Information
Composer: Josef Suk
- Asrael, Symphony in C minor, Op. 27
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Charles Mackerras, conductor
Date: 2011
Label: Supraphon
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An Asrael from the heart that comes close to Talich’s classic recording
It’s always problematical when a new recording has to confront rivalry from an almost impossibly great benchmark – the de Sabata Tosca, for example, or Britten’s own version of his War Requiem, Heifetz’s Korngold Concerto and, in this particular context, Václav Talich’s 1952 Czech Philharmonic recording of Josef Suk’s requiem “Symphony for Large Orchestra”, an epic work named after Asrael, the Angel of Death according to Islam, Sikhism and some Hebrew lore. Suk’s tragic prompt was twofold, initially the death of his father-in-law Dvorák and then, shortly afterwards, of his wife Otilka, at the age of 27. The symphony deals with “the struggle of life and death”, “loss”, Otilka herself and the futility of life, before hard-won acceptance marks a tentative but definite return to some semblance of normality. A bracing centrally placed scherzo has at its heart some of the most achingly beautiful music in the whole of Suk’s output.
Talich’s performance literally burns (there’s no other word for it) but the passing of time has taken its toll, sound-wise, and there are some aspects of the score – the eruptive, repeated bass-drum strokes from around 12'35" on this new recording – that by today’s digital standards lack clarity and impact. Sir Charles Mackerras actually learnt Asrael from Talich and this performance, recorded on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday 2007, betrays an almost symbiotic identification with the music – and for good reason. Sir Charles lost his daughter Fiona to cancer during the same year: in fact, he conducted the finale of a Beethoven cycle merely hours after her death, so
there’s no questioning either the depth of his response (especially to the fourth-movement Adagio) or his understanding of the work’s two-tier structure.
The Czech Phil play wonderfully well for him, much as they did for Jirí Belohlávek and Václav Neumann, the former enjoying a warm, ambient recording, the latter sounding marginally brighter in tone, though neither quite matches Mackerras for overall intensity. I should also mention Rafael Kubelík, whose Munich performance is rather special (probably the greatest after Talich), and Libor Pesek with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, another credible contender. But this more recent Mackerras performance digs just that little bit deeper and for that reason edges nearest to the classics by Talich and Kubelík.
-- Rob Cowan, Gramophone
More reviews:
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Josef Suk (4 January 1874 – 29 May 1935) was a Czech composer and violinist. Known as one of Antonín Dvořák's favorite pupils, Suk became very close to his mentor and later married Dvořák's daughter, Otilie. He was also the grandfather of famed Czech violinist Josef Suk (1929-2011). Suk, alongside Vítězslav Novák and Otakar Ostrčil, is considered one of the leading composers in Czech Modernism. Although he wrote mostly instrumental music, he occasionally branched out into other genres, such as chamber music and music for solo piano. As a violinist, Suk was a member of the Bohemian Quartet.
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Charles Mackerras (17 November 1925 – 14 July 2010) was an Australian conductor. An expert in a wide repertory of opera and orchestral music, Mackerras was especially well known for his interpretations of music by Leoš Janáček and other Czech composers. He was also one of the first conductors to apply the principles of the historical performance movement to operatic performances by modern orchestras. Mackerras was chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony from 1982 to 1985 and music director of the Welsh National Opera from 1987 to 1992. His vast catalog include well over 275 recordings.
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