Arthur HONEGGER (1892-1955)
Symphony No. 2 (1940-41) [25:28]
Henri LAZAROF (b.1932)
Concerto for Orchestra No. 2, Icarus (1984) [22:33]
Poema for Orchestra (1985) [13:31]
Seattle Symphony/Gerard Schwarz
rec. 17 April 1992 and 8-9 February 1993 (Symphony No. 2); 28
May 1989 (Icarus); 8 January 1990 (Poema) at the
Seattle Center Opera House, USA
Notes included in English only
NAXOS 8.572748 [61:32]
This disc contains several recordings originally released on
Delos in the 1990s. Naxos has re-issued them as part of its
‘Seattle Symphony Collection’. Here we have Gerard
Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony in two very different types
of twentieth century music, demonstrating the strengths and
weaknesses of the Seattle Symphony at this period.
The Bulgarian-American composer Henri Lazarof has long been
a feature of the California music scene. His Poema was
written as a wedding present in 1985 for Gerard and Jody Schwarz.
It starts with bell-like sonorities before alternating dramatic
passages in the full orchestra with lyrical sections for solo
trumpet. The opening harmonies return to finish the piece. Schwarz
and the Seattle players seem to enjoy the work’s orchestral
virtuosity, especially Lazarof’s bright orchestration
which highlights Schwarz’s precise conducting style and
the cohesiveness of the orchestra’s ensemble. These qualities
are also in evidence in Lazarof’s Concerto No. 2, written
for the Houston Symphony and slightly redolent of the Houston-located
National Aeronautic and Space Agency (NASA). The Concerto contains
a number of austere sections on high strings, which one assumes
are evocative of flight, contrasted with episodes of brassy
athleticism. Again the orchestra plays with verve and good ensemble,
although they seem slightly less committed to the music than
in the Poema.
Honegger’s Symphony No.2 is probably the best-known of
his five symphonies and is frequently seen as an evocation of
France under the Occupation with the third movement’s
solo trumpet signifying the nation’s inevitable rebirth.
The mournful tone of the introduction to the first movement
is overwhelming in its description of the oppressiveness of
the Occupation. This feeling continues in the Allegro
proper and Schwarz and the Seattle strings forcefully convey
the movement’s tone. The crucial inner voices are especially
well-handled. The second movement is marked mesto and
expands on its predecessor’s melodic material under intensifying
levels of counterpoint. The performers handle the textural complexities
with aplomb. Unfortunately, things break down in the famous
Vivace as Schwarz and the players increasingly lose track
of the thematic layers until the uplifting chorale finale seems
like an afterthought. As the movements of the symphony were
recorded at different performances, months apart, the difference
between the first two movements and the Vivace should
not be a surprise, but this does not mitigate one’s disappointment
with the last movement. Those looking for a more fluent recording
of the Honegger are referred to those by Zinman or Jansons or
the older set by Dutoit [see
link]. This is very much for fans of Lazarof and for Seattle
Symphony completists.
William Kreindler
For fans of Lazarof and for Seattle Symphony completists.