Presto Recording of the Week
16th May 2025

Sinfonia of London, John Wilson

Symphony No. 1 in D minor, Op. 13
Symphonic Dances, Op. 45

John Wilson and Sinfonia of London complete their set of Rachmaninoff symphonies with this recording of the First Symphony and the Symphonic Dances. Rachmaninoff hoped that the First Symphony, composed in 1895, would build on the reputation of his graduation opera Aleko, which had proved a great success. The première, in St Petersburg in March 1897, was, however, a disaster. Rumour had it that the conductor, Alexander Glazunov, was drunk: true or false, it seems clear that he had little interest in the piece, leading to a raft of scathing reviews. This setback hit Rachmaninoff very deeply, and is considered by many to be the reason for the following three-year creative block only lifted by a course of hypnotherapy.

Rachmaninoff left the score in Russia when he fled the revolution in 1917, and it was subsequently lost. Two years after his death it was reconstructed from a set of orchestral parts in the Leningrad Conservatory, and given its second performance, in Moscow, in October 1945, since when it has gained its place as standard orchestral repertoire around the world.

The Symphonic Dances were written towards the very end of the composer’s life, and started out in a version for two pianos , which Rachmaninoff performed with Vladimir Horowitz. He then set about orchestrating the work, which was first performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandy in January 1941. Set in three movements, the Symphonic Dances reference the theme from the final movement of the First Symphony. In this recording, Sinfonia of London plays from John Wilson’s own performing edition of the work.

"For those (and I include myself) accustomed to recordings by conductors such as André Previn, where the emotions are arguably presented in a more immediately heart-on-sleeve fashion, it might take a while to clock in to Wilson's differing approach, but by the end of the symphony I was entirely won over to his cause. If anything it makes the climaxes even more rewarding having been preceded by a modicum of restraint beforehand." - James Longstaffe, Presto Music, 16th May 2025