Fanfare 2

***** An auspicious debut featuring penetrating conducting, fine playing and great sound.


PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 6, op. 111. SILVESTROV Quiet Music  Dmitry Matvienko, cond; Aarhus SO  OUR 8.226936 (50:54) Reviewed from a FLAC download: 44.1 kHz/16-bit
The debut recording of young Belarusian conductor Dmitry Matvienko not only gives us the opportunity to become acquainted with an exciting new personality, but presents an interesting juxtaposition of musical styles. Matvienko (b. 1990), winner of the 2021 Malko Conducting Competition, has recently been named music director of the Aarhus Symphony and if this recording is any indication, this will prove to be a highly fruitful partnership.
In his interview, Matvienko compared the Prokofiev Sixth Symphony to its immediate predecessor and found that it “speaks in a darker, more complex, more wounded language.” His interpretation certainly brings those aspects to the fore, emphasizing the challenging modernism found in each movement. In the opening movement’s development section, the dissonant clashes are strongly emphasized and throughout the movement the bass lines—cellos, basses, low brass—are unusually potent. The central slow movement is taken at a brisk clip—compare Matvienko’s 14:17 with Neeme Jarvi’s 15:20 or Litton’s 15:52. At the same time, Matvienko avoids outright rushing in the manner of Mravinsky’s 13:24, where all sense of the composer’s marking of Largo is lost. The movement features some fine playing, particularly the penetrating brass at the movement’s climax. Matvienko seems to encourage a greater emphasis on legato phrasing than one hears on most other recordings and it works especially well in this movement. In the finale, the “happy Soviet” main theme is suitably playful and jaunty, with striking low brass punctuation. The climactic “cries of despair” make a powerful impression, not only because they are loud, but because each chord is carefully balanced, allowing one to hear inner voices not audible on other recordings.
Valentin Silvestrov’s Quiet Music creates the strongest possible contrast with Prokofiev’s Symphony. Whereas the latter is constructed on an epic scale and presents a dramatic narrative of symphonic proportions, Silvestrov’s piece employs very simple means to create an introspective, almost Zen-like effect. This is a surprising turn of events, since Silvestrov initially made his mark composing in an avant-garde style that valued complexity above all. Matvienko has spoken of this turn from complexity to simplicity as emphasizing a kind of “inward listening” that encourages “extreme attentiveness.” I found this to be true to the experience of the music. One might on first listening be tempted to dismiss Quiet Music as trivial, but closer acquaintance reveals hidden substance. Here the smallest details make a powerful impression and create a unique aesthetic experience.
Previously, I had heard the Aarhus Symphony in material that lay off the beaten path—Holmboe Symphonies, Riisager orchestral music and the like. But here, against the big boys and girls in Prokofiev, they provide excellent playing, fully up to the level of the competition. The Prokofiev Sixth Symphony has been unusually fortunate on disc, starting with Ormandy’s two recordings (Sony) and continuing more recently with Weller (Decca), Neeme Jarvi (Chandos), Gergiev/LSO (Philips) and Litton (BIS). This recording certainly rivals those. And then there is the recorded sound. It has become almost routine these days when reviewing a new recording to judge the sound quality excellent, but the engineering here really makes quite a spectacular impression—it is easily one of the best recorded orchestral discs I have heard. An exciting young conductor, a fine version of one of the great twentieth-century symphonies and an interesting new piece, all presented in terrific sound. How can one give this disc anything other than the highest recommendation? Michael Vaillancourt