Search - Rachmaninoff, BBC Philharmonic, Noseda :: Symphony No 2 the Rock

No Russians on the premises, but this is still very good Rac

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 04/05/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"An Italian conductor and northern British orchestra are definitely swimming upstream to record Rachmaninov's complete orchestral output. But this venture isn't a folly. Noseda is an excellent all-around musician, and without reaching the same intensity of Russians like Gergiev, Svetlanov, and Bychkov, who are to the manner born, or the same level of orchestral splendor as the London Sym. under Previn, this recording is an appealing listen. Unlike every other version I know, it sounds ebullient. Noseda backs away from Rachmaninov's tendency to grow his music in a hothouse, and frankly, that's refreshing. If you won't miss overheated fervency, Noseda's relative restraint will be just right.



In other respects everything is in place -- the BBC Phil.'s strings display a plush sheen, the ebb and flow of rubato gives the right swooning effect without actually passing out, and Chandos's recorded sound is warm, vivid, and wide-screen. For me, Rachmaninov's symphonies are like Tchaikovsky gone Hollywood with Valentino and Garbo, and Stokowski is the ideal conductor. Or would be, to judge by a late, syrupy, high-calorie Sym. #3; he left no Rachmaninov Second. Now that Russian emigres fill conducting posts around the world, there's no scarcity of recordings, yet there's room for Noseda's, which never frays the nerves and sounds beautiful all the way through."