We too
easily forget Glazunov's world-wide success. His symphonies
in particular had repeated performances during the 1890s
and 1900s in the USA and especially in the UK. Glazunov
himself travelled widely as conductor. Sir Henry Wood
in London was a strong advocate and a staggering number
of multiple performances were programmed by Sir Dan Godfrey
at Bournemouth. Gradually in the 1960s through the export
of various Melodiya performances Glazunov's star began
to rise from the comparative abyss into which it had
sunk during the period 1920-1970. Ivanov and Fedoseyev
had LPs issued in the UK via EMI. Later a reputedly very
fine set - reckoned by the Glazunov Society to be
the reference
set and sadly unheard by me - was recorded by Evgeny
Svetlanov. These were issued on Melodiya CDs during the
early 1990s. Regrettably they seem to have disappeared
although there are rumours that Svetlanov’s Estate will
be reissuing them soon. The Rozhdestvensky set on Olympia – now
long-deleted - is well worth hearing but the level of
aural refinement is not a patch on the present recordings.
The pity is that there is no sign of Fedoseyev's Eurodisc
LP set re-surfacing.
Brilliant Classics - an imprint
of Joan Records - are licensees
par excellence but it is
worth remembering that large swathes
of their Brahms, Mozart and Bach
projects are original sessions.
Recently however they have been
intensely busy with increasing their
catalogue by leaps and bounds from
the catalogues of other labels,
keeping prices down and quality
high. Presentation might suffer
from time to time but the music
does not. In fact the present 7
CD box is well done with its design
choices turning out well rather
than clunky. The sleeve has a stark
white background against which is
set a dark branch-skeletal tree
and with the name of the composer
and the works in matte purple. The
contrast will draw the eye of browser
to this wallet style box. Each CD
sleeve housed in the wallet box
is made of stiff card with detailed
track information on the reverse.
The set
is built around Polyansky's Chandos Glazunov project.
One disc has to break away from this simply because Polyansky
never recorded the Seventh Symphony; not sure why. Instead
the Seventh is represented by a BIS contribution from
Tadaaki Otaka and the BBC Welsh. We also have Yondani
Butt's
Raymonda suite from ASV. The Bis is from
Otaka's complete Glazunov symphonies. The Butt is from
the aborted symphony cycle on ASV Sanctuary. He
got as far as various orchestral poems and the symphonies
3-5 but little else.
Several
of the Polyanskys have been reviewed here and I have
incorporated my reviews, with revisions, into the present
write-up (see end of review for original reviews).
The
first disc gives us his 1881 First Symphony - the work
of a sixteen year old prodigy. The premiere was conducted
by Rimsky-Korsakov who is credited with having given
a strong guiding hand to the young composer. His style
that of Balakirev is felt throughout. Glazunov was a
fine colourist as his ballet The Seasons testifies.
He had a special sympathy with the Kouchka and his dazzling
completion of the Borodin 3rd Symphony is a far more
accomplished work than some rather sniffy commentators
infer. As for the First Symphony the present performance
makes for it one of the most successful arguments I have
heard. The tempo is usually on the broad side as is often
the case with Polyansky. Rozhdestvensky on Olympia has
more vibrant pizzazz but the Russian melancholy is better
conveyed here. The recording is the last word in refinement.
The Violin
Concerto is probably the market leader. Certainly it
is close to the top of the league and here it is more
sympathetically coupled than many. The dancing horns
of the opening bars did not at first seem to bode well.
They were set so far back by comparison with other favourites.
However the moment Juliet Krasko's deft and succulent-toned
playing entered the proceedings the impression changes.
This is a most vibrant and successful performance. There
were times, especially during the flaming finale, where
Krasko appears to be goading the orchestra into a new
access of excitement. Orchestra and conductor seem to
be bucked and jolted along. The result sets the pulse
racing without destroying the poetry of this lovely piece
relegated by ignorance to the ranks of the second or
third league concertos. Chandos also have another version
of the work in their catalogue in which the aristocratic
Oscar Shumsky is the soloist joining Neeme Järvi conducting
the Royal Scottish National Orchestra on CHAN8596. The
coupling is
The Seasons.
This Second
Symphony gives the lie to my criticisms of Polyansky's
Glazunov. While he has produced some top-flight Rachmaninov
and Taneyev his Glazunov 4 and 5 suffer from being under-energised.
