Symphony 2 / Manfred Symphony

Borodin (Artist), Tchaikovsky (Artist), Kletzki (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 21, 1994)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Testament UK
• ASIN: B000003XIU
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #769,437 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Symphony No. 2 in B minor: I. Allegro

2. Symphony No. 2 in B minor: II. Scherzo: Prestissimo - Trio: Allegretto

3. Symphony No. 2 in B minor: III. Andante

4. Symphony No. 2 in B minor: IV. Finale: Allegro

5. Manfred Symphony, for orchestra (or piano, 4 hands) in B minor, Op. 58: Lento legubre

6. Manfred Symphony, for orchestra (or piano, 4 hands) in B minor, Op. 58: Vivace con spirito

7. Manfred Symphony, for orchestra (or piano, 4 hands) in B minor, Op. 58: Andante con moto

8. Manfred Symphony, for orchestra (or piano, 4 hands) in B minor, Op. 58: Allegro con fuoco

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Testament indeed!, August 15, 2002

By 

John Jobeless (Corte Madera, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Symphony 2 / Manfred Symphony (Audio CD)

Another wonderful release from Testament, which seems never to fail to bring out the glorious sound of the late '40s-early '60s Philharmonia Orchestra. While many CD reissues of old analog recordings improve the sound to varying degrees, Testament routinely manages a quantum leap over the EMI/Angel LPs that first provided access to so many excellent performances. Though unknown by most, nearly forgotten by some, but fondly remembered by a lucky few, Paul Kletzki made many fine recordings in those days. This is probably my favorite version of the Borodin Second, which is not heard nearly as often today as it was in those days. Borodin was incapable of writing anything but tuneful, colorful music. Along with the Second String Quartet, the Second Symphony is among his finest works. Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony is another marvelous but lesser known work; it has become my favorite of his symphonies. Kletzki's performance ranks among the best, with the Silvestri and Markevitch versions, also from the '50s and '60s. Anyone fond of dramatic romantic Russian symphonic music who is unfamiliar with these works might find this disc a welcome surprise; anyone who knows the pieces but not these performances has a treat in store. This disc offers to introduce the listener to many rewards: the riches among Testament's releases, the great Philharmonia sound, a solid conductor, and two great compositions.

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid Performances, May 17, 2004

By 

Jeffrey Lipscomb (Sacramento, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Symphony 2 / Manfred Symphony (Audio CD)

My favorite Borodin 2nds are, in chronological order: 1) the 1929 Albert Coates with the London Symphony in "Great Conductors of the 20th Century (EMI - a great collection that includes a hair-raising "Francesca da Rimini"), 2) Nikolai Golovanov with the Moscow Radio (Multisonic's CD has no date - I would guess c. 1948, possibly a radio broadcast), 3) this 1954 Kletzki, 4) the 1955 Nicolai Malko/Philharmonia (in his EMI "Great Conductors" volume), and 5) the live 1972 stereo Carlos Kleiber with the Stuttgart Radio (on Golden Melodram).

This Testament CD's excellent notes by Tully Potter describe Kletzki as a "romantic" conductor. As Kletzki said in 1962: "The performer is an interpreter, not a station-master directing trains always along the same lines." A letter from Brahms to his publisher Simrock is also quoted: "I'm only able to put sketches on paper. If a performer can't read behind my notes, he'd do better not to touch my music." Ironically, those quotes are far more appropriate to discussing Golovanov's reading - Kletzki here is VERY straight and a bit low voltage. What saves his performance is the superhuman accuracy of the old Philharmonia, which in 1954 was surely one of the world's 2 or 3 finest orchestras. But that accuracy can be a double-edged sword. First Horn Dennis Brain was likely the greatest technician ever to play the instrument - every note here is perfectly executed as written. What is missing - especially after you have heard the principal horn in the Golovanov - is soul. Perhaps it's simply a case of too much brain and too little Slavic heart.

Malko was Russian (he studied with Rimsky-Korsakov and premiered Shostakovich's 1st Symphony), and he gets more idiomatic playing and has a bit more weight - on balance I think he's slightly preferable to Kletzki. Malko also left a fine Borodin 3rd (on a Testament CD). The Coates (he, too, was a Rimsky student and, at age 6, played piano for Tchaikovsky) is played with authentic Russian flair, although the old sound does not capture it fully.

I had never really grasped the "cult" status of Carlos Kleiber until hearing this Borodin. This is tremendously exciting, virtuoso conducting - I feel it is by far the best stereo account. It is part of a 4-disc CD set that includes a live Chicago Beethoven 5th that surpasses Kleiber's celebrated VPO reading on DG.

But if I could have only one recording, it would most definitely be the Golovanov. I listened to it 3 times today - my jaw dropped a little lower with each hearing. This is simply breathtaking, subjective, "over the top" mastery by one of the greatest of all conductors. Literalists will probably be aghast at the expertly-judged flucuating tempos and other liberties taken with the exact letter of the score. But I'm sure that Borodin was much like Brahms: the score is the starting point, not the end in itself. The blaring Russian horns, the reedy winds, and the impassioned string playing strike me as EXACTLY what Borodin had in mind. This music has unbelievably greater stature in Golovanov's hands - and I would rank it as a performance with just about ANYTHING Furtwangler, Mengelberg, or Toscanini ever did.

So for me, it's Golovanov in rather blowsy mono sound, with the Carlos Kleiber as my stereo choice. I will keep Kletzki, Malko and Coates as interesting mementoes from days of yore.

As for the "Manfred," I will be brief. Kletzki's slightly cut version is one of the best ever. I would place it just a couple notches below Constantin Silvestri's Testament CD, coupled with Liszt's "Tasso." The greatest single performance of anything I have ever heard from Kletzki was in a "Manfred" with the Israel Phil. on Angel LP - but I am referring to Schumann's Overture, not this Tchaikovsky. It was utterly gripping - even more so than Furtwangler's. That and Kletzki's classic Mahler 4th show this conductor at his very best.