Records
Hero worship
Rodney Milnes
Shostakovich's fifteenth symphony is already being referred to as his ' Enigma,' and the musical quotations dotted throughout the score have given rise to much discussion. Some are obvious, such as the galop from Rossini's William Tell overture in the first movement and the introduction to Siegfried's Funeral Music from Glitterdlimmerung in the last; some, such as the self-quotations from earlier works, are less so, and commentators have been scavenging around in such unlikely corners as Purcell and Tristan. Semi-official explanations have arrived: the first movement is supposed to be set in a toyshop where a toy soldier can only play the William Tell tune, and the Gotterdtimmerung quote is taken to be a gesture of reconciliation to defeated German armies at Stalingrad. Both seem singularly unconvincing; the notion that at this stage of his career Shostakovich should choose to write a symphonic Boutique Fantasque is utterly preposterous. The answer to the Enigma, if there needs to be one, is surely both more personal and more universal, and the only red herring I am prepared to toss into this ocean of conjecture is that William Tell was a hero who led his people to freedom, while Siegfried was one who proved inadequate to any but the most superficial heroic task — the references to the former are sardonic and to the latter sympathetic. Only time, or maybe Dr Rouse, will tell.
Meanwhile, we can listen to the music, and marvel that a contemporary composer can communicate so directly (musically if not programmatically) without ceasing to be contemporary. The first western recording, by Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra (RCA ARD1-0014, £2.40), is notable for beautifully warm string •tone and extreme clarity of texture. It is released in quadraphonic sound, a process of whic'h I am deeply suspicious; consumer wariness suggests the industry's ploy for making everyone buy a whole lot more equipment, but I am prepared to be converted, especially as the ordinary stereo sound on this record is superb.
Label-swapping is another of the industry's pastimes. The Vanguard recording of Handel's Theodora has been rereleased by RCA (VCS-10050-2, £5.37). This, one of the few oratorios not based on an Old Testament subject, was the composer's own favourite and, its complete failure led to one of his best acid remarks: "The Jews will not come because it is a Christian story, and the ladies will not come because it is a virtuous one." Virtuous indeed: the virgin Christian Theodora declines to sacrifice to Jove and is condemned to serve as a prostitute in the temple of Venus. She escapes from prison in her soldier lover's clothes, and later joins him, intact still, in a martyr's death. Handel tempers the stern morality of the libretto with his obvious sympathy for the hedonistic Romans and impatience with their pious opponents, and only a static first act compromises the work — the rest is of breath-taking musical and dramatic power. Only some wildly inappropriate decoration compromises this recording — small penalty for having so much great music readily available, ably performed by Heather Harper, Alexander Young and Maureen Lehane. The absurd Victorian bowdlerisations, expunging all references to prostitution and lust and thereby the point of the plot, are of course jettisoned.
Meanwhile, a former RCA recording of Tosca has turned up on Decca (5BB 123-4, £3.95). Puccini's score is played with sensuous warmth and dramatic drive by Karajan and the Vienna Philharmonic, and the singers (Leontyne Price, di Stefano and Giuseppe Taddei) are ideal. The production by John Culshaw is vividly theatrical and despite competition from the newly reissued Callas/de Sabata version, this is still the best all-round recorded performance. Decca have also re-issued, at an absurdly low price, their old Flying Dutchman (ECS 665-7, £2.97). Recorded live at the 1955 Bayreuth Festival, this enshrines one of the classic performances of the age: Hermann Uhde's Dutchman. Who else has caught the agony of the character with such poignance, or sung the notes with such burning passion? With the marvellous Bayreuth chorus, that much tinderestimated conductor Joseph Keilberth in charge, and amazingly successful refurbished stereo sound, no other recording of the work can match it.
Previous page
