JANUARY 1978 Volume 55 No. 656

Publisher & Managing Editor

ANTHONY POLLARD

Editor

MALCOLM WALKER

Deputy Editor ROGER HUGHES

Audio Editor JOHN BORWICK Audio Consultant

JOHN GILBERT

Advertisement Co-ordinator

DERMOT JONES Accounts Manager CHRISTINE FLEGG Circulation Manager

HELEN GRIMES Subscription Manager

LILIAN SHERER Deputy Publisher & Advertisement Director

BARRY IRVING

CONTRIBUTORS

NICHOLAS ANDERSON

FELIX APRAHAMIAN

DENIS ARNOLD

MARY BERRY ALAN BLYTH WILLIAM A CHISLETT

JOAN CHISSELL

PETER FIELD ROGER FISKE CHARLES FOX ROBIN GOLDING EDWARD GREENFIELD

MAX HARRISON TREVOR HARVEY

NIGEL HUNTER ANDREW LAMB ROBERT LAYTON MALCOLM MACDONALD

WILLIAM MANN

IVAN MARCH ALUN MORGAN MICHAEL OLIVER RICHARD OSBORNE STEPHEN PLAISTOW

BRIAN RUST STANLEY SADIE LIONEL SALTER

ERIC SAMS JOHN STEANE JOHN WARRACK

STANLEY WEBB ARNOLD WHITTALL

Incorporating CASSETIES & CARTRIDGES

CONTENTS1210121112331239

Index to Reviews New Record and Cassette Releases " A Quarterly Retrospect by John Steane The Gramophone Collection-No.4: The popular opera s of Pucc ini

1240

1234 1234 1244 1247

by Edward Greenfield Here and There with Alan Bl yth . W. A. Chislett . Carolyn Nott and

Robin Stringer Contributors' Notes Ed i tori al Notes Book Rev iews Correspo,ndence

REVIEWS1248Orchestral1263ChamberMu sic 1269 In strumental 1277 Choral and Song 1284 Opera 1289 The Record of Singing 1290 Spoken Word 1298 New Cassettes 1307 Cassettes in Retrospect 1308 Nights at the Round Table 1316 Easy Listening 1321 Jazz

AUDIO1322Commentary by John Borwick 1327 Music off the Record by Clement Brown 1328 New Products

Equipment Reviews: 1333 Hitachi D800 cas sette dec k by Denys Killick 1334 Rogers A75 Series 2 amplifier byJohn Gilbert 1339 Rogers Compact Monitor loudspeaker by John Gilbert 1340 Koss TECHj2 and ESPIO headphones by John Borwick 1341 Audio Circles

FRONT COVER James Loughran , Principal Conductor of the Halle Orchestra, is the subject of this month's front cove r; he is interviewed on page 1240 and his new recording of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphon y is reviewed on page 1248

NEXT MONTH The Gramophone Collection-the orchestral mus ic of Elgar An interview with Claudio Arrau A Quarterly Retrospect by Robert Layton John Gilbert reviews the B&W DM7 loudspeaker The February 1978 issue of GRAMOPHONE will be published on Wednesday February 1st

GRAMOPHONE is published by General Gramophone Publications Limited 177-179 Kenton Road Harrow Middlesex HA3 OHA (telephone 0 I ~907 4476) Trade Sales Counter 23-27 Tudor Street London EC4Y OHR (telephone 01-583 9199) GRAMOPHONE is published on the First Wednesday of each month and is available from 01/ newsagents and bookstal/s. Annual subscriptions : see page 1349 ; US air speeded rate $22. second c/ass .POStalle Paid New York . US mailinll Ollents : Expediters of the Printed Word Ltd.. 527 Madison Avenue. New York. NY 10022. Printed in Eneland. Whilst everv effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of statements within this mo.azine. we connot occet>t reSfJOnsibility (or any errors or omissions, or for motters orising from clerical or I>rinters' errors, or an advertiser not como/etin. his contract. It ;s reauested that 01/ letters to the Editor requiring a personal reply should be aCComPanied by a stomPed addressed envelope. Subscribers. both at home and abroad. ore requested to advise chanlle of address details to our Sub$crit>[ion Det>orlment at least live weeks prior to the chanlle becominll effeaive. @"Gramophone"-1978