations makes interesting comparison with
Finn Vider¢'s for the Haydn Society,
and I would not presume to say which is
better. The former, a splendid musician
and technician, employs more individualistic timbres, makes greater contrasts
in tempo and touch between successive
variations, builds the notable penultimate
variation to a fine climax and then ends
with a remarkably deft, non -anticlimactic
performance of the last variation.
Mr.
Viderei's tempos are more restrained, his
brilliant registrations more homogeneous,
so that the whole gains in consistency
but loses in color and variety.
The rest of the works on the disk, rather
slim in playing time, seem chosen to
show off the organ's adaptability to varying
styles.
The Martini, Fiocco, and Arne
are agreeable eighteenth- century works
the first two written for cembalo, the
other unknown to me
and Mr. White
enhances them with
fascinating tonal
combinations without destroying their
simplicity and purity of form. The organist
introduces some interesting growly stops
in Karg-Elert's post-romantic piece, and
some appropriately lush ones in the Pavanne
of Robert Elmore, a 40- year -old Philadelphia
organist and composer.
The acoustics seem a little hemmed in,
which is understandable in a studio organ;
when used full force the organ acquires
much more resonance.
The close -to
recording, however, improves the clarity
of the instrumental sound and of the
music.
There are no notes about the
music, but the record jacket lists the
organ's stops.
R. E.
-
-
AN EVENING WITH ANDRES
SEGOVIA
Frescobaldi: Aria and Corrente.
Castel nuovo- Tedesco: Capriccio Diabolico. Ponce:
Six Preludes. Rameau: Minuet. Tansman:
Cavatina (Suite).
Torroba: Nocturno.
Andrés Segovia, guitar.
DECCA DL 9733.
12 -in.
44 min. $5.85.
GUITAR RECITAL
Santorsola: Concertino for Guitar and Orchestra; Praeludium d la Antiqua.
Sor:
Variations on a Theme of Mozart, Op. 9;
Little Variations on a French Air. Tarrega:
Recuerdos de la Alhambra. Walker: Variations on a Spanish Song.
Llobet: Leonesa.
Ambrosius: Suite No. r. Albéniz: Granada.
Luise Walker, guitar.
Vienna Symphony
Orchestra; Paul Sacher, cond.
EPIC LC 3055.
12 -in.
55
min.
$5.95.
For his fourth Decca disk Mr. Segovia
lavishes his great gifts on works of variable
quality. The elegance and beauty of his
style give status to indifferent music,
adorning with exquisite coloration some
plain music.
There are no complaints
about Mr. Segovia's transcriptions of
the two baroque works by Frescobaldi
and Rameau. The Six Preludes by Manuel
Ponce (Mexican, 1886 -1948), best of the
other compositions, are short, concentrated,
and very charming in their mixture of
Mexican and Spanish flavors. The Capriccio
by Mario Castelnuovo- Tedesco (Italian,
77
)1:U,
RECORDS
Dialing Your Disks
Records are made with the treble range
boosted to mask surface noise, and the bass
ange reduced in volume to conserve groove
space and reduce distortion.
When the
records are played, therefore, treble must be
reduced and bass increased to restore the
original balance.
Control positions on
equalizers are identified in different ways,
but equivalent markings are listed at the
top of each column in the table below. This
table covers most of the records sold in
America during the past few years, with the
emphasis on LP. Some older LPs and 78s
TURNOVER
400
500
ROLLOFF AT 1oKC.
500 (MOD.)
RIAA
RECORD LABEL
AES
(old)
AES
(new)
db
16
db
NARTB
LP
RCA
COL
ORTHO
RIAA
LON
ORIG. LP
LON
NAB (Old)
COL
LP
ORIG. LP
Allied
Angel
Atlantic1
Amer. Rec. Soc."
Bartok
Blue Note Jazz*
Boston*
Caedmon
Canyon
Capitol'
Capitol -Cetra
Cetra -Soria
Colosseum
Columbia'
Concert
Hall'
Contemporary'
Cook (SOOT)'
Decca
EMS'
Elektra
Epic"
Esoteric
Folkways (most)
Good -Time Jazz*
Haydn Soc.
L'Oiseau -Lyre'
London
Lyrichord, new2
Mercury
MGM
Oceanic*
Pacific Jazz
Philharmonia
Polymusic1
RCA Victor
Remington'
Riverside
Romany
Savoy
Tempo
Urania, most'
Urania, some
Vanguard'
Bach
Guild
Vox
1895)
is not very diabolic, but it
provides a delectably virtuosic workout
for the guitarist. The five -section Cavatina
of Alexandre Tansman (Polish, 1897),
quite lush in sound and sophisticated
in make-up, is much too long for its
slight material.
The short Nocturno of
Irederico Moreno Torroba (Spanish, 1891) is in the Castilian idiom, which is
less familiar than the Andalusian to most
American listeners.
Close -to recording
that still leaves the guitar sounding mellow
distinguishes the engineering.
Luise Walker, Viennese guitarist who
studied with Mr. Segovia's teacher, Miguel
Llobet, and now teaches herself at the
State Academy in Vienna, offers more
provocative material (as well as more
playing time) on her disk.
The major
work is the Concertino of Guido Santorsola
Brazilian -born Italian, 1904), which
shrewdly meshes the guitar and orchestra
tones for some original effects.
Formally
simple, pleasantly modern -romantic in
harmony, the Concertino is quite engaging.
The composer's Prelude is an overlong
study in the baroque manner.
Fernando Sor (Spanish, 1778-1839), considered by Mr. Segovia the "greatest guitar
composer who ever lived," wrote over
The Mozart variations are
400 works.
happily inventive and amusing, those
on a French air almost as delightful. Francisco Tarrega (Spanish, 1854 -1909) de.
veloped the style and range of the classic
guitar, eventually passing on his knowledge
to Llobet.
Tarrega is represented by a
famous tremolo study, both tricky and
fascinating.
The serenade -like Leonesa
of Llobet (Spanish, 1875 -1938) is merely
pleasant, as is the transcription of the
well -known Granada. The four-part Suite
by Hermann Ambrosius (German, 1897)
is another neo- baroque exercise.
Miss Walker's variations an exercise in
guitar techniques, with some Gypsy flavoring and piquant harmonies. Miss Walker's
performances are expert, the sound almost
the tone is occasionally
too intimate
On the
coarse, the instrument noisy.
whole, though, worth investigating.
R. E.
-
RECORDER MUSIC OF THE EIGH-
TEENTH CENTURY
A. Scarlatti: Quartettino; Loeillet: Sonata.
Bach: Prelude to Cantata No. 152; Telemann: Trio Sonata and Quartet.
Walden
Westminster
Lalloue Davenport, recorder; Jesse Tryon.
violin; Earl Schuster, oboe; Marjorie Neal,
cello; Patricia Davenport, harpsichord.
bass and treble.
CLASSIC EDITIONS 1051.
8 min. $5.95.
*Beginning sometime in 1954, records made from new masters require RIAA equalization for both
'Binaural records produced on this label are recorded to NARTB standards on the outside band.
On the inside band, HARTS is used for low frequencies but the treble is recorded flat, without preemphasis.
',Some older releases used the old Columbia curve, others old AES.
78
Continued from page 77
AES
RCA
ORTHO
NAB
NARTB
10.5 -13.5
required 80o -cycle turnover; some foreign
78$ are recorded with 30o-cycle turnover
and zero or 5 -db treble boost. One -knob
equalizers should be set for proper turnover.
and the treble tone control used for further
correction if required. In all cases, the proper settings of controls are those that
sound best
12 -in.
6, 9, 4, 12,
Continued on page 8o
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
They're talking about the "Western Symphony" ballet produced at the New York City Center
TRIBUNE
so
to be
not
which
which is
N. y HERALD
a ballet a musical s e
is
records
is
"Here
here
or
put
and
to be
missed
eserves
infnecec
for
music sounded
Kay's score
POST
N.Y.
rarely has
fjershy
in
tious
as
the piece."
certainly
instanter."
Them's Recordin' Words, Pardners!
and here it is
... the
debut of the N.
Y.
City Ballet Orchestra,
exclusively
on VOX
"WESTERN SYMPHONY"
B Y
H E
R
S
H Y
K A Y
A N D
G E O
R
G
E
B
A
L
A N C H
I
N
E
"FILLING STATION" by Virgil Thomson and Lew Christensen
LEON BARZIN, conducting the New York City Ballet Orchestra
Choreographic Notes by George Balanchine
and, on the same record
When "Western Symphony" was given its premiere
performance at the New York City Center, the
ballet theater hadn't seen or heard such enthusiastic "goings -on" in many a year. So, what could
be a more fitting recording debut for the New
York City Ballet Orchestra than the thunderously approved "Western Symphony ". And, on the same
... the stunning "Filling Station" by
Virgil Thomson and Lew Christensen, a work
that, in itself, is representative of the origins of
the New York Ballet.
Another distinguished first and exclusive vox Ultra
High Fidelity recording. Look for it at your record
vox record
store.
PL
9050
FROM 't/Ox<:<:
NOVAES
CHOPIN:
ETUDES, OP. 10 (COMPLETE) & SCHERZO #1
Guiomar Novaes, piano
PL
9070
Whether you collect the works of Chopin or
the brilliant performances of Novaes or
both this record belongs in your collection!
-
-
#1,,darr.d-/t6940xdDECEMBER, 1954
.
..
WUHRER
BRAHMS
SCHUMANN
LISZT
l
}
PAGANINI
VARIATIONS
)))
Friedrich Wiihrer, piano
PL 8850
Two outstanding firsts: the first recording of Schumann's Paganini Variations the first recording of
the three famous pieces on one record!
-
Ultra High Fidelity 236 West 55th Street, New York 19, N.
Y.
79
KE(OKI»,
of
These transmit an eager sense
pleasure,
those
informal feeling of participation in a
game, as if some neighbors had dropped in
to make music. It is light entertainment,
easily assimilable, dressed in a clear and fuss less sonic similitude. The use of a recorder
less ambiguously, when recording is
being discussed, a fipple
in place of a
flute may make listeners glow with a happy
-
-
of authenticity which
is
used here is one
that the harpsichord
metamorphoses
- -
fre-
ANNA RUSSELL'S GUIDE TO
CONCERT AUDIENCES.
not justified;
for authenticity would require, with this
flute à bet in prolongation of the player's
nose, an archaic reversion of the other
instruments to their condition contemporaneous with the fipples heyday. Only in the
case of the keyboard has this been done,
and there is audible evidence to suggest
sense
instantaneous
quently effected by the most austere musical
organizations
the New York Philharmonic, for example
in their search for
authenticity: a piano archaicized by the
insertion of paper between hammers and
strings.
C. G. B.
an
COLUMBIA ML 4928.
12
-in.
52
min. $5.95.
That outrageously funny comedienne Anna
sallies forth, again, chins up,
with "A Guide to Concert Audiences."
It is a significant event for Anna Russell
fans (and they are legion) and for all
those gents who have had to don the
Russell
of
black tie and be dragged to a concert
(and they are legion).
Miss Russell's guide, as she explains
it on the disk, is not so much for "the
natural born concert audiences who would
gladly go without their dinner to go and
listen to Schönberg," but for those who
"have to go and sit through it."
Her
advice to the latter:
"If you can't beat
them, you must join them."
You may
still suffer, she adds, but you'll suffer
easier if you have a slight clue as to what's
going on.
As on her two previous Columbia
Masterworks records, her latest is all inclusive, with all material written, composed
and arranged by Miss Russell. Like the
others, it too was recorded at an actual
New York concert and so is punctuated
with gales of audience laughter.
She takes the listener by the hand and
leads him down the various by-paths of
the concert world.
Here again are the
various types of concert songs and concert
everything from the pure art
singers
song "which appeals to the tutored mind"
to the folk songs and ballads that "stem
from the uncouth vocal utterances of the
people."
There is the German lieder version of
-
U,NIA 04R TIC
GERMAN
17ALIAN
Mefistofele
80170
Euridice
Orfeo ed
GLUCK
MASTE,4zECtS
URLP 223
3 .,2
URLP 230
DONIZETT1
Lucia di Lammermoor
518.50
URLP 232
Don Pasquale
R. STRAUSS
Der Rosenkavalier
URLP 201
4 12
DONIZETTI
2 12
Lohengrin
WAGNER
URLP 225
WAGNER
Tannh'uuser
WAGNER
524.50
URLP 211
URLP 202
Der Freisdiht s
these outstanding
Featuring
and Metropolitan
European
Opera artists:
Ludwig Suthaus
Kurt Böhme
Erna Berger
Klose
Frantz
Margarete
Ferdinond Frick
Gottlob
'liana Lemnitz
Bernd
i
Kemp e,
Ruddolf
"IS to
r R
conductor
OttIStMpS
523.80
URLP
518.50
URLP 216
3 12
517 85
Metrothe followingartists:
Featuring
La Scala
and
politan
Dolores Wilson
Comparo
Giuseppe
Corena
Fernando
Anselmo Colloni
Giulio Neri
Gianni Poggi
3
URLP 403
.
3
URLP 229
del Destino
La Forza 226
VERDI
Isolde
Tristan und
"
WAGNER
WEBER
VERDI
53570
URLP 206
6 12
4 12
4 12
511.90
La Gioconda
PONCHIELLI
Die vonsNurnber9
URLP 228
NtHsASt
Ue H
tNE
E
1
each $5.95
12" Record
DVORAK: No.
hoaY
SYmp
and
1"New World")
5
SMETANA,Scenes URLP 7132
Wedding
47
MOÌOL Op.
No. 4 in C lletl OP. 46
Symphony I Son Mallet)
'The Prodlga
URLP 7139
PROKOFIEFFSYn`D
SCHUBERT
,
Symphony No.
Symphony
MEYE0.BEER,
3
6
in
in
D
C
Major
Major
URLP 7137
- - -
Prophète
Overtures: l'Africaine Prop
Les Huguenots
Ploermel
Pardon de
Le
URLP 7141
in G Minor URLP 7142
Symphony Norvégienne
RhaPsodle
311111
ti
x
ELGA
and
In 1he,South
BRITTEN:
U0.lP 7136
Soirées Musicales
713S
PROKOFIKó ko OD Bl o URLP
1
semva^
"Night
and
Day"
-
(Nacht
and
Tag),
the same thing in the style very near and
"the sexless style"
dear to the British
as arranged by Handel ( "Oh! Night
Da)").
There
is
the Spanish Polite,
Oh!
"Bagga Bagga Bone;" the Spanish Rude,
" Guarda la bella tomato;" and "La Danza"
by Spike Rossini.
Best of the lot:
Two modern French
love ballads, which she has classified by
occupational groups. The first, or more
formal style, concerns two lovers of highly
respectable but dismal occupations (cook
and garbage collector).
The second,
"1 'amour de la low life or chantoozey
style," concerns the highly interesting
love life of people of questionable but
fascinating occupations.
Anna's broad humor comes through
admirably on the disk. Sample: "Everyone
will tell you that vaudeville is dead. It
isn't dead at all. It just went to England."
Explaining the French group, she notes,
"There are no half measures in French."
Nor are there any in La Russell's latest
collection.
JOSEPH T. FOSTER
-
SONG OF THE SYNAGOGUE
Cantonal Chants
Cantor Arthur Koret, tenor soloist; Sandra
Diner Wrubel, soprano; Eleanor Tulin,
contralto; Morris Tulin, tenor; John Rose,
baritone. The Emanuel Synagogue Choir,
Edward Gehrman, cond.
CLASSIC CE -1052. 12 -in. 55:25 min. S5.95.
A fine collection of Cantorial Chants,
sung with complete authority, and with
a fervor that captures the emotional implications of the music at all times. The
accompaniments, both instrumental and
vocal, are discreet and idiomatic. Cantor
Arthur Koret, apart from his stylistic and
emotional insight, has a very fine voice.
Except that said voice is just a little too
far from the microphone (for my taste,
D. R.
at least), the recording is good.
Continued on page 82
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
1B
on CAPITOL RECORDS
in Full Dimensional Sound
SIDNEY PALMER
- Arkansas Gazette
"Vladimir
Golschmann, conductor of the St. Louis Symphony
Orchestra, has held the post since 1931. His tenure
has been notable in its effect on the stature of the
orchestra. Golschmann's vigorous, progressive personality has given the St. Louis orchestra a place in
the front rank of the world's musical organizations."
HERBERT KUPFERBERG
New )i,rk Ilerald- Tribune
"This is romantic, almost passionate music, in an intense,
almost ecstatic performance,
with the entire production
enhanced by Capitol's rich
sound."
SHOSTAKOVICH:
Symphony No. 5 in D
B. DOROFF
Syracuse Post-Standard
"Colschmann (occupies)
a
special niche as an interpreter
of Tchaikovsky. Here, with
the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, he provides a superb
version of the oft-recorded
Romeo and Juliet ... stun ningly reproduced in Capitol's
Full Dimensional Sound
which captures brass and percussion with dazzling effect.TCHAI KOVSKY r
Romeo and Juliet
P-8225
Francesca da Rimini
INCOMPARABLE NIGH FIDELITY IN FULL DIMENSIONAL SOUND
DECEMBER, 1954
81
RECORDS
SPANISH KEYBOARD MUSIC
Mateo Alébniz: Sonata in D. Rafael Angles:
Adagietto in B Flat; Sonata in F; Aria in
D Minor.
Narciso Casanovas Sonata in
F. José Gallés: Sonata in F Minor; Sonata
in C Minor. Freixanet: Sonata in A. Felipe
Rodriguéz: Rondo in B Flat. Cantallos:
Sonata in C Minor. Blas Serrano: Sonata
Hipolito Fernandez: Sonata
in B Flat.
in C Minor.
Fernando Valenti, harpsichord.
WESTMINSTER WL 5312.
12 -in.
40 min.
$5.95.
SPANISH KEYBOARD MUSIC
THE 18TH CENTURY
Felix
Antonio de
Cabezon:
OF
Diferencias
Casanovas:
sobre El Canto del Caballero.
Sonata in F. Albéniz: Sonata in D. Anglés:
Gallés: Sonata in F
Freixanet: Sonata in A. Rodriguez:
Aria in D Minor.
Minor,
Antonio Soler: Sonatas in
Sonata in F.
D, G Minor, D Minor, F Sharp Minor,
F Sharp.
José Falgarona, piano.
Vox Pc 834o.
42 min.
12 -in.
$5.95.
About 25 years ago the Spanish composer
and musicologist Joaquin Nin y Castellano
assembled in two volumes 33 keyboard
works by little -known Spanish composers
of the eighteenth and early nineteenth
centuries. Few of these works, with the
exception of some of Antonio Soler's
sonatas, made any headway in the concert
halls, since they were overshadowed by
the brilliance of the vast output of Domenico
Scarlatti, predecessor of most of the composers involved. They are finally and fortunately entering the LP record repertoire:
Felicia Blumenthal, pianist, recorded five
in her London disk "Spanish and Portuguese
Keyboard Music "; Mr. Valenti devoted
a new record by
SUSAN REED
of admirers
Susan Reed'sthousands
wirers
Elektra Records joins
3
a
y
back after
recording
finest
in welcoming her
very
that this is her
sure that you will agree waiting for.
worth
and has been well
-
one disk to Soler's sonatas; and now we
another from
have two more collections
Mr. Valenti and one from the Spanish
pianist José Falgarona.
Drawing from the same source, the three
artists cover pretty much the same ground,
and the interested buyer is advised to
stick to the two Valenti disks. The music
sounds better in the richly colorful harpsichord versions; Mr. Valenti's performances
are rhythmically accurate and lively, even
if his vigorous style sometimes palls, and
Westminster continues to give him faithful
engineering.
Mr. Falgarona plays more
delicately, but without the all -important
rhythmic precision, Miss Blumental, however, is a graceful musical stylist and
makes the most of the piano's coloristic
resources, and her disk includes some
fascinating Portuguese works of the same
period.
The music is decidedly worth investigating, as a sort of follow-up of the Scarlatti
era, with the discernable influence of that
and other Italian composers and Haydn.
It is also intrinsically valuable, full of
charm and witty invention.
Two of the works on the two disks
listed above lie outside the Nin collections:
Mr. Falgarona plays a set of variations
by de Cabezon, a sixteenth- century cornposer, whose music, interesting though
it is, sounds as foreign to the rest of the
music on the record as would a work by
Falla. The Fernandez sonata on the Valenti
disk also comes from another source, but
at least it falls in the same era. Also the
Gallés Sonata in C Minor, on the Valenti
disk, is incorrectly listed as in B Flat Major.
R. E.
SUSAN 'REED sAf-
TARTINI
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, in D
Minor; Violin and Piano Sonata in G
OLn NRS
-from Inland Scotland
BACH
Concerto for Violin
and England
and Orchestra, in
G
Minor
now
full fidelity recording very bow
her
Susan Reed at
Zither.
.
A magnificent
you can hear
HANDEL
Sonata for Piano and Violin, No. 4, in D
Joseph Szigeti, with the Columbia Sym-
on Irish harp
accompanying herself
he Lepreairs as
such wonderful
(Harp),
Know My Love"
"I
(Harp),
chaun"
yaLo "Wra rp),
Sunday" (Harp),
re"Seventeen Come
(Zither). An outstanding
Toggle Gypsies"
to miss.
want
won't
lease you
1-10"
EKL -26
phony Orchestra, George Szell, cond.,
in the Concertos; with Carlo Bussotti,
piano, in the Sonatas.
$4.45
COLUMBIA ML 4891.
14 min.
$5.95.
-in.
13,
7,
12,
The screech of Mr. Szigeti's weapon in
the two Concertos vividly illustrates why
many cannot endure him. The apologetic
direction of Dr. Szell and the sodden sound
of the orchestra contribute a fair share
of humiliation. The beautiful, considered
enunciation of Mr. Szigeti's musicality
in the two Sonatas vividly illustrates why
many think that he is the greatest of living
violinists.
C. G. B.
Other Elektra
Recordings of Special Int
Russian Folk Songs. Sung by Hillel Roveh with
guitar accompaniments by Anatoly Malukoff.
EKL -20
French Traditional Songs. Sung by Shea
EKL -9
Ginandes with guitar.
Turkish and Spanish Folksongs. Sung by CynEKL-6
thia Gooding with guitar.
All 10" long play
12
... $4.45
WORLD WEARY: THE SONGS OF
NOEL COWARD
Nina; I'll Follow My Secret Heart; Imagine
the Duchess s Feelings; Poor Little Rich Girl:
Something to Do with Spring; Parisian Pierrot:
Where Are the Songs We Sung; A Room with
a View; World Weary.
For new catalog
write to:
361
Bleecker Street
RECORDS
New York 14, N.
Y.
Harry Noble, with Stuart Ross at the piano.
Continued on page 84
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
by the greatest high
High Fidelity Show Pieces
fidelity orchestra
in the
world
Y Ill. a+
k14SKY.GMiIiAKlw
EN HELDENL
THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESICC
SCIIEIIEIIZADEy
f11F
I,III.AIN:I.t'í11A .0:i'iIFg7 RA.
4:1
I"¿yASlll.
....,.,..,_
SCHEHERAZADE (Rimsky -Korsakov): At last -the
definitive performance of this colorful work by the orchestra
Olin Downes of the New York Times has described in his
review of this season's Carnegie Hall opening as "unsurpassable
... America's finest
orchestra."
El N H ELDEN LEBEN (Richard Strauss): IrvingKolodm
in the Saturday Review calls the Philadelphia "surely the
greatest orchestra in the world." Hear their triumphant bi-fi
recording of this tour de force of orchestral acrobatics.
ML ass.
ML
in.
GAITÉ PARISIENNE
LES
GAÎTÉ PARISIENNE (Offenbach)
SYLPHIDES (Chopin): "From now
LES
BOLERO and LA VALSE (Ravel): Ravers two most
on the music lovers
popular scores on one record for the first time. The remarkable virtuosity of the Philadelphia's first deskmen makes
this one of their all -time greats. This is the kind of playiig
that produces what the New York Herald Tribune describes
as "sheen and opalescence not to be equalled on either side
of the sea."
AL SI.
and
of the world must look to Philadelphia alone for standards,"
writes. Virgil
You'll know
this fabulous
first time on
Thomson in the New York Herald Tribune.
what this eminent critic means when you hear
pair of performances back to back for the
a single 12" "Lp" record.
ML ass.
Air
1111111111111111111111F
Exclusively on
COLUMBIA
P
DECEMBER, 1954
_
Afi.nn
RECORDS
rM-. -TnN
-I.. Ha,_
t'..
Pm
Irtl
A
It
rtndn.
ti
RECORDS
HERITAGE H -0054
Io -in.
32
min.
THE BEST OF JAZZ
$4.00.
There are enough little -known Noel Coward
songs on this record to make it genuinely
interesting to admirers of the versatile
By John S.
Noble has come up with
skillfully compounded mixture of num-
Wilson
Englishman.
a
LES
bers, old and new, popular and seldom
heard, extracted from some of the scores
of the 14 musicals Coward wrote for the
London theaters between 1924 and 1945.
There isn't a weak number in the bunch;
where one may be lacking in melodic
appeal this is invariably offset by the
neatness of the Coward lyric.
The composer has recorded some of
these songs himself, and obviously Noble
has heard the records, for his approach
to the songs bears a striking similarity
Here the reto that of the composer.
semblance ends, for the Coward voice is
CORAL CX -1
84
85 min.
Continued on page 86
of Waller Goes A Little Way
-
-
12 -in.
The big dance band which plays largely
in jazz terms, once a commonplace of
popular entertainment, is now reduced
THE charm that so many people found
in the work of Fats Waller was a cornThere was,
pound of many things.
for one thing, that infectious gaiety
which managed to convey both impish
innocence and blistering satire. There
was his rough, shouting manner of
singing which, despite its raucousness,
could make the soggiest Tin Pan
Alley omelet as light and airy as a
superb souffle. There was, underlying
it all, his great talent as a jazz pianist
who was equally at home in the striding
rocking rent party manner of James
P. Johnson or the gently lyrical evocation of a moody show tune.
Still another element of a Waller
performance was his conversation
the imaginatively tangential asides
before, after and in the midst of numbers
and, to an even greater extent, his
introductions to and comments on the
A little
pieces he was performing.
of this has been
a very little
caught on some of Waller's records
since he was too irrepressible to be
cowed by the usual stilting studio
demands for silence. But never before,
so far as I know, has as much of the
complete Waller been caught on disks
as it has on these two 12 -inch LPs.
