Day 65: Hidin' Variations

Hey everyone! Welcome to Day 65!

It's getting late, so I'll get right to it without the usual pontificating.


Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 - January 12th, 1952

It has been suggested that the Pastoral was Toscanini's favorite Beethoven symphony, and that could well be true, based both on how frequently it was programmed (eight times at NBC alone) and the conductor's unusually gentle way with the score. I was expecting something very different the first time I listened to this recording, and was pleasantly surprised by Toscanini's supple, caressing manner.

This symphony had last been recorded in the studio by Toscanini fifteen years earlier, with the BBC Symphony. The British orchestra was in most respects a superior ensemble to the NBC Symphony, but they did not respond nearly as well as their American counterparts to Toscanini's unique way with the Pastoral. At once intensely lyrical and pliably benign, the maestro's conception of this work successfully blends the descriptively atmospheric with an emphasis on structural integrity. Most performances force the listener to choose one or the other.

Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Haydn - February 4th, 1952

Although the theme Brahms used for this piece was not written by Haydn, something tells me the piece is never going to be re-titled Variations on a Theme of Dittersdorf. There's just no ring to it.

Toscanini conducted these variations at least forty times over the course of his career, and this 1952 recording was his second studio account of the work. The earlier recording was one of the most outstanding of Toscanini's New York Philharmonic documents, filled with superb rhythmic strength and powerful sonorities. This NBC recording is almost as good - its only stain is some poor woodwind intonation in the first variation.

Brahms: Symphony No. 2 - February 11th, 1952

This is not an ideal Brahms Second. An ideal Brahms Second would have more depth of sonority and structural power. But this recording is still very good, and exhibits many of the best characteristics of Toscanini's work. But not all.

The good news is that this performance has great rhythmic strength to it, and this is a quality that is tragically under-utilized in many readings of this work. For this symphony to work, it is critical that the hemiolas have rhythmic bite and forward momentum. The unique sound of Brahms hinges on this basic principle, and Toscanini succeeds spectacularly in this regard. The climax of the first movement's development section has astonishing power in this recording, and this is largely due to the stunning clarity of the cross-rhythms.

Tempo is another aspect in which I feel Toscanini excels. Brahms left no metronome markings for this symphony (the composer left such indications for only eight of his works), but his Italian tempo indications seem perfectly clear. Yet these are frequently ignored in favor of a behind-the-beat weightiness that hinders the hemiolas from their inherent (and oh so Brahmsian) effect.

This may be useless trivia, but I find it very interesting that Toscanini's overall tempos are very close to those of the very early recording of this symphony conducted by Max Fiedler, a close associate of Brahms. Although the extent to which Fiedler was really at one with Brahms in artistic temperament has been called into question, the historical connection between the two (Fiedler heard Brahms conduct the Symphony No. 2 in 1878, and the composer invited Fiedler to conduct his works from time to time) makes this early recording a fascinating glimpse into performance practice. Although Fiedler conducts with a good deal more rubato than Toscanini, their overall timings for all movements except the Adagio are within twenty seconds of each other. This of course tells nothing of the finer interpretive characteristics of the two, but I don't think overall tempo is a matter that can be entirely overlooked.

The bad news is that there is plenty wrong with Toscanini's recording (shockingly insightful, yes?). The structural turning points are frequently glossed over, and the phrases tend to meander a bit. But what is more bizarre are the balances of this performance. There are many weird moments (for example, the beautiful horn solo that comes right before the first movement's coda is virtually inaudible), but the overall emphasis is so treble-heavy that Brahms's sonorities are egregiously lacking in bloom. I cannot say whether it was rehearsed this way by Toscanini or if it was the result of incompetent engineering by RCA. Whatever the case, a great deal of the Brahmsian power of this music is lost through this bass deficiency.

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That's it for Day 65!

Check back tomorrow for some night music, some death music, and a little-known symphony by a little composer.

Happy Friday!