Rachmaninov's Symphony No 2
Rachmaninov's Symphony No 2
The Gramophone Choice
London Symphony Orchestra / Valery Gergiev
LSO Live LSO0677 (61’ · DDD/DSD) Recorded live 2008. Buy from Amazon
Expertly played by the LSO, wisely shaped and (unusually) observing the repeat of the first-movement exposition, this performance can justifiably claim that Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony is ‘presented in its entirety’, as it does on the CD cover. The thwack of the timpani on the first movement’s final note might give pause for thought, because Rachmaninov’s definitive score has that bottom E played sforzando only by the cellos and basses. But Gergiev is not alone in thinking that something more emphatic is called for and it would be unduly picky to malign the performance on that count alone. Elsewhere he has his finger firmly on the pulse.
Experienced conductors who are steeped in Rachmaninov’s idiom understand the fluctuations of pace and dynamics that animate the music, not least in the slow movement. Here the clarinet melody is lovingly but not indulgently floated and Gergiev has the sensibility to put on the pressure and to foster flexibility as the natural contours of the music demand. The risks and challenges that live performances invite are taken up and negotiated with aplomb, discretion and vitality throughout this interpretation. Gergiev has a feel for the romantic urgency of the music as well as its lyrical impulse and the LSO responds as though its life depended upon it.
Additional Recommendations
Coupled with Liadov The Enchanted Lake, Op 62
Santa Cecilia Academy Orchestra, Rome / Antonio Pappano
EMI 949462-2 (67’ · DDD) Recorded live 2009. Buy from Amazon
Rachmaninov was scrupulous with markings in his scores and the Second Symphony is no exception, be it tiny hairpins on a particular motif, a sharp sforzando or a carefully calibrated fluctuation of pacing. Listening to Pappano and the Santa Cecilia orchestra, you really appreciate how these and many other details, which are too often merely glossed over or approximated, animate the texture and fuel the symphony’s energy and strength. At the same time they help fortify the music’s organic architecture, for there are occasions when an inner part might hint at a key melodic shape, serving as an important point of reference or maybe forming a crucial aid to structural cohesion. In that respect, Pappano is revelatory.
It is rare indeed to hear the Second Symphony executed with such clarity and with such a faithful, balanced spectrum of instrumental colour but the performance goes much further than that. Pappano has passion, too, and he knows when to unleash it and when to keep it quietly in reserve. Together with his sharp ear for facets of dynamics and phrasing, he has a broad, utterly compelling view of how the symphony evolves and makes its dramatic impact. The orchestra play superbly for him, both in the symphony and in an exquisite account of Liadov’s The Enchanted Lake.
Coupled with Vocalise, Op 34 No 14
Budapest Festival Orchestra / Iván Fischer
Channel Classics CCSSA21698 (65’ · DDD) Buy from Amazon
A new century brings a fresh start – at least, that’s the feeling that Iván Fischer engenders here. He conducts the piece as Rachmaninov might have played it: with a free and malleable sense of spontaneity. It’s the romantic more than the epic that Fischer emphasises. Words like ardent, fleet, airborne appear in my listening notes. In short, a narrative imperative.
The first movement quickly shakes off the lugubriousness of its introduction. It’s a low-cholesterol sound that Fischer produces as layer upon layer of string texture and finally flutes carry us towards the first subject. Channel Classics has complemented his reading with a lovely, open and natural production, although the blend is all Fischer’s.
Nothing shy about the second subject of the Scherzo, though. Rachmaninov’s written portamento can sound horribly contrived here – pasted dutifully between notes rather than evolving effortlessly from the rise and fall of the phrase. But then Fischer’s Budapest strings aren’t about imitating the Rachmaninov style; they inhabit it.
Fischer’s musical story-telling is exceptional. What do those sombre brass shadings tells us at the close of the Scherzo? Rarely have they ever sounded quite so unsettling. Nor has the opening of the slow movement – arriving as it does mid-sentence – sounded more like Rachmaninov abruptly changing the subject. Anything but confront the demons. The eternal clarinet solo (ravishingly played here) may be sad but it’s songful (in a way that the melancholic Vocalise, the filler here, is songful). You don’t need words to feel the regret.
Fresh and engaging, then, and well worth your attention – guaranteed to clear your head of preconceptions.
