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Tahra’s
last double album set devoted to Talich
was exclusively of works by Dvořák.
This latest release has one by him –
the wartime Ninth Symphony – probably
the least familiar of the three recordings
Talich left. The conductor has also
recently been celebrated in EMI’s ‘Great
Conductors of the Century’ series and
whilst superficially there might seem
to be overlaps this is, with one exception,
not the case. The only shared recording
is Tchaikovsky’s Mozartiana. With
the exception of the New World all the
recordings here chart Talich’s post-war
time with the Slovak Philharmonic, most
of which discs were concentrated in
a burst of recording in 1950.
Talich left only two
commercial Bach recordings so
we’re fortunate to have them both in
the catalogues (the other was his accompaniment
to Richter in the Keyboard Concerto
BWV 1052, currently on Supraphon). His
Slovak recorded Third Suite originally
appeared on Ultraphon on five 78 sides
but has made LP reappearances though
not ones with enormously wide currency.
Powerfully expressive and old-fashioned
in the best sense Talich’s use of diminuendi
may strike one now as quixotic as indeed
might the mass string portamanti, still
a living currency of Bach and Handel
performances at this time in some orchestras.
But Talich’s remains distinct from a
Stokowskian or Mengelbergian aesthetic
even as it patently has no truck with
prevailing winds of change from contemporary
chamber orchestra performances. Coupled
with it on this first disc is the overture
to The Marriage of Figaro, his only
disc of it. This was somewhat opaquely
recorded with slightly recessed winds
and rather muffled strings but it’s
strong evidence of Talich’s buoyancy
as a Mozart conductor – evidence cemented
by the B flat Symphony, No.33. EMI used
the live Czech Philharmonic performance
(once on Multisonic) but this Tahra
is the studio set with the Chamber Orchestra
of the Slovak Philharmonic, as I believe
it was announced on the Supraphon 78s.
The live recording in Prague is the
more lithe and the better recorded;
live in Prague in 1954 Talich was stimulated
to greater reserves of energy and incision,
especially so in the slow movement.
The New World
was one of a series of wartime discs
Talich made with the Czech Philharmonic.
The previous year they had been forced
to make a brace of propaganda discs
- and in a shameless piece of German
insolence the orchestra and conductor
were ferried to Vienna where they recorded
Tchaikovsky’s Piano and Violin Concertos.
Clearly the prospect of the cultural
jewel of a subjugated country playing
the music of a (then) ally with Austro-German
soloists (Winfried Wolf and Wolfgang
Schneiderhan) in the Greater Reich appealed
to propagandists. Repercussions for
the unfortunate Talich were to prove
severe. Not surprisingly this 1941 recording
of the New World is tighter and tenser
than Talich’s post-war 1950 and 1954
readings. It’s most marked in the slow
movement where he is over two minutes
faster in wartime than he was to be
in his more mellow, relaxed and lyrical
recordings. But one can hear even in
the opening movement the sense of attacca
tensile strength, powerful and strong,
that courses through this reading. Demerits
are the relative lack of inner part
detailing in this recording. Strong
positives are the Wagnerian glow of
the slow movement and the skittering
folk violins in the Scherzo, which is
just a touch more expansive than the
later recordings. Talich admirers will
need to add this rare recording to their
shelves. We end with Mozartiana,
the Suite No.4 Op.61, a witty piece
of playing, carried through with due
élan and affection. I’m not sure
I know the name of the leader of the
Slovak Philharmonic, who takes a long
solo in the Theme and Variations but
I’d like to – ditto the characterful
principal clarinet.
There’s
been a lot of work recently on a comprehensive
Talich discography. The Dvořák
Society of Great Britain’s recent book
on Talich is a real step forward for
those (understandably) confused by his
relatively small but often duplicated
discography. Tahra enclose their
own discography as a booklet with this
issue. And very useful it is too. They
have retained a skein of 78 surface
noise in the rare Ninth but there’s
a good amount of detail and the copies
used sound good ones. Only a few scuffs
mar the Mozart Symphony’s finale. Otherwise
this is a real gap filler from Tahra
and warmly welcomed.
Jonathan Woolf
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra/Vaclav Talich 