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Hermann
Scherchen - de Purcell à Varèse
Franz SCHUBERT
(1797-1828)
Symphony No. 5 D485 (1816) [26:52]
Symphony No. 6 D589 (1822) [31:28]
Henry PURCELL
(1659-1695)
The Fairy Queen (extracts) (1692) [11:13]
Wolfgang Amadeus
MOZART (1759-1795)
Symphony No. 29 K201 (1774) [23:02]
Edgar
VARÈSE (1883-1965)
Déserts (1954) [27:32]
 Vienna Symphony
Orchestra, recorded 1950 (Schubert Symphony 5)
Vienna State Opera Orchestra, recorded 1951 (Schubert
Symphony 6)
RTF Radio Symphony Orchestra, live recording 1954
(Purcell and Mozart)
Orchestre National de France, world premiere 2
December 1954 at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées de Paris (Varèse)
TAHRA 599-600
[59:02 + 62:17]
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Ever wished you’d
been at the premiere of the Rite of Spring? Ever wondered
what it must have sounded like, with all those boos and whistles?
Well, use some imagination and this performance of the 1954
premiere of Varèse’s Déserts might just do the trick.
The theatre is the same one that saw the premiere of the Rite
about forty years before, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. And
boy can those Parisians vent displeasure; I’ve never heard anything
like it.
The concert was
given on 2 December and I was curious to see what Scherchen
contrasted it with; Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique. The problems
– or fun – begin around 5:45 when the tape is first introduced.
It inspires a Gallic largesse of boos, whistles, catcalls and
shushing noises. Things simmer away until five minutes later
when at a seemingly innocuous point in the proceedings shouts
and jeers erupt, followed by sympathetic applause – directed
presumably at the orchestra and Scherchen. By 12:24 laughter
is in the air and at 14:15 someone shouts out in derision. Unrest
continues until by 19:00 collective hysteria seems to have set
in. Wild applause, laughter, boos, applause and chanting rent
the air. Two minutes of incredulous laughter and approbation
greet the end of the work. All right, this is more gladiatorial
than musical but full marks to the Parisians. At least they
care.
After which the
rest of the programme seems somehow amazingly sane. There are
brief, big band extracts from Purcell’s The Fairy Queen,
here given under its Shakespearean name in French. Scherchen
also did service for Rameau in this series of concerts in the
French capital. This concert, with Purcell and the Mozart, was
given in January 1954. Scherchen brings accustomed gravity to
bear, lacing the Puck scene with the dignity of a Sarabande
and bringing a veritably Passacaglia-like intensity to the final
scene.
His Mozart Symphony
is unostentatious. Once over some ensemble imprecisions this
is a sane, middle-of-the-road performance, neither over perfumed,
as Beecham was inclined to be in the slow movement, or callously
driven. Maybe it’s a touch stolid here and there but it gathers
momentum and confidence as it goes; the last two movements are
fine.
The two Schubert
symphonies derive from commercial recordings made for Ultraphon
in 1950 and 1951. Both were recorded in Vienna. The Fifth is
fast, energetic and dynamic. But unlike the Mozart this one
definitely lacks Beecham’s wit and affection. Phrasing is inclined
to be matter of fact and the wind players are not given enough
time to phrase optimally. The slow movement is warmly done though
orchestral pitch sags toward the end. The Minuet is possibly
the best movement – bluffly charismatic. The Sixth symphony
followed a year later. It’s big and bluff. The flutes shine
in the slow movement and the trumpets sound cracking and crisp
in the finale. Scherchen reserves the best for last with a verveful
finale. Overall though it’s a reading that ultimately lacks
distinction.
This is another
in the long line of essential releases for the Scherchen admirer
– it’s been splendidly realised all round. Pugilists and admires
of sporting combustion might appreciate the atrocities visited
on the Varèse – but in any case this disc represents Scherchen
the exploratory analyst as much as the Viennese inheritor.
Jonathan Woolf
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