ROZSA. (a) Concerto for Violin and Orchestra. SPOHR. (b) Concerto No. 8 in A minor, Op. 47. TCHAIKOVSKY. (c) Serenade Melan- colique. Jascha Heifetz (violin) with (a) Dallas Symphony Orchestra conducted by Walter Hendl ; (b) R.C.A. Victor Orchestra conducted by Izler Solomon ; (c) Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Alfred Wallenstein. R.C.A. RB16009 (12 in., 39s. 71d.).

Here is something of special interest : Heifetz in a brand new concerto, a revival of an old-time favourite and a characteristic and lovely Tchaikovsky piece that is very seldom heard.

Readers over here will first want to know about MiklOs ROzsa. (I cull the following from what we should consider more of a blurb that a serious sleeve-note and I suggest, by the way, that R.C.A. should consider different notes for the British market : I have not been impressed with those I have seen.) R6zsa was born about 1907 (precise date not given) and is of Hungarian origin. He now lives near Hollywood and is a professor of the University of Southern California, he writes music for films and is also a serious, though not prolific, composer.

This Violin Concerto, his second, was conceived in 1953 and subsequently worked at in close collaboration with Heifetz, who gave its first performance at Dallas in January, 1956. It was, we are told, a tremendous success and I am not surprised, for the combination of Heifetz's playing and a by no means unapproachable new concerto would be likely to bring down any house.

The idiom is no more " modern " than, say, Walton and, indeed, the music shows both the lyricism of Walton's own Concerto and the bustling energy so often another of his characteristics. It has not, I think, the haunting quality of Walton's ideas, nor does it show a musical character as strong as his, but it is nevertheless a considerable work (you can forget the composer's Hollywood connections and take him perfectly seriously). Its texture is full of interest, its technique most assured and the interest is consequently always held. I had no score, of course, but it is easy to assume that the performance is superlative, likewise the recording.

The recording in the Spohr puts a microphone too near the solo instrument. Not that the orchestra is lost—by no means —but you hear every accidental half-touch of finger on string. It is as if you were yourself playing, with one ear tucked into the instrument. Listen to the soloist's opening phrase and in those few bars you will hear two sounds that would normally be unnoticed. That apart, the sound is admirable and one is glad to welcome such a brilliant and convincing performance of the only Spohr concerto that has kept itself, if tenuously, in the repertory. It deserves to be remembered. (It is the one subtitled in Form einer Gesangs Scena—" in the form of an operatic song scena ".) There are two very short cuts in the tutti, one of only two bars. This, I think, is a pity. Such small excisions do not save us from boredom, if we are bored, and even if the missing bars are of no special consequence, we might as well have the work complete, especially if it is a revival.

Tchaikovsky's beautiful piece (Op. 26) completes a record of very great interest and very much recommended. T.H.