The Second is an intensely melancholic-poetic work but
has some explosive and excitingly vigorous music-making
as well. The
Allegro Vivace is rather eldritch
Tchaikovskian as in the
grand guignol of
Nutcracker and
the fairy waterfall scene in
Manfred. The finale
yearns towards Borodin and toys with balletic delicacy.
The performance benefits from distinctive Soviet style
warble of the French horns. The finale is gripping; probably
the best recorded Glazunov Second ever. The symphony
is dedicated to the memory of Liszt.
The seven-section
Coronation
Cantata was written for the coronation of Nicholas
II in May 1896. A glowing and rounded fervour
lights up its pages. The sung words are not reprinted
in the booklet nor are they translated. No doubt they
were in the Chandos original issue. There are separate
movements from the points of the compass. and a further
movement each for
Heaven and Earth,
The Prayer and
the
Finale. Kuznetsova sings without undue vibrato
but Stepanovich is a suitably oaken bass if not of
the sternest when it come to sustaining a note. The
bird-like tone of Lutsiv-Ternovskaya and the return
of Kuznetsova is heard in the duet in the
East and
West movement. Much of the writing in the central
sections has a sweetly honeyed undulation. Grivnov
takes the burden of
The Prayer and makes it
ring with his faintly abrasive but pleasant voice.
Heaven
and Earth is alive with swirling woodwind and harps
and exalted writing for the solo quartet. There's more
vocal-operatic display here than I would have expected
from a
Coronation Cantata. The finale returns
to form with jolly choral writing from the choir. This
work is pleasing to have rather than being totally
compelling.
Rising
mastery is proclaimed by Glazunov's Third Symphony which
in the long first movement tracks through a trademark
fast chanting underpin and then rises to grandeur. This
yet again affirms the lively qualities of the Grand Hall
of the Moscow Conservatoire. A flashing and flittering
Vivace comes
next - always a delight in Glazunov's hands; he was good
at them. There is some lovely curvetting woodwind. This
is a big-boned symphony rather like its predecessor.
It can succumb to power-shortage and Polyansky does play
into this at times though overall the reading is strong.
Sturdy playing from scorching brass and high-singing
strings brings the proceedings to a stentorian end in
the echoing spaces of the Grand Hall. The symphony is
dedicated to Tchaikovsky.
The two
big Concert waltzes are of overture length and are well
enough known. They are leisurely and a shade smug. Each
is nicely done with a serenading suaveness to the fore.
As David Moncur writes in his useful notes these two
waltzes pave the way for his ballets
Raymonda and
The
Seasons. This is certainly true of the leisurely
scene-painting that smiles its way benevolently through
the second of the pair.
The Fourth
is, unusually for Glazunov, in only three movements.
The first of these has a fine rangy oriental romance
blended with Tchaikovskian delirium. Indeed Tchaikovsky
is often a presence here. The second movement is a buzzing
and dancing scherzo where icy woodwind chatter in carefree
delight. The speed is so fast that I thought that co-ordination
slipped in the first couple of moments. These doubts
were soon banished as the balletic music self-kindled
in joyous celebration worthy of Glazunov's most popular
ballet score
The Seasons. The finale's trampling
Cossack charge is all excitement and grandeur. The brass
echo-effects - horns to trumpets - are truly exhilarating.
The Fifth
Symphony is one of Glazunov's most popular symphonies.
It has catchy themes and is amongst the most dramatic
of the Eight. In Polyansky's hands however the broad
approach sometimes teeters over the edge into torpor.
This is noticeable in the first movement and somewhat
in the fourth and final movement. At these points the
performance would have benefited from a more taut and
snappy direction. Tchaikovsky's 5th symphony is a clear
influence with its admixture of ballet and drama. The
second movement is again balletic resorting to flashy
display which conveys sincerity and is not at all meretricious.
The big romantic theme may well have inspired Prokofiev's
Classical
Symphony (1914); listen carefully you may be surprised.
The delicate emotional pastels of the
Andante are
glowingly done. The finale's ‘Russian Easter Festival’ is
as explosive as Tchaikovsky 4 but here is taken with
a rather broader pacing. It could have taken more accelerator.
That said the lightning flashes and the thunder crashes
in a contest in which richly Rimskian darkness meets
Tchaikovsky's emotional fever. Another familiar voice
(at 2:33) is Rachmaninov's First Symphony - the disastrous
premiere of which was presided over by Glazunov. In the
finale Polyansky recaptures much of the work’s innate
nervy invigoration.
