This 1968 Svetlanov/USSR Symphony Rachmaninov Second Symphony follows hard on the heels of the recently issued 1985 live version (type Q7590 in Search Reviews). Colleague David Hurwitz noted that performance’s superior spontaneity and energy, but this earlier rendition is still pretty impressive, as Svetlanov conducts in a refreshingly impulsive and free flowing manner throughout. The orchestra responds with remarkable alacrity and precision as the strings sing boldly while the trumpets lay on the schmaltz. As ever, Svetlanov builds up quite a head of steam in the first movement coda, making even the unauthorized timpani stroke sound inevitable. Many of these same characteristics can be found in Svetlanov’s last recording on Canyon Classics, though there tempos are slower, and the edges less sharpened. In 1968 however, the conductor still retained his youthful fire, leading a bristling account of the finale albeit with substantial cuts.
Svetlanov’s 1973 The Rock luxuriates in rich, dark bass sonorities and vibrant, characterful woodwind playing which creates an exotic Rimsky-Korsakov-like atmosphere. The climax suffers a bit from the original Meloydia recording’s dynamic limitation, but the CD as a whole sounds admirably spacious and clear considering the source.
