|
|
Buy
through MusicWeb
for £10.50 postage paid World-wide.
Musicweb
Purchase button |
Vissarion SHEBALIN (1902-1963)
Complete A Cappella Choral Cycles
Five Choruses. Words by A. Pushkin, Op. 42 (1949) (first recording)
Three Choruses to Words by M. Lermontov, Op. 47 (1951)
Three Choruses to Verses of A. Sofronov, Op. 44 (1949)
Six Choruses to Words by M. Tank, Op. 45 (1950)
Four Choruses to Words by M. Isakovsky, Op. 50 (1952)
Three Choruses to Verses by Moldavian Poets, Op. 52 (1959-60)
To my Grandchildren: Four Choruses for Children, Op. 57 (1963)
In the Forest Clearing: Seven Choruses for Children, Op. 59 (1963)
Home Guards’ Chorus, ‘Oh, my Dawn!’, from the film Glinka (1946)
Russkaya Conservatoria Chamber Capella/Nikolay Khondzinsky
rec. 3 and 16 April and 14, 16, 19 May 2008, Studio One, Russian
Radio House, Moscow
TOCCATA CLASSICS TOCC0112 [53:13]
|
|
Siberian-born Shebalin has come in for some stick because of
works such as the Dramatic Symphony on V I Lenin for
narrator, four soloists, chorus and orchestra written in 1931,
revised 1959 and recorded by Gauk (Olympia OCD204). That’s as
may be but other composers including Shostakovich, Prokofiev,
Miaskovsky and Kabalevsky, now revered or at least enjoyed,
wrote works that sang to the leadership of the day. Our expectations
of the lives of composers can often be more demanding and unrealistic
than we would expect of ourselves. We frequently leave out of
the reckoning the need to earn a crust, even to live. Also we
need to reconcile ourselves to the fact that a composer’s actual
or seeming support for an odious regime does not preclude attractive
music and better.
In addition to the Lenin work Shebalin wrote five symphonies
all produced by Olympia: 1 and 3 on OCD577, 2 and 4 on OCD597
and 5 on OCD599.
The nine string quartets were also recorded by Olympia.
Beyond the now defunct Olympia orbit we find the Horn Concerto
on Koch
and the Violin Concerto on Regis.
Shebalin’s studies were pursued in Omsk (1921-3) and Moscow
(1923-3); the latter under Miaskovsky. His works include: Blue
May, Free Country, cantata for chorus and orchestra (1930)
and Moscow, a cantata for soloists, chorus, organ and
orchestra (1946). His four act opera The Taming of the Shrew
(1946-1956) was recorded in excerpt form by Melodiya. There’s
another called Sun over the Steppe (1939-1959) as well
as reconstructive jobs completed on Mussorgsky's Sorochintsy
Fair (1931-1932) and Tchaikovsky's The Voyevoda.
He also transcribed Mussorgsky's Night on the Bare Mountain
for bass, chorus and orchestra. Like many another Russian composer
of the Soviet era he wrote for the cinema – there are 21 scores.
The singing of these a cappella pieces - 36 tracks some
very short - is magnificent. These settings are by turns resolute
and poetic with plenty of variety, The choir sports a treasurably
silvery and inwardly lit soprano sound. The music evidently
matters to these singers and meticulous professional attention
is accorded to every note.
The music glows soulfully (tr. 12), shows a carefree elite virtuosity
and makes play with skipping pinpoint dynamic variation. Cliff-edge
changes are handled superbly. Accurate singing from men in tr.
8 and from the men and women in tr. 24 is a pleasure to hear.
It’s really bright and delivered at such speed. More than once
the music recalled the English choral settings bv Grainger and
Moeran. There’s even some Grainger style humming in tr. 18.
Russian plainchant is clearly an influence but delightfully
used in a secular context. Setting. Trs 3 and 10 recall the
inky-deep basses in the best 1960s Sveshnikov recording of Rachmaninov’s
Vespers. The Opp. 57 and 59 collections were written for children’s
voices but the women handle them cogently and with great success.