The 38 numbers in the set were
dug out of transcription files and,
since they were frequently recorded
in groups of three or four, Waller has
an opportunity to act as his own eddifying M.C. The mood is thus set
for many of these performances as it
has never been set before on records.
Less than half of the selections call
for the services of that driving little
band with which he worked in his
last years. Most of the rest are completely devoted to the Waller voice
and piano, while a few are straightaway
piano solos.
What Waller does on these recordings
might well stand as a summation of
his work. They exhibit almost all of
-
Two
Montoona Clipper; Caravan; Strange; Baby;
Speak Lou'; Rain; Street of Dreams; Brown's
Little Jug; I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart;
Back in You Own Backyard; Invitation;
You're the Cream in My Coffee; Midnight
Sun; Begin the Beguine; Happy Hooligan;
I Would Do Anything for You; Laura;
Jersey Bounce; From This Moment On; Crazy
Legs; Flying Home; One O'Clock Jump;
Cherokee; Sentimental Journey.
something of a liability, while Nobles
is strong, clear and musical. Good support
from Stuart Ross at the piano; very good
J. F. I.
sound throughout.
A Lot
BROWN
Concert at the Palladium
Probably the most strategically located such oddity is Les Brown's
band which has been assured of a lush
and steady income for years by its association with Bob Hope's radio and TV
programs, a circumstance which has enabled
Brown to hold together a particularly
talented group of musicians. The recordings
on these two disks were taken from broadcasts made while Brown's band was playing
at the Palladium in Hollywood in September, 1953.
This is good big band jazz even by the
terms of the period when this form of jazz
flourished.
The arrangements, mostly
by Frank Comstock, are often fresh and
probing and are played with polished
There is, unfortunately, a
assurance.
sameness of tempo and a sameness of
sound which tend to offset the gusto with
which the material is attacked but whenever any of Brown's large store of able
soloists take over, particularly alto sax to an oddity.
(Waller the organist
fairly
high level of consistency. More than
that, how Waller did these records
is typical of the exuberant energy which
always characterized his playing and
singing: he recorded almost everything
on these two LPs in a single day between
his many facets
is the missing element) and at a
performances at Loew's State in New
York. This iron -man stunt was probably
no special achievement for the man
who, hurriedly turning out a score
for Connie s Hot Chocolates, composed
in less than two hours Zonky, which
has become a standard among jazz
pianists, My Fate Is In Your Hands, one
of the hardier ballads, and a tune
which is already as immortal as anything
in the popular repertoire, Honeysuckle
Rose.
In "Fats," he sings and plays, urges
on his instrumentalists and mockingly
In one series of
asks for deliverance.
selections, he swings from a driving,
pungent vocal- rum -band delivery of
Crazy 'Bout My Baby to a delicately
beautiful piano version of Tea for
Two to a tongue -in -cheek crowing of
Believe It Beloved. He offers two completely different versions of Honeysuckle
He addresses himself quite seRose.
riously to some of his more notable
Viper's Drag,
compositions for piano
Handful of Keys, Zonky, Alligator Crawl.
there is no other word for
He has
ball. And, for the most part,
it
the listener does, too.
Qualifying factors for the listener
are a noticeable thinning out of material
toward the end of the second disk,
suggesting that every last Waller groove
from this source was being pressed
into service. There is also uncommonly
noticeable surface noise, quite evidently
But
from the original recordings.
this can be as readily overlooked as
Waller
buried
once
it is effectively
and his associates start whooping it up.
JOHN S. WILSON
-a
-
-
"FATS" WALLER
RCA VICTOR LET-6001.
91. min.
$8.95.
Waller at the Organ: The missing facet.
Two
12 -in.
Baby Brown; Viper's Drag; How Can
You Face Me; Down Home Blues; Dinah;
Handful of Keys; Solitude; Crazy 'Bout
My Baby; Tea for Two; Believe It Beloved;
Sweet Sue; Somebody Stole My Gal; Honeysuckle Rose; The Moon Is Low; The Shiek
of Araby; B -Flat Blues; Honeysuckle
Rose; Where Were You On the Night of
June the 3rd; Clothes Line Ballet; Don't
Let It Bother You; E-Flat Blues; Alligator Crawl; Zonky; Crazy 'Bout My
Baby; The Spider and the Fly; After
You've Gone; Tea for Two; You're the
Top; Blue Turning Grey Over You;
Russian Fantasy; Hallelujah; Do Me a
Favor; California Here I Come; I've
Got a Feelin' I'm Fallin'; My Fate Is in
Your Hands; Ain't Misbehavin'; Poor
Butterfly; St. Louis Blues.
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
4,
,Wec6xeli
agmaiance
/iffr-ea/*
WALTER GIE SEKIN G
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iJertr/Ce,í/r:eór
lXL/fQ!<-rfrKlfnit [[OtIdLsC tOt'IPYYnvINKitrC lNlr//YnJflf!!/r/Olf
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Eleven 12" long play records
Sixty -Three Works of Mozart
THE RECORDING IS SUPERB. It has been
dedicated by Walter Gieseking to the forthcoming
world -wide celebration of the 200th anniversary of
the birth of Mozart.
THE PACKAGING IS BEAUTIFUL. A royal blue
moiré silk dustproof case, stamped in gold-leaf,
protected by a transparent strong acetate "slip case ",
contains these precious recordings.
Angel Records' publication of this Limited Edition of
the master's piano music, played by a master, is designed
as a rare Collector's Edition, to enrich the permanent
library of home. school, college, conservatory.
White-and -gold jackets, engraved and illustrated, enclose each record. Designed and printed in Paris, each
jacket has a different cover and back, ornamented with
engravings from the first edition of Mozart's works.
The recordings were made during the past year in
London, with meticulous engineers. They were pressed
by skilled British craftsmen.
A handsome illustrated booklet includes an introduction
written by Walter Gieseking himself and notes on the
63 works by the English critic, William Glock.
WiVrvy_ a7errerii, MOZART- GIESEKING ae
reel
"e'ceme5 r
o2a órr4
ee
rzc
giinrte/ L°r4t;,ga
The Price is $75.00
Angel Album 3511A
Each dealer has
a limited supply.
DECEMBER, t954
e)
cords
We suggest you
reserve your set now.
85
Is For the Very Young; From Here to Eternity;
ophonist Ronnie Lang, trombonist Ray
Sims or tenor saxophonist Dave Pell, the
music has character and dimension. This
is a thoroughly professional performance,
with both the merits and drawbacks that
In view of the fact
the term implies.
that the recordings were made during
performances in a dance hall, the sound
is remarkably faithful and uncluttered
although there is the inevitable overdose
of piercing shrieks from the crowd.
Pyramid; Cornball; Punkin'.
Buddy De Franco seems to be one of
the lost souls of the current jazz scene.
He is one of the most gifted jazzmen
playing today, a master of his instrument
and a creative artist of genuine skill. Yet
he wanders is a sort of limbo, leaving
little behind him but a series of rather
disconnected stabs in various directions,
some of which are excellent in themselves
but apparently leading nowhere in terms
of developing what should be a highly
productive career.
On this disk, Norman Granz offers
him in two guises. On one side of this
LP, he is a soloist with rhythm accompaniment.
On the other, he leads a big
dance band which plods its way through
BUDDY DE FRANCO
The Progressive Mr. De Franco.
NORGRAN MG
N -too6.
t2 -in.
35
min.
$4.85.
Blues in the Closet; Monogram; Cable Car;
I Wish I Knew; Gold Nugget; Sam; Love
some heavy- handed arrangements.
The solo side is almost literally that
and, while it is ridiculous to expect any
jazz musician to improvise by himself
intelligently and creatively (and at an
almost unvarying tempo) for a quarter
of an hour, De Franco almost pulls it off.
Take any one of the four bands into which
this side is divided and you hear an excellent virtuoso job by De Franco (a
superb job on I Wish I Knew). But to take
them all at once, as is apt to be the case,
is unfair to both De Franco and the listener.
There is fine jazz by an excellent jazz musician on this disk but its manner of presentation demands tolerance and under-
standing from the listener.
BARNEY KESSEL, Vol.
CONTEMPORARY C 2514.
z
tO -in.
26 min.
$3.00.
Give Them
the Key to
Barney Kessel, guitar; Bob Cooper, oboe
and tenor saxophone; Claude Williamson,
piano; Monty Budwig, bass; Shelly Manne,
drums.
Barney's Blues; A Foggy Day in London:
Prelude to a Kiss; 64 Bars on Wilshire; Speak
Low; Love Is HP% to Stay; How Long Has
This Been Going On; On a Slow Boat to
I'
the Wonderland
of Good Music
China.
Barney Kessel's first LP for Contemporary
was notable both for Kessel's particularly
intelligent guitar work and for his use
of Bud Shank on flute to brighten the
usual guitar- and -rhythm quartet.
This
second LP is an eminently worth -while
companion piece in which Shank has
been replaced by his dueting partner,
oboeist Bob Cooper.
Kessel reaffirms the notion that he is
one of the most interesting guitarists
working today. There is a sense of balance
in his work which not only steers him
clear of the blaring grotesqueries that
characterize much current guitar work
but keeps him aware of the need for pacing,
depth and fullness in a performance.
MUSIC FOR YOUNG LISTENERS
... a unique combination of important works by famous
composers on A -V Recorded Tapes, and delightfully
written books which recount the stories behind the
selections ... a most fascinating introduction to good music
for anyone from eight to eighty. The books, by that
outstanding authority on music Miss Lillian Baldwin, give
the biographies of the composers and explain the significance
of their musio. Coordinated with each of the three books in
this series are A -V Recorded Tapes of complete performances
by outstanding artists. They are of such high fidelity that
the ear will be trained to appreciate the finest.
While he has plenty of opportunity to
shine on his own in this set (Foggy Day
and Love Is Here to Stay are entirely his),
Start on the road to a richer life through
good music with this Special Christmas
Package from the first section:
-
9 95
The Green Book and Tape #1 for only
additional tapes to complete the section $7.95 each.
7r ips
-
5" reels,
SEE
1
book
$30.00
$46.00
The Crimson Section, 6 tapes and 1 book
$30.00
The Blue Section, 4 tapes and 1 book
Reg-79tee OO
Complete Series
NOV ' $79.00
Special Price (until Dec. 31, 1954)
Ask to hear A -V Recorded
Tapes of Music for Christmas.
AND HEAR THE MUSIC FOR YOUNG LISTENERS SERIES AT YOUR FAVORITE
TAPE RECORDER DEALER. Or
-
-
double track
Also available:
The Green Section, 4 tapes and
sideman Cooper and his oboe are showPrelude to a Kiss and Hou
cased twice
and there
Long Has This Been Going On
are two fast numbers and two slow numbers
which are, in essence, group improvisations.
This disk glitters with unhackneyed ideas
expressed with unusual taste and impeccable
The recording is excepmusicianship.
not only is there clarity,
tionally good
depth and a proper brilliance, but also a
balance which might be studied by other
engineers who record small jazz groups
of this type. This is one of the rare occasions when the drums have been brought
into proper perspective they're doing
for the name of the dealer nearest you, write
-
their proper job but without stepping
on everybody, else's toes.
LENNIE NIEHAUS,
Quintet
CONTEMPORARY C 2513.
VOL.
10 -in.
1:
The
24 min.
$3.00.
A -V TAPE
Dept.
86
H -11,
LIBRARIES, INC.
730 Fifth Avenue, New York 19, N. Y.
Lennie Niehaus, alto saxophone; Jack
Montrose, tenor saxophone; Bob Gordon,
baritone saxophone; Monty Budwig, bass;
Shelly Manne, drums.
You Stepped Out of a Dream; I'll Take Ro-
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
kLi
mance; Day by Day; Bottoms Up; I Remember
You; Whose Blues; Prime Rib; Inside Out.
The trip up the jazz ladder seems to be an
incredibly fast one these days. Time was
when it took a musician many years of
experience and trial and error before he
emerged, if he ever did, as a polished
jazzman. Not lately, though. A couple
of years ago, Chet Baker made the jump
seemingly from nowhere to full -fledged
stardom with Gerry Mulligan's Quartet.
Now here is young (25) Lennie Niehaus
who started his professional jazz career
when he was discharged from the Army
last June and within a month of his discharge taped this LP which establishes
him as one of the most brilliant alto men
around.
Niehaus comes in a direct line from the
original cool altoist, Charlie Parker. He
plays with great virtuosity and enormous
rhythmic feeling. Intellectually, however,
his work is on a different level than Parker's
so that his playing is often both more
calculated or thoughtful and at the same
He appears to be
time more relaxed.
essentially a thinking musician who has
absorbed some of the more important
assets of the instinctive musician.
He has written the originals on this
disk and arranged the standards and while
the collection represents a creditable job
of writing, there are times when Niehaus
the writer has to be rescued by the brilliance of Niehaus the saxophonist.
The
accompanying group gives him dose
The recording is
and helpful support.
up to Contemporary's usual high standard
although there are times when that old
bugaboo of small group recording balance,
the drum, shoulders its way too far toward
the front of the picture.
DJANGO REINHARDT MEMORIAL,
Vol. II
PERIOD SPL
II0I. Io -in.
23
min.
$4.00.
offered, even including a jet -speed
showoff piece, Babik. He is at his best,
however, in a brightly swinging Swing 39
and with the charmingly melodic Dinette
and at his exceptional best on Manoir de mes
Rives, a slow, moody thing in which he
develops a magnificently soaring and
moving solo.
is
BUD SHANK AND THREE TROMBONES
PACIFIC JAZZ PJLP -14.
Sing Something
Renata Tebaldi
one of those rare
jazz musicians whose performances maintain a high standard of consistency no
matter what obstacles are thrown in his
way. On this Period LP he must contend
with recording that is, in general, hollow
and diffuse and, in some instances, so
muffled and badly surfaced as to suggest
Despite this, when Reina dubbing job.
and three hardt has something to play
quarters of the time on this disk, he does
his brilliant and imaginative finger work comes gleaming through muddy
recording, noisy surfaces or whatever
devilment is opposed to him.
These numbers show Reinhardt well
past his Quintette of the Hot Club of
France days.
The distance
in style if
not in time
can be measured by the
a
drum
presence of
solo (!) on Fantasie.
Hubert Rostaing's very Goodmanlike clarinet has replaced Stephane Grapelly's
violin and there are moments when Rostaing
actually challenges Reinhardt for attention.
There can be little doubt that the Goodman small -group feeling which is apparent in
Feerie is due largely to Rostaing. A good
mixture of tempos for Reinhardt's guitar
DECEMBER, 1954
Otherwise the trombones (two of them
played by men who are better known
as trumpet players, Stu Williamson and
Mario Del Monaco
Hilde Gueden
We inaugurated these words the moment we heard our new
complete editions of Salome (LL- 1038/9) and Der
Rosenkavalier (LL -22). Response from critic and public has
been such to prove that we have not been overstating the case.
Soon to be shipped to your favorite dealer are the
following complete recordings of these well -beloved
Cesare Siepi
Giulietta Simionato
operas:
MANON LESCAUT (Giacomo Puccini)
Renato Tebaldi as Manon
Des Grieux
Fernando Corena as Geronte
Santa Cecilia Orchestra and Chorus
Conductor: Francesco Molinari -Prodelli
Mario del Monaco as
Fernando Corena
OTELLO (Giuseppe Verdi)
Mario del Monaco as Otello
Renato Tebaldi as Desdemona
Aldo Protti as lago
Fernando Corena os Lodovico
Santa Cecilia Orchestra and Chorus
Conductor: Alberto Erede
-
-
up.
the dawn of a new era
in operatic recording"
is
-
Simple.
recording studio. After associating himself
with oboes, Spanish guitars, French horns
and the plain, garden variety of jazz instrumentation, Shank now pitches his
alto saxophone in with three valve trombones. If the idea of this association was
to produce a new new sound, chalk if off
as no cigar, for the trombones and Shank
rarely work in ensemble and when they
do nothing spectacularly aural occurs.
In fact, the one moment when the assemblage of trombones seems worth while
is at the opening of Wailing Vessel when
they emit such a startling bass blast that
I was convinced my equipment was blowing
Pt
Fantasie; Blues en mineur; Manoir de met
Rives; Babik; Swing 39; Mélodie au crépuscule; Féerie; Dinette.
Django Reinhardt
to -in. 26 min. $3.85.
Bud Shank, alto saxophone; Bob Cooper,
tenor saxophone; Bob Enevoldsen, Stu
Williamson, Maynard Ferguson, valve trombones; Claude Williamson, piano; Joe
Mondragon, bass; Shelly Manne, drums.
Valve in Head; Cool Fool; Little Girl Blue;
Mobile; Wailing Vessel; Baby's Birthday
Party; You Don't Know What Love Is;
Judging by the frequency of his appearances on various recent jazz LPs,
Bud Shank must rarely get outside of a
RIGOLETTO (Giuseppe Verdi)
Mario del Monaco as Duke of Mantua
Hilde Gueden as Gilda
Aldo Protti as Rigoletto
Cesare Siepi as Sparafucile
Giulietta Simionato as Maddalena
Fernando Corena as Monterone
Santa Cecilia Orchestra and Chorus
Conductor: Alberto Erede
Aldo Protti
LA TRAVIATA (Giuseppe Verdi)
Renato Tebaldi as Violetta
Gianni Poggi as Alfredo
Aldo Protti as Germont
Santa Cecilia Orchestra and Chorus
Conductor: Francesco Molinari -Pradelli
-
JE
01Y 01Y
R
RECORDS
.
N
ÿ
s
Gianni Poggi
e
87
(lltl)
RECORDS
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WATER MUSIC, complete (Handel) Hewitt
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COMPLETE ORCHESTRAL MUSIC OF
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-10"
In
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in
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-
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In
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VOICE OF THE STORM (See High- Fidelity,
October Issue) Cook 5012 54.80
RCA VICTOR-Hearing Is Believing 12"
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CHOOSE OMEGA BECAUSE
.
Maynard Ferguson) perform the accompanying functions normal to the showcasing
of a soloist. The arrangements and originals provided by Bob Cooper are not
particularly inspired or inspiring but Shank
dresses them up with some of his beautiBoth Shank and
fully developed solos.
the ensemble swing provocatively on
Valve in Head and the previously mentioned
Wailing Vessel and Shank gives lengthy,
slow ballad performances on Little Girl
Blue and You Don't Know What Love Is.
The group has been recorded with admirable
depth and balance.
.
Each record personally inspected and
guaranteed never played!
per Each record shipped in a plastic
container (polyethylene).
your Records shipped POSTAGE FREE anywhere in the U.S.A.
Fastest service anywhere in the world.
Some notable features of recent reissues
on LP:
The relaxed and, in retrospect, classic
two -beat style of Bob Crosby's Bob Cats
is heard again on such fine works as Do
You Ever Think of Me, Jazz Me Blues,
The Big Noise from Winnetka, Big Foot
Bob Crosby's Bob Cats,
Jump and others
12 -in., Decca DL 8061.
Earl Hines' electric piano version of
Body and Soul, his 1929 solo on Glad Rag
Doll, his 1939 recording of Rosetta highlight Earl Hines Piano Solos, lo -in., "X"
-
LVA 3023.
Tommy Ladnier on cornet and Jimmy
O'Bryant, clarinet, mood it up behind
the blues singing of Ma Rainey and a
less known but thoroughly stimulating
Edmonia
Henderson
Tommy
singer,
Ladnier Plays the Blues, Io -in., Riverside
RLP 1044.
James P. Johnson, Willie the Lion Smith
and Al Casey make the best of several
opportunities and Frankie Newton blows
one of his best recorded solos, The Blues
My Baby Gave to Me, on Mezzin' Around,
12 -in., Victor LJM 1006.
Some of Sidney Bechet's 5940 Victor
releases, including Wild Man Blues and
Shake It and Break It with Sidney De
Paris as his trumpet foil, make up Sidney
Bechet and His New Orleans Feet Warmers,
FREE
dling.
OMEGA CATALOG
3
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still available))
13
AND Hl -FI
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TEST LP'ss
E L E C T R O N
I
C S
7511 SANTA MONICA BLVD.
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520
88
FIFTH AVENUE, N. Y.
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Y.
music
For Christmas
1,
10 -in.,
Chorus & Orch. of Radio Berlin;
F. Lehmann, cond.
radio broadcasts by Kid Ory,
previously released on Circle, and some
previously unreleased 1945 Bunk Johnson
Bunk Johnson and Kid Ory, lo -in.,
sides
Riverside RLP 1047.
1947
-
THE MUSIC BETWEEN
by Robert Kotlowitz
ECHOES OF CHILDHOOD
George Feyer, piano, and rhythm accompaniment.
Vox vx 710.
$11.90
URLP 236
12"
2
DVORÁK
STABAT MATER,
Op.58
Czech. Phil. Orch.; V. Talich, cond.
URLP 234 $11.90
2 12"
HAYDN
THE CREATION
Chorus & Orch. of Radio Berlin;
H. Kash. cond.
2
12"
URLP 235
$11.90
JANÁCEK
SLAVONIC MASS
Brno Symph. Orch.; B. Bakala, cond.
1
12"
URLP 7072
$5.95
"X" LVA 3024.
Rough, gutty playing and mighty casual
recording are the principal characteristics
of
Giving
J. S. BACH
MASS IN B MINOR
-
I/
Reg. 51.00 LP Record
Cleaning Cloth, chemically treated to remove
static electricity and
prolong record and
needles.
FREE with any record order ... Or, without
order, send 25c to cover postage and han-
SACRED
Reissues
Vol.
.
F
HOLIDAY 5PE[IRL
Magnificent Performance
BEETHOVEN
SYMPHONY No. 9
Famous Soloists
Edith Laux, soprano;
Diana Eustratie, contralto;
Ludwig Suthaus, tenor;
Karl Paul, baritone
Combined Choirs of the
City of Leipzig
Leipzig Philharmonic Orchestra
Hermann Abendreth, conductor
and
SYMPHONY NO. 1 in
C MAJOR, OP. 21
Berlin Philharmonic Orch.;
Arthur Rother, cond.
2
12"
URSP 101
to -in. 27 min. $3.15.
By far, the most successful of the Echoes
series. Containing 4o songs you'll remember
from childhood and on, it's played and
recorded without affectation or undue
sentiment. Mr. Feyer accomplishes this
by paying strict attention to the melodic
line, which is, in most of the songs, enchanting. There's no nonsense here and
the results in every way are remarkably
attractive.
URANIA
RECORDS, INC.
E. 19th Street,
New York, N. Y.
40
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
RECORDS
INTERNATIONAL LOVE SONGS
probably the best recorded sound he has
ever received, but it's a safe bet that people
who like opera will sadly miss a soprano,
Mario Braggiotti
LIBERTY
LMS
to -in. 3o min.
1o08.
tenor, and baritone in all the quick -tempoed
tumult Mr. Kostelanetz manages to stir
up here.
What is This Thing Called Love ?; Torna
a Surriento; Lili Marlene; Wien, Du Stadt
Meiner Traume; Rhapsody on a Theme by
Paganini; 18th Variation; Danny Boy; Besame
Mucho; Amor; Bailero; Parlez Moi D'Amour;
Ich Liebe Dich; The Man I Love.
Workmanlike interpretations of generally
familiar tunes by one half of the old celebrated duo -piano team of Fray and Brag giotti. Sometimes Mr. Braggiotti is tempted
to push a little too hard and when this
happens
as it does with What Is This
Thing Called Love?
the results are liable
to be heavy- handed.
Mostly, though,
he's very much at home here with the
material and the Liberty people have seen
to it that he gets full and close engineering.
-
LOVE FROM A CHORUS
The Male Chorus of the Robert
RCA
OPERA
FOR
I
am one
12 -in.
LM
1815.
12
-in. 45 min.
Juanita; Aura
Lee; Wait for the Wagon;
Loves Old Sweet Song; When You and I
Were Young, Maggie; Lorena; Sweet Genevieve; Li'l Liza Jane; Seeing Nellie Home;
Grandfathers Clock; Bonnie Eloise; Stars
of the Summer Night; Home, Sweet Home;
Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young
Charms; Drink to Me Only With Thine
OR-
Eves;
Good Night,
Ladies.
The Robert Shaw Chorale is a group
that sings every song as though it were
a classic.
It's carefully -rehearsed, corn pletely professional, and always at ease.
But the songs in this new album are taken
a little too seriously. They are not classics,
and to treat them as though they were
is to deprive them of a necessary overtone
of roughhouse in some and tongue-incheek passion in others. Too often, the
singing comes perilously close to boring
perfection, or perhaps it's simpler than
that
too bland. The group has been
brilliantly recorded in Orthophonic splendor and it's only fair to add that the Chorus'
diction is something to hear.
Andre Kostelanetz and his Orchestra.
COLUMBIA ML 4896.
VICTOR
$5.95.
-
LA TRAVIATA
CHESTRA
Shaw Cho-
rale, Robert Shaw Conducting.
42 min. $5.95.
of those conventional and lazy
creatures always to be found in the rearguard of Art, and, like my fellow -Philistines,
I prefer that opera be sung.
On these
terms, then, I would like to ask for a
vigorous, rational answer to a question
that is not a product of mere whim: What
are the advantages of an Opera for Orchestra over an Opera for, you should
pardon the expression, Voices?
While
waiting for the response, I will say that this
particular Opera for Orchestra vives Verdi
-
PEDAL HARPSICHORD
PACIFIC 231
ZITHERCIMBALOM
Complete BACHIANAS BRASILEIRAS N.
VOICE OF THE SEA (RR Duplex)
76 Stack Vis THE
TRUTH vid.
5
Pure, Wawa
Flowery words can't create fidelity. The TRUTH is ONLY, in
the listening' Making records for the BEST, not for average
equipment
our strategy has always been to pioneer far
ahead of the field in fidelity . . . then use fidelity as a
musical lee/ instead of a fetish.
