Music: The New Records

When Jascha Heifetz, fiddle in hand, moved to Decca Records, musicians guessed that Decca, the largest manufacturers of Tin Pan Alley records, pined to go highbrow. But last week it looked as if Decca had given Longhair Heifetz a short haircut.

In 17 months at Decca, Heifetz has recorded, among other “Americana,” glossy Negro spirituals and Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. His second Decca album, out this month (Gershwin, arranged by Jascha Heifetz; Decca, 8 sides), contained Porgy and Bess songs and three Gershwin preludes, brilliantined up with double stops and Heifetz glissandi. Although the violin is probably the instrument least suited for jazz solos, Decca announced that Heifetz’ next album will be Hexapoda—”five studies in Jitteroptera.” Said Decca’s President Jack Kapp: “If Bing can sing Ave Maria, why can’t Heifetz do boogie-woogie?”

Other new albums:

Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique (San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Monteux conducting; Victor, 12 sides). An opium dream set to music by the father of modern orchestration. Performance: excellent.

Tchaikovsky: Excerpts from Three Operas (Soloists, orchestra and chorus of the Moscow State Theater of the U.S.S.R.; Disc, 6 sides). Powerful rumblings by Soviet baritones and bassos, and less spectacular arias by women singers, from Pique Dame, lolanthe and Eugene Onegin. Performance: good. Recording: poor.

Bach: Sonata in E for Violin and Harpsichord (Yehudi Menuhin and Wanda Landowska; Victor, 6 sides). Two stars dazzle in some of Bach’s best. Performance: good.

Beethoven: Concerto No. 1 in C for Piano and Orchestra (Ania Dorfmann and the NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini conducting; Victor, 8 sides). Toscanini features a protege who is not quite up to it; Artur Schnabel’s earlier version is better. Performance: fair.

Rachmaninoff: Concerto No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra (Gyorgy Sandor and the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, Artur Rodzinski conducting; Columbia, 8 sides). A workmanlike reading of a vapid but pleasant score. Performance: good.

Pat Harrington: Come-All-Ye’s (Decca, 12 sides). Wonderful Irish folk classics sung with a brogue. Included are Paddy McGinty’s Goat, Brannigan’s Pup and McSorley’s Two Beautiful Twins (“What an elegant time at the christening we had!”). Performance: good.

Lily Pons: Waltz Album (Columbia, 8 sides). Piccolo-voiced Pons trills Gounod, Strauss and Noel Coward, all in three-quarters time. Performance: good.