CD Review: Mozart / Voříšek: Symphonies in D (Gewandhaus / Herbert Blomstedt, conductor) Accentus ACC30574

Blessed with talent and longevity, Herbert Blomstedt’s ascension to his position as one of today’s most revered conductors has been a slow and steady one. For many, he was known for his advocacy of Nielsen, Mendelssohn, Orff, Richard Strauss and Sibelius through his Decca recordings, alongside other recordings of Hindemith, Roger Sessions and Harbison amongst others, which might have hinted at his musically enquiring mind. One former Decca exec told me he considered Blomstedt talented but without the charisma to really grab public attention – a somewhat unfair assessment. Since then, the standard fare of Beethoven, Brahms and Schubert symphonic cycles were committed to disc, but so too have accounts of works by Stenhammer, Lidholm and Rosenberg, which hint at the conductors Swedish ancestry.

The present recording is the latest from Blomstedt and Leipzig’s Gewandhaus Orchestra, with whom he has a long association. On one level, the offering of two D major symphonies might be slightly mean, particularly as one of them is Mozart’s “Jupiter”. Does one really need another recording of that? Maybe not, but then, really its role here is to provide context for the Jan Václav Voříšek (1791-1825) symphony. As one of the great Czech composers, these live recordings made in September 2020, capture concerts dedicated to the Gewandhaus Orchestra’s Czech former chief conductor Václav Neumann.

It is hard to fault the performances of either work, but, for me, it’s the Voříšek one that is the most ear-catching. Elegantly played and directed with refined brio, the first of its four movements is driven forward but not at the expense of musicality. The second movement is no less sophisticated, but its tone is more moody and introspective. Blomstedt captures the atmosphere in a way that Charles Mackerras did not quite in his recording for Decca, as Blomstedt handles the transitions with greater confidence. The third movement could be what Schubert might had written, if only he was Czech. The final movement is robust and riotous, as much fun as it is decent to have with the symphonic form.

The Mozart symphony could be said to be performed with scant regard for historically informed practices: it’s an Old School big boned affair with the repeats observed. To my mind, the symphony benefits from this and surely Mozart knew what he intended. Many of the same characteristics that marked out the Voříšek symphony are present here too: superbly handled transitions, detailed yet unobtrusive playing, excellently atmospheric recording quality. The final movement is lengthy due to the repeats, but it is upbeat and filled with sunshine. What more could one want? More Voříšek, perhaps.