Phils 3: Mozart, Poulenc, Saint-Saëns

Mozart: Symphony No. 31, “Paris”
Trevor Pinnock, The English Concert
Archiv (Deutsche Grammophon)
Claudio Abbado, Berlin Philharmonic
Sony Classical

Pinnock adds superb articulation, crisp rhythms, bright pacing, and transparent textures for a living example of how Mozart uses instrumental colors to make music spring to life. Doubling one woodwind with a string line here adds not only color but exhilaration in lively sections and soothing expression to the lilting slow movement. The English Concert’s finely tuned period instruments allow you to hear everything in the score; the biting trumpets are a special treat, usually buried in most recordings.

Claudio Abbado makes his energized Berlin Philharmonic dance on the head of a pin. Accents are pungent, tempos are upbeat, grace notes and trills twitter like excited birds, and buoyant textures seem to move on air (quite a change from his predecessor, Herbert von Karajan). In the slow movement he keeps the “tino” in “Andantino”—it moves along sweetly without any tubbiness (maybe a hair too fast). The trumpets remain subdued, and, although the BPO doesn’t attain the extraordinary transparency of the English Concert, this is a superb example of a modern orchestra using period instrument principles and making the music sound like new.

WebTips: Pinnock’s recording currently is available only in an 11-CD album with Mozart’s complete symphonies. While not all of the performances are inspired, the album’s rewards are more than plentiful. Don’t be fooled by some of the online prices: this box set originally cost about $30 in the stores—use that as your guideline. Abbado’s recording is available in its original issue and in a newer, less expensive one with a brief March added to the mix.
   

Poulenc: Concerto for Two Pianos
Eric Le Sage and Frank Braley; Stéphane Denève, Liege Philharmonic
RCA 660308

“Evincing gaity, unbridled enthusiasm, good-natured playful fantasy, unfettered improvisation, and reminiscenses of lighter musical genres—jazz or music hall”: Jean-Jacques Velly must have written those liner notes after listening to this recording. Whether snappy or mellow, the music floats continuously on a bed of air because the pianists and conductor perform with a forward-moving pulse and clear radiant textures, delivered in gorgeously rich yet transparent sound, helped by a perfectly balanced left-to-right stereo spectrum. Even in calmer sections, my legs were rhythmically tapping.


Saint-Saёns: Symphony No. 3, “Organ Symphony”
Gillian Weir; Yan Pascal Tortelier, Ulster Orchestra
Chandos

In the opening section, Tortelier brings lusciously airy, light transparency to the textures as Saint-Saëns’ lyricism floats seamlessly over tight rhythms, pungent accents, and exciting forward motion. Here the mellow second half of Part One is both rhapsodic and serene. The superb orchestra plunges into Part Two with sharp accents and full deep bowing. Both organ and orchestra get rich, full, deep, balanced sound. Included is a terrific performance of Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 2, so good you’ll wonder why it’s a rarity.