For instance,
everybody has a CARMEN. Compare our
Intro. Act I #2064 with ANY other version, musically and
technically
AND KNOW THE TRUTH.
-
-
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"Mozart G minor
.
best available LP." -TIME
"Seven last Words
.
truly must be HEARD to be
believed. " -SATURDAY REVIEW
Send for catalog.
COOK LABORATORIES
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WESTMINSTER LABORATORY
SERIES: recording's greatest
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microgroove
These are the only records made
expressly for professional equipment-and that being so, they
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They have no echo, either pre or post -, and no sound seepage
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Each W -LAB record is packed
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a genuine hi -fi thrill, Christmas
Day and every day, buy and
give W-LAB.
1-LAB 7001
Cliere: The Red Poppy (Ballet Suite)
Orch. of the Vienna State Opera
W -LAB 7002
Tehelkoveky: Capriccio Italien
Rimeky.KoraakoR: Capriccio Espagnol
London Symphony Orch.
Hermann Scherchen conducts both
A
Nixa Recording
LISTEN -AND COMPARE!
DECEMBER, 1954
89
RECORDS
WIENER BLUT
Johann Strauss
IN THE CONTINENTAL MANNER
HIGHLIGHTS
Volume
RECORDS-you
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RECORDS-are
exceptionally generous selection
Urania full -length recording
of Wiener Blut. Quantity aside, it also
conveys a true feeling of theatrical performance, as though the cast were not
only used to singing the roles but acting
them as well. Of the three leading sopranos,
Miss Streich, who sings Pepi, is always
in better control than Irma Beilke; Traute
Richter, on her part, sings the role of the
deceived wife as though she believes every
word of it. The men are all adequate and
most of the time very much in their roles.
Even though there are no outstanding
voices in the cast, this quality of conviction possessed and communicated by
every member of the cast succeeds finally
in making the recording a bright success.
Urania's sound is satisfactory, if not notable in any respect.
Gus Viseur, Loulou LeGrand, Jo Mouler.
is an
the
DATE FOR DANCING NO.
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1
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$3.95.
IN THE CONTINENTAL MANNER
Volume
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WESTMINSTER
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Herbert Seiler, piano, and rhythm group.
brand
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toc for each additional record. West 01 Mississippi add 90c lot first three records plus 10c
for each additional record.
Complete Stoa of
53 W. 47th
Street
New York, N.
Y.
MASTERS
ORGAN BY MORGAN
Virginie Morgan, electric organ.
WESTMINSTER WL 3025.
WESTMINSTER
to -in.
10 -in.
WL 3026.
TANGOS NO.
$3.95.
$3.95.
I
WESTMINSTER WL 3024.
10 -in.
$3.95
DANCE TO LATIN RHYTHMS
NO.
I
WESTMINSTER
WI. 3021.
to -in.
COCKTAIL HOUR NO.
WESTMINSTER WL 3023.
$3.95.
I
10 -in.
$3.95.
DANCE TO PARIS SWING. NO.
WESTMINSTER WL 3022.
10-16.
1
$3.95.
There is little in these Westminster light
music recordings that has not been done
better many times by American groups.
Date For Dancing No. 1 offers a few oom -pha
fox trots in the best tradition of American
hotel dance -bands, except that they're
just not authentically innocuous enough;
the rhumba band, on the same record,
suffers the same trouble. Herbert Seiter,
on the Continental Manner recordings,
plays the piano in a manner becoming
almost synonymous with the "continental
manner "; he tends to such cute tricks
as occasionally inserting into his pleasant,
tinkly playing an immediately recognizable
classical theme, presumably to titillate
the customers with the effect. Organ By
lady
Morgan is exactly what it says
called Virginie Morgan at the electric
for
all
worth
she's
but
organ, playing
creating little interest in the process.
There's not much style, either, to Paris
Suing, at least as it's presented here, nor
to Latin Rhythms. Tangoes No. r is another
matter altogether; its a pleasure to hear
the tango orchestras of Cahan- Colombo
and Jaques Morino go to work uninhibitedly
on a dance form that has never been much
of a favorite in the U. S.
But for most Americans I'm afraid that the
bulk of these recordings will have a diluted,
ersatz quality. Certainly, they're harmless
enough, but their nutrition value is negligible. Even the sound is not up to Westminster's strict standards; it's never really
unsatisfactory but at moments it sounds
built -up.
-a
udiophile 78 RPM
microgroove issues
are directed particularly to the critical
audio "fan" who has
good ears and good
equipment.
Our 331i RPM issues
have good commercial
quality, enjoyable for
their program content.
Oiamond Needle,
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WL 3o18.
Beilke, soprano; Traute Richter,
soprano; Rita Streich, soprano; Klaus -G.
Neumann, tenor; Fritz Hoppe, basso:
Chorus and
Sebastian Hauser, tenor.
Orchestra of the Berlin Civic Opera,
Hans Lenzer, conductor.
Irma
RECORDS-complete
2
WESTMINSTER
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AUDÓ HILE RECORDS
SAUKVILLE, WISCONSIN
CHILDREN'S RECORDS
By Sally McCaslin
axa.
Franz Liszt. His Story and His Music.
Vox vL 2630. to -in. 33 Yt rpm. $4.00.
It was dinner time and the phonograph
was playing this record. Allin Robinson,
narrator, had described Liszt's childhood
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
on the Esterhazy estates where Papa Liszt
was caretaker, how little Franz had given
his first concert when only nine years
old. Now he was talking about the composer's adult years.
"Franz Liszt," he said, "owned 365
neckties.
The conversation at the dinner table
went like this:
The ten year old: "365 neckties! Wow!"
The father: "Which is why he wasn't
a
better composer."
The ten year old: "Wasn't he a good
composer?"
The mother:
"He means that Liszt
was so successful as a pianist he couldn't
devote much time or energy to composing."
The six year old: "How many neckties
do you own, Daddy?"
We draw a curtain over the pitiful answer.
Our point is this sort of record does produce
conversation. It is stimulating and educational for the whole family. One of Vox's
series on great composers, it is not the
best (Liszt was also too successful to
arouse our sympathy); but it is good;
and, like the others, produced with intelligence and care.
When Robinson
tells how Liszt had a piano taken to the
station so that he could play while waiting
for his train, we hear the sound of the piano
gradually drowned by the real life sound
of an approaching train. The Vox Symphony Orchestra plays selections from
Liszt's compositions.
.."
Diana and the Golden Apples.
CAPITOL KASF
3209. 45 rpm. 31.1o.
ENRICHMENT RECORDS
3311/3 rpm.
$3.95.
ERL
107.
10 -ín.
The business of heroes is rather strange.
of them are picked by chance
and perpetuated out of proportion to
their actual significance.
Take Daniel
Boone. We have no quarrel with his hero
status. He is more interesting than most.
But there must have been other men who
pioneered with the same courage, suffered
the same hardships, and whose names
are unknown.
Daniel Boone is a hero
because we need one to illustrate that
period in America's growth and to help
shape our national consciousness. John
Smith serves the same purpose. If Pocahontas had not saved his life, would
America be any different?
One important thing about heroes
is that they are the very best means of
interesting children in history.
This is
also the important thing about these
records. They are a fillip for the history
class benefiting both students and teachers.
The records are based on another fine
project for children, Random House's
Landmark books, each concerned with
an outstanding person or event in America's
past. They employ large dramatic casts,
authentic sound effects and music.
Of the two records reviewed here, the
Daniel Boone, Sam Houston record is
the more successful. It is difficult to come
up with anything new about George Washington; and Pocahontas, pleading for
John Smith's life in lucid English, strained
our credulity. However, when we heard
it, we had just fought the battle of Boones borough
ten days and nights worrying
So many
-
Someone had better get busy and form
a "Society for the Protection of Fairy
Tales." We suspect they are in for some
bowdlerizing. Our fears are sparked by
this record. Here, to music from Prokofieff's
Lieutenant Kilt', we have the story of the
Greek lass who agreed to be the wife of
any man who could beat her in a race.
She lost the race when she stopped to
pick up the golden apples her suitor
dropped as they ran. Capitol apparently
feels that this is not a fit story for children.
They have carefully rewritten it to explain
that Diana was already very much in
love with the man and therefore very glad
that she lost the race. They also explain
that the man was actually a faster runner
than Diana but had to resort to the apple
trick because he was slowed down by a
wound in his leg. It all seems very silly
to us and significant only in that it reflects
the widespread American feeling that marriage for any but romantic reasons is tabu.
See why the fairy tales have to be changed?
All those kings giving their daughters
in marriage. And Horrors!
We've just
thought of something else:
As I was
going to St. Ives, I met a man :with seven
wives!
Daniel Boone:
Wilderness.
Sam
Houston:
The Opening of the
The Tallest
ENRICHMENT RECORDS ERL
33 '-í rpm.
$3.95.
108.
Texan.
lo -in.
The Winter at Valley Forge.
Pocahontas and Captain John Smith.
DECEMBER, 1954
FREE
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We make this offer to you so that
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...
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ease
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WHAT IS HI -FI?
A journey behind the
es 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:
cci
WESTMINSTER RECORDS
DEPT. HF
275
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NAME
STREET
CITY
ZONE
.5)
91
RECORDS
We weren't in
about our own scalp.
mood to worry about John's.
THESE ARE THE
REASONS
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are switching to
THE MUSIC BOX'S
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Every record guaranteed to be
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Every record carefully inspected
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mailing.
Every record dusted, cleaned and
enclosed in a cellophane envelope
to lessen possible damage from
dust, while in transit.
...
Bongo and his Baboon Drum.
A Child's Introduction to the Orchestra.
Sung by Burl Ives
Look at
78 rpm.
IO -in.
DECCA K -132.
Kitty Kat.
Little
the
10 -in.
K -128.
DECCA
78 rpm.
78 rpm.
GUILD
CRG -5035.
$1.19.
A collection of South American folk songs
linked together by a skeletal story of
life in Argentina. This is a typical offering
of CRG. It's all very wholesome, but the
songs, hamstrung by English words, are
dull.
The Little Shoemaker.
Sung by Rosemary Clooney
Every order mailed to you POSTAGE FREE, anywhere in the
We liked
COLUMBIA
J
additional information.
45 rpm.
4-213.
-
Any LP record on any label. No
substitutions made at any time .. .
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Fast, prompt and courteous service.
The Little King of Yvetot.
Current Schwann LP catalog included in every package.
YOUNG PEOPLE'S RECORDS.
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From picking to packing, all orders
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Inquiries, questions, or what have
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All records sold
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...
`11)Ar>'c
MAIN
Box
STREET
GREAT BARRINGTON, MASS.
Daddy's Report Card; Johnny Apple seed; Pig Polka; Songs from Walt
Disney's Bambi.
98e.
this better, the first time we
about I,000 times ago; but
a nice tune and presented well
here. The children react as if they too had
some of those "shoes that set my.
(a box of ear trumpets for anyone who
can't finish the line).
it
it's still
heard
LITTLE GOLDEN RECORDS.
78 rpm. 25 cents.
--
to -in. 78 rpm.
-
.
.
HI-FI
THE
expensive than ornaments and they don't
hreak.
RECORD
HIT
THE
OF
REPLICA RECORDS
ABSOLUTELY THE
Leon Berry at the Hub Skating Rink in
Chicago. "stimulating contrast and full
sound dimensions."
ro -in.
$4.00.
Replica LP 33x501.
THE LATIN SET
Bill Knaus plays Latin Americana a la
Pipe Organ. "the magnificent theatre organ
at its best."
Replica LP 33x5oo.
WRITE FOR
FREE CATALOGS
,
-in.
AUDIO
N
E
w
R
E
SHOWS !
presents
DEMONSTRATION
GREATEST
GLOCKENSPIELS, TRAPS AND
PLENTY OF PIPES
6 -in.
LGR's, two particular virtues. First: The
music
Mitchell Miller and orchestra
again
is professional and spirited. Second:
they cost 25e. We think it is important
to produce such inexpensive records for
children.
Otherwise, the phonograph
cannot compete with the television set
because the average family cannot afford
What else,
enough variety in records.
half as rewarding, can you buy for a quarter?
Hang them on the Christmas tree. Disregarding content, they are barely more
This is a story -French folk song combination aimed at the two -to- six -year old's.
It is moderately successful but we've come
to expect better from YPR. The envelope
blurb is interesting anyway. We quote:
"The song lyrics for the record were
written especially for Young People's
which means
Records by I.eo Israel
.
Four
These are a few of Little Golden Records'
They have, along with other
new titles.
.
NOW
-in. 78 rpm.
dwarfs those previous ventures. It is an
outstanding achievement, capable of becoming the standard work for acquainting
the novice with the means and methods
of symphonic music. Our chief accolade
is for Alec Wilder, the composer; but
Mitchell Miller, oboist and conductor
of the orchestra, and the other musicians
Seven of
also give peak performances.
the records are devoted to the individual
Each side contains a song
instruments.
describing an instrument and then an orchestral arrangement featuring the inThe clear sweet melodies of
strument.
some of these solos are delightful in or
On the eighth record
out of context.
we hear the whole orchestra perform a
miniature symphony. The theme is pointed
out and the different movements explained
to give the symphony unity.
The series comes in a cardboard carrying
case, gay as an Easter egg; and there is
also a little booklet with drawings and
$1.14.
Pedro in Argentina.
lo-in.
7
In our last column we wrote about records
designed to acquaint the child with
different musical instruments. This album
He's always welcome
Good old Burl!
around here. These songs are particularly
suited for children (from age two on up)
because they are about animals and animals
with problems at that.
We like the
Bongo one best. It features some rhythmical drumming and a resigned baboon.
(He was the drum.)
CHILDREN'S RECORD
Eight
GOLDEN RECORDS.
$3.95.
$1.14.
Sung by Burl Ives
Every record carefully packed to
reach you in perfect condition.
U. S. A.
that the vocabulary and imagery are down
to the level of young children." Anyone
met this Mr. Israel?
a
RECORDS
ARAGON ORGAN with HAL PEARL
Hi -Fi favorites on the organ of the Aragon
Ballroom in Chicago.
Replica LP 33x502.
Io -in.
$4.00.
GLOCKENSPIELS, TRAPS AND
VOL. II
PLENTY OF PIPES
L
E
A Volume I was so sensational, we just had
S
E
S
to make volume II.
crisp definition."
Replica LP 33x503.
"startling realism,
10 -in.
$4.00.
$4.00.
DAUNTLESS
INTERNATIONAL
225 Lafayette Street
New York 12, N. Y.
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
RECORDS
Record Market
The Magic Toy Shop.
DECCA K -119.
rain.
78 rpm. $t.14.
The rarefied atmosphere of the fairy tale
suits the rarefied atmosphere of the ballet.
In both the wicked are never really wicked.
The good are good without a struggle.
On this record, even without the dancers,
we get a good idea of this happy blend.
The story, from the Rossini -Respighi
ballet La Boutique Fantasque, concerns
a toy shop where for one magic night
the toys all come to life. The little tin
soldier, secretly in love with a princess
doll, rescues her before she is run over
by a toy electric train.
A grouchy old
The
ceddybear gets his come -uppance.
clock strikes, and the toys, having worked
out their frustrations, go happily back
to being toys. The Royal Opera House
Orchestra, Covent Garden, plays the music
sweet, riotous, or sad to fit the situation.
Danny Kaye's narration, quiet and detached,
adds to the pleasure.
We watched some
little girls listening to The Magic Toy
Shop. They liked it so much they looked like
rapt, beautiful,
children in a fairy tale
for a moment, good without a struggle.
-
-
What Is
DECCA
a Boy?
K-130.
What Is
a
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A spring-like motion of the brush, fans
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Begin now to enjoy better sound from
your system by using this new HI -FI
to -in. 78 rpm. $1.14.
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HIGH FIDELITY SALES
HI -FI Bldg.
course he was doomed to failure. Children
aren't that much alike and, if they were,
our language isn't precise enough to describe them. Even so, most parents will
like the record because it does show a
nice feeling for children. And the children
(little human beings) like hearing themselves talked
Burlington, North Carolina
at
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... STUDIOS
4 SARASOTAF LORI CIA
MUSIC FOR THE ORGAN
VOL. II
Fabulous Dynamic and Frequency Range
of the
Incomparable Moller
Organ
Preludes, Fugues and Chorales
Dandrieu, Karg- Elert, Pachelbel,
Schroeder, Bach and Kirnberger
Ernest White, Edward Lintel; Organists
Duotone Electrowipe
Moller LP E5 12"
,li.t ram, 'd
Catalog 25c or Free with Order
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A
with $10 order.
4110 Caroline, Houston 4, Texas
,áfí`
at
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LP
Of
of little giriness and little boyness.
SWAIN -A -FONIC
MUSIKON TAPES
BRUSH -BLOWER.
Girl?
This record embarrassed us, not by its
sentimentality (we were braced for that),
but because whoever wrote it really made
a serious effort to pin down the essence
Hear FREE AUDITIONS
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DAUNTLESS INTERNATIONAL
Lafayette St.
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A b & r pro.i,a
CHICAGO'S
H
-Fi Record
about.
The record consists of two short essays
with background music.
Some of the
At
observations are fairly perceptive.
least one little girl we know had the grace
to blush at the line "little girls dislike
snowsuits, vegetables, and staying in the
front yard.
The narrator is Jackie Gleason, the
last person we would have thought of,
which goes to show how perceptive we
are:
He's very good.
Prevent slow ruin of precious Hi -Fi
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i
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eadquarters
101 labels- featuring
Audiophile and Cook
53.
AUDIO FIDELITY RECORDS
FOLK
presents
MUSIC
STUDIES IN HIGH FIDELITY SOUND
SAMPLER!
MERRY GO ROUND MUSIC
High. medium and low frequency on
AUDIO FIDELITY LP
901
a
10"
Mambos, Rhumbas. Voodoo. Vibrant presence.
10"
S4.00
distributed by
DAUNTLESS INTERNATIONAL
215 Lafayette SI.
DECEMBER, 1954
New York 12. N. Y.
issues
a
Kneels'
Hiah
10" Long Playing record
featuring selections from twelve of
our folk releases.
S4.00
DRUMS OF THE CARIBBEAN
AUDIO FIDELITY LP 902
ELEKTRA
Fidelity
crazy carousel.
WROUGHT IRON RECORD RACK
I.P's. Black finish with tubber tips. Size 191/4"
high, 1-' long, 9t /2' deep. Sturdy construction. Ten
separate sections allow for ideal storage of music by
style, composer, artist. Several racks may be placed side
by side to form a complete library of records. Please remit
with order. Satisfaction Guaranteed or
Money Refunded. Shipped Express Collect.
CREATIONS. 2111 RORK SI., Bqt 2H, Phila. IS Pa
$9.95
Each Folk Music Sampler is pressed
on pure vinyl, triple inspected and
carefully packaged in a dust-free
plastic envelope, which in turn is
Protected by a hard jacket.
This unique Elektra release is
specially priced at $2.00 (postpaid)
and is available only from:
ELEKTRA
RECORDS
361 Bleecker St., N. Y. C., N. Y.
93
Widest choice of advanced ideas
FOR UTMOST HIGH- FIDELITY PLEASURE
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the ONLY complete line makes it easy
to suit your space, your decor, your budget
In so many ways, Electro -Voice makes certain you derive maximum
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Selected veneers 29% in. high, 3342
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Mahogany. Audiophile Net, $120.00
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Audiophile Net, $128.00
II. Complete 2 -way system. Consists of Model 114A sepa-
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-way system, wired and
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Small size permits use anywhere.
Hand -rubbed hardwood veneers.
Graceful sloping front. 221e in.
high, 14r
in. wide, 133/4 in. deep.
Enclosure only.
Mahogany. Audiophile Net,
Blonde.
Audiophile Net,
$39.00
$41.40
COMPLETE LINE OF COMPONENTS, SEPARATE SYSTEMS, AND CONSTRUCTION DRAWINGS ALSO AVAILABLE
Research- Engineered
High- Fidelity Loudspeaker Systems
aircian
THE
F
111400
REPRODUCERS
THE
Folded -horn corner
enclosure for E -V or any full -range 12
in. speaker or E -V separate 2- or away speaker system, without modification. Provides unusually smooth
reproduction down to 35 cps. Selected
veneers. 29s/a in. high, 19 in. wide,
16, ¡,; in. deep. Enclosure only.
The ARISTOCRAT.
ARISTOCRAT
Mahogany.
Blonde.
ARISTOCRAT II.
Complete 2 -way system.
Consists of Model 111 deluxe separate
2 -way speaker system completely wired
and installed in Aristocrat enclosure.
Audiophile Net,
Audiophile Net,
$66.00
$72.00
Mahogany.
Blonde.
ARISTOCRAT
I.
Complete
2 -way
sys-
tem. Consists of Model 108 separate
2 -way speaker system wired and installed in Aristocrat enclosure.
Mahogany.
Blonde.
Audiophile Net,
Audiophile Net,
$179.40
$185.40
Complete
3 -way
Audiophile Net,
Audiophile Net,
$235.20
$241.20
Ill. Complete 3 -way system. Consists of Model 111A separate
3 -way speaker system wired and installed in Aristocrat enclosure.
Mahogany.
Audiophile Net, $280.20
Blonde.
Audiophile Net, $286.20
ARISTOCRAT
No Finer Choice than
gleeitieL
ELECTRO- VOICE, INC.
Export:
SEE THEM
... HEAR
1,-.) eyeitcv
system.
Model 108A separate
3 -way speaker system completely wired
and installed in Aristocrat enclosure.
Mahogany.
Audiophile Net, $212.40
Blonde.
Audiophile Net, $218.40
IA.
Consists of
13
BUCHANAN, MICH.
East 40th St., New York 16, N.Y., U.S.A. Cables: Arlab
THEM AT YOUR ELECTRO -VOICE DISTRIBUTOR OR WRITE FOR INFORMATION
the professionals are adding
CONCERTONE
for Christmas ...
BECAUSE
it completes
the home audio system.
-it's the lowest priced tape recorder with all of the
listening and operating qualities
of costly professional models.
-up to 2 hours continuous recording.
monitors from tape while recording.
flawless tape motion -3 separate heavy duty motors;
2 -speed direct drive- minimum wow and flutter.
horizontal or vertical operation.
-
BECAUSE
with Concertone;
"...
just like
hying there!.,
AND BECAUSE until Christmas
is
priced at $345,
1501 Concertone
CARRYING CASE INCLUDED!
WRITE FOR BROCHURE NO.4 D
SPECIAL HOLIDAY
GIFT OFFER:
Handsome carrying case
(Model 505C, user's net $47.501
free with any 1500 Series recorder.
Models 1501 and 1503,
Fair Traded at professional
cc
users' net (including case)
Model 1502 (including case) -$445.
-J
SUPPLIES LIMITED. OFFER MAY
BE
WITHDRAWN AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE.
4917 W. Jefferson Blvd., Los Angeles 16, Calif.
Manufacturers of Berlani studio recorders and accessories
THE FOLLOWING FRANCHISED DISTRIBUTORS ARE FEATURING THIS SPECIAL PROMOTION.
BALTIMORE
Hr F,SNop. Amer .,an Delnb. Co.. 7 No. Howard
B ELLINGHAM. WASH.
SI
CANTON
Groton Camer, Center.
131
CHICAGO
Cleveland Ave No
MINNEAPOLIS
Paul
Schmdl Mush Co
.
NASHVILLE
Wadkus Suool, 110 Grand Ave.
B EVERLY HILLS
Ta1k.O Commun.aben CO. 407 Commeraal St.
Neholson
s
WO Fidelity.
W
105
Goody Audio Center. Inc
235 W. 0154 SI.
.
Grand Central Radio. Inc.. 174t. 44th SI.
Heins and Bolet 68 Corllandl SI.
¡canard Rada. 69 Corllandl St.
Peerless Camera Slorei. Inc . 4IS LeamgtM
.
OAKLAND
W D Ng Co
.
10th L lackson Streets
Olson Radio Warehouse. 2020 EucI.d Are
Pioneer (I.clron., Strode. 7115 Prospect
PHILADELPHIA. PA.
D,.,, Radio Supply.
PITTSBURGH
Radio Electric Service. Inc
N W Cor. of 71h L Arch Sts.
COLUMBIA. S.C.
1628
Laurel SI.
Radio Pans Co
Laboratorns, 7422 Woodward Are.
.
GRAND RAPIDS
Radio Parts. Inc
.
HOUSTON
Wire
Co
LId.
2045
Audio Center. Inc
319 No Central Aye.
542.548 So.
.
.
RENO
GLENDALE. CALIFORNIA
Glendale Recorders Co
Ant
Sunocrall Corp IIS111 W 451n St
Terminal Radio Corp . 85 Cortland) SI
CINCINNATI
CLEVELAND
Custorrc"Dets Audio, Inc.. 1759 Gilbert Are
I. A.
Tenth
NEW YORK
W
RPD Arthur Noel. Inc_ 911 E. 55th SI.
Voice and;V,sion, 53 E. Walton Place
DETROIT
SO.
Eighth loe. North
979 Soberly Are.
A,I Rempel Sound Service. 460 Wells Are.
SAN DIEGO
Brae, Sound Center.
Oman
3781 FOIN Ave.
SAN FRANCISCO
High F,del,ly Untended. 211 So. San Mateo Of
San Francisco Radio Supply. 1787 Markel SI.
WekI
1633 Weslhe,mer
JAMAICA. N.Y.
Tne Audio Eaehante, Inc . 159.19 NJlsiae
JUNEAU, ALASKA
Are
Alaska Radio Snooty. Boo 7538
LOS ANGELES
Gateway to Music. 3089 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles Portable Reorders. 571 No. la C,Msta
MagnN., RecorderrCo . 7170 Melrose Art.
Seattle Radio Supply. Inc
.
7117 Second
Weilern Electron., Supply Co_
711
SPOKANE
Nth Century
Sales. Inc
ST. LOUIS
Antan Co of Missouri.
TORONTO.
.
1071 W.
1004
Are
Dedn An.
Iris¡ Are
Oho
SI.
Custom Sound and Vision. 390 (gbnlon Ero. W.
TUCKAHOE. N.Y.
Boynton Studio.
