Here
is a coupling of two colourfully orchestrated works based on
Western Europe’s traditional fantasy about the exoticism of
the mysterious Orient – the Orient being what we now call the
Middle East including the North East corner of Africa. Rimsky-Korsakov’s
Scheherazade, an absolute staple of the orchestral diet,
is inspired by the Arabian Nights stories. The much less well-known
Ballet Suite by Respighi is about the Queen of Sheba’s
journey from Ethiopia
to Jerusalem to visit to Solomon.
The
Württemberg Philharmonic is a good orchestra but by no means
one of Germany’s better known ones to the world
at large. For such an orchestra it can be hard to break into,
and thrive in, the classical CD market. One answer can be to
go for niche areas. The orchestra has recently done this by
recording symphonic works by Tango composer Astor Piazzolla
for the Chandos label. It can be risky to go into the crowded
area of repertory showpieces. That is what they have done here
with Scheherazade. I think it a mistake. These performances,
for me at any rate, do not hit the spot. My verdict in a nutshell
is that the team of Norichika Limori and the Württembergers
bring a Japanese/German efficiency to music that is unlikely
to transport you to the sensuous, fairy-tale world that the
composers depict.
The
coupling is an interesting one because the two pieces are strongly
related. So much so that you could regard Respighi’s ballet
work of 1932 as a son or daughter of Scheherazade. Rimsky
was a pupil of Respighi in Russia and could not have learned the basics of orchestration from a better
man. In choosing such exotic subject matter, the music clearly
owes much to Rimsky’s Scheherazade, a work written 44
years before.
Part
and parcel of the West’s fantasy about the exotic Orient is
the erotic, and both works have this ingredient. In the third
movement, Respighi has Belkis, the Queen of Sheba, dreaming
about Solomon in what the notes call a “male fantasy par
excellence”. She gradually wakes and starts to dance to
greet the sun. The music has an Arabian tambourine (similar
to the familiar sort but without the little jingling discs)
tapping away to the sound of sensuous, undulating woodwind.
The orchestral players perform well enough but no one seems
to have told them the story. It’s all a bit stiff-shirted. The
final movement is the Orgiastic Dance that Solomon has
laid on for his visitor and the music reminds us that between
Scheherazade and the ballet, Stravinsky had rocked
the musical world with the raw, pounding rhythms of The Rite
of Spring. The players simply cannot cast off their stiff
shirts and throw themselves into this orgy with requisite abandon.
It
is a similar story in Scheherazade. The music illustrates
fairy tales within a fairy tale and the grand opening suggest
that matters of great import are to be related. I do not feel
enough import from this performance. The solo violin then enters,
representing Scheherazade who sets about preserving her life
by transfixing the Sultan with her story-telling. The sensuous
solo line suggests she has other means with which to impress
the Sultan but Kazuhiro Takagi’s playing is curiously chaste.
When
the huge rolling waves of Sinbad’s sea get going, I had a feeling
that the members of this orchestra had never had any nautical
experience. Well Reutlingen is a long way from the sea. When
the music returns in the last movement in a great heaving recapitulation
it can be a hugely exciting moment but I fear the opportunity
is missed.
I
know this sounds harsh and I do not want to suggest that the
orchestra is not playing well and with great professionalism.
I suspect the problem is the conductor who is not able to carry
his players into the wonderful fantasy world that both composers
paint so well in sound. This type of music just may not be
in his blood.
The
disc makes for a good coupling but if your priority is Scheherazade
then there are plenty more convincing performances available.
One of my favourites is on a bargain priced Naxos CD played
by the Philharmonia under Enrique Bátiz. Naxos also have the same performance on the
market with the stories narrated between the movements (I doubt
Rimsky would have approved). It sells as “1001 Nights”: see
my review at http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/Dec01/Rimsky-Sheher.htm.
The sound has a spacious ambience lacking in the Württemberg
recording.
For
the Respighi work, a fairly recent, well thought of performance
is by the Minnesota Orchestra conducted by Eiji Oue. See review
at http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2002/Jun02/RespighiBelkis.htm.
John Leeman
Kazuhiro Takagi, violin (Rimsky)
