Once again Haydn House
produce an audio revival that is acoustic
triumph even if the packaging is unimpressive.
However do not get too fixated on the
appearance of these releases. In any
event they are more colourful and polished
than some who operate in the third party
reissuer sphere.
Piston's stern and
grave manner predominated in the symphonies
and there was more of it as the years
went by. The Sixth is past the midway
point in his symphonic mountain range
yet there is enough lyric liberation
to draw the listener in. The first movement
lightens for a winsome and sensitive
vulnerability. The Leggerissimo second
movement is playful with violins skittering
from left to right in this early stereo
recording. Has anyone since Munch delivered
the brilliance he did with the Bostonians.
Cellist, Samuel Mayes takes centre-stage
for the Adagio sereno (III) which
he plays, languishing in ease, both
at the start of the movement and as
it closes. The lyrical singer in Piston
is to the fore here but the open-hearted
and guileless singer of the second and
fourth symphonies is not quite present.
The oboe in the third movement at 2.43
recalls the characteristic sounds of
Munch's orchestra in their classic version
of Ibert's Escales. The Allegro
energico snaps into action attacca
after the peace of the preceding
movement. With a long suave melody,
rhythmic punch from percussion balanced
very close and the crisp clatter of
the tambourine this sounds at times
like Shostakovich. However the raucous
fair-time recalled from the explosive
finale of Piston’s Second Symphony is
also present. An invaluable premiere
recording lent new life.
The Schelomo of
Piatigorsky and Munch is a thing of
twilight and darkness accentuated by
the bass-emphatic recording. Indubitably
this is raw and savage stuff - the most
barbarously exciting I have heard (try
the woodwind maelstrom at 8:04). Solo
lines emerge with gripping close-up
impact. Try the oboe's soliloquy at
9.31 onwards. However the hothouse quality
of the recording, which sometimes sounds
muffled when the textures and dynamics
are piled high, militates against an
overwhelming recommendation.
Jeu de Cartes is
in Stravinsky's stripped-down, cut-glass
neo-classical style. It is memorable
for the brusque fanfare gesture that
opens each of the three movements or
'deals'. This score provides ample opportunity
for the Boston woodwind players to dazzle
... and they do. Listen for example
to the woodwind flicker and flitter
at the close of the second movement.
These recordings are
resurrections from 1950s LPs. From an
audio viewpoint these transfers have
been accomplished with great skill by
Pierre Paquin and Wilfrid Biscaye Pryckre.
Haydn House have done some extremely
high quality work from secondary material
and the results are astonishingly good.
Their work on the Menotti Violin Concerto
and the Ormandy’s 1950s Sibelius is
a triumph. You have to forgive the lack
of programme notes. You would be denying
yourself some fine musical experiences
if you let the lack of an essay prevent
you buying this.
Rob Barnett
Boston Symphony Orchestra/Charles Munch