No, the English Chamber Orchestra simply doesn't cut it in Francesca da Rimini's whirlwinds of hell. It's a performance that may prompt smiles on the faces of those used to American finish or Russian fury, and possible thoughts of 'the English ''playing'' at playing Tchaikovsky' (the actual playing leaves a lot to be desired). And what of that curious diminuendo on the final chord? A deflating gesture which might have worked had the performance had enough wind in its sails to begin with (there is a diminuendo marked in my Eulenberg score, but only for the timpani part).
A little harsh? Possibly. As ever, Britten offers us a fresh way of listening to works that obviously meant a great deal to him. Who knows whether he would have deemed this particular Francesca performance (and it is worth a reminder that these are, warts-and-all, one-off live tapings) as living up to his idea of Tchaikovsky played 'in a restrained, though vital way'. It makes sense to moderate the tempos in Tchaikovsky's symphonic fantasies - measured for Francesca's outer whirlwinds, and then urgent and strikingly animated for its central amorous reflections - but this performance often sounds unsure of itself. Had Britten been conducting, say, the LSO, it might have been different.
Romeo and Juliet is better, if you don't mind the rushed accelerando - it's marked poco a poco - into the first Allegro from 4'14'', briefly unsettling the players. But, making for a very engaging listen there are numerous telling nuances of tempo, dynamics, articulation and insistence on Tchaikovsky's own phrase groupings and note values. And for the moments where the ECO's strings are unable to deliver both tone and accuracy of pitch, there are always compensating marvels of strings' expression and character in the slower sections, with the woodwind prominence that results from the orchestra's internal balance bringing its own revelations. Fortunately, there is nothing 'restrained' about the climax of the love music.
The opening flourishes of the Falla - in particular the leaping figures for strings - are striking for the way they sound as if Britten might actually have written them himself. Others may drive El amor brujo with more flamenco fire (Dutoit among them), but I can't think of many that pick out the structure of ideas, the surface detail and the flamenco colourings and atmosphere to the same degree - Reiner possibly, and his tempos are also relatively slow. Anna Reynolds as the gipsy heroine here is quite simply superb - her diction (putting Leontyne Price for Reiner to shame), her raw but not overdone husky tones, and her involvement with words (not printed in the booklet) - for example, the deeply felt gratitude (and relief!) on greeting the morning after a successful night's exorcism. In fact, this Falla is so vividly communicative, it is alone worth the price of the disc.
In the Tchaikovsky items there is a touch of the barn about the Snape Concert Hall acoustics; a rather flat, middle distance balance with hall sound and music-making told, for better or worse, exactly as it was. The Falla brings a fuller sound, deeper perspectives, a tactile presence and more air around the performers - Decca would have been proud of it.'