Paul HINDEMITH (1895-1963)
Symphony, Mathis der Maler (1933-1934) [30:51]
Symphony in E flat major (1940) [36:37]
NDR Sinfonieorchester/Christoph Eschenbach
rec. no details available
Reviewed as a 16-bit download from eClassical.com
No booklet
ONDINE ODE1275-2 [67:28]
I’m not impressed, and that’s before I’ve
heard a note of this new recording. Ondine haven’t provided a
booklet with this download, and that’s unacceptable. Oddly, they
supply PDF notes with some of their digital offerings, but not all.
They’re not the worst offenders – some labels never
do – but that’s really no excuse. In the past I’ve
endeavoured to find out why music buyers are treated in such a cavalier
fashion and I’ve been fobbed off with some bizarre replies. The
upshot is that too many labels and/or distributors don’t seem
to care about this issue; as for DSPs, such as eClassical and Qobuz,
they aren't happy with this situation either.
Paul Hindemith’s Mathis symphony, a depiction of the
Isenheim altarpiece by Matthias Grünewald (1470-1528), is one of the
composer’s more engaging works. I do sometimes feel his orchestral
pieces are rather austere – dour, even – but then that’s
usually when they’re badly played or recorded. Which is certainly
not the case with Herbert Blomstedt and the San Francisco Symphony’s
magisterial Mathis, recorded for Decca
in 1987; indeed, I’d say that album – coupled with the Trauermusik
and the Symphonic Metamorphosis after themes of Carl Maria von Weber
– is one of the best things Blomstedt’s ever done. Not only
that, the sound is superb.
Christoph Eschenbach’s reading of the Engelkonzert (Angel
Concert) isn’t terribly encouraging, for it lacks both the heft
and the superior blend that makes Blomstedt’s account so special.
I also miss the latter’s heightened sense of drama - of wonder,
even – and his colouristic touches. The quieter music of Eschenbach’s
Grablegung (Entombment) is more appealing though, with delicate
plzzicati and some lovely contributions from the woodwinds.
He handles the movement’s big, brass-laden chorales with authority
and the closing bars are suitably hushed.
Despite these occasional felicities Eschenbach’s Mathis
fails to cohere or convince. Blomstedt’s pulse is stronger, steadier,
and he maintains a telling sense of momentum throughout. That said,
the surging strings at the start of Eschenbach’s Versuchung
des heiligen Antonius (The Temptation of Saint Anthony) are impressive,
and I was pleased to hear him eke out more detail here. However, I’d
happily forgo such fleeting insights for a longer, smoother line and,
in the final pages, a genuine sense of apotheosis. Blomstedt is tauter
and more thrilling here – he also has the better bass drum –
but then Decca’s sumptuous recording is hard to beat.
Hindemith wrote his Symphony in E flat major soon after he
settled in the US in 1940. Framed in four movements it doesn’t
differ that much from what’s gone before, yet I find the work
hard to like; it’s even harder to bring off. Eschenbach’s
reading is big, bold and rather bluff at times, but as with his Mathis
it just fails to engage. Admittedly Hindemith must shoulder some of
the blame for that – witness the finale’s curious, rather
squat character – but at least Eschenbach finds a little more
lift here than Werner Andreas Albert and the Melbourne Symphony on CPO
(999 248-2). By contrast Yan Pascal Tortelier and the BBC Philharmonic
are both cogent and compelling in this symphony; the playing is excellent
and the Chandos sound is first rate, too (CHAN9060).
Even though I warmed to Eschenbach’s Mathis over time
it still doesn’t supplant Blomstedt’s in my affections.
Incidentally, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra with the ever-thoughtful
Martyn Brabbins are well worth hearing in this piece (review).
As for the Symphony in E flat major readers may be tempted
by Albert’s fillers, the Symphony in B flat for Concert Band
and the overture Neues vom Tage. Alas, the performances are
somewhat scrappy and the sound is rather coarse.
Eschenbach gives middling performances of both works; Blomstedt is still
my first choice for Mathis, Tortelier my pick for the partnering
symphony.
Dan Morgan
twitter.com/mahlerei
