New Records

It is a new rule of trade at RCA Victor and Columbia that the U.S. record-buying public wants more full-length grand opera. Three years ago, a 36-year-old New Yorker named Dario Soria bet a small bankroll on the same proposition--and is now the No. 1 impresario of recorded opera in the U.S.

Soria began importing music recorded by the Italian radio network (Cetra label) in 1946, found an interested market, soon began pressing operas from Cetra masters in New York. His label: Cetra-Soria. Since that time, Cetra-Soria has turned out 29 albums of complete operas alone. The latest releases, all of good performance and high recording quality, offer U.S. listeners three rarities:

Verdi: I Lombard! (Aldo Bertocci, tenor; Mario Petri, bass-baritone; Miriam Pirazzini, mezzo-soprano; Maria Vitale, soprano; Gustavo Gallo, tenor; Orchestra of Radio Italiana, Manno Wolf-Ferrari conducting; 6 sides LP). Verdi's fourth opera (1843) is a violent story of love and religion in the 11th Century.

Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur (Giacinto Prandelli, tenor; Carla Gavazzi, soprano; Saturno Meletti, baritone; Orchestra of Radio Italiana, Alfredo Simonetto conducting; 6 sides LP). A melodramatic love story by Francesco Cilea (1866-1950) studded with romantic melodies and forceful scoring.

Vecchi: L'Amfiparnaso (Chorus of the Accademia Corale of the Circolo Musicale di Lecco, Guido Camillucci conducting; 2 sides LP). An important milestone along the road toward opera: 14 delightful, five-part, unaccompanied 16th Century madrigals arranged in three acts.

Other new records:

Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 (the New York Philharmonic-Symphony, Bruno Walter conducting; Columbia, 2 sides LP). A superb new recording of a Beethoven giant. Walter's tempo is a trifle faster than is customary, and the result is a triumph. Recording: excellent.

Bartok: Excerpts from Mikrokosmos (Bela Bartok, piano; Columbia, 2 sides LP). Another of the "Meet the Composer" series, this one contains 35 of the original set of 153 studies in Bartokian rhythm and melody. Sample titles: Alternating Thirds, From the Diary of a Fly, Wrestling, Minor Seconds, Triplets in 9/8 Time. Performance: excellent. Recording: good.

Berg: Der Wein (Charlotte Boerner, soprano; Janssen Symphony Orchestra, Werner Janssen conducting; Capitol, 1 side LP). Berg's masterful concert aria extols the qualities of wine ("I make your wife's eyes sparkle and give fresh strength to your son") in twelve-tone style. San Francisco Chronicle Music Critic Alfred Frankenstein explains the twelve-tone language (with Bergian illustrations) on the second side. Performance and recording: excellent.

Schumann: Dichterliebe, Op. 48; Frauenliebe und Leben, Op. 42 (Lotte Lehmann, soprano; Bruno Walter, piano; Columbia, 2 sides each LP). Schumann's great song cycles of love, lovingly performed. Recording: excellent.

Piano Music of Debussy (Walter Gieseking, piano; Columbia, 2 sides LP). Six evocative pieces (Images, I and II) played with a caress by one of the finest of living pianists. Recording: excellent.

Hanson: Concerto in 6 Major for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 36 (Rudolf Firkusny, piano; Eastman-Rochester Symphony Orchestra, Howard Hanson conducting; Columbia, 1 side LP). One of Composer-Conductor Hanson's best works, imbued with good taste and good jazz. Performance and recording: good.

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