REPERTOIRE
France

TCHAIKOVSKY Serenade for Strings, Quartet No. 1 (arr. Rachlevsky),
Elegie, Scherzo in D minor (arr. Rachlevsky) (CLAVES CD 50-9116)

Here we find again the same pleasure that this Moscow group gave us in some Shostakovich arrangements. Rachlevsky has succeeded in creating a true personality, if not a unique sound, for his chamber orchestra, and this in a country which has lost a good part of its traditions or a least has so far failed to recreate its potential in symphonic groupings. The gap in the market selected by this orchestra is chiefly determined by the needs of the record companies; nevertheless their particular blend of sound is by no means impersonal. Beneath the energy of the direction one can sense a core of equilibrium and a distinction between the different desks of the orchestra, qualities which produce most convincing version of a repertoire which is far from widely known. Rachlevsky, a talented arranger, here offers us some transcriptions from his own vineyard, notably of the First Quartet and of the Scherzo. There is much to admire in the enlargement of the sound, which is well suited to the impassioned and romantic style of the work (the composer's own transcription of the Andante is well known). As far as Scherzo, it comes from the second of the Souvenir's d'un lieu cher.

STEPHANE FRIEDERICH