Music of the Old Italian Masters

TWO concerts of musical extremes but of equal interest were given in London last week. At the Royal Festival Hall. Paul Hindemith conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in his own Symphony, " Die Harmonic der Welt," with which many music lovers are already a little acquainted.
At the Wigmore Hall. a handful of superb musicians from Italy, the Piccola Accademia Musica0. presented a programme of works by old Italian Masters. none of which have been performed since the 18th century. Nowell Jenkins. the young American conductor of the group, is mainly responsible for this revival. which has taken years of arduous research throughout the libraries and archives of Europe and the United States. All the works were played with the original orchestration and this, coupled with the fine lone and the polished and vital playing, gave the performances unusual freshness and feeling. A particular gem in the programme. which abounded in effective ideas and harmonies. was Gaetano Brunetti's Symphony No. 22 in G minor training days. summer schools and everv other kind of activity. Fifty years of such breakneck zeal certainly deserved fleeting recognition by the Press.