Phils 4: Schubert, Mozart, Dvořák

Schubert: Symphony No. 5
Neville Marriner, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Philips

Each movement flows naturally with nothing being forced. It’s a simple work (one flute, a pair of oboes and bassoons, no brass except two horns in the finale, and cellos and string basses on one line), yet Marriner’s exquisite balances and articulations are a delight of instrumental colorings as he caresses some of Schubert’s loveliest writing. You can listen “as a whole” or, if you wish, savor the delicate details in perfect sound.

WebTips: On Amazon, you can pick up No. 4 & 5 on one CD for all of 29 cents. This performance is also part of a 6-CD box with Schubert’s complete symphonies, including the completed (from sketches) Nos. 7 and 10 plus a finished “Unfinished.” Marriner, who told me once that just following the score is enough, can seem indifferent at times in the other works, but there are far more rewards here than not. Don’t bother with the $30 Newton Classics box; go for the Philips box that costs $10 less.


Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 4 and Rondo
William VerMeulen, Christoph Eschenbach, Houston Symphony
Carlton
Alan Civil, Neville Marriner, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Philips

William VerMeulen, principal horn of the Houston Symphony, has to be the best in the country. He can do anything—solo, chamber, orchestral, and classical to modern. Here he’s extraordinarily alert, leaning into phrases with body English, giving them shape and dynamism, even when slow and quiet. His personality comes through, even his panache. And he’s written his own fabulous cadenzas. Eschenbach too is alert with springing tempos, though engineers don’t make the orchestra really transparent—you listen more to the horn, less to the orchestra.

On the 1971 Philips CD it’s just the opposite. Alan Civil’s playing is truly civil: articulation is clean, rhythms are spot on, but his approach is basically long-lined romantic. He plays like a gentleman rather than a personality. What is really delightful here is the orchestra. Textures are so crystal clear you can relish every harmonic shift and even the rainbow of tone colors, as Marriner draws exquisite balances from the woodwinds and makes the toe-tapping rhythms prance; in the slow movement he underlines the horns so slyly with parallel winds you think there must be two horns playing. The transparent engineering is superbly balanced. This recording includes the Rondo, K. 373.

WebTips: If you find that the Carlton CD (a British import) is still on back order (in England it’s a budget-priced CD—in the US it seems to sell for top price), the 1971 Philips will do nicely (used copies are about $2 on Amazon). Note: the Civil-Marriner Philips recording has been reissued at budget price with Mozart’s Oboe Concerto added to the mix. These same artists recorded the horn works again in 2003 on the PentaTone label, an SACD at full price.


Dvořák: Symphony No. 9, “From the New World”
Witold Rowicki, London Symphony
Philips
George Szell, Cleveland Orchestra
Sony Classical
Christoph Eschenbach, Houston Symphony
Virgin Classics

Rowicki’s performance feels utterly natural. Nothing is forced. Tempos are linked seamlessly. Rhythms, counter-melodies, harmonies, and orchestral colors are all perfectly balanced and make Rowicki’s energy all the more exciting. The engineering is transparent, rich, and warm. You simply hear everything without any gimmicks. Only the famous second movement lacks full emotional involvement.

Szell, who usually sticks rigidly to a score, here makes many willful unmarked tempo changes that break the music’s flow. Neither he nor the engineers make harmonic shifts or inner orchestral colors especially transparent. But the playing is first rate, his ideas are firm, the second movement is very moving, and the finale very exciting. The third movement is slower than usual, but here he does follow Dvořák’s tempo markings.  

I’ve yet to hear a performance that follows all of Dvořák’s tempo markings—they’re not at all what we’re used to. As Leonard Bernstein often does, Eschenbach ignores the tempo markings, something that works only if the conductor, movement by movement, is emotionally committed to every measure and links them into an unbroken arch. That’s what Eschenbach does here. His slower tempos elicit the darker elements (lower strings and woodwinds). As leading voices (not always the melody line) move from one choir to another, he frames them within a sound bed that conveys a poignant point of view. It’s as if the music is trying to speak with words. The famous second movement here is utterly nostalgic, almost a lament. When the slower than usual third movement ends, the first note of the fourth literally grabs you and sets the atmosphere for the entire finale. The orchestra plays superbly; the engineering is excellent. Many critics pan this recording; I love it.

WebTips: Rowicki’s recording is available as part of a 2-CD album with Symphonies Nos. 7-9 and Dvořák’s Legends; as part of a 5-CD set with those works plus the Cello Concerto, Slavonic Dances, and other works performed by other conductors and orchestras, none of which I’ve heard; and as part of a 6-CD set of the complete Symphonies plus four Overtures with Rowicki, about half of which I can recommend.

Szell’s recording is available in a 2-CD album called “Dvořák: Three Great Symphonies” with excellent stereo performances of Nos. 7, 8, and 9 and the Carnival Overture, plus monophonic recordings of two works by Smetana. This is the album to go for. It’s also available on a Sony Super Audio CD with just Symphonies Nos. 8 and 9. Avoid the old stereo release in CBS’s “Great Performances” series that generally had inferior sound.

Eschenbach’s performance is available on two different Virgin Classics releases, both paired with Tchaikovsky’s Francesca da Rimini. Eschenbach made a later recording with the Curtis (Institute of Music) Symphony on the Ondine label.