Bernstein: Complete Sibelius Recordings on DG with Selected works by Elgar and Britten: A Review

Hmm...what great music can I mangle next...

JEAN SIBELIUS
Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 5 & 7
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Four Sea Interludes
EDWARD ELGAR
Enigma Variations

Vienna Philharmonic (Sibelius)
BBC Symphony Orchestra (Elgar)
Boston Symphony Orchestra (Britten)
Deutsche Grammophon- 474 936-2(CD) Bargain/Mid Price

Towards the end of my recent ill spell and as my energy levels picked up I dug this boxset out for some bedtime listening, and an interesting listen it is. Bernstein originally recorded the four Sibelius symphonies with the New York Philharmonic in the 1960s to some acclaim. This makes it all the more pervese that these performances/remakes from the 1980s and 1990 along with the Elgar and Britten fillers are really, how else can I phrase it, amongst the most irritating & peculiar interpretations I've heard since Olli Mustonen's recordings of the Grieg & Chopin piano concertos.

The Second Symphony receives a brilliantly performed, willfully self indulgent and painfully distended reading which somehow conspired to make me feel more nauseous than I already was in bed. With its unfeasibly broad, tempos, agogic distortions and lack of forward momentum, especially evident in the second and final movements, this really is a peculiar and not especially convincing achievement within the Sibelian discography. I know some people out there really rate this recording of the 2nd as being daringly brave, innovative and idiosyncratic. Sadly they're idiots who can't tell the wood for the trees and need their ears syringed...

This criticism aside, a convincing broad, idiosyncratic and imaginative reading with flexible tempos is not beyond the realms of the possible. By way of contrast, Stokowski's 1964 live recording on BBC Legends is proof that a less self-regarding approach, combined with a more flexible, superior grasp of structure, tempo & score can produce impressive results to the same ends.

Unfortunately, Bernstein's interpretations of Sibelius' fifth and seventh symphoies are almost as bad as his 2nd. Again well played by the Vienna Philharmonic, the effect in both is something similar to the audio equivalent to wading through treacle. Both recordings clock in at just over 5 minutes longer than average performances, nearly 36 for the 5th and around 25 for the 7th! Bernstein's readings, recorded live, are also curiously & inexplicably underpowered, afflicted with indeterminablyponderous tempos and willful phrasing which distort shape and structure limiting the magical electricity, breadth, mystery and majesty of these works.

Given the bizarre quality of these Sibelius remakes, Bernstein's 1990 recording of the 1st Symphony, one of his last before his death, and out of print until this release sticks out like a sore thumb. Its really bloody good, going someway to showing Lenny at his best! Although not unafflicted by Bernstein's idiosyncratic tempos and phrasing, the somewhat distorted first and third movements and somewhat overblown finale spring to mind, this is a well recorded, highly enjoyable, electrifying and brilliant live performance. Lenny's idiosyncracies, for good or bad, actually serve the music here rather than disfiguring it. Although Bernstein doesn't displace the benchmark interpretations of Karajan, Jansons, Collins, or Davis in this great symphony he provides a fascinating high voltage alternative.

As for the fillers... Well, I was prepared to give this notorious recording of the Enigma Variations with the BBC Symphony Orchestra the benefit of the doubt. Then I listened to it. In its favour its slightly better than crap. The maestro in inconclastic mood merrily yanks & slows the entire piece as it suits him. His infamously SLO-MO version of the Nimrod variation has all the the subtlety of a brakedancing bull in a china shop. Intimacy, restraint and dignity obviously didn't feature highly on Lenny's agenda for this recording. It's such a curious and perverse interpretation that after a while listening my growing frustration subsided into laughter at the point of his ridiculous Nimrod variation began. Not good. The other oddity of a filler, Britten's Four Sea Interludes, coming from Bernstein's last concert at Tanglewood fare slightly better for not being so noxiously self indulgent, but are unfortunately distinguished by sloppy playing and erratic tempos.

I wish I could recommended the set for the performance of the superb Sibelius 1st alone, but unlike some of the gushing Lenny fans on Amazon.com and elsewhere, I can't. Brilliant as it is, the rest of this peculiar boxset is just simply too self indulgent for comfort and frankly not good enough. Frustratingly, it hardly shows Lenny in his best light being only recommendable to die-hard Bernstein fans, rich people who like laughing at strange versions of Elgar's music, curious collectors and Sibelians (who like me have a little too much money than sense in these matters) as a curio for their libraries. For reference recordings look elsewhere.

And some technorati tags:
Leonard Bernstein
Sibelius
Elgar
Britten