Pyotr Il’yich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
The Nutcracker op.71 (1892) [84:16]
Symphony no.4 in F minor, op.36 (1878) [44:46]
Mariinsky Orchestra/Valery Gergiev
rec. Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg, 10 June and 29 September 2015 (symphony) and 16 June and 30 December 2015 (ballet)
MARIINSKY SACD MAR0593 [62:08 + 66:54]
Valery Gergiev has been chief conductor and artistic director
of St Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre since as long ago as 1988 and its overall
director since 1996. Even so, he has not always enjoyed a good press when
it comes to live theatrical performances of ballet. Some critics suggest that
he has little enthusiasm for an art form that is primarily one for the eyes
rather than the ears. Others - including me (review)
- have speculated that he may dislike the limits to interpretative freedom
that are necessitated during live performances in order to accommodate dancers’
practical requirements and physical limitations. A few have gone on to mount
some quite vituperative attacks not only on him but on his whole ballet company
management team. YouTube, for instance, hosts a couple of series of closely
argued and provocatively titled films - The victims of the evil Mariinsky
spell and Rapid decline of Mariinsky Ballet as [Acting Director
of the Mariinsky Ballet] Fateyev abandons Vaganova Academy dancers
- that are scathing in their anonymously-authored attacks.
This newly released 2015 Gergiev recording of The Nutcracker was
not made, however, at a live ballet performance, thereby sparing us those
familiar occasional thumps as dancers land heavily on the stage. Indeed, it
wasn’t even made in the main Mariinsky Theatre. Instead the venue was
the nearby concert hall, a beautiful modern space that was opened in 2007,
where I imagine that the performance was taped under professionally-engineered
studio conditions and without an audience. After all, how else can we explain
the complete absence of the coughing or sniffling normally to be expected
at the tail end of a Russian December?
With no extraneous bumps, coughs or sneezes - and with no need for the conductor
to compromise his artistic vision in order to accommodate those pesky dancers
- this recording preserves a performance that is really rather good. Well
sculpted and balanced, it is also notably alive to the fine detail of the
score. I was very much reminded, at times, of an earlier Gergiev studio account
with the Kirov Orchestra - as the Mariinsky band was then known - that was
greeted with some acclaim on its original release almost 20 years ago (Philips
462 114-2).
Gergiev’s way with the score has, however, changed somewhat in the intervening
years. In general, the older version often tends to be a little more consistently
sprightly. Indeed, its brisk approach was quite literally one of that disc's
selling points at the time, with the Philips marketing department adding a
front cover sticker that boasted "Complete ballet on 1 CD!
playing-time 81+ minutes" - even though the rear cover
simultaneously contradicted that assertion by stating "Total playing
time: 1:20:58". Whichever the case, how bizarre it is to see a relatively
modern release promoted to potential buyers on the basis that it was an economical
purchase rather than that it was actually any good.
While Gergiev's new performance adds a few seconds or more to the majority
of the numbers, in one or two cases he has made some rather more striking
changes in the past two decades. Doddery old grandfather, for instance, now
takes 6:16 over his dance (no.5), as opposed to 5:31 last time around, while,
even more strikingly, the eponymous blooms execute the Waltz of the flowers
(no.13) in a more leisurely 7:37 rather than 6:34. Even though the cumulative
effect of such tinkering is to add only a little over three minutes to the
overall timing, it does, I think, give a somewhat more relaxed and varied
feel to the new account - as well as providing a justification for the decision
to spread this Nutcracker over two discs.
That impression of a somewhat less high-pressured interpretation is further
buttressed by the warmer and more mellow sound quality exhibited by the Mariinsky
release. It's worth observing, however, that the brighter, more in-your-face
- and equally well recorded - sound produced by the Philips engineers in 1998
isn't automatically bettered by this new release. Any preference between
the two approaches will necessarily be entirely subjective and based on the
listener’s personal taste.
Faced with the need to fill the second disc, the Mariinsky team has settled
on Tchaikovsky's fourth symphony, a work described by my colleague John Phillips,
in the course of reviewing another Gergiev disc, as "the most balletic
of the symphonies" (review).
While I would accord that particular accolade instead to the underrated third
- half an hour or so of which was famously utilised by George Balanchine for
the Diamonds finale to his glittering 1967 New York City Ballet creation
Jewels - it's true that substantial parts of the fourth symphony
are eminently danceable. As such it sits quite satisfactorily alongside The
nutcracker, even though - in spite of its substantial length and undoubted
musical weight - its markedly smaller billing on the CD cover indicates that
on this occasion it's perceived as the secondary attraction.
This account of the fourth is decent enough, if somewhat lacking in individuality.
Any claims to distinctiveness lie in the opening two movements, both of which
are taken in a rather controlled manner. When Gergiev brings in the first
at 19:16, for example, he is taking longer about it than all but two of the
other conductors on my shelves: Mengelberg/Concertgebouw Orchestra (1929),
17:27; Furtwängler/Vienna PO (1951), 19:26; Argenta/Suisse Romande Orchestra
(1955), 17:11; Sanderling/Leningrad PO (1956), 19:21; Monteux/Boston SO (1959),
17:27; Mravinsky/Leningrad PO (1960), 18:43; Dorati/London SO (1961), 17:25;
Markevitch/London SO (1963), 18:23; Svetlanov/USSR State SO (1967), 18:51;
Karajan/Berlin PO (1977), 18:47; USSR Radio SO/Fedoseyev (1984), 18:06; and
Svetlanov/Russian Federation State SO (1990), 17:37. That same tendency is
even more apparent in the second movement where Gergiev's account is,
at 11:28, substantially the longest of them all. Indeed, only one of his competitors
even passes even the 10 minute mark (Mengelberg 8:46; Furtwängler 10:22; Argenta
8:42; Sanderling 9:48; Monteux 8:10; Mravinsky 9:15; Dorati 9:13; Markevitch
9:37; Svetlanov (1967) 8:25; Karajan 9:02; Fedoseyev 9:23; and Svetlanov (1990)
9:16).
Taken in isolation, those figures might suggest that Gergiev is simply dawdling.
In fact, however, his tempi are, for long stretches, entirely unremarkable.
Once in a while, however, he will spring a surprise by slowing down - sometimes
quite dramatically - to focus on and illuminate a particular brief moment.
That combination of a clear ultimate destination and a constantly flexible
approach to various musical landmarks en route is generally well
executed and makes the first two movements the most interesting ones in this
performance. The last two, while equally well performed and recorded, are,
on the other hand, more conventional in both timing and general approach.
In fact, they almost succeed in giving the impression that Gergiev has lost
interest in the symphony's second half. Calling them an anticlimax
to what has gone on before would be unfair, but they are without question
something of a disappointment.
My colleague Gwyn Parry-Jones once observed that Valery Gergiev is “not
everyone's cup of tea” (review)
and others have sometimes suggested that his busy globetrotting schedules
explain why he seems to be not equally committed to every performance. Listening
to this disc, it is clear that the new Nutcracker, while not an inferior
achievement, doesn't automatically displace his earlier Phillips account.
Similarly, there's not enough that's special about this new
account of Tchaikovsky's fourth to cause anyone who’s happy with
an existing recording on their shelves to feel obliged to add it to their
collection.
Rob Maynard
Previous review:
Dan Morgan
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