Polyansky's
reading of the mature Sixth Symphony confirms its epic
qualities. A rounded theme heavy with Russian Orthodox
overtones is instantly a presence in the first movement
with its louring storm clouds. The
Theme and Variations is
peaceful interlude perhaps in parts prefiguring Elgar's
Enigma in
its gentler riverside moments. Its
Intermezzo Allegretto has
some of the typical scherzo qualities of the standard
Glazunov scherzo. The finale’s heavy emphatic quality
is accentuated by a ponderous lumber although one can
see where Rachmaninov might have drawn some of the inspiration
for his finale of his First Symphony; the one supposedly
done to death by Glazunov's conducting. Its a grand finale
with something in common with the Glazunov Eighth and
Brahms First and Fourth.
The balletic
early
Characteristic Suite is full of well-drawn
vignettes. It was written between the first two symphonies.
The music is lightly Tchaikovskian with a magically hushed
Pastorale
and Elegie which recall Balakirev and Borodin. The
Danse
Orientale is very nicely exotic with puttering side-drum,
sinuous woodwind and a whirling bustle suggestive of
the casbah. It helped establishing an idiom soon to be
taken up by Hollywood: think of Rózsa and Herrmann. A regal
and slightly bombastic
Cortege rounds things to
a conclusion. None of it is exactly compelling but there
is pleasant invention here.
When it
comes to the Seventh Symphony, occasionally known as
The
Pastoral, the overarching tempo is slow. Otaka's
clear-eyed and carefully controlled view works much better
in this context. The music sings along in contemplation
of rural scenes. Time and again the pastoral image shared
with Beethoven's Sixth comes home with strength. The
BBC Welsh are an extraordinary orchestra but I thought
their wind section less than brilliant at the start of
the scherzo. The highlight is the bustling and bubbling
Allegro
Maestoso. Otaka lets fly with lovely avian song effects
and
joie de vivre. A sturdy and finally brilliant
finale in its tramping scathing brass fleetingly recalls
Tchaikobsky's
Francesca. He puts that voice aside
at the last to return to his most sturdy and grandiloquently
imperial manner
à la Sixth Symphony.
Yondani
Butt did great work for ASV amid the music of the Russian
nationalist school. He can be heard extensively in Brilliant's
Rimsky Korsakov box alongside the truly gifted Tjeknavorian.
In the seven movements from the large-scale
Raymonda he
essays, without the final sweep of a Tchaikovsky, the
grand balletic Bolshoi manner. Like the
Characteristic
Suite this is pleasing rather than completely compelling
although overall it holds the attention much better.
I really enjoyed the trembling trumpet solo of the
Scene
- Entrée de Raymonda and the medieval Chatelaine
evocation conjured by the harp-led
Romanesca and
Prelude
- Variations (trs. 8, 9); lovely stuff. The sidling
insidious
Valse Fantastique brings this sequence
to a florally-flavoured swaying close.
The big
Eighth Symphony was to be his last. Unless you can find
the Olympia Rozhdestvensky cycle of Glazunov symphonies
which included the Ninth in Gavriil Yudin's completion
you will look for this in vain although there may be
a Naxos Ninth. The Eighth is a big-boned symphony rather
akin to the Sixth. In four movements, it is dark, louring
and heavy with the threat of those Revolutionary times
when insurrection was in the air. The
Mesto seems
an early precursor to the Shostakovich slow movements.
A slightly manic
Allegro is interspersed with
swooningly romantic asides (1:32). The pomp of the finale
has some genuinely inspired and inspiring music. This
is contrasted with poetic moments comparable with Elgar's
more contemplative music in the First Symphony and in
Enigma, both predating this work. The finale is a jamboree
of sturdy sovereign celebration written as if to mark
a grand state occasion. Polyansky is excellent in this.
The
Commemorative
Cantata (for the centenary of the birth of Pushkin)
is about 16 minutes in length. A companion to the
Coronation
Cantata, it is satisfying that these two works
have at last been recorded. The Pushkin is, unsurprisingly
given its inspiration, a far more poetic and enthralling
work than the Coronation piece - itself no slouch.
