Here is what is left
behind of a project Bernstein had to
record the complete Sibelius symphonies
for the second time. The sessions took
place live in Vienna. Unfortunately
he did not live long enough to complete
the cycle. His first Sibelius cycle
was made during the 1960s and issued
on CBS and most recently on Sony Classical
first in France and finally world-wide
via Sony UK. Bernstein is a doughty
Sibelian and put him with the Vienna
Phil and you have the potential for
something special. After all they produced
some exceptional Sibelius with Maazel
in the 1960s and before that with Sargent
in the 1950s.
In 1967 his NYPO reading
of the First Symphony ran to
37:53. By 1990 in live concert it was
41:18. However speed is not everything.
While I have not recommended Okko
Kamu’s Sibelius 2 because of its
unduly protracted pace, Colin Davis
surprised me with the power of his Kullervo
which is by far the longest playing
of all the Kullervos. Some may
find Bernstein’s italicised and supercharged
approach too much. Personally I find
it irresistible leaving many respected
competitors seeming routine by comparison.
Only in the very last five minutes do
the hesitations and emphasis raise transient
doubts. Bernstein’s rip-snorting attack,
accelerations and decelerations and
especially his way with the brass is
very special. Under this treatment Sibelius’s
music scrubs up with a sort of super-virile
youthful energy. Just taking two examples:
in the second movement of No. 1 I have
never heard the triple forte attacks
at 8:40 delivered with such unanimous
stabbingly venomous acid-spitting precision
and the same goes for the same hammer-smacks
at 7:01 in the finale. If the conductor
dwells with Mahlerian languor on the
rounded peace of the end of the andante
he certainly sustains the spell without
a tremor. This version would not perhaps
register with such favourable impact
if the orchestra had been a lesser instrument
but the VPO, often driven sedately by
others, here proves that this massive
Mercedes-Benz of an orchestra can sprint
and strike like an AC Cobra. The weight
of tone produced by the orchestra is
a joy in itself. However, first recommendation
still has to go to the extraordinary
Barbirolli
on EMI Classics.
As for the Second Symphony
this plays for 51:30 against his 1968
NYPO recording at 44:23. This duration
is considerably in excess of even Kamu’s
timing. Bernstein uses the slowest of
pacings and wide separations of the
pizzicato notes in the Tempo Andante
second movement. On the other hand his
Vivacissimo speeds along with
the velocity and hell-for-leather momentum
I noted in the finale of the First Symphony.
This is intriguing but not mainstream.
It works better than the prolix Kamu
(an outstanding Sibelian in other works,
by the way) but it is a once-in-a-while
listen when you are tired of the mot
juste. Few conductors have achieved
the silvery spiritual purity that comes
with Bernstein’s way with the VPO violins
at 5:34 in this version of the finale.
The monumental evolutionary pacing of
the last pages of this symphony produces
a memorably epic (some will say ‘distended)
effect and the music’s resonance in
the hall is allowed to decay most atmospherically.
If you are looking
for outstanding recordings that are
closer to the mainstream then try the
following. Some of the greatest Sibelius
Seconds are in the hands of Ormandy
(Sony), Beecham
(BBC Legends) and Barbirolli
on Chesky (RPO), The bellowed out conductorial
‘yawps’ fomenting incandescent intensity
from the orchestra stand out as the
equivalent of the eccentric de Pachmann’s
oral asides to his audience during his
Chopin performances. Here they incite
the BBC Symphony to one of its most
molten performances. The Barbirolli/RPO
seems like an expensive proposition
on Chesky because that’s all there is
on the disc. However it is a white hot
reading superbly recorded in splendidly
vintage analogue by Kenneth Wilkinson
for Reader’s Digest.
In the Fifth the
manic stridulation of the violins at
7:02 in the first movement has never
registered with such imposing force.
Again this runs to 35:34 against his
1961 32:38. The great swinging theme
in the first movement tolls very slowly
indeed -a sort of slow-motion majesty
crushing in its weight, magnificent
in the prominence accorded to the brass.
And this applies also to the monumental
lively resonance of the last few moments
of the work with those colossal jack-hammer
impacts. It works! It is perhaps a notch
down from the pressurised intensity
he brought to bear for the First Symphony
but there is much to appreciate here
even if we do sometimes suspect that
this is Bernstein communing with himself
rather than with the listeners. Much
the same applies but even more so to
the Seventh. This is another
very expansive version (try 4:56 forward)
which for all its glowing textures is
not able to hold a candle to Ormandy
and the Philadelphia (Sony) or to Mravinsky
and the Leningrad Phil (Melodiya). Too
personal by half.
Bernstein’s highly
individual way with the four Sibelius
symphonies shows him prepared to live
dangerously. The musicianship is impressive
in every case but in matters of exegesis
some will find the Fifth difficult to
stomach. There are no such doubts about
the First though.
The three discs are
filled out with two British works. The
Elgar orthodoxy turned on Bernstein
for having the temerity to take Enigma
at such an expansive pace -
a full 6:10. It is as if the conductor
deliberately chose to view this ikonic
movement through the tinted spectacles
of Mahler’s adagietto. The music
survives and glows in a new and refreshing
way. Only in the great EDU finale did
I find myself having doubts especially
in the last few moments. As a once-in-a-while
experience this can be an inspiringly
provocative palate cleaner after which
try Norman del Mar’s version with the
RPO (DG).
The Sea Interludes
from Britten's Peter Grimes were
recorded live at Bernstein's final concert
in Tanglewood on 19 August 1990, just
two months before his death. It is such
a pity that he did not include the wonderful
grey-green Passacaglia. Unlike
the other recordings here you can hear
the odd cough and splutter and creak.
While the conductor may indeed have
been frail the Interludes do not suffer
in any way. Bernstein’s personality
registers, or if you like intrudes,
in the extremely steady Moonlight
episode and in unusually emphasised
rhythmic adumbration in the Storm.
If you want to intrigue a roomful of
musically knowledgeable guests play
the Storm movement and await
the reaction. Then immediately play
the first movement of Arnold Bax’s Sixth
Symphony conducted by David Lloyd-Jones
(Naxos). Surely Britten must have known
the Bax Symphony written a decade earlier.
If he did not then the resemblance is
a most unusual coincidence.
Like the other boxes
in the Leonard Bernstein Collectors
Edition the discs are in very light
paper slip cases. The three CDs are
housed in an over-sized robust fold-down
box. James Hepokoski’s new liner notes
give full details and are colourful
and considered.
These are provocatively
expansive readings which comprehensively
reject orthodoxy or the routine. In
some cases the mix is just too much
but others, such as Enigma and
Sibelius 1, affirm what an extraordinary
musician Bernstein was. He became even
more so in his last decade.
Rob Barnett
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 474 936-2 [3 CDs: 79:06
+ 69:38 + 60:45] 
