Uploaded 13 May 2005

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Rachmaninoff, Sergei. Symphonic Dances, Op. 45.

The Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy, Conductor.

Sony Classical SBK-48279. (Stereo). Recorded 19 March 1960.

Originally released as Columbia Masterworks MS-6205 (Stereo).

  Eugene Ormandy learned how to conduct Rachmaninoff at the composer's very feet. In fact, the Symphonic Dances -- Rachmaninoff's last piece -- were written for and dedicated to his favourite conductor and orchestra, Ormandy and the Philadelphia. During his own lifetime, Rachmaninoff was treated with a mixture of contempt and patronizing humor by music critics who considered his work as banal and outdated. There were some conductors of vision (Ormandy, Stokowski, Koussevitzky, Mitropulos) who saw the originality and beauty in his music, and were able to impart it to the public (who were always at odds with the finicky, more "cultured" critics) who have always adored Rachmaninoff's unabashed romanticism. Symphonic Dances is much more complex and dark work than its title implies. The dances are not written as disconnected "episodes," but have a progression from lushness to despair to longing to exhilaration that fits within the framework of a three-movement concerto for orchestra.

Ormandy and the Philadelphia refrain from giving this piece a hurried tempo, conservatively and incrementally building up to the climax in the middle of the third movement. This is in keeping with the composer's own method of performing in which he - whether as pianist or conductor - would find a composition's acme and basically ascend to and descend from it. Ormandy's methodical tempo nonetheless draws out the orchestra, and brilliant flashes of instrumentation pervade this performance, some morose, others con dolce and yet others triumphant.

The playing in this recording -- especially in the strings and brass -- is precise, but not without feeling. The opening bars are played almost mechanically on the lower strings, contrasting with the solo clarinet, which fluidly winds its way around the strings' ostinato. The results are masterful. Moreso than any other conductor, Ormandy shied away from bombast and podium calesthenics of other conductors and instead concentrated on the sound of a composition, with all its attendant tonal shadings and color. This is further evidenced by the haunting and melancholic saxophone solo in the second movement.

Although I prefer this performance to Ashkenazy's majestic Concertgebouw recording from 1983 (Decca 410-124-2), I only barely prefer the recording itself. In fact, while I uniformly prefer listening to RCA compact disc digital remasterings of earlier analog LPs, SONY has badly outdone even the flat and tinny recordings it inherited from Columbia when it bought out the CBS catalog. The CD is just fine, and tolerable, but for the purposes of this review, I went to the vinyl in order to let the music soak in. When you have to use an old Columbia vinyl pressing to find tonal warmth and depth, something is wrong. From listening to the CD, it sounds as though the master tapes had deteriorated slightly.

Nonetheless, the CD is still a treasure unto itself, and an brilliant example of the meticulous touch Ormandy laid upon the works dearest to him. For those who consider Symphonic Dances as the culmination of Rachmaninoff's symphonic communication, this recording is an excellent companion to Ormandy's Columbia performances of the 1st and 3rd symphonies and his RCA release of the 2nd .