10
Pennsylrama
Art
These reports may not be quoted or reproduced, in part or in whole, in any form whatsoever, without written permissionfrom the publisher.
Because of space limitations we normally attempt to report only on products of wide general interest. Thus, omission does not, per se, sigEach report is sent
nify condemnation, although reports are seldom made on equipment that is obviously not reasonably high in fidelity.
to the manufacturer before publication; he is free to correct the specifications paragraph, to add a comment at the end, or to request that
the report be deferred (pending changes in his product) or not published at all He is not permitted, however, to amend or alter the report.
-
Angle- Genesee Junior Cabinets
-in. lumber core plywood. Dimensions: all Junior cabinets are
in. wide by 1812 deep by 34 high. Equipment cabinets: available finished or unfinished with doors (model 110D) or without
doors (model 110W), and as a kit without doors (model 210S).
Each has a chassis compartment 20 in. wide by 15 7/8 deep by
17% high, and a record player compartment with a shelf 193/ in.
wide by 17 deep. Clearance above player board is 7 3/8 in.;
below top of board, 4 3/8; board is on pull -out drawer. Speaker
enclosures: model 130 is finished or unfinished assembled version,
model 230S is unfinished kit. Total inside volume, exclusive of
padding, is 6 cu. ft. Adjustable bass-reflex port has maximum
opening 6 by 14 in. Cabinet is cut for 15 -in. speaker; adaptor
board (model 12 -J) is available for 12 -in. speaker. All equipment
and speaker cabinets available in traditional or modern styling;
standard modern -style finish is natural birch, standard traditional -style finish is natural mahogany. Special finishes are
wheat, fruitwood, ebony and walnut. Finishing kits, for natural
mahogany or walnut, contain all necessary materials except
finished, $89.50; unfinished,
varnish. Prices: model 110D
Model 110W
finished, $79.50; unfinished, $64.50.
$74.50.
finished, $59.50; unfinished,
Model 210S
$47.70. Model 130
$1.50.
$49.50. Model 230S
$35.70. Model 12 -J adaptor
Finishing kit
$4.95. Manufacturer: Angle-Genesee Corp., 107
Norris Drive, Rochester, New York.
panel is just another operation. Four bolts are pre- mounted
for attaching the speaker; suggestion to A -G: use bolts
1 -in. longer next time. The ones provided aren't (weren't)
long enough for a heavy- framed British speaker.
The equipment cabinet exactly matches the speaker enclosure in style and size. A sliding drawer big and deep
enough for a changer or transcription turntable and arm
is at the bottom. Tuner, control unit, and so forth mount
on a panel recessed behind the two doors. Equipment
mounts on Angle-Geneseé s clever and simple rail mounting system, giving complete flexibility and ease of installation. The record player drawer slides easily and smoothly!
(Reason for exclamation point will become apparent in
In summary, these are two fine cabinets.
a moment.)
An innovation for Angle- Genesee is the availability of
kits. Both these cabinets may be had as precision -cut
pieces of wood, smoothly sanded but unfinished, at a
considerable saving to the purchaser. We put together the
equipment cabinet; having had some previous experience
with cabinet construction, no difficulty was encountered.
We do urge the prospective kit assembler to proceed with
great caution and to be absolutely certain he knows where
Angle- Genesee seems to be quite consistent in producing
well -made and well -designed cabinets. Even the two "juniors" reported on here are heavy and sturdy throughout;
-in. solid -core veneer is used not only in the speaker
cabinet but also in the equipment cabinet. Finish is clean
and silky; styling gracious.
The speaker cabinet is a conventional bass -reflex design
for 12 or t 5 -in. speakers. Port can be tuned from the inside; approval is due A -G for recognizing that if you're
going to use a bass -reflex enclosure, precise adjustment of
the size of the port is required for best results. Cabinet is
lined; both front and back are removable. On the one sent
to us for examination, the front was lightly and partly
screwed in. For our money, we'd just as soon it had been
firmly and completely screwed in, since it's easy enough to
mount the speaker from the rear and screwing in the front
Speaker and equipment cabinets in Angle -Genesee junior line.
A line of small
SPECIFICATIONS (furnished by manufacturer):
bass-reflex speaker enclosures and matching equipment cabinets,
available finished or unfinished and in kit form. Material is
3
211/2
-
- --
-
-
/
DECEMBER, 1954
97
every piece is going to fit before screwing and gluing
things together. There are 33 pieces of wood in the equipment cabinet kit; some of them can be turned the wrong
way around, with disastrous results. We also urge that
big glue clamps be on hand. The wood is cut with great
precision and the junction of the top with the sides can
be made almost invisible if clamps are available. We
didn't have any, and the joint on our cabinet is not invisible! We also suggest that the operation of mounting
the drawer on its slides be left until you have had a good
night's sleep and are fully imbued with calm but firm purpose. We probably don't know the trick, but we certainly
had a deuce of a time with them! Even after a couple of
hours of fussing and adjusting, and the final achievement
of a drawer which went in and out with only a few bumps
and groans, we never did come near the melted- butter
smoothness of the finished A -G cabinet which stood tantalizingly at one side! However, the cabinet did look pretty
good, and after a few friends got out their best compliments, we began to be proud of ourselves.
Then we started over. It seemed to us that with minor
changes, we could solve a household problem: a medium We say "medium -fi"
fi all -in- one -cabinet arrangement.
because we had to put the speaker in the same cabinet
with the changer and other equipment; this is contrary to
the rules of good hi -fi practice. So we cut the equipment
panel to fit where the changer drawer normally went and
mounted an 8 -in. speaker thereon; then we closed in the
top and back with heavily-padded scraps of wood. We
left the bottom open so that we had sort of a base -reflex
(as bass -reflex is so often misspelled!) enclosure; the
cabinet sits up on a toe -in or whatever it's called that runs
around the two sides and front, but is open at the bottom
and back.
The changer drawer was mounted above the speaker;
then we had a piece of panel left over which we mounted
near the top for the control unit and amplifier. Aside from
sliding drawer troubles, already discussed, the whole
worked out very nicely and sound is surprisingly good.
The household problem was well solved.
For those who are interested, the equipment installed
was a Stromberg- Carlson 8 -in. speaker, especially designed
for small enclosures (and a nice unit, too); a Bogen turntable with G -E RPX -o52 cartridge, and a Brociner Mark
12 amplifier. All the equipment was on hand for "Tested
in the Home" reports; the household problem was the
provision of record -playing facilities for the pianist in
the family. It was essential to use a variable speed turntable so records could be "tuned" to match the pitch of
the piano; the Bogen -Lenco was moderate in cost and
worked out beautifully; high fidelity was not necessary,
but relative compactness was. In a final installation,
the control flexibility of the Mark 12 would not be required; we'd wind up with nothing more than an on -off
switch and a volume control on the front panel, with a
small fixed preamp and a power amplifier hidden out of
sight.
We have congratulated Angle- Genesee for their cabinetry
in previous reports in this section, and we're glad to be
C. F.
able to do so again. Fine products!
-
98
Audubon Bird CI
I I
(furnished by manufacturer): a device for the
production of variable high-frequency sounds, measuring 2 3/16
by 11/16 in., and consisting of a revolvable pewter cylinder
centered in a resinated and resonating hollow chamber. Fre32 db from 496 to 18,416 cycles per second.
quency response:
SPECIFICATIONS
IM distortion: negligible. Harmonic distortion: none. Power output:
variable between 0.0003 to 0.025 acoustic watts, measured according to established standards in an anechoic chamber 7 by 11
lee: a container of 1 gram of special high -visby 13 in. A
cosity resin is furnished with each unit in order to reestablish
power output should it fall below specifications after much use.
Price: $1.50. Manufacturer: Roger W. Eddy, Newington 11, Conn.
During the past three weeks, we have
thoroughly tested this equipment, both
under home and free -field conditions.
It may be stated unequivocally that it
meets the high standards set for it in
the specifications outlined above. It
should find many users in the homes
not only of high fidelity enthusiasts
but of others also; if a microphone is
available, its range of usefulness will
be considerably extended.
Our home tests covered a variety of
situations. In one, we connected a
high -quality microphone through an
amplifier to an oscilloscope, and were thus able to observe
and study the waveforms produced by this unit. It was
found that it created very sharp and abrupt wave -fronts,
with extraordinarily rapid rates of decay. Having thus
examined the basic:. wave shapes, we connected a series
of high frequency loudspeakers which had been loaned to
us for testing purposes. It was thus possible to compare
original with reproduced sound. All but one speaker was
summarily rejected as unable to handle the transient response required by the Audubon unit. The final speaker
developed a ruptured diaphragm due to overloading.
During these tests, the family dog disappeared and was
not seen again for three days, thus reassuring us as to the
accuracy of the high- frequency claims made by the manufacturer.
Another home test involved the use of a tape recorder.
We were obliged to operate at t 5 ips because the frequency
response at slower speeds was found to be inadequate.
Very careful preparations were made for this test. The
recorder output was monitored on an oscilloscope; since
the recorder had both record and playback heads, it was
possible to check both input and output and thus determine frequency response, distortion, and so forth. This in
itself was found to be a most interesting and worth -while
study.
Having satisfied ourselves that the basic equipment would
stand the test, we prepared a continuous loop of tape.
On this we recorded a series of high -frequency bursts,
ranging in frequency from around 3,500 to 16,2oo cycles
and lasting from 18 to 78 milliseconds. We connected
the output of the tape recorder through 116 ft. of line cord
to a small speaker situated in the closet of our guest room.
Shortly thereafter, some week -end visitors arrived. Two
Continued on page
lot
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
Why
In designing the
the life of your precious records
is prolonged
with the
MIRACORD XA 100
Miracord XA100 Record Changer particular attention
was paid to the perfection of the spindle. Conventional spindles often
caused the central hole of records to be dangerously enlarged, and
sometimes "egg- shaped ". This distortion results in irregular revolution of the record and consequent distortion of sound.
After exhaustive research the straight "MAGIC WAND"
spindle was developed. This revolutionary spindle is
used exclusively on the Miracord XA100 Record
Record Changer
The
o
principle of the "Magic Wand"
Changer.
Normal position: The record stack
is resting on 3 resilient supports (A).
Important: uniform horizontal position. No need for a stabilizing
weight with this 3 point support.
The "MAGIC
WAND" spindle positions
the stack of records horizontally on
three resilient supports. During
a change of records, at no
time is the load on any
record greater than
the weight of a
single record.
Release: The downward-drawn pull
rod (C) stretches the expanding
spring (B) in three directions so that
the stack of records is held firmly.
At the same time the retracted
spring supports release the bottom
record, so that it can drop.
Record stack moves into place. The
pull -rod is drown up again by
compression spring (D) the sprung
supports are thereby extended
again and receive the returning
stack of records.
iiiiiiiiiiiiiii
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\5
Y!!/!!//1,j
Final switching -off: The lost record
has dropped. The expansion spring
thus has greater lift and by means
of the wire -release (E) inside the
pull -rod, effects the final switch -off.
The self -
contained expansion
mecha-
nism of the "MAGIC
WAND"
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
controls the
placement of the record on
the turntable: the expansion
spring stretching in three directions
within the wall of the "MAGIC WAND"
supports the stack of records firmly; the
three resilient supports release the bottom
record, perfectly horizontally; there is no friction
between the released record and the record stack,
so that scratches are never caused on the record surfaces.
After the record is released the stack remaining on the spindle
is again held by the three resilient supports, so that the central
hole of the bottom record is subjected to no dimensional strain.
Because of the construction of the "MAGIC WAND," the life of your
records is extended and preserved, and distortion of the record is
eliminated. Only the Miracord XA100 has the "MAGIC WAND"
plus all the other exclusive features that make it today's most
sought after changer.
/%//,d//
\\\\\\\\\\\\.
AUDIOGERSH CORPORATION
23 Park Place, New York 7, N.Y.
Exclusive distributors in the U.S. for Elac record players
AUDIOGERSH CORPORATION
23 Pork Place, New York 7, N. Y.
Please send me descripive literature.
Name
Address
City
Zone
Stale
New Integrated
Audio Amplifier
craftsmen
Unquestionably, Craftsmen's new SOLITAIRE is today's perfect answer to integrated audio
amplifier design. It combines an equalizer-preamplifier, a dual noise filter, and a 20-watt
amplifier, with power sufficient to drive any speaker system perfectly. Its controls permit
unequalled flexibility, yet retain operating ease. Its chassis is housed in handsome, leather etched steel, a styling innovation.
Above all, the SOLITAIRE provides you with superior sound and more usable features per
dollar
another engineering achievement from Craftsmen, at only $113.50 net!
-
Specifications
watts- Reserve for 40 watt peaks.
1
db 10 cycles to 30 KC at 20 watts.
-60 db on phono. -70 db on high channels.
Distortion: Less than 0.1% IM at normal listening levels,
measured through the total audio system -not the power
amplifier alone.
Power Output: 20
Freq. Response:
Hum and Noise:
Damping Factor: 12:1.
Size: 4 a 141/2 x 111'. Weight: 22 lbs.
lapaü: (4) Phono. TV, Tuner, Tape.
Ovtpet: Cathode follower for tape recorder.
E4uagzatien: 6 useable positions -AES,
LONDON, RIAA, LP,
EUROPEAN, NAB.
db boost and 13 db attenuation at 50 cycles.
Treble Tone Control: 15 db boost and 13 db attenuation 10 KC.
Loudness Control: Full Fletcher- Munson compensation with
Iront panel level -set. Loudness contour continuously variable from full to none.
Dual Filter System: Low cut filter, 3 positions: Flat, 40 cycles,
150 cycles, at 12 db per octave slope. High cut filter, 3 positions: flat. 6.500 cycles, 3.000 cycles, 12 db per octave slope.
Bass Tone Control: 15
For complete information send for bulletin 13.
World's Largest Exclusive Makers of High Fidelity Equipment
The Radio Craftsmen Incorporated, Dept. F12
4403 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago 40, Illinois
IOO
II FIDELITY
MAGAZINE
TESTED IN THE HOME
Continued from page 98
and one -half hours after they had retired, the tape recorder
was started.
Early results indicated that the test, if it had been completed, would have shown significant results. Unfortunately, the subjects of our tests were obliged to depart
much earlier than had been anticipated. We are looking
forward to next summer when more guests are expected,
though it probably will not be possible to work with the
same subjects.
The free -field tests proved inconclusive. More than an
hour of producing high- frequency bursts brought forth
nothing more than three cats who apparently were as hopeful as we that our efforts to attract members of the avian
group would be successful. It is understood, however,
that others have had dramatic results from such experiments, and we must put down our failure to inadequate
preparation.
We strongly recommend the Audubon Bird Call to almost anyone at any age. You do not need to be a high
fidelity enthusiast or even have high fidelity equipment to
enjoy its many potential applications. The hi -fi fan will,
as we did, find many uses for it, both serious and frivolous.
C. F.
MANUFACTURER'S COMMENT: We knew we should have expended more effort
to keep our product out of the hands of unscrupulous persons. "Ruptured
our
diaphragm," indeed! As for the family dog disappearing for three days
family dog disappears quite often, in fact he is gone most of the time, but
we always assumed this was for reasons of his own, and not because of ow
birdcalls. However, we were pleased to learn that our birdcall can be used to
enclosure of side -ported design, in place of a much larger
and three times more expensive coaxial i5- incher which
we had been using, and were surprised at how well it did.
A very crude frequency run showed the big speaker held
down to 28 cycles before starting to slip off; the Bakers
held to 29 cycles! Then, to be cruel, we put the Bakers
into an inexpensive, 4 cu. ft. bass reflex of poor design
(port not tunable, no interior padding, construction too
light) and found the sound still good but bass lacking.
There was a big hump around 12o cycles, then a droop, a
small hump at about 75 cycles, where the speaker tried
valiantly to get the best of the cabinet, and then nothing.
It should be noted that the cone resonance of the Bakers
is well below normal (35 cycles is specified); therefore,
cabinets designed for normal 12 -inch speakers may need
adjustment.
As we said, the speaker is sweet -sounding. It is not
hard nor excessively brilliant; whether or not you like it
will depend on how you like your sound. In our opinion,
it's very pleasant to listen to, has good range and
properly enclosed
excellent bass.
C. F.
-
-
-
We wish to point out that any good enclosure
of reflex or horn- loaded design, with a volume of 5 cubic feet or more, will
give the 300 -K the air loading it requires. It is axiomatic that "A loudspeaker
is no better than its enclosure." We have obtained excellent results from such
enclosures as Jim Lansing, Electro- Voice, Fisher 50 Horn, Stephens, Altec
Lansing and, of course, our own Bakers " Selhurst" sand -filled enclosure.
Bakers "Selhurst" also offers a 9-in. and a l5-in. cloth -suspended speaker.
All High Fidelity models are suspended by a seamless ring of cloth, especially
woven to prevent stress and strain in any one direction, thus insuring a smooth
MANUFACTURER'S COMMENT:
ultralight cone suspension.
-
rid a summer place of unwanted guests. This gives us an idea.
Anyway, we strongly suspect that there is a skeptic at the helm of HIGH
FIDELITY Magazine. We ask him to return to a patch of woods near Great
Barrington. Sit quietly on a stump, Mr. Editor, and twist your birdcall once
again. Be swe to leave your cats at home, locked up in your cellar. Listen
and watch. Not only will you fmd this restful, but you will also attract birds.
cone 12 -in. loudspeaker. One -piece cloth suspension, bakelized
apex. Impedance: 15 ohms standard, others to order. Frame:
18 to
: 35 cycles. Response:
aluminum casting. C
17,000 cycles. Flux Density: 15,000 lines per square centimeter.
1
in. Rated power: 15 watts. Dimensions:
Voice coil diem.: 1
14 1/8 in. overall diameter, 61/q in. overall depth. Weight: 8 lb.
Price: $59.50. Manufacturer: Bakers "Selhurst" Radio, Croyden,
England. U. S. Distributor: Gordon Agencies, 1506 North Western
Avenue, Los Angeles 27, Calif.
(furnished by manufacturer): A 12-inch turntable and arm combination for records up to 16 in. diameter.
Speed is continuously adjustable from 29 to 86 rpm, with three
lock -in positions for the standard speeds. Motor: 4 -pole heavy duty; varies less than 1% in speed over line voltage range from
95 to 125 volts. Turntable: 11% in. diameter, rubber covered;
weight 31/4 lb. Wow: less than .5 %. Arm: die-cast with removable
plug -in head; moving arm off rest and away from turntable starts
motor; velocity trip mechanism shuts off motor automatically
when record is finished. With pickup arm at rest, idler wheel is
disengaged from drive member. Cabinet dimensions: minimum
15 in. wide, 11 7/8 deep; 21/4 above and 1 7/8 in. below motor
board. Weight: 10 lb. 12 oz. Prices: model B50 -4 (with crystal
dual -play cartridge), $42.00; model B50 -4X (with G.E. RPX -050
dual -play magnetic cartridge), $48.65. Model PB1 wooden base,
$3.30. Distributor: David Bogen, Inc., 29 Ninth Avenue, New
York 14, N. Y.
If you
There are
Bakers 300-K Triple -Cone
Speaker
SPECIFICATIONS
a
Bogen B50-4X Turntable
and Arm
(furnished by manufacturer):
A unified triple -
t
like
a
mellow, smooth
SPECIFICATIONS
a
certain number of occasions when nothing will
speaker, this is a fine unit.
It gives a soft sound with
serve but a turntable with continuously-variable speed.
Most common is the need to match the pitch of a record
surprisingly good bass for a
I2 -in. unit, yet the highs hold
with
The proper
up very well.
type of cabinet will help it
appreciably.
We tried it in a very small
Klipsch -type enclosure and
were not satisfied with the
results; the bass dropped out.
Probably there was insufficient loading on the cone.
On the other hand, we put it into a fairly large corner
DECEMBER, 1954
musical instrument, such as a piano. Variable speed
if the player is to be used in countries or
locations where the AC line frequency is not precisely
a
is also essential
6o cycles per second.
Practically all turntables and changers have some provision for altering or adjusting the speed slightly to compensate for minor variations in line frequency or the effects
of wear on idlers. The adjustment range is usually in the
nature of plus or minus one or two rpm at the slower
speeds. A few turntables provide a continuous range of
Continued on page 104
101
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TESTED IN THE HOME
Continued from page roi
33 i /3 rpm to well over 80. The
Bogen (made in Switzerland by Lenco) is in the latter class.
For units in this class, it is moderately priced, quiet, and
well -built. It should find application in many a home.
The motor shaft ends in a tapered cone on which a rubber -tired wheel rides. This wheel also makes contact with
the underside of the turntable. As the speed lever is moved,
the wheel moves up and down the pulley, thus changing the
speed of rotation of the turntable. The wheel is interconnected with the pickup arm and on -off mechanism: when
the arm is pulled away from the turntable edge, the motor
is turned on and the wheel is brought into contact (and
adjustment from below
held there by spring tension) with the motor drive and
turntable. When the cartridge reaches the lead -out grooves
of the record, the motor snaps off and the wheel is released
away from contact with turntable or drive shaft. This is
The rubber tire is (and must be)
an essential feature.
shaped to a sharp -edged V; if left idle and in contact
with anything, a flat would be created. It is likely that,
in time, the rubber on this wheel will wear slightly. Normal
wear can easily be compensated for by adjusting the speed
control lever; if excessive use (or mishandling) produces
uncompensatable wear, the wheel can be replaced quite
simply. We ran the Bogen -Lenco for 46 hours but could
detect no change in speed within this length of time.
Speed is adjusted by means of a lever on the chassis,
which moves continuously over an arc. Three catches are
provided, one each for 33 i /3, 45, and 78 rpm. The lever
snaps into these catches automatically. The position of
the catches is adjustable; once set for a given speed, a
screw is tightened up to hold the catch in that position.
Simple and neat arrangement.
To reduce vibration and rumble, the motor is mounted
to the chassis by means of three springs. Rumble was
definitely on the low side.
One suggestion we would make, however: put a condenser of about o.oi mfd across the motor on -off switch;
otherwise it will "plop" in the loudspeaker when it makes
or breaks contacts.
-
C. F.
MANUFACTURER'S COMMENT: The suggestion made in your final paragraph
has already been adopted. Units currently being shipped are equipped with a
Bogen turntable is continuously variable in speed, includes arm.
Dubbings Test Tapes
(furnished by manufacturer): two pre- recorded
tapes, D -110 at 7% ips and D -111 at 15 ips, carrying program
material with which to test the following recorder functions:
wow and flutter, head alignment, frequency response, signal -tonoise ratio, maximum signal level, and tape speed. Complete
instruction book included; voice instructions for using the tapes
are recorded on the tapes along with test signals. Prices: D -110
SPECIFICATIONS
(73, ips, 5 -in. reel) $12.50; D -111 (15 ips, 7 -in. reel) $17.50.
Address: Dubbings Co., Inc., 41 -10 45th St., Long Island City
4, N. Y.
These tapes will be found very helpful in keeping tape
equipment up to snuff. While most equipment is rugged
and will take plenty of abuse before adjustment is necessary, an occasional check for head misalignment, timing
accuracy, and frequency response is advisable.
With these tapes, some sort of an output measuring device is essential if any sort of accuracy is to be achieved.
The Dubbings D -Soo Test Level Indicator (see TITH report in January-February, 1954 issue of HIGH FIDELITY)
will give a fairly good approximation; its incandescent bulbs
light at 3 db intervals. We used a Heath AC voltmeter,
which can be read within l/ db; any good AC voltmeter
will
serve.
of the tests on the tape have more significance
than others. For example, timing is important (though
hard to adjust on most recorders). Wow and flutter are
Some
I04
condenser across the contacts of the switch.
With respect to rumble, we'd like to mention another reason it is so low
in the 850 -4 and B50-4X: because the idler wheel operates in a vertical plane
when it drives the turntable. Any irregularity in the drive system, which in rim
drive mechanisms would cause horizontal motion and rumble, shows up in the
B50-4 or 850 -4X as minute vertical motion, to which most cartridges have little
if any response.
hard to measure without laboratory equipment; bad wow
or flutter will show up readily with the test tapes, but mild
cases will be hard to determine even with a sensitive meter.
Head alignment is, given a meter, easy and accurate. Sig nal -to -noise ratio can be determined with considerable
accuracy, even without a meter.
However, when we come to frequency response, we run
into trouble
and through no fault of the Dubbings Co.
The subject was discussed at length in our editorial in
the September issue and will not be gone into here except
to state that since there is no agreement among manufacturers on playback equalization characteristics, the Dub bings Co. has to be arbitrary and present you with a series
of test frequencies (from 30 to 7,500 or i 5,000 cycles, by the
way), which it considers approximately correct for most of
the recorders now on the market.
Here, in brief, is what happens when you run the test
tape r) through a presumably professional recorder: at
5o cycles, down 311 db; zero at 400; at 7,500, down 71/2 db;
-
2)
through
a
home unit with
a
continuous tone control
(and after much fiddling with that tone control): down 211
at 5o, zero at 400, +2 at 7,500 with a +4 db hump between
2,000 and 5,000; and 3) through another home unit, tone
control in "best" position: down 9 db at 5o cycles, zero
at 400, down io db at 7,50o cycles. To which set of statistics we must say, so what? We don't know the charac-
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
teristic to which any given pre -recorded tape has been
recorded. You can be fairly sure of this, however; if a given
pre- recorded tape sounds good on machine No. 2, it will
be only fair on No. I and poor on No.
Furthermore,
on the three machines used as examples above, frequency
response over the complete record -and -playback cycle
was quite good, which means that when you do your own
recording, your results will be good
until you take your
tapes around to a friend's house and try to play them
back on a different make of recorder.
The primary value
for the time being
of the test
frequency runs on the Dubbings tape is to check your own
recorder's response periodically. Thus, if you get a certain
series of results one time, and a different series three months
later, something has deteriorated. A secondary value is
as a rough check on the characteristics of a machine; after
you have used the tapes for a while, you can tell approximately how much equalization has been incorporated
into the playback phase. For instance, machine No. 3 gave
us results which indicated that most of the equalization
was put into the record phase, with help from a "balanced"
mike and speaker characteristic; very little occurred in
the playback phase
an overall situation which isn't
healthy if hi -fi results are desired. It should be emphasized again, however, that this (or any other test tape) by
itself cannot tell you what the overall record -playback
response of your recorder is.
