Liszt`s music at its best

LISZT: Apres une lecture du Dante. Fantasia quasi Sonata (from Annees de perlerinage); Valse oubliee No. 4; Mephisto Waltz No. 4; Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth: Elegie (version 4); Ballade No. 2 in B Minor; Mephisto Waltz No. 2; Andante lagrimoso (Harmonies poetiques et religieuses); Mephisto Waltz/No. 1. Leif Ove Andsnes, piano. EMI Classics 57002.

In everything I have heard on the recordings of Leif Ove Andsnes - Grieg, Brahms, Nielsen, Schumann, Haydn, Rachmaninoff - I have been impressed most of all by his admirable restraint.

Because this recording is music of Liszt, I admire that restraint even more. I have heard - I suppose we have all heard - Liszt played by pianists who literally threaten to demolish their instrument. There is not a trace of such excess in Andsnes` splendid readings in this Liszt recital. This is an opportunity to hear great playing of the retrospective Liszt, the Liszt who was seeking to define himself as a creative artist. Here Andsnes excels. And when he does pull out all stops, with Mephisto Waltz No. 1, which concludes this disc, the fury he creates is almost overpowering; felt all the more so because of his splendid control of his dynamics in earlier works.

Indeed, at its conclusion, my spine was tingling. Andsnes` reading scared the hell into me - which is exactly what he and the composer wanted to happen.

CELIBIDACHE: DVORAK - Disc No.1: Concerto for Cello and Orchestra; Jacqueline du Pre, cello. Disc No. 2: FRANCK - Symphony in D Major; HINDEMITH - Symphonie "Mathis der Maler. Disc No. 3: SIBELIUS - Symphonies No. 2 in D Major and No. 5 in E-flat Major. Disc No. 4: STRAUSS, R. - Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche; Don Juan.

SHOSTAKOVICH - Symphony No. 9. Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra; Sergiu Celibidache, conductor. Deutsche Grammophon 469 069; stereo/mono; 4 CDs.

Every time I receive another release of Sergiu Celibidache`s recordings I feel compelled to include the following, written by his son, Sergiu Loan Celibidache:

"Although my father was always unswervingly opposed to the audio recording medium, my mother and I have decided to allow his sound archives to be made available to the public. This has been a difficult choice for us, yet it seems, paradoxically, to have been the only possible one. And as the years go by and the various programs become legally available, I slowly realize how privileged all of us are, myself included, to have access to such rare documents and remember how he made those moments in music possible."

So, should we feel a tinge of conscience if we listen to these recordings made by Celibidache, even though he was "unswervingly opposed" to our doing so? The answer to the question probably is to be found in an entire array of individual and quite diverse answers. For myself, I admit I struggle with an answer. But of this I feel certain: I should hate to have missed the opportunity to hear the brilliance of this great conductor.

As for the works on this four-CD set, how could a single review possibly do justice to them? The best one might do is to consider this enormous quantity of music as a whole thing in many parts and to hear the imprint a master conductor can make on such a variety of invention.

It would be worth the price of the entire album to have this treasurable performance on Disc No. 1 of Jacqueline de Pre playing the Dvorak Cello Concerto. Her story is almost too tragic to rehearse.

She had such a great talent. And she died so young. We hear her play her heart out in this recording, accompanied by a conductor who knew exactly what to do to allow her to show in full the brilliance that was her`s.

Disc No. 2 includes the Cesar Franck Symphony in D and the Paul Hindemith Symphonie: "Mathis der Maler." Both symphonies remain strong parts of the standard repertoire. Nevertheless, we seem to hear them less frequently today that we did in earlier decades.

In the Franck, Celibidache shows again the basic approach he takes to everything he conducts: It is the way he breaks a work into phrases, constructs each as an individual unit and then makes all of them fit together perfectly in his creation of a total work. This is particularly effective in the Franck with its many romantic themes.

The conductor was a great advocate of Hindemith`s work. He grasps expertly this 20th-century composer`s ideas of form, a form that did not embrace dissonance and abandonment of melody, so popular among fellow composer`s of his day.

Celibidache`s readings of the Sibelius Symphonies Nos. 2 and 5 show the excellence of ensemble he could achieve with a fine orchestra. The great blocked chords in the brass are played as by a single instrument. The balance he achieves among the choirs of the orchestra is most impressive. And above all, he lets the orchestra sing in full throat the melancholy themes so typical of Sibelius.

What a sprightly Till Eulenspiegel! Celibidache has the mischievous little scamp romp through his pranks in a way that almost makes us laugh. But in the end, when Till is hanged, who could help but shed a tear? However, if you wish to justify the hanging, we can return to the early 16th century legend in which Till is a malevolent creature, an agent of the devil, who deserved to be hanged.

Feel better now?

Don Juan. Not a devil or even a playful scamp, but a real rascal. But Strauss` music concentrates on the romantic Don, and so does Celibidache`s interpretation, with the arch romantic melodies.

Celibidache molds this music with his hands as a potter would when he plunges deep into his clay to create a work of art. But this is what this great conductor did with everything he conducted: He created works of art.

Celibidache plays Don Juan at a quite fast tempo. It makes this beloved work all the more beloved.

Shostakovich`s Ninth Symphony is a short work for a symphony - about 25 minutes - especially a symphony by Shostokovich. It`s a good work to display the capabilities of a fine orchestra, and that`s exactly what Celibidache does with it.

Celibidache was chief conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1964 to 1971. It was he who built the organization into the fine ensemble we hear on these recordings.

To recap the greatness of this man: The authoritative Baker`s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians describes Celibidache as a "transcendentally endowed Romanian conductor."

"Transcendentally endowed." I think that describes exactly this giant of a conductor.

(c) Copley News Service

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Author: King Durkee