A Noted Quartet of CD Bargain Beauties for ’94

You’ve been generous to others in recent months. Now, pamper yourself, for a pittance. Herewith, a quartet of super-bargains--CDs for $7 or less each.

Some of the best of the late Eugene Ormandy’s many recordings with the Philadelphia Orchestra were of not-quite core repertory, which the casual listener might have overlooked when they first appeared in the 1960s.

Particularly valuable are interpretations recently reissued in Sony’s Bargain Classics series: Berlioz’s “Harold in Italy,” with the luscious solo viola of Joseph de Pasquale (53255), and a pairing of Paul Hindemith’s most popular scores, the “Mathis der Maler” Symphony and “Symphonic Metamorphoses of Themes by Weber” (53258).

“Harold” offers the Philadelphia sound at its most voluptuous. Not only the fabled strings, but the fat-toned brass and larger-than-life (as it’s usually lived) solo woodwinds, all subsumed under the conductor’s big-hearted conception of the score.

There are more taut and fiery recorded versions of Berlioz’s tricky symphony-concerto, but none quite so shapely or consistently well-executed as this. Worthwhile Berlioz fillers, too, in this generously packed CD: the familiar orchestral excerpts from “La Damnation de Faust” and “Les Troyens” led, respectively, by Charles Munch and Daniel Barenboim.

The Hindemith program likewise takes advantage of the “Philadelphia sound,” which is to say that richness of tone is always a goal. But this “Mathis” also conveys a degree of tension generally considered alien to the Ormandy method and temperament, while the present “Metamorphoses” succeeds in projecting the lumpy Hindemithian wit.

The bonus here is William Walton’s attractive, rarely heard Variations on a Theme of Hindemith, the theme drawn from the latter’s 1940 Cello Concerto, with reminiscences of “Mathis” as well. It’s played with a striking combination of elegance and muscularity by the Cleveland Orchestra under George Szell.

There hasn’t been much of note in the way of bargain Baroque from the budget labels, but hope for a brighter future is provided in a newly recorded program from Hungary that includes four of the sonatas published in 1730 as Handel’s Opus 1 (Naxos 550700).

The soloist is an alto-recorder whiz named Laszlo Czidra, with an imaginative continuo team comprising Zsuzsa Pertis (whose instrument is listed as a clavichord, but sounds at times like a two-manual harpsichord), bassoonist Zsolt Harsanyi and cellist Pal Kelemen.

The performances have vigor, grace and clarity. And Czidra’s attitude toward ornamentation is refreshingly respectful of the composer. He lets us hear the simple purity of what Handel notated before adding, in the repeats, his own lively variants.

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On LaserLight--which might be called a hyper-budget label, its product selling for under five dollars per disc--there are some classy reissues from the early 1970s of works by J.S. Bach performed by the modern-instrument Deutsche Bach Solisten, some of whose members were to become major participants in the authenticity movement, under the enlightened direction of Helmut Winschermann.

The standout of the lot pairs two solo cantatas, the flashily jubilant “Jauchzet Gott,” BWV 51, and the calmly introspective (its gory title notwithstanding) “Mein Herze schwimmt in Blut,” BWV 199, in performances by a very young Edita Gruberova.

Gruberova’s aggressive vocalism in no way reflects a “period” sound. Her soprano has a bright, cutting edge and in sustained phrases a pronounced vibrato. She uses that voice with terrific rhythmic thrust, in combination with a ferociously confident command of Bach’s coloratura fireworks.

As if her shining presence weren’t sufficient to justify the paltry asking price for the disc, the 74-minute program (LaserLight 14 135) is fleshed out by handsome performances from Winschermann and his band of two Bach reconstructions: the Concerto in D for flute, oboe and violin, after the Concerto for three harpsichords, BWV 1064, and an alternative version of the Fourth “Brandenburg” Concerto, retaining the recorder duo but with harpsichord solo in place of the violin.