All in all, Dubbings has made a valiant and worth -while
effort to help tape enthusiasts; our report, which may
sound unduly critical, is intended to show up the playback equalization problem and to add fuel to the standards
3.-
-
-
-
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fire.
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The specifications on this tuner are generally the same as
for the 5o -R (see TITH report in HIGH FIDELITY, September- October 1953) and the 7o -RT (see TITH section in the
November, 1954 issue). An A -B comparison with the excellent 5o -R (which we have been using for some time)
indicates that the new FM -only unit has a very slight edge
on the older ones in at least two respects: it is slightly more
sensitive and it "discriminates" better. Specifically: we
tuned in a very weak station; on the next channel was one
of our strongest. The FM -8o pulled the station out of the
soup just a hair better than the 5o -R, and the strong station did not break over into the weaker channel at any time,
whereas the 5o -R slipped every now and then.
The tuning and signal strength meters are a real asset
in fringe areas, particularly if you use (as we do) a rotator
on your antenna. Variable AFC on the front panel is, we
suppose, nice; we would probably have kept this control
on the back of the chassis (as on the 50-R and 7o -RT)
for the sake of simplicity.
There is no volume control as such on the FM -80. There
is an output level control on the rear of the chassis which
fixes output level to the two output jacks. These are in
parallel; one would normally be connected to a hi -fi control
unit, the other to a tape recorder, second hi -fi system,
or what have you. The sensitivity control on the front
panel does not serve as a volume control; with tuners of
extreme sensitivity, there is some danger that a strong
signal will overload the tuner, causing distortion and loss
of selectivity, so Fisher provides this sensitivity control
C. F.
MANUFACTURER'S COMMENT: As part of our duplicating services we have
been asked, during the last year and a half. to make pre -recorded tapes that
would sound best on most 7% ips machines. As pointed out in HIGH FIDELITY's editorial, this was an obvious impossibility. Nevertheless we
tried our best, and made very thorough study of' the matter. The Dubbings
D -110 7% ips frequency characteristic was the result. It was selected as
the best compromise between signal to noise ratio and extended frequency
response at 7y§ ips. Many factors were considered. such as sound level spectrum distribution for recording requirements of different languages, music,
and other types of sound; existing and proposed 7% ips characteristics; manufacturers ability to make even reasonably inexpensive equipment perform
to this characteristic; ultimate ideal quality with technical advances; ease
with which existing equipment could be converted to possible future characteristics.
We believe the D -110 7% ips recording characteristic to be gaining rapid
acceptance throughout the industry. Perhaps one reason is that it is definitely
a compromise characteristic. It calls for less recording pre -emphasis than
one prominent manufacturer's 7% ips characteristic (causing less hardship
to other tape recorder manufacturers). On the other hand, it calls for more
recording pre -emphasis than most inexpensive tape recorders now use and
also more than most European standards call for, permitting a better signal
to noise ratio.
Many tape recorder manufacturen have asked for our special test tapes
for final production line adjustment of their machines. Perhaps, therefore,
we may yet get together on this 75,4 ips standard and, as pointed out in your
September editorial, all concerned will benefit from the resultant compati-
bility.
For our C -111 test tape we use, of course, the standard NARTB 15 ips
recording caracteristic adopted in June, 1953, which is now being used on
most new professional machines and about which there seems to be little
argument.
Fisher FM -80 Tuner
(furnished by manufacturer): an exclusively FM
tuner similar in design and performance to models 50 -R and
70 -RT, which incorporate FM and AM (plus phono equalization in the 70 -RT). Sensitivity: full limiting on signals as low as
1 microvolt; 3 uv. for 20 db of quieting on 300 -ohm antenna input.
Controls: on front panel, Variable AFC combined with
On -Off switch; Sensitivity; Station Selector. On back of chassis:
Output Level Control. Dimensions: 12% in. wide by 4 in. high
by 7 3/8 in. deep. Meters: two, one indicating signal strength,
and the other tuning. Price: $139.50. Address: Fisher Radio
Corp., 21 -25 44th Drive, Long Island City 1, N. Y.
SPECIFICATIONS
DECEMBER, 1954
Tuner has sensitivity and AFC controls, signal and tuning meters.
which you adjust according to the strength of an incoming
signal.
The front panel incorporates a logging scale which reads
from zero to too (same as on the other two Fisher tuners).
We consider this an almost essential convenience and have
often wondered why more manufacturers do not adopt it
in some form or another. Too many tuners show an FM
tuning scale which has, for example, a big "94," a couple
of dots, and a big "too." Since, even in our fringe location, we can tune with regularity more than zo stations
between 94 and too mc., any such sparse scale marking
is next to useless in relocating stations. On the FM -8o,
94 mc. is at 36 on the logging scale and too mc. is at 591/2
(the indicator is narrow enough so you can read to halves
105
quite easily). That means you can return to a station
every time without any fuss at all. Small feature, perhaps
but one for which we have said "thank you" hundreds
of times. Add the important features of excellent sensitivity,
simplicity of control, two meters, and fine all- around technical qualities and you have: a fine job!
C. F.
...
-
G & H
Rebel V Enclosure
(furnished by manufacturer): A very compact
Klipsch- designed corner horn. Size: 204 in. high, 154 in. wide
across front panel, about 15 in. from corner to front panel.
Speakers handled: 8 or 12 -in., or both, or either plus one or two
tweeters. weight: 28 lb. Prices: finished, $48.00; utility model,
$33.00. Address: G ßs H Wood Products Co., 75 North 11th St.,
Brooklyn 11, N. Y.
SPECIFICATIONS
This is a baby in size but gives at least teen -age performance.
Considering its very small size, it cannot be expected to
match a full -blown adult speaker enclosure. Performance
is superior to a bass -reflex of the same size; with a good
r 2 -in. wide-range speaker (or a woofer - tweeter combination) this is likely to outperform many of the miniatures
built around 8 -in. and smaller speakers. A good 8 -in.
speaker, carefully housed or driving a long horn, can give
surprising results but, generally speaking, the larger the
at least at the low end of
speaker, the better the results
the frequency spectrum.
However, a 12 -in. speaker needs a large enclosure or some
which is what the Rebel V provides.
careful back -loading
We tried a number of different 12 -in. speakers in the utility
model (which we tested) and found that the speaker can
make a considerable difference. Generally, it appears
that a stiff-coned speaker, with a heavy magnet, will give
superior reproduction. At least, a three -year old unit of
this description gave sharper and truer bass than a soft coned unit with cloth surround.
-
-
Kral Rek -O-Kleen Brush
SPECIFICATIONS (furnished by manufacturer): a 31/2-in. camel hair
record brush mounted on a post of adjustable height, for use with
10 and 12 -in. records. Prize: $4.95. Address: Kral Products, 1704
Walnut Street, Philadelphia 3, Penna.
Record brushes fall into two classes: those which attach
to the pickup arm and clean a path just ahead of the
Brush sweeps while the record plays, then swings out of the way.
I o6
Two models of the Paul Klipsch-designed G &H Rebel V enclosure.
The cabinet does nothing to middles and highs; how good
they are will depend on the speaker which is as it should
be. An edge can be given to the highs (depending on
the basic speaker) by adding a tweeter, if desired; there
is plenty of room for one. At the low end, the primary
function of the cabinet is to help out with the back radiation, and to keep the radiation from the back of the cone
from cancelling out that from the front. Best results will
be achieved if the Rebel V can be housed snugly in a
corner so that the walls can form part of the horn.
Of course, there is no substitute for a large cabinet;
this unit does surprisingly well for its size, but in one
test we switched the same speaker from the Rebel V to a
big corner bass -reflex, which happens to do a lot for the
where the
low end of most speakers. The slip -point
loudness started its downward slide
came about an octave and a half lower in the big cabinet.
The unit supplied us had a carrying handle
which has
given us all sorts of ideas about portable hi -fi. This speaker
cabinet plus a record player and a compact amplifier would
make a portable combination hard to beat.
C. F.
-
- -
stylus, and those which mount or rest on the turntable
base and sweep the entire record. The Kral Rek -O -Kleen
belongs in the latter class. It's simple, easy to mount,
easy to adjust (for height and size of record), and easy
to use.
There are three sections to the mounting post so that
height from turntable base to brush can be adjusted from
below -base level to about OA in. The sections of the post
lock together with knurled screws. The post mounts on
the turntable or changer base with an adhesive pad. In
the illustration, the top section of the post carries the
brush; the section below has two slots in it, on opposite
sides, so that the brush arm fits down into the slots over
the record in one position, away from it in the other.
Thus it is easy to flip the brush out of the way when changing records. The brush itself slides on the arm, so that its
position can be adjusted inward toward the center post
of the turntable for to -in. records.
We like this brush very much because a) it is so easy
to move it out of the way when changing records and b)
it returns to precisely the same spot each time; once adC. F.
justed, it stays adjusted. Good product!
-
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
The ULTIMATE
by
EMORY COOK
and
anni/iiki
GUS JOSE
If the sentiments of Walter Mitty are sometimes yours, here's a golden
opportunity to live dangerously for awhile build this super amplifier,
whose design is explained in a refreshing manner by the perpetrators.
-
DURING most of 1954 appeared a phenomenon that
some of us 20 years ago* despaired of ever seeing. At last
the hue and cry about new and amazing amplifier circuits
seemed to be subsiding. Ever before, affairs were in
a shocking state. Around every corner, and at the top
of every pile of technical magazines, disillusionment
lurked ready to leap out. Always there in black and white,
sired and authored by impeccable, unimpeachable authorities, was a new feedback amplifier circuit whose
characteristics put yours to shame. You just had to rebuild.
And then, those few blessed months of peace.
But now pilot lights in the eyes of circuit- designers
and article- writers all over the world are beginning to
burn again brightly. In the face of this threat, we decided
that the moment had come in which to perpetrate our
idea of the Ultimate amplifier
and this was with some
assurance that it would not immediately be followed
by the Ultra -Ultimate. **
-
The secret about this whole business of amplifiers
that there is no secret. The facts are few and simple,
when uncluttered by adjectives and technical mysticism.
Feedback in itself is no panacea for a poor design. True,
it helps to cover up the frequency- response of a cheap
amplifier on the test bench, but a respectable job can't
be done without a well- designed amplifier comprised of
the best components. Only then is the addition of feedis
back impressive.
Years ago feedback was a will -o'- the -wisp circuit
factor. If you could connect it around a single stage of
amplification you were often surprised and content.
Over two stages, feedback was quite an achievement;
and the greater the number of stages enclosed in the
feedback loop, the more effective it was.
Even today, feedback over three stages of amplification
is still restricted principally to the tinkering specialist.
Yet here is such a circuit wired up from production parts,
nothing special, just good blocking condensers,
accurate resistors, and a fine output transformer.
There is a certain amplifier- design philosophy based
upon the type of logic that assumes if too horsepower
in a car is good, then 200 horsepower must be twice
as good. If 20 db of feedback in an amplifier is a salubrious thing, then let us by all means have it ten times
as healthy and use 40 db. Ah, yes. At this point the out-
-
sOh, yes, high fidelity is 20 years old, at least. Remember Ben Olney's Strom berg karpinchoe- leather speaker, and labyrinth?
Remember the Wright
deCoster paracurve?
**Try to say this out loud, quickly. This was ow assurance.
DECEMBER, 1954
put impedance has been reduced by the feedback to a
quantity so insignificant that the copywriters are tempted
to call it "zero." Whereupon the advertising manager,
let us say, rushes around discovering reasons why zero
impedance is good. Here is a chain of events that all
hangs from the original badly - planned logic of the horsepower analogy, preposterous enough to be evident to
all.
Well, there are two possible kinds
of negative feedback: current and voltage feedback. An amplifier with
large amounts of voltage feedback only will not care whether
you connect the speaker or not. The same waveform and
loudness will be presented at the output terminals
the same voltage. An amplifier with large amounts of
current feedback (none such is manufactured) will care
very much about whether or not something is connected
across its output. If no speaker (load) is attached, its
output voltage will rise to an astronomical figure in the
effort to force current through the output load which
isn't there. The one maintains constant voltage across,
the other constant current through the speaker. A suitable
combination of the two has many advantages.
Well, why not put them together in the same amplifier? No reason why not, except that it is a lot of design
trouble.
The well -proportioned combination of the
two produces an amplifier having a resistive drive without
a physical resistor being involved directly, reminiscent
of triode performance but a lot more husky and predictable.
It wouldn't be necessary to engage in a pedantic discussion of current, voltage and resistive drive if only
it were that our amplifiers were asked to drive resistors,
or resistive loads. The sad truth is
and here is a popular misconception- loudspeakers are in fact a long,
long way from being resistors, or even from presenting
their rated impedance to the amplifier over very much
of their working ranges. Although they may bear family
resemblance to resistors here and there in the frequency
scale, they become resistors in series with inductance
at some places, in series with condensers at others.
We can all visualize the mechanics whereby a speaker
diaphragm produces sound.
The cone moves in and
out. But it's a lot harder to move it at some frequencies
than at others. Electrically this reflects back through
the voice coil, and at these frequencies the speaker is
reluctant to accept as much current in the coil as it would
for the same voltage at some other frequency. Obviously,
some current feedback is needed; in a case like this the
-
-
I07
zero -output- impedance amplifier continues to plod along,
happily oblivious to any such minor nuances ( "Voltage
is the thing, you know," it says).
Not only is it a lot harder to move the cone at some
frequencies than at others, but we also have a really touchy
condition at the higher frequencies in which the cone
eventually ceases to move as a body at all, and only the
center portion operates. This is ignored also by the
simple feedback amplifier; but the transition range (600
to 2,000 cycles) is even worse. At numbers of discrete
frequencies in this range there is propagation of sound
not only out into the air from the cone, but also along
its surface, in the paper. Imagine a high -pitched percussive signal, such as the lovely sound of the maracas,
fed from the amplifier into the voice coil, and thence to
the apex region of the cone, progressing out to the edge
of the cone (part of it, anyway), reflecting, returning
via the apex to the voice coil once more and then encountering an amplifier with zero output impedance
which is just sitting there stupidly short -circuiting the
load.
The flag- wavers for zero -impedance damping carefully
look the other way when the crossover network is mentioned. Most speakers today are 2 or 3 -way systems,
and in the dividing network there is an inductance (coil)
between the woofer and the amplifier to keep out the
highs. As far as electrical damping is concerned, this
is just like Bill Tilden's nightmare; he was in the finals
at Forest Hills when, to his horror and consternation,
the racquet handle suddenly turned to rubber, and instead
of gut strings there were elastic bands.
If your speaker resonance is 64 cycles (for the sake of
argument), a zero -impedance drive will produce some
effective damping at that frequency because the whole
speaker is then resistive. But how about 68, 72,8o or even
581/2 cycles? They, too, are all in the vicinity of resonance,
but the speaker will be very distinctly not resistive; current
will not be in phase with voltage.
Only at, near or below the speaker's cone resonance
(3o to 120 cycles, depending on construction) can "electrical damping" have any effect on speaker performance.
The idea of electrical damping two, three or more octaves
above resonance is preposterous on the face of it (just
in case somebody should step down off a bicycle and ask
you). The speaker cone is by then thoroughly inductive
and by the time the electrical signal resulting from a
spurious motion of the cone has reached the amplifier,
it is too late to do anything about it electrically anyway.
It has already happened.
Any power engineer knows that you terminate a line
in its characteristic impedance to prevent reflections
(bad transient response); the same is true of speakers.
An 8 -ohm speaker system should be driven from an
amplifier having roughly 8 ohms output impedance
not o.8 ohms (voltage feedback), zero ohms (even more
voltage feedback), or minus two ohms (the sinister and
unstable combination of positive and negative feedback).
The cynic will say, oh, well, if you want to drive your
blond mahogany bombshell with 8 ohms, then take a
zero-output- impedance amplifier and put an 8 -ohm resistor
in series with the 8 -ohm speaker, and connect the amplifier for 16 ohms output. Why bother with all this
complication? Aside from the fact that he salts away
half of his hard -earned 5o -watt income in the tax bracket
of the 8 -ohm resistor, there are certain other shortcomings
in this alarmingly sedentary approach. Resistors are not
intelligent, but some amplifier circuits do have intelof a sort. Then too, at the extreme high end,
ligence
no "8 -ohm" tweeter is actually 8 ohms; at bottom resonance no woofer resembles even remotely its impedance
rating.
The current /voltage feedback amplifier with a bona fide output impedance does not just deliver a drum beat,
then turn its back on the result while the music continues.
If you don't believe that, all you have to do is build
one, and then measure it. Measuring usually involves
hanging a 5o -watt 8 -ohm resistor on the output of the
amplifier where the speaker should be connected (most
speakers resist the 5o -watt treatment by folding up).
Then, with a meter at the output, sweep the frequencies
and look for variations in the metered output.
On that basis the Ultimate amplifier is down 3 db at
too,000 cycles ( "oh yes, but maybe the meter was down
instead!") and the oscillator only goes to 14 cycles, so
we don't know what happens on the low end. The amplifier is better than the measuring equipment. But just
substitute the speaker for the resistor ( "Ouch! Please
turn that volume down "), and the curve is anything but
flat. Substitute a new and different speaker, and it's unflat
in a new and different way. Again, this is because speakers
-
-
Output transformer is near input stages. First two stages in schematic are not in these pictures; authors used input transformer.
Io
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
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109
and crossover networks don't look like resistors to amplifiers.
Now, on to the Never -Never Land salt mines, to battle
with dragon resistors and condensers. A strange thing
about three -stage feedback -- one of the three stages must
be a lot "worse" than the other two in order to keep the
whole circuit stable, so we have put two .0015 -mfd. mica
condensers at the output of the first stage in order to
wreck it purposely. The remaining two stages (including
output transformer) have to be so good that just the
matter of the t.o - mfd. blocking condensers can upset
them. Those two condensers, if they are "bath- tubs"
or metal -cased, must be insulated well off the metal chassis,
and kept from each other. If paper condensers are used,
they still must be suspended away from both the chassis
and themselves.
Wiring of the last two stages including the output
transformer must be short, direct and point -to- point,
with no unnecessary length in any leads. In addition,
a separate little feedback loop goes back over the -last
two stages, throwing about 4 db of gain down the drain
to improve even further their phase characteristic.
The matter of the output transformer is pretty rigid.
You have to use a coil with a tertiary winding, a split secondary, and a specific turns ratio in order not to have
to redesign the amplifier. The transformer must have a
high degree of interleaving and other expensive characteristics. In order to avoid a shocking and unfortunate
episode, it will be necessary to use exactly the same transformer, made by Langevin', known as the type 316 -A.
Even with this transformer, 8 ohms is the only impedance
level that can be used with the circuit, although it would
be easy enough to design a new transformer for several
PARTS LIST
watt roasters
1- 100,000 ohm
2- 47,000 ohm
I ohm
85,6
wan resistors
24.000 ohm
2- 15,000 ohm
6,800 ohm
2
watt resistors
468,000 ohm
6 47,000 ohm
1.600 ohm
2
4
1,000 ohm
4
750 ohm
4
47 ohm BW -1*
2
1
1
-
2
-
-
1
ohm BW -2*
2ohm BW-I*
2-
10 -watt wire -wound resistors
*wire -wound
2
2
-10,000 ohm
5,000 ohm
High-wattage resistors
100 ohm 25 watt adjustable set to
1
90 ohms.
-10 ohm 25 watt adjustable set to
8 ohms.
3,000 ohm 50 watt adjustable set
1
1
for VR tube brightness.
Transformers and chokes
Langevin type 316A
1
I
output
Tabes
4
5881
-5U4G or 5R4GY
-12AU7
-12AX7
2
3
1
2
- -0D3 (VR-l50)
Hardware
1 -3AG fuse post.
1- 4 amp. fuse.
I -SPST toggle switch.
8 --octal sockets.
(natural bakelite or Mycalex)
miniature tube sockets.
-10x17x3-in. heavy -duty chassis.
A few standoff insulators.
Some Bakelite resistor mounting cards.
Input and output connection facilities.
AC cord and plug.
4 -9 -pin
-
Electrolytic condensen
3
1
4
transformer.
Chicago type PSR -300 or equivalent.
Langevin type 200 -B choke or
equivalent.
1
Volume control
500.000 ohm audio taper Ohmite.
50
mfd. 25 volt.
500 mfd. 25 volt.
40 40 mfd. 450 volt.
High -voltage all condenser
1
2 mfd. 1,000 volt.
High-quality 600-colt paper condensers
3 -0.1 mfd.
2
0.25 mfd.
1.0 mfd.
2
200 -vols paper condenser
1
1.0
mfd.
1,000-volt mica condensers
2
.0015 mfd.
alternate impedances. Happily, 8 ohms is still pretty
standard, so on we go.
The 1/2-ohm resistor in the output transformer (circuit
diagram) senses the current flowing in the speaker voice
coil by virtue of the fact that this current must also flow
through it. This "current" information is relayed instantaneously back to the input of the amplifier, where
something can be done about it, if necessary. Voltage
feedback is picked off a tertiary winding (T,4), and the
two 2 -ohm resistors are merely for the purpose of achieving a balanced ground for the push -pull feedback
network. In a case like this, when it is necessary to put
a resistor in series with an 8 -ohm load to measure current,
With
three -stage feedback is absolutely mandatory.
two -stage feedback such a large signal would be necessary, such a large value of resistor required, that a sensible fraction of the total output power would be wasted
in accomplishing the idea; and what does it matter to
conquer Rome if all that we conquer lies in ashes? The
idea alone is insufficient; we must also have some power
left over with which to drive the speaker. Thus the problem reduces to its essence, the design in practice of
a stable three -stage feedback amplifier.
The circuit is basically 5o watts, Class A, although
about five watts are wasted in the 1/2-ohm resistor that
produces the current feedback. The output of any ordinary preamplifier (0.25 volt) will drive the amplifier
to full output. There are roughly 30 db of feedback.
4o watts come out at 3o cycles with less than 0.25% inter modulation, and at 16 cycles, home of the drum -beat
as well as the sensuous 32 -foot organ tone, over 15 Honest
John watts pour out of this big heavy output transformer.
At normal volume levels it is probably impossible to
measure the distortion with existing equipment, for it
is in the residual area of the measuring instruments.
Making an amplifier by hand is like building a boat
in the basement. It's cheaper and easier to buy a manufactured boat. Some people do it just for the fun of it,
others get all involved, sell the house and move, leaving
the remains behind for the new owner to dismantle and
burn in the fireplace. But if you want a particularly special
kind of design or quality, sometimes you can't find it
in the catalog, and if you are adamant in your requirements
you have to build it. For only a little more than $loo
worth of parts, this one can't be matched. The circuit,
complete with power supply, fits nicely on a to by 17 -in.
chassis with the arrangement shown in the photographs.
Make no mistakes in the wiring, or howls will come out;
the numbers on the output transformer mean what they
say. Adjust the variable 5o -watt 3,000 -ohm resistor in
the power supply until the voltage regulator tubes light
a pleasant blue (but not too brightly). Adjust it only with
the power turned of
Stand well back and brace yourself firmly in the corner
of the room before turning the power switch on. Remember, there are 500 volts loose and rattling inside
that chassis. No one, particularly not this magazine,
will be responsible for damages incurred or loss of life. "
--
1
IIo
'Langevin Mfg. Corp., 37 West 65th St.. N. Y. 23, N. Y.
ED.
Amen
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
/'e
HARVEY the
The
NEW
The NEW
LAN /SING
309.00
318.00
LANSING
Write to HARVEY, Dept.
The New
Model
D-
340011 (blonde)
The NEW
signed for reproduction of
complex wove shapes and Iran.
s ures
optimum speaker performance.
sients. Variable damping control
db,
Frequency response: 5 to 200,000 cps. Power response within
15. 35,000 cps at 40 watts, 0.1 db, 780,000 cps at 15 watts. Distorion
less than 0.05% harmonic,
is negligible at normal listening levels;
0.25% IM at 30 watts. Output provided for furnishing power to preamp
1
Employs
with New
Electrostatic Tweeters.
plus special outlet for
push -pull KT66 output tubes Dimensions: 43/4" wide, 15" long. 71/2" high.
_
The NEW
REK -O -KUT
'lze 14.
-,Woo
2- Speed, 12 inch
PRECISION TURNTABLE
Designed for the many who hove found that they can fill all their music
requirements with 331/s and 45 rpm records. The exclusion of one speed
permits lower cost without compromising quality. Employs floating idler
principle used on all Rek -O -Kut Rondine turntables. Powered by 4 -pole
induction motor. Includes built -in retractable hub for 45 rpm records,
permanently affixed strobe disc, plus the many design and construct'on
elements which hove made the Rek -O -Kut name world renowned In the
field of sound reproduction.
Rondine Jr., Model 1.34, with 4 -pole induction motor__.. _.. _444__4..._ $4995
14.95
29.95
I
HARVEY SHIPS EVERYWHERE. Use
$9950
Complete with all tubes
Applying the principle of the D'Arsonval
movement to cartridge design for the first
time, Electro Sonic has succeeded in producing a unit with a flat response
from 20 to 10,000 cycles, and extending, with some rise, to 20,000 cycles,
depending upon record material. The ESL cartridge has no inherent resonances over the audio range. Its output is of extremely low impedance,
assuring hum -free performance. High stylus provides good tracking coming record
pliance with as little as 3 grams vertical force, also minimizing
and stylus wear. Intermodulation distortion is well under 1e/ .A matching
input transformer is required. The Model ESL -201 will permit this pickup
cortridge to be used with any preamplifier designed for magnetic pickups.
The Model ES1211 is recommended where the ESL pickup is to replace a
crystal cartridge. Equalization, however, will be required in the latter case.
$7.50
6.25
CORONATION 100
back circuitry. Specifically de-
PHONO CARTRIDGE
-
HARVEY Radle Co., Inc., 103 W. 43rd St., New York 36
Please ship the following items
this handy coupon
_
HARVEY
ESTABLISHED 1927
enclose
Check
charges. Unused surplus
I
RADIO COMPANY INC.
