BaL 25.06.22 - Rachmaninov: Symphony no 2

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

9.30 Building a Library

Edward Seckerson compares recordings of Rachmaninov’s 2nd Symphony in E minor and chooses his favourite. Today, Rachmaninov’s 2nd Symphony is one of the composer’s most popular works. Rachmaninov composed it in Dresden, during a period of retirement from concert activities, and conducted its premiere in Saint Petersburg in January 1908, to great critical acclaim. In his 2nd symphony, Rachmaninov introduces a single motto at the beginning that appears and evolves in each of the four movements, a compositional idea that can also be seen in Tchaikovsky, who was a great early influence on him. The symphony is a large-scale work lasting an hour that begins with dark, brooding melodic lines and ends in a triumphant scherzo finale.

Available versions:-

St. Olaf Orchestra, Steven Amundson *
Ireland National Symphony Orchestra, Alexander Anissimov
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy
Philharmonia Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy
Park Avenue Chamber Symphony, David Bernard *
Orchestra de Paris, Semyon Bychkov *
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Jesús López Cobos *
Hungarian Studio Orchestra, Bill Connor *
Oregon Symphony, James DePreist
Academic Symphony Orchestra of the St Petersburg Philharmonia, Alexander Dmitriev
Philadelphia Orchestra, Charles Dutoit
USSR TV and Radio Large Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Fedoseyev *
Dortmunder Philharmoniker, Gabriel Feltz (SACD)
*Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer
Kirov Opera Orchestra, Valery Gergiev *
London Symphony Orchestra, Valery Gergiev (SACD)
Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Sir Alexander Gibson *
New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Alan Gilbert *
National Symphony Orchestra, Igor Golovchin *
Orquesta Sinfonica de Castilla y Leon, Andrew Gourlay
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Stephen Gunzenhauser *
Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Owain Arwel Hughes
Philharmonia Orchestra, Mariss Jansons
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mariss Jansons (SACD)
St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Mariss Jansons
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Järvi
Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra, Djansug Kakhidze
Novosibirsk Academic Symphony Orchestra, Arnold Kats (SACD)
Gürzenich Orchestra of Cologne, Dmitrij Kitajenko
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Paul Kletzki *
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Litton (SACD)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Litton *
Berliner Philharmoniker, Lorin Maazel
Georgian Festival Orchestra, Jahni Mardjani *
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart, Sir Neville Marriner
New York Philharmonic, Dimitri Mitropoulos
Standard Symphony Orchestra (San Francisco), Pierre Monteux
BBC Philharmonic, Gianandrea Noseda
Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy *
Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy (DVD)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Tadaaki Otaka
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Tadaaki Otaka *
Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Antonio Pappano *
Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, Antonio Pappano (DVD)
Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Paul Paray
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko *
Russian National Orchestra, Mikhail Pletnev
Russian State Symphony Orchestra, Valeri Polyansky
London Symphony Orchestra, André Previn (EMI)
London Symphony Orchestra, André Previn (RCA) *
Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle (DVD/Blu-ray)
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle (SACD)
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Simon Rattle *
New York Philharmonic, Artur Rodzinski
London Symphony Orchestra, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky
Orchestre National de Bordeaux Aquitaine, Kwamé Ryan
Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra, Rico Saccani *
Leningrad Philharmonic, Kurt Sanderling
Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Lan Shui (SACD)
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Yuri Simonov *
Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg *
Gwacheon Symphony Orchestra, Jin Suh *
Philharmonia Orchestra, Evgeny Svetlanov
USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Evgeny Svetlanov
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Robin Ticciati
Philharmonia Orchestra, Ling Tung
Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Edo de Waart *
Rotterdam Philharmonic, Edo de Waart (SACD)
Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Edo de Waart *
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Walter Weller
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Dmitry Yablonsky
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, David Zinman *

* = download only

[visualnickmos]

Thank you; another splendid list. Goodness knows how anyone can arrive at just one!

[Alison]

Thank you; another splendid list. Goodness knows how anyone can arrive at just one!

Who do ‘ya fancy Nickmos ??

[Petrushka]

Wasn't this done not long ago or was it one of our own summer BaLs?

It's still LSO/Previn for me, a very special disc full of memories. Remember a 1977 performance of this with them in Manchester after which I met Previn.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Thank you; another splendid list. Goodness knows how anyone can arrive at just one!

I’m tempted to give this one a miss. I love the work, but ES’s name-dropping can be irritating.

[gradus]

I've not heard a performance I didn't enjoy but have listened most often to Ormandy and the Philadelphia.

[EnemyoftheStoat]

In one way it would be interesting to see who he opts for given the lack of a Bernstein recording.

In another, I'll always feel that as long as the Downes/BBCPO recording remains commercially unavailable, one of the best is de facto excluded from the reckoning.

ES could always save lots of time by automatically excluding the cut versions, as well as those that either add the spurious timpani stroke at the end of the first movement or get a wet pudding sound out of their bass strings at that point.

[Pulcinella]

Wasn't this done not long ago or was it one of our own summer BaLs?

It's still LSO/Previn for me, a very special disc full of memories. Remember a 1977 performance of this with them in Manchester after which I met Previn.

Me too (though I don't have the memories): apart from two BBC MM cover discs it's the only one I've got.
Interesting that Previn is high up the ranks in the last three BaLs (in forumite opinion, at any rate): this, La mer, and the Sea Interludes.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

In one way it would be interesting to see who he opts for given the lack of a Bernstein recording.

There isn't a Jurowski one either.

[EnemyoftheStoat]

There isn't a Jurowski one either.

That's more regrettable in my book. We probably don't need a 75-minute Rach 2.

[muzzer]

My favourite piece. Thanks for the list!

[cloughie]

My favourite piece. Thanks for the list!

Yes it’s lovely - loads of good ones Leningrad Sanderling Was my first love of it - almost uncut - Rozhdestvensky, Previn LSO/RPO, Weller, Kletzki - will be interesting as to what lights the reviewer’s candle!

[visualnickmos]

Who do ‘ya fancy Nickmos ??

Hah! What a question! I have Previn, Ashkenazy (which I like a lot) Jansons (excellent) Maazel... plus other assorted oddments. The ones I mention are particular faves. Of course the reviewer could take an entirely different angle than me!

I have a hunch Rattle might do well in his estimation. No idea why - I've never heard it.

[Barbirollians]

William Mival did this only a few years ago .

[Ein Heldenleben]

Hah! What a question! I have Previn, Ashkenazy (which I like a lot) Jansons (excellent) Maazel... plus other assorted oddments. The ones I mention are particular faves. Of course the reviewer could take an entirely different angle than me!

I have a hunch Rattle might do well in his estimation. No idea why - I've never heard it.

I have and I think it’s one of his weakest recordings - some of the phrasing (and orchestral balance) is perverse .
Isn’t Svetlanov supreme in this ? Not sure how well he is recorded but I saw him do a performance once with the Phil at the RFH which was one of the very greatest performances iVe ever heard of anything. The Previn is excellent and has the bonus of the peerless Jack Brymer.