Yuli Turovsky and I Musici de Montréal offer a very different listening experience in John Corigliano’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Second Symphony (a masterful and imaginative string-orchestra arrangement of his 1996 Quartet) in comparison with the work’s recorded premiere with John Storgards and the Helsinki Philharmonic on Ondine (to see David Hurwitz’s favorable and succinct comments, type Q7651 in Search Reviews). For starters, Turovsky’s chamber orchestra contains far fewer strings, resulting in more transparent and delicate textures all around, abetted by faster tempos in each of the five movements. Granted, the eerie, atmospheric opening movement and central Night Music benefit from the Helsinki ensemble’s broader, padded sonorities, but Turovsky’s more incisive articulation of the Scherzo and Fugue movements gives clearer voice to the music’s quirky mood shifts. Furthermore, Chandos’ surround-sound production manages to be sharply detailed and lifelike at the same time.
The sonic excellence particularly comes into its own in the “Red Violin” Suite culled from Corigliano’s score to the François Giraud film of the same name. With all due respect to Joshua Bell’s suave, effortless violin virtuosity that distinguishes the original soundtrack recording, Eleonora Turovsky’s more impassioned and colorful solo work adds depth to the composer’s unfettered eclecticism (try the cadenza-like passages in Shanghai and Pope’s Betrayal). Perhaps some listeners will find this score more accessible and easier to absorb than the Symphony, although it’s not as interesting or inspired as Corigliano’s wacky collage piece The Mannheim Rocket that couples the Helsinki’s Second Symphony. The bottom line is that Storgards and Turovsky are both excellent in their own ways, making a clear-cut choice difficult. Knowing that the present recording was made under the composer’s supervision and bears his enthusiastic endorsement might tilt the scales in Chandos’ favor.
