I last surveyed the
various versions of this Symphony about
six years ago [review].
Details of competing versions are given
below.
Miaskovsky’s Symphony
No. 6 was premiered in Moscow at the
Bolshoi Theatre by the Bolshoi Orchestra
and Chorus on 4 May 1924. The conductor
was Nikolai Golovanov. Its predecessor,
which bids to be Miaskovsky's most popular
epic-style symphony, was a product of
the war years and is best heard, if
you can find it, on a deleted Olympia
conducted by Konstantin Ivanov.
The Sixth is clearly
a descendant of the Fifth though it
is tougher, truculent and more sphinx-like.
It was welcomed by critics and audiences
alike and received performances in London
and Philadelphia where Stokowski was
one of the composer's great advocates.
Vienna's Universal Edition got behind
the score and produced it in a de
luxe engraving.
Järvi's version
goes straight to the top quartile of
the lists above my previous leader -
the still very good Stankovsky on Marco
Polo. The Gothenburg orchestra give
a rabidly excoriating and tempestuous
performance - listen to the typical
cavalry charge at 11.30 in the allegro
feroce. Listen also to the lovingly
held tenuto at 8.34 in the andante
appassionato third movement which
reaches darkly towards both Tchaikovsky's
Pathétique and Rachmaninov's
Second Symphony. May Day flags flutter
and crack in the brilliant sunshine
and the sharp-cold breeze in the allegro
vivace.
The composer admitted
to the effect on this work of the raw,
insolent and braggingly sung songs of
the French Revolution - Ça
Ira and La Carmagnole. Another
'compass bearing' is Emile Verhaeren's
verse-play Les Aubes (1898).
Verhaeren's writings were also the source
of inspiration for both Elgar and Goossens.
By the way the more vivacious sections
of the second movement are suggestive
of Elgar's Second Symphony.
There is little for
the chorus to sing and what there is
in the Più sostenuto part
of the finale where in addition to some
vocalising they are called on to sing
the six lines of the hymn of the Russian
raskolniks (religious dissenters). These
describe in the awed tone of the returning
Enkidu in Martinů's
Epic of Gilgamesh the
experience of seeing the soul leaving
a dead body. The Gothenburg choir invest
their brief role with more colour, feeling,
radiance and mystical weight than any
of their counterparts.
Miaskovsky stands in
line of succession to the Tchaikovsky
of neurosis and noble depression; after
all the Dies Irae does weave
its way into many of the pages of this
work. You need to think in terms of
the darker episodes of Manfred,
of Francesca and of the Pathétique
and then add the twentieth century excoriant
of disillusion and the vitriol of war.
One can readily trace much later voices
such as Shostakovich (in Razliv
style) and the great trumpet-lofted
adagios of Khachaturian.
Svetlanov’s version
of the Sixth Symphony is given a tempestuous,
whipped and fleet-footed reading; the
sort of speed you might have expected
from Golovanov on an impetuous day.
In fact the similar vigour, torque and
speed is found by Dmitri Liss in the
latest recording of the Sixth on Warner
Classics. Järvi is better recorded
than Svetlanov and Liss sounds excellent
too. The Dudarova (on a long-vanished
Olympia OCD510) is better than serviceable
and well engineered but it sprawls somewhat
and lacks the imaginative heft to be
found in the other recordings. Oddly
enough Dudarova was in the Ostankino
recording studios in July 1992 while
Svetlanov was in the middle of recording
the Miaskovsky cycle. Kondrashin's mono
Sixth on Russian Disc (if you can find
it) is properly revered but its mono
tracking and papery sound quality renders
it of historic value rather than being
recommendable in the face of Liss, Svetlanov,
Järvi and the still surprisingly
good Stankovsky (Marco Polo). Given
that Stankovsky is a degree cooler than
both Järvi and Svetlanov it is
between Liss, Järvi and Svetlanov.
If you want the work with the choral
finale then go for Järvi or Liss;
if you are content with the orchestral
only version (and the choir’s role is
only in the finale and then very brief)
then Svetlanov on Olympia is the one
to opt for.
One of the great moments
in Western classical music comes with
the flute song that unwinds in the second
movement over an ostinato derived
from the Dies Irae. Miaskovsky
disdains hollow triumphs for his finale
which subsides into a sunset of contemplative
radiance.
David Fanning's notes
are a match for the best recorded version
to date. What I wouldn't give to hear
Järvi and the Gothenburgers in
Miaskovsky's masterworks: the Fifth
and Twenty-Fourth Symphonies.
A word of praise to
the designers: whoever took the valiant
decision to print the words of the booklet
in larger clear arial-style print -
black on white - deserves an award.
The booklet is unpretentious and serves
the highest mission of design: to mix
eye-catching effect with utility. Attained
to perfection.
By the way, the Göteborgs
Symfoniker is none other than the Gothenburg
Symphony Orchestra under its Swedish
language name. With apologies to those
who already knew.
Now DG should give
the most earnest consideration to following
this up. We need more Miaskovsky and
let’s have a completion of the Maximilian
Steinberg-Järvi series. Then time
to turn to the symphonies of Lev Knipper,
Lev Revutsky and, most urgently, Yuri
Shaporin and the piano concertos of
Dzerzhinsky.
Rob Barnett
COMPARATOR RECORDINGS of Miaskovsky
Symphony No. 6
|
|
I
|
II
|
III
|
IV
|
Kondrashin (1959) |
22.19 |
9.00 |
16.09 |
17.36 |
| Stankovsky (1991) |
22.19 |
9.28 |
14.14 |
17.18 |
| Dudarova (1992) |
24.56 |
8.27 |
15.56 |
20.51 |
| Järvi (1998) |
22.26 |
8.56 |
15.06 |
18.02 |
Dudarova
Anima Moscow Chamber Choir
Symphony Orchestra of Russia/Veronika
Dudarova
rec July 1992, Moscow, stereo, DDD
OLYMPIA OCD510 [70.10]
Kondrashin
Yurlov Russian Choir
USSRSO/Kirill Kondrashin
rec 7 Feb 1959
RUSSIAN DISC RD CD 15 008 [65.18]
Stankovsky
Symphony No. 6 (1923)
Slovak National Opera Choir
Czecho-Slovak Radio SO/Robert Stankovsky
rec The Concert Hall, Slovak Radio,
Bratislava, 25-30 Mar 1991
MARCO POLO 8.223301 [63.28]
There are of course several other Miaskovsky
Sixths including Svetlanov on Olympia
in 1965 and a live Kondrashin in 1978
on Melodiya. I have not been able to
make direct comparison yet but may well
do so when I tackle the Liss which is
the latest version to be issued. RB
Göteborgs Symfoniska Kör 
