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| Philips Bernard Haitink Symphony Edition (Budget price) (CD) 442 061-2PB6 (six discs: 423 minutes: ADD). |
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| [Symphony] Symphonies—No. 1 in G minor, "Winter Daydreams", Op. 13 (from 9500 777, 4/81); No. 2 in C minor, "Little Russian", Op. 17 (9500 444, 6/79); No. 3 in D, "Polish", Op. 29 (6768 267, 9/81); No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36 (9500 622, 11/79); No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 (6500 922, 2/76); No. 6 in B minor, "Pathetique", Op. 74 (9500 610, 4/80). Manfred Symphony, Op. 58 (9500 778, 6/81). Romeo and Juliet—fantasy overture. Capriccio italien, Op. 45 (both from SAL3462, 5/65). 1812—Overture, Op. 49. Marche slave, Op. 31. Francesca da Rimini, Op. 32 (all from 6500 643, 2/74). The storm, Op. 76 (9500 444). |
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| [Symphony] Symphonies [No.] Nos. 1-6—selected comparison: |
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| LSO, Markevitch (3/91) (PHIL) 426 848-2PB4 |
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It is clear that Haitink is more at home with symphonic substance than the shorter colourful showpieces, but in fact, what this set documents is Haitink's development as a conductor (and a Tchaikovskian), with the shorter pieces mainly recorded between 1961 and 1972, and the symphonies between 1974 and 1979. The exception to those groupings is the student Tchaikovsky's overture The storm, recorded with the symphonies, and the performance of which is so masterful (and, be it said, so colourful and exciting) that you might think it a more mature work (though exactly whose 'more mature' work it might be isn't always easy to say).
The first item to be recorded was the Capriccio italien and anything less capricious or authentically Italian would be hard to imagine: Haitink is as stiff as a board, and you wonder if he had ever heard an Italian singing an Italian song. Romeo and Juliet followed (in 1964, the year Haitink became the orchestra's Principal Conductor) with among the most dour initial presentations of the love theme on record (the woodwind tuning doesn't help) and moments in the feud music that suggest Haitink's resolve, and his communication of that resolve, was not what it was shortly to become. From eight years later, we have the brilliantly realized (and recorded) letter of the score in Francesca, the 1812 Overture and Marche slave, but little genuine enthusiasm for the sport. It is debatable that such a respectful approach does these pieces any favours. I was surprised at Haitink's refusal to broaden for and drive home the commonly perceived climax of the love music in Francesca (but no allargando is marked in the score).
On to the symphonies and 80 per cent of the contents of this bargain-price package. Earlier recordings of the Fourth and Sixth Symphonies preceded the start of this symphony cycle, but it was obvious when the LP of the Fifth Symphony (which began this series) first appeared in 1976 that Haitink's Tchaikovsky had reached a new level of confidence and maturity. As a cycle, it remains temperate, considered and patient, living mostly at a fair distance from the edge, with rarely a hint of exaggeration or overemphasis: sterling qualities that some will consider to ignore a central element in Russian expression in general and Tchaikovsky's in particular.
If you can (or don't need to) banish memories of a more mobile, vividly characterful and cathartic school of Tchaikovsky conducting, Haitink's grand and dignified manner is often immensely stirring and satisfying. Throughout the symphonies, tempos and dynamics are chosen to guarantee impeccable articulation, beauty of tone production, flawless instrumental balances and a typical awareness of the important climactic moment. There is only one miscalculation, a small but surprising one given Haitink's consistently non-interventionist approach (and concern with matters structural), and that comes in the opening movement of the First Symphony where Haitink slows for the lead back to the recapitulation—a circuit breaking move that has the effect of the recapitulation merely taking us back to square one (there was a much more extreme example of this in Temirkanov's recent RCA recording—5/94—but he was able to make a positive feature out of it).
These recordings of the symphonies have all been available on CD before, with the exception of Manfred which was long overdue for reissue. Its pastoral and orgy (third and fourth movements) encapsulate what is both most frustrating and most formidable in Haitink's Tchaikovsky. His slow and stately approach to Manfred's dramatic incursion in the former almost completely disregards Tchaikovsky's animando and piu mosso markings (compare the excitable Muti—EMI, 3/94). Yet the firm hand that is often there when it is not needed is also there when it is, and Haitink welds the often disjunct finale into one piece, also attending to matters like the fugue, which Toscanini considered redundant, with vigorous accentuation and drive, and more generally without recourse to Toscanini- or Jansons-like wind doublings.
Philips's Concertgebouw engineering broke new ground with the symphonies. The digital era has won Decca many plaudits for their recordings in that hall, but tuttis here reproduce with a clarity and epic splendour that Decca have rarely, if ever, bettered. Still, if you are looking for an outright recommendation for a bargain-price Tchaikovsky cycle, then the more passionate Markevitch's 1960s LSO set (on four discs, excluding Manfred and the shorter works) takes you closer to the heart of the matter with little compromise in the quality of playing or recording.
JS