The Oh My Dawn chorus from the Glinka film score
is soulful rather than march-swinging. The recording has been
made in a lovely complementary acoustic.
Rob Barnett
Detailed Tracklist
Five A Cappella Choruses. Words by A. Pushkin, Op. 42 (1949)
Vissarion Shebalin, composer
Russkaya Conservatoria Chamber Capella, choir
Nikolay Khondzinsky, conductor
(first recording) 9:10
1 No. 1, Message to the Decembrists 2:17
2 No. 2, Song about Stenka Razin 1:30
3 No. 3, The Winter Road 1:50
4 No. 4, Chattering Magpie 0:52
5 No. 5, Echo 2:41
6-8 Three A Cappella Choruses to Words by M. Lermontov, Op. 47 (1951)
Vissarion Shebalin, composer
Russkaya Conservatoria Chamber Capella, choir
Nikolay Khondzinsky, conductor
(first recording) 5:32
6 No. 1, The Warrior’s Grave 3:01
7 No. 2, The Sail 1:21
8 No. 3, The Cliff 1:10
9-11 Three A Cappella Choruses to Verses of A. Sofronov, Op. 44 (1949)
Vissarion Shebalin, composer
Russkaya Conservatoria Chamber Capella, choir
Nikolay Khondzinsky, conductor
(first recording) 6:22
9 No. 1, Immortelle 2:30
10 No. 2, The Wild Grapevine 2:41
11 No. 3, Wormwood 1:11
12-17 Six A Cappella Choruses to Words by M. Tank, Op. 45 (1950)
Vissarion Shebalin, composer
Russkaya Conservatoria Chamber Capella, choir
Nikolay Khondzinsky, conductor
(first recording) 11:24
12 No. 1, The Cossack urged on his steed 1:38
13 No. 2, A Mother’s Thoughts of her Son 1:53
14 No. 3, The Skylark 1:37
15 No. 4, To a Birch Tree 2:15
16 No. 5, Spring Beauty 2:29
17 No. 6, Over the Burial-Mounds 1:32
18-21 Four A Cappella Choruses to Words by M. Isakovsky, Op. 50 (1952)
Vissarion Shebalin, composer
Russkaya Conservatoria Chamber Capella, choir
Nikolay Khondzinsky, conductor
(first recording) 5:31
18 No. 1, Let Every Hour be Happy! 1:32
19 No. 2, The Oak 1:00
20 No. 3, It is fine to stroll in spring 1:40
21 No. 4, Autumn 1:19
22-24 Three Choruses to Verses by Moldavian Poets, Op. 52 (1959-60)
Vissarion Shebalin, composer
Russkaya Conservatoria Chamber Capella, choir
Nikolay Khondzinsky, conductor
(first recording) 4:44
22 No. 1, Twilight in the Valley 1:31
23 No. 2, The Poplar 1:36
24 No. 3, Mariora is going away 1:37
25-28 To my Grandchildren: Four Choruses A Cappella for Children, Op. 57 (1963)
Vissarion Shebalin, composer
Russkaya Conservatoria Chamber Capella, choir
Nikolay Khondzinsky, conductor
(first recording) 2:49
25 No. 1, In the Orchard 0:44
26 No. 2, The Bee 0:41
27 No. 3, Raindrops 0:30
28 No. 4, Summer is here 0:54
29-35 In the Forest Clearing: Seven A Cappella Choruses for Children, Op. 59 (1963)
Vissarion Shebalin, composer
Russkaya Conservatoria Chamber Capella, choir
Nikolay Khondzinsky, conductor
(first recording) 4:37
29 No. 1, The Snowdrop 0:51
30 No. 2, The Lily-of-the-Valley 1:03
31 No. 3, The Violet 0:28
32 No. 4, The Buttercup 0:34
33 No. 5, The Forget-Me-Not 0:36
34 No. 6, The Dandelion 0:25
35 No. 7, The Carnation 0:40
36 Home Guards’ Chorus, ‘Oh, my Dawn!’, from the film Glinka (1946)
|
|