This set will be of
great interest to all those who, like
myself, are admirers of this charismatic
conductor.
It is particularly
valuable for two reasons. Firstly, apart
from the Berlioz, I believe that Mitropoulos
made no commercial recordings of these
pieces. Secondly, many of his surviving
recordings are of the late nineteenth-
and twentieth- century repertoire of
which he was such a gifted exponent.
Here we glimpse him in the staple classical
repertoire.
A few words about production
values in this set: There’s a useful
biographical note in English and French.
This covers the whole of the conductor’s
life. Personally I’d have welcomed a
bit more detail about his period as
Music Director of the New York Philharmonic
(1950 – 1957) but the notes serve as
a good introduction. The recordings
are taken from radio broadcasts. To
my ears the recordings have been capably
re-mastered for CD although inevitably,
the sound quality betrays the age of
the recordings. However, I found that
my ears soon adjusted and there was
no barrier to enjoyment of the performances
themselves. Most of the performances
are followed by applause, which is savagely
cut off after a couple of seconds. I
actually found this a distraction. If
one is going to listen to a live recording
I think it’s preferable (and more natural)
to hear a few seconds of applause, which
is then faded down. However, it may
well be that the treatment of the applause
is nothing to do with Tahra and was
a feature of the original source recordings.
In any case, this aspect may not bother
other listeners. The venue of the recordings
is not stated but I would imagine that
all the performances took place in Carnegie
Hall, New York. I should also point
out one editorial slip. This concerns
the Weber symphony where, according
to the track listings, the second movement,
the andante, lasts 3’38" and the
scherzo, which follows, 6’37".
In fact the cue point is in the wrong
place and the andante, which actually
lasts 6’36", runs on into track
4; the scherzo itself takes 3’44".
Whilst it’s right to point this out
I should say that this little slip will
be of no consequence whatsoever unless
someone wishes to listen to the scherzo
in isolation.
But it’s the quality
of the performances that matters most
and here there is much to admire. The
Bach arrangement is one I’ve not heard
before. It’s a very full orchestration,
albeit the orchestral texture is built
up gradually. Mitropoulos plays the
piece in a smooth and steady way, emphasizing
grandeur, especially towards the end.
This is an arrangement that proclaims
its Philadelphian origins but the New
Yorkers seem equally at home with it.
The Weber symphony,
the first of two that he wrote, is not
heard all that frequently either on
disc or in the concert hall and I suspect
it was an even greater rarity, and therefore
an enterprising piece of programme planning,
back in 1951. Mitropoulos’s way with
the piece reminds us that its composer
was, first and foremost, a man of the
opera house. He gives a mainly strong
and thrusting account of the first movement,
though when the music relaxes so does
he. The orchestra observes the accents
sharply but there is also some perky,
affectionate wind playing (for example
at CD 1, track 2, 1’55"). The slow
movement is atmospheric and darkly dramatic
while the performance of the scherzo
is full of vigour and rhythmic drive
but also displays wit. The bustling
finale is given with tremendous vim.
Here, as elsewhere, the tuttis sound
a bit fierce but I suspect this may
be as much to do with the recording
as with the playing itself.
The Beethoven symphony
receives a big, trenchant reading that
often bristles with energy. In Mitropoulos’s
hands the first movement begins with
a very positive and powerful adagio
introduction. Some may find this reading
overdone but I wonder if this is Mitropoulos
showing us Beethoven, the revolutionary.
The main body of the allegro proceeds
with great verve and brio – the exposition
repeat is not taken. Again, I should
warn that some listeners may find this
too hard driven. I’m not sure I’d want
to listen to this way with the music
every day but I find the energy of the
music-making stimulating and invigorating,
even if the NYPO trumpets can seem a
bit overwhelming.
The start of the larghetto
features warm, quietly intense playing.
Generally Mitropoulos sustains the rather
Haydnesque mood of affection, though
the climax of the movement is typically
emphatic. The scherzo, in which all
repeats are observed, has the appropriate
amount of fire in its belly. I’ve heard
more playful accounts of the music but
the rhythms are alert and the trio is
nicely phrased. The finale surges along
and, once again, accents are observed
with needle-point precision. The very
end is a bit too forceful for my taste
- the brass is pretty fierce – but overall,
of its kind, this is a successful, strong
performance of the symphony.
The Brahms Second is
my personal favourite in the canon.
In his definitive biography of the conductor,
Priest of Music. The Life of Dimitri
Mitropoulos (1995) William R. Trotter
quotes many contemporary concert critiques
that suggest that Mitropoulos was not
a good conductor of standard classical
and romantic music. I was fascinated,
therefore, to hear what he would make
of this symphony. In fact, I enjoyed
it very much. The opening of the first
movement is nicely relaxed and glowing
(despite the best efforts of a bronchial
audience, whose coughing is a feature
of the whole symphony.) The tempo becomes
more flowing when the violins enter
at figure A (CD 2, track 1, 1’14")
In general the music is phrased warmly.
The section between letters G and J
(track 1, 5’30 – 7’30") may strike
some as being pressed too much but I
found it exciting.
