Mikhail Pletnev’s Tchaikovsky symphony recordings on the Pentatone
label have been pretty much panned by the critics, including
on these pages.
Pletnev’s track record with the Symphony No.6 is already
pretty good however, with the then brand-new Russian National
Orchestra already having an acclaimed recording of the work
under its belt from 1995 with the Virgin Classics label. I’ve
been a huge devotee of this work since studying it at secondary
school in the UK, and must have heard dozens of versions in
my time. That with Antonio Pappano on EMI is still a big favourite
(see review),
but Pletnev’s earlier recording is excellent as well. Despite
carping from some other camps I still find Pletnev’s Beethoven
symphonies
utterly thrilling, and came to this new Tchaikovsky recording
with no negative preconceptions. I left it with very few positive
feelings however, and with the sad impression that Pletnev’s
star is on the wane.
Pletnev’s general view of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 has
changed a little since the last recording. The outer movements
are more expansive, and the tempos in the first movement are
certainly slower than before. This given, it becomes even harder
to generate real excitement and intensity, and in the end this
is not an improvement. Something which also swiftly becomes
apparent is the qualities in the recording, which somehow prevent
the orchestra becoming really integrated and ‘more than the
sum of its parts’. From an opening bassoon solo which is rather
unrealistically close in the mix, the sound picture is more
of a collage of different instrumental sections. The violins
are a bit close and wobbly to start with, but retreat and gel
a little more with the Vaseline-lens treatment the big tune
is given at 5:00 in. Woodwinds are nicely placed and given plenty
of detail, and we’re almost allowed to sit in the clarinet’s
laps. Horns burble away happily enough, but the brass when it
kicks in at 4:00 is against the back wall somewhere and relatively
indirect in terms of impact to start with, becoming more focussed
with increase in volume later on. These effects are less apparent
with the SACD layer, but you’ll notice them for sure in conventional
stereo. This is not to say this is necessarily a really bad
recording, nor even a bad performance. I’m perhaps
being overly picky here, but we’re in studio recording land
and never quite allowed to forget it. It’s hard enough to build
an effective atmosphere in a studio recording, but when seeking
the illusion of something which would make for a white-hot concert
performance it’s is the art of the engineer to allow us to forget
the microphones and live entirely in the music, and to my mind
this doesn’t come off in this case.
Interestingly, there is a point at which the sound gels more,
and that’s when everyone is playing at full pelt. The dynamics
in this recording are wide, and the depth of detail in the tuttis
is a compensation. The timpani do spoil this effect a little,
being rather too close and massive to be really credible. I
keep coming back to aspects of the recording, but this is something
which to my ears does distract from the performance, which is
OK, but nothing which will be relegating any of my alternatives
to the dustier corners of the archive. The Allegro con grazia
second movement is good enough, but could be a bit more
sprightly and forward moving. The whole thing does lack somewhat
in real intensity. There is some life in the Allegro molto
vivace, but I’ve heard better disciplined violins, and the
transparency is compromised on occasion. It sounds more dutiful
than inspired, and we’ve all started reading our newspapers
or flicking through TV channels with the sound down by that
moment at the end of the movement at which everyone is supposed
mistakenly to break out into spontaneous applause.
Gawd, the final movement. I’m sorry to say this just drags.
I can take a slower tempo in this music, but it has to have
passion. With this of all symphonic movements you need
to be feeling the walls around you being dismantled until you
are left, alone, naked and adrift on an unforgiving sea of finite
and tragic mortality. Pletnev moans a good deal on the rostrum,
but this time around he can’t give me much of what I know this
music can deliver. Lacking its gut-wrenching emotional punch,
it almost becomes a caricature – a Disneyland man in a monster
suit rather than the real thing; pathetic rather than Pathétique.
There are also intonation issues: just which note are we supposed
to be hearing at 3:00? This Symphony No.6 has a feeling
of ‘trying too hard’ about just about every aspect of its production,
and as a result loses just about every chance of becoming a
statement with real emotional impact.
Alright, let’s do the Capriccio Italien to finish shall
we? You can if you like – I think I’ve heard enough. But that
oboe duet tune five minutes in – and the way those trumpets
answer with fun Mediterranean vibrato, that’s nice isn’t it?
Yes, but the piece is corny as hell anyway, and I’m all grumpy
after the symphony – those musicians have no right to sound
as if they are relaxed and enjoying themselves...
Dominy Clements
Russian National Orchestra/Mikhail Pletnev
