These Brilliant boxed sets of the complete works of various composers
are often extremely valuable. This is not only for their reissue of
recordings that have become unavailable over the years, but also for
giving us recordings of works that are otherwise not to be had in
any form. This ‘Borodin Edition’ is a particularly useful
example.
In the first place, it restores to the catalogue the 1990 recording
of
Prince Igor which is currently the only available complete
version of the score in the form that was reconstructed by Glazunov
and Rimsky-Korsakov after Borodin’s death. The only other recordings
of this major masterpiece in the current catalogues are an old 1951
Bolshoi recording which is subjected to many cuts, a Boris Christoff
recording for EMI which simply omits the whole of the Third Act, and
Valery Gergiev’s more recent Maryinsky version which employs
a new and supposedly more scholarly edition of the score. Even so,
doubts must remain about this new version which makes fairly substantial
alterations to the work of the two composers who originally reconstructed
Borodin’s score. They, after all had the major advantage of
knowing the composer well and having heard him play substantial sections
of the score over on the piano to them, even if he had not committed
the notes to paper. Glazunov was supposed to have an extremely retentive
memory, and the well-known overture for example was entirely written
out by him on the basis of what he recalled Borodin improvising at
the piano. It is however also noteworthy that many years later, when
the score was raided for the Broadway musical
Kismet, Glazunov
made a threat to sue for breach of copyright since he claimed at that
time that he had actually himself
written much of the music
that was being purloined by the arrangers Wright and Forrest. That
may perhaps be read as an attempt to make some monetary gain from
his work rather than a claim to full authorship.
The recording here derives from a Sony set made as part of a series
of Russian operas conducted by Emil Tchakarov with Bulgarian forces.
It was always one of the best of that series, with full-blooded recording
quality; and the singing is pretty good too, even if there are no
native Russian speakers in the cast - apart from the superb Yugoslav
baritone Boris Martinovich, the other singers are all Bulgarians.
The two bass parts - both of which were assumed by Christoff in his
abridged set - are exceptionally well taken by Nicolai Ghiaurov and
Nicola Ghiuselev, the two best known singers in the roster. The rest
are excellent too, even if Alexandrina Milcheva lacks the ultimate
in firm delivery. The only real problem with this set is that we are
given no texts or translations, which are really necessary in a work
where the plot is as diffuse as this. However the original Sony set
has long been unobtainable, and the recording is most welcome back
to the catalogues. The complete texts (including also those of the
songs) are available on the Brilliant Classics website.
Another of the advantages of this collection is that it gives us the
complete Borodin piano music and songs, including many pieces that
are simply unavailable in alternative readings. Boris Christoff did
record a collection of Borodin songs in the 1960s and those recordings
have been reissued as a fill-up for his cut EMI version of
Prince
Igor, but otherwise there are no alternative readings, nor indeed
of a number of the early chamber works included here. We are given
the
Petite Suite in its original piano version, but oddly enough
not the Glazunov orchestration by which the work is marginally better
known. We are however given
In the steppes of Central Asia
in both its piano and orchestral versions. We are also not given the
Cello Sonata, which is available in a number of other recordings
and which appears to be the only work of substance omitted from this
set.
The piano music was reviewed by Nick Barnard for this site back in
March 2010 (
review),
when he was quite dismissive of the collaborative
Paraphrases,
describing the repetitive nature of the theme on which the variations
are based as “the musical equivalent of a Chinese water torture.”
It is still useful to have the complete set as part of this conspectus,
even if Borodin’s contributions were only marginal. We are also
given the incredibly precocious
Polka Hélène
written when the composer was all of nine years of age. The playing
by Marco Rapetti and his various collaborators in the works for multiple
pianos is fresh and does all for the music that some of these decidedly
trivial pieces can possibly accept. I am not quite sure what the brief
little Ravel tribute to Borodin is doing here, however.
The songs, unlike Christoff’s set, are split between a number
of different singers who range from the rather matronly Marianna Tarassova
to the rasping character tenor of Konstantin Pluzhnikov. The lion’s
share of the songs however goes to the bass Nicolai Okhotnikov who
unfortunately does not have the most mellifluous of voices. Although
he has a properly black Slavonic sound, he strains unpleasantly in
the upper reaches of his vocal line in
Song of the dark forest
and
Pride. Again Brilliant miss a point here by not including
Borodin’s own orchestration of
Those folk, let alone
Rimsky-Korsakov’s similar treatment of
The sleeping princess.
