Pick of the Pack

By William Bender

Heinrich: The Dawning of Music in Kentucky (the American Music Group, Neely Bruce, director and piano soloist; Vanguard, $5.98). In his own time (1781-1861), Anthony Philip Heinrich was considered by his supporters "the Beethoven of America." More recently, Lexicographer Nicolas Slonimsky has taken a less adoring stance: "The quality of his works easily accounts for the speedy and complete oblivion of even his name." This first LP of his music suggests that the real Heinrich lies somewhere between Beethoven and oblivion. He was a Bohemian immigrant who, among other things, wrote some grandiose orchestral works and helped found the New York Philharmonic Society in 1842. The piano and vocal pieces offered here will strike some listeners as benign imitations of Haydn and early Beethoven. Yet compared with the efforts of other American composers at the time, they are notable in their harmonic freedom, improvisatory style and whimsical subject matter. Epitaph on Joan Duff, for example, is the sweet-and-sour tale of a woman who took a pinch of snuff and sneezed herself to death. This is fascinating Americana, but it is a pity that printed texts of the songs are not provided.

Copland: Appalachian Spring (original version, Columbia Chamber Orchestra, the composer conducting; Columbia, $5.98); Copland: Sonata for Violin and Piano, Duo for Flute and Piano, Nonet for Strings (Columbia, $5.98). Partnering Violinist Isaac Stern in the Sonata (1943), or the late Elaine Shaffer in the Duo (1971), Copland proves himself a splendid interpreter of two of his most wistfully introspective chamber works.

The real find here is the ballet score Appalachian Spring, presented for the first time on disc in the version for 13 instruments (strings, woodwinds, piano) originally written for Martha Graham in 1944. Lighter and leaner than Copland's later scoring for full orchestra, this interpretation is an exquisite way to rehear -- or meet -- one of the homespun classics of 20th century American music.

Halevy: La Juive, highlights (Sopranos Martina Arroyo and Anna Moffo, Tenor Richard Tucker, Bass Bonaldo Giaiotti, Ambrosian Opera Chorus, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Antonio de Almeida conducting; RCA, $5.98). First performed in 1835, La Juive (The Jewess) is grand in style, massive in its demands for choral, orchestral and solo forces and spectacular in stage effects; in accordance with the Parisian fondness for such stuff, it was one of the favorites of 19th century French opera. Set in 1 5th century Switzerland, the story concerns the persecution of Eleazar, a Jewish goldsmith, and his foster daughter Rachel. Before his execution, Eleazar gets to sing one of the tenderest arias in tenor literature, Rachel, quand du Seigneur. Caruso and Martinelli sang the role, and Richard Tucker has been begging for years to sing it at the Met. So far, he has had to settle for a staged performance in New Orleans last October and two concert versions. While the opera may not be rich enough to justify the cost of a Met revival, this LP does whet the appetite for the whole thing on records, at least. Tucker at 60 continues to project vi brant, tensible tenor strength.

Schubert: Quintet in C, Op. 163 (the Juilliard Quartet with Cellist Bernard Greenhouse; Columbia, $5.98). In the last few months before his death in 1 828 at age 3 1 , Franz Schubert composed the epic Symphony No. 9 in C, three pro found, mysterious piano sonatas, and this supreme, totally singular monument to the glory that is chamber music. Its lamination of otherworldly premonition, personal sorrow and sheer manly courage is captured heroically in one of the finest recordings in the Juilliard's long (28 years) career.--William Bender

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