New Records

In contemporary American composition, as in the classical repertory, there is a standard style. Among its characteristics are a cool, outdoorsy kind of counterpoint that is dissonant but not harsh, an energetic rhythm that is neither brawny nor strikingly brainy, and a kind of melody that is homely, and sometimes even folksy. In short, it is middle-of-the-way modernity--and it predominates in the first release of Columbia's new Modern American Music Series (6 LPs).

Two works are standouts: pioneering Modernist Charles Ives's Piano Sonata No. 1 (1902-09) and Aaron Copland's Sextet for String Quartet, Clarinet and Piano (1937). The Ives, expertly played by William Masselos, is a monumental piece that combines deep lyricism with exuberant imagination. The Copland, a chamber-music version of his concise Short Symphony, is pleasantly full of musical playfulness and ingenuity.

Of the rest, only Wallingford Riegger's Quartet No. 2, Op. 43 (1948), played by the New Music String Quartet, and Walter Piston's warm-blooded Sonata for Violin and Harpsichord (1945), played by Alexander Schneider and Ralph Kirkpatrick, are likely to leave much of an impression on a first-listener's mind. Other modern composers whose works are represented: John Cage, Ingolf Dahl, Lou Harrison, Ellis Kohs, Douglas Moore, William Schuman, Virgil Thomson.

Other new records:

Berlioz: Funeral and Triumphal Symphony (Great Symphonic Brass and String Orchestras of Cologne and Koelnischer Choir, conducted by Fritz Straub; Lyrichord). One of Berlioz' most theatrical conceptions, opening with a death rattle on the drums and ending with a brassy quickstep and choral finale. Recording: not so evenly balanced as some, but worth hearing for the music.

International Musical Eisteddfod (Westminster, 2 LPs). First recordings of a unique event that lures choruses and dancers from a dozen countries into a sleepy Welsh valley every year. High points: a velvety-voiced male choir from Rossendale, England, and choruses from Britain, Italy and the U.S. in competitive versions of a 17th century madrigal.

Mozart Concert Arias (Magda Laszlo, soprano; Vienna State Opera Orchestra conducted by Argeo Quadri; Westminster). Five masterful arias that never appear in operas--although two of them are virtually scenes in themselves--and are rarely sung with orchestra. Soprano Laszlo has a large dramatic voice and she sings intelligently.

Mozart: Zaide (Mattiwilda Dobbs, Hugues Cuenod; Paris Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Rene Leibowitz; Polymusic, 2 LPs). A little-known but musically appealing opera written when Mozart was only 23. Soprano Dobbs, an American Negro, delivers her arias with rare feeling for their contours.

Puccini: Tosca (Renata Tebaldi, Giuseppe Campora, Enzo Mascherini; Chorus and Orchestra of St. Cecilia Academy, Rome, conducted by Alberto Erede; London, 2 LPs). The fifth full-length LP recording of Puccini's old pulse-bumper. Soprano Tebaldi's richly passionate Tosca, Tenor Campora's angel-voiced Cavaradossi, and a fine over-all production are well worth hearing.

Rimsky-Korsakov: May Night (Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Bolshoi Opera, conducted by Vassily Nebolsin; Vanguard, 3 LPs). For opera lovers looking for a new but basically old-fashioned work. The plot, derived from Gogol stories, is full of romantic love and farcical confusion, but has a happy ending.

Rossini: The Barber of Seville (Victoria de los Angeles, Nicola Monti, Nicola Rossi-Lemeni; Milan Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Tullio Serafin; Victor, 3 LPs). A fine performance and elegant recorded sound make this the first fully satisfactory LP of The Barber. De los Angeles' voice, while not so flexible as Pons's in her heyday, is brilliant and accurate in coloratura passages. Monti is a lyrical and affecting tenor, and Rossi-Lemeni's bass is almost too sumptuous for his tomfoolery as Basilio.

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