This is the first of
the Halle’s own recordings I have heard.
I enjoyed it immensely. Recorded in
the late 1990s when alas Skrowaczewski
was no longer Principal Conductor, this
recording shows clearly why the Halle
should regret losing their Polish chief.
There is one benefit however – the Halle
are now enjoying a renewal in their
fortunes with Mark Elder. Much of this
can justifiably be put at the feet of
Skrowaczewski. The problem that the
Halle had with the Polish conductor
was that of Marketing and Image; it
was thought that he had shortcomings
in both of these areas. Where it really
mattered however was in the building
up of an orchestra. Skrowaczewski was
second to none in this area.
Whenever I saw him
in the flesh at concerts he was not
in the least flamboyant – he just conducted
and some superb music making was in
progress – not quite harking back to
the Barbirolli days, but superb music-making
none the less. And on this disc one
can hear only too well why Skrowaczewski
will be missed, even if we include Mark
Elder with his Rattle-like goldfish
impressions, plus twee, vomit-inducing
introductions to the concerts. If this
is marketing and image at work, God
help us.
Shostakovich was a
very gifted student in Leningrad until
the appearance of his first symphony.
The symphony lifted him from student
to major symphonic composer, and the
work was played extensively throughout
the world and has continued to be so
ever since. Quirky and extremely moving
in parts, the symphony was an immediate
hit with orchestras and audiences alike,
and was the start of a symphonic cycle
unmatched by any other twentieth century
composer.
The Petrograd Conservatoire
was a little miffed at the young composer,
as the work had been written primarily
as a graduation "exercise"
and here it was being performed in public
before being marked by his teachers.
Needless to say he passed! After the
first two somewhat grotesque fast movements
the symphony expands into one of those
long emotionally draining slow movements
which were to become such a well-known
aspect of the composer’s work in later
years.
The Halle give a superb
performance of the work, and it comes
to its rollicking conclusion with the
engineers catching the orchestra in
full flight, in the sympathetic acoustic
of the Bridgewater Hall.
Quite a few years had
passed before the appearance of the
other work on this disc, the 6th
Symphony. Following on from the very
popular 5th Symphony, the
6th was well received by
the audiences of the day, but the press
were less enthusiastic, as well they
might given the artistic climate in
the Soviet Union at the time. For a
start, here was a symphony starting
with a long slow movement of extreme
emotional content, followed by two fast,
quirky movements, which made the balance
of the work seem suspect.
However, played like
this, one can be assured of a very moving
experience, bringing back memories of
this combination’s very successful 10th
Symphony previously available on Carlton.
Warmly recommended.
John Phillips
HALLE CD HLL 7506 [61’05"] 