Suk - Asrael Symphony in C minor, Op.27 [CD]

While this recording is not Mackerras' last - it was recorded over two live performances at the Rudolfinum in Prague in April 2007 - it is, I understand, the last unpublished recording of his, so I think that's it as far as this conductor is concerned.

With this being a new release by a much-respected, nay, loved, conductor, it might be easy for sentiment to get in the way of a reasoned and balanced response to the performance itself, so I have tried not to get all mushy in either my listening or my response; besides, this work, Suk's bitterly, deeply felt means of coping with the double loss of both beloved father-in law Dvorak, and of wife, Otylka, can be overwhelming in its sorrow and in its unrelenting misery. It takes a fine conductor to bring off the right balance of grief, resignation and acceptance of the hand of Death. Talich's yardstick 1952 mono recording, for example, can be quite a depressing experience before the resolution of the final movement. It is rightfully a revered reading, but it can make for uncomfortable listening. Some of the deeper emotions are skipped over in Neumann's or in Pesek's versions, so of modern recordings I'd put Belohlavek's reading on Chandos and Kubelik's on Panton as the ones which get the balance right.

To that short list, now add Mackerras. This is a fabulously dramatic reading which takes us from the numb anger of the first movement, through the pain of the second, the happy memories of the third, the numb grief of the fourth, into reconciliation in the finale. As an example of the right level of understated but effective drama, listen to the timpani Mackerras gets at the end of the first movement - dull relentless thuds, rather than melodramatic thunder. And in the final pages, as the music resolves into C major, Mackerras' has a serenity that can only be matched by Kubelik or Talich.

Fantastic playing throughout from the Czech Philharmonic - this is their music after all - and an open spacious recording (not an easy venue to get right!) make this the version to go for if you are new to the work, although it doesn't completely displace either Talich or Kubelik (the latter remains marginally my favourite reading); or if you want another view on this giant of a work, this will make a fine supplement to your collection, and is a worthy testament to Mackerras' relationship with this orchestra, and Czech music in general.

I have long held a strong affection for the Asrael Symphony but I've never succeeded in finding a satisfactory recording. I first discovered it in the magnificent recording by Vaclav Talich and the Czech Philharmonic from 1952 (also revered by Sir Charles Mackerras, the conductor of this new CD). That came in a great boxed set with the definitive performance of the Serenade for Strings and a gloriously ripe performance of Ripening. Sadly, they all suffered from that excessively cramped, desiccated and boxy sound, characteristic of Supraphon in those days. Subsequent recordings by the likes of Vaclav Neumann, Libor Pesek and Jiri Belohlavek, despite their impeccable Czech credentials, never usurped that original performance, even though they boasted much better modern sound. My enthusiasm for the piece still remained undimmed but unsatisfied.

Now comes this live performance from Easter 2007 in the Rudolfinum with Mackerras and the Czech Philharmonic, recorded in Sir Charles' glorious Indian Summer. His credentials in Czech music - be it Dvorak, Smetana, Martinu or, above all, Janacek - need no rehearsing here. Suffice to say that I'm finally satisfied - no, moved, overwhelmed and reassured in my opinion of the work.

It is a piece essentially about grief rather than tragedy - grief in all its forms from bitterness, anger, depression, frozen immobility, the nostalgia of memory to final acceptance. The Symphony sprang from Suk's reaction, first to the death of his father-in-law and mentor, the composer Dvorak. But when the first three movements were written, a second hammer-blow struck with the death at a painfully young age of his much loved wife (and Dvorak's daughter), Otilka. His original plan for a Variation-form Finale was abandoned and replaced by the final two movements we have in the finished work.

The whole symphony is permeated by what we might call the death-motif, which appears in different guises in every movement. Sir Charles is at pains to ensure that we always recognise it, whether with the awesome hammering of a Fate rhythm on the timps in the first movement, with that tattoo echoing in the distance in the second right through to its amazing transformation to a final major-key appearance - offering resignation, if not hope - at the end of the Finale. It always seems to me to be a musical equivalent of the transformation of the Furies into the Eumenides, the Kindly Ones, in Aeschylus' Oresteia.

One of the great features of this performance is just how Czech it sounds. In these days of a homogeneity of sound among the jet-setting international orchestras, it is pleasing to hear the kind of national characteristics in an orchestra that was once the norm. I don't know whether it's Mackerras' usual meticulous attention to detail, the engineers at the sound-desk or the orchestra itself returning to its roots, but there is a flavour to the brass and particularly the horns which is uniquely Czech (though the sound of the brass orchestration at the end reminds me a lot of James MacMillan's brass choirs). The strings, too, have a warmth as well as an edge that was once familiar among Russian and Slav bands. And the woodwind also cut through the textures in a way that suits this music to a T.

Mackerras conducts quite magnificently. I think he learnt the piece from his mentor as a student, the same Talich who conducted that great 1952 performance, and it shows. Time and again he plumbs to the depths of this often searingly heartbreaking music. He has the full measure of it in all its moods - defiant and angry in the first movement, filled with painful memories in the fourth and movingly consoling at the end.

At last, here is a performance and a recording of the Asrael that fully justifies my long faith in it. It is a live performance, but the audience is admirably quiet until the applause at the conclusion. The recording is everything one could ask - natural and with great depth. All in all, a highly recommendable release, well worth exploring if you don't know the piece.

I recently heard a Decca recording of Suk's Summer Tale, and Fantastic Scherzo. This is a stunning performance and recording, and the Scherzo particularly is remeniscent of Dvorak,s style. Mackerras' sympathy with Czech music is well known, and it shows in the fine Decca recording. The sleeve note talked about the Asrael symphony, and my appetite was kindled. Unfortunately, the Asrael symphony, an expression of Suk,s grief at the death of his wife and Father in law, is very heavy going. As far as I could tell the performance is fine, as one would expect from Mackerras. However, the recording quality from Supraphon, though very fine, is not so spectacular or as clear as the Decca.
So a slightly cool reception from me. John Drew