Comparison Recordings:
Hermann Scherchen, VSOO [ADD] Westminster
Urania 22.248
Rafael Kubelik, CSO Mercury monophonic
LP [OP]
Artur Rodzinski, RPO [ADD] Westminster
MCAD02-9829A
Herbert von Karajan, BPO [ADD] DGG 453
088-2
Mstislav Rostropovich, LPO [ADD] EMI
7243 5 65709 2 4
Valery Polyanski, Russian State SO Chandos
CHAN 9608
Sir Georg Solti, CSO Decca 414 192-2
The 104 Symphonies
of Haydn are, by modern standards, all
just alike. The six Symphonies of Brahms
divide nicely into two categories: The
Lyrical Works (The two Serenades
and "Number 2") and the Dramatic
Works ("Numbers 1, 3, & 4").
Some wags divide Beethoven’s symphonies
into two piles: The Ninth, and all the
rest. Of the eight symphonies of Tchaikovsky,
#1 is considered a student work because,
even though its ideas are wonderfully
original, it tends to make use of textbook
solutions; #2 is considered "immature"
for reasons I can’t fathom, since to
me it seems to be in every way a perfect
work; #3 is considered to be "experimental,"
I guess because it tries to go off in
all directions at once and doesn’t actually
arrive anywhere — I bet you can’t hum
a single tune from it. When we arrive
at #4 we have the "first mature"
Symphony. Emotionally the Symphony
is anything but mature tending to fly
off the handle easily, and often seducing
a conductor into inchoate frenzy in
the finale. (Did Sir Adrian Boult conduct
it? After the age of 30, I mean.) But
perhaps because of its general resemblance
in texture if not mood to the Fifth
and Sixth, the Fourth
has to be the first of something and
the Sixth has to be mature since
Tchaikovsky lost the ability to become
any more mature immediately after the
premiere.*
Tchaikovsky said his
music should be performed as "though
it were by Mozart." One can imagine
the incredulous expression on Mozart’s
face if he could hear that in reference
to the Fourth Symphony. One could
rate performances of this work with
little thermometer pictures of the type
you find on cans of pepper sauce, "Mild,"
"Medium," and "Hot."
Karajan makes of the
work a perpetuum mobile and shows
us how fast his orchestra can play it
perfectly: an impressive, if somewhat
cool, achievement. Their recording of
this work for EMI was for a time available
as a quadraphonic disk and may (or may
not - EMI did some cheating around this
time) exist as an original four channel
master and hence could some day give
some competition to this issue if it
appeared on an EMI DVD-Audio. A more
romantically-inclined conductor can
shape the return of the opening motto
in the last movement into a terrifying
omen and draw an intense contrast between
it and the ensuing peasant dance. Polyansky
shapes the drama of the last movement
quite affectingly, but with less terror
that some can arouse. The digital sound
of this Chandos issue is excellent,
and it could some day emerge as an SACD.
The Rostropovich performance is similar
to the Polyansky and may represent a
particularly Russian viewpoint. Stokowski’s
only stereo recording of the work, on
Vanguard, is an annoying travesty. In
his 1951 monophonic version Scherchen
achieves energy, balance, and feeling
without any sense of rushing and in
remarkably good and well restored sound
for its age. His direct competition
at the time was the Kubelik performance
which is somewhat more urgent overall
but also a well balanced approach with
the advantage of the Chicago Orchestra
brass section. But Kubelik’s 1951 one-microphone
sound is simply beyond the horizon today
as far as communicating this music is
concerned; of interest to collectors
only.
Of the two channel
versions, Artur Rodzinski from 1959
gets both ears and the tail from me.
He keeps up a high level of tension
and shapes the dramatics brilliantly.
Purists may sniff at the obvious multi-microphone
recording technique, but at least you
can really hear the snarling tubas!
The orchestra actually sounds a little
clearer than on the Chandos disk, even
though the recording is forty years
older! Solti’s 1985 version — four years
newer than the Comissiona and definitely
digital — shows off the splendid Chicago
brass section (and huge bass drum) and
achieves lyrical richness, grandeur
and drama. Solti’s performance of the
second movement Andantino in modo
di canzona is an absolute miracle
of expressive gentle sadness without
bathos. Orchestral sound is full range
and beautifully balanced. What a pity
he turns the last forty bars into a
Keystone Kops race to the finish line.
Most people will probably find this
version the most satisfactory overall.
Comissiona gives us
a carefully shaped performance. He achieves
at times the clear velocity of Karajan,
generally the drama and tension of Rodzinski,
and certainly receives the clearest
sound quality, even on the regular DVD
AC-3 tracks. His tubas snarl wonderfully.
Unfortunately the sound has been slightly
brightened artificially so you may wish
to turn down the highs and turn up the
bass a little.
Great Tchaikovsky recordings
have generally resulted when orchestras
and conductors got to know each other
well over years, ideally in a tenured
music director situation. This was the
situation for which these works were
composed. A conductor jetting in to
conduct a Tchaikovsky Symphony
after one rehearsal with an orchestra
he doesn’t know — an orchestra who learned
the parts in school — isn’t going to
make it. This music requires familiarity
and empathy. The phrases must be shaped
and balanced with each other, the players
must listen to each other. Comissiona
was music director of the Baltimore
Symphony Orchestra from 1968 to 1985.
This recording was made in 1981; the
notes report both that it is from a
digital master, and also that it has
been digitised from an analogue master.
Other recordings from this session are
labelled analogue sound. Perhaps this
recording was re-digitised after its
analogue "enhancement" into
surround sound.
I am happy to report
that the famous Scherzo: Pizzicato
ostinato which used to be a minefield
for unprepared orchestral string sections
was played with crisp technical perfection
by every one of these orchestras.
I was unable to obtain
for comparison in a timely manner a
copy of the recording with Jansons with
the Oslo PO which is likely to have
important virtues. And collectors will
want to spice up their music gatherings
with an occasional playing of the Dolmetsch
baroque ensemble performance from the
1958 Hoffnung Festival of great moments
from this symphony.
*To complete the set,
Manfred is considered "merely
a tone poem" and the remaining
#7 was left "unfinished" and
ended up as the Third Piano Concerto
so, if we counted that, we’d have to
give Brahms another symphony, too, the
Op 15. Sibelius, of course, never wrote
an un-Finnish symphony.
Paul Shoemaker
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra/Sergiu Comissiona
SILVERLINE
288229-9 [50.50] 