Sergei Rachmaninov - Symphony No. 2; etc. (André Previn)

Information

Composer: Sergei Rachmaninov

• Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27
• Vocalise, Op. 34 No. 14
• Aleko, opera: Intermezzo & Women's Dance

London Symphony Orchestra

André Previn, conductor

Date: 1973; 1975; 1976

Label: EMI Classics

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Review

This was a hallmark recording in 1973 in that the symphony was played in its complete version without the disfiguring cuts that even Rachmaninov had sanctioned (although according to Previn he only really approved a small cut in the finale - in a previous LSO recording for RCA LSO Previn had made all the usual cuts). It makes for a long work (nearly an hour) and that has been said to be too long for a composer of such limited ability. Well I think I can answer that simply by pointing to Schubert's 9th symphony or Elgar's second without having to invoke Mahler or Bruckner. What matter is not the length but the invention. The reference to limited ability is that Rachmaninov appeared to constantly worked mine the same vein without ever developing and it was surely the Previn series of Rachmaninov recordings that helped to dispel that belief too, followed eventually by a re-evaluation in the more louring Ashkenazy series for Decca which reached a peak with his performance of the Isle of the Dead.

Previn and the LSO were at their peak and had toured this symphony internationally before setting it on record. Previn has said 'one of the most unforgettable events of my musical life was seeing members of the Moscow audience, openly and unabashedly weeping during the performance. After the concert had ended, the orchestra and I came out of the stage door into the icy street, where people were still waiting for us. A young woman came forward, and , in a mixture of broken English and French, thanked us for the Rachmaninov. Then she gave me a gift, a token of her gratitude to Rachmaninov: one orange, for which she had, without a doubt, queued quite a time that afternoon.'

Rachmaninov writes a good tune and all praise to him. He also writes orgasmically for soaring and cascading strings and it might be the association with Mantovani that causes critics to sneer. A composer of good tunes who is 'Popular' will never do and those Paganini Variations!. Well, of course, I am playing the Devil's advocate because I love Rachmaninov. He is not only the ultimate romantic composer but can also be extraordinarily powerful (Isle of the Dead or the Symphonic Dances). To me his appeal is limitless rather than limited and I look back with nostalgia at this recording. It is well known that Rachmaninov's first symphony was a disaster at its first performance and instituted a creative block in the composer that lasted several years until his confidence was restored by the success of his second Piano concerto. The second symphony was completed in 1907; 12 years after the first and found the appreciation he craved.

From the very opening one is immediately aware of the performance Previn will produce. The symphony opens with a motto theme in the double basses and cellos that occurs throughout the symphony making it a unified whole. Violins and woodwinds have two more motto themes and they all play an important part in all movements of the symphony. Straight away we are into those swaying, cascading strings that remain for ever in the memory. Not that many symphonies have such a memorable opening, one that immediately makes one want to dance and to sing. It is important not to rush this and Previn's gently elongated approach serves Rachmaninov well (in the later Telarc recording Previn takes even longer over this movement). There is a feeling of one-ness between orchestra and conductor which is the hallmark of a great recording. But it is surely the adagio that will convert the listener with Jack Brymer's clarinet weaving a hypnotic melody over lush strings that will eventually soar into a very Tchaikovskian climax

The symphony has appeared in different formats on CD. Its initial CD release was a Japanese-Toshiba pressing and was greeted with horror by Ivan March who complained that the warm opulence of the strings had become dehydrated and even shrill, quite unlike the original LP sound. I was particularly interested to hear this re-mastered CD in the Great recordings of the Century series because I posses that original Japanese CD pressing. I undertook a comparative listening session with interesting results. In spite of laudatory comments in the past I suspect that this never was a particularly good recording and EMI's engineers have had to struggle with it ever since. The sound is hard as if the microphones were placed too close, particularly to the strings. The new CD is cut at a higher level than the Japanese pressing which constitutes a problem when trying to switch between the two for comparative purposes. There is tape hiss and this has become more obvious in the remastering in spite of "Abbey Road Technology". The bass is firm and the string sound is definitely warmer in the original in spite of Ivan March bemoaning a loss of warmth. What would he think of the remastered version where the basses are drier and the strings have acquired a buzzy edge? But all is not in favour of the Japanese pressing because the louder passages are definitely less congested in the remastered version, probably to do with sucking out the bass. So not a total success and I suspect we will have to wait for one of the audiophile companies to obtain the rights to this tape to hear it reveal its true qualities.

Nevertheless the performance is overpoweringly convincing and worth every penny of the mid-price demanded. A further advantage of the reissue is that the symphony is now joined by Vocalise and the Intermezzo and Women's Dance from Aleko making a very full disc.

-- Len Mullenger

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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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André Previn (April 6, 1929 – February 28, 2019) was a German-American pianist, composer, and conductor. Born in Berlin to a Jewish family, Previn moved to New York with his family in 1938. He started arranging and composing for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1946, and went on to be involved in over 50 films, winning four Academy Awards. Previn was also a gifted jazz-piano interpreter and arranger of songs, winning the respect of prominent jazz artists. In classical music, he also performed as a pianist but gained his fame as a conductor. Previn's discography contains hundreds of recordings in film, jazz and classical music.

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