Sergei RACHMANINOV (1873-1943)
Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op.27 (1907) [58:50]
LSO/Sir Simon Rattle
rec. live 18 & 19 September 2019, Barbican, London. DDD.
Reviewed as downloaded from digital press preview
Download from
hyperion-records.co.uk
(16/44.1, 24/96 and 24/192 available)
LSO LIVE LSO0851
[58:50]
What a journey Rattle has made with Rachmaninov since his first recording
of the Second Symphony with the Los Angeles PO (Warner) way back
in 1981. His second recording of the Symphonic Dances (Warner) in
2013, coupled with an impressive first recording of the choral symphony The Bells with the Berlin PO, announced a notably more
comprehensive assimilation of the composer’s idiom and style. This new live
recording from 2019 consolidates developments even further. Much aided by
the LSO’s special relationship with this particular symphony, Rattle’s
affinity with the composer now springs more intuitively from within,
allowing the music its natural time and space to breathe. Having previously
recorded the work with the orchestra for RCA/BMG in the 1960s,
unfortunately incorporating the traditional cuts, André Previn’s second LSO
recording from 1973 (Warner 0852892, with Vocalise –
review
of earlier reissue) remains a groundbreaker that put the full version of
one of the great late-Romantic symphonies firmly on the map.
The Second Symphony is arguably Rachmaninov’s most personal and
optimistic major work. It signalled a sustained high peak of renewed
creative energy that consigned the creative trauma of the premiere of his First Symphony to history, although fortunately for us only
temporarily. Composition started early in the new century, but the work was
not completed until 1907 during the composer’s extended temporary residence
in Dresden, much missing his homeland.
The sequence of four movements could be heard to profess an
autobiographical subtext of four distinct states of ecstasy - 1. A Journey
from Darkness to Light via recovery, hope and self-confidence, 2. Life and
Work, 3. Love and Contentment, and 4. Celebration and Thanksgiving.
Rachmaninov’s development of a multi-faceted expressive trajectory around
the framework of a unifying motto theme bears a marked resemblance to
Elgar’s First Symphony, also composed 1907-08 and voiced with a
similar Straussian opulence and string-rich orchestral palette. The pre-WW1
decade heard all three composers, and many others, sharing a predilection
for an ambiguous public-personal layering of emotional range on an epic
scale, each permeated by individual nationalist traits of their age -
Elgarian “Pomp and Circumstance”, Straussian “Superhero” and Rachmaninov’s
Russian Orthodox chants and bells, perhaps with a whiff of the 1905
revolution in the air.
The transformation of Rattle’s approach to the symphony is manifest from
the very start. The first movement’s sombre introduction grows with purpose
and resolve from bass textures striving ever upwards towards the light.
Once the high ground of the first climax is reached, the music never
returns to the depths. Even the extended moments of longing or potential
nostalgia register with a positive focus and potency that never become
indulgent or hamper the flow from source to sea. The main Allegro moderato is sure-footed and forthright, matched with
full-throated melodic contrast and sustained momentum for the soaring
second subject. The second movement Allegro molto brims with an
exultant zest for life. The abrupt interruption of the fearsome central fugato section takes on a threatening tone, perhaps reflecting the
increasingly busy pace of mechanised industrial and urban expansion already
taking hold of the decade’s inexorable rush towards the brink. The third
movement Adagio’s twin peaks of nocturnal rapture glow within a
balance of nature akin to a radiant sunset and blazing sunrise. The LSO’s
principal clarinettist, Chris Richards, could sing his sinuous song without
words all night. Later, the take-up of the melody by the first violins
brings a rare intensity, building irresistibly to an outpouring of
fulfilment that also strikes a poignant and relevant chord for our own
times.
Frustratingly however, performance energy seems to drop several notches in
the finale. The celebratory high spirits of the Allegro sound
bereft of vivace, the surging second subject lacks ideal sweep and
propulsion, and unlike the previous three movements, transitions tend to
hang fire. Even the extraordinary section featuring an evocation of Russian
bells on speed doesn’t quite achieve full throttle. Come the coda, all
safety catches should be off, but Rattle kick-starts an unmarked and
unconvincing accelerando six bars before the composer’s piů mosso sprint to the finishing-post, with disappointingly tame
trombones not cutting through the texture with their offbeat tenuti in the final flourishes.
Could this conundrum stem from the accompanying notes citing two separate,
albeit consecutive dates for the ‘live’ recording? The consistently high
level of inspiration in the preceding movements may outweigh these
reservations for some listeners. The engineers have certainly overcome the
difficult Barbican acoustic with even more transparency and ambient bloom
than the previous 2008 LSO Live recording with Gergiev, which also crackles
with fire and passion. He takes the first movement repeat, which Rattle
avoids, and conjures a strikingly different demeanour second time round.
However, the unmarked addition of an earsplitting timpani thwack to the
final chord of the first movement more in keeping with The Rite of Spring does little to encourage repeated listening.
With serious competition from Previn/LSO (Warner), Ashkenazy/Concertgebouw
(Universal 4557982, Symphonies Nos. 1-3, etc., 3 CDs), Iván
Fischer/Budapest FO (Channel Classics CCS21698) and Lan Shui in Singapore
(recently reissued by BIS as a 4-SACD or download bundle, BIS-2512: more
soon…), full enthusiasm and endorsement for the latest Rattle remain
compromised for me. That said, there’s no question the considerable
qualities of this new performance demand to be heard.
Ian Julier
Previous review:
John Quinn
