Posté ce matin sur rmcr:
<< CD From Hell: Chailly's Faceless Brahms Serenades
Review by: David Hurwitz
Artistic quality 5
Sound quality 9
Chailly has gone "authentic." First he made a magnificent recording of
the two Brahms piano concerto with Nelson Freire, then he decided to
rethink-and I used the term advisedly-his approach to the composer, and
out came the dullest recording of the symphonies in years. The new
Chailly is old news: a quasi-period performance vision that allies quick
tempos, imposed with metronomic rigidity, with light textures and
rhythms. We've been there and heard that. Still, you would think that
this approach would work well in the Serenades, which are light(er)
music after all, but such is not the case. Given the Leipzig orchestra's
sovereign command of the notes, the result is perfect, but it's the
perfection of a featureless sphere. You could die of boredom.
Consider the First Serenade. The opening looks to be excitingly swift,
but the tame trumpets, smooth strings, and general lack of accent neuter
the music. Compare this to a truly authentic version: André Vandernoot
with the Paris Conservatory Orchestra from 1956, and Chailly's
deficiencies are obvious. I chose this comparison not just because
Vandernoot was a fine conductor with a funny last name (his fans are
called "Vandernuts"), but to give a sense of how far away we truly are
from the living tradition of playing Brahms in a manner than he might
perhaps have recognized. Chailly's approach makes a particular scramble
out of the second scherzo and, especially, the finale, and it only
really works in the Adagio, which benefits from a certain lightness and
flow. Otherwise, the performance merely skates along the surface of the
music.
The same observations hold true for the Second Serenade. This was the
piece in which Brahms learned how to write for the woodwind section, but
whenever the dynamics are soft one gets the impression that the players
are muttering the music rather than playing it with the necessary
character. It has no shape. Make no mistake this is certainly
intentional. It takes real work to make an orchestra of this calibre
sound so sterile. You'd just have to be out of your mind to want to hear
it. The outer movements of the piece, in particular, practically die of
daintiness.
I applaud Chailly's willingness to revisit his interpretive ideas. After
all, his first Brahms cycle (with the Concertgebouw Orchestra) also was
dull, if traditionally so, but this is certainly no improvement.
Recording Details:
Reference Recording: Belohlávek (Supraphon); Boult (EMI)
BRAHMS, JOHANNES:
Serenades Nos. 1 and 2
Chailly, Riccardo (conductor)
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
Decca - 478 6775 CD >>
http://www.classicstoday.com/review/cd-from-hell-chaillys-faceless-brahms-serenades/