Klaus Tennstedt, a conductor I greatly admire, left a frustratingly
small commercial discography, especially when one discounts his
EMI Mahler cycle. So it’s good that a number of his live
performances have been issued on disc in recent years, particularly
by BBC Legends. Some of the performances issued have been of
works that Tennstedt never took into the studio, such as Janáček’s
Glagolitic
Mass (see
review)
and those are welcome for filling out our picture of this conductor.
However, even when a live release duplicates, on the face of
it, a studio recording - as is the case here with the Brahms
symphony - it’s still valuable to hear Tennstedt address
the work in question in concert, not least because in the estimation
of several critics his live performances had more electricity
and spontaneity to them than he sometimes brought to his studio
work. Tennstedt recorded the Brahms symphony for EMI in 1983.
I don’t know if that account, which I have not heard, is
still available.
The introduction to the first movement in this present performance
unfolds with a Klemperer-like massiveness, the pace slow, the
timpani pounding. Frankly, I feared that I was not going to enjoy
what followed and I was reminded of the reservations about slow
speeds that I’d felt when
reviewing Tennstedt’s
account of
Ein deutches Requiem. Happily, after
Tennstedt has got the introduction out of his system he plays
the rest of the symphony in a way that is much more to my taste.
The main
allegro of the first movement is moved forward
with good purpose and the necessary degree of energy. Tennstedt
is particularly concerned, it seems, to bring out the drama in
the writing but this is not done at the expense of the lyrical
elements in the music.
That’s confirmed by a sturdy yet warm reading of the slow
movement. Here, as elsewhere, the LPO play very well indeed for
their revered conductor and there’s some fine work from
the leader and the principal horn in the closing pages. Tennstedt’s
feeling for drama comes out again in the introduction to the
finale. Though his speed is no more broad than that adopted by
many conductors, he manages to invest the music with a great
sense of space. The big horn-calls ring out across this space
magnificently and I love the way Tennstedt gets the horns to
crescendo slightly through each sustained note. When the Big
Tune arrives in the main
allegro Tennstedt ensures it’s
delivered with just the right amount of weight and he leads a
committed and exciting account of the finale, culminating in
an exultant coda. Though this wouldn’t necessarily be a
library choice for this much-recorded symphony it’s a fine
performance overall and one that I’m glad to add to my
collection.
Basically, the same verdict applies to the performance of the
Schumann concerto. I have to be honest and say that this is a
work which I’ve never found desperately interesting, though
I’m sure the fault is mine rather than Schumann’s
since the piece enjoys enduring popularity with pianists and
audiences. Jorge Bolet is a fine soloist and seems to enjoy a
good rapport with Tennstedt, who accompanies well. A review of
the concert is quoted in the booklet note in which Bolet’s
performance was described as “thoughtful… the antithesis
of what might have been expected from a virtuoso hitherto perhaps
best known here for his commanding brilliance in Liszt.” I
know what the unnamed reviewer was getting at for Bolet was indeed
celebrated as an exponent of Liszt. However, what that comment
perhaps overlooks is that Liszt’s piano output contains
many reflective, poetic pieces. It seems to me that in this Schumann
performance Bolet has all the requisite pianistic armoury to
do justice to the virtuoso passages but he’s also well
equipped to be successful in the poetic stretches of the concerto.
I’d agree with the verdict that his performance is “thoughtful” and
it certainly gives much pleasure.
Both of these performances are captured in good quality BBC sound
and this enjoyable disc can be recommended with confidence to
admirers of either of the two fine artists involved.
John Quinn
Jorge Bolet (piano) 
