Petrenko, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra - Rachmaninov: Symphony No 3, Caprice Bohemien (2012)

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Petrenko, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra - Rachmaninov: Symphony No 3, Caprice Bohemien (2012)

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Award-winning conductor Vasily Petrenko’s exceptional abilities as a renowned, inspiring conductor with major media appeal set him apart from the majority of his contemporaries. He is the youngest ever Principal (now Chief) Conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and will add the role of Chief Conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic beginning with the 2013/2014 season. His commitment to musical education has led him to act as Principal Conductor or the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and to be a founding member of the board of the UK’s "Building on Excellence: Orchestras for the 21st Century” scheme, which endeavours to increase the participation in classical and cultural events amongst British youth.

Vasily Petrenko conducts the RLPO for Rachmaninov’s third and most expressive symphony, paired with his capriccio on gypsy themes, the Caprice Bohémien.

This will be the first of a run of exciting releases focusing on the Russian music of Petrenko’s heritage.

Since Petrenko took up the baton of the RLPO’s Principal Conductor in 2006 (and then Chief Conductor in 2009), this partnership has flourished; and the orchestra is now described as “premier league”. Vasily has now committed to staying with the orchestra until 2015.

Composer: Sergei Rachmaninov
Conductor: Vasily Petrenko
Orchestra/Ensemble: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

Reviews: If you regard Rachmaninov’s Third Symphony as a decadent, nostalgic remnant of Czarist Russia, then you really should hear this performance. The music couldn’t sound fresher, lighter, or more modern. It’s not that Vasily Petrenko slights those lush, romantic elements, but he certainly doesn’t dwell on them either. His handling of the “tempo rubato” second subject of the first movement is typical, and I offer a sample below. If you like it, then buy this recording. One thing is certain: there isn’t a dull moment anywhere is this performance. The music surges, flows, and dances, with an urgency and lightness that you won’t believe possible.

One other aspect of the interpretation deserves mention, and it’s an important one. It concerns dynamics. So many performances make heavy weather out of the start of the finale: the “bull in a vodka shop” approach. It’s actually very interesting, but if you consult the score (now readily available thanks to Boosey & Hawkes in a nicely printed popular edition) it’s fascinating to note that Rachmaninov’s indicated dynamics are actually only mezzo-forte in the brass, and Petrenko takes great care to ensure that the indicated volume is observed, and that the string articulation is accordingly light and bouncy. The result has a remarkable dance-like quality that’s wholly convincing.

As for the rest of the disc, the presence of Vocalise was inevitable, but the Caprice bohémien is a delightful work, far too little known, and it’s as splendidly played as the symphony. EMI’s engineers do everyone proud. If you’ve been collecting Petrenko’s Naxos recordings, you know just how well the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic plays for him, and so the general excellence of this release will come as no surprise. This is definitely a distinctive view of Rachmaninov, a breath of fresh air, and a nice complement to more traditional approaches.