The State Symphony Orchestra of the USSR Ministry of Culture
Gennady Rozhdestvensky, conductor
Tatiana Smolyakova, soprano (A Sea Symphony)
Boris Vasiliev, baritone (A Sea Symphony)
The Choir of the Leningrad Music Society (A Sea Symphony)
The Choir of the Rimsky-Korsakov Music College (A Sea Symphony)
Elena Dof-Donskaya, soprano (Pastoral Symphony & Sinfonia Antartica)
The USSR State Chamber Choir (Sinfonia Antartica)
This remarkable set of 6 CDs, with performances dating from before the fall of the Soviet Union, features Gennady Rozhdestvensky performing all nine symphonies of Ralph Vaughan Williams with the State Symphony Orchestra of the USSR Ministry of Culture. For those who prefer live performances, this set is almost a miracle - not only are these live broadcasts from what was then called the Grand Hall of the Leningrad Philharmonic Society, they are single takes. This is very rare. Most recordings marketed as "live" tend to be a compilation of several different performances. Not so here: they were each individual performances at single concerts. There is a minimal amount of coughing, page turning, and various background noises - just enough to remind you it was in front of an actual audience, and initial audience applause has been retained for all nine symphonies. I don't know about you, but for me this makes this set a true gem.
At the time these were made, there were still some substantial differences between Russian orchestral styles and those heard in London, Berlin, or elsewhere. Russian brass was more biting and aggressive, the basic tone of the French Horns often quite different. The oboe sound was more piercing and lighter colored (I don't want to say bright, because of the negative connotations among woodwind players - but typical Russian orchestral oboe playing wasn't always obsessed with the darker sounds one would hear in more regularly in the West). The string style likewise had it's own type of section play and expression - almost a vocal quality. So I wondered how this all would "translate" to the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams, the quintessential English composer, whose music seemed made for the British Brass sections of the LSO, LPO, RPO, or the Philharmonia.
The answer is that it translates shockingly well, and makes me wish more orchestras would record this cycle outside of Britain.
The Sea Symphony (No. 1) is the biggest challenge. With text by Walt Whitman, sung in English, listeners must prepare themselves for hearing a Russian accent (the way German audiences certainly have to brace themselves for an English accent when listening to many performances of Bach). Vaughan Williams himself, so committed to performances in the vernacular, would almost certainly have encouraged them to sing it in Russian, so I don't think any of the rest of us should care about the accent. Anyhow, the powerful solo singing of Tatiana Smolyakova and Boris Vasiliev immediately brush away any concerns. The choir is one of the finest to record piece, with power, subtlety of color and shadings, and exceptional slotting of the voices.
The orchestra is up to the challenge too - the brass don't sound as though they are Russifying the piece (a more difficult task than you might imagine - I've heard American brass not know quite what to do with Vaughan Williams's figurations and end up sort of Americanizing them). And there are some breathtaking moments too - when the oboe soars above the orchestra with a power I've never heard in a Western performance. By the end of disc one, I felt this was going to be a terrific cycle, and my worries were really over.
All of these were fine performances. The balance and precision wasn't the same as an air-brushed studio recording, it's true, but there are plenty of those beautifully edited recordings out there. The vigor and immediacy of these recordings are unmatched by studio cycles.
In my earlier review of Andre Previn's cycle with the London Symphony Orchestra, I talk about the decision many conductors seem to make when performing Vaughan Williams - whether to emphasize color or counterpoint. It appears Rozhdestvensky balances both in this cycle, and because of it, his Pastoral Symphony (No 3) and D major Symphony (No 5) are very good. The Fifth is one of my favorite recordings of the piece, by any orchestra.
The Eighth Symphony in this set is also one of the finest I've heard. It can be difficult to give a sensation of continuity in a piece that uses unusual orchestration in the first movement (including vibraphone and celesta), switches to all winds in the second, strings only in the third, then an extended orchestra in the forth (adding glockenspiel, tubular bells, tuned gongs and more). Somehow, Rozhdestvensky makes the whole thing seem like a dialogue between different parts of the orchestra, and it all makes perfect sense. The two interior movements are memorable - the singing quality of the strings in the third is different from many of the British recordings, and a welcome interpretation.
None of the performances strikes me as deficient. Some are less memorable than others, but you really can't go wrong with this set. I found the epilogue to the Sixth to be one of the best, the Ninth more compelling than many other recordings, A London Symphony (No 2) to be a solid interpretation and performance, and the Sinfonia Antartica to be very well delivered. But the high points for me were the Sea Symphony and the Fifth. They should definitely be a part of any Vaughan Williams devotee's collection.
A word about the Melodiya sound. Some people don't like the intensity of the old Melodiya discs - especially the Russian repertoire of Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, or Shostakovich. Be forewarned: I love the old Melodiya sound! Crisp, clear, strong - this is not the warm, rounded sound world of Deutsche Grammophon and von Karajan. I love those recordings too, but sometimes I just want something clear, bracing, and edgy. These Melodiya discs and performances aren't the most raw I've heard -they're not Svetlanov's Tchaikovsky cycle, for instance - but they have a clarity that is rare for Vaughan Williams. My advice is to embrace it. This is unlike any other Vaughan Williams cycle: true live performances by a Soviet era Russian orchestra. We'll probably never hear anything like it again. Get them while you still can.
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