Sir Adrian Boult conducted the music of Tchaikovsky throughout
his career; his commercial discography of the Russian master’s
music is extensive, including three of the symphonies, the piano
and violin concertos, overtures, and ballet music, some of them
in more than one version. This reissue from Beulah makes available
again two recordings from the 1950s which have not been available
since the days of Decca Eclipse LPs, and which also incorporate
some contemporary recording technology.
Marketed as “binaural”,
these recordings represented an attempt by engineers to create
a sense of spatial definition using 3 directional microphones.
As reproduced here there is some sense of perspective; the sound-stage
is wider than that offered by contemporary mono recordings but
lacks the spread of true stereo. It’s also a rather opaque,
bottom-heavy sound and this contributes to the impression of
heaviness in the actual performances themselves. The orchestra
is not reproduced with ideal clarity although Boult’s trademark
divided violins come across clearly.
In the Third Symphony
Boult sets a steady pace in most of the five movements, and although
he brings an appealing elegance to the central Andante elegiaco,
and an appealing warmth to the expressive central cantilena for
strings, it’s still a rather staid approach. In the Finale Boult
attempts to liven things up but this remains a buttoned-up approach
to a symphony that benefits from considerably more brio.
The Third Suite
is marginally better; in addition to this Paris recording Boult
made a memorable version with the LPO late in his career in
considerably better sound. Boult has written of the bizarre
scenario whereby “an elderly British conductor” was despatched
to Paris to record Russian music with a French orchestra. The
booklet suggests that this was done in an attempt to keep the
developing recording technology a secret. Be that as it may,
his performance of the Suite has rather more elan than
that of the symphony, although it is not the equal of his 1974
recording.
Both performances
are admirably paced and, as we would expect, musically done. If
I am a bit lukewarm about them it is because they lack the last
ounce of panache to make them absolutely memorable. Boult is always
interesting to hear, but on the evidence of the results here his
imagination does not seem to have been fired by these sessions,
in a way that it was, for example, in his marvellous contemporary
Rachmaninov Second.
Ewan McCormick
London Philharmonic
Orchestra/Sir Adrian Boult 
