Sergei Rachmaninov - Symphonies; etc. (Vladimir Ashkenazy)

Information

Composer: Sergei Rachmaninov

CD1:

• Symphony No. 1 in D minor, Op. 13
• Symphonic Dances, Op. 45

CD2:

• Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27
• The Isle of the Dead, Op. 29

CD3:

• Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 44
• The Bells, Op. 35

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

Vladimir Ashkenazy, conductor

Date: 1998

Label: Decca

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Review

Ashkenazy has made few more distinguished discs as conductor than these Rachmaninov symphony recordings of the early 1980s. They are to that decade what Ormandy’s were to the 1960s or Previn’s to the 1970s and their appearance in this two-disc format has the obvious attraction of economy. The downside of the repackaging is that you have to put up with a change of disc half-way through the Second Symphony and lose several shorter orchestral works in which Ashkenazy arguably has no peer, notably the Symphonic Dances and the Isle of the dead, both included in the three-disc alternatives listed above.

Perhaps, like me, you have already opted for the Previn box. In that case you can now afford to supplement it with Ashkenazy’s more opulently recorded, more overtly excitable symphonic integrale. Previn is the most natural but not always the most electrifying of Rachmaninov interpreters and many will find Ashkenazy preferable, particularly in No. 1. Although some of Ashkenazy’s speeds seem unnaturally pressed – he fairly tips us into the first movement reprise having declined to cap the climax with unvalidated bells – the excitement is infectious. Only the finale’s famous fanfare comes as something of a disappointment, the inverted commas rather too deliberately placed I felt, though I see this didn’t worry EG or IM. Previn’s LSO are not at their best in the Larghetto (placed third), but in the corresponding movement of the Second Symphony the boot is on the other foot. Not that Ashkenazy isn’t convincing too – so long as you can forget the Previn. Ashkenazy’s volatile approach is at its most extreme in the Third, the mood much less autumnal than it usually is (and perhaps should be), with the fruity Concertgebouw brass unconstrained. Such an unashamedly episodic rendering of the score has its drawbacks, but the virtuosic energy and romantic gush are hard to resist.

Throughout the cycle, the players are unfailingly alert and the recordings sound very well indeed. While the big acoustic muddles some detail, hall resonance helps distract the ear from the slightly steely quality of the strings (most noticeable in No. 2). Like the recently reissued Ashkenazy/Previn concerto cycle (Decca, 2/96) this is an exceptional bargain.

-- Gramophone

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Sergei Rachmaninov (1 April [O.S. 20 March] 1873 – 28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. He is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music. His music was influenced by Tchaikovsky, Arensky and Taneyev. Rachmaninov wrote five works for piano and orchestra: four concertos and the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. He also composed a number of works for orchestra alone, including three symphonies, the Symphonic Dances Op. 45, and four symphonic poems.

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Vladimir Ashkenazy (born 6 July 1937) is a Soviet-born Icelandic pianist and conductor. He studied with Lev Oborin and Boris Zemliansky at the Moscow Conservatory. Ashkenazy won 2nd prize in the 1955 Chopin Piano Competition, 1st prize in the 1956 Queen Elisabeth Competition, and 1st prize in the 1962 Tchaikovsky Competition. He has recorded a wide range of piano repertoire, both solo works and concerti. As a conductor, he has served as principal conductor of the Royal Philharmonic, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Czech Philharmonic, the NHK Symphony and the Sydney Symphony.

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