This recording of two
orchestral warhorses is an obvious vanity
job and smacks of it from the get-go.
Not that there is anything at all wrong
with an artist putting his stamp on
music he loves and financing the disc
himself. In fact, this kind of project
seems very much the wave of the future,
and frankly, it is an excellent way
for those of us who are a little saturated
with the standard repertoire to be able
to experience interesting new or seldom
performed music. That little set up
then allows me to beg the question:
Why this music and why this release?
Stan Fisher is a professorial
type of musician, a "full professor"
at Arcadia University in Nova Scotia.
I put the full professor in quotes because
his biography, with its frequent use
of his academic title belies the kind
of resume padding for which college
professors who also perform are notorious.
Again, that is not to diminish his academic
or professional accomplishments in the
least; rather, it is to point out that
I have always been of the opinion that
one’s music-making should reveal one’s
artistic abilities without the need
for print material loaded with titles
and lists of certificates.
On to the music. The
danger of anyone releasing a recording
of a Brahms symphony is that the competition
is daunting, and you had better be absolutely
sure that you have something original
to say about the score. Dr. Fisher does
not. In fact he sets the cause back
a few decades with this uninspired and
plodding reading. Brahms had a special
gift for memorable melodies and grand
structures, and Fisher never gets past
the rehearsal hall in his opening movement.
From the sound of the orchestra, he
has a fine set of tools with which to
work and they are never put to their
intended use.
The opening Allegro
is so non troppo that the music
never leaves the ground. The lovely
gestures of the violins sound disconnected
and have no arch and sweep, as though
the sections were taking a slow and
deliberate practice tempo in order to
get all the notes right. When the secondary
theme appears, Fisher allows it only
to plod along, and there is no sense
that this might just be a song.
We never get to hear any of the wonderful
forward motion of say, Abbado’s reading
with the Berliners, nor do we get the
splendidly subtle rubato so prevalent
in Klemperer’s or Karajan’s several
wonderful interpretations. The winds
deliver a pleasant enough tone, but
again, they are never given a chance
to really sing, as phrasing overall
in this movement is non-existent. There
is no effort made from the podium to
affect a rise and fall in the melodic
lines.
The inner movements
fare a bit better and are in fact quite
passable. However, the finale quickly
dies on the vine suffering from the
same maladies that killed the opening.
Dvořák’s
interesting Symphonic Variations get
a better treatment, but then again,
the score is not nearly as complicated.
The form itself leads to an ease of
interpretation, filled as it is with
shorter sections that do not require
the kind of structural thought
that is completely vital in Brahms.
This performance is rather elegant and
well turned, and Fisher seems a good
deal more at home with it than he does
with the Brahms.
Production values are
hit and miss. Mark Custom Recordings
is a firm that records for hire, and
issues some very worthy recordings on
its in-house label. Sound quality is
therefore quite superb, and read ahead
in these pages for a review of a superb
wind serenade disc that should appear
shortly.
However, given that
the company is obliged to release what
the person paying the bills wants, they
risk a dud from time to time. The program
booklet is stuffed with an overlong
essay from the conductor about his experience
with the Czech Republic. It is a charming
enough read, but really belongs on a
blog more than in a program note. Speaking
of which, the skimpy one page that is
devoted to the music is all but
worthless, totally lacking scholarship
and obviously cranked out on the fly
to fulfill some sense of obligation
to the academic set who would demand
some commentary on the scores.
As much as I am in
favor of independent recording projects,
this one was ill conceived and is not
worthy of the cash outlay, especially
when there are world-class performances
of the same music widely available at
bargain prices. Sorry, this one gets
a veto.
Kevin Sutton
The Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic/Stan
Fisher 
