ARAM KHACHATURIAN (1903-1978)
Gayaneh (extracts)
Dance of Rose Maidens
Aysha's dance
Hance of Highlanders
Lullaby
Noune's Dance
Armen's Variuations
Gayaneh's Adagio
Lezghinka
Dance with Tambourines
Sabre Dance
Spartacus (extracts)
Intro and Dance of the Nymphs
Aegina's Dance
Scene and Dance with Crtals
Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia
Dance of the Gaditan maidens and Victory of
Spartacus
Bolshoi Theatre
Orchestra/Evgeny Svetlanov
rec 3-6 Jan 2000
Moscow
LE CHANT DU MONDE (Saison
Russe series) RUS 288171 [62.56]
Crotchet
AmazonUS
While the repertoire is not exactly ground-breaking it is so encouraging
to see the re-emergence of Saison Russe and of Svetlanov with the Bolshoi
Orchestra.
Khachaturyan is one of my core interests and this disc is there among the
top recommendations. The recording is lucid and deep. It is agreeably unreal
in the sense that there some utterly irresistible spotlighting. The highlights,
predictably, are the Spartacus Adagio with the mountain-top trumpets
singing ecstatically and the slithering charm of the serenade elements in
Gayaneh. The Godunov bell-like 'stabs' in the Dance of the
Gaditans (3.05 - track 15) are very well brought off. This music is not
hard to enjoy. On the down side the orchestra seems to falter and lack
self-assurance in the staccato episodes in Armen's Variation (track 6).
We lack an easily accessible complete Spartacus and Gayaneh.
Is it too much to hope that this year's sessions set down the complete works
in each case?
Now PLEASE Chant du Monde snap up from Melodiya the licence for Svetlanov's
Miaskovsky Symphony series. Do the commercially astute thing and issue first
the symphonies 4, 14 and 20. Svetlanov recorded all 27 in the early 1990s
and with the exception of 17, 24 and 25 they have been gathering dust in
the Melodiya vaults ever since. Symphonies 4, 14 and 20 have never been issued
in any format in any version. The world's collectors are waiting with their
credit cards at the ready!
Rob Barnett