103 W. 43rd Street, New York 36
JU
will
_4444
Money Order
be refunded.
including estimated shipping
Name
-1500
Address
City or Town
L
vECEUBER, 1954
16
AMPLIFIER
$36450
$14.95
EQUALIZER
CONSOLETTE
Completely new negative feed-
s0
-
CORONATION
40 Watt
High Fidelity
New ELECTRO -SONIC
Electrodynamic
PICKUP CARTRIDGE
Sapphire .003" (78 rpm)
Model ESL -101
Sapphire .001" (microgroove)
Model ESL -111
Diamond .001" (microgroove)
Model ESL -121
INPUT TRANSFORMER (shielded)
Model ESL -201 Secondary: 50 or 200 ohms
Model ESL -211 Secondary: 90.000 ohms
-12 for new High Fidelity Catalog
different equalization adjustments. Independent, continuously variable boss
d
and treble controls provide up to 20db boost and attenuation at 20
20,000 cycles. Two additional controls are provided for volume and afor
loudness contour. Power is obtained from main amplifier.
$7950
_
Complete with tubes
9.95
Power Supply for self -powered operation
direct radiator.
$361
r,
1
all operating through 5-position selector switch.
Separate crossover and rolloff controls each with four positions permits
quality system for smaller
A true exponential folded
been incorporated to provide
Model D- 34001M lmahoganyl
I
A new, unique circuit employing over 80db negative feedback. Frequency
response extends from 5 to 200,000 cycles. Harmonic and intermodulation
distortion are less than .02% and .05% respectively. Five inputs are pro
vided for phono pickups, microphones, tuners, and other program sources,
Equipped with o
Model 130A 15 inch low frequency
high frequency
Model
175DLH
a
unit,
driver, horn, and Koustical lens assembly, together with o Model N1200
dividing network, this efficient two way system provides sound reproduction for the utmost in listening enjoyment.
Front Width 231/4"
Shipping weight 135 lbs.
H
-
rear loading for reinforced
response to lowest frequencies. Above
150 cycles, the speaker cone acts as
Height 391/2"; Depth 23"
I
PREAMPLIFIER
FOLDED HORN
CORNER CONSOLE
a
\
circuit pro
1
ter Components. The Model 30 enclosure in which these components are
used embodies o new and original
folded horn design which fully loods the front of the low frequency unit.
Bass response is clean and crisp, pure and well- defined.
The high frequency driver takes over above the 500 cycle cross over frequency with smooth response through and above the audible ronge. The
integral Koustical lens assembly evenly disperses these high frequencies,
distributing them over o wide horizontal angle.
Complete with cross -over dividing network:
S %2600
Model D- 30085M (Mahogany)
735.00
Medal D-300851 (Blonde)
An ideal
quarters.
horn has
effective
2/
to 4 tube
receiver. Uses 30 volt B battery and
V, A battery.
Complete with bot e:ies &
$
29 95
miniature earphone
Includes some of the finest units ever
incorporated in a system intended
for home use -the Jim Lansing Thea-
_.
A novel miniature receiver weighing
less thon 5 ounces, and measuring
x 3/4". Tuning selector
only 3 x
covers entire FM band: 88 to 110 mc.
Two tubes in multiplier
vides performance equal
LOUDSPEAKER
SYSTEM
Blonde
FLORAC
Vest Pocket FM Receiver
f,v,
Model 30085
Enclosure only Mahogany
of Audio
House
State
J
AUDIO EXCHANGE OFFERS:
1'14.111E-1.N .S
"1001"
We have traded components with Hi Fi fans for over four years. They like it! We do too!
NEW COMPONENTS
as well as demonstrators and floor samples available.
N. Y. C. we provide installation service.
All nationally known brands
GUARANTEED
I
SED COMPONENTS
listings below of fully guaranteed used equipment.
equipment for you.
HIGH
See
FIDELITY
1
In
,.114014 -1TORY
We will demonstrate any used
SERVICE
our excellent, fully equipped service department. staffed by
experienced people who work with expert engineering facilities.
Our reputation
is based on
no
COMPONENTS*
AUDIO EXCHANGE EXCHANGES AUDIO
AUDIO EXCHANGE EXCHANGES AUDIO
SPECIAL
AMPLIFIERS
H
H
H
H.
-
SUPERSEDED MODELS
Scott 120A equalizer pieamp
Scott 2108 complete 20 watt
Conter lone 501 tallying case
Concertone 102 console cabinet
New
Acoustical QUAD, remote control
$189
Amp1. Corp. of Am. ACA -100DC
215
Audio Exchange deluxe Williamson, oil filled condensors, golden Partridge CFB
output Xformer
Bell 2122
Bell 2145, remote control
Bogen PH -10
Bogen DB-10
DB-20
Brook 12A3, 10 watt remote control
Brook 12A4, latest model
Brook 10C3, 30 watt remote control
Fisher 50A, 50 watt power ampi.,
Z -matie
Fisher wide -range amp; noise-suppressor
control unit rack -mounted
Masco MA10HF, preamp.
Maynard XT -10B, Williamson. remote -
Used
549 was
9:
17
118
24
36
Ifuaranfeavl, uf course.
95
160
128
256
146
37
70
99
43
100
189
219
85
TUNERS
(All loners [gagged)
00 =00.
79
315
176
control
Leak l'oint One, with remote -control amp. 192
119
119
56
79
32
69
129
129
49
000 000
Brociner A- 10111', self -powered
Brociner A -100
Brociner A -100 and CA -2 in mahogany
cabinet
New
Used
50
$29
33
19
114
72
119
79
75
45
75
29
98
30
20
99
99
29
75
74
$
Bogen RCPR
Brook Model 7, self powered
Brook 3A
Fisher 50CM or CB
Fisher 50F Hi -Lo filter
Fisher 50PR equalizer- preamp
Pederson PRT -1, self- powered
Pickering 410 "Input System"
Pilot PA -911 control amplifier
Scott 120A mahogany cabinet
22
15
74
59
22
39
*The above equipment is completely reconditioned
and guaranteed.
$425
Browning RV-IOA, FM, with AFC
Browning RV-31, FM
Browning RJ-20, AM -FM, controls
Browning RJ -l2, AM-FM
Collins AM -FM, professional
Espey 7C, AM -FM tuner, 10 watt beam power push -pull ampi. 12 tuhew. 4 dual
Howard, FM, in cabinet
Meissner 8C. FM, no cabinet
Meissner 8C, FM, in cabinet
Pilot T-61, FM, in cabinet
Pilot AF -824, AM -FM, all controls
Radio Craftsmen 11(- to..AM -1,51, all
CHANGERS &
AMPLIFIERS
New Used
Altee Lansing 101 & A323C amplifier
Browning RV 10, FM, tuning eye
RECORD
CONTROL
.Alto 604C duplex (15 -in.)
A ltec 604B duplex (15 -in.)
11tec 803 woofer (15 -in.)
Altec H -808 horn (2X4)
Altec 802 driver (800 -15,000
592
79
146
145
Radio Craftsmen C -400
Radio Craftsmen C -500
Scott 214A, new
Scott 210B, new
Sun Radio CR-10, all triode
549 was S82
$129
145
50
175
36
54
99
198
222
Pilot AA -903
Pilot AA-901 Williamson, now
ln/h
SPEAKERS
545 was SI5
5129 was 5219
$149
94
59
94
99
69
79
95
189
149
85
91)
76
1niversity 4401 single tweeter
University 4402 dual tweeter
University 4409 (600 cps cut)
119
45
35
34
38
27
89
132
99
TAPE
^
O;
TURNTABLES
Collaro 3-351
Garrard RC-80
Garrard "M" manual
Garrard "T" manual
V -M 3 speed, new GE RI'X 050
Webster 2 -speed
Webster 3-speed
Rek -O -Kut LP -12, 33 and 78 rpm
Rek-O -Kut LP -743 3 speed
Rek -O -Kut T-12 33 and 78 rpm
New
Used
$41
$32
49
29
32
3
2.
26
I
n
ir,rsi ty
Co.
art
AUDIO EXCHANGE EXCHANGES AUDIO
AUDIO EXCHANGE. EXCHANGES AUDIO
the audio exchange
:0
56
20
65
69
39
34
29
35
39
16
45
46
29
25
18
13
353
259
175
109
36
750
27
485
21
16
26
20
21
15
16
24
18
18
16
24
-over)
21
11
Bell RT 65B, 3-speed, dual track
Brush BK-411 in mahogany case.
Concertone Network, like new
Concertone 1401D or S
Crestwood CP-20IF, 75, dual track
Masco 53, 7% and 3 -% ips
Pentron 9T3C, 7)§ and 3 -% ips
Pentron PMC, 7 -54 and 3-% ips
Revere T -100, 3 -% ips, dual track
Revere T -100, 1 -% ips, dual track
Wagner -Nichols disc embnssor, 33 rpm
New
Used
$260
795
:f45
$ 99
229
189
139
125
105
85
115
85
189
65
65
85
495
245
4:
8.5
CARTRIDGES
New
--
Fairchild 215A, .001 diamond
certified
Pickering D-1405
certified
Pickering D-120M
$30
36
Used
$19
19
12
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Bell Sound Systems
Audiophile Records
Audio Devices
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Electro -Voice
D & R Ltd.
Crestwood
Cook Laboratories
Collaro
Concertons
InHarmon -Kardon
Gray
General Electric
Garrard
Fisher Radio
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Fairchild Recording
Pickering
Pentron
National
Masco
Markell
Marantz
Livingston
Leak
Jensen
terelectronics
-O -Kut River Edge Sargent -Rayment H. H. Scott
Pilot R. J. Audio Products Racon Radio Craftsmen Rek
Stephens Tannoy Thorens Telefunken Wharfdale & Others.
Acoustical Quad
107
48
48
62
är
fil)
All used equipment subject to prior sale.
All prices subject to change without notice.
Store horns: Tues. 10 -9, Wed. through Sut. 10 -6
Closed Mondays
EQUIPMENT
a
$120
66
66
85
42
RECORDERS
FACTORY DISTRIBUTOR
NEW
.1410 (600 cps
Used
159
elsx)
Altec N -800D network
E-V T-10 driver, 2x3 horn
E-V T-25 driver
GE S-1201D
Hartley 215 (10 -in.)
Jensen Duette system, cabinet.
Jensen K-310, coax (15 -in.)
Jensen RP -302 super tweeter
Jensen A -61 network (600 cps)
Klipsch- University three -way custom
RCA LC -1A coax, (15 -in.)
RCA 515-S1 coax, (15 -in.)
Telefunken Studio speaker ampi. system
University 6200
University dióusieone 12 -in.
University dilusicone 8-in.
230
59
64
New
$156
For ten days from date of delivery you may return used equip..
ment bought directly from us for a full cash refund. Your only
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charge. These guarantees, cannot, of course, cover negligence
on your part, or damage resulteNg,NGE fXCy
ing from attempts to modify the
equipment.
\0E
Se,,
J.
f
GO
AUDIO EXCHANGE EXCHANGES AUDIO
159 -19 HILLSIDE AVE., JAMAICA 32, N. Y. OLympia 8 -0445
CO
Ag
NANGE E%C
SIR:
My system consists mainly of a 15 -in.
coaxial speaker, a 20 -watt amplifier and
t
Pickering cartridge. With the volume
set midway I get overloading distortion
in the higher ranges, yet beautiful re-
sults in the middle and lower ranges. I
tried the treble control at zero and
lower volume contours but the strain
in the upper ranges is still noticeable,
although to a lesser degree.
Do you think a separate tweeter with
an input control would remedy this
or does the fault lie elsewhere?
James Michlouch
P. O. Box 665
Monessen, Pa.
The treble- trouble you speak of could be
causes by many things, unfortunately.
Here are some of them:
Cartridge not terminated properly in
preamplifier input. The preamp input resistance should be 27,000 ohms.
Damping goo in Pickering has been displaced or has leaked out; requires factory
reconditioning.
Weak preamplifier tube or of-value circuit element in preamplifier.
One side of push-pull amplifier circuit
inoperative because of bad output tube or
other circuit element.
Bad tweeter section in coaxial speaker.
SIR:
am the owner of a fairly good reproducing system that was partially selected and more or less completely put
together and installed by my own
hands. Incredibly, the result, both
auditory and visual, has finally been
grudgingly accepted if not entirely approved by my wife. However, there
is one problem remaining.
I have the impression that my FM
reception of recorded programs is in
certain respects perhaps slightly superior to the results I get from the
same recordings played on my own
player. I can understand this but I am
at present concerned only with the fact
that from my own player certain peaks,
I
although without apparent distortion,
often urgently call for a drastic diminution in volume while over the air these
identical peaks, although distinctly
noticeable, seem natural and are quite
DECEMBER, 1954
acceptable without volume cut, even
to the extremely sensitive ears of my
wife. I have conjectured that this could
be simply the result of monitoring at
the sending station, but unproductive
theorizing seems to be of little help
in the solution of this domestic crisis.
Since I have been duly authorized to
pursue this subject further even at the
risk of further untidy and disgraceful
tinkering, not to speak of the expected
additional financial outlay (which any
housewife knows can be put to much
better use), I am appealing to you for
the necessary help.
I have a record player with a GE
cartridge and diamond stylus, 1953
vintage, all securely housed in a separate enclosure at considerable distance from the speaker system. The
preamplifier is the built -in type contained in a tuner. Further, the tuner preamplifier is sufficiently close to the
player, and has been correctly adjusted
and connected for a GE cartridge.
If you should find this situation of
sufficient general interest, I should
greatly appreciate discussion of it.
Otherwise, perhaps some kind reader
will offer me some helpful advice.
H. H. Volan, M.D.
Medical Arts Building
Syracuse, N. Y.
There are three possible causes that cons
mind as the answer to your less -thansatisfactory record playing system. First
(and most likely) is that the dynamic range
is being reduced at the broadcasting station.
This is done so that a higher average level
of modulation can be held, thereby reducing the apparent level of any extraneous
noises. But it isn't really necessary if the
transmission system is in good condition,
and the station is willing to take the risk of
annoyance to listeners having minimum
receiving equipment in order to better serve
those with good receivers or tuners. Not
many are so inclined, but a few are. A
good example is WTIC-FM; its average
modulation level is often so low that the
volume control must be turned up considerably, but the full dynamic range of any
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Continued on page 129
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Continued from page 4z
or his soft felt hat, you would swear
he had just crashed 40. He has formidable energies: his wife, who actually has just crashed 40, plump and
pretty and lively, must chase to keep
up with him. He cheerfully runs two
the band, which
separate businesses
tours nearly half the year, and a café
on an outlying avenue. "But my
profession," Herrmann said, "my profession is to be an assayer of beautiful
women. There was an American girl
last .year, so beautiful I stood on my
chair to look at her." He stood on
his chair to demonstrate.
Vienna's cafés are somehow both
businesslike and homey, and Herr mann's is typical. It goes under the
jawbreaking name of Schwatachacerhof,
and the décor, angular but stuffed
plush, full of mirrors and smoked
glass, comes untouched from the day
in 192o when Herrmann first opened
the doors. There are four wide plate glass windows on the boulevard, room
for a kaffeeklatsch of something more
than a hundred, billiards and a kitchen
behind, light meals served, excellent
Wiener sausage mit sauerkraut. A
radio sits prominently over the door
to the kitchen, but there is no phonograph, and no music. The Kapelle
sometimes plays next door, in a big
open -air beer garden that the Schuberts could use tomorrow for a production of The Student Prince; but never
in Herrmann's café. "The customers,"
Herrmann explained, "come here to
read the newspapers. Music disturbs
them. We turn on the radio sometimes
when there is a soccer game. At home
I have a phonograph, long -playing."
In addition to the band, the café
and the beautiful women, Hermann
loves his car, a new Volkswagen (very
few Austrians can afford an automobile), and fishing for trout in the mountain streams. He enjoys the side angles
of being a celebrity, such as the letter
that came from America addressed,
simply, to the Conductor of the
Deutschmeister Kapelle, Vienna (its
author wanted him to play Sousa
marches). He likes to travel: in 1954
the band was on tour for 142 days, all
through Austria, Switzerland, Germany and Sweden, and atop the tour
the Herrmanns "took the little car on
Musically
a pilgrimage to Rome."
speaking, Herrmann's business is nos-
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HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
talgia; but his nostalgia has zest in it.
He is happy with the world as it is.
The Deutschmeister Regiment was
disbanded, like the Empire itself, after
the first war, and the members of its
band went into other jobs. Some of
them became professional musicians;
but most, like Herrmann, set up in
civilian life. Well over a hundred of
them were in Vienna in those days,
and they still looked on the young
Kapellmeister as their leader. From
his lair in the Café Schwatachacerhof
he kept the band together as a social
club and a semi -professional musical
organization to enliven the Viennese
scene. As the rest of the trappings of
Imperial Vienna disappeared, the band
became a diadem of remembrance. By
the time of the second war it was one
of the staples of Radio Vienna, usually
playing an all- request program. No
ceremonial occasion was complete
without it. Today the band is more
popular than ever, but not quite so
good at marching, and not nearly so
large.
Scraping up every possible
member, Herrmann found 34 musicians
to play for Westminster in the recording studio below the Konzerthaus. On
tour there are usually fewer than 30,
and few of these are much under 65.
But they can still play the winds.
"Most of them," Herrmann said,
"are retired, and they can come to
play whenever we have a contract.
A few, two or three, still hold jobs;
but when they took their jobs they
insisted that their employers give them
leave whenever the Kapelle plays. We
do not rehearse often, because we play
mostly the music we played as the
Imperial band. But when we go into
other countries we must learn new
music, and sometimes I make new arrangements for band which the Kapelle must learn. The arrangements
are published and sold by Doblinger's,
here in Vienna. Last year, when we
went to Heidelberg, we played for the
American Army, and we learned The
Star Spangled Banner. The commanding officer stayed all through our concert, and I invited him to the podium
to lead The Star Spangled Banner. I
gave him the drummer's cap to wear,
and he kept the cap. He said I should
come to America and he would give
me a cap in return." Herrmann hopes
to collect the hat: an American manager need only whistle, and the Kapelle
would take ship for New York.
A pupil of Rosay, Herrmann studied
violin at the Vienna Conservatory and
Continued on page r i 6
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DECEMBER, 1954
State
115
www.americanradiohistory.com
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Continued from page rz
first choice
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Together, in two- and three -way systems
to suit the power of any good music system
and the size of any listening room.
the sum of their individual perfections
is the flawless re-creation of sound
with purity, listening ease and realism
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It was gratifying that, as in the past,
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to assert that Bozak alone offers
The Very Best in Sound
THE R. T. BOZAK COMPANY
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wide -range sensitive equipment. He
answered by listing the parts of the
phonograph he used. These were all
what could be termed very low -fidelity
equipment.
And his answer was
phrased in terms of obvious pride. All
of which was as much as telling his
readers that quality in the sound of a
recording wasn't important. Now, if
a man wants to be a two-dollar snob,
he is entitled to be one, but he has
no business passing judgment on recordings that you or I may wish to
buy. (Neither does a $i,000 snob.)
The physical, sonic characteristics
of a recording are very important to
many record- buyers. Indeed, this is
one of the main factors that distinguishes a record reviewer's task from
all other forms of musical criticism.
Some reviewers tend to catalog, in
their own minds, all of certain companies' records as having certain
typical sonic virtues or defects. Occasionally a particular record is described as embodying this or that
"typical" sound. As with anything
else, a comparison is of value only if
one knows the thing being used for
In cases like these,
comparison.
everyone but the informed enthusiast
is left in ignorance.
There are pitfalls for audio- precisionist reviewers, too. Allowing that it is
necessary, in each record review, or at
least in those concerned with "serious
music," to consider the technical
quality of the recording, it still can
be overdone. This happens when a
reviewer narrows his sights to particular sonic qualities that might vary or
vanish on other phonographs or in
other rooms. How often has a minor
adjustment in really sensitive equipment made a bad record sound better!
Many differences exist in high -fidelity
equipment, and hair -splitting in matters of recording quality may emerge
as complete untruth under different
conditions. However, what we do
want to know is whether recording quality measures up to certain minimum standards and, beyond that, if
the recording is particularly lifelike in
some respect.
In this regard, it would probably be
well if a record reviewer could hear as
many live performances as he can, as
well as recordings on equipment differContinued on page 120
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
www.americanradiohistory.com
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Within the acoustically correct cabinet, V -41 has provided an audible
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.
Continued from page
zzS
ern from his own, for it is well known
that the ear will adjust to different
sound conditions, and false standards
may take shape in a man's mind if he
doesn't vary his listening. When discussing recording quality, a reviewer
is simply making comparison with
live- performance sound, and it is not
too much to expect that the latter
should be fresh in his memory.
In all the foregoing, no reviewers
have been named, nor have the publications in which their work appears.
It would be unfair to single out one
phase of a reviewer's work for criticism when, taken as a whole, his reviews may have been more informative and useful than those of others.
Examples have been drawn from most
publications in which worth -while reviews appear; this is no indictment of
any single publication.
Yet, if any single publication of this
kind were to be so attacked, it ought
to be the one which is devoted to
music reproduction but, as a matter of
editorial policy, will not publish record
reviews. Instead, it prefers to guide
and form our taste by the publication
of pre -selected programs. By this
means the reader may, he is told,
impress friends and family with his
sense of what is good and appropriate. (What to do should an invited
guest be a fellow -subscriber is not
suggested.)
This approach is all wrong. My
remarks written here carry with them
the earnest hope that record reviews
may become ever more valuable. Already they are very valuable indeed
to those who will read them. For who
can hope to keep up with the enormous production of records these
days? The review is almost the only
guide to people who love to select
their own music. To the extent that
individual reviewers are recognized,
to the extent their work is read and
words are heeded, to that extent we
are all likely to have good records, well
chosen.
A reviewer must often wonder if
what he says ever carries any weight.
I can tell him that his influence is
I could easily
great and growing.
name two or three reviewers I have
learned to trust, and at least one I
will not. There must be very, very
Continued on page 122
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
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SECOND PRINTING
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HELP WANTED
TAMMOY
Continued from page 122
music- lovers who can buy, or
even listen to, every record put out,
or who would if they could. The rest
of us need good record reviews and
will be guided by them. But I do
mean good.
few
TOSCANINI
Continued from page 38
All the elements of a complete High Fidelity
sound system from the same manufacturer
be lost.
The Tannoy organisation is the only single organisation on either
side of the Atlantic which designs and makes every unit in a complete
reproducing chain -from phono- cartridge to loudspeaker (and, when
required, loudspeaker enclosure). Small wonder that the Tannoy
Domestic Sound System, with every unit really matching the next, has
given to ' high fidelity' the precise meaning it should have had all alone.
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15" unit complete with crossover
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TANNOY VARILUCTANCE TURN -OVER
CARTRIDGE Hid, dual diumo,al.,trii.
This, the Tannoy Organisation's latest
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This cartridge has no uncontrolled resonances whatsoever. In addition,
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method must be modified, and since
there is no line giving unity to the performance, the only way that excitement
can be produced is by acceleration and
retardation for emphasis. In this way
the composition becomes a series of
episodes in sequence, and the form
and the artistic unity of the work may
(CANADA) L'l'D.
36 Wellington St. East, Toronto I, Canada
The defects of Furtwängler are
those of taste and musical understanding, while the faults of a Toscanini
come from characteristics desirable in
the mean being carried to excess. His
rhythmic accuracy is splendid, but at
times he is metronomic, the music
having mechanical precision but no
feeling. His intensity is magnificent,
but there are times when he is too intense and the music loses power and
eloquence by being so hard driven
that it cannot sing and reveal its content fully. Happily, Toscanini has a
sound sense of the mean and it is
usually observed.
Toscanini does not like to be called
a great conductor. "I am no genius,"
he has been quoted as saying repeatedly. Rather than protest, let us take
him at his word. I, for one, have had
enough of genius conductors who feel
free to tamper with the music of genius
Let us have honesty,
composers.
dedication and musicianship.
-
The phonoA Note on Equipment:
graph used in evaluating these records was built for me by EMG Handmade Gramophones, London, and
makes use of two speakers to provide a
sense of nondirectional sound from a
broad source. The pickup is the English Decca magenta head with an
armature of my own design. The machine has been fitted with F. G. G.
Davey's steep -cut, variable filter, and
the amplifier has been adjusted to an
RCA Victor New Orthophonic test
record.
Continued
I22
cm
page 124
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RECORDING
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TOSCANINI
Continued from page 122
yl=
11
-
I would not have
attempted this project without the
cooperation of Walter Toscanini and
Messrs. George R. Marek and Alan
Kayes of RCA Victor. My sincere
thanks go to them for their many
Acknowledgements:
Played on the Finest Turntable...
FM-AM
AC -DC and
(American) Batteries
kindnesses. In no sense, however, is
this survey authorized by anyone, and
the opinions expressed are entirely my
own responsibility. (Turn to Record
Section for Toscanini survey.)
With the Finest Hookup...
CASE HISTORIES
Continued from page 25
...sounds BAD with
a worn -out needle
1
-
_
REPLACE YOUR NEEDLE
FREQUENTLY... and
al
ryou z
/tusk
Sío4e
DIAMOND, JEWEL, AND
PRECIOUS METAL TIPS
í4
PERMO, ./ne.
CHICAGO 26
biography in the form of source materials and their musical analysis straight
from a composer -author may prefer
the arrangement of documents and
letters in The Bach Reader, edited by
Hans David and Arthur Mendel and
published by Norton in 1945, and Paul
Hindemith's monograph, Johann Sebastian Bach, published by Yale in
1952.
It may very well be too early for
Bartók to be examined in true perspective, but for listeners concerned with
the music of our own time, Halsey
Stevens' The Life and Music of Bela
Bartók, published by Oxford last year,
is a scholarly and sensitive book.
