Another really welcome
re-issue of a much loved LP to CD. This
is part of Eloquence’s August releases,
featuring Rachmaninov as Composer of
the Month. The present disc is made
up of three treasured recordings. They
make a very enjoyable programme, whether
heard separately or listened to straight
through.
As with the release
of No. 2 with the same artists, the
astonishing feature of this release
is the playing of the orchestra in the
symphony. The quality of the playing
is superb, and the performance tingles
with life, from start to finish. Anyone
who loves Rachmaninov should hear this
issue to find out how the composer sounds
when played at white heat, and recorded
"on the wing" by a superb
recording team in an excellent acoustic
and with the absolute top-flight of
orchestral conductors.
Written towards the
end of the composer’s life, the Third
Symphony has never been as popular as
its predecessor but this does not make
it any less of a work. Compared with
No.2, the lyrical quality is still as
strong, but gone are the excesses; these
are replaced by a sternness and a bitterness
which seems out of place with this conductor.
The first two symphonies
are in four movements. The Third Symphony
is in three movements but none the worse
for that. It is concise and kept under
control by the composer, to say nothing
of orchestra and conductor.
As John Culshaw says
in his biography of the composer "One
aspect of this symphony must be stressed
more than any other ... it is remarkable
for its bitterness ... it is as though
Rachmaninov, having created melodies
as good and as beautiful as anything
else he had written before, turned on
to them the savage light of his technique
for purposes quite alien to his nature."
Whether you agree with
this description or not makes no difference
– this performance is well worth hearing
from either aspect.
The couplings have
been issued in the UK before on various
Decca discs and have been repeatedly
re-cycled, so it is likely that most
enthusiasts will already have both of
them. The Youth Symphony, superbly
conducted by Ashkenazy and played by
the glorious Concertgebouw Orchestra
is coupled with Ashkenazy’s wonderful
performance of Rachmaninov’s troubled
fourth concerto – troubled because the
composer was never satisfied with it.
It was rewritten twice, and I am sure
many more times than were actually published.
Still the final incarnation has become
loved by Rachmaninov aficionados. This
recording has been reviewed over and
over again since it was originally issued
and it has been well thought of. I concur
with this, but I must stress the strongest
feature of this issue is the long-awaited
release of the Kletzki Rachmaninov 3.
A superb issue, well
worth its meagre asking price – don’t
hesitate – buy it and enjoy – you won’t
regret it.
John Phillips
L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande/Paul Kletzki
(Symphony); Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam/Vladimir
Ashkenazy (Youth Symphony); Vladimir Ashkenazy
(piano), London Symphony Orchestra/André
Previn (Piano Concerto No. 4) 
