New Records

Shakespeare: Hamlet (spoken excerpts by Sir Laurence Olivier, with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Muir Mathieson conducting; Victor, 6 sides). In addition to Laurence Olivier's fine soliloquizing, music lovers can hear on this album how good movie music can be. English Composer William Walton did a lot in Olivier's Henry V to lift the standards of film scores; in Hamlet he raises a craft to an art. The score never intrudes, but accompanies the spoken word like an orchestra accompanying the piano or violin in a concerto. Recording: good.

Beethoven: String Quartet No. 16 (the Paganini Quartet; Victor, 6 sides). Here, in Beethoven's last great quartet, is the kind of music that Pianist Artur Schnabel describes as "better than it can be played." The Paganini Quartet version is almost the equal of the old Budapest String Quartet performance; the recording is much better.

Beethoven: Sonatas Nos. 1 & 2, Op. 12 (Jascha Heifetz, violinist; Emanuel Bay, pianist; Victor, 8 sides). Heifetz and Bay make these early, Haydnish sonatas sparkle for all they are worth. Recording: good.

Chopin: Preludes (Artur Rubinstein, pianist; Victor, 8 sides). This one deserves to join the great company of Rubinstein's Mazurka and Nocturne albums. Some of Chopin's best music, and some of Pianist Rubinstein's finest playing. Recording: excellent.

Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (Vladimir Horowitz, pianist; Victor, 7 sides). Ravel, Stokowski & Co. turned Mussorgsky's fine, delicate "pictures" into big, gaudy orchestral frescoes; Pianist Horowitz has returned them, in splendid condition, to the instrument Mussorgsky wrote them for. Recording: fair.

Mozart: Symphony No. 33, K. 319 (Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan conducting; Columbia, 5 sides). As symphonies go, one of the pygmies among Mozart's giants--but worth having for the bouncing vigor of the minuet and the fine sounds of a great orchestra. Recording: good.

Mozart: Concerto No. 4, K. 218 (Jascha Heifetz, violinist, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Thomas Beecham conducting; Victor, 6 sides). Heifetz is too often sleek where cleanliness, clarity and simplicity are called for. Recording: good.

Strauss: Thus Spake Zarathustra (Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Artur Rodzinski conducting; Victor, 9 sides). Though Zarathustra hasn't much to say, Conductor Rodzinski doesn't miss a word. Recording: good.

Thomson: Four Saints in Three Acts (soloists, chorus and orchestra conducted by Virgil Thomson; Victor, 10 sides). A condensed version of the Virgil Thomson-Gertrude Stein collaboration. Amusing the first time around, but hardly worth repeated playings. Performance and recording: good.

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