Two Tchaikovsky ‘block-busters’, given here, I regret
to say, in unremarkable performances. Sevidov is a dependable soloist
in the concerto, but has little special insight or imagination to bring
to this war-horse. There are many fine versions, and there is certainly
nothing here to come close to Argerich’s magnificent DG account. Sevidov,
as I say, does a good job, and all the notes are definitely there, which
is saying something. It is the orchestral accompaniment that reduces
this to a distinctly pedestrian interpretation; Friedmann has a stolid,
‘kappelmeister’ approach to the music, which sometimes had me almost
screaming in frustration, for he often resolutely refuses to let the
music move forward urgently when it must do so. The orchestra
tries hard, and there is some genuinely expressive playing, in particular
from principal woodwind soloists. But the general impression is turgid,
unyielding.
The same problems mar the 1812 Overture, surely
a piece for which performers have to adopt a ‘no-holds-barred’ attitude.
This isn’t great music, as Tchaikovsky himself readily admitted (though
of course he wasn’t the most reliable witness where his own music was
concerned, as is the case with many composers), and it needs a firm
hand if it is to succeed. There are balance problems in the ‘cellos
at the start (lower players overbalancing the melody line), and other
details are not sufficiently vividly projected to make the piece come
alive. The booklet notes, brief as they are, are amusingly misleading,
suggesting that the 1812 Overture is a somewhat unfamiliar piece! This
is sloppy production, caused by an unedited translation of the original
Russian notes by Irene Brandenburg; it’s not hard to believe that 1812
is unfamiliar in Russia, but in the west that is certainly not the case.
At the climax of the piece, the notoriously repetitive
descending scales are allowed to slow down grotesquely, so that they
seem even more absurd than usual, and the ending seems strangely muted;
plenty of bells, but no cannons that I could hear, just a few half-hearted
bangs from off-stage.
If you are desperate for this particular coupling,
you might try this to see whether you can live with the performances
– otherwise my advice would be ‘steer clear’!
Gwyn Parry-Jones
Arkady Sevidov, piano