- . S . r No -- - w . &'Se4 ad eccdRe4r Rein qeie4 THE PROPHET OUTCAST: Trotsky 1929- 1940, by Isac Deutscer, London Ox- ford University Press, 1963, $9.50, 543 pages. THE THIRD PART of Deutscher's tri- logy on the life of Trotsky, "The Pro- phet Outcast" completes a work that, both in terms of its scholarship and its relevancy to contemporary world affairs, may well prove to be a classic. Deutscher brings to his task both a sensitivity for detail and an appreciation for the scope of the events with which he deals that seems especially fitting in a biography of a man of Trotsky's character.' Of the works included in the trilogy - "The Prophet Armed," "The Prophet Unarmed," "The Prophet Outcast" - the last is by far the most intellectually and scholastically adventurous. While a final evaluation of many of the subtler points in the present volume must await the opening of the "closed" portion of Trot- sky's archives (the portion of Trotsky's archives which deals with the period in question were closed, by a provision in Trotsky's will, until 1980. Deutscher gained special access to them), Deutsch- er's scholarship seems to be both strik- ingly methodical and faithful. Much of the public knowledge we have as to the activities of the Trotskyist Opposition tends to support the conclusions reached by the author. Although Deutscher, in the manner of a good storyteller, drifts into anecdote fairly frequently, he is not primarily con- cerned with the flotsam and jetsam of Trotsky's experiences as an individual. Even in the present study, in which he seeks an intimacy with his subject that appears infrequently in the other two volumes, Deutscher is primarily concern- ed with creating, in as succinct a manner as possible, an intellectual and social his- tory of the Russian Communist move- ment and Trotsky's role in it. Deutscher's treatment of many over- whelmingly personal aspects of Trotsky's life, seems strangely superficial when contrasted with the elaborate structure of background material, side comment, documentation and the like, which he brings to bear upon more public aspects of Trotsky's life. Most importantly, in the "Prophet Out- cast," Deutscher succeeds in conveying to his reader _the sense of tragedy which surrounds Trotsky's role in the Russian Marxist movement. He presents what is, essentially, the chronicle of a man who watches the loss of a sense of responsibil- ity and ethics by the movement he helped create, through vehicles he, as perhaps the most poignant of its spokesmen, help- ed to erect. Trotsky is, thus, a victim of his own logic. Moreover, the trilogy - and especially "The Prophet Outcast" -- tells us some- thing about the history, not only of the anti-Stalinist opposition, but also of all such movements: the factional disputes, leadership conflicts, jealousies, group paranoia and so on. In detailing the history of political conflicts, there seems to be a fairly com- mon tendency on the part of biographers to glamorize the loser. All things being considered, Deutscher seems to have avoided this error remarkably well. His specific perspectives - Judgments as to the period in question - thus, retain only tangential importance to the work as a whole. world, and he questions the relation this bears to schooling. Growing up into a worthwhile world? - today's youth arei passing to joblessness, and today's Jobless are without world. Anomie, the sociol- ogists call it. What skill, what -art is taught in the school, Goodman asks: skill at doing what you are told? the art of answering test questions? Is the training that the schools do give needed for citizenly activity? Probably not: Goodman is not even sure about the necessity of universal literacy, now that mass communications are primarily oral and pictorial. Is it needed for future work? Decidedly not. Then why give it? - to everyone, by compulsion, at public expense? The separate essays in the book, origi- nally written for individual conferences or publications, cover the American edu- cational system from elementary school to college. They are not fair, as Good- man himself says in his preface, but demonstrate a good eye for failures. They are impressionistic, rather than statistical, but Goodman's experience is long and his sight clear, while statistics are notoriously expensive and ambiguous. The book is a needed barb for anyone in education: prospective teachers should be made to read it. Others interested in the problems of growing up in America will probably find it interesting. The combination of anger and despair in the essays keeps them from being more than a start in a program of change, or even redesign, for education in this coun- try. But it is a start; others must go on and design new systems. -Robert Farrell MASSEN ET: "Herodiade" (excerpts) with Regine Crespin, soprano; Rita Gorr, mezzo-soprano; Albert Lance, tenor; Michel Dens, baritone; and Jacques Mars, bass. L'Orchestre du Theatre National de l'opera-George - Pretre, conductor. Angel Stereo S 36145. MASSENET'S "HERODIADE" h a s shared the same fate in the inter- national repertoire with Paisiello's "I Barbiere di Seviglia," Rossini's "Otello" and Leoncavallo's "La Boheme": they have all been supplanted by later and more popular musical settings of the same stories. The more neurotic characters of Rich- ard Strauss' "Salome" have displaced Massenet's gentler and more melodic de- lineations. There is also a switch in vocal ranges; in "Herodiade," Herod is a bari- tone, while in "Salome" he is a tenor. John the Baptist is a tenor for Massenet and a baritone for Strauss. The emphases of the composers' char- acterizations also differ. Herodiade is made much more prominent by the Frenchman, and Herod is not the drunk- enly depraved character of Strauss' op- era; he is just a man who is tired of his nagging wife and is interested in a new- er model, i.e. Salome. Musically, judging from these excerpts, the work exhibits Massenet's usual trademarks -suave, charming, sensous and often sentimental melodies (evident- ly much appreciated by the French). The performance is generally on a high level, with artistic honours going to Michel Dens, whose interpretation of Herod is superbly conceived and intelli- gently executed. Regine Crespin, the "widely acclaimed" soprano, has not sounded this good either at the Metropolitan, the Chicago Lyric Opera, or on her previous recordings. Perhaps she is more at home in the French repertoire than in the Strauss, Wagner and various Italian roles she has performed. Georges Pretre leads the orchestra in fine style. We should be grateful to An- gel for bringing us these highlights from the French operatic repertoire, so seldom (if ever) head on this side of the Atlantic. -O Ranieri di Sorbelo LISZT: "A Faust Symphony;" "Les Pre- ludes."