Messiaen: Les Offrandes Oubliées
Serge Baudo, Orchestra of Paris
EMI
Jun Markl, Lyon National Orchestra
Naxos
Baudo’s old recording from 1968 is not as transparent as others, but does he ever have feeling! When Messiaen asks for “très lent douloureux” and “profondémente triste,” Baudo delivers with weeping liquidity. When the directions say “vif, féroce, désespéré,” you don’t have to know French to feel the out-of-breath desperation the conductor gets.
In his 2009 recording, Markl takes the slow sections slower than Baudo, making them even more ethereal and emotional, especially in the warm, radiant, clear acoustics. The lively middle section is where he lacks weight, perhaps because of the weaker string section.
WebTips: Markl’s recording also contains Messiaen’s Un Sourire (see Phils 12), another second-choice recording. Still, the performances are quite satisfying, and Naxos’ budget pricing may influence which recording you want to buy.
Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2
Joshua Bell; Charles Dutoit, Montreal Symphony
Decca
Itzhak Perlman; Erich Leinsdorf, Boston Symphony
RCA and Sony Classical
Bell and Dutoit approach this work like the piece of French Impressionism that it really is. Bell’s depth of tone colors reflects both the sweet lyricism and the acidic rhythms of the melodies. The flow is unforced and feels utterly natural and agile without any seams between the many tempo changes. Textures are light and transparent, almost chamber-like.
Some may prefer a bit more urgent “big orchestra” approach. For that, turn to Perlman and Leinsdorf. Their pacing feels quicker, and their flow too is seamless, though their degree of nuance can’t match Bell and Dutoit. By the way, this is the first recording Perlman, then 21, ever made (in December 1966).
WebTips: Bell-Dutoit is available as a single CD with Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and the Love for Three Oranges Suite; as a 2-CD album with Bell playing Prokofiev’s two Concertos, two Violin Sonatas, Five Melodies, and Shostakovich’s Piano Trio; and as a 3-CD album entitled Prokofiev’s Complete Concertos. Perlman-Leinsdorf is available on RCA as a single CD. It is also available as part of a 10-CD collection on Sony (go to Amazon.com and type in “perlman original jacket collection”). This, the best of Sony’s “original jacket” 10-CD albums, shows that Perlman was as much at the top of his game in 1966 as he was by 1996, and that he has always worked with conductors with whom he had a total partnership.
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5
Herbert von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic (recorded 1962, released 1963)
Deutsche Grammophon
This performance remains as explosive today as the first time it held me captive in a car until the performers were announced. Here’s fabulous natural stereo; the strings, winds, and brass spread out before you as Karajan delivers strong point-of-view with full dramatic flow and contrast between lyricism and pungent drama. The orchestra itself and the engineering are absolutely gorgeous.
WebTips: Karajan recorded the Beethoven symphonies many times for both DG and EMI. The recording above is by far the best. It’s long been available in a box clearly noted “1963 First Release” with all nine symphonies, still the collection with the highest number of great performances I own. (Amazon.com and Arkivmusic.com usually list the dates that performances were recorded.)
