This is a solid chunk
of Svetlanov’s Rachmaninoff curated
by the conductor’s widow and issued
on Svet. The label is a splendid vehicle
for The Anthology of Russian Symphony
Music, part of Svetlanov’s life’s work
and life’s blood, though as ever I think
"Symphonic Music" would be
a more accurate translation. And as
before in this series things are unclear
as to provenance – there are no dates
or issue details.
There are actually
some vocal works here as well as some
solo piano performances by Svetlanov.
The bulk of this big six CD set however
is devoted to the undated traversals
of Rachmaninoff’s orchestral music –
and by and large mighty fine it is.
Volume 1 houses the
First Symphony and the Rock. The Symphony
gets a typically up-front recording
in what I take to be the 1966 Melodiya
performance that has done the rounds
a few times. The winds are characteristically
supple, the brass characteristically
strident, the recording raw, the performance
focused, vibrant and triumphant. I suppose
it’s the visceral blare of the brass
that most captures ones imagination
but Svetlanov’s control of the first
movement’s rhythmic tug and its unashamed
fugato passage are both done with panache
– so too the brittle brilliance of the
percussion. Loamy and vigorous the second
movement prefigures the tense terseness
of the Larghetto as it alternates with
the cradle of the wind passages. Stand
back for the finale! Try the huge outburst
at 10.00; powerful. The Rock is broodingly,
hoodedly, craggily accomplished. It’s
one minute slower than the much later
Warner performance set down by Svetlanov
but otherwise the conception is pretty
much unchanged – we are never short-changed
by Svetlanov in this work.
We now turn to the
Second Symphony. Good news; it’s passionate.
Bad news; it’s cut. Getting it in at
just under fifty-four minutes means
a lot of jettisoning. As with all the
performances it’s ascribed to the USSR
Symphony Orchestra but can I tentatively
suggest it may be the 1968 Bolshoi Theatre
Orchestra performance issued back in
the late 90s on a Melodiya twofer. Whichever
it is – and I don’t have the other disc
to hand – it sounds suitably adrenalin-enriched
but also, because of the slow movement
and other cuts, somewhat perfunctory
in places. Certainly next to Svetlanov’s
"Last Testament" recording
for French Warner which I recently reviewed
it’s eclipsed. The Isle of the Dead
gets a powerful, up-front recording
and a brooding, predatory performance.
Those USSR winds are tactile in the
high wire acts and the brass lets fly
with predictable stridency.
The third disc discloses
the Third Symphony. This is a live performance
and not to be confused with the tauter
USSR Radio and TV Large Symphony Orchestra
performance on BMG-Melodiya. This set’s
one is more tensile and that much more
dramatic but there is still the elegant
dalliance of the flute to enchant us,
the strings’ flight in the second movement
and the tense stridency of the brass.
The march of the finale is tightly beaten
out and the miasma of brass calls is
unveiled with seldom-rivalled tenacity.
Sharing disc-space with the Symphony
is the Symphonic Dances – which I’m
taking to be a live 1968 performance.
Svetlanov was always excellent in this
work. Here he is again. Masculine, vivid,
powerful, but relaxing sufficiently
to allow those superb wind principals
their moments – this is altogether a
well-characterised reading. The dance
rhythms of the slow movement are moulded
with warmth and apposite direction and
the tension of the finale is generated
through rhythmic control and fine accenting.
The ending is a pile driver. Applause
is immediate. It doesn’t receive – and
of course it shares this with many of
these performances – the most warmly
balanced of recordings but the visceral
intensity of the playing, for me, overrides
these concerns.
The Six Choruses for
female voices and piano Op.15 are energetically
done and well scaled. Spring is a cantata
for baritone, chorus and orchestra and
here Sergei Yakovenko takes the honours.
He has gravitas, depth of tone, good
pitching and a fine compass. The graphic,
rather Mussorgkian tenor of the writing
certainly brings out the declamatory
in him, and in Rachmaninoff as well.
Svetlanov whips up the climaxes grandly
and the pre-figuring of the Second Symphony’s
lyricism is especially vital and enjoyable.
Disc Five starts with
the Bells in which the fulsome tenor
Alexei Maslennikov serves notice of
his own punchy and dynamic contribution,
as indeed does soprano Galina Pisarenko;
evocative and lacking any metallic edge.
There is some beautiful string moulding
in the Lento – for all one’s admiration
of his power never underestimate Svetlanov’s
finesse - and there’s just the right
sense of gloom and reserve in the Lento
lugubre that ends the work. Excellent
all round. Vocalise is heard in the
transcription by V Kin – which incorporates
a strong brass role.
The final disc opens
with Prince Rostislav, written too early
to be really characteristic but which
does already incorporate the sense of
brooding tension that would be richly
rewarding for Rachmaninoff in the years
to come. The performance never seeks
to inflate the writing; rightly it takes
it at face value and the live Moscow
performance is typically dramatic. The
Capriccio on Russian Themes is brilliantly
done – exciting and full of lovely themes,
warm wind pointing, decidedly balletic
in places and with a resplendent climax.
The rest of the disc is given over to
Svetlanov’s pianism. The two Moments
Musicaux are well contrasted and etched
with fervour by the pianist. He plays
his own transcription of Vocalise and
essays a fine Elegie. It’s rewarding
to hear him in this role.
The notes are in Russian
and English. They consist of an extract
from Svetlanov’s writings – from his
book Music Today – and a small
commentary on Svetlanov and Rachmaninoff
written by his widow Nina Nikolaeva-Svetlanov.
As already noted there are no dates
or locations provided. A few pointers
from me though in the hope that these
are correct; The Bells (recorded 1979)
and Spring (1984) and the Klin-Vocalise
(1973) are also on Regis RRC 1144. The
Symphonic Dances (recorded 1986), Prince
Rotislav and the Capriccio (1973) are
on the same label; Regis RRC 1178. Moscow
Studio Archives also issued these two
on MOS 20005 adding Svetlanov’s piano
performances of Vocalise, the Prelude
Op.23/4, Moments musicaux Op 16/3 and
15/5. The First Symphony was recorded
in 1966 and issued on BMG-Melodiya 74321
400642; if I’m right the Bolshoi Second
was recorded in 1964 and issued on the
same disc; the timings are almost identical
(the Klin-Vocalise was also issued on
this disc). If I’m wrong it could be
the 1968 USSR performance issued on
Moscow Studio Archives 20002.
Questions of attribution
and raw recording quality apart – and
apologies if I’ve inadvertently muddied
any discographic waters – there are
some stirring, magnificent performances
housed in this six-disc box. You’ll
want to augment the cut Second Symphony
with the French Warner but otherwise
this is a heroic slice of Svetlanov’s
way with the composer.
Jonathan Woolf
for details
Evgeny Svetlanov (piano) ³ 
