“Vengeance is mine, I shall repay…”
Rachmaninov’s first symphony had a far from auspicious
premiere. From the beginning it received criticism from Rimsky-Korsakov and
Glazunov (who would turn out to be the conductor on the rostrum for the
premiere).
Rachmaninov had written a symphony before (The Youth Symphony)
but it bore little resemblance to this new, dark and foreboding work. Despite
its poor reception at the first performance (Glazunov is thought to have been
slightly drunk at the time) this work has since become regarded as one of the
finest symphonies of it time.
This symphony was written several years after Tchaikovsky had
completed his ‘Pathetique’ symphony, and much like the last three symphonies of
Tchaikovsky, it employs a ‘motto’ theme to draw the work together, uniting the symphony
as a whole. This ‘cyclic’ form had been in use for decades in works by Berlioz,
D’Indy, Franck and other composers wishing to bring thematic unity to a four
movement symphonic structure.
Rachmaninov inscribed on the score “vengeance is mine, I
shall repay” (Romans 12:19). These words from St. Paul echo through the mind as
you hear the symphony progress from its oppressive opening right through to the
closing pages of the symphony, drawing towards its inexorable climax.
This new recording on the BIS label by the Singapore Symphony
Orchestra under Lan Shui completes arguably one of the finest of the recent
Rachmaninov symphony cycles.
The market is certainly a crowded one, but this cycle has
the bonus of pianist Yevgeny Sudbin; his superb performance of the first piano
concerto makes this an even more desirable disc to add to any collection.
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Written by Jason Hatton
