Borodin [Symphony] Symphonies a – No. 1 in E flat; No. 2 in A minor; No. 3 in A minor. String Quartet in D – Notturno c. In the Steppes of Central Asia b. Prince Igor a – Overture; Polovtsian [Dance] Dances. a Toronto Symphony Orchestra / Andrew Davis; b New York Philharmonic Orchestra / Leonard Bernstein; c St Petersburg Camerata / Saulius Sondeckis.

Sony Classical Essential Classics (Budget price) (CD) SB2K62406 (two discs: 123 minutes: ADD). Item marked a from CBS 79214 (11/77), b 61781, c new to UK.

[Symphony] Symphonies [No.] Nos. 1-3 – selected comparison:

Bratislava RSO, Gunzenhauser (8/91) (NAXO) 8 550238

Symphony No. 2 – selected comparison:

LSO, Martinon (9/95) (DECC) 444 389-2DWO

At bargain price in Sony’s Essential Classics series, this makes a most recommendable compilation, with Andrew Davis’s bluff and bouncy readings of the three symphonies and the Prince Igor items well supplemented by two favourite extra items. The original LPs, I remember, made the Toronto performances seem a little dull, but with the extra brightness of the CD transfer their amiable qualities are clearly conveyed. There is no neurasthenia in Davis’s view of Borodin here, consistently strong, purposeful and well-sprung, with the warmly lyrical folk flavour of the themes regularly brought out. The recording may lack a genuine pianissimo, but that matches the rugged quality of the performances, which yield some fine playing, notably from the wind and brass principals. Davis opts for unexaggerated speeds in the symphonies, never letting the music either drag in slow movements or be raced off its feet in the fast ones. No. 2 may have received more refined readings, but this is as winning as any.

Bernstein’s way with In the Steppes of Central Asia is more heavily expressive, and the orchestral arrangement of the Notturno hardly matches the rest in refinement, but both make welcome and apt supplements. Even so, two viable rival bargain issues have to be mentioned: the Naxos coupling of all three symphonies, fitted on to a single CD thanks to Stephen Gunzenhauser’s brisk, purposeful readings with the Bratislava Radio Symphony Orchestra and Decca’s “World of Borodin” compilation, ideally chosen, which contains what I regard as the most cherishable version of all of the Second Symphony, urgent and volatile, from Martinon and the LSO.
EG