Skrowaczewski is one of those conductors who seems to operate under the radar in the PR-dominated world of classical music performance. Every so often he makes a splash with, say, his Ravel, Bartók, and Stravinsky recordings on Vox, or his Saarbrücken Bruckner cycle, only to vanish for a few years until he pops up again, often in top form. Only his interlude with the Hallé turned out to be something of a discographic disappointment, but then that seems true of everyone’s experience at the Hallé, God only knows why. The truth is, Skrowaczewski is one of those conscientious composer/conductors who isn’t especially flashy in any way–just supremely musical and stylish. He reminds me most of Jean Martinon, another underrated conductor who brought a composer’s understanding to virtually all of the music that he performed.
All of which is a long way of saying that however variable his complete symphony cycle may turn out to be, these Beethoven performances are wholly magnificent. They aren’t indebted to any particular “school” other than that of Beethoven himself. The very first note of the First symphony jumps out of the speakers like a jolt of electricity. The Saarbrücken strings play with hair-trigger precision in this movement, and especially in the finale of the Fourth symphony, in which clean articulation and precise dynamics combine to produce a performance as satisfying as any ever recorded. Sectional balances are also crystal clear: note the exchanges between strings and winds in the First symphony’s first-movement transition between opening and second subjects, or the deliciously witty repartee in the scherzo of the Fourth.
It would be a mistake, however, to suggest that Skrowaczewski is all cool precision, in the style of, say, early Boulez. The Adagio of the Fourth symphony is the emotional highpoint of the performance. Not only is it a model of elegance and shapely phrasing, but its big minor-key interlude seldom has erupted with such power and passion. Both here and in the First symphony’s Andante Skrowaczewski judges tempos perfectly, giving the music plenty of time to sing expressively while preserving that all-important sense of flow. We all know that there are many worthy performances of this music available, particularly in an age when the combination of period-performance stylistics and modern technical virtuosity seem tailor-made for great Beethoven. But even in a crowded field, these beautifully recorded interpretations stand out for their all-around excellence and for their fidelity to both the letter and the spirit of these perennially marvelous scores. [7/2/2007]
