You will see on the
cover of the CD an imitation yellow
sticker bearing the challenge, "CAUTION!
Digital cannons"; a marketing ploy
to sell a disc of popular classics in
Super Audio Sound (SACD).
It is not the first
time these recorded performances from
between 24 and 27 years ago have been
recycled. For example, the Rhapsody
in Blue recording first appeared
as an LP. In following CD reincarnations
the pianist, Eugene List, is variously
identified as playing with the "Cincinnati
Pops Orchestra" and the
"Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra".
Will the marketeers stop at nothing?
Here, Telarc is re-launching the same
1981 recording with the cannons of 1812
in super sound.
The cannons were well
thought of when the 1812 recording
came out in 1978 and if you have the
speakers to cope, and an SACD player,
they will give you a good thumping if
that’s what you enjoy. What I thought
more impressive than the decibels though
was that they fire, more or less, on
the beat rather than in what often sounds
like a random firework display. This
adds a rhythmic punch you don’t always
get.
Such precision is a
hallmark of the conducting. Erich Kunzel
has made this orchestra his own for
nearly forty years and it is a highly
successful partnership. I believe he
is one of those conductors who are sometimes
described as the supreme "Kapellmeister",
the main characteristic being that he
will produce very reliable, well played
interpretations of any music you throw
at him. That is what is represented
on this disc: utterly dependable, immaculately
played performances of some of the most
recorded music in the repertoire. Being
free of indulgent mannerisms they are
performances that can stand up to repeated
listening without irritation. The downside
is that some of the fire and excitement
that these works can generate is not
fully realised. Just to take one example;
Tchaikovsky’s Capriccio Italien inherently
contains both Russian orchestral excitement
and Mediterranean passion. To get both
those qualities you might have to go
to a Russian orchestra. Alexander Lazarev’s
recording with the Bolshoi Symphony
Orchestra, for example, has fire in
its belly and can have you on the edge
of your seat. There is some waywardness
in tempo but I prefer this to Kunzel’s
more polite approach even though the
playing is more beautiful.
Kunzel’s precision,
however, is suited to the late Eugene
List’s playing in the Rhapsody.
Accurate and crisp, List gives a zip
to the performance that you do not always
get. But, in common with all the pieces
on this disc, there are other recordings
about that have more fire and abandon
about them.
The Super Audio Sound,
good though it is, cannot disguise the
fact that the original recording has
a rather tight, close-up acoustic. This
does not matter in the Rhapsody but
the Tchaikovsky is big music that needs
a big ambience. Even the cannons don’t
echo.
John Leeman
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra/Erich Kunzel 
TELARC
SACD-60646 [69:19] 
