BALAKIREV: Symphony 1; Symphonic Poems: "Tamara", "Russia"

Albumbeschreibung

Though there have been other, arguably better recorded performances of Balakirev's First Symphony, there have been no better Russian performances than this 1971 recording with Evgeny Svetlanov leading the USSR Symphony Orchestra. Thomas Beecham and Herbert von Karajan both turned in more smoothly polished and elegantly played performances, but polish and elegance are not qualities the work calls for. After all, Balakirev's First is the first "real" symphony ever written by a Russian, and it displays its pedigree by being a big-boned, hard-driving, and deeply sensuous work almost wholly devoid of Western sensibilities. Svetlanov captures those qualities in a performance that's strongly muscled, ferociously aggressive, and vividly sensual. It's true that there's little nuance here: Svetlanov plows through transitions and screams through climaxes in a way that would likely embarrass the more urbane Beecham and Karajan. But while the Russian conductor cannot match the suave Englishman and the sophisticated Austrian for subtlety, he runs rings around them in terms of sheer conviction. And while the Russian orchestra cannot match the London Philharmonia for blend and balance, the English orchestra cannot touch the Russians for unbending passion and unstoppable power. Svetlanov and the USSR Symphony's couplings of the same composer's two best-known symphonic poems, Russia and Tamara, are equally devoted and equally lacking in elegance. Though the Soviet stereo sound is rough and edgy, it perfectly suits the music.
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