Search - Sergey Rachmaninov, Mariss Jansons, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra :: Rachmaninov: Symphonies 1-3, Symphonic Dances; Isle of the Dead; Scherzo in D

NOT A MORNING PERSON

DAVID BRYSON | Glossop Derbyshire England | 05/02/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Morning and Rachmaninov seem not to have been intended for each other. The final item on the third of these three discs is the Symphonic Dances, which were R's last major composition. The three dances were originally intended for a ballet, and they denote noon, twilight and midnight, morning being unrepresented. The entire scope of this set can also be thought of as a resume of R's total career. Viewing it as a single day, we may take the second symphony and the tone poem Isle of the Dead (dark though that is) as representing the composer's noontide; and the Symphonic Dances and third symphony as some late hour. Morning is here too, but it is having to struggle. The Scherzo in D minor is R's earliest dated composition, but it did not receive its first performance until after his death. The story of the disastrous premiere of the first symphony is well enough known, conducted atrociously by Glazunov whether or not he was drunk as some allege. It was never performed again in the composer's lifetime and was reconstructed from his papers. You will hear its motto theme in the first Symphonic Dance, suggesting that R retained a fondness for it as if for a child who had died. Also here, alas, is the Vocalise in an orchestral arrangement. It might be good Ketelby, but as Rachmaninov it is almost a self-parody. I do not want it in any version, but I am sure this is a good one.



More certain is that the other performances are very good ones indeed. The three discs were recorded during the 90's, the first disc being the last recorded, from 1999. The recording of the first symphony seems less vivid than the sound the other two are given, this being more a matter of curiosity to me than criticism. Perhaps the decision was to darken the sound slightly, and understandably if so. Probably the composer's own sound in the first symphony is less vivid than in the others, and when it comes to the awesome Isle of the Dead of course vividness is the very last thing anyone will want. I love the way it is done here, with a sense of solemn dark beauty and stateliness rather than suggestive of Poe. As for the symphony, I like it. It is not the equal of its stablemates, sure, but I would still call it a fine late-romantic symphony, and you will hear it performed here with sympathy and understanding. At least you can say of Rachmaninov that he is never cheap, even in his finales. Try saying that of Tchaikovsky.



In all the three symphonies I sense that the St Petersburg players are at home with the composer's idiom, which is not of course a risky opinion. I am out of my depth with ethnic questions in the matter of musical interpretation, but I am in no doubt that Mravinsky seemed more authentic in the Tchaikovsky symphonies, with this very orchestra then entitled the Leningrad, than any westerner did, and I get the same impression here although I have not conducted comparisons. The sound is more westernised now than it was in Mravinsky's day, and to some extent I regret that although it is a small price for the political gain. What I will certainly give Jansons very high marks for is his ability to keep the first movements of the symphonies coherent. They are all to a fast pulse, but they go slow for long stretches too. Jansons has the confidence to go very slow when the expression calls for that, but I never felt any loss of overall grip. Another thing I want given full value is those great long-breathed tunes, like nobody else's. The symphonies do not feature these to the extent that the concertos do, but they are here still, in the first movement of no 3 for example but above all in the adagio of no 2, and I believe you are going to get your money's worth. Indeed in passing perhaps I should point out what probably needs no pointing out, namely that this set is a spectacular bargain.



The D minor scherzo is interesting and attractive, with the influence of Mendelssohn easy to detect, a very good thing in a scherzo. The Symphonic Dances are obviously a much bigger deal, the term `symphonic' referring to the scale of the pieces, not to their style. Among them the three dances come to over half an hour, only 3 or 4 minutes less than the 3-movement third symphony takes. This time I did carry out a comparison, and you may find it interesting. There is a brilliant Naxos disc of piano-duet works by Rachmaninov brilliantly and exuberantly performed by the greatly underrated Peter Donohoe with Martin Roscoe. This contains the Dances in an arrangement that I suppose is the composer's own. It is good enough to be his, and this disc is good enough for me to prefer the Dances done by the right pianists to even as good an orchestral account as we find here. Donohoe and Roscoe are rather faster in each piece, but the real difference is in the tone. There is no lack of vigour when required from Jansons, but there is, understandably, a valedictory feel to this late suite. As the duettists give them these works tell me that there was plenty of life in R yet, and if things had gone right there ought to have been. He still had three more years to live, when he died he was still only 70, and his death was from cancer not from decrepitude.



Anyhow, these are orchestral works, and this is an orchestral set that I can recommend thoroughly. From my own point of view I am glad to have acquired it before Charon comes calling for my fare across the dark waters, and it ought to give many years' value and enjoyment to many another."