Apart from Järvi’s splendid recording of The Bells, Chandos has not been very lucky with Rachmaninov. These are tidy, sometimes exciting performances characterized by good ensemble discipline and thoroughly professional playing, but that’s about it. Gianandrea Noseda has the strings playing strikingly well in the rhythmic sections of the First Symphony’s outer movements, but he also makes some odd interpretive choices. He starts the first movement’s fugal development much more quickly than the initial allegro–a small surge forward might be apt, but here the speed works against the very precision he is trying to achieve and prevents the players from really digging into the notes. The trombone section is also startlingly weak in the “chant with bells” episode, and the woodwinds (which don’t have the tune, after all) are unnaturally prominent. The finale’s coda is also rushed and inappropriately tame just when it should sound most ferocious (compare to Ashkenazy, unrivalled here).
The biggest problem with these performances, though, and it is a general one, concerns the sound of the orchestra. Although they play respectably, the strings (as recorded here) still sound thin, and aside from good presence from the bass drum, the ensemble lacks a bottom. The lower strings, timpani, and low brass fail to register with sufficient impact. That suffocating richness of texture that makes The Isle of the Dead’s central episode so ripely, compellingly decadent is missing here. The symphony’s opening chords fail to grind menacingly, while the finale’s triumphant fanfare introduction lacks both brilliance and the crushing brutality that gives the first hint of its ultimate hollowness. In short, what’s missing here is character, that idiomatic, dark Russian sound that Rachmaninov of all composers exploited so consistently. This is “Rachmaninov Lite”, nicely manicured, but never gripping.
