The Czech Phil delivers a golden Fourth Symphony recording, says David Nice
Mahler
Symphony No. 4
Chen Reiss (soprano); Czech Philharmonic/Semyon Bychkov
Pentatone PTC 5186 972 56:49 mins
Alchemy has been working wonders in Prague. In the case of the Czech Philharmonic it’s simply an adapted sound building on magnificent traditions. But I always thought Semyon Bychkov, now one of the greats, was more a creature of earth and fire than air. A perfect Barbican performance of Dvořák’s Eighth, floating and gleaming so gorgeously, told me otherwise; and its counterpart in Mahler’s symphonies, the Fourth, is cast in the same golden mould. In both interpretations, every tempo choice seems perfect. Bychkov doesn’t make an adagioesque meal of the radiant song that frames the innocence-versus-experience third movement. He also makes sure that soprano Chen Reiss, poised and enchanting in the ‘child’s view of heaven’ that ends the work, can manage the longer phrases which sometimes get broken in two.
It is a fascinating choice to launch a new symphonic cycle which the Czech Philharmonic more than merits; never forget that the late, much missed Jiří Bělohlávek, Bychkov’s predecessor at the Czech Philharmonic, was always keen to point out that Mahler, brought up in Iglau (now Jihlava), was a Czech composer. The Fourth is a special case, encouraging chamber-musical dialogues, which have never sounded lovelier or at times spookier, spotlighting some magnificent principals, chiefly leader/concertmaster (a shame the players aren’t listed), first horn, clarinet and an especially poignant oboe as the blue skies turn black in the slow movement. Dynamics from the quietest imaginable to the very loudest are perfectly handled by the Rudolfinum recording.
PERFORMANCE
★★★★★
RECORDING
★★★★★
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Brahms
Symphonies Nos 3 & 4
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig/ Herbert Blomstedt
Pentatone PTC 5186 852 80:38 mins
Even by the standards of a profession famous for its longevity, Herbert Blomstedt’s staying-power is a phenomenon: he conducted these recordings in April last year, aged 93. A former principal conductor of Leipzig’s Gewandhaus Orchestra (while merely in his seventies), he retains an honorary position with them, and the players’ respect for his brand of seasoned musicianship is evident at every point. And something of this orchestra’s fabled traditional sound – an emphasis on mellow shading, rather than the technicolor projectio
