Kurt Sanderling - Rachmaninov: Symphonie Nr. 2 (1997)

This powerful, subjective reading, recorded in Berlin in 1956 when Sanderling and the Leningrad Philharmonic were on tour, has long been one of the classics of the catalog. It harks back to a different era both in its expressive urgency and in the notably flexible manner in which tempo is treated: an era in which passionate, spontaneous, all-out playing was a characteristic of many of the world's greatest musicians, nowhere more than in Russia. Sanderling and the Leningraders impart a high profile to the symphony's many moods, so that the contrast between the gloom of the first movement's introductory Largo and the heart-on-sleeve lyricism that comes later is quite telling. The climaxes are incandescent, but their heat comes less from surface activity than from the pressure of a deep sense of gloom, a fatal undertow, that pervades the entire performance; the connection with Tchaikovsky's "Pathétique" Symphony No. 6 is abundantly clear. Although the sound is monaural, the overall balance and dynamic range are quite impressive. The only drawback is a cut about 10 minutes into the finale that makes the symphony's exultant conclusion seem oddly premature. --Ted Libbey