These performances were recorded by RCA in the ’90s by the famous team of Joanna Nickrenz and William Hoekstra, but never issued. AAM has rescued them from oblivion, and music lovers can only be grateful. The Dohnányi Suite ought to be a repertory piece; like so much of his music it is beautifully crafted, gorgeously scored, and full of good tunes and good humor. The “Spanish” interlude in the rondo finale is a riot. This easily is the work’s finest performance on disc, better played than Bamert’s (Chandos), and just as well recorded.
The Háry János Suite also is full of character. The toy sounds of the Viennese Musical Clock and the finale really do evoke the right fairy-tale atmosphere, while the lovely third-movement song features a particularly fine cimbalom solo. In the Battle and Defeat of Napoleon, Slatkin gives particular prominence to the lachrymose saxophone in a way that recalls Fricsay’s celebrated DG recording. It’s a wonderful performance.
The Suite from the Miraculous Mandarin is in fact the same performance that appeared on RCA in the form of the complete ballet. Apparently Slatkin and crew also did a take with the concert ending for use on a later release–understandable given this album concept, but perhaps unnecessary from the point of view of repertoire duplication. It kind of makes clear why the flurry of recording activity in the 1980s and ’90s ultimately wasn’t sustainable.
The performance is a very good one nonetheless, a bit less impressively recorded than the other two items on the disc, but marvelously played and certainly atmospheric. If anything, the “chase” fugue at the end is almost too fast; I prefer a slightly slower tempo to give the instruments more opportunity to really bite into their parts. Still, it’s undeniably exciting, and I can understand the desire to bring the disc’s playing time up to 72 minutes, even though the couplings represent the real reason for acquiring this very recommendable disc.
