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RACHMANINOFF Symphony No. 3. Mélodie, Polichinelle. National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Alexander Anissimov, cond. Naxos 8.550808 (B) (DDD) TT: 51:38 BUY NOW FROM AMAZON 
Michael Gray in FI alerted me to this super-budget prize by
Alexander Anissimov, a conductor born and trained in Russia, whose
surname we should master: "Ah-NEE-see-moff," as in the herb that gives
licorice its flavor. Leading the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland,
recorded both sonorously and sensuously in their Dublin home, he joins
Mariss Jansons (EMI) and Ormandy (in a Sony twinpack containing all
three symphonies) on my own short list of maestri who negotiate
every tricky turn in the road without missing any of the scenery.
In other words, he's far ahead of Dutoit, Maazel, Ashkenazy, Litton,
Järvi, Zinman and Stokowski (off form near the end of his life,
with the National Philharmonic of Britain) among conductors in and
out of Schwann/Opus. The composer's own 1939 version with the
Philadelphia Orchestra (remastered on Pearl, RCA Gold Seal and most
effectively on Claremont) remains
sui generis of course--a touchstone for all who love this
fascinating work in spite of its quilt-like structure. Gray thought
Anissimov too slow in the Adagio middle movement--two minutes
slower than the coltish Janssons--yet his reading is lovingly intuitive
and expressively coherent, with uniquely sweetened string trills.
Fillers (arranger unnamed) are Nos. 3 and 4 from the early Morceaux de Fantasie, Op. 3. While characterful, they are no match for Jansson's superb reading of Symphonic Dances on a disc 20 minutes longer, albeit at triple the cost of Naxos' prize. (As of this writing, a new version by Mikhail Pletnyev and his Russian National Orchestra on D.G., had yet to appear at the local Tower, although John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune had already heard it and very much liked it. While nothing to date from Pletnyev has specially impressed me, I'm open to persuasion so long as his brass have acquired body and a patina). R.D. (Sept. 1999) |