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Sergei Rachmaninoff: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3; Isle of the Useless (DG)
★★☆☆☆/★★★★☆
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The opening bars of this dwell efficiency assert that the Philadelphia Orchestra owns these works. The orchestra eases into the second symphony like an Olympic swimmer right into a public pool, completely in its component, fearless of hazard or problem. The strings are silken, the woodwinds ethereal. After which all of it goes uneven.
The Philadelphia Orchestra was concerned with Rachmaninoff from his arrival in America as a refugee in 1918 to his demise 25 years later. Its music administrators, Leopold Stokowski and Eugene Ormandy, championed his works and invited him to play them. The third symphony, his first essential exile work, was a Philadelphia fee, poorly obtained at its premiere.
So what’s the issue right here? The current music director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, will get in the way in which of the music. Within the lengthy melodic strains of the symphony, he makes fussy changes, holding the orchestra again when it must surge, intruding excessively into an in any other case immersive expertise. The good Adagio tune barely will get to breathe. Comparisons are invidious, however there isn’t a scarcity of conductors on file who know when to carry again — Ormandy, Pletnev, Jansons and Svetlanov, to call simply three.
Dreading what may happen within the third symphony, which has much less instantaneous attraction and has defeated a few of the finest time beaters, I used to be thrilled to listen to a superb efficiency, excessive on conviction and vitality. Overusing the brass after an extended dry spell, Rachmaninoff must be delicately dealt with on this symphony — and Yannick does simply that. The opening Lento is elegantly phrased and the overlong finale is redeemed with beautiful solo episodes. The Philadelphia Orchestra has not sounded this glowing because the Muti years.
The Isle of the Useless, not a cheerful place, can be gloriously achieved and with no hint of sentimentality. Like sports activities stars, you possibly can by no means guess when Yannick goes to be on type. His inconsistency is simply on the precise aspect of the equation to maintain you coming again for extra.
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Michael Vincent is the Editor-in-chief Ludwig Van and CEO of Museland Media. He publishes frequently and writes sometimes. A specialist in digital media for over 15 years, he has labored as a senior editor and is a former freelance classical music critic for the Toronto Star. Michael holds a Doctorate in Music from the College of Toronto.
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