Although apart from Nos. 3 and 4 Mendelssohn’s Symphonies
turn up surprisingly rarely in concert programmes there are
now many complete recordings from which the collector can choose.
For anyone with a special interest in the composer the chance
to compare the approaches of, say, Karajan, Abbado, Sawallisch
and Masur may well be irresistible, and when versions by other
distinguished conductors who have recorded only individual Symphonies,
including Toscanini, Norrington and Gardiner, are added the
choices seem endless. All of those versions I have mentioned
have real merits of their own whilst demonstrating the validity
of quite different approaches to the music. The present set
makes a distinguished return to the catalogue and addition to
this number. The performances may now be over forty years old
but unless the quality of the recording is your main interest
their age would be no reason to ignore the set. The recording
is indeed clear and well focused, and due I suspect to a combination
of the arts of the conductor and the recording engineers much
important and delightful detail is audible which often gets
lost, especially in the tuttis.
Dohnányi’s approach is essentially classical, dramatic
and at all times alert. As these are all prime qualities for
successful performance of this composer’s works the results
are impressive and enjoyable. The Scottish, for example,
has real momentum and is never allowed to sit back on itself,
even in the slow movement or in the final Allegro maestoso
assai. This is even more marked in the Lobesgesang
where the conductor seems consciously to be attempting to avoid
any hint of the sanctimonious. I enjoyed this, although others
may prefer a more romantic approach.
It is possible to squeeze all five Symphonies onto three discs,
but here they are spread out over four. This does result in
playing times that are adequate rather than generous but it
also means that there is room for the Overtures, War March and,
best of all, Die Erste Walpurgisnacht. Despite listening
to several versions I remain unconvinced that this is one of
the composer’s masterworks, but it does show his imagination
in its depiction of the Druids, determined to carry on with
the old religion despite the opposition of the Christians. It
is given a suitably dramatic performance here, spoilt only by
the curious feebleness of the soprano chorus when singing high
As. Of the overtures, that to Athalie is particularly
welcome - its scoring and dramatic flow make it one of my favourite
Mendelssohn overtures.
The only serious criticism I have of the set is Dohnányi’s
dislike of exposition repeats. I regret this in the Scottish
but object strongly to it in the Italian where it means
the loss of over twenty bars of music as well spoiling the proportions
of the movement. However all too many conductors do this, and
the rest of the performance is so good that it is best to overlook
it.
There is a brief but useful note by Colin Anderson and the necessary
texts and translations are available on the Decca website. All
in all this set has much to recommend itself to both those with
other versions already who want it as a comparison, and to those
without who can be assured of clean, dramatic and well-considered
performances and recordings.
John Sheppard
Margarita Lilowa (soprano); Horst Laubenthal (tenor); Tom Krause
(baritone); Alfred Sramek (bass); Sonia Ghazarian (soprano); Edita
Gruberova (soprano); Werner Krenn (tenor); Josef Böch (organ)
