What a marvellous score
is Petrushka! From start to finish
the work is full of colour, incident
and rhythmic vitality. All of this is
very well conveyed in this vivid performance
by Dohnányi and the VPO. Dohnányi
brings the characters to life, aided
by playing of pinpoint accuracy and
strong profile.
The events of the score,
from the bustle of the Shrovetide Fair
to the pathetic death of Petrushka here
unfold in a single narrative sweep.
The colour and inventiveness of Stravinsky’s
orchestration and the skill of the conductor
and players in realising it make this
an exciting and involving narration.
There were one or two points in the
score where I wasn’t entirely convinced
by Dohnányi’s way with the music.
For instance in the third tableau I
thought the passage following the waltz
between the Moor and the Ballerina (track
3 from 4’23") was taken just a
notch too steadily. In the following
tableau some may feel the horns are
a bit too prominent at one point (track
4, 1’43") but these are very minor
quibbles indeed, which most certainly
didn’t detract from my enjoyment of
a splendid and vital performance. Unless
you insist on a recording of the more
opulently scored original 1911 version
of the score then this performance should
do very nicely.
Petrushka is
a work that, for all its colour, definitely
has a dark side. However, this is as
nothing compared to Bartók’s
sinister and macabre score, The Miraculous
Mandarin. As you may gather from
the inclusion of a choir in the artist’s
roster, this is a recording of the complete
ballet score, with its rather extravagant
use of a wordless chorus briefly towards
the end. If anything I think that this
score suits Dohnányi even better
than Petrushka. Of course he
has Hungarian roots, and he seems to
be completely at home in the idiom of
Bartók’s music. He gets the VPO
to play with great intensity, which
means that the three Decoy Games, all
helpfully tracked separately, are portrayed
vividly. The entry of the Mandarin himself
is a powerful moment and the girl’s
subsequent attempt to seduce him is
laid out in lascivious detail, the passage
building to a steamy climax. Then the
Mandarin’s pursuit of her is thrillingly
articulated, with the snarling menace
of the wind and brass playing a notable
feature. The whole grotesque story is
reported by the Decca engineers in superb
sound and when the organ is added again
to the scoring (track 11, 0’42")
it’s an overwhelming addition to the
texture. Similarly, the contribution
of the chorus (track 14) is expertly
balanced by both conductor and engineers.
So, here we have first-rate
performances of two of the most exciting
scores in the twentieth-century ballet
repertoire. Dohnányi has the
full measure of the music and the VPO’s
playing is excellent. The sound, vintage
Decca analogue and emanating from a
venue with which that company’s engineers
were so familiar, is very good indeed,
reporting both detail and atmosphere
(the percussion, for example, is most
convincingly captured). This is a splendid
re-issue and the disc can be recommended
confidently.
John Quinn
Wiener Philharmoniker/Christoph von Dohnányi