It is only natural that Beethoven,
bestriding as he does the threshold of
musical romanticism, should have
Irawn the attention of many writers,
and he and his music have been written about in almost every conceivable
way, from almost every conceivable
viewpoint. One of the most sensible
and cleanly written to be had is John
N. Burk's The Life and Works of Beethoven, originally published in 1943,
but now available in a Modern Library
edition. Documentation is provided
by The Letters, Journals, and Conversations of Beethoven, edited by Michael
Hamburger and published by Pantheon in 1952. There are other treatments too numerous to name, ranging from the clear, keen technical
analysis of Donald F. Tovey's Beethoven, published by Oxford in 1945,
through the subjective but scholarly
ecstasy of George Grove's Beethoven
and His Nine Symphonies, originally
published in 1896 but still on the Oxford list, and the provocative but not
very systematic hazardings of such
Continued on page r25
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volumes as J. W. N. Sullivan's Beethoven: His Spiritual Development, available in a paper- backed Mentor edition, to the popular- biography approach of Emil Ludwig's Beethoven:
Life of a Conqueror, published by Put nam's in 1943.
Those interested in Berlioz and his
music could do far worse than to acquire his own vital and articulate
Memoirs (1830 -1865), edited by Ernest
Newman and published by Knopf in
1948.
And although the musical
judgments are not especially sophisticated, Jacques Barzun's Berlioz and
the Romantic Century, published by
Little Brown in 195o, is a brilliantly
written evocation of the man and his
times. No one has so fat given Bizet
anywhere near so extended a treatment, but Winton Dean's Bizet, published in this country by Pellegrini and
Cudahy in 1950, is one of the best of
the generally reputable little volumes
in the uniform series known as The
Master Musicians, produced under the
general editorship of Eric Blom.
A good many books have been
written on various aspects of Brahms'
life and music; almost all of them good
as far as they go, but for most purposes
the best- rounded and most useful
books are Karl Geiringer's Brahms, His
Life and Work, of which the revised
edition was published by Norton in
1946, and Walter Niemann's Brahms,
published by Knopf in the same year.
Somewhat similarly, there have been
various books more or less inspired
some of them much less
by Chopin,
but far and away the best general
treatment of both the man and his
milieu and the music itself is Herbert
Weinstock's Chopin, published by
-
-
Knopf in 1949.
In view of Debussy's stature and influence, the available literature on him
is surprisingly lacking in weight. In
the absence from the lists of the books
by Leon Vallas and M. D. Calvacoressi,
Maurice Dumesnil's Claude Debussy,
published by Washburn in 1940, and
Edward Lockspeiser's volume in the
Master Musicians series are probably
as good as any in English. In much
the same way, Alec Robertson's Master Musicians Dvorak is worth while.
Of all secondary composers, Delius
is about as well served as any, for Peter
Warlock's Frederick Delius, reprinted
by Oxford in 1952, and Eric Fenby's
Continued on page 126
NOW:
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Judging hi -fi
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What to avoid
Distortion
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Overhang
Woofer -tweeters
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Volume expansion
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Written especially for
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Whether you want to specialin the work or simply build
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From beginning to end, HIGH
ise
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FIDELITY TECHNIQUES
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1111
KING STREET,
10 -DAY FREE EXAMINATION
Dept. HF -124, RINEHART & CO Inc.
232 Madison Ave New York 16, N. Y.
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HIGH FIDELITY TECHNIQUES
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LANG & TAYLOR INC.
Here, by one of the nation's
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from theory and circuits to commercial equipment; from methods and authentic technical data
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Building tipa... ing
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CASE HISTORIES
cold
Continued from page 125
Mc GOHAN
AMPLIFIERS
WITH OTHER
LEADING
BRANDS
Delius As I Knew Him, published by
Musicana, are both fine -drawn appreciations. As for Grieg, there are David
Monrad-Johanesen's Edvard Grieg: His
Life, Music, and Influence, published
by Tudor, and a symposium by Gerald
Abraham and others, published by
Oklahoma in 195o and called, singularly, Grieg.
The new WA -410, for example...
here is an amplifier-preamp combination with all of the features of
more expensive units, at a price
that is little more than you would
expect to pay for the preamp alone.
Correlated dual concentric controls, printed circuits and McGohan's production efficiency combine to provide a unit of complete
flexibility and unequalled value.
At this point we have gotten far
enough into the alphabet for the reader
to have noticed blanks. What of
Gluck, Gounod, and Grétry, say? The
answer is: "neglected."
Down the years since Chyrsander,
there have been many worthy books
about Handel, including those by W.
A. Streatfield and Romain Rolland
and Hugo Leichtentritt. But, as of
now, the most useful single- volume,
general- service study is Herbert Weinstock's extremely well-written Handel,
published by Knopf in 1946, although
Newman Flower's George Friedrich Handel, brought out in a revised edition
by Scribner in 1948 is also a good
book, too. Haydn is well represented
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-
of the most brilliantly written, is
Sacheverell Sitwell's Liszt, published
in London by Faber in 1934. The
Mahler literature has similar attrition,
and much of it is untranslated into
English, especially that part of it that
deals with the music, but as a verbal
portrait of the man A. M. S. Mahler's
Gustav Mahler: Memoirs and Letters,
published by Viking in 1946, has a
great deal to recommend it. For some
reason, Mendelssohn has been rather
neglected in this century, certainly in
this country, but his own Letters,
edited by H. Sheldon -Goth, published
by Pantheon in 1945, gives an insight
into a charming personality, both in
the text and in the sketches with which
the composer decorated his correspondence.
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FOR
by Karl Geiringer's Haydn: A Creative Life in Music, published by Norton
in 1946, and by Richard and Clara
Winston's translation of H. E. Jacob's
Joseph Haydn, published by Rhinehart
in 195o.
The romantic figure of Liszt has led
to a sizable bibliography in various
languages, but most of the list is out
of print, and it seems likely that the
best one -volume study surely one
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HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
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THE
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Imitated but
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This tiny plastic device contains
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drawing off the static electricity
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Static electricity causes records to
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WRITE FOR ILLUSTRATED FOLDER
GEORGEE SCHERR
1200
DECEMBER, 1954
CO.,
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N .Y:
The Mozart books are numerous and
of generally good quality, but one of
the very best is Alfred Einstein's Mozart: His Character, His Work, published by Oxford in 1945. Of the less
extended studies, Eric Blom's Master
Musicians Mozart is exceptionally fine,
and so is M. D. Calvacoressi's Moussorgsky, in the same series. The perspective on Prokofieff is not, perhaps,
yet clear enough for a definitive study
to be written, but in the interim Israel
Nestyev's Sergei Prokofiev will serve
quite well. As for Puccini, Richard
Specht's biography, written in the
1930's, has a great deal of information
in it if a copy can be found, and George
R. Marek's Puccini, published by Simon
and Schuster in 1951, is lively and
sympathetic. The Ravel situation is
fluid, or at least there is recent writing
that has not yet been checked up on,
but Norman Demuth's Master Musicians Ravel is tidy, if not exhaustive.
It is probably wisest to let RimskyKorsakoff speak for himself, in his
My Musical Life, published in English
by Knopf in 1941.
One of the best shorter studies of a
composer at all is Francis Toye's
Rossini, published by Knopf in 1947,
and one of the best longer ones, Ralph
Kirkpatrick's Scarlatti, published by
Princeton in 1953.
A great deal has been written about
Schubert, but the greater part of it
deals with one or another aspect of
his creative output. As primary documentation, O. E. Deutsch's and Donald R. Wakeling's The Schubert Reader,
published by Norton in 1947, is an
excellently ordered compilation of
letters and similar materials, and as
discussion and information about the
composer and his music both Alfred
Einstein's Schubert, a Musical Portrait,
published by Oxford in 1951, and
Robert Haven Schauffler's Franz Schubert.:
Ariel of Music, published by
Putnam's in 1949, are worth attention.
Oddly, the Schumann literature is not
as rich as one would imagine, and
another Schauffler book, Florestan: The
Life and Work of Robert Schumann,
published by Holt in 1945, is perhaps
the most useful one -volume work on
him easily available, especially if it is
supplemented by Schumann: A Symposium, edited by Gerald Abraham and
published by Oxford in 1952. No
definitive biography of Sibelius is yet
possible, of course, but as an interim
sketch Karl Ekman's Jean Sibelius,
published by Tudor in 1938, covers
Continued on page 128
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$379.90
This Complete System NOW at TERMINAL
Never before such line HiFi at such low cost. See
for
and hear it at nur Sound Studios or send
Bulletin HF- 12.Write today.
(Tèminol Radio
5
CORTLANDT ST., NEW YORK 7, H. Y.
CORP.
WOrth 4.3311
I27
CASE HISTORIES
Hi- Fidelity
dynamic
microphone
Continued from page 127
only
$S,00
Quickly converted
for floor stand use
for
the most significant part of his career.
Far less is any definitive word possible
on Stravinsky, for his final destination,
at least on earth, cannot be predicted;
but the symposium called Stravinsky,
edited by Merle Armitage and published by Little Brown in 1949, has
in it many articles that shed light on
the man and his methods. There are a
fair number of writings about Tchaikovsky, but the best word picture of
the man is Herbert Weinstock's Tchaikovsky, published by Knopf in 1943;
the most exhaustive study of his music, Gerald Abraham's The Music of
Tchaikovsky, published by Norton in
1946.
Broadcast
Television
Recording
Public Address
There has yet to be a really definitive
study of Verdi, but Francis Toye's
Giuseppe Verdi: His Life and Works is
a model of its kind of less- encompass-
NEW TURNER
5
This new dynamic microphone is
designed to meet the requirements
of TV, broadcasting, PA, high fideland, at an excepity recording
tionally low price. Design is slim
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are excellent. Response: 50 to 13,000
cps. Level: -55 db. Has built-in
Cannon XL -4 connector, permitting
selection of high or low impedance
by making connection to proper pair
of conductors at terminal end of
cable. Matching stand with built -in
shock mount priced separately.
...
THE
ing scholarship, and at the same time
is an excellent evocation of the composer and the times he lived through.
Briefer, but also good, is Dynely
Hussey's Master Musicians Verdi. As
far as it goes, which is quite as far as
it could go when it was written, Hubert
Unique external mounting arrangement for
remote type pre -amps at rear of cabinet. Roll
top covers turntable during playing to reduce
settling of dust on the delicate record surfaces.
Choice of blonde or mahogany finishes. Users
net price for turntable and cabinet $160.00.
Write for detail. today.
who wanted the best buy in HI -Fl systems
%7
Dynamic Microphone
...
but didn't know the questions, let alone the
answers)
Please send me complete information on
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your new Mo let
Denville, New Jersey
COMPONENTS CORP.
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HI -Fl
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Sl Heidi came to Brooklyn's only
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NAn1E_
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STATE.
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Canadian Marconi Co.,
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Auriema, 89 Broad Street,
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IN CANADA
EXPORT: Ad.
2 ,ti
NEW: chairside cabinet for turntable provides
record storage space in front and adequate ventilation for amplifier in rear.
CO
THE TURNER COMPANY
942 - 17th Street NE,
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
- -
-
no
Twenty -hve pound turntable
S
speeds
endless belt drive
professional
rubber idlers
heavy performance free of rumble and wow
duty constant speed motor.
HEIDI and
the HI -FI
k
I
TURNTABLE AND CHAIRSIDE CABINET
2128 Caton Ave., Brooklyn 26, N.Y., BU 2 -5300
(at corner of I lot hush Avenue
-
u,ß1 on Second
Itoo,
'
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
Foss's Ralph Vaughan Williams, published by Oxford in 195o, is a sympathetic and illuminating study.
Not unfittingly, it is with Wagner
that we arrive once more at a biographical and musical study that is
really definitive
Ernest Newman's
great The Life of Richard Wagner,
published in four volumes by Knopf
from 1933 through 1946. As documentation, The Letters of Richard Wagner,
edited by J. N. Burk and published by
Macmillan in 1950, are also tremendously valuable and of the numerous
shorter studies, Mr. Newman's Wagner: As Man and Artist, published by
Tudor in 1946, is easily the best, as is
his study The Wagner Operas, published by Knopf in 1949, the best of
its kind.
As noted before, to adequately
describe the qualities, foibles, and occasional shortcomings of each book
mentioned would have meant reviewing each formally
an obvious impossibility. It is also certain that in
covering so vast a field some very
worth -while books
and composers
have been either ignored or given
shrift shorter than they merit. But if
this article provides the reading listener
with a kind of thumbnail guide to
books that will really enhance his enjoyment of the music of even a single
composer, without distracting him
from the fundamental fact that music
is composed to be heard, not to be
read about, then its purpose will have
been accomplished.
ORTRAITIST
-
-
-
Complete
3 -way
system $335
Those who like treble tones issued in a screeching, smoldering beam
don't think much of the Portraitist. Neither do devotees of groaning,
cabinet -rattling bass. But those who like music from a speaker system
who want realistic sound images
are invariably satisfied
at last by this one. The full audible range, without emphasis on any
part; smooth, rigid bass; crisp, sparkling middle-range and highs,
uniformly distributed throughout the listening area; these are obtained from three superb speakers baffled in our exclusive manner.
Cabinets are conservative and uniquely beautiful in light, medium,
or dark mahogany; available also in a corner model, the Muralist,
at $310. Ask your dealer about these enclosures.
-
THE
-
RAM
COMPANY
P.O. BOX 221
F
GREAT BARRINGTON.
MASS.
!IOW ... THE
ULTIMATE IN
RECORD REPRODUCTION
AUDIO FORUM
Continued from page 113
THE
records from that
the radio. Many,
at which you listen to
including ourselves, unconsciously run the volume at a higher
í//j)/1e4etr,W
litt:
RIBBON PICKUP
average level when using the turntable.
The peaks are much more noticeable, of
Ferranti is proud to introduce this high performance
pickup designed by D. T. N. Williamson.
Clearly destined to earn the same enthusiastic
approval as the world famous Williamson Amplifier,
its brilliant realism of reproduction is matched by the
quiet elegance of its style.
Precision manufacture insures continued full fidelity from your favorite records, with extremely low
distortion and negligible record wear.
course.
Finally, you may have reason to suspect
the pickup- preamp combination. A fatiguing type of distortion may be caused by a
stylus improperly centered between the pole
pieces.
this is the case you can, by careful
manipulation with a tweezers, bend the
arm slighly to re- center the stylus. A preamplifier tube may be low enough in
emission to operate in the distortive region,
although not low enough to stop working
altogether. Or a circuit component may be
far enough
to have the same effect.
If
EXCLUSIVE FERRANTI DESIGN FEATURES:
Low mass high
compliance ribbon movement Unequalled tracing accuracy
Arm resonance removed from audible range
Elliptical Diamond Stylus Self-Protecting Stylus Suspen.
sion Double Ball Race Arm Bearing
Built-in Arm Rest
of
SIR:
Having had difficulties somewhat simContinued on page 131
DECEMBER, 1954
FERRANTI
FERRANTI ELECTRIC
INC
30 Rockefeller Plaza New York 20, N. Y.
1
29
Dress up your Imenclostire
with new
corner horn
system
expanded aluminum hi- fidelity
decorative grille material
speeceker
ASSEMBLY KIT
ATTRACTIVE -INEXPENSIVE
EASILY INSTALLED
PIECE -VIBRATION -PROOF
CHOICE OF TYPES AND FINISHES.
AVAILABLE CUT TO SIZE.
ONE
KLIPSCH
QUALITY
Here is the newest, smartest decorative grille material on the market. This new material is extremely
rigid and vibration -proof because it is stamped and ex.
panded from one solid sheet of heavy gauge aluminum
Lowell expanded aluminum decorative grille material
comes in three mesh sizes -,,,,(6',%" or V. Standard finish
is brass lacquered
other colors available on request.
You can order Lowell expanded aluminum decorative grille
material cut to the exact size you need
up to 4' x 8' sections
finished or unfinished.
Samples of all three types of Lowell expanded aluminum decorative grille are available on request.
AT
LOW COST
-
LOWELL EXPAND-
Now you can awn a genuine
Klipsch speaker system at a surprisingly low price, with a Shorthorn Kit.
The Kit is made up of pre -cut
wooden parts, easily assembled with
simple tools. And the result is a loudspeaker unit second only to the au-
thentic Klipschorn.
Klipsch- designed acoustic elements.
including corner horn back loading.
give the Shorthorn an exceptionally
wide tonal range. Yet the response is
uniform from treble to bass, free from
distortion, resonance or booming.
Write for the new Shorthorn folder
and price list. It shows you how easily
and economically you can assemble
your own Klipsch speaker system.
ED ALUMINUM
GRILLE MATERIAL
is rigid, lightweight and
,,Ccrunkt
NEW!
-
-
INEXPENSI VE.
MANUFACTURING CO.
3030 LACLEDE STATION
ROAD, ST. LOUIS 11, MO., U.
S. A.
In Can.: Atlas Radio Corp. Ltd., 560 King St., W. Toronto 2B Can.
BINAURAL STEREOPHONIC SOUND
REPRODUCTION FOR HOME TAPE RECORDERS
WITH
andaetron
/BINAURAL
TEREOPHONIC
FOR
WEBCOR
*
RCA
-
GAY
* PENTRON * WILCOX
and other home tape recorders.
*
KNIGHT
INSTALLED IN SECONDS
WITH SCREWDRIVER
NO ALTERATIONS TO
YOUR MACHINE, EVER!
The Shorthorn, after assembly,
before finishing or installing
speaker. Either a co -axial speaker.
a 2 -way or a 3-way system may
be used.
KLIPSCH
8 ASSOCIATES
HOPE, ARKANSAS
TELEPHONES
For the first
time- Cinemascope -type
sound reproduction for home tape recorders at such a low price! Equip your home
tape recorder with amazing new Dactron
Microdaptor. Contains famous Dynamu
high fidelity heads, factory aligned, seal ed-20 to 15,000 cycles at 7.5 IPS to
input of Hi -Fi music system amplifier,
phonographs. Plays channel A through
your tape recorder -channel B through
your phono system.
Authorized Factory Service
PRospect
7-3395
PRospect
7-5515
PRospect
7-4538
PRospect
7-5514
SIGMA ELECTRIC COMPANY
Recorder Service Specialists
1j
Complete accessories available
Standard factory
For name
g
of nearest dealer, write or phone:
9 -11 East 16th Street
New York 3, New York
Phone: AL5- 6218
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
G. A.
AUDIO FORUM
NETWORKS
Continued from page 129
AND
AIR -COUPLERS
ASSEMBLED
NETWORK
G.A. Crossover Networks
added service to audio en-
As an
thusiasts, G.A. is now supplying
completely assembled networks, for
use with the G.A. Air -Coupler. If
you are not certain as to which
networks you should use, send 10c
for the G.A. network data sheet.
Complete, as illustrated:
No. 9C, 8 ohms, 175 cycles
No. 5C, 16 ohms, 175 cycles
No. 6AC, 8 ohms, 2,200 cyces
$32.50
32.50
16.50
18.50
No. 1C, 16 ohms, 2,200 cycles
G.A. Network Kits
Of
the various G.A. crossover networks, the following are recommended for use with the Air -Coupler.
Complete kits include capacitors and
level controls.
No.
9
5
6A
1
Impedance
8 ohms
16
Crossover
175 cycles
175
2,200
2,200
8
16
2 Coils
only
$20.00
20.00
5.75
7.00
Complete
$24.00
24.00
9.70
11.50
G.A. Air. Couplers
Since 1950, only G.A. is authorized
to offer the officially approved
Air -Coupler design
in knocked -down
or assembled form. Parts are precision -cut from high -quality 3/4 -in. fir
plywood.
Air -Coupler knocked down, ready to assemble, opening cut for 12 -in. speaker
$29.95
Air -Coupler assembled and glued
39.95
Alte< 6008 12 -in. speaker, 8 ohms
University 4408 tweeter, 8 ohms
42.00
17.50
G.A. Variable Networks
Type A -VAC permits the crossover
frequency to be varied from 90 to
1,100 cycles; type B -VAC, from
900 to 11,000 cycles. Eliminates
power loss experienced with fixed
networks. Kit is complete with
punched chassis and tubes. Also
supplied as a finished unit, laboratory- tested, ready to use.
A -VAC or B -VAC, knocked -down kit
Either type assembled and wired
Instruction book with circuits
ENERAL
GAPPARATUS
COMPANY
Formerly at Sheffield, Mass.
344 E. 32nd St., New York 16, N. Y.
1954
IF
YOU'RE
INTERESTED
IN
HIGH
FIDELITY...
them
YOU'LL WANT
TO KNOW MORE
ABOUT THE
-a
High Fidelity
RECORD CHANGER
George P. Dorsey
5727 17th Avenue, N.E.
Seattle
$39.95
56.95
1.00
PRICES ARE FOB NEW YORK
DECEMBER,
to those of Mr. Cheel (page 133,
September, 19S4 issue), I would like
to pass on one possible cause which
was suggested to me by a representative of KISW -FM and one from
my own experience.
The FM station suggested that
the whistle might be caused by a
nearby television set broadcasting the
whistle by re-radiation from its antenna. It might also be caused by
other electrical interference.
One possible test is for Mr. Cheel
to try his hi -fi components in a
different neighborhood. Absence of
the whistle in the new location
might indicate electrical interference
at his house.
If such interference
is present, a radio service technician
might be able to locate it with test
equipment and then request the interference be corrected.
Another
possible remedy would be to use a
highly uni- directional FM beam antenna, with the interference to the
back of the beam.
Mr. Cheel states that another hi -fi
set is operating perfectly in his house,
but no details are given. The other
set, it if includes FM, (It does. -ED.)
may be of low sensitivity, or might
have a different antenna, and so may
not receive the electrical interference
if it is present.
As Mr. Cheel has tried several
pieces of fine equipment with the
same result, he probably would not
have a whistle caused by the same
trouble I had
worn and noisy
volume control. This whistle came
on at much -used settings of the gain
control and could be eliminated by
turning to a different setting.
My case may have been a combination of the two causes mentioned
above.
The electrical interference,
if it was present, has disappeared
of its own accord, and so no further
trouble from whistles has occurred
after replacing the gain control.
filar
5,
Washington
r
Mail This Coupon Today
i
ROCKRAR CORPORATION, Dept MM-2
215 East 37th Street, New York 16, N. Y.
SIR:
In the June, 1954 issue, on page 77,
you mention in the review of the
Craftsman C9oo tuner that a high impedance voltmeter may be used
as a tuning indicator.
I have a Browning R142.
I would
1
Pleose send me literature describing COLLARD
High Fidelity RECORD CHANGERS.
1
ADDRESS
1
1
CITY
ZONE
.
STATE......_......_...._
Continued on page 133
131
PROFESSIONAL
In Southern California
For the Ultimate in
HI-FI
WASHINGTON,
ALTEC LANSING,
Listen
Leisurely
and Compare in an atmosphere which reflects the
comfort of your own living room.
Lis Ilsplss
Shit Drin
ILLINOIS (continued)
VOICE AND VISION
D. C.
Components at net prices
it's
6235 Commodore
DIRECTORY
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
CALIFORNIA
CaInnis
48,
opposite Curthay Circle Theater)
AUDAX,
H
custom
Exclusively
I
I
HOLLYWOOD
ELECTRONICS
I
7460 MELROSE AVENUE
LOS ANGELES 46, CALIFORNIA
WEbster 3-8208
SPECIALISTS
SERVICING
,S.
53 EAST WALTON
1642 Connecticut Ave., N. W.
CHICAGO 11, ILL.
WHINheII 3 -1166
INDIANA
ILLINOIS
Hi -Fi Components
I
INSTALLATIONS
-J, RADIO CRAFTSMEN,
REK- O -KUT,
STEPHENS, WHARFEDALE, ETC.
R
Free delivery any where in the t'.
F
COMPONENTS
CUSTOM DESIGNING
COLLARO, FAIRCHILD, FISHER, FREED-EISEMANN, G L H, GARRARD, H. H. SCOTT,
JENSEN, KARLSON, LIVINGSTON, PICKERING,
York 6215
"WE HAVE IT"
1-
BROWNING,
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In FT.
The Best in High Fidelity
WAYNE
It's VAN SICKLE
audio workshop, inc.
For Hi Fidelity
* microphones
* Amplifiers
* Reproducers
* Tape Recorders
Equipment
Custom installations
Service
Chicago's most complete stock
of Iii -F'i records and tapes
SHeldrake 3-3264
2734 W. Touhy
VAN SICKLE RADIO
SUPPLY
CO.
1320 Calhoun St.. Fr Wayne, Ind.
MASSACHUSETTS
"EVERYTHING"
in high fidelity
From Primary Components
to Completed Custom Installations
VISIT OUR NEW "AUDIO -PHILE HAVEN'
or
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BORATORIES
d..
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7556 Melrose Avenue, los Angeles 46, California
YOrk 3872
WAInut 5405
The ultimate in High Fidelity
at net prices.
SPECIAL!!!
and g?. elclteller
INGARTEN
NUM
NORM
AMM1M eel.
Now, for the first lime, JUNIOR AIR -COUPLERS
for Irue bass reinforcement ore available
direct from the original designer- manufacturers,
and at a ne,r price. Described in the May June, 1953 issue of HIGH FIDELITY, these are
made of fine selected plywood and are ready to
finish. Completely assembled except for speaker.
PRICE
JENSEN
Le.
Shipp1
..1.1.,62
1630
IA-[...d.r
2t«,
Newbury Street Boston
New England's New Audio Center
Systems
Tape
Components
de Haan Hi -Fi
6.
\W
Equipment
Hi -Fi
NOW
KIF RULFF
820 West Olympie Blvd.
Richmond 7 -0271
C H I C A G O
a
79.
P.
$29.50
,. pr... rolled. No COD'S, please.
RAM COMPANY
O. Box 221
Great Barrington, Mass.
NEW JERSEY
High -Fidelity House
tHh -ring the World's Finest home
Music Systems, created by experts
with years of experience.
High Fidelity is our only business
not a sideline. Complete stock of every
worthwhile component at all times.
536 South Fair Oaks, Pasadena 1, Calif.
SY
5-4118
RY
1
-8171
IT'S YOURS!
THE VERY BEST IN HIGH FIDELITY
THE HI -Fl CENTER
complete demonstration facilities
custom installation
components
DISTRIBUTORS OF EVERYTHING IN
ROgers Park 4 -8640
WEst 1-3134 NET PRICES
I
3
WEst 1.3135
Installation
Service
Studio 207 open until 10 P. M.
East Orange, N. J.
214 Glenwood Ave.,
ORonge 6 -5229
FOR THE FINEST IN SOUND
arthur nagel, inc.
