Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
Symphony
No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 (1888) [50:33]
Romeo and Juliet, Fantasy-Overture (1869-70, rev. 1880) [20:25]
San Francisco Symphony/Michael Tilson Thomas
rec. live, September, 2014, Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco
SFS MEDIA SFS0062 SACD [70:58]
The first thing to be said about this new release by the
San Francisco Symphony is that these performances offer world class playing
– as you’d expect from an orchestra of this stature – and
that the SACD sound is extremely fine. The orchestra is presented in recordings
of great clarity and there’s a pleasing amplitude to the sound. The
performances were recorded in concert but the San Francisco audience is commendably
silent. The only time I was aware of their presence was when they applauded
at the end of Romeo and Juliet – oddly, there’s no applause
after the symphony.
The Fifth Symphony is placed first on the disc. The first movement introduction
is as measured as I can recall hearing it; I’d describe the performance
as pronounced. Once the Allegro con anima gets going I noticed that
the woodwind are quite prominent in the texture – though not excessively
so. Tilson Thomas fashions a very detailed performance – the clarity
with which individual lines can be heard is by no means solely the work of
the engineers – and one can relish the quality of the playing. However,
as the movement unfolded I waited in vain for the music truly to catch fire;
it’s just a bit too deliberate. It’s a cultivated performance,
to be sure, but I think it’s a bit too calculating. I turned to the
2008 recording by the CBSO and Andris Nelsons (review).
This Birmingham recording was made, I think, under studio conditions but it
has far more surge and passion about it. Indeed, heard side by side you might
think the Nelsons account, rather than the Tilson Thomas performance was the
live one. There’s much more excitement with Nelsons.
The second movement is distinguished by some fine playing from the SFS principal
horn, Robert Ward and later in the movement all the woodwind principals take
their cue from him and offer some lovely, well-characterised solos. The music
is expressively shaped and phrased – one is reminded again that the
San Francisco orchestra is a top rank ensemble – and lots of inner detail
comes out in a very natural way. And yet … once more the performance
doesn’t sweep me along. Nelsons has an equally splendid horn player
- Elspeth Dutch, I imagine - and he adopts a slightly more flowing tempo.
That’s one reason why I prefer his way with the music to the Tilson
Thomas approach. But even more importantly, Nelsons’ performance has
more sweep and ardour to it. I also listened to Yevgeny Mravinsky’s
1960 recording with the Leningrad Philharmonic, which I have in the DG incarnation
rather than the recent Pristine Audio transfer (review).
The Leningrad horn player has that distinctive East European timbre, which
won’t be to all tastes but which has the aura of authenticity. As was
the case in the first movement Mravinsky delivers highly charged climaxes
in a way that neither Nelsons nor Tilson Thomas can match. His is a performance
that consistently has the listener on the edge of his or her seat.
Tilson Thomas offers a polished and refined account of the third movement
but I think he’s most successful in the finale. The Allegro vivace
isn’t a tearaway affair but the pacing is sensible and I detect more
fire in the music-making than has been the case hitherto. Nelsons is quite
a bit faster in the Allegro vivace and delivers more of an adrenalin
rush than Tilson Thomas though his faster reading is never uncontrolled. Mention
of adrenalin inevitably brings Mravinsky to mind. He conducts the finale like
a man possessed and his Allegro vivace is unmatched for speed in
my experience; indeed, some might think his is a lunatic pace. Only a conductor
of Mravinsky’s iron discipline could get away with this but the superbly
drilled Leningrad orchestra delivers and the miracle is that the music doesn’t
sound gabbled. That said, I think the Mravinsky way with this movement is
one that I’d only want to experience occasionally – a high days
and holidays performance. Just for the record Tilson Thomas takes 13:24 for
the finale and Nelsons 12:16; Mravinsky and his Leningrad thoroughbreds sprint
to the finishing line in a mere 11:01.
This, then, is a sophisticated and superbly played performance of Tchaikovsky’s
Fifth. But I think that other conductors – and not just Mravinsky and
Nelsons – deliver more in terms of passion and romantic fervour than
does Tilson Thomas.
It’s something of a surprise, therefore – and a welcome one –
to find that he’s more successful with Romeo and Juliet. Once
again the playing is extremely refined but this time Tilson Thomas brings
the requisite fire, dash and a touch of drama to the music. The love music
is beautifully done on its first appearance (7:19 - 10:42). Its reprise (14:03)
is ardently romantic and here the SFS strings, while projecting the music
strongly don’t sacrifice the sheen on their tone. Overall, in Romeo
and Juliet Tilson Thomas gets much closer to what I’d expect to
hear in a Tchaikovsky performance. If only the symphony had been done in a
similar fashion.
John
Quinn
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