I had to give Jeffrey Tate's EMI performance of Grieg's Peer Gynt music a somewhat poor review last September, and I thus approached his new recording of more incidental music with low expectations. But a different occasion, a different venue and orchestra have produced an entirely different result. In fact, this is such a good disc that I very much wish there were more of it. With Previn's almost complete version of Mendelssohn's score already in their catalogue, you would think that those in EMI who were responsible for Tate's issue would ensure that as much music as possible was included. But no, we have just nine items from Tate, which provide a playing time of a mere 45 minutes, whereas Previn's 13 numbers from the score make up a more respectable 57.
Previn's performance was highly praised in these pages when it appeared originally on LP in 1977, and also when reissued on CD in 1986. Certainly the LSO's playing is very nimble, the singing is good, and the conducting is always very positive. However, I find that Previn doesn't really point the music with much imagination. There's little sense of magic or humour from him. Tate, on the other hand, finds much more spirit and personality in the music, and gives it that eager, bright-eyed quality which one finds elsewhere in the best Mendelssohn performances on disc. His account of the Scherzo is feather-light and joyful, the ''Nocturne'' is played with grace and affection and only the ''Wedding March'' seems just a little heavy by comparison. One oddity lies in bar 651 of the Overture, where the first flute plays a D natural instead of D sharp, to somewhat curious effect. This is clearly a deliberate departure from the printed score, since it is repeated when the same passage recurs in the finale.
The Rotterdam orchestra plays very well, and all the singing is first-rate. The recording is good, but tends to favour lower instruments, particularly the bass tuba. I quite enjoy a prominent 'oompah' here and there, but others might find it irritating.'