Naxos has re-released
this briskly-paced performance originally
available on Harmonia Mundi.
My first impression
is how clean this recording is for a
live concert. There is very little "audience
participation", and, as a previous
reviewer has made mention, the miking
of the orchestra is up close with just
that clear immediacy that this music
demands.
The opening "Russia
under the Mongolian Yoke" is performed
quite quickly, almost a full minute
(for a three minute-long piece) faster
than Previn’s recording with the Los
Angeles Philharmonic on Telarc, and
half a minute faster than Chailly’s
with the Cleveland Orchestra on Decca/London.
For the expansiveness of the music,
this sacrifices nuance and contrast,
which Chailly and Previn have in greater
measure on their respective recordings.
Chailly, and, especially, Previn, have
greater intensity here, which better
sets the stage for the entrance of the
chorus in the following "Song about
Alexander Nevsky". For this particular
section, Casadesus’s brisker pace works
well, supplementing the bravado and
snap at "Oh how we fought, how
we hacked them down!" The choir
does better here, with the brash tone
of the soldiers bragging of a good fight.
Following this, the pace, unfortunately,
is also fairly fast for the wonderfully
menacing "Entry of the Crusaders
into Pskov". Considering that the
representation is of robed crusaders
and the oppression they bring, the impact
is blunted with the crusaders hustling
into the city gates at a rather quick
clip after a wonderful slight decelerando
from the orchestra. Chailly has more
hushed intensity from the orchestra
and chorus alike, taking the instrumental
sections more quickly than the choral.
Casadesus takes the inverse approach,
with the choral sections faster.
The climax of the piece,
"The Battle on the Ice," with
its ominous repeated semitone in the
lower strings (the inspiration for John
Williams’s Jaws theme?) here
also disappoints, with the music starting
too softly and, in comparison to Chailly
and especially to the Previn, with not
enough intensity from the chorus on
their entry into the fray with their
nonsense Latin chant. Once the smoke
is finally swept from the trampled snow,
the human cost is counted in the hauntingly
beautiful "The Field of Death"
gorgeously sung by Eva Podleś.
It is here that the Casadesus recording
truly shines. The dark quality of Podleś’s
voice hits the mark perfectly. She is
emotive and intense; Arkhipova, with
Chailly, sounds brittle by comparison.
This is the high point of the disc —
a wonderful performance. Lyrics,
along with translations into English
only are in the booklet.
The second work is
also film music, and of an entirely
different tone. Prokofiev always did
well with sarcasm and satire, and what
better vehicle for that than a film
based on governmental ineptness and
bureaucracy? Based on Tynyanov’s book
— and safely set in times comfortably
prior to the Revolution — the film concerns
the exploits of an imaginary officer,
created by clerical error. Here Casadesus
does very well, always with a focus
on the fun being poked. The "Romance"
section — famously nicked by Sting for
his song "Russians,"—plods
along comically, and Kije’s wedding
music is wonderfully over-inflated and
pompous. The closing "Death of
Kije" has gravitas, along with
the collective sigh of relief from the
officials that the troublesome non-existent
officer is finally done away with once
the empty coffin is put underground.
These are fine performances,
but one I’d not choose over other available
recordings. For the price, however,
the disc is worth purchasing for the
wonderful six-and-a-half minutes of
Podleś’s performance of “The Field
of Death".
David Blomenberg
see also review
by Euan Bayliss
Orchestre National de Lille-Région Nord/Pas-de-Calais/Jean-Claude
Casadesus 
