Ml SICnRecords: Tuneful Affairsnby Robert R. ReillynAn attractive disc of chamber musicnby the Western Arts Trio has been issuednby Laurel Records (LR-109), Volume IIInin a series featuring this fine ensemble.nThe first piece is Joaquin Turina’s SecondnTrio, Opus 74 in B minor for piano andnstrings. The beginning is reminiscent ofnAnton Arensky’s Trio, a late 19thcenturynRussian work. The second movementnis quite Ravelish with occasionalnsplashes of Spanish sounds. It is an enjoyable,ntuneful affair, an attractivenmelange of Russian, Spanish and Frenchninfluences. Completing side one is anshort (8:45) trio by Alexandre Tcherepninncomposed in 1925. For all its brevity,nit carries even more weight than thenTurina piece—taut, propulsive andndarkly shaded, much like somethingnfrom Shostakovitch. In my book, this isnhigh praise. (Anyone who finds thisnmusic appealing should also investigatenTcherepnin’s Symphony No. 2 onnLouisville Records, LS-645.)nSide two contains some rather sombernmusic by Aaron Copland and Marcellende Manziarly. “‘Vitebsk,’ Study on anJewish Theme” (1929) is no downhome,nfoot-stomping Copland, nor is itna Bloch-like rhapsody. It is a morenabstract affair in which Copland experimentsnwith the out-of-tune sound ofnquarter-tones. It gains a good deal of itsnexpressiveness from the Jewish idioms itnemploys, but one who is unfamiliar withnthem can listen with but one ear. This isnharsh, clangorous, passionate music thatndoes not easily yield its beauties.nMiss Manziarly wrote her “Trilogue”nespecially for the Western Arts Trio. Thenwork is “a ‘dialogue’ between the violin,ncello and piano during which the differentncharacteristics of sound and techniquenof each instrument reveals the contrastnbetween their respective manners ofnMr. Reilly is with the International CommunicationnAgency in Washington, D. C.n48inChronicles of Cultttrenexpression.” I am not sure what these instrumentsnare saying to each other, but itnis decidedly not on the cheery side.nLaurel’s new “Quiex” vinyl seems tonbe working superbly. The surfaces arenvery quiet and the recording very good.nOn a new London digital recording,nLDR-71021, Sir Charles Mackerras leadsnthe Vienna Philharmonic in a by-nowtraditionalnpairing of Leosjanacek’s Sinfoniettanwith Taras Bulba. The Septembern/October 1981 Chronicles of Culture announcednthe happy news that KarlnAncerl’s old Turnabout performancenhad been reissued by Quintessence. Thatnblazing version is worth having, no matternwhat sound improvements the futurenmay bring. I am also fond of Kubelik’snDGG performance of ten years ago. Tonbegin, the quality of the new Londonnpressing is excellent. Now that Polygramnis running London, we are assured of thensame faultless standards of DGG andnPhillips. For years the old London recordsnwere plagued with incessant pops andntics. This recording removes any skepticismnabout the magnitude of improvementnthat a digital recording can provide.nThe detail, the clarity, the impactnare thrilling, and one can hardly imaginenmusic that would benefit more fromnthese advantages. The first impression ofnMackerras’s performance of the Sinfoniettanis that his tempi seem too slow,nthat he is missing some of the gloriousntumult of the music. But, by the lastnnnmovement, any impression of flacciditynhas been swept away by his expansiventreatment. Mackerras’s approach tonTaras Bulba may be the most rhapsodicnyet. This is magnificent, soaring musicmaking.nFor anyone who already lovesnthis music, this disc is a must. Anyonenwho awaits introduction to these exultant,npowerful, bewitching masterpiecesnof the 20th century should not hesitate.nVirgil Thomson has made a symphony,nhis third (1972), out of an earliernString Quartet, No. 2, vintage 1932. Thenchild is the father of the man and, sincenthe String Quartet No. 2 is a neoclassicncharmer, it is no surprise that the fullgrownnSymphony No. 3 is delightfiil asnwell. The music is extroverted and doesnnot betray its chamber-music origins,nalthough Thomson’s bold, exuberantnorchestration pushes the music almostntoo far into the open. It is a short worknconsisting of four movements, each writtennin one of the classical forms: sonataallegron, waltzer (waltz), adagio (based onnthe tango) and rondo-sonata finale. As itnabounds in dance rhythms and lovelynmelodies, its appeal is immediate. Thenopening statementof the cyclical themenis both startling and catchy. The mood isncelebratory, almost circuslike at times; itnslowly winds down to the elegiac thirdnmovement,- picks up energy for thenthematic recapitulations of the fourthnand closes serenely. This is no Sturm undnDrang grappling with a Doppelgitnger,nnor is it music for the ages, but it is a piecento which one can return ofi:en for sheernenjoyment and relief from the sonic (andnother) displacements of the modernnworld. Sound, surface and performancenare all fine on this welcome ComposersnRecording (CRI-SD-411). (The quartetnversion is also recommended and isnavailable in a worthy Vot Box ofnAmerican String Quartets SV-BX-5305.)nThe flip side of the Thomson disc containsna reissue of a Columbia recordingnof Robert Helps’s Symphony No. 1n