Joining
Thomas Sanderling and the
Novosibirsk Academic Symphony Orchestra's coupling of Taneyev's First and Third symphonies is this coupling of the Russian fin de siècle composer's Second and Fourth symphonies by the same forces. As before,
Sanderling is clearly committed and puts his formidable technical and interpretive skills at the service of the music. And as before, the Novosibirsk musicians are manifestly giving their all to the music, and if technically they are not up to the level of the best orchestras of Russia's two larger cities, they are at least professional and at most dedicated, which counts for a lot in these little-known symphonies. The one big improvement between the two discs is the quality of the works. The rarely played or recorded Second sounds better here than one might have thought while the more often performed Fourth, beyond all argument Taneyev's greatest achievement in the form, comes off as powerfully shaped and persuasively argued. Naxos' digital sound is still rich, deep, and clear.