When the eye is on the ball, as it is for example in the very opening of the Symphony in Three Movements, the results are unassailably magnificent, this statement achieving instant lift-off with a weight, precision and profile for its component parts that few, if any, other recorded ensembles can match: Chicago and Solti at their finest, and just one of many examples. But occasionally the eye is either off the ball, resulting in less than wonderful play, or the game is one to which Solti did not naturally relate, in which case the spirit of a challenge proudly overcome, or the spirit of the music itself – and in the case of the Symphony of Psalms, its spirituality – fails to register, even if (as you would expect from this team), the level of execution is never seriously substandard.
The Symphony in Three Movements – here dark and dangerous – is the most impressive performance. And if the more overt neo-classicism of the Symphony in C finds Solti out of sorts with some of its manners and gestures (momentarily sticky expression in the middle movements, and a pressured finale), the oboe solos are a joy after the anaemic oboe of Dutoit’s otherwise more idiomatic Suisse Romande account (Decca, 5/94 – nla), and the balances are superbly judged. Sadly, Chicago’s Symphony Chorus in the Symphony of Psalms seems content merely to stand and deliver. Pitching is decent enough, but I’m at a loss to understand things like the stentorian manner of the piano entry for the finale’s first ‘alleluia’ and ensuing ‘laudates’.
Decca’s recordings are dryish, and, at a low volume setting come across as a little colourless and possibly even featureless after their own efforts for Dutoit, but once you’ve found the ideal setting, they are revealed as a natural medium for the strengths of the musicians and their performances. '