Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky & Varèse: Orchestral Works (Live)

Chronique

The Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks has a good deal of material conducted by the late Mariss Jansons in its archives and continues to bring them forth into the world. This is all to the good. The present release, featuring live performances from 2013 and 2015, will satisfy and even surprise Jansons fans. The recordings were made in the Philharmonie im Gasteig and the Herkulessaal; there is a slight shift, but all of them offer great clarity, and clarity is what Jansons was all about here. For an idea, start with the performances of Edgard Varèse's Amériques that concludes the album. Jansons isn't particularly known as a conductor of Varèse or of modernist music in general, but he excels here with a precise reading that avoids in-your-face gestures (the siren sounds are there but not given undue weight). His rapport and long partnership with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks is everywhere in evidence, and the orchestra plays superbly. Listen to the hushed, almost mysterious Berceuse from the 1919 suite from Stravinsky's L'Oiseau de Feu. Some will prefer a more lush approach to the Fantasy Overture to Romeo & Juliet of Tchaikovsky, but even so, the orchestral work is nowhere less than top-notch here. A strong release that shows just how much was lost with Jansons's death.

© James Manheim /TiVo