Recording of the Month

Mahler: Symphony No.1 in D ("The Titan")
Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Bruno Walter, conductor
Columbia MS-6394 (LP). John McClure, prod. TT: 52:15

This is one of those rare combinations of a superb recording and a stunning performance. As far as I'm concerned, it is the best Mahler First that Bruno Walter committed to discs during his lifetime, including the last one that he made with the New York Philharmonic. And the fact that this recording is far superior to that accorded Walter when he conducted the New York Philharmonic does not detract one bit from my feeling about this new release.

Elgar: Orchestral Works
Falstaff, The Sanguine Fan, Fantasia and Fugue in c (transcribed from J.S. Bach), excerpt from The Starlight Express
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab 2-501 (half-speed–mastered LP, pressed in Japan, 1981). Originally released as HMV ASD 2970 (LP, 1974). Reissued as EMI CDM 7 63133 2 (CD, 1989). Christopher Bishop, prod.; Christopher Parker, Stuart Eltham, engs.

We have never before bestowed an award on anyone for anything. We felt obliged to do it on Mobile Fidelity for their remastering of the EMI Elgar Falstaff recording because it is the first time to our knowledge that a single classical release has combined a performance and a recording which are both good enough that neither need be done again. Our congratulations to Mobile Fidelity's Gary Giorgi. Now, let's have some more, from Mobile Fidelity or any other source. We have more awards to hand out when and if.—J. Gordon Holt

KEITH JARRETT: Dark Intervals
Keith Jarrett, piano
ECM 1379 (837 342-1, LP; -2, CD). Kimio Oikawa, eng.; Manfred Eicher, prod. DDA/DDD. TT: 58:22

After a five-year hiatus in which he explored jazz standards, classical music, the clavichord, and the unclassifiable Spirits, Keith Jarrett has returned, however briefly, to the form that gained him his widest reputation: solo piano improvisations. But with a difference—only a single LP this time (instead of two, three, or ten), that LP composed of eight short sections, each with a title. This is a far cry from unbroken piano improvs spanning three LP sides, titled only with the name and date of the venue.

WYNTON MARSALIS: Tune In Tomorrow (soundtrack)
Wynton Marsalis, trumpet; Alvin Batiste, Dr. Michael White, clarinet; Wes Anderson, Harvey Estrin, alto sax; Todd Williams, tenor & soprano sax, clarinet; Joe Temperley, baritone sax; Herb Harris, tenor sax; Wycliffe Gordon, trombone; Marcus Roberts, piano; Warren Bernhardt, Lucky Peterson, organ; Reginald Veal, bass; Herlin Riley, drums; Johnny Adams, Shirley Horn, vocals
Columbia CK 47044 (CD only). Tim Geelan, eng.; Steve Epstein, Delfeayo Marsalis, prods. DDD. TT: 63:37

PJ HARVEY: Dry
Too Pure/Indigo/Island 162-555 001-2 (CD only). Head, PJ Harvey, Robert Ellis, prods.; Head, eng. AAD? TT: 40:06

J.S. BACH: Secular Cantatas
"Coffee Cantata," BWV 211; "Peasant Cantata," BWV 212; Durchlauchtster Leopold, BWV 173a
Dorothea Röschmann, soprano; Hugues Saint-Gelais, tenor; Kevin McMillan, baritone; Les Violons du Roy, Bernard Labadie
Dorian DOR-90199 (CD only). Craig D. Dory, eng.; Brian C. Peters, eng., prod. DDD. TT: 73:13