Michael Tilson Thomas really is an extremely reliable
conductor. What has he committed to disc which isn’t absolutely top-drawer
stuff? I remember his earliest Boston recordings for DGG: highly individual
readings of Debussy, Ravel, Ives and Ruggles, which positively blazed
with colour. More recently, we’ve had his class-leading Stravinsky ballets
with the San Francisco orchestra, showing not only a meticulous preoccupation
with orchestral detail, but also a rare organic strength. Then there is
his superb Mahler series (a heart-rending Sixth has just been issued)
and those wonderful Copland discs, alive with atmosphere and restless
balletic energy. As a Bernstein protégé, he shares with
his mentor an unusual degree of empathy with the composer’s mind; a tangible
sense of theatre; and a fondness for going near (but not over) the ‘interpretative
edge’ – drawing out the last ounce of drama but never overstating, pressing
hard but never losing his feet. All indispensable ingredients for a Tchaikovsky
conductor!
I must confess that I’d not come across this Swan
Lake before. It appears to have been recorded around 1990, and exemplifies
Tilson Thomas and the LSO at the height of their powers. Tempi are almost
invariably brisk, leading to some hair-rising excitement: the orchestra
clearly relish every moment that Tilson Thomas slips into overdrive,
and their virtuosity is a joy to behold. The big moments are well-judged:
red-blooded rather than histrionic. On the other hand, the famous Waltz
lilts most attractively, and the various orchestral solos have all the
sweetness, delicacy and polish one could possibly want: indeed they
give tremendous pleasure.
No two recordings of this ballet offer exactly the
same score, or the same sequence of numbers from the score. As the piece
appeared in various guises between its 1877 première and countless
subsequent (and posthumous) revivals, there can be no agreement about
what precisely is definitive. So far as I can establish, Tilson Thomas
plays the original score with the sole exception of the Act III Pas
de deux, which (as seems often to be the case these days) is cut.
Sound quality is rich and vivid, with impressive amplitude:
if anything, the percussion is too explosive. There is a valuable
synopsis in the booklet: alas, not cued.
Lanchberry’s Classics for Pleasure set of Swan Lake
(CD-CFPD 4747) is a serious rival at this price – well played, vividly
recorded and highly theatrical. By comparison, Ozawa’s (on DG Double
453 055-2) seems studio-bound, despite abundant colour and excitement.
Ermler’s (with the Royal Opera House Covent Garden Orchestra: yes, they
have played it before…) is tremendously involving, but at full price
(ROH 301/2). So too is Dutoit (on Decca 436 212-2), whose reading is
warm and sumptuous, rather than hard-pressed and brilliant: but uniquely
satisfying, even so.
The only possible reason for preferring any alternative
version would be to have Acts I and II complete on one CD, with Acts
III and IV complete on the second: as in Lanchberry’s recording. The
break here, on the Tilson Thomas CDs, comes between the penultimate
(Pas d’action) and closing sections of the Danse des cygnes
towards the end of Act II: though far from ideal, this is no worse (or
better) than on other issues.
Despite this, I’m happy to award a shared first prize
(certainly not a second prize) to Tilson Thomas, the LSO and its excellent
soloists, and – last but not least – the Sony engineers. Enthusiastically
recommended.
Peter J Lawson
See
what else is on offer 
London Symphony Orchestra,
cond. Michael Tilson Thomas