Naxos 8.110861 (5 & 6) [62:01] budget price
Naxos 8.110862  (7 & 8) budget price

Current Reviews

        by Geoff Woods

Sergei Prokofiev
Piano Concerto No. 1-3

Martha Argerich, piano
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor



Samuel Barber
Orchestral Works and Concertos
Leonard Slatkin, Charles Munch



Rimsky-Korsakov
Evgeny Svetlanov


Beethoven
Symphony No.9
Piano Transcription by Franz Liszt
Konstantin Scherbakov, Piano



Kronos Caravan

In the shenanigans of Beethoven’s Eighth Symphony, Felix Weingartner strikes gold, with a performance of spontaneity and momentum all the more remarkable for arising out of lucid logical argument. Some of this must be attributed to the fact that the Eighth is a far more concise utterance than the two symphonies preceding it and thus plays to Weingartner’s strengths as a logician. It also doesn’t hurt that humor in music, far more than rhetoric, drama or lyricism, benefits from being played with a relatively straight face. The Vienna Philharmonic is with Weingartner every inch of the way, responding at last with the requisite vitality.

If only the other symphonies on these discs fared as well. Alas, they do not – all the sadder since intellectually, Weingartner proves to be a master of the Fifth Symphony’s treacherous architecture: amongst his generation of conductors, he alone perceives that it is the first movement’s odd bars, not its even bars, which are the strong ones. Weingartner’s strong beat is on the silent rest which begins the movement—clearly of more incisive logic than the tendency of a Furtwängler or Toscanini to fall heavily on the E flat, rendering the first and third bars harmonically suspect.

This Beethoven Fifth fares better as a conception than as a performance. It requires not only logic and intellect but fire and passion as well. Compare the codas of the finales of Weingartner and Furtwängler (1942). Weingartner’s has impeccable taste but little verve. Furtwängler’s accelerandi sound outrageously swift and he lets ensemble hang by a thread, but the effect is transcendental. The British Symphony Orchestra’s poor ensemble and overall playing doesn’t help.

The Sixth, recorded with the London Philharmonic in 1927, is a surprisingly modern performance, with swift tempi and an emphasis on clear textures that precede Toscanini and Erich Kleiber by at least ten years. Along with his customary lucidity Weingartner supplies more flair and coaxes better playing from the orchestra, but he cannot shake off the aura of routine. Like the Fifth it commands a woefully small range of dynamics and displays a po-faced refusal to savor its phrases. The first point is not so important in this symphony. The second is a death knell. Surely this lyrical and picturesque work demands a lyrical and picturesque interpretation. More ‘granitic’ performances have occasionally succeeded—Klemperer’s—but clipped efficiency, which seems to be Weingartner’s modus operandi, has never done well.

Like Weingartner’s Fifth, his Seventh is a performance in which considerations of taste are allowed to override imaginative vitality. The Seventh is arguably the most conductor-proof of these four symphonies, but Weingartner outdoes himself in the plodding way he fashions the vivace section of his first movement, sapping the music of any rhythmic verve to which it aspires. It is not so much sheer speed that is the issue as it is the uncharacteristic sloppiness of the rhythm. Unlike Weingartner’s Fifth, his Seventh does not have the excuse of a poor orchestra with the Vienna Philharmonic under his helm. Yet it, too, seems beset by routine: there is a palpable reluctance to muster anything anywhere near a half-decent fortissimo at key moments.

The filler items on both CDs, unfortunately, do not reveal much more about Weingartner as an interpreter. The incidental music to Egmont receives a uniformly workmanlike performance. It is fun to see Beethoven letting his hair down in the eleven Viennese dances, and the performances are considerably less stern than their symphonic companions, but the dances themselves are all pretty much alike and do not allow Weingartner enough scope to showcase his talents in lighter music.

Weingartner’s grasp of structural logic is always formidable, but the lackluster execution of most of these performances poses a formidable obstruction to enjoyment. He seems a greater conductor in premise than in practice—too bad since his Eighth Symphony fared so well. But potential buyers will have to ask themselves whether even at Naxos’ low cost, one motivated performance is worth the price of three uninspired ones.
 

click here to return to top

In Singapore, classical music CDs may be bought most inexpensively from SING MUSIC, The number to call is (+65) 6235 8960. The address is 304 Orchard Road #02-75 Lucky Plaza Singapore 238863. Simply mention the magic words "The Flying Inkpot" and receive 10% off all purchases (except for nett items).Make a trip down, you won't regret it!

This article is copyright © The Flying Inkpot Classical Music Reviews http://inkpot.com/classical

All original texts are copyrighted. Please seek permission from the Classical Editor
if you wish to reproduce/quote Inkpot material.