Why is it that so much of this music is neglected today? It’s lively, tuneful, immaculately crafted, fabulously scored (naturally), and it would grace any concert program. Anyone who collects recordings must be struck by the huge disparity between what one can acquire on disc and what is typically offered in concert. Sure, every so often we find a conductor who has a certain specialty or niche, and the basic repertoire does evolve, if slowly. And there are the obligatory bows toward contemporary music, which today have become something rather more than the “grit your teeth” penance that they used to be in the ’60s and ’70s.
That said, the range of music on offer today often strikes me as quite narrow. There are very few conductors who know how to construct imaginative and wide-ranging programs. Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sinfonietta on Russian Themes is a delightful “first half” piece. His Legend (a.k.a. Fairy Tale, or “Skazka”) used to be quite popular, and deservedly so. It was even graced by one of Tovey’s famous program notes. The overtures to The Maid of Pskov or The Tsar’s Bride would make ideal curtain-raisers, and who knew that he made an arrangement of Luigi Denza’s ubiquitous Faniculi, Faniculà?
The performances here are all very fine, and my only wish is that the entire program consisted of lesser-known pieces. The Capriccio espagnol, while well-done, hardly was necessary and can be heard to better effect from Bernstein (Sony) among others. Then again, it too seems not to be as frequently performed these days. In any case Vassily Sinaisky and the BBC Philharmonic have put together an enjoyable program, typically well-engineered, that we can at least enjoy at home while lamenting the fact that so little of it will ever be offered live.
