From the Saturday Review of Literature, Oct. 30, 1948:
Thomas Mann was an early and ardent partisan of the phonograph, even when records sounded "remote and diminutive, as though one were to look at a painting through the wrong end of an opera-glass" — to quote him in The Magic Mountain. It is a privilege, then, to present his choices as the first in a series of phonographic preferences by laymen of note in public affairs. We note, in passing, Mr. Mann's righteous complaint that a dozen choices could scarcely cover his indispensable records, and absolve him of any grievance that may incidentally arise.
FRANCK Symphony in D Minor. Pierre Monteux conducting the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.
MENDELSSOHN Concerto in E Minor. Nathan Milstein, violin, and the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York, Bruno Walter conducting.
MOZART and others A Song Recital by Lotte Lehmann.
BERLIOZ Harold in Italy. William Primrose, violinist [sic], with the Boston Symphony, Serge Koussevitzky conducting.
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3 in E flat ("Eroica"). Bruno Walter conducting the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York.
WAGNER Parsifal, Act III. Berlin State Opera soloists, chorus, and orchestra, Karl Muck conducting.
WAGNER Die Walküre, Act I. Lotte Lehmann, soprano, Lauritz Melchior, tenor, Emanuel List, bass, and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Bruno Walter conducting.
BERG Excerpts from Wozzeck. Charlotte Boerner, soprano, and the Janssen Symphony Orchestra, Werner Janssen conducting.
STRAUSS, JOHANN Two Overtures and Two Waltzes. Various European orchestras. Bruno Walter and George Szell conducting.
SCHUBERT "Der Musensohn" (Goethe) and "Der Wanderer" (Schmidt von Lübeck). Gerhard Hüsch, baritone, and Hanns Udo Müller, piano.
SCHUMANN "Romanze" (Geibel) and Schubert's "Der Erlkönig" (Goethe). Heinrich Schlusnus, baritone, and Franz Rupp, piano.
ROOSEVELT "A Prayer for the Nation on D-Day, June 6, 1944." Franklin D. Roosevelt, recorded off the air.
Update: I've had the idea of reviving "My Favorite Records," as the Saturday Review called their list. A Person of Note has agreed to take the lead; her entry will appear in a few days.
