Giuseppe Sinopoli projects Liszt’s “Mephistopheles” with such unrelenting urgency that he could as well be fighting the devil in person. True, the recorded balance keeps the strings fairly close at hand (the actual sound image is not dissimilar to EMI’s on their Masur/Leipzig Liszt series), but the playing itself has real drive and panache, frequently throwing caution to the winds in pursuit of maximum spontaneity (as regards tempo, Sinopoli beats Bernstein to the finishing post by no less than ten minutes). I am convinced that this is absolutely the right way to approach Liszt’s orchestral music, although sticklers for executive precision will no doubt quibble over the odd patch of scrappy ensemble. Not that Sinopoli is inattentive to the subtler aspects of Liszt’s greatest orchestral work: 14'57'' into Faust’s own portrait, he effects superb control at the soulful passage where the opening theme (played on lower strings) is merged with the second subject (on woodwinds). Both here and throughout the following two or three minutes (which witness a huge, Rheingold-style climax and a return to Faust’s urgent striving) he keeps the argument moving. Gretchen is both responsive and transparent, especially at 8'54'' where cellos and violins call to each other above a fluid woodwind accompaniment. The symphony’s brief choral finale, where “woman’s eternal soul leads us on high” and Vinson Cole is in good voice, finds Sinopoli favouring Wagnerian drama rather than pre-Mahlerian expansiveness. The chorus are excellent, the sound forward, forceful and prone to highlight whoever plays loudest (in that respect, it is very much a live production). Also, some may find certain extraneous noises – including Sinopoli’s low-key vocal contributions and energetic footwork – a mite distracting.
DSG’s absorbing booklet-note for the Leonard Bernstein release informs us that at a particular Tanglewood concert in 1941 (August 8th) Bernstein scored a triumph in modern American repertoire and Serge Koussevitzky conducted the first two movements of A Faust Symphony. Some 20 years later Bernstein himself made a distinguished recording of the work, faster than this superb 1976 Boston remake by almost five minutes yet ultimately less involving. The passage of time witnessed not only an easing of tempo but a heightened response to individual characters, be it Faust’s swings in mood and attitude, Gretchen’s tender entreaties or the unpredictable shadow-play of “Mephistopheles”. Orchestral execution is first-rate, the strings in particular really showing their mettle (such biting incisiveness), while Bernstein’s pacing, although often slower than average, invariably fits the mood. The sound too is far warmer and more lifelike than its rather opaque New York predecessor, although when it comes to the tenor soloist in the closing chorus, I rather prefer both Sinopoli’s Vinson Cole and Sony’s sweet-toned Charles Bressler to DG’s more strident Kenneth Riegel.
As to the current Faust situation on CD, bargain-wise one might say that Bernstein’s Boston recording takes first place, followed by Kurt Masur and Bernstein/NYPO in second, and Andras Ligeti’s digital Naxos recording in third. Sir Simon Rattle’s full-price Berlin Philharmonic recording is also recommended, though for me, Sinopoli in Dresden and Bernstein in Boston offer the most compelling available reportage of an endlessly fascinating score.'