The continuing stream of Eloquence reissues of performances by
this orchestra and conductor makes one realise how much they recorded
and how little appreciated they were by many at the time. Certainly
the orchestra does not have the kind of virtuoso brilliance that
starrier orchestras of the period had, and Ansermet does not produce
the kind of show off performance that would have an obvious instant
impact. Nonetheless this slower than usual performance of Ruslan
and Ludmilla does enable the listener to hear and enjoy much
more of the actual music. The sound of the orchestra may be somewhat
plain at times, but I found myself increasingly enjoying the very
characterful sounds of the somewhat acid first oboe and watery
flute, and not bothering about some occasional lack of power in
the strings. The music comes across clearly and that is what matters.
Largely
this is a matter of balance, and whilst the engineers must certainly
be congratulated this is all of a piece with the conductor’s
careful approach to his craft and understanding of the music.
The kind of transparent sound and clear textures that are achieved
over and over again here are not the result of chance or merely
of good microphone placement; they are the outcome of proper
care to ensure that all strands of the texture can be heard
without obscuring each other or being obscured. Admittedly there
are occasions when some degree of thinness is apparent or where
the kind of ripe string sound beloved of so many conductors
might be missed, but increasingly I found this irrelevant to
the fundamental character of the music.
The
lion’s share is given to Glazunov. The Seasons probably
is still his best known score despite the energy that has gone
into recording other of his orchestral works in recent years.
There are good reasons for this. In its relatively brief length
it includes all the expected ingredients of Russian ballet music,
and it leaves one of its best tunes to the end – the Bacchanale
of Autumn - leaving the audience happy and wanting
more. I thoroughly enjoyed this very idiomatic and rhythmically
alive performance. I should point out for completeness that
there is a curious cut at the start of the Variation “Le
Satyr” in Autumn of some six pages of score – about
a minute of music. Presumably this is a normal theatrical cut
and it does not in any way affect the musical logic or enjoyment
of the work.
The
two Concert Waltzes are comparatively well known, and are always
worth hearing especially in such stylish performances. I find
that my attention tends to wander during Stenka Razin,
but Ansermet does what he can for it and at least it is a relatively
compact piece.
The
orchestration of Carnaval was made for performances in
St Petersburg in 1910, and apparently was
shared between Glazunov, Rimsky-Korsakov, Liadov and Tcherepnin.
It would have been interesting if the booklet had indicated who
arranged which piece although there are no great changes of style
between them. I had not heard it before and very much enjoyed
it once I had put memories of the original behind me. It helps
to treat it as simply as colourful and unusually imaginative ballet
music. You will then not be worried unduly about any loss of the
character and ambiguity that the original has, and be less likely
to bother about the cuts both within the music and of the whole
of Réplique.
The
short works by Glinka and Liadov are very enjoyable – well played
and recorded clearly, even if their age does show at times. All
in all this is yet another very welcome reissue from Eloquence,
full of good and perhaps unexpected things.
John Sheppard
see also Review
by Brian Wilson