In the andante the
orchestra is encouraged to sing out
and Mitropoulos judges the tempi nicely.
The intermezzo is relaxed and genial.
The passacaglia finale has plenty of
the famed Mitropoulos energy. The pace
is consistently urgent and I rather
missed a sense of repose where the music
calls for it. Here, as throughout the
symphony, there’s some marvellously
committed playing from the NYPO who
make the ending properly exultant. Overall,
this performance of the symphony is
one of substantial contrasts. I found
it satisfying, coherent and enjoyable
and a rebuff to those who suggest that
Mitropoulos didn’t do "the classics"
well.
According to the radio
announcer, the performance of Les
Nuits d’été was given
to celebrate the 150th anniversary
of the composer’s birth. William Trotter
tells us that this was the first complete
performance of the cycle in New York
and it (and the Bach) formed part of
one of the very first concerts that
Mitropoulos conducted on returning to
the NYPO podium after his first heart
attack. Eleanor Steber was one of Mitropoulos’s
favourite artistes and they later set
down a studio account of the same work
on 21 January, 1954, a reading that
Trotter describes as "Lovely. Just
lovely." I must say that I wasn’t
entirely convinced at the start though
the performance grew on me. The first
song, ‘Villanelle’ is taken at a rather
deliberate pace and this, together with
the singer’s strong projection rather
robs it of any lightness of touch. I
wondered if the projection was simply
due to Miss Steber endeavouring to sing
out into a large hall, which might make
it difficult for her to attempt the
sort of subtleties that an artist singing
into a studio microphone can attempt.
However, comparison with Dame Janet
Baker’s 1975 live account from another
big hall, London’s Royal Festival Hall
(with Giulini, on BBC Legends), shows
that Baker was able to find a much greater
lightness of touch (and Giulini’s speed
is much better judged. Overall I felt
Steber missed some playfulness and optimism
in the song, as compared not just with
Dame Janet but also with Susan Graham,
from the modern generation, and the
great Régine Crespin.
By contrast, Steber
and Mitropoulos are much fleeter in
the marvellous second song, ‘Le spectre
de la Rose’ and I rather like the flowing
tempo. However, Steber is not as languorous
as Susan Graham. Steber’s reading lasts
just 5’59" whereas Baker and Giulini
take all of 8’01". Yet for all
its slowness, theirs is a rapt, confiding
account. The third song is ‘Sur les
Lagunes’. Baker’s is a daring performance,
full of half tones and those veiled
pianissimi that were such a unique
feature of her style. Crespin, who places
this song fourth, is regally commanding
here. This is the song which, of the
three heard to date, suits Steber’s
style the best I think. She and Mitropoulos
combine to produce a darkly dramatic
reading that the song can certainly
take.
In ‘L’absence’ we find
Crespin full of deep feeling. Graham
is the most sensuous and Baker is the
most daring, displaying awesome vocal
control. Steber‘s singing is very full
and dramatic but she also demonstrates
a good deal of fine shading and responsive
phrasing. Hers is a fine performance.
She displays similar virtues in ‘Au
cimetière’ and to equally good
effect. Finally both she and her conductor
catch passionately the surgings of ‘L’île
inconnue’. There is just a bit more
brio in this account when compared to
the Baker performance (where the recording
is oddly muffled at the outset.)
All in all, this is
a reading that grows in stature as it
progresses. The first two songs are
eclipsed, I think, by some of Miss Steber’s
rivals but the last four songs are all
splendidly done, with the histrionic
power and imagination of a great opera
singer (and a great operatic conductor.)
The recent volume devoted to Mitropoulos
in the ‘Great Conductors of the Twentieth
Century’ series, which I reviewed recently
which
I reviewed recently, concentrated
mainly on the sort of the music in which
he was particularly highly regarded,
including a shattering, once-in-a-lifetime
Mahler Sixth. This valuable set from
Tahra shows us that he could be a considerable
conductor of the more standard repertoire
too. You may not agree with everything
that he does but the commitment, energy
and need to make music that drove
Dimitri Mitropoulos throughout his career
are consistently apparent. The readings
are never less than challenging and
thought-provoking. They are certainly
not dull.
I’m not sure if the
aforementioned CBS recording of Les
Nuits d’été is currently
available and, to the best of my knowledge,
there are no recordings of any of the
other pieces by this conductor. Thus
Tahra put us greatly in their debt with
this issue which broadens our view of
an extraordinary musician. Sonic limitations
do not in any way reduce the listener’s
pleasure in and admiration for such
characterful music making.
I do hope that Tahra
will issue more recordings by Dimitri
Mitropoulos. His legendary CBS recording
of Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony is
languishing in the vaults somewhere.
I wonder if there is any chance of Tahra
either licensing it or unearthing a
contemporaneous radio broadcast? I’d
also plead with them to reissue their
deleted set of Mitropoulos in Mahler’s
Third Symphony, the very last concert
that he ever gave. In the meantime this
set will be self-recommending to all
admirers of this artist and I warmly
recommend it also to anyone with an
interest in great conducting.
John Quinn
***** Eleanor Steber (soprano) 