The very first time
I saw Marin Alsop operating in the
flesh was in 1999 when she conducted
the BBC Symphony in a BBC invitation
concert at Maida Vale where, amongst
other things, she conducted a stunning
account of the New World Symphony.
Having a drink with some of the players
after the show I made the comment
that, "she really made you so-and-sos
sweat!" and to a man they replied
"and did she!" And that,
surely, is the strength of Marin Alsop,
she makes you play and she brings
out the very best in the musicians.
This
is a wonderful disk – and it’s the
first of three Dvořàk
CDs promised from these performers.
The Symphonic Variations is
a work which, for too many years,
I dismissed as insignificant. How
wrong one can be! Alsop directs a
straight forward account, pointing
the many felicitous details of orchestration,
enjoying the humour of the waltz episode,
building a marvellous climax in the
middle, with the lugubrious trombones
to the fore, and generally making
the music smile. The fugal finale
is especially well handled, the various
strands entering clearly and precisely
and no one voice is allowed to dominate.
Overall, Alsop makes the work much
more cohesive that it normally sounds,
the variations flowing effortlessly
from one to the next and the gradual
development of the simple theme can
easily be followed. This performance
is a triumph!
A sensible fifteen
second pause separates the Variations
from the Symphony – and might
I point out how good it is to have
the major work appearing as
the major work on the disk and not
being followed by some filler. You
certainly don’t want anything following
this account of the New World.
The slow introduction
to the first movement begins almost
noncommittally but with the, forthright,
entrance of the drums Alsop starts
to screw up the tension into the ensuing
Allegro which is full of fire
and passion. The second subject, played
most beautifully, is joyous and playful,
with no slackening of tempo. Then
the exposition is repeated, as it
should be. The development section
is full of drama, very exciting trombones
here, Alsop was right to smile encouragingly
at them, sorry Richard Strauß,
but here it’s essential! A marvellous
reprise and, with a slight increase
in tempo, the coda is quite breath
taking.
The slow movement
is very well handled. The sonorous
opening brass chords build to a small
climax before the strings take over
and the cor anglais sings its famous
tune. Alsop seems to allow the player
to take charge here and she follows
her – I assume that for this fine
playing we have to thank Jane Marvine.
Alsop keeps the accompaniment to a
minimum and all for the better, allowing
the great theme to really sing. The
animated section which follows is
full of expectation, with the muted
strings wistful but passionate, the
woodwind plaintive. The central dance
section, with its reminiscence of
the first movement’s first theme,
is well placed within the context
of the movement, and the quiet coda
is quiet beautiful.
Twelve seconds of
glorious silence separate this reverie
from the vivacious scherzo – what
sensible breaks Naxos have provided
us with! The scherzo is played with
such verve and energy that it positively
races along, and the nationalistic
dance of the trio is suitably buoyant
and bucolic. After the repeat of the
scherzo there’s another reminder of
the first movement’s main theme and
Alsop senses that there’s something
malevolent about this repeat – I’ve
always felt this – after all, what
the hell is it doing here of all places?
The finale follows
almost without pause and it’s tense
and urgent, Alsop keeping the momentum
and strength of the music as it becomes
more manic
– OK this is a personal view but why,
if he’s so happy in the USA, does
Dvořàk seem to
become almost out of control in this
movement? Half way through he sits
back and we get the Czech countryside
again, which is interrupted by the
first movement’s theme, yet again(!)
before a terse coda where the opening
chords of the slow movement are screamed
out by the brass against a barrage
of drums to be followed by a huge
climax where the opening themes of
the first and fourth movements are
played in counterpoint by trumpets
and trombones against agonized chords,
leaving us with an insubstantial open
chord on the woodwind, fading to nothing.
It’s a strange ending for so forthright
a work but I have always had a feeling
that, because of how Dvořàk
treats his themes here, he didn’t
really enjoy his stay in America,
despite what we are led to believe,
and I feel that perhaps Alsop has
the same feeling. Certainly she plays
this ending as some kind of catharsis,
an ending, certainly, but one which,
perhaps, is filled with regret, dissatisfaction
or dismay.
The recording is
very bright and clear, with a wide
perspective on the full orchestra
– it especially captures the brass
beautifully. The balance is superb
and the dynamic range huge – the final
chords of the slow movement were so
quiet I could barely hear them, but
if I’d pumped up the volume the climaxes
would have been overbearing!
We know, from her
recordings of the Brahms Symphonies,
for Naxos, that Alsop is totally at
home in this romantic repertoire and
this performance simply confirms her
position as an interpreter of music
of this period. This performance is
shattering in its power and urgency
and Alsop brings a new view to this,
supposedly, well known work. All in
all this is an essential addition
to any collection and it sits very
well beside both the Berlin Philharmonic
with Kubelik and the LSO with Kertesz.
A real must have!
Bob Briggs
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra/Marin Alsop