However here the composer is obviously gripped by his
great lyrical subject with a heaven-striding melody
for the choir in the opening
Allegro. Kuznetsova
sings with great sensitivity in the
Berceuse in
a glorious spring-like cantilena. This carries over
to the chillier
Moderato which includes woodwind
writing recalling the gusts and gales of
The Seasons -
itself a glaring omission from this cycle. Vsevolod
Grivnov is on lean and lyrical form for his
Aria -
the penultimate section sometimes sounding passingly
like
Sanctus Fortis from
Gerontius. The
final hymn has both Grivnov and Kuznetsova in honeyed
cantabile duet leading into the choir which here and
elsewhere sounds positively Scandinavian in its sensibility.
This is vintage and sensationally fine Glazunov and
should be very much better known.
Fittingly,
after the Pushkin, comes Polyansky's version of the
Poème
Lyrique - placid and gentle of demeanour with a Tchaikovskian
aftertaste (1.23). It is as close as Glazunov got to
a Delian tone poem and was well chosen to follow the
magnificent Pushkin cantata.
This is
an often joyous set and for the small outlay an astonishing
bargain to encourage your experimenting with Glazunov.
Rob Barnett
see also reviews of the original
Chandos or BIS releases of CD1,
CD4,
CD6
and CD7
Note. Readers may also like to look at Polyansky’s
recording of Glazunov’s extended score for
The King
of the Jews (1913) again on Chandos (
see
review)
Detailed List of Contents
CD 1 [59:10]
Symphony No. 1 in E major Op.
5 “
Slavyanskaya” (1881) [37:26]
Violin Concerto in A minor
Op. 82 (1904) [21:36]
Julia Krasko (violin)
Russian State Symphony Orchestra/Valeri
Polyansky
CD 2 [72:59]
Symphony No. 2 in F sharp minor
Op. 16 (1886) [46:05]
Coronation Cantata, Op. 56 (1896) [26:37] (Introduction & Chorus
[3:34]; The South [3:31]; The North [2:13]; East and
West [4:19]; A Prayer [2:46]; Heaven and Earth [6:48];
Finale [3:23])
Olga Lutsiv-Ternovskaya (soprano);
Ludmila Kuznetsova (mezzo); Vsevolod Grivnov (tenor);
Dmitri Stepanovich (bass)
Russian State Symphonic Cappella
Russian State Symphony Orchestra/Valeri
Polyansky
CD 3 [65:55]
Symphony No. 3 in D major Op.
33 (1892) [46:51]
Concert Waltz No. 1 in D major Op. 47 (1894) [9:11]
Concert Waltz No. 2 in F major Op. 51 (1895) [9:21]
Russian State Symphony Orchestra/Valeri
Polyansky
CD 4 [67:08]
Symphony No. 4 in E flat major
Op. 48 (1893) [32:13]
Symphony No. 5 in B flat major
Op. 55 (1895) [28:37]
Russian State Symphony Orchestra/Valeri
Polyansky
CD 5 [67:19]
Symphony No. 6 in C minor Op.
58 (1896) [34:26]
Characteristic Suite in D major Op. 9 (1887) [32:18] (Introduction,
andante [4:25]; Intermezzo, scherzando moderato [6:44];
Carnaval, presto [4:36]; Pastorale, moderato [4:58];
Danse orientale, allegro [4:05]; Élégie, adagio [4:36];
Cortège, alla marcia-maestoso [3:10])
Russian State Symphony Orchestra/Valeri
Polyansky
CD 6 [55:10]
Symphony No. 7 in F major Op.
77 (1902) [43:45]
Raymonda, Ballet Suite Op. 57a (1898) [21:04] (Introduction-scene
[5:44]; La Traditore [1:39]; Scene-Entrée de Raymonda
[3:10]; Prélude et la Romanesca [2:02]; Prélude et Variation
[1:10]; Entr’acte [3:13]; Valse fantastique [4:07])
BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Tadaaki
Otaka (7)
London Symphony Orchestra/Yondani
Butt
CD 7 [67:27]
Symphony No.8 in E flat major
op.83 (1905) [39:59]
Commemorative Cantata for
the Centenary of the Birth of Pushkin, Op. 65 (1899) [15:52]
Poème Lyrique, in D flat major Op. 12 (1887) [11:11]
Ludmila Kuznetsova (mezzo);
Vsevolod Grivnov (tenor)
Russian State Symphonic Cappella
Russian State Symphony Orchestra/Valeri
Polyansky
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 93565