Search - Neeme Jarvi, Eduard Tubin :: Estonian Orchestral Series 1: Symphnies 10 & 6

Recordings in Historical proportions.

David A. Hollingsworth | Washington, DC USA | 08/11/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Like Kyrill Kondrashin, Rudolf Barshai, & other eminent musicians (Rostropovich & his wife Galina Vishnevskaya not excluded), Neemi Jarvi chose to emigrate from the Soviet Regime (& Estonia was one of 15 satelite nation which made up the USSR). Like the before-mentioned artists, Jarvi became a "non-entity" or a "non-citizen." because of his emigration. As a result, the recordings featuring Jarvi (and he made over 50 recordings by 1980) were banned & even destroyed. Music shops were ordered not to sale & distribute any more of such recordings. However, loyal friends, and even fans, managed to hide these recordings until the right time came for their re-issues & their releases. Therefore, their importance cannot be overlooked, for they signified the post-Stalinism USSR's more permissive, although gradual policies in granting artists more artistic freedom enjoyed in the 1920s. This recording is no exception. The overlooked slavonic/nordic Eduard Tubin, the most eminent modern composer of Estonia, was not a socialist realist composer. Tubin strove to exercise artistic freedom as did Shostakovich. Yet they were censored & compelled to revise their works. His Tenth Symphony of 1973, like the Seventh Symphony of Sir Arnold Bax or the Ninth Symphony of Ralph Vaughan Williams, is a musical summary, a final chapter of his musical journey, the journey of life starting with his life in Estonia, before his emigration to Sweden due to the Nazi invasion, and his settling in Sweden until his death in 1982. The Tenth is reflective & culminatory & their no doubt, at least in my mind, that Tubin thought considerably about the past when he embarked on this work. A work of farewell? Perhaps.Tubin Sixth Symphony of 1958, a work of drama and somewhat un-restrained enery, continues where his Fifth Symphony left off. It is his daring piece moving more towards modernism as time passes by. Even though the outer movements begin broadly (as a bolero in the first movement), Tubin waste little time in building up energy in the climaxes of these movement where full orchestral forces are at the peak. The middle movement is energetic almost in its entirety where the saxophone passages are of almost virtuosity.Neemi Jarvi recorded these works once more: The Tenth Symphony with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra & the Sixth with the Swedish Radio Symphony under the BIS recording label. The BIS recordings offer better sound than 1979 recording of the Tenth and the 1962 mono recording of the Sixth. However, the transference into CD format & re-issues were done with great adequacy & the sound is as clear & full as possible, even though the snare drums, the whip, and the tamborines for the Sixth Symphony are almost un-noticeable because of mono sound. The performance were passionate & exciting & there's no doubt that the Estonian orchetras played with a great sense of pride, warmth, and intimacy. They knew that artistic freedom was more of a reality yet a gradual reality. Performances out of defiance because Tubin in a great sense represent defiance to the Soviet ideals? Perhaps.This recording is too good & too important to overlook it. Recommended!!"