Releases like this make you wonder if record companies aren’t run by Hollywood moguls. Imagine that a film studio head decides his company needs a new Gone with the Wind in its catalog, and promptly goes about assembling a cast. He signs Bruce Willis and Madonna as the leads, convincing them that “Wind” will be a perfect “star vehicle”. Sounds absurd? Well, apparently somebody at Deustsche Grammophon thinks Dvorak’s Ninth is a great “star vehicle” for Claudio Abbado, and he conducts it as if he learned his lines just for this recording. His bland and faceless leadership inspires the Berlin Philharmonic to offer little more than a perfunctory performance. No, of course the playing isn’t bad; these are world class musicians. But it is totally devoid of any character, excitement, or emotional involvement. From the first movement to the last, there is not one gesture, one phrase, or one solo that lingers in the mind. In fact, it’s pointless to single out specific moments in this deadly-dull run-through: the problem is global.
One could argue that the New World Symphony is such an overplayed warhorse, it won’t sound exciting no matter who does it. Oh yeah? Let’s put on Bernstein’s New York Philharmonic recording on Sony Classical. Note how we immediately detect signs of life in the measured introduction, and when the strings and timpani make their dramatic pronouncements we know we are in for an entirely different kind of performance–one that is vibrant, exciting, and well thought-out. Bernstein believes in this music and it shows. Yes, this was recorded in 1962, but it’s not just a “Golden Age” phenomenon. There are plenty of modern day examples of this kind of commitment, including Mackerras in Janacek, Wand in Bruckner, Gergiev in Rimsky Korsakov, to name a few. Abbado himself is a passionate advocate of Mussorgsky; he apparently just has no feeling for Dvorak’s Ninth–which naturally begs the question, why bother to record it?
Abbado and his orchestra are clearly more interested in the unfamiliar Othello overture, which they play with far more involvement. The live recording has no depth, and suffers from a slightly opaque haze over the sound. Those who desire to hear a BPO New World should get Kubelik’s far superior performance on DG Originals. Otherwise, Bernstein’s recording tops any list.
