Stravinsky's Symphonies
Stravinsky's Symphonies
The Gramophone Choice
Symphony in Three Movements. Symphony of Psalms. Symphony in C
Berlin Radio Choir; Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Simon Rattle
EMI 207630-0 (76’ · DDD) Recorded live 2007. Buy from Amazon
The Symphony in Three Movements doesn’t so much start as erupt, and Sir Simon Rattle’s second recording of it has impressive immediacy, richer tonally than his rougher-edged 1980s recording with the CBSO but textually warmer and with more refined solos. Interesting points of comparison arise at around 4'00" into the first movement (chamber-like textures involving strings and winds) and the serene passage for strings and harp at 2'08" into the second movement, the relative earnestness of the earlier version replaced here by a true but ‘terrible beauty’. In comparison with conductors like Boulez and Gielen, Rattle offers the most polished option, mindful of both mood and structure, and beautifully engineered – but don’t forget Stravinsky’s own 1946 (New York Philharmonic) version, which reflects a new-born masterpiece in the heat of its creation.
Rattle’s Symphony of Psalms is very sensitively traced, with a rowdy account of the reveille-style ‘Laudate Dominum’ passage in the last movement. However, the real highlight of this CD is Rattle’s pressing but never impatient account of what in my view is Stravinsky’s greatest symphony, the terse and poignant Symphony in C, music forged in the wake of illness and death but that only ever suggests anguish, never confesses it. Tchaikovsky’s spirit looms large, especially in the first movement, at the onset of the angry central climax where Rattle and his Berliners achieve considerable intensity. Rattle focuses each episode without sounding episodic and shapes the Larghetto’s opening most poetically. Stravinsky himself is faster and lighter (especially on his second, stereo, recording) but Rattle gives us both urgency and tonal body. Henceforth, his is a digital front-runner. (And if purchased as a download, a finely observed account of the Symphonies of Wind Instruments is thrown in as a generous bonus.)
Additional Recommendation
Symphony in C***. Symphony in Three Movementsd Octet*. Concerto in E flat, ‘Dumbarton Oaks’**
*Twentieth Century Classics Ensemble; **Orchestra of St Luke’s; ***Philharmonia Orchestra / Robert Craft
Naxos 8 557507 (76’ · DDD) Buy from Amazon
Robert Craft’s best rostrum work involves relatively small forces and transparent textures, such as the Octet, which is here given a crisp, dapper performance, biting where needs be and bursting with life. Musical line and clear projection are invariable Craft priorities and both in the Octet and in the post-Baroque Dumbarton Oaks Concerto the pulse is kept moving, the musical journey always clearly directed, with generally superb execution from the New York players. An earlier Craft-led version of the Symphony in Three Movements (from 1991) is marginally swifter than this 1999 Philharmonia remake, leaner too, with a sharper edge (notably from the brass), but the finale on the new version is very appealing, with the incisive snap of woodwinds against eerily winding strings. The tighter, more astringent language of the Symphony in C suits Craft better, though the outer movements occasionally sound rushed.
In the Symphony in C, Craft’s approach is all animation and nervous energy. As ever with him, there’s the feeling that the mind in charge knows exactly what this music is about, and with generally excellent sound makes for a thoroughly reliable programme, while in the case of the two chamber works the effect is decidedly impressive. Needless to say, Craft’s own programme-notes are a mine of relevant information.
