CD REVIEW
– RACHMANINOFF
SYMPHONY No.2, etc.
SINFONIA OF LONDON
JOHN WILSON
Chandos CHSA 5309
[64:08]
'
The latest in this
label's new series is one of
Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff's
best-known and most popular
compositions. It is a vital,
passionate work with some
splendid string melodies. The
start of the slow movement has a
clarinet tune reckoned to be one
of the most glorious for the
instrument in the whole symphonic
repertoire.
For anyone little
interested in what they consider
to be "heavy" music,
this album from John Wilson and
his Sinfonia of London orchestra,
now spoken of as being among the
world's best, might be worth
sampling. JW completists will
again rush to obtain it.
The Russian*
composer's Symphony No.1
was something of a disaster and,
despite being followed by the
success of his award-winning Piano
Concerto No.2 (still a
regular runner-up in Classic FM's
annual Hall of Fame vote), it
took seven months for the
confidence lacking Rachmaninoff
to be happy with his Symphony
No.2, which he eventually
conducted at its St Petersburg
premiere in 1908 to great
audience acclaim, and earned him
a second Glinka Award and 1,000
roubles.
The Eric Carmen
song "Never Gonna Fall in
Love Again" is based on the
third movement (Adagio).
Rachmaninoff himself evidently
had quite catholic musical
tastes, eg much admiring the jazz
arrangements of certain classical
works made by Ferde Grofé.
The almost
hour-long symphony here is joined
by one of the charismatic
conductor Leopold Stokowski's
renowned orchestrations: Prélude
in C Sharp Minor, a famous
piano piece written early in his
career by the symphonist, who was
also a conductor of note and
probably the greatest virtuoso
pianist of his time, with hands
that could comfortably stretch 13
notes – five more than an
octave. Once again, the SoL
string section stands out.
The Brian Pidgeon
produced recording was made in
early January 2022 with Charlie
Lovell-Jones as orchestra leader.
He was born in 1999, made his
debut at a sold-out Royal
Festival Hall aged 15 and was the
youngest member of the famed John
Wilson Orchestra, whose Warner
Classics releases will probably
be on most of our readers'
shelves. These can now be joined
by yet another top-quality
release – albeit not quite
so tuneful – from Chandos.
* Rachmaninoff
(who, incidentally, was 6'6"
tall) was born in 1873 and had
some ideological misgivings that
led him to leave the land of his
birth after the 1917 Bolshevik
revolution. Following three years
living in Dresden he made his
home in the USA and Switzerland
(lucky man!), becoming a US
citizen shortly before his death
in 1943.
© Peter
Burt 2023
Tony Clayden
adds:-
Rachmaninoff was born with a
genetic condition called Marfan
Syndrome, which I understand
causes the cells in the body to
elongate, hence his great height;
he also possessed huge, long,
hands. It is believed that some
of his piano compositions are
virtually unplayable by those
with regular-sized hands –
but, with his large span [over an
octave and a half] this
didn’t bother him, of course
! He was, by all accounts, a
really excellent pianist, and
gained his reputation as a
composer-performer. There is
copious information about him on Wikipedia.
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