Rotterdam

Lahav Shani and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra bring a superb recording of Bruckner's 5th Symphony.

Rimsky-Korsakov is universally acknowledged as a great master of the orchestra. He even wrote a textbook on the subject consisting entirely of examples from his own music! He needed some sort of pictorial or literary stimulus to really get his imagination going, however. His "abstract pieces," like Symphonies No. 1 and 3, are comparative failures specifically because he believed that symphonic thought was incompatible with orchestral brilliance (he wasn't the only Romantic composer to succumb to that fallacy). So all of his best music is either obviously illustrative, or taken from one of his colorful "fairy tale" operas. This two-disc set gives you an excellent selection of works of both types at a great price.

These readings are sensitive and beautifully, thoughtfully paced. The phrasing is totally idiomatic, too. There is a tenedency to bend phrases like taffy in Borodin. Gergiev, however, has a deep understanding of the structure of these works, which he conveys with a wonderful feeling for dynamics (typically Russian in the brass) and light and shade. This was an early Gergiev/Rotterdam Philharmonic collaboration, but the orchestra already seems totally attuned to the conductor's artistry.

The dynamic young French-Canadian conductor records the symphony that has played a central role in his remarkable career.brbrYannick Nezet-Seguin first heard it live in Montreal at the age of eight. It was the work he chose for his debut with both the Orchestre Meetropolitain du Grand Montreeal and the Philadelphia Orchestra.brbrConducting this quintessentially Russian music with the Rotterdam Philharmonic acknowledges his predecessor on the podium, Valery Gergiev, as well as showcasing the depth and refinement of the Dutch orchestras rich textures.brbrYannick Nezet-Seguin admires Tchaikovsky not just as a composer of heart-breaking melodies but also as a master symphonist.

Lahav Shani, Chief Conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra for the past five years, conducts the Dutch ensemble in Bruckner’s epic Symphony No 7. He admires the Austrian composer for his proverbially grand musical architecture, but also for his vision and the atmosphere he creates as he builds to mighty climaxes over extended periods “ … from a hint of light to the whole world”. Shani’s sense for symphonic structure and drama, and the Rotterdam Philharmonic’s response to it, was evident in their Warner Classics recording of Shostakovich’s Symphony No 5 (released in 2022). Gramophone magazine’s reviewer praised “… an account where the feeling is refreshingly one of rediscovery …. Shani has a wonderful nose for atmosphere … [He] reminds me just how achingly beautiful the slow movement of this piece is … and I don’t think I have ever heard the transition into the hushed final pages sound quite as breathtaking … A terrific disc.”

For his first album with Warner Classics, Lahav Shani conducts the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra in Symphony No. 7 and plays Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4: two pieces which come from Beethoven’s so-called “middle period”. The classical harmonic tension contributes to the drive of the music as much as the rhythmic propulsion. This music features a clarity of texture and, above all, a unity between the melodic motive and the accompaniment. Acclaimed for his “instant chemistry” with the orchestra, Lahav Shani is considered the shooting star amongst conductors – as Der Tagesspiegel puts it: “The young maestro is simply sensational”.

Lahav Shani and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra bring a superb recording of Bruckner's 5th Symphony.