Jirí Belohlávek has wrought quite a repertoire change of direction
with his BBC orchestra. Martinu symphonic cycles, and Suk orchestral
masterpieces are now de rigeur, and so too visiting Czech soloists.
His attention has now turned to Suk’s early Symphony in E, and
to the mature Ripening or Zrání. The Symphony
was long dominated in the catalogue by Neumann’s Czech Philharmonic
Supraphon
recording, which has been superseded by the company’s new
release by Tomas Nepotil and the Prague Symphony, which I have
not yet heard. But Neumann is still very much in one’s mind,
as he took an expansive and intense view of the work and one
that contrasts forcefully with this BBC/Belohlávek account.
Indeed Belohlávek’s pacy schema is in many ways different from,
but complementary to, Neumann’s. They find different things
in this early, Dvorák-influenced work, and highlight different
priorities too. For Belohlávek the key is structural integrity
and the minimising of occasional flabbiness; for Neumann it
was the rich romantic cantilena and measured turbulence of the
writing. In this newcomer one finds plenty of brisk unison playing
in the first movement, plenty too of arching string melodies
(try from 6:30) and verdant Czech wind writing. There’s an especially
nice, woody clarinet introduction to the second movement but
it sounds too forwardly balanced to me, and thereby misses the
slower and more timbrally integrated approach of Neumann, where
it is less soloistically balanced and integrates better with
the accompanying string passages. One feels in this movement
that Belohlávek is trying to accommodate such moments, with
the succeeding paragraphs of almost operatic declamation, to
make them cohere, and not to fracture, as can happen at slower
tempi. I don’t actually feel this happens with Neumann, but
it is a danger. The speed-up for the horn/string passages is
exciting and so too is the scherzo, with its incisive and compact
little dramas, well played and etched by the orchestra. Where
I also felt a little bit of over-bright balancing is the piccolo
writing in the finale, but Belohlávek certainly binds this movement
well, taking the tempo changes in hand, and taking two minutes
off Neumann’s timings in this movement alone. Particularly impressive
is his unveiling of the Meno mosso e molto largamento section
and the drawing out of the chorale-like maestoso conclusion.
Ripening (Zrání) receives another fine reading,
wholly recommendable on its own terms. It’s slightly terser
than Talich’s
famous traversal, but not by very much, but in the final
resort perhaps fails to catch the ultimate in sheer verdancy
and almost tactile intensity that Talich did, notwithstanding
the obvious disparity between recording techniques – Chandos’s
SACD sound picture is really excellent. For instance the move
to the poco allegro, con moto section (it’s part way
into track 2) is well handled, and the brassy climaxes are very
well caught, not least the growling lower brass. The bass section
distinguishes itself – try around 4:40 into track 4 – and Belohlávek
does well here by the subsequent Adagio quasi l’istesso tempo.
He even manages, by virtue of his unsentimental directness,
to mitigate what is, for me, the work’s Achilles Heel, which
is the fugal development section (in track 5). Fortunately the
choral contribution, brief though it is, is atmospheric and
well balanced. Belohlávek proves just as strong an interpreter
of the work as Neumann, whose old Supraphon recording was something
of a staple for a time. One thing at which Belohlávek excels
Neumann, however – here and in the Symphony – is rhythmic impetus.
And the recording is far more up to date.
The Symphony has been recorded by Tomas Nepotil and the Prague
Symphony Orchestra, coupled with Dvorák works [Supraphon SU39412].
Ripening has been recorded by the Orchester der Komischen
Oper Berlin under the avid Suk conductor, Kirill Petrenko [with
Tale of a Winter`s Evening Op. 9 on CPO 7773642], and
by Libor Pešek [4 CD Suk box SU38642, which includes Asrael
but not the Symphony in E]. Talich’s premiere recording – part
of which we now know to have been conducted by Zdenek Bílek
- is on SU38232, coupled with Taras Bulba.
But if you value a cogent pair of readings – brisk but not brusque
– then you will find that this latest entrant fits the bill
admirably.
Jonathan Woolf
New London Chamber Choir; BBC Symphony Orchestra/Jirí Belohlávek
[78:33] 
