Legacy: Erich Leinsdorf
Label: ICA Catalog: ICAD 5043 Format: BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA; LEINSDORFErich Leinsdorf is a conductor who enjoyed considerable fame and respect during his lifetime, but only 19 years after his death seems almost forgotten. Very few of his many symphonic recordings are in print; he is now recalled almost solely for his opera recordings for RCA, particularly of Madama Butterfly, Turandot, Aida, and Un ballo in maschera. Much of this is due to his artistic aesthetic, with a stress on rigorous fidelity to the score to a degree that many found arid in the extreme, and exacting disciplinary standards in dealing with orchestras that gained him a reputation as something of a martinet. In his New York Times obituary of the conductor, Harold Schoenberg aptly wrote, “Although his performances were rarely dramatic or even rousing, he brought to music a kind of rectitude that at its best provided an antidote for orchestra musicians and listeners used to flamboyant and often empty conductorial salesmanship.” Another contributing factor was his undiplomatic bluntness of expression and readiness to criticize publicly the shortcomings of musical colleagues, whether instrumentalists, singers, or fellow conductors, including comments for posterity in a decidedly tart autobiography. He also made no bones about his utter distaste for the extramusical side of being principal conductor of a major orchestra, and after leaving the Boston Symphony on less than ideal terms in 1969, never again (by his own choice) held a permanent position with any ensemble, except with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1978 to 1980. Doubtless the lack of a permanent association with a major ensemble (despite regular guest conducting stints with the Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, and Chicago Symphony) also proved detrimental for his posthumous reputation. My own experience with Leinsdorf during my years in Chicago in the 1980s was one of maddening unevenness. Not just between one work and another, but even between movements within a single work (I particularly recall a 1989 performance of Mozart’s “Posthorn” Serenade), he could immediately move from being crisp, precise, and lively to dry, pedantic, and wooden. For better and worse, the conductor’s unyielding aesthetic is on full display in these performances from the early years of his Boston tenure. All three works presented here are given interpretations of extreme classical restraint, in performances as uninflected as one will likely ever hear. Dynamic extremes are avoided, and rubato, accelerandi, and ritardandi almost totally absent; it takes considerable technical prowess of a sort for the slow introduction of the Schubert Ninth to segue into the faster main section with virtually no alteration in tempo. Similarly in the slow movement of the Schumann, the central violin solo is taken at almost a glacial pace, in order to preserve continuity of tempo with the outer sections. For me, the Wagner excerpt is paradoxically the most successful performance, as the music is sufficiently voluptuous on its own that it benefits from an application of chaste restraint. Leinsdorf’s face is a study in impassiveness; he does not so much as smile, grimace, or otherwise change his blank expression even once. He conducts without a baton, his arms moving like windmill blades in climactic passages. The orchestra plays with clockwork precision. The video quality is superior to those of the older Munch/BSO performances also issued by ICA, but the film still suffers from bleached-out portions toward the outer margins. Bonus tracks include the broadcast announcements by William Pierce preceding the Schubert and Schumann symphonies. In sum, one’s evaluation of these performances will depend entirely on one’s reaction to Leinsdorf’s uncompromising outlook. As someone generally inclined to more romantic interpretations, I come away from these performances with respect for the integrity of the musicianship, but without great enthusiasm for the results. However, if you are someone whose podium idols include figures such as Weingartner and Szell, you may welcome these versions warmly. © 2012 Fanfare Price: $35.98 |