5196106000

CLASSICAL Record Reviews I

under his name. were the talk of Europę. After the affair with Princess Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein ended. he became a Franciscan abbe (though never a priest). and thenceforth unencumbered, the erstwhile lion and sorcerer, now aging. lorded it over European musie from three “eourts": Romę. Budapest. and Weimar. Still splendid in his cassock, surmounted by a white manę, he was kind and helpful to his colleagues espe-eially to fledgling composers-and no person or instilution who sought his help was turned down.

Whatever Liszt composed usually had at least some original features. The beginning of the Kyrie conveyssuch in-terest. though the piece is spun out be-yond its rightful dimensions. The Gloria is festive. imperial, but not quite con-vincing; It seems only the celebration of an official act, with suitable pomp and bright sonorities. In the "Quitollis" there are Hungarian accents. and the musie beeomes warm and plangent. The Credo offers a sudden surprise in its subdued li-turgical earnestness, as the unison choir declaims the afTeeting Gregorian-ehant-inspired melody with organ accom-paniment. This is the most ehurehly piece in the Mass. but it is not by Liszt: it was borrowed from one of the Messes rovales en plain -chant by the seventeenth-century Walloon co m po ser Henry du Mont. The Sanetus is again festive. with many original harmonie and melodie turns. The Benedictus introduces a violin solo, such as had been used «n ornate solem n Masses sińce Bach and Beethoven. Here. too. there are Hungarian echoes, and Liszt carries the voices and the strings way up into the heights; ob-viously intended as “heavenly" musie, this is verv nice. but it sounds so much like the Prelude to Lohengrin that one ean hardly stay in the proper frame of mind. Finally. the Agnus Dei onee morę quotes the Hungarian memories from the ^%%Qui tollis.** but the ending is pale.

The Mass contains too many dis* ruptive instrumental passages; the Of-fertory is virtually a smali symphonie poem suggesting some hidden program. These passages, meditative but some-what disjointed, eomprise a mosaie in whieh the individual pieees do not quite eome together.

Weil. the great Austro-Hungarian empire collapsed half a eentury after its foundation. the aneient House of Hapsburg disappeared. and they took the Coronation Mass with them. Perhaps this work suited the oeeasion. bul it now seems too closely tied to the anachronis-lie politieal-religious era it eelebrated.

The performance is excellent-well conducted. played, and sung--and so-prano Veronika Kincses is partieularly admirable. Yet the reeording is flawed.

IT DOESNT COST ANY MORĘ TO OWN A BANG & OLUFSEN CARTRIDGE.

i

Model MMC 20 CL T with Universal Adapter.

One of the most prestigious names in audio offers a remarkably affordable way to improve your stereo system. Bang & Olufsen MMC Cartridges.

Their audibly superior innovations will now fit virtually all ot today’s better tonearms.

What is MMC? It’s the patented Moving Micro Cross® armaturę found in all five Bang & Olufsen cartridges.

This MMC delivers exceptionally accurate stereo separation, depth and realistic stereo imaging which pinpoints the placement of inaividual instruments. One audition will convince you.

Our extremely Iow Effective Tip Mass affords much longer record life and better tracking even on “hopelessly” warped records.

You’11 find a solid, single-crystal sapphire cantilever * r-i on the remarkable .mt MMC-20CL. <■ ’-

\ BANG 4 OLUf A

*»

Why sapphire? Because it has very Iow mass yet is 21% morę rigid than beryllium and 500% morę rigid than aluminum commonly used in other cartridges.

This rigidity virtually eliminates any distortion-causing vibration within the canti-lever. Every subtle movement of the Stylus tip is translated into transparent sound and musical detail.

Hear for yourself why the critics respect our MMC cartridges... and leam how for the price of a fine cartridge you can own a Bang & Olufsen.

For morę information, write to:

Bang & Olufsen

Bang <& Olufsen of America, Inc.

515 Busse Road

Ełk Grove Yillage, Illinois 60007

DECEM BER 1981

75

*Moving Micro Cross is a registered trademark of Bang & Olufsen.

Circla 28 on Reador-Sarvlca Card