These three performances, the only examples of Rachmaninov
conducting his own music, make obvious disc-mates. It’s
by no means the first time they’ve been programmed in
this way; one need only look at the multi-volume Rachmaninov
‘Complete Recordings’ from RCA [Red Seal 82876-67892-2]
to note that disc three is set aside for these performances.
And, further back, for instance, Pearl issued its transfers
[GEMM
CD 9414], and now Naxos has undertaken its own via the work
of Mark Obert-Thorn.
The Third Symphony receives a magnificent reading, courtesy
of the Philadelphia Orchestra in full flow. It responds to the
composer’s deft and inventively romantic themes with glorious
aplomb, stinting nothing in its tonal opulence in pursuance
of the composer-conductor’s aims. Six of the eight sides
were first takes. The opening side required the use of a second
take - maybe it was a cold start - but once into the work the
session seems to have progressed smoothly. That, if I’m
reading things correctly, seems not to have been the case back
in April 1929 when he recorded Isle of the Dead. All
the selected takes were the fourth and fifth, so maybe there
were co-ordination and ensemble problems - or maybe there’s
another explanation. In any case the results were as convincing
as the Third Symphony recording of a decade later. As so often,
Rachmaninov directs tautly but with malleable and flexible
control. The music surges with power and suggestive sonorities,
and the strings’ luscious portamenti add their own vibrant
gloss on the aural perspective. The ‘filler’, the
final side, of this three 78 disc album, was Vocalise
in the composer’s orchestrally garbed version - suitably
rich, suitably lovely.
If you want these performances, this disc proves a canny and
inexpensive way to acquire them, given that you may not want
the 10 CD RCA box, and that the Pearl’s transfer is inferior
to this latest release, should you be able to find it. Indeed
Naxos preserves more surface noise than RCA, but less than Pearl,
retaining full frequencies and sacrificing no loss of upper
frequencies. Fortunately for those who decide to take a chance
on the RCA box, its restorers have not gone crazy on over-processing,
and things sound good.
Jonathan Woolf
see also review by Ian
Lace
Philadelphia Orchestra/Sergey Rachmaninov
