Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 3, Symphonic Dances
St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Mariss Jansons, conductor (EMI Classics).
The St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad) Philharmonic is the last great Russian orchestra to retain those elements of native musical tradition and style we understand as being Russian. So it’s good to have this pair of late Rachmaninov works returned to the country of their spiritual origin.
Jansons rightly places both works (they were written for the Philadelphia Orchestra) at the end of the Russian Romantic symphonic tradition. The underrated Third Symphony has perhaps never been played with such red-blooded authority and sweeping excitement.
Even finer are the Symphonic Dances, where Jansons strikes exactly the right balance between idiomatic sentiment and taut rhythmic definition.
