Valery Gergiev leads a vividly atmospheric In the Steppes of Central Asia and a virtuosic, ebulliently dancing Islamey, making for an exciting ending to this new Philips release. That’s the good news. Unfortunately, Gergiev’s Scheherazade is a surprisingly tepid affair given the general excellence with which he renders Rimsky-Korsakov’s operas. A bold introduction promises much gripping drama, but this is unfulfilled as the music progresses, and it appears Gergiev is going to play it safe with moderate tempos and less-than-vivid dynamic contrasts. Of course, the first movement can work equally well when portrayed either as a languorously rolling sea or the tempestuous one depicted in Fritz Reiner’s classic version. But, the second movement’s rhythmic freedom notwithstanding, Gergiev never creates that aura of fantasy and seductive mystery that characterizes so much of this music (qualities found in abundance, for example, in Muti’s captivating performance). In the finale, however, Gergiev does generate considerable energy with sharply delineated phrasing, but even here there’s little that stands out as particularly memorable.
The Kirov Orchestra offers some polished and disciplined playing and fine solo work, particularly from violinist Sergei Levitin, but it can’t match the luxurious tone and vibrant colors offered either by the Atlanta Symphony and Robert Spano on their stunning Telarc disc, or by Kondrashin’s Concertgebouw–or in fact by any of the world-class competition. Gergiev gets little support from Philips’ recorded sound that (thanks to excessive reverberation) has a tendency to distort at tutti passages, and even evokes memories of the bad old days of Melodiya. Given the above, it’s unlikely that this hapless Scheherazade would have been able to keep her Sultan husband entertained (and thus keep her head) for even a week, much less 1001 nights.