Hí-kULM.AR
ELECTRONIC CORP.
Complete Selection
2598 Lombard
California
Design
CHICAGO 45
e1eebla is LXii-eeride)24
Hal Cox Custom Music
San Francisco 23,
CREATIVE AUDIO
ELECTRONICS
PreRecorded Tape and Records
2909 WEST DEVON AVE.
Hi -Fi Components Exclusively
Hi -Fì
918
E.
Equipment
CHICAGO
55th ST.
BUtterfiId 8-5050
Write for free catalog
85 Monticello Ave. 401 Anderson Ave.
Jersey City, N. J.
Fairview, N. J.
FIE 5 -5800
('L 6 -9550
TWO CONVENIENT LOCATIONS
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
AUDIO FORUM
NEW YORK
Continued from page 131
Design Service for Custom
like to install such a meter on that
tuner.
I am particularly interested
in using the meter on the FM side
of the tuner as it is in this position
that the tuning eye is of least benefit.
Could you tell me (1) what specifically you mean by a high impedance
meter, and (2) where in the circuit
of the RJ42 it should be attached,
including the proper polarity?
A. M. Burner, M. D.
3237 Roosevelt Street
Dearborn 8, Michigan
Generally, only vacuum -tube voltmeters
qualify as having high enough input
impedance to be used in grid circuits,
and that's where tuning (actually signalstrength) meters are used.
Ordinary
multimeters may load the measured circuit so much that its operation is disturbed.
We installed a meter on a Browning
tuner, and found that it worked best
on the second limiter grid. If you have
an instruction book with your tuner
you'll be able to find the spot without
much trouble.
The voltage will be
negative with respect to ground, so
(if your meter doesn't have a negative
DC voltage position on the function
selector switch) you'd connect the meter
COMMON or GROUND lead to the grid,
and the normally "hot" lead to the
tuner ground (the chassis).
SIR:
Eventually, all of us accumulate a
considerable amount of data sheets,
servicing information, installation instruction books, templates and troubleshooting guides which we need for
reference in conjunction with maintenance of our sound and TV equipment.
I solved the problem of "where did -I -put- that -piece-of- paper ?"
and
eliminated the trouble of rummaging
through a heap of ill -assorted information.
I purchased a 12 -inch
LP storage box, which from the
outside looks like a record album,
and using file folders separated the
various data sheets, viz, PHONO,
SPEAKERS, TUNER, AMP and PREAMP,
TV, etc., into their various classifications. The file folders are placed
inside the LP storage box, and all
the information is readily at hand
yet inconspicuous when placed on
the record shelf.
B. Stodsky, M. D.
8827 Dorchester
Chicago 19, Illinois
DECEMBER, 1954
PENNSYLVANIA
HI FI DO IT YOURSELF
Fidelity and
High
In spare time, Mon., Wed. and Fri.
eves: ample parking.
Use our
workshop, tools, expert supervision.
Assemble and compare leading
makes; tuners, amplifiers, changers,
Tele-
vision Installations.
Home or
Business.
Tape Recorders, speakers, Cabinets, kits, etc. at low net prices.
(INTER -PLAN
53rd St.
N. Y. 22, N. Y. PLaza
Trade -i,i.
167 E.
EXPORT MGRS.
311 W
5 -1240
FOI
American Selectifier Div., N. Y.
Regency Div. of I.D.E.A.
R.A.C. Voltage Boosters
Weathers Industries Inc.
I
* * *
I
NORPAT, Inc,,
113 W. 42nd
st._N.
Y.
WHAT
1
For Natural Sound. No shrieking
"Presence" here.
Sales, Service,
Trades, Records, everything for the
music lover. Your satisfaction guaranteed!
LECTRONICS
City Line Center
Yours CO.UPt.6TF. SUPPLIER
Reel lists for 55.50. Trial Offer:
reels, plus
copy of the pamphlet "How to
select your brand of Tape" 510 postpaid.
4
AETNA
OPTIX
West 31st St.
New
N. Y.
ie
actiretlecviic
formance ... 1
Timpani Hi -Fi Tape, the tape for discriminating ears, invites you to try it, listen to it, com7 -in.
Gr. 7.9535
in the PHILADELPHIA area
makes you decide on your brand of magnetic
recording tape? Advertising claims, or per-
pare it.
vv
TELEVISION
1926
LANCASTER AVE.. ARDMORE. PA, Midway 11910
PHILADELPHIA'S only
Audio Haven
ALL THE WORLD COMES TO:
I
Tape
Records
SHRYOCK
SERVICE CO. OF PENNA., INC.
HIGH FIDELITY S. COMMERCIAL
SOUND STUDIO
709 Arch Si., Philadelphia 6, Pa.
Phone: LOmbard 3.7390
CANADA
TANNOY SPEAKERS
AVAILABLE NEW YORK AREA
BOHN offers complete custom high
fidelity phonograph- radios.
We
feature TANNOY loudspeakers
designed for MUSIC LISTENERS.
Hear a typical home installation.
BOHN MUSIC SYSTEMS
550
Fifth Ave., N.Y.C.
PL 7 -8569
its
In Westchester
CANADA'S FIRST
HIGH - FIDELITY
RADIO, PHONOGRAPH, RECORD AND
TELEVISION CENTRE
Stromberg -Carlson "Custom 900"
Hallicrafters Hi -Fi, Short Wave & T-V
Fisher Radio
Concertone Tape Recorders
All Makes of Hi- Fidelity Records
-
390 EGLINTON WEST
Phone HUdson
IN CANADA
-
TLAB
for high fidelity
CONSULTATIONS
SERVICE
COMPONENTS
CUSTOM INSTALLATIONS
2475 Central Avenue
SP
Yonkers, N. Y.
9 -6400
Vision Ltd.
e4 f41008 Sonsead acrd
TORONTO, ONT.
1
-1119
-
-
There's one place where you can fend
and
hear
all your high -fidelity equipment needs.
We carry a complete stock ... come rn, or write
in. for a chat. a look. and a listen.
ßLECTROI)O10E
SOUND SYSTEMS
141 Dundas St., West. TORONTO
OHIO
IN
CINCINNATI AND THE
TRI -STATE AREA
* COMPETENT ENGINEERING
* COMPONENTS AT NET PRICES
* FINE CABINETRY
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Recollections and Reflections, by
Richard Strauss. Edited by Willi
Schuh. Boosey & Hawkes, London
and New York, 1954. 173 pages.
$2.50.
The German edition of this little book
made its appearance shortly after
Strauss' death in 1949, in a natural exploitation of the regretful interest
aroused by the silencing of a voice
which had been authoritative in music
for 6o years. In this interjective form
Dr.
of documents selected from
Schuh's biographical data on the composer its timeliness is now decidedly retarded, and it may be considered almost on its merits. Almost, because it
is patently served as an hors d'oeuvre for
the biography to follow: it is a teaser,
like the small carnal revelation after
the fall of the first drapery on one of
the fréres Minsky's entertainments.
Still one does not lunch on hors
d'oeuvre exclusively, except at specializing restaurants that provide an abundant variety in surfeiting quantity.
There are not enough of these 'Recollections and Reflections" to make a
lunch, but as appetizers they are estimable and prepare the palate for heartier
rations. The words are all Richard
Strauss', from a hot -blooded letter extolling the Bayreuth Tannhäuser of
1892 to a gracious ceremonial note
addressed to the National Saxon
Orchestra on the occasion of the orchestra's Jubilee in 1948. Between are selfoffered glimpses of Strauss' opinions
of men and things in music: his reverence for Beethoven, Mozart, Johann
Strauss and Wagner above all; his
passion for opera and his understanding of the exigencies of good operatic
production; his hatred for the slipshod and provincial; his affectionate
contempt for his father's conservatism;
his acknowledgment of artistic indebtedness to contemporaries, including some with whom he had quarreled
(the magnanimity of success or confidence); some suggestions of programs of his own works, etc.
There are never- failing anecdotes
about Hans von Bülow whose pungent epigrams are the best we know
from any conductor and the salvation
of any book on music. There are penetrating observations on conducting
masterpieces by a master -conductor
who composed some masterpieces.
There are arrogance and humility, assimilated knowledge and instinctive
knowledge on display, and some
cultural pretension of a kind commonplace in the Germany before the war of
1914. There is an interminability of
syntactical construction not pretty to
read, and we find obscurities of
thought which are not to be attributed
to the translation. There are suggestions of acerbity, and proofs of generosity, in the greatest of Strauss'
remarks on his fellows, that prove him
human indeed; but the little book
gives only glimpses of what the biography to follow will presumably make
panoramic.
C. G. BURKE
Mendelssohn, by Philip Radcliffe.
The Master Musicians. Edited by
Eric Blom. 208 pages. Illustrated.
Cloth. J. M. Dent & Sons. London.
Pellegrini & Cudahy. New York.
$ 3.00.
This excellent study of Mendelssohn,
the man and his music, is the twenty
third volume in J. M. Dent & Sons'
"Master Musicians" series, pocketsized books devoted to biographical
and critical studies of the great
composers. Each volume is the work
of a noted English musical authority
on a given composer, and the series
offer an invaluable guide to the world
of music, to both the professional
Mr. Rad and amateur musician.
cliffe's contribution well maintains
the high level of the preceding issues.
His biographical sketch, full of interesting details relating to the composer's family ties, his problems as
a professional conductor, his European
travels and social contacts, gives us
an illuminating portrait of Mendelssohn, the man. The author's critical
analyses of the Mendelssohn music
strike me as being well reasoned
and fair, free of the overadulation
accorded it by mid- nineteenth centHIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
ury critics, yet not concurring with
the excessively dim view taken by
musical writers of the early years
of this century. There is a plentiful
supply of musical illustrations, though
these are not too technical, and
amplify the author's opinions. Additional chapters, devoted to a study
of the composer's personality, musical characteristics and influence, round
out the picture. For good measure
we are given a complete catalog of
the Mendelssohn music, with opus
numbers and the year of composition,
and a musical calendar that provides
a list of the composer's musical
contemporaries, both helpful appendices. The author presents his facts
and opinions in a clear, informative
and readable manner that holds the
reader's interest to the last page.
J. F. INDCOx
Penguin Scores. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G, 96
pages, 85 cents. Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E Flat, Opus 55,
176 pages, $E.00. Paper, 5'4 in.
by 7% in. Penguin Books, London
and Baltimore, 1954
a
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R.
Frequency Range: 20-20,000 cps.
Lowest noise level
Uniform sensitivity
R.
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600 feet on plastic reel
1200 feet on plastic reel
2400 feet on plastic reel
once trained themselves to "hear"
scores in their mind's ear when works
weren't available at concerts, students
now turn to LPs for easy reference.
Fortunately the much less demanding
knack of following a record along with
a score is easily acquired
even by
musical semi -literates who can just
manage to figure out the one -line
examples often quoted in the fancier
liner notes. Proficiency comes with
practice.
Listening with a pocket score can
do wonders for certain orchestral recordings, notably those where clarinets
and oboes sound equally indistinct, or
where engineers have unaccountably
failed to bring out that crucial double
bass solo in all its portly eloquence.
A good, readable miniature score offers
a fool -proof way of adding an extra
dimension to any hi -fi system, however
grand or modest.
It's known as
binoptic or "high intensity" listening.
The Penguin series, edited by Gordon Jacob, (and previously noted in
this department) now includes more
than zo old stand -bys of the orchestral repertoire in a uniform easy
to read, and attractive design. The
-
Continued on page 137
DECEMBER, 1954
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Continued from page
1
35
pages are more than half again as
wide as they are high, and when the
score is open the eye can scan twice as
many bars as in the conventional small
format. Each work is introduced by a
biographical note and an informative
analysis of the musical content. The
fact that a dollar will buy 176 pp. of the
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-
_
ii
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For a long time the music of Franz
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Continued on page 138
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FRED GRIINFELD
The Music of Liszt, by Humphrey
Searle. 207 pages, $5.00. Williams
& Norgate, London, 1954; John de
Graff, 64 West 23rd Street, New
York r o, N. Y.
ONLY THE
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_
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137
BOOKS
FAIRCHILD
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Continued from page 137
author
is a
STATION
F.M.
composer and Honorary
Secretary of the Liszt Society, which
was formed in England a few years
ago to spark the publication and
performance of Liszt's works. Mr.
Searle's survey is avowedly "general"
it uses only 123 pages of the book,
but he has aimed primarily at communicating his own enthusiasm for
Liszt's music in as brief and readable
form as possible, attempting to draw
immediate "attention to a number
works which deserve more
of .
attention than they usually receive."
The book is of necessity technical,
since much of the composer's interest
for musicians today lies in his experimentation with technical devices
that became common in the music
of Wagner, Debussy, Ravel, and
even Stravinsky. But the analyses
are not exhaustive, and for anyone
who knows the difference between
diatonic and whole -tone scales or
what a tritone is, the book is simple
going.
Liszt wrote over 70o pieces. Many
Continued on page 140
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HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
ADVERTISING INDEX
Aetna Optix
133
Allied Radio Corp.
Altec Lansing Corp.
114
American Elite Co
124
Angel Records
85
Audio Devices, Inc.
Inside Front Cover
Audio Exchange, Inc.
112
Audiogersh Corp.
99
Audiophile Records, Inc.
.90
Audio Workshop, Inc
132
A -V Tape Libraries
86
8 C Recordings
Bartok Records
Bell Sound Systems, Inc
Bogen, David, Co., Inc.
Bohn Music Systems
Bozak, R. T., Co.
Brooklyn High Fidelity Sound Center
Brociner Electronic Lab.
92, 93
B
.77
28
121
133
118
128
140
Capitol Records
..Back Cover, 81
Centrolab
136
Collare
.....131
Columbia Records, Inc.
83
Components Corp
128
Concertons Recorders, Berlanf Associates .96
Cook Laboratories, Inc.
89
Cox, Hal, Custom Music
132
Creative Audio Associates...
.132
Crestwood Recorder Division
115
Custom Hi -Fi
Custom Sound 8 Vision,
132
133
133
Ltd...
Customcrafters
Ltd
Da -Lite Screen Co., Inc
D 8 R,
.136
117
130
92, 93
Dactron Microadaptor
Dauntless International..
Daystrom Electric Corp.
deHaan Hi -Fi
de Mars Engineering 8 Mfg. Corp..
_
115
132
12
93
Dublin's
Elektra Records
Electronic Expediters...
Electronic Organ Arts....
Electro -Sonic
....
Laboratories....
82, 93
132
137
..
Electro- Voice, Inc.
Electro -Voice Sound Systems...
Espey Mfg. Co.
10
95
133
94,
37
Fairchild Recording 8 Eqpt. Corp138
Ferranti Electric, Inc
129
Fisher Radio Corp
30, 31, 32, 33
FM Station Directory
138
.
General Apparatus Co.
Goodman Industries
Gray Research 8 Development Co.,
131
25
Inc.... 23
93
132
139
..
.
Hi -Fi Record Center
Corp....
KEAR
Kierulff Sound Corp
111
93
132
High -Fidelity House.
High Fidelity Soles
Hollywood Electronics.
Interelectronic*
Inter -plan
.93
.132
8,
93
133
...138
Klipsch Associates
132
130
Lang 8 Taylor, Inc.
Lansing, James B., Sound, Inc
Lectronics
125
26
133
DECEMBER, 1954
Los Angeles
Audio Fair
OF SPEAKER AND
SPEAKER ENCLOSURE
5
Lowell Mfg. Co
Marantz, S. B.
Marion Products
Perfect Match
93
132
87
130
138
Co........ ....
91
McGehan, Don, Inc.
126
McIntosh Laboratory, Inc.
6, 7, 102, 103
Mercury Scientific Products Corp..
127
Music Box
92
Music Masters
90
Musical Masterpiece Society, Inc.
.
1
Nagel, Arthur, Inc
National Company
Newcomb Audio Products
Norpat Sales, Inc..
132
.
14
21
133
Omega Electronics
Orrodio Industries, Inc.
88
135
Electronics
Corp.
Pedersen
Pentron
22
16
Inc...
Permoflux Corp.
128
120
8 Co., Inc..
Pilot Radio Corp....
Precision Electronics, Inc.
Presto Recording Corp.
Professional Directory
38
137
123
133
RAM
2
1
Co
32,
129, 132
74, 75
133
100
136
93
35
29
125
RCA-Victor Division.
Rodio Electric Service Co.
Radio Craftsmen, Inc..
Rauland -Borg Corp
Record Market.
Regency ..
Rek -O -Kut Co..
Rinehart Books, Inc
Sams, Howard W., 8 Co., Inc.
Sargent -Rayment Co., The...
Scheller, E. 8 R.
Scharr, Gee., Co., Inc.
Scott, Herman Hosmer, Inc
Shryock Radio and TV Co..
Shure Bros., Inc.
Sigma Electric Co
Sound Unlimited.
Stephens Mfg. Corp.
.
.
introduce response peaks, and
should not be used with the non resonant 215. In the Hartley
BofTle, the 215 provides smooth
response over the entire audible
spectrum.
There is no doubt that a Hartley
215 will provide you with better
sound reproduction ... but for the
very best, hear its performance in
a Hartley Boffle.
The
HARTLEY 215
LOUDSPEAKER
is mired at
$65
132
... 127
11, 13, 15
133
...134
..130
...132
...36
Tannoy, Ltd.
Tech -Ma
Products Co.
Terminal Radio Corp....
Thorens Co....
..
Trader's Marketplace.
.. 122
..126
._.127
24
.. 137
124
United Transformer Co..
University Loudspeakers
Urania Records, Inc...
Inside Back Cover
17, 18, 19, 20
80,88
V 8 H Sales Corp.
V -M Corp
135
.119
Van Sickle Radio Supply Co
Voice 8 Vision, inc
Vox Productions, Inc.
132
.........
WXHR
.
People who hear the British -built
Hartley 215 for the first time are
amazed by its superbly clean performance. Those who own and
live with it never cease to marvel.
But neither have really heard the
215 at its absolute best ... unless
they've heard it operating from
a Hartley BOFFLE Speaker
Enclosure.
One of the principal features of
the Hartley 215 Speaker is that
it is free from resonance distortion. The Hartley Boffle was designed to match this quality, and
is itself entirely free from acoustical resonances.
Most speaker cabinets are actually tuned resonant systems. They
... 113
... 27
Turner Co.
Hack Swain Productions
Hallmark Electronic CorpHartley, H. A., Co., Inc...
Harvey Rodio Co., Inc.
Leslie Creations
Listening Post, The
London Records
THE
BOFFLE
ENCLOSURES
ore made in single -,
deal,
...
and
four -
speaker models, and
ore
priced
from
$50.75
132
79
138
Woke (Electrovox Co., Inc.)
Weingarten Electronic Laboratories
Westlab
Westminster Recording Co.
White, Stan, Inc.
HARTLEY
4
132
133
89,
91
34
Western States: Western Audio Ltd.,
2497 Telegraph Ave., Berkeley 4, Col.
In
H. A. HARTLEY CO., INC.
521
East
162nd St., Bronx 51, N. Y.
.
Zenith Radio Corp.
116
139
BROCINER'S NEWEST!
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MARK 30
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Mark 30A Power Amplifier
Self- powered preamplifier of military -
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Turnover and Roll -Off separately adjustable for all record curves including new RIAA Standard.
Loudness or volume control with selector switch.
Multiple -loop negative feedback. I.M.
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Only 31/2" x 103/4" x 6 ". Attractive
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Uses military- proved "printed circuit"
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Phenomenally LOW intermodulation
distortion insuring purest sound reproduction: at 10 watts- 1 /10 %; at
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Available at better
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Literature on request.
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140
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BROCINER Quality at low cost ...made
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Performance worthy of use with the finest
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Flexibility of control ordinarily found only
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Handsome, iridescent. maroon and gold
housing _. attractive as remote control unit.
Compact and easy to install in cabinet.
Full 12 watts at less than 1% distortion
Preamplifier for all types of high-quality
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Record Compensator: independent TURNOVER and ROLL-OFF controls provide 24 play,
back characteristics.
Tape take-off jack.
Only 41/4" high.
10'4"
BOOKS
Continued from page 138
of these are transcriptions of other
composers' works, which, the author
points out, served to acquaint people
who had no radios, no phonographs,
and few opportunities to attend concerts and operas with the music
of their time. Many are empty,
vulgar paraphrases with which Liszt
dazzled his own generation and antagonized later ones. Several original
items were revised and republished
by Liszt, and Mr. Searle helpfully
straightens out for the reader the
resulting tangle and confusion. There
remains a large area of original and
worthy music, and Mr. Searle weaves
his way through it, carefully pointing
out the exceptional and remarkable
features.
For many musicians the most fascinating and illuminating portion of
the book is that devoted to the
creations of Liszt's last 25 years
(1861- 1886), when he moved restlessly in the triangle formed by
Rome, Weimar, and Budapest music
not always readily available for examination, much less for performance.
Apparently shedding his concern for
other people's opinions, Liszt cornposed music of a more inward,
austere, mystical cast. Here are found
works written almost entirely in bare
parallel fifths ( Csardas macabre), using
violently clashing harmonies (Funeral
Prelude and March), piling up a
massive chord using all the notes
of the C Major scale (the motet
0 Ye Dry Bones), and so on.
Revolutionary or experimental ideas
do not necessarily result in good
music, and they are not always convincing in the context of Liszt's
music, where they have not been
fully assimilated into a consistent
idiom. But there is enough evidence
here to support Mr. Searlé s contention that these and other of Liszt's
unfamiliar pieces should be dug out
Record companies
and performed.
who are seeking a larger repertoire
should be particularly stimulated by
the book.
-
HIGH FIDELITY makes a
Perfect Christmas Gift.
See
Bind-in
opposite
Page 125
long, B" deep
HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE
I
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THE STANDARD OF COMPARISON FOR OVER 20 YEARS
HIGH FIDELITY
TRANSFORMERS
FROM STOCK....
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Hum balanced coil structures and multiple alloy shielding, where required. provide extremely low inductive pickup.
is
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from milliwatts to kilowatts.
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HIPERMALLOY series
This series
provides
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virtually all the
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group in a more compact and lighter
structure. The frequency response is
within 1 db. from 30 to 20,000 cycles.
Hipermalloy nickel iron cores and hum
balanced core structures provide minimum distortion and low hum pickup. Input transformers, maximum level +10db.
Circular terminal layout and top and
bottom mounting.
111
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equipment. The frequency response is
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Hum balanced coil structure plus high
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inductive shielding. Maximum operating
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described above.
UTC
OUNCER serles
units are ideal for portable,
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fully impregnated and sealed in a
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If you manufacture high fidelity
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LS-19 Plate to Two Grids
Primary 15,000 ohms.
Secondary 95,000 ohms C.T.
LS-50 Plate to Line
15,000 ohms to multiple line
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... +15 db.
LS-63 P.P. Plates to Voice Coil
Primary 10,000 C.T. and 6.000 C.T. suited
to Williamson, MLF, ul..linear circuits.
Secondary 1.2, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 15, 20,
30 ohms. 20 watts.
Shielded Input
HA -100X
Multiple line to 60,000 ohm grid
... tri
CASE
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LS.1
LS -3
LS 2
ngth 34e" 4.7,16'
dth
21/2" 31/2"
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AIt Wt. 3 lbs. 7.5 lbs.
5- 13/16'
5"
4-11/16"
15 lbs.
-
alloy shielding for low hum pickup.
Plate to Two Grids
15,000 ohms to 135,000 ohms in two sections
+12 db. level.
HA-106
...
NA-113
Plate to Line
15,000 ohms to multiple line
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0 DC in primary.
...
... +12 db.
Case
Plate (DC) to Line
15,000 ohms to multiple line
level .. 8 Ma. DC In primary.
HA -133
A
... +15
length
db.
11.1
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Width
__1.15%16"
Height
34"
Unit Weight 2 lbs.
H2
3-9/16"
2.13/16'
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lbs.
S
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Multiple line to 50,000 ohm grid.
A19 Plate to Two Grids
15,000 ohms to 80,000 ohms, primary and
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Mixing Transformer
Multiple line to multiple line for mixing
A -20
A-20
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A
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30,000 ohms plate to plate, to multiple
1
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0-1 Line to Grid
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TO YOUR NEEDS
Shielded Input
Multiple line (50, 200, 250, 500;600, etc.)
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LS -10X
Primary 50, 200/250, 500/600
50,000 ohm grid.
ohms to
15,000 ohms to 95,000 ohms C.T.
0.9 Plate (DC) to Lina
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Primary 15,000 ohms, Secondary 50,
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OUNCER CASE
0.14 50: 1 Line to Grid
Primary 200 ohms, Secondary .5 megohm
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iameter
Height
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O
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1
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UNITED TRANSFORMER CO.
150 Varick Street, New York 13, N. Y.
EXPORT DIVISION: 13
www.americanradiohistory.com
E.
40th St., New York 16, N.
Y. CABLES:
"ARLAB
Welcome, Strangers!
Of course you recall them from concerts -the oboe,
'cello, celeste, harp, piano -and other instruments
whose beauty eludes ordinary recording.
The problem of capturing instruments in their
original beauty has challenged the entire recording
industry. Indeed it has taunted us. For years, our
determined effort at Capitol has been to perfect our
Full Dimensional Sound technique so that it might
deliver, for your home concerts, music that would
achieve live concert quality.
To make our task more complicated, we have insistently approached our high fidelity recording as a
matter of music, not of contrived sound effects. Instruments and choirs of instruments are recorded in
their proper perspective and tonal balance, true to the
composer's intent, the performer's interpretation.
To borrow a phrase from our Engineering DeFull Dimensional Sound
partment, you hear
"the maximum possible within the present limits of
-in
-
the recording art."
This "maximum possible" is, we are convinced,
incomparable-magnificently near our ideal of perfection. So near, in fact, we confidently invite you to
listen to a Full Dimensional Sound recording. Lister.
and renew your acquaintance with music as the
composer intended you to hear it. Listen -and welcome to your home concerts even the most elusive
of musical "strangers."
Incomparable High Fidelity
in Full Dimensional Sound
All Full:
Dimensional Sound
records come to
you in Inner
Protective Envelope.:

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