CELIBIDACHE IN RUSSIA
Mussorgsky orch Ravel: Pictures at an
Exhibition;
Prokofiev: Symphony No.5, Scythian Suite, Romeo & Juliet
(excerpts);
Rimsky-Korsakov:
Sheherazade;
Stravinsky: The Firebird (1919 Suite),The Fairy's Kiss -
Divertimento
Stuttgart Radio Symphony
Orchestra/Sergiu
Celibidache
Deutsche Grammophon 445
139-2 (3 CDs + bonus CD)
A Celibidache performance doesn't always have to be slow. In any case, Celi's
tempi are irrelevant if you listen to his blending of colours, the precise
interplay between instruments, and have a feeling for the creation, interaction
and dissolution of sound.
From the late 'seventies and early 'eighties, these performances of Russian
classics find Celi at his greatest. Returning to my opening comment about
tempo, anyone coming to the Prokofiev items in this set who is already familiar
with the music, will not I think, be disorientated by any of Celi's speeds.
It will be his command of the orchestra that impresses while he remains true
to the structural and emotional intentions of the composer. This is especially
so of the 5th Symphony, given an epic, powerful, striving and, ultimately,
riotous performance. The Scythian Suite is a supreme example of Celi's
painstaking preparation. The second movement's controlled aggression and
the final sunrise, here overwhelming, are wonderful examples of Celi's
capability. He had a special feel for Romeo & Juliet - nobody conducts
`Romeo at Juliet's tomb' with this amount of intensity or generosity of
expression.
If I am somewhat disappointed with Pictures at an Exhibition, a Celi favourite,
it's only because he, as always in this piece, under-characterises some of
the individual sections, replacing description with a distracting, if
fascinating, pre-occupation with tone-colour. On one level though, Celi's
unflinching regard for sound itself does at least suggest that Ravel's brilliant
orchestration lacks the `Mother Earth' sonorities that would be more appropriate
to this very Russian music - a criticism sometimes made of Ravel's version
and confirmed, no doubt unwittingly, by Celi.
The Rimsky-Korsakov and Stravinsky items suit Celi best of all. I shall never
forget a performance of Sheherazade he gave in London (with the LSO) in,
I think, 1979, which was just breathtaking. This Stuttgart reading from 1982
(if this date is correct, he was already a few years into his long Munich
tenure) immediately puts the listener under some sort of spell. This is a
hypnotic performance but you must remain totally engaged if you are to appreciate
all the remarkable colours and details Celi conjures from his committed
orchestra. Only Celi finds so much menace in the double basses in the last
movement, from 0'10" and 0'50".
In The Fairy's Kiss, Celi appreciates the Tchaikovskian influence and moulds
the lyrical episodes with restraint while keeping the faster moments rhythmically
buoyant and instrumentally clean. The Firebird's magic properties are also
subtly drawn and blended - Celi presents a potent atmosphere; his controlled
vitality is thrilling in King Kashchei's Infernal Dance. [DG's notes say
this is a Suite from 1923. Effectively it's the familiar 1919 version in
contents and instrumentation.]
The Stuttgart Radio tapes have been excellently re-mastered to present Celi's
orchestral wizardry in vivid and tangible sound.
Reviewer
Colin Anderson
