Mariss Jansons has
frequently struck me as a rather over-rated
conductor, his international status
in seeming contradiction to his clean,
accurate yet rather uninspiring performances.
His father, Arvid (a regular guest of
the Hallé Orchestra while I was
resident in Manchester) always seemed
far the more musical of the two. I am
however prepared to rescind my evaluation
on the strength of this issue.
The Bavarian orchestra
has always made a superb sound, characterised
by its warmth. That warmth is still
here, but with an inner strength that
is entirely appropriate to Shostakovich.
Just occasionally some extra rawness
- particularly from the strings - would
have been welcome..
The Thirteenth, a setting
of five poems by Yevtushenko, had a
characteristically fraught entry into
the musical world. The premiere was
nearly cancelled, with plenty of pressure
from the authorities brought to bear
on the performers involved. Yet when
it did happen (December 18th,
1962) it was met with huge enthusiasm.
Jansons begins the
symphony with a slightly understated
tread, not too mysterious or ominous,
as if emphasising that we have a way
to go. Sergei Aleksashkin is a wonderful
soloist, his sound identifiably Russian
without being overly woolly. Throughout
he is immersed in the multiple meanings
of Yevtushenko's texts. The climax of
the first movement is tremendous - just
before ten minutes in - and the recording
has absolutely no problems at all with
the decibel level, projecting instead
great depth and space.
The orchestra seems
to have a ball in the movement entitled
'Humour' - the recording really lets
us hear the strings digging in - a huge
contrast to the bleak 'In the store',
a hymn to the women of Russia. The low
strings' evenness at the opening is
miraculous, projecting an echt-Russian
desolation. Again, the sense of space
the recording possesses helps the listening
experience enormously. A moment of inspiration
from Jansons here, too – the way the
male chorus emerges out of the solo
voice is superbly accomplished.
The harrowing portrait
of oppression that is the fourth movement
('Fears' – e.g., 'Fears slither everywhere,
like shadows'), with its subterranean
growlings, leads straight in to the
finale ('A career'). Perhaps grotesquerie
could be more marked at the pizzicato
strings (around 4'26), and while the
close is certainly still, it is not
quite the frozen effect Shostakovich
was surely after.
I have long lived with
Haitink (Decca, now on 425 073-2). If
you can find Kondrashin on Melodiya,
do not hesitate! But as a state of the
art recording and a performance that
for the most part captures the essence
of this marvellous work, Jansons has
done himself proud.
Colin Clarke
Sergei Aleksashkin (bass) 
