The Bells is the bright spot in Charles Dutoit’s otherwise lackluster Rachmaninov Symphony cycle for Decca. Here he conducts with a welcome alacrity, enlivening rhythms and highlighting colors–the fast movements sparkle, while the slow ones soothe. The Philadelphia Orchestra provides its usual robust playing, with lush strings and burnished brass. The Choral Arts Society sings handsomely, as do the soloists (especially Alexandrina Pendachanska in her stirring soprano solo in the second movement). These same attributes inform the coupled Three Russian Songs and the beautiful, rarely heard Spring Cantata.
The recording captures the massed forces with remarkable clarity, presence, and dynamic freedom. And that’s all well and good until you consider the competition: Dutoit’s label-mate Vladimir Ashkenazy offers a far more engaging rendition of The Bells with a highly stimulated Concertgebouw Orchestra–also in excellent sound. Less sonically alluring, but even more exciting is Kondrashin’s classic Melodiya recording (now available on RCA) that commands the attention, not least for its authentically Russian music-making. Still, Dutoit has Philadelphia going for him–and it’s quite a treat to hear Rachmaninov’s favorite orchestra play his music in such vivid sound.
