| Stravinsky Concerto in D b. Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra / Herbert von Karajan. |
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| DG The Originals (Mid price) (CD) 447 435-2GOR (72 minutes: ADD). Items marked a from 2530 068 (7/73), b 2530 267 (8/72). |
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| Symphony No. 3 – selected comparison: |
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| Oslo PO, Jansons (7/94) (EMI) CDC5 55122-2 |
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Karajan's performances of these Honegger symphonies enjoy legendary status – and rightly so. Both the Second Symphony and the Symphonie Liturgique are well represented in the current catalogue by a dozen or so versions, but there is no point in listing any of them as this recording remains in a class of its own for sheer beauty of sound and flawless ensemble. Only one exception need be made: Mariss Jansons and the Oslo Philharmonic, which I thought one of the best records of 1994 and arguably the Oslo's best record to date. The French critic Bernard Gavoty once spoke rather flightily of Karajan "transcending emotions and imparting to them that furnace heat that makes a work of genius give off light if brought to the desired temperature" – but it's true! There is a luminous quality and an incandescence about these performances.
The Stravinsky Concerto in D was written within a year of the Symphonie Liturgique and may perhaps be a little too 'cultured' and not spiky enough for some tastes – though not, I hasten to add, mine. The lightness of touch, sprightliness of rhythm and flawless ensemble of the Berlin Philharmonic are a joy in themselves. Self-recommending this disc may be, but its claims on every music lover cannot be too strongly pressed.
RL