Until a couple of years ago, I had never heard
of Gary Bertini. Then I stumbled across a copy of his long-deleted
Mahler 4 in the City of Sydney public library and, Mahler addict
that I am, borrowed it to compare with the umpteen other versions
in my own collection. It compared very well. Bertini showed
himself to be a master of long singing lines and fine orchestral
balances. So impressed was I, that I bought his Mahler cycle
on its re-release by EMI earlier this year.
Bertini was an Israeli conductor whose family
migrated to Israel from the USSR in the 1930s. He built his
career first in Israel, then in continental Europe and finally
in Japan, where he was much loved. Now, a year after his death,
Capriccio has launched a Gary Bertini Edition, featuring live
performances from the archives of the Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester,
of which Bertini was chief conductor for nine years from 1983. It
was with this band – now known as the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln – that
Bertini recorded that excellent Mahler cycle. In more recent
times, this same orchestra recorded one of the great Shostakovich
symphony cycles with Rudolf Barshai (see reviews 1, 2 and 3). Anyone
who knows those recordings will have a lot of respect for these
musicians, who play with a clean orchestral sound and excellent
part definition. The brass are a particularly impressive bunch
and, on this disc, the strings really sing.
This all-Ravel collection is a worthy memorial
to a conductor who is deservedly winning more fans. It opens
with a gorgeous wash of sound for Daphnis et Chloé. The
high violin lines in the Pantomime movement may not
be perfectly pure in tone, but this reservation is minor. The
solo flute in the same movement is alluring and the orchestral
playing generally seductive. There could be more snap in the
opening of the final Danse, but what the finale lacks
in sheer abandon it makes up for in polish. The German engineering
is also immaculate, a slight tendency to spotlight instrumental
solos notwithstanding.
The performance of Ravel's jazzy, Gershwin-esque
piano concerto is also well worth hearing. This is not Argerich's
first recorded performance of the piece. Just a year before
this live event was taped, she had set down her second interpretation
for Deutsche Grammophon with Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic. This
performance is cut from similar cloth. There is more flexibility
to Argerich's playing here than in her earlier 1968 account,
and literalists will be displeased. Argerich's fans, however,
will revel in the fantasy of her playing and be moved by the
hushed intimacy she brings to the central movement. The orchestra
is again vividly caught.
The final performance is just a little too
much of a good thing. There is absolutely nothing wrong with
the playing in this performance of La Valse, but there
is a muscularity and a slight brutality in Bertini's interpretation
that push this gentle parody of old Vienna into the realm of
sarcasm. Look to Boulez on Sony for a more idiomatic rendering
of this gorgeous piece.
Minor reservations aside, this is a disc for
fans of Argerich, fans of Bertini and fans of Ravel to consider.
Tim Perry
Martha Argerich
(piano) 2
[52:21] 
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