The figure of Charles
Munch remains controversial, especially when he stepped outside
his native French repertoire. For one of my reviewing colleagues,
Alex Russell (UK-based), he was great in French music but only
third rate in the German/Austrian classics, while another colleague,
Paul Shoemaker (US-based) has listed his preferred versions
of the Brahms symphonies as Munch for 1 and 4, Steinberg for
no.2 and Reiner for no.3. I daresay neither view would be seen
as individualistic on their respective sides of the Atlantic.
It has become evident,
at least, that the coarse sound of the original RCA LPs did
a lot to foster the idea of a conductor whose immense enthusiasm
was not matched by any great sensitivity towards the finer nuances.
The Boston recordings have been steadily improving with subsequent
remasterings and, though I have heard the present disc only
as a normal CD, I can report that the sound is pretty impressive.
The Boston reverberation could be felt a drawback, but less
so than would have been the case if Munch had gone in for the
lightweight, sparkling approach some favour in Mendelssohn.
The first movement
of the Italian has a virile, exultant feel to it, with
a Beethovenian drive at times, yet an avoidance of jabbing accents
means that the softer passages relax smilingly without actually
conceding much in actual tempo. The lead back to the recapitulation
is particularly felicitous.
In Munch’s hands
Mendelssohn’s pilgrims, like those of Berlioz in Harold in
Italy – another controversial Munch tempo – have gravity
but also a certain spring in their step; they are weary yet
joyful too, for their goal is in sight at last. The Minuet is
warm and gracious, but it is the finale which sets the seal
on a performance I rate very highly. I have always felt that
this Saltarello is often taken too fast for its real
dance character to emerge – the second and fourth beats get
lost in a welter of merely brilliant playing. Here we are reminded
that also in Berlioz Munch sometimes took surprisingly slow
tempi for the finales (as in both the Fantastic Symphony
and Harold in Italy), yet with such vital articulation
that they quickly cease to seem slow. So it is with this Italian;
there is a real feeling of joyous dancing, so infectious that
you quickly forget the slower-than-usual pace and just get caught
up in the wonderful vitality of it all.
Munch evidently
had a particular affection for the Reformation Symphony,
which he recorded for the first time in Paris in 1948 - I’ve
never heard that version. It is often said of Munch that his
final years after leaving Boston were little more than a postscript
to his career during which he merely repeated his favourite
French party-pieces. Well, in 1966, two years before his death,
he turned up in Rome to conduct a quite staggering Reformation
– and ten days earlier, in Turin, he had conducted Petrassi’s
fifth Concerto for Orchestra, which he had presumably learnt
for the occasion. The differences between the Boston and Rome
performances are striking:
| MENDELSSOHN 5 |
I |
II |
III |
IV |
Total |
| Boston 1957 (studio) |
10:43 |
04:12 |
03:24 |
08:55 |
27:10 |
| Rome 1966 (live) |
12:54 |
04:55 |
03:49 |
09:55 |
31:44 |
Encroaching old
age? I think not. Rather, Munch was rediscovering his roots.
In his early days he had played under Furtwängler but he later
came under the spell of Toscanini. He was also aware that his
impulsive, improvisational style of interpretation might not
be ideal for repeated listening and deliberately “behaved himself”
in the studio. Make no mistake about it, his Boston Reformation
is a fierily magnificent piece of work, one of the best available,
and again, there is no lack of the finer nuances. But in Rome
he recreates the symphony before our ears, rather as Furtwängler
did in that astonishing Schumann 4 (yes, it’s on that exalted
level). Some details may be theoretically questionable, such
as the slowing down for the last hushed entry of the main theme
in the first movement, but he carries you with him, just as
Furtwängler did. If in the last resort not even his Boston version
quite rids one of a suspicion that this symphony is by Mendelssohn
the Kapellmeister rather than Mendelssohn the inspired artist,
Munch in 1966 was also intensely human, in his loving handling
of the Andante, for instance, and makes the symphony
sound genuinely inspired. This is really great conducting. The
Roman audience evidently realized they had witnessed something
exceptional, for they give a terrific ovation at the end.
But of course, it
isn’t available. Well, I feel it should be, it would truly be
a great disc to set alongside the Furtwängler Schumann 4. In
the meantime, the Boston version is not to be sneezed at, indeed
it’s very fine. The Octet movement, arranged by Mendelssohn
as a replacement for the minuet of his First Symphony, is wonderfully
delicate and appears on CD for the first time. Highly recommended,
especially to those not convinced that Mendelssohn was a BIG
composer.
Christopher
Howell
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Boston Symphony
Orchestra/Charles Munch
[57:59] 
