Sergei RACHMANINOV (1873-1943)
Symphony No. 1 in D minor (1895) [45.43]
Dortmund Philharmonic/Gabriel Feltz
rec. Konzerthaus, Dortmund, 23-24 February 2016
DREYER GAIDO 21100 SACD [45.43]
Perhaps Alexander Glazunov and Cesar Cui would be surprised
to discover that, to a degree, they are remembered for a particularly antipathetic,
alcohol addled performance of a new symphony and a viciously memorable review
of it. The story of the first performance of Sergei Rachmaninov's D
minor symphony and the consequences of it has been so often repeated in countless
record and CD sleeve notes that I do not need to repeat it here; suffice it
to say that its emotional and psychological impact on the young man was profound
and may have influenced his subsequent musical development.
When I first came across this work in 1971 The Gramophone catalogue listed
only one recording; that by The Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy
and alas, I could not afford to buy it. Now however, it is probably an indication
of just how much Rachmaninov's reputation as a composer has risen in
the last forty five years that there are sixteen different recordings of this
symphony in my CD collection, and were I so inclined I could add many more.
There are two extremes of interpretive stance afforded to this work; the coolly
objective type as exemplified by the recent recording by Kitaenko at the helm
of the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln (Oehms Classics OC440), and the no holds barred
type, reaching out to every extreme of emotional pull, as set down by Yevgeny
Svetlanov in his two Russian recordings.
The symphony is a young man's work - Rachmaninov was just twenty-two
when he completed it and it is full of emotional extremes. If a conductor
tries to re-interpret it from a middle-aged, rationalist standpoint, the risk
is run of partially neutralising the piece and diluting its impact. Kitaenko
does just this and succeeds in making the work boring, despite the superb
recording and fine orchestral playing.
I make no secret of my preference for the Svetlanov school. Technically, Svetlanov’s
first recording made by Melodiya in 1966 (excellently remastered on
Regis RRC 1247) is a typical Soviet effort of the period, harsh, upfront and
barely able to cope with the intense climaxes he conjures up. However, the
performance is so overwhelming in its impact that I can easily forgive the
technical shortcomings or the engineering (which is not something I often
do).
Its successor from 1992, part of a set of his symphonies, has much better
sound and the orchestra still sports the authentically raucous brass, but
Svetlanov has become a little more mannered in his interpretation. Even so,
the lead up to the final coda is tremendously exciting and the coda itself
is crushing in its doom-laden impact - no gentle stroking of the tam-tam here
and this, like its predecessor, is a performance demonstrating totally committed
music making! (Warner Music France 5101 12238-2).
All other performances fall somewhere in between these two outer limits and
the one reviewed here sits pretty much in the middle. In a rebuttal of opinions
still held in Germany that Rachmaninov composed ‘romantic salon music’,
the conductor Gabriel Feltz is of the opinion that it is “a wild animalistic
symphony” and interestingly, the CD booklet informs us that even today
only a very small part of his complete oeuvre is known in Germany. This booklet
is a model of its kind, giving a history of the work’s composition,
subsequent revision, performance and the shattering effect upon the young
composer. It also gives a short analysis of each movement.
The Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra play splendidly in their new concert hall
which appears to possess good acoustics, giving the SACD recording a fine,
natural bloom. The live recording is excellent with little or no audience
noise until the final, rather hesitant applause.
Feltz gives a straightforward reading of the first movement, with the important
motto theme which permeates the entire symphony given due presence, but at
one point I wondered whether the recording engineers had over-adjusted the
balance, because as the movement enters quieter sections, the orchestra achieves
quite an extreme pianissimo.
The second movement, a Scherzo, is beautifully done, with the conductor saying
that its shimmering style reminds him of Mendelssohn. The third movement,
a larghetto, does not present the listener with the heart-on-sleeve emotional
outpouring of the slow movement in the second symphony, instead we get lyrical
sections interrupted by orchestral rumblings of the motto theme. Unlike Svetlanov
in his earlier recording, Feltz does not attempt to raise the emotional temperature,
but the movement comes off well, with the composer’s melodic genius
allowed to flower.
In many ways, any performance of the last movement can make or break the whole
interpretation and Feltz starts out with a spirited rendition of the opening
memorably impactive martial passage. The movement continues in a straightforward
interpretation with the conductor accelerating the orchestra in an exciting
manner as the music approaches the coda. The pause which immediately precedes
it is filled, in this recording, by an enormously reverberant, prolonged stroke
on the gong. The coda itself is a darkly ominous affair, presented by the
motto in the lower reaches of the orchestra. Disappointingly, the gong (or
tam-tam) which repeatedly overlays the darker orchestral elements in these
last few seconds is barely audible – such a shame, because when well
to the forefront of the sound picture it can have a stunning effect.
I am glad to say that there are many excellent recordings of this symphony
available, and it is not necessary to pay full price to be able to hear it
in exciting readings. This fact makes the Dortmund Philharmonic’s disc
difficult to recommend, because whilst the performance, recording and presentation
are fine, the disc gives short measure at just under 46 minutes playing time;
there is no coupling.
Jim Westhead
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