New Records

Since records from Russia are about as rare as obbligatos for fluegelhorn, U.S. music lovers have little chance to judge the quality of Russian orchestras and virtuosos. Last week, for a change, a few fresh pressings of made-in-Russia recordings were on sale. None of the recordings (issued by Collosseum Records) is brandnew, but all are interesting. Outstanding items :

Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto (David Oistrakh, violinist, with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, A. V. Gauk conducting; 2 sides LP). Surely one of the great among modern violinists, 42-year-old Oistrakh combines in his playing the suavity of Heifetz and the depth and penetration of Szigeti. Most curious item in another album of Oistrakh favorites: Stephen Foster's Swanee River.

Symphonic Selections, played by the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra. The selections include pieces by Balakirev, Mussorgsky, Liadov, Rimsky-Korsakov. Although the recording is not first-rate (it sounds a little like the sound track of a Russian film), the Bolshoi orchestra itself sounds hard to beat.

Other new records:

Beethoven: Sonata in D Minor, Op. 31, No. 2 (Byron Jam's, pianist; Victor, 2 sides LP). Young (22) Pianist Janis, protege of Vladimir Horowitz, speeds through this stormy sonata ("Tempest") with much 'of the diamond-hard brilliance of his mentor. Recording: good.

Barber: Knoxville, "Summer of 1915" (Eleanor Steber, soprano, with the Dumbarton Oaks Chamber Orchestra, William Strickland conducting; Columbia, I side LP). James Agee's autobiographical essay of the same name appealingly set to song; Soprano Steber, who commissioned the music, sings it beautifully. Recording: excellent.

Debussy: Le Martyre de St.-Sebastien (Frances Yeend, soprano; Miriam Stewart, soprano; Anna Kaskas, contralto; Oklahoma City Symphony Orchestra and Chorale, Victor Alessandro conducting; Allegro, 2 sides LP). Composed to a "mystery" of D'Annunzio for Dancer Ida Rubinstein, Le Martyre (1911) was itself martyred in an unsuccessful play, is rarely performed. It contains many a strange and beautiful bar, stands pretty well on its own in this first recording. Performance and recording: good.

Ravel: Trio in A Minor (Artur Rubinstein, piano; Jascha Heifetz, violin; Gregor Piatigorsky, cello; Victor, I side LP). The most interesting of the three trios (the other two: Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn) recorded by the famed artists who formally combined their talents for the first time at Chicago's Ravinia Park (TiME, Aug. 22, 1949). The playing in all three is sensitively superb. Recording: excellent.

Rossini: The Barber of Seville (Luigi Infantine, tenor; Carlo Badioli, bass; Giulietta Simionato, mezzo-soprano; Giuseppe Taddei, baritone; Antonio Cas-sinelli, bass; orchestra and chorus of Radio Italiana, Fernando Previtali conducting; Cetra-Soria, 6 sides LP). Barber fans, used to hearing Rosina's arias trilled airily by a coy soprano, will be surprised to hear the role sung here by a more mature-sounding mezzo -- as Rossini wrote it. Mezzo Simionato brings it off beautifully; so does Baritone Taddei as Figaro. Conductor Previtali keeps it sparkling throughout. Recording: excellent.

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