Bernstein’s orchestral panache – the flair and vibrancy
of the writing – has never been quite enough to efface problems with
his symphonic structures. Which is another way of registering doubts
as to the architectural integrity of his symphonies. That said this
disc makes a strong and consistently involving case for them, with excellent
soloists, in good sound and a conductor who, though he met Bernstein
only on a few occasions, is fully conversant with the medium and a noted
exponent of it.
Bernstein made an early recording of Jeremiah with
the St Louis orchestra in 1945 – his first studio recordings – and in
that recording we can hear him grappling with orchestral limitations
and his own neo-Stravinskian idiom. Though he re-recorded it twice and
it was programmed by Reiner and Cantelli amongst others it hasn’t taken
root in the way that, say, Piston’s or Harris’s have. Bernstein’s symphonies
simply don’t command that stature. In the lento, final movement of Jeremiah
some may, even now, prefer Nan Merriman’s lighter voice to the darker
mezzo of Michelle DeYoung. There is something in Merriman’s voice that,
through its simplicity and directness of articulation, deepens the passages
from Lamentations. DeYoung’s expressivity is, however, entirely involving
and committed. The Age of Anxiety, Symphony No 2, comes with the programmatic
complexity of Auden’s poem of the same name, from which Bernstein derived
not only title but also inner meaning. In his note Slatkin sensibly
refuses to be drawn on the matter, preferring instead to see it as absolute
music. He certainly delineates the Second Part, from The dirge
to The epilogue with especial skill, layering climaxes with precision
and relevant weight. Tocco is a tremendous soloist, unflagging and insightful.
Bernstein recorded the symphony in 1950, 1965 and 1977 – only intermittently
available – and this disc is a worthy alternative to the composer’s
own.
As a bonus there’s the Divertimento, a waggish and
winning series of vignettes. Slatkin deliciously points rhythms and
brings out orchestral colours with abandon. The Turkey Trot is a riot
and the Blues is a real low down thing – percussion and trumpet to the
fore and not to be missed.
Jonathan Woolf
Michelle DeYoung (mezzo-soprano)
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