Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances, Etudes-Tableaux, Vocalise (CD review)

Eiji Oue, Minnesota Orchestra.  Reference Recordings RR-96CD.

When Reference Recordings made this album in 2001, I remember it surprised me somewhat because I thought as they were an audiophile label they were quite well aware of Andre Previn's celebrated analogue recording of Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances.  I wondered why they would want to compete against a recording that most audiophiles would already have in their collections.  Unless, of course, they thought their own version would be superior in performance and/or sound.

I shouldn't have questioned their reasoning.  Conductor Eiji Oue's interpretation is neither inferior nor superior to Previn's but, rather, a complement to it.  Where Previn emphasizes the "dance" qualities of the work, the sweet, light, lyrical aspects, Oue is more interested in the "symphonic" elements.  That is, his reading is grander, more imposing than Previn's, with more accentuation on the strong, powerful factors in the music.

The three-movement Symphonic Dances was Rachmaninoff's final composition, premiered in 1941, just a couple of years before his death.  Rachmaninoff's friend, choreographer Mikhail Fokine, told him that above all the music should have vitality and character.  Certainly, it has that in spades, whether the conductor is stressing the lyrical dance components or the purely symphonic ones as Oue does.  Vitality is Oue's strong suit, especially in the big opening movement and the even bigger closing segment.  In between, there is the Andante, a slightly eerie, sometimes demonic, sometimes sweet waltz, which Oue also brings off well, with plenty of "character."  The final movement is massive in scope, battering the door for a quarter of an hour with only momentary hushes.

Filling out the disc is, first, the little Vocalise, originally a composition for wordless voice and piano that Rachmaninoff wrote in 1912 and later transcribed for orchestra, the version we have here.  It's a lovely work, not quickly forgotten, which Oue takes perhaps a bit too literally, diminishing some of its grace and beauty.

Closing the program are the composer's five Etudes-Tableaux, piano pieces that Rachmaninoff wrote in 1911 and 1917, here transcribed for orchestra by Ottorino Respighi, he of Pines, Fountains, and Festivals of Rome fame.  Respighi was obviously no stranger to evocative tone poems, and he asked Rachmaninoff for descriptions of the music.  It does not appear that Rachmaninoff was too keen on the idea of pictorial music and at first hesitated; but eventually he said the five works represented "The Sea and Seagulls," "The Fair," a "Funeral March," "Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf," and an oriental "March."  Well, OK.  The last three pieces do, indeed, sound like the descriptions the composer gave for them, although there is little in the first two pieces to justify the titles.  I suspect the composer simply made up some of the descriptions on the spur of the moment to satisfy Respighi's request.  In any case, the melodies are quite colorful, charming, and exciting by turns.

Just as stunning as the music is Reference Recordings' sound.  This is true demonstration fare, starting with the wide dynamic range and strong dynamic impact and proceeding to the excellent orchestral depth, the room-filling ambiance, the natural-sounding midrange, the sparkling highs, and the thundering lows.  This is master-tape audio, full, effulgent, resplendent, a little thick and not entirely transparent but realistic in the extreme.  Bravo!

JJP