My delight at encountering
another version of the Elgar symphonies,
particularly conducted by Jeffrey Tate
(given his excellent reputation), swiftly
dissipated on a first listening. We
must bear in mind that there are two
ways of performing the Elgar symphonies.
Exemplified by Barbirolli (or taken
to an extreme by Sinopoli), is the old-fashioned
way that prevailed in the 1930s and
1940s – slow, slushy and totally self-indulgent,
wallowing and luxuriating in the sound
rather than realising that there is
an undercurrent to the work that must
be obeyed, and thus holding the symphony
back rather than allowing it to flow
along at its rightful pace. The other,
more modern way as practised by Solti
for example, is to take the work at
a more fitting pace, crisper and more
precise, thus enabling the work to speak
for itself rather than trying to draw
out every nuance. Conductors such as
Boult, Handley, Menuhin, Slatkin, Colin
Davis and Andrew Davis tend to fall
in the middle of these. From the very
first it was evident that Tate intended
to fall into the former category as
the First Symphony – with which the
first disc opens – commenced at a dirge-like
pace. Look at the timings of the symphony
– Elgar himself took 46 minutes, whilst
the estimate in score says 51 minutes.
Tate takes 54 mins – decidedly longer
than Elgar intimated it should!
The Symphony is extremely
well-played, with the LSO on top form
and producing a full, sumptuous, rich
and lush sound, yet the too-leisurely
pace drags it down, making it sound
ponderous and heavy. All in all, the
first movement comes across as slightly
uninspired and desperately in need of
propelling! The second movement is better,
with an impressive sound including wonderful
bass sonorities. The third movement
immediately strikes one as slightly
too grandiose as Tate tends to exaggerate
the big statements - which may detract
in some people’s appreciation of the
performance - then about a third of
the way through it starts to get lost,
appearing to lose interest and direction,
and becoming almost withdrawn at times.
Again, it drags and is too lethargic,
ponderously lacking in energy and forward-motion.
It is then not until about a third of
the way through the final movement,
complete with its very weighty brass,
that Tate finally gets the pace up a
bit. The impressive coda came as pleasant
surprise – this is just about as good
as you’ll ever hear it. So a fairly
mixed rendition of Elgar’s First – with
a beautifully exuberant and opulent
sound from the LSO, exquisitely played,
and with a fantastic coda, yet too slow
as a whole, and with some slightly ropey
bits – as the slow movement in particular
(almost half as long again as Elgar’s
own version – 14 minutes instead of
10) lacked coherence, direction and
propulsion. If one is looking for a
decent recording of Elgar’s First Symphony,
I would advise turning to one of those
by Barbirolli (if one prefers the old-fashioned,
indulgent method of performance), or
Solti perhaps for a faster approach,
and steering clear of Tate, despite
his few redeeming qualities.
The Cockaigne
overture concludes the first disc. This
was immediately more promising than
the symphony. Tate commences with a
suitably perky beginning. A beautifully
earthy performance, it had greater contrasts
from brash to tender than, for example,
Zinman’s recent recording on the Telarc
label. Unfortunately, Tate falls into
the same trap as before with the symphony,
and starts slowing down slightly too
much in places – almost coming to a
stop in the slow section about half
the way through, from which it is extremely
difficult to pick up the pace again.
Despite this, it is an excellent performance
– the LSO are perfectly, brilliantly
in tune with the spirit and character
of the piece, and the brass band section
has precisely the right sense of swagger
about it, (and the timpanist has a field
day)! Tate tends to err on the side
of self-indulgence and opulence – not
that the performance is necessarily
any the worst for it. So, overall, one
of the better versions of Cockaigne
and a strong ending to the disc.
The second disc kicks
off with the Second Symphony. Again,
it immediately strikes one as too slow
- even almost grinding to a complete
halt at times. Checking it against Elgar’s
own recording times, Tate, at 62 minutes,
takes an amazing 15 minutes longer than
Elgar’s 47! Despite a tremendous trumpet
glissando half the way through, and
a few other impressive and touching
moments, the first movement is both
too self-indulgent, and too disjointed
– mainly the result of Tate slowing
down too much then having to speed up
again. The second movement continues
in a similar vein as Tate wallows in
a dirge-like, ponderous soup of sound,
luxuriating in grand empty gestures
and failing to push the movement on.
Again, the consequence of this is a
lack of cohesion and no sense of flow
to the music. The third movement is
a bit too relaxed to start with, although
the heavy brass and percussion come
across extremely well, and Tate manages
to capture the restless, nervous energy
at the end of the movement excellently
– even if he does not endue it with
enough malevolence for my taste. The
fourth movement is a fairly disappointing
conclusion to a disheartening version
of the symphony – too sluggish, lackadaisical
and lethargic. Again, avoid Tate for
the Second Symphony – I would recommend
Colin Davis’s version instead as a good
all-rounder.
The second disc ends
with Sospiri – a better attempt
than the symphonies, one felt – affectionate,
vibrant and heart-felt, if slightly
over-the-top and sentimental. The problem
here seemed to be that Tate is trying
to be too intense, resulting in a rather
jagged performance that lacks the velvety
smoothness that one finds in, say, John
Eliot Gardiner’s rendition.
As a general rule,
the sound was slightly boxy on these
discs, and despite accomplished playing
from the LSO, and a competent version
of Cockaigne, all these works
can be found in better versions elsewhere.
Em Marshall
London Symphony Orchestra, Jeffrey Tate 