Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68 [43:43]
Bohuslav MARTINŮ (1890-1959)
Symphony No. 4, H305* [33:08]
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR/Klaus Tennstedt
rec. 24 September 1976, Stadttheater, Göppingen; *26 April 1973, Funkstudio
Villa Berg des SDR Stuttgart
ICA CLASSICS ICAC 5090 [76:05]
We are not exactly short of recordings by Klaus Tennstedt of the Brahms First
Symphony. There’s a live 1990 account on BBC Legends (review)
and another live reading from 1992 on the LPO Live label (review).
There’s also his 1983 EMI studio recording, though I’m not sure
if that’s currently available other than in a large, budget-priced box
(review).
On all of those recordings he conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
However, a Tennstedt recording of a Martinů symphony is quite
another matter and I daresay that, notwithstanding the many merits of this
present Stuttgart account of the Brahms, it will be the Martinů that
will most intrigue collectors.
Actually, the live recordings that have emerged in the last few years have
reminded us that Tennstedt did make some forays into the realm of Czech music.
I like, for instance, his account of Janáček’s Glagolitic
Mass (review).
That’s on BBC Legends and the same label issued a disc of Janáček’s
Sinfonietta and Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony that’s
well worth hearing (BBCL 4139-2). However, I’m not aware that Martinů
is otherwise represented in his discography.
The Fourth Symphony is a most attractive work. Indeed, Rob Barnett, in reviewing
the classic account by Martin Turnovsky pushed the boat out, describing the
piece as “one of the most luminous, rhythmically alive, optimistic,
mordant, purposeful and celebratory pieces of the twentieth century.”
(review)
I wouldn’t dissent. Tennstedt may not displace the Turnovsky reading
but he does full justice to the score. He obtains lively, animated playing
from the Stuttgart orchestra in the ebullient, vital music of the first movement.
The busy music in the second movement is impelled along with a good degree
of brio and strong rhythmic impetus while the central lyrical Moderato
section is persuasively phrased by the strings and woodwind. Tennstedt gives
a fine account of the slow movement, which is the most substantial portion
of the work. There’s a good deal of urgency in his atmospheric reading
of this music. The finale is exciting and vigorous though there are one or
two instances where Martinů’s high-lying writing taxes the violin
section. Overall, this performance of Martinů’s is an impressive
achievement.
If the Martinů attracts particular interest as a Tennstedt ‘novelty’,
the performance of the Brahms First should not be dismissed simply because
there are other Tennstedt recordings in the catalogue. It’s noteworthy
that the above-mentioned 1990 recording plays for 46:54 while the 1992 is
more expansive still, coming in at 48:56. This present 1976 account, therefore,
appears on the face of it to be tauter and, generally, more fleet of foot
and that’s exactly the case. Indeed, I’d go so far as to suggest
that even if you have one or other of these later performances this one has
a strong claim on your attentions.
If I had to pick one word to describe this performance it would have to be
‘urgent’ for that word or variants on it crops up regularly in
my listening notes. Right from the start Tennstedt impresses with a strong,
purposeful reading of the first movement introduction in which he generates
good tension. The allegro itself is launched with gusto and thereafter the
music is full of drive and vitality. Indeed, at times the performance is positively
electrifying. The lovely Andante sostenuto is purposeful too, and though
Tennstedt doesn’t short change us on the lyrical side he keeps the music
moving forward. To be honest, the orchestra lacks, perhaps, just that last
degree of finesse and polish when compared to the LPO in the later accounts
but we must remember that there was, by the 1990s, a longstanding relationship
between Tennstedt and that orchestra whereas the Stuttgart players would not
have been anything like as familiar with him. In any event, it’s a more
than acceptable performance of the movement and as the end approaches the
solo violin and horn players are accomplished and eloquent.
The third movement is fleet and flowing at the start and then becomes a bit
more animated still. I felt in this movement that perhaps Tennstedt could
and should have given the music just a little more breathing space at times.
The introduction to the finale is dramatic and powerful; the big horn theme
is expansively delivered. In the main allegro Tennstedt builds up the
tension and excitement as the music unfolds and there’s considerable
drive and intensity in the music making. Here, as elsewhere, Tennstedt gets
a keen response from the orchestra and the end of the movement - with no excessive,
rhetorical slowing for the chorale - blazes with excitement. There’s
some thirty seconds of applause at the end.
This is a terrific reading of the Brahms symphony and whilst I remain a strong
admirer of the two later live readings I’m very glad indeed to have
this somewhat different and more urgent interpretation in my Tennstedt collection.
The recorded sound for both performances is perfectly satisfactory. There’s
more concert hall distance on the Brahms recording whereas the Martinů
performance is recorded somewhat more closely - though by no means oppressively
so. I don’t think an audience can have been present for the latter recording.
The Brahms comes from a public concert but, apart from the applause at the
end, I detected no audience noise.
Both these recordings are very valuable additions to the conductor’s
discography. Tennstedt was born in 1926 so he would have just turned fifty
when the Brahms performance was given while the Martinů recording was
made just a couple of years after he defected from East Germany to the West.
These two excellent recordings give us an idea of why he quickly became so
highly regarded once he was ‘discovered’ by North American orchestras
in 1974.
John Quinn
Two very valuable additions to the Tennstedt discography.
Masterwork Index: Brahms symphony
1
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