Liszt: Mephisto Waltz No. 1
Georg Solti, Chicago Symphony
Decca
Georg Solti, Orchestre de Paris
Decca
Sex, temptation, longing, wickedness: all right up Solti’s alley. The pulse is strong, the rhythms stomp and swirl, and the languishing romantic themes never lose their forward thrust. The earlier Orchestre de Paris recording comes with three Liszt tone poems, two with the London Philharmonic. The later digital Chicago Symphony recording is on an album called Mephisto Magic with Kodaly’s Háry János Suite and Leo Weiner’s Prince Csongor and the Goblin (both superb), two works by Bartók, and Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. Six of one, half-dozen of the other. I prefer the Chicago recording.
Vaughan Williams: Oboe Concerto
Neil Black; Daniel Barenboim, English Chamber Orchestra
Deutsche Grammophon
David Theodore; Bryden Thomson, London Symphony
Chandos
When it comes to depth of expression and tone color, the oboe is a challenging instrument. So high praise to Neil Black for bringing poetry to this work. Not only does he play with sensitive expression and an array of colors, but his buoyant rhythms veritably dance, and his cadenzas are eloquent. He also shapes each movement as if a long lyrical thread ties it together. Barenboim is a perfect partner, echoing his style, although the engineering could stand more transparency.
Principal Oboist Erik Behr, soloist at the RPO’s performances, recommends the performance with David Theodore (which I’ve never heard).
WebTips: Since the Black-Barenboim performance is no longer commercially available, this is one of those CDs you’ll likely find only on ArkivMusic.com because they chose to re-issue it. Also on the album are four gentle works by Delius, Vaughan Williams’ Lark Ascending, and selections from Walton’s Henry V. The Theodore-Thomson performance is available on two Chandos albums, one with Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No. 3 and another with 2 CDs that contains a number of the composer’s concertos and other works.
Dvořák: Symphony No. 7
George Szell, Cleveland Orchestra
Sony Classical
Szell goes beyond mere perfection here and catches Dvorak’s infectious Slavic rhythms as well as his gloriously soaring romanticism. Dvorak’s third movements are his “third set of Slavonic Dances;" you won’t sit still here! This performance is on a 2-CD set with an equally spirited Symphony No. 8 and a very good No. 9 (“New World”), plus a terrific Carnival Overture (Kill two birds with one stone: see Phils 5, November 18 & 20, 2010).
