Mindpoke - Mostly Music

  Petrushka - Fricsay Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra Jesus Christe Kirke Berlin Fricsay’s recording is in mono and like Stokowski’s version it needs no apology. The    the Berlin Radio Orchestra show a dramatic command of the peace and Fricsay keeps the rhythms very taut, the tempi are very brisk and the inflection jaunty and stylish.  The middle tableaux are tremendous Fricsay clears the textures and points the rhythms. Despite the mono we hear the harps and percussion very clearly.    He’s also brisket breezy when required and savage at times. The tutti passages are marvellously clear. As we find with Hungarian trained conductors, there’s a visceral aspect to the rhytm which is ideal in this work.  The fourth tableau is a Wonderland. Such clarity, pace and colour most particularly when Stravinsky reduces the score to pairs instruments often with subtly different phrasing and we hear both here. The score is more colourful than many of the later readi...