56 GRAMOPHONE SEPTEMBER 2019 gramophone.co.uk
Holbrooke
‘SymphonicPoems,Vol3’
SymphonyNo3,‘Ships’,Op90.TheBirdsof
Rhiannon,Op87.TheGirlI LeftBehindMe–
SymphonicVariations,Op 37 No 2
DeutscheRadioPhilharmonieSaarbrücken
Kaiserslautern/ HowardGri iths
CPOFCPO555041 2(70’• DDD)
Apparently‘the
cockneyWagner’
JosefHolbrookewas
neitheracockney
(borninCroydon,settledinHaringey)
noraWagnerian(moreonthatlater).
Hecanhardlybeblamedforadoptinga
Germanspellingofhisforenameinorder
tosoundmoreliketherealdeal.
Holbrookefailedtocompletehisdegree
attheRoyalAcademyofMusicin 1896
owingtofamilyproblemsand,unlike
someothermodestlytalentedcomposers
oftheperiod,hadnoguaranteesor
privilegestofallbackon.Hewasa
music-hallactandadestituteteacher
beforehiscareertookoff.
GarethVaughan’sbookletnote
referstoHolbrooke’s‘handlingof
theorchestrabeingmoreredolentof
DebussyorRavel’thanWagner,which
seemsaboutright.Themysterious
endingtoTheBirdsofRhiannon,the
manyinstancesofentwinedwoodwinds
glancingtowardsArcadia(asinthe
centralmovementoftheSymphony
No3,whichalsoincludesadelicioussax
solo)andtheripeopportunitytotwist
theorchestralkaleidoscopepresented
bytheSymphonicVariationsallshow
thatHolbrookewasnomeanpainter
oforchestralcolour.
What’sleft–ontheevidenceofthose
threeworkstakenaswholes–ismusic
that’sjustabitthin,anonymous,washy
andmaybeevencaughtbetweenworlds
(onereasonvariationformsuitedhim;
HenryWoodlovedhisVariationson
‘ThreeBlindMice’).Thesymphony,Ships,
movesfromajingoisticreflectionofthe
Britishfleetsettingforthtodestroytoa
highlyreflectiveportraitofhospitalships
withtheirsorrowfulhumancargo(that
centralmovementalreadymentioned)
andafinalcelebrationofmerchantships,
whichintroducestheshanty‘TheMaid
ofAmsterdam’.WasHolbrooke’s
experienceofpovertyandhardship
thereasonhefeltcompelledtoballast
hispenchantforthemysterious,the
luminousandthereflectiveorchestration
withstuffhethoughtmightsell?
AndrewMellor
Kabalevsky
Symphonies– No1, Op18;No2,Op19.
ColasBreugnon,Op 24 – Overture.
PathétiqueOverture,Op 64
MalmöSymphonyOrchestra/ DarrellAng
NaxosF8 573859(52’• DDD)Overshadowed
byShostakovich,
Prokofievand
otherluminaries
of20th-centuryRussianmusic,Dmitry
Kabalevskyneverthelesscomposedat
leastoneworkinwhichunalloyedpizzazz
ensuredhimafairlystableplaceinthe
repertoire.TheColasBreugnonoverture
isarip-roaringcurtain-raisertohisopera
premieredin1938,revised 30 yearslater
andradiatingtheeternaloptimismof
itseponymoushero,theBurgundian
craftsmanofRollandRomain’s
historicalromance.
Kabalevskywasapoliticallyastute
composer:eternaloptimismwould
certainlynothavebeenfrowneduponby
theproponentsofthe‘brightandbeautiful’
qualitiesofsocialistrealismandSovietlife,
butinmoreserious-mindedmusichealso
managedtocarveforhimselfan
honourableartisticpaththroughthe
thicketsofPartydoctrine.Thetwo
movementsoftheFirstSymphonyin
Csharpminor(1932),dedicatedtothe
15thanniversaryofthe 1917 Revolution,
traceatrajectoryfromovercastpre-
Revolutionaryoppressiontowardsthe
brightdawnoftheSovietfuture,butthey
dosowithmusicalcohesion,strongideas
(someofthemfolk-inflected)andafirm
graspofbothorchestrationanddramatic
structure.Kabalevsky’screativevoice,
formedundertheinfluenceofMyaskovsky,
isnonethelessthoroughlyindividual.
TheSecondSymphonyinCminor
(1934),whichwaschampionedby,among
others,ToscaniniandMalcolmSargent,
hastwoupbeatoutermovements,attimes
presagingColasBreugnon’srhythmicsleight
ofhand,andbetweenthemanAndantenon
troppo.Thiscentralpanelthrowsup
divergentinterpretativepointsofview.In
thepairingofthesametwosymphoniesby
theArmenianPhilharmonicOrchestra,
LorisTjeknavorianseesthisAndanteasa
grief-laden,angst-riddenthrenody,adding
threeminutestothetimingadoptedbythe
MalmöSymphonyOrchestraandDarrell
Ang,wheretheatmosphereismore
reflective,morelyricalthoughnoless
emotionallyforceful.Thisisanobservation
ratherthanacriticism;butintermsof
orchestralpolishandrecordingqualitytheMalmöpairingissuperior.Morethanthat,
Angandtheorchestratouchthemusic’s
nerveandanimateitcompellingly.
Geo freyNorris
Symphonies–selectedcomparison:
ArmenianPO,Tjeknavorian(ASV)CDDCA1032Mahler
SymphonyNo 4
So iaFominasopLondonPhilharmonic
Orchestra/ VladimirJurowski
LPOMLPO0113(59’• DDD)
RecordedliveattheRoyalFestivalHall,London,
October12, 2016A Mahler Fourth
as insightful and as
individual as we have
come to expect from
this source. How rarely we hear the
opening bars of the symphony delivered
precisely as Mahler instructs: Bedächtig.
Nicht eilen (‘Deliberate. Don’t hurry’),
the sleigh bells gently out of kilter at the
ritardando, a Viennese decorum holding
court in Mahler’s rarefi ed nature world.
And yet the eternal child within him is
always present, primed to rebel (cue the
E fl at clarinet) in those quickenings
of pulse, those raucous scamperings.
Texturally, harmonically and in terms
of characterisation (never over-egged),
Jurowski achieves a wondrous clarity
and transparency. There are eye-popping
pizzicatos and subito switches in dynamics
designed to catch us off-guard.
The sour note introduced by Death,
the Fiddler in the second movement is
unapologetically grating and in all the
woodwind interjections – not least the
spiky clarinet – it’s a case of who can shout
loudest. Contrasting with all this is that
glorious glissando-swathed transformation
at the end of the Trio. Indeed, Jurowski’s
way with all Mahler’s portamento has an
unaffected spontaneity about it. All credit
to the London Philharmonic strings. These
things can sound so ‘dutiful’.
As in Adám Fischer’s Düsseldorf account,
I love the through-phrased fl uency and
intimacy of the slow movement (never
more redolent of the introduction to
the Quartet ‘Mir its so wunderbar’ from
Beethoven’s Fidelio), which eschews the
kind of overwrought, over-extended
rubatos that sometimes affl ict it. It’s the
way in which Jurowski’s phrasing always
relates to sonority, the LPO strings intense
and ‘present’ from top to bottom – those
great sighing, plunging glissandos in the
basses especially telling. Even the great
‘Heaven’s Gate’ moment is delivered asORCHESTRAL REVIEWS