Re: Anyone heard the new LSO Kullervo by C.Davis?


infectiousfile@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
More thoughts and considerations about the new Kullervo recording by
Davis / LSO Live :

The more i listen to this disc, the more i am perplex in regards to
some specific points. At barely 2 minutes in the first movement
(Introduction), there is a long pause (too long, imho) which gives the
rather unpleasant effect of "breaking" the movement altogether. Most
other versions have a pause there but not this long (maybe two to four
seconds, typically ; it would've been interesting to know the
composer's own idea (?).

In the second movement, again, at about 2 minutes the familiarly
"sibelian" melody is lacking in tension and loses some of its
poignancy. The second half of the same movement somewhat lacks tension
and character : It sounds a bit "loose" and rather thin at that point,
until reaching back (at 11 minutes +) toward a sort of pre-outburst
leading astutely to a satisfactory ending.

Superb vocals by Mattei and Groop (not 'Group' as a typo suggests on
the back of the album...) in the crucial third movement, the
contrepiece to this colossal work. Excellent playing here, except
perhaps at approx. 15-16 minutes the winds sound too "jazzy" for my
taste.

The fourth movement really goes to war here as it is very well executed
- it is the best of the bunch and is energetic, subtle and evocative.
Wish the whole work were like that.

The conclusion (fifth mvt) is also very well deciphered on the whole,
except that the very ending could have been even more forceful, using
more vital energies to bring the work its culmination in a ultimate
implosion. Other than that, the chorus and the musical parts are all
very good.

Davis is audacious. He takes liberties with the score, a freedom of
utterance that is both courageous and risky. However, i do not
subscribe to all the twists and turns of the present version. IMOH, it
kind of loses something of the Nordic (or read "sibelian") authenticity
found in other versions (i.e. Saraste, Vanska, Segerstam, etc.).
Anyway, this is a truly great work and i do think the Davis is a nice
addition in the catalogue, a different one to be sure, one with its own
merits and values. Cheers, jean c.

I have not heard the Kullervo recording but interestingly enough in the
matter of rests he does the same thing in the LSO live performance of
Ma Vlast (they opened the Prague Spring Festival last year) and again
it appears to be a composite of live performances spread over four or
five days.

He's not "wrong" to take these pauses (they are in the score) but most
people either ignore them or make it so brief that you will not notice
taking the view, I think, that otherwise you risk "breaking up" the
flow of the music.

I have only heard the first two movements of the new LSO Smetana
recording and so I cannot pass judgment on it although, as one would
expect, the orchestral playing is never less than very good but by
taking the pauses in full you come to a "dead stop" a couple of times
which, at the moment for me, doesn't work although as I say I need to
hear the complete performance several times to put the whole thing into
perspective.

Kind regards,
Alan M. Watkins

.

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