Phils 11b: Strauss, Stravinsky, Rouse, Mozart, Tchaikovsky

Richard Strauss: Serenade
Edo de Waart, Netherlands Wind Ensemble
Philips

Superb balance and flow is the secret here. The eight minutes of music moves with a pastoral grace that is pure meditative pleasure. And the balances are so exquisite that, even when the melody is in mid-range and enveloped by treble and bass instruments, it’s projected clearly without ever being forced. De Waart, an oboist by training, derives lovely playing especially from the oboe, and the engineers give plumy space to the contrabassoon.

WebTips: This performance is available on two different albums in the Philips “Duo” series (2 CDs per album). The one contains Richard Strauss’ complete music for wind ensemble plus his Oboe Concerto. (Note that this album is also available on the new Newton label but at a higher price.) The other Philips album is called “Favorite Serenades for Orchestra” with works by eight different composers played by a variety of conductors and orchestras. Both Philips albums are available used on Amazon.


Stravinsky: Symphony for Winds
Robert Craft, Columbia Symphony Winds and Brass
Sony Classical

This is exactly what’s called for: no romantic swells and sighing phrases, rather, very even phrases spiked by accented brass intonations, utterly smooth woodwinds, and subtly integrated changes of tempos delineating various sections, now enlivening and now calming the atmosphere. Yes, that’s what this recording has—atmosphere. The pacing is ingenious, and in the remarkably tranquil finale the woodwinds caress you with just a touch of warm vibrato.

WebTips: Stravinsky himself conducted several recordings, some old and monaural. This one was made in 1966 and was conducted by Robert Craft with a group of musicians in Manhattan. It seems to be available only paired on a Sony CD with Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale.


Rouse: Ogoun badagris
Peter Susskind, St. Louis Symphony
Nonesuch LP

Here’s a deep, richly present recording whose ambience conveys the savage revival-like voodoo ritual, complete with gripping bass and rattles that shoot fear like a rattlesnake, played by the St. Louis Symphony’s superb percussionsts, led by the legendary Richard Holmes and Richard O’Donnell. Now for the puzzle: Nonesuch has never released this 1984 digital recording on CD, only on LP.

WebTips: Google “rouse ogoun badagris nonesuch,” and you’ll find several sites still selling the LP.


Mozart: Serenade No. 6, “Serenata notturna”
Ton Koopman, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
Erato and Apex

A nuanced string quartet (two violins, viola, and string bass) contrasts excellently with the pungent full ensemble and its spiky timpani. Rhythms are upbeat, phrases are energized, and the style is buoyant. The Minuet has just the right touch of formal prancing, and the finale is filled with teasing cadenzas from the soloist and timpani. And it’s all presented in ambient sound that gives depth and breadth to the full ensemble and focus to the quartet.

WebTips: The Erato label is now owned by Warner who re-released this performance on the Apex label. The Erato release is preferable because the companion works (Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Divertimento K. 205, March K. 290, and Symphony No. 43) are performed just as superbly.


Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings
Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra
Sony Classical

What makes Ormandy’s legendary Philadelphia strings sound so unique is not just their rich tone but the ear he had for projecting the harmonies, or, more accurately, the harmonic movement, dissonance, and consonance generated as the string sections move parallel to one another. Add to that the clarity achieved by the orchestra’s rhythmic precision plus Ormandy’s exquisite sense of flow from start to finish, and the results are sumptuous (but not soupy). All of Ormandy’s string tricks are on full display here, so physically felt that even a novice can picture how the players make it happen. It’s a pity Ormandy doesn’t take the repeat in the first movement and makes a cut in the finale. But who can pass up results this glorious!

WebTips: This performance is available on one CD with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5, and on another entitled “Tchaikovsky: War and Peace” with the The Nutcracker Suite (Ormandy) plus Romeo and Juliet and the 1812 Overture with Bernstein. Any other CDs contain only excerpts.