-Leonard Bernstein conducting. the New York Philharmonic. Charles Bressler, tenor; The Choral Arts So- ciety directed by William Jonsoi. Columbia Monaural M2L 299, $9.96 (Stereo M2S 699, $11.96). LISZT'S "A FAUST SYMPHONY" is an interesting work if for no other reason than that its first thirteen notes contain a twelve-tone row. In addition, the first movement contains sections of whole tone harmonies, in which a strong feeling of home key is all but lost. All this in 1854! This symphony does not tell a story, but is a series of character sketches of the main characters of Goethe's "Faust:" Faust, Gretchen and Mephistopheles. "A Faust Symphony" contains a wealth of wonderful musical thoughts and shows good composing imagination, especially in the outer movements. But sometimes mechanical repetitions of cer- tain parts bog the musical motion down. Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic dig right in and deliver a sonorous performance of high calibre. The Columbia engineers have not slight- ed them in the duties of capturing the sound orgies in which the orchestra par- takes. Bernstein maintains the taut control necessary to retain this work's foreward \ momentum - a quality which can make or break its performance. Tenor Charles Bressler and the Choral Art Society directed by William Jonson produce a moving epilogue to this 70- minute symphony. The fourth side of this two-record set contains thet same performance of Liszt's "Les Preludes" which backs up the Andre Watts/Leonard Bernstein performance of the same composer's Piano Concerto No. 1. Here the sound engineers have done their part, but the orchestra is not as shimmering and glowing as in the sym- phony. This album shows Bernstein's "Faust" to be strong competition for the highly- praised Beecham version. -Jeffrey K. Chase JACQUES OFFENBACH: "Gaite Pari. sienne." GEORGES BIZET: "L'Arle- sienne," Suites One and Two. Eu- gene Ormandy conducting the Phila- delphia Orchestra. COLUMBIA ML 5946, $4.98 (stereo MS 6546, $5.98) IT IS ABOUT TIME that someone ex- posed the "Gaite Parisienne" ruse once and for all. One may buy a version of this. frothy Offenbach melange which takes up only one side of a record, and get another 25 minutes or so of music on the other side into the bargain. That's the way Antal Dorati (Mercury) (to name one example) recorded it, and that's the way Ormandy's going it for Columbia. But the buyer who goes for the extra side of music ends up getting rooked after all; for "Gaite Parisienne" is actually about 35 minutes in length, necessitating that some cuts be made to fit most - but not all - of it on one record side. If you want a superlative performance of the complete ballet, waste no more time considering Ormandy's truncated version but head for the splendid version by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops (RCA Victor), the gayety of which comes as a 'breath of fresh air after Ormandy's somewhat heavy-handed treatment of those parts of the score he does condes- cend to offer us. The Bizet suites on the other side are given a reading which varies from a bit too fast to just about right. But Orman- dy apparently wasn't working from the score when he thought about questions of orchestral balance: for example, in the openingmeasures of the prelude to the first suite, the fortissimo strings all but drown out the two clarinets, two bas- soons, four horns, English horn and alto saxophone which are also supposed to be playing fortissimo. On the whole, I wouldn't call Orman- dy's reading of the Bizet suites a bad one - indeed, in many spots it is quite ad- mirably done. Columbia's sound is brilliant, but the competing versions have sound which is generally just as good, if not better. -Steven Haller BRAHMS: "Variations on a Theme by Haydn," "Academic Festival Over- ture." The Philharmonia Orchestra, Josef Krips conducting. Angel Stereo S 36170, $5.98 (Monaural 36170, $4.98). THIS RECORDING, I am especially fond of Krips's reading of the Varia- tions. His result combines the lush sound of the Bruno Walter recording with the clarity of line of the Toscanini. Krips must have a very fine ear for balance be- cause he is able to make so many simul- taneous lines be distinctly heard at one time. Krips, too, is very conscious of instru- mental color. The brass have a warm, mellow tone; the strings are not too "stringy"; the winds are rich and clear. In vertical sonorities, Krips emphasizes certain tone colors in such a way that the -sound is just a little different from what is usually heard. This factor, slight as it may seem, if done with care, adds much vitality to a performance. The only disappointment isin the pas- sacaglia finale. The sound of the tri- angle, which is not used until then, sounds more like a "muted" cymbal than the clear, bright, ringing tone it should be. Brahms composed the "Academic Festi- val Overture" for his honorary degree of doctor of philosophy at Breslau Univer- sity in 1880. He wrote to his publisher, "I have written a very jolly 'Academic Festival Overture' with a 'Gaudeamus' and all sorts of things; at the same time, I could not deny my melancholy turn of mind and have also composed a 'Tragic Overture'." So it is that Brahms' only two concert overtures were written at al- most the same time. Here Kripscaptures the jollity of the "academic festival" and the somberness of the "tragic." Melodic clarity and fine tonal balance again are characteristic of Krips' performance., The long, singing line is Krips' main concern and he is suc- cessful in its projection. The sound on this disc is equally as fine as the performances and in itself does much to recommend this excellent recording. MAGAIE Vol. V1,; No.. 1Sunday, September' 20, 1964