PROKOFIEV Peter and the Wolf. WAGNER Excerpts:Tannhäuser, Tristan und Isolde, Die Walküre, Siegfried, Götterdämmerung • Lauritz Melchior, (nar,1 ten); Fritz Reiner, cond;1 Chicago SO;1 John Barbirolli, Albert Coates, Leo Blech,2 Robert Heger,2 conds; London SO; Berlin St Op O2 • MYTO 61109, mono (77:00) Live: Chicago 19511

Astrology buffs, take note: Lauritz Melchior and Beniamino Gigli were born on the exact same day in 1891. Unfortunately, so were a lot of people who probably sang like crows. I was born on the exact same day as Françoise Sagan—she was a celebrity author at 17; I’m still slaving away in obscurity for Fanfare. Speaking of writing, the annotations for this Melchior CD make a few dubious assertions that I will charitably attribute to inept translation by some drone. Did most of Melchior’s Met performances take place at matinees? I doubt it. Are there 20 live Melchior Tristans in circulation (Shirlee Emmons’s authorized biography lists only six)? Did Melchior make a “studio recording” of Peter and the Wolf? All I could find a reference to is a January 14th, 1951, recording with the Austin (Texas) Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ezra Rachlin, which I’ve never heard and which I very much doubt is a “studio recording.” In keeping with the production values is a photo on the back of the booklet, captioned “F. Reiner.” It’s actually E. Ormandy! Perhaps for copyright reasons (?), the conductors and orchestras involved in the Wagner selections are not identified in the booklet—or maybe it was just too much bother. Albert Reiss joins Melchior for the forging scene from Siegfried and Otto Helgers is the Hagan in the Götterdämmerung excerpt. Although the booklet says the recordings were made in 1929–1930, the “Winterstürme” from Die Walküre actually dates from May 16, 1931. In any event, I doubt that any Melchior fans need to buy this CD for the Wagner excerpts, of which they probably have many and in better transfers.

Alas, they may have to purchase it anyway, for the Peter is incomparable. Melchior (or the recording, which sounds like it originated on a home disc recorder) leaves out the introduction of the characters and their representative instruments and plunges right into the story. He sounds like he’s having the time of his life—bubbling over with enthusiasm, imitating the characters’ voices, and clowning his way through a text that is unlike any I’ve ever heard. I generally prefer my Peter and the Wolfs (or should it be Peters and the Wolf?) straight—I learned the piece on Basil Rathbone’s recording with Stokowski and I guess I’m imprinted, but if I have to hear another, it might as well be over-the-top like this one. I generally resist narrators who inflict too much “personality” on the piece, turning it into a showbizzy shtick, yet I never get the feeling that Melchior is condescending or putting on an act. He simply sounds like he loves the piece and wants the audience to love it, too. Fritz Reiner’s accompaniment, on the other hand, strikes me as deadly serious, even giving the music an occasional “edge” (with the grimmest, nastiest wolf I can remember hearing). It complements Melchior’s narration nicely. It may be worth putting up with the surface noise and what sounds like occasional tape-pulls for this one.

FANFARE: James Miller