Three well-known showpieces
written for the ballet makes for a logical, if not particularly
inspired, programme. Trouble is, the catalogue is stuffed with
stand-out performances of all of them, so Jordan and his opera band
will need to be on top form if they are to challenge the best, let
alone surpass them. The Swiss maestro isn’t the most charismatic or
engaging of conductors, as his low-key appearance at this year’s BBC
Proms confirmed. Happily the festival also featured a pithily
‘authentic’
Rite by François-Xavier Roth and Les
Siècles; happily they are to record the work soon. As for the Debussy,
Ansermet’s classic account is very desirable, even more so as a
high-res download (
review),
and there are more than enough decent versions of the Ravel to go
around.
The stage is set, and as the footlights come up it’s clear this is
going to be a very dull afternoon indeed. Bright, glassy sound and an
unflatteringly close and airless balance are the enemy of essential
languor, and the playing is routine. At least it’s fairly seamless - no
ugly gear changes
à la Jun Märkl - but that counts
for little when the performance is so lacking in mood or magic. One
only has to hear a few seconds of that Ansermet account to realise
what’s missing here, and to be reminded of just how atmospheric and
nuanced the vintage Decca recording is.
Strike one.
Time to draw a veil over that torpid opener and move on to the
Stravinsky. The
Rite has fared well in this
centenary year, and of several recent recordings I favour Jaap van
Zweden (
review),
Gustavo Dudamel (
review)
and, with some reservations, Iván Fischer (
review).
Top of the pile, though, is Leonard Bernstein’s live performance on
DVD, with the maestro at his magnetic best (
review).
With expectations so low Jordan’s
Rite has much to
prove; alas, it seems this collection is jinxed, for Stravinsky’s
virile rhythms are flaccid and articulation/phrasing is perverse in the
extreme. The shallow recording makes the piece sound both fierce and
monochromatic, and it all bumps and grinds in the most unedifying way.
The score’s nodal points count for nothing and the usual epiphanies are
surrendered without a fight. Really, the way Jordan pulls the music
about is appalling - awful.
Strike two.
Naïve’s production values hover just above zero; the disc is presented
in one of those ghastly Digipaks and the gap between the three ballets
is much too short. That means the grotesquely undercharacterised final
bars of the
Danse sacrale slip almost seamlessly
into the opening beats of
Boléro. At least the
playing is a little more crisp and alert, and Jordan does pace the long
acceleration tolerably well; that said, this reading is utterly devoid
of glitter and/or excitement, and that earlier sense of
ennui
hangs heavily here too.
Strike three.
I’m stunned - and not for any of the right reasons. This has to be the
most desultory playing I’ve heard in ages; sling in a dismal recording
and limp-wristed direction and you have the measure of this CD.
Lacklustre performances, poorly recorded; look elsewhere.
Dan Morgan
http://twitter.com/mahlerei
Masterwork Index:
Le sacre du
printemps
