Rubinstein: Symphony No. 2 'Ocean' [CD]

Rubinstein's `Ocean' Symphony followed hot on the heels of his first symphony - Rubinstein: Symphonies Vol. 1 - and appeared in its original four movement form in 1851. It was a significant work in his output and, before his popular fourth piano concerto of 1864, did much to put his name on the European map as a composer as well as a piano virtuoso. It was played across the continent, from Russia to England, including an 1854 performance at the Leipzig Gewandhaus no less. Although Balakirev was later to sneeringly refer to it as "a puddle", Rubinstein perhaps sensed the contemporary importance of the symphony in his compositional oeuvre. He continued to tinker with it for the next 29 years, increasing its dimensions with three additional movements and declaring that the work represented "the Seven Seas". It was perhaps to the work's detriment that he added these extra movements and it comes down to us in its final form as a monumental work of (in this performance) almost an hour and a quarter.

As in the first symphony, the influence of Mendelssohn is dominant, particularly in the opening movement, which sounds like a younger sister of that composer's overture `Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage' in some of its woodwind and string writing and in its triumphal coda. It contains some of the strongest melodic ideas in the symphony as a whole, even though the way Rubinstein develops them isn't quite first rate and though the climaxes are rather prosaic and noisy. That movement and the two scherzo-like movements (one labelled `Allegro' and the other `Scherzo' proper) are probably the high points of the score.

The slow movements form the bulk of the symphony and meander somewhat; what's more, their not terribly engaging melodic material is stretched out at some considerable length. The second movement, for instance, is a `lento assai' of 18 plus minutes in which not very much happens at all; it certainly feels as though one has been becalmed at sea and it probably wasn't a good idea to follow that `lento' with a nine minute `andante'. After half an hour of not very pictorial or memorable slow music, the `allegro' comes as a welcome contrast - yet there is a further nine minute `andante' between that and the scherzo, which is followed in turn by an interminable feeling 13 minute `andante' finale.

As I've stated, apart from imaginative and breezy touches in the opening `moderato assai', none of this music is especially pictorial or suggestive and nor is the material particularly memorable. The effect of the symphony overall is somewhat tepid and anodyne. It would be a hard listen in the concert hall, I would think.

Nevertheless, this is an interesting disc: there have been other recordings of this work in its original four movement form, but as far as I am aware this is the only disc that sets the work down according to Rubinstein's final thoughts. For that reason and as a historical curiosity, you might want to consider it. One caveat is that neither the performance nor the sound quality make this a great rendition of the work - both leave lots of room for improvement.

Cautiously recommended for those curious about the byways of Romantic music or about once popular works that have since fallen out of the repertoire. I don't think any of Rubinstein's symphonies, even the better ones, really merit a return to the concert halls when there is so much really interesting and enjoyable out there that is more deserving of rescue, but it is useful to have this documentary of one of Rubinstein's major works.