Anne Akiko Meyers is a new name to me and I must say I like what I hear. The Barber, clearly a work well suited to her fluid lyric style, is particularly engaging. If I were to offer just one illustration of her distinction here, I would turn to the slow movement where Barber, having well and truly indulged oboe and cellos with one of the loveliest melodies he ever penned, draws in his solo violin with a reticence at first that goes straight to the heart of this highly underrated piece. Meyers is most touching at moments like this, moments where the expression is at its most introspective—her tone fragile and withdrawn but flowering beautifully for the impassioned reprise down on the G string: a fine golden 'chest' sound. As a reading this is not unlike Oliveira's fine account with Slatkin (EMI) in as much as both artists treat the work intimately in the manner of a chamber piece—the lyricism gentler and less highly-wrought than in some readings I have encountered in the past. Meyers is well supported by Seaman and the RPO (the aforementioned solo oboe and cellos making the most of their slow movement privileges), though my own feeling is that Slatkin achieves a subtler level of inflection and transparency from his St Louis players in the first two movements and tighter, better clarified inner parts in the short sharp shock of a finale (Meyers does well here with her pages of fiendish triplets). I could have done with a touch more immediacy from the RPO woodwinds.
I have my doubts about the Bruch, or its first movement at any rate. Essentially Meyers adopts a mellower, somewhat uniform view, the dramatic declamatory style of the first subject taking on a grander, more legato complexion which to my mind undermines the contrasting character of the second (for the first time, too, I would call to question here her intonation). Seaman, consequently, has less to pick up on and those craggy tuttis never quite ignite as they can and should. In short, the dynamic elements of the movement simply hang fire. That said, however, the second subject material is most tenderly coaxed from the page, as indeed is the slow movement, Meyers again deploying some imaginative sotto voce shadings and Seaman duly reciprocating. The finale goes with a swing and the requisite swagger in the accenting.
But if like me you like a little more fire in the belly of your Bruch you should look to the versions listed above: the Kennedy/Tate (EMI) and Mutter/Karajan (DG) are both paired with the Mendelssohn, the Lin/Slatkin (a lovely performance on CBS) with the Scottish Fantasy. As for the Barber, Slatkin offers a not-to-be-missed account of the Howard Hanson Second Symphony on one of his very finest discs to date. If that still leaves you attracted to this unusual, you might say strange, coupling, then Meyers, as I say, offers plenty to admire. Just sample the Bruch first.'