The piano accompaniment by Yuri Serov is set rather far back, but
Irina Molokina makes a nicely sentimental contribution to the three
earliest songs. The last five of the songs on this recital, dating
from the last years of Borodin’s life, have more substance than
the earlier ones, although they are not in the same towering league
as those by Mussorgsky. In
Those folk Andrey Slavny, who is
allocated only two of the songs in this collection, displays a very
threadbare voice. In
The magic garden Borodin displays an almost
impressionist feeling for the text. This could almost be early Debussy.
Unfortunately Okhotnikov is rather unsteady in the closing
Arabian
melody, taken very slowly.
The early chamber music is also a rarity in the catalogues, although
these actual performances have been available before. Most of the
works fall into the category of prentice works, and many of them are
fragmentary or otherwise lacking in one or more movements. They show
that Borodin, as with his
Polka Hélène, was an
early developer and although the pieces are hardly profound - the
influences of Schumann and Mendelssohn are very discernible - they
are highly enjoyable and proficient trifles. Borodin’s masterpiece
in chamber music is the
Second String Quartet, and both the
string quartets are given good if not outstanding performances here;
there is inevitably a great deal of superb competition elsewhere in
the catalogues. The playing is lively and idiomatic, even if sometimes
lacking in the ideal sense of romantic richness; but the latter problem
may be due to the slightly antiseptic sound, with the players rather
closely microphoned in what seems to be a rather unreverberant acoustic.
Similarly there is a great deal of competition in the field of the
Borodin symphonies. The performances which Brilliant give us here
are well and enthusiastically played by the Bolshoi orchestra, obviously
relishing their release from the pit for the occasion. Again they
lack the ideal in romantic richness. When I reviewed the Andrew Davis
cycle last year (
review)
I drew attention to the problem of the opening horn entry in the slow
movement, which can sound suspiciously like a mistake if it is not
handled confidently; here it is clearly defined but nevertheless well
integrated into the whole shape of the melody. Mark Ermler is a conductor
well-versed in the Russian repertory, and he understands Borodin’s
idiom perfectly; but the performances, good as they are, lack a certain
amount of verve and sheer panache by comparison with the many other
versions available on disc. For
The steppes of Central Asia
Brilliant have turned to Loris Tjeknavorian - not with his earlier
RCA version with the National Philharmonic, still among one of the
best recordings of this repertoire (
review),
but with a later one with the Armenian Philharmonic which is unfortunately
not so well played or so atmospherically recorded.
Despite the reservations, inevitable under the circumstances, about
the recordings here of the better-known Borodin works, this set nevertheless
remains uniquely valuable for letting us hear so much of the composer’s
music that is otherwise scarce or simply unobtainable. For that reason,
and at Brilliant’s price, these recordings are an essential
acquisition for anyone interested in the Russian repertory of the
nineteenth century. The booklet, as is usual with these collected
editions, is not bulky - a mere ten pages of notes to cover all ten
discs - but David Nice provides all the essential information, and
ranges widely through the incidents of Borodin’s life and the
work that was necessary for Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov to put these
pieces into performable condition.
Paul Corfield Godfrey
Content and performer details
CDs 1-2 [43.48 + 49.35]
Symphony No. 1 in E flat (1867) [36.13]
Symphony No. 2 in B minor (1876) [30.02]
Symphony No. 3 in A minor (1887) [19.33]
Symphonic Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre/Mark Ermler
In the steppes of Central Asia (1880) [7.35]
Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra/Loris Tjeknavorian
rec. Yerevan, Armenia, 1994-6 and 2000
CDs 3-4 [67.26 + 58.13]
String Quartet No. 1 in A (1880) [41.21]
String Quartet No. 2 in D (1885) [28.21]
Serenata alla spagnola (1886) [2.17]
String Quintet in F minor (1854) [29.35]1
Piano Quintet in C minor (1862) [26.05]2
Moscow String Quartet with Alexander Gotthelf (cello)1,
Alexander Mindoiantz (piano)2
rec. location not stated, 1995
CD 5 [56.05]
Sextet in D minor (1861) [8.11]1
Trio in G minor on a Russian song What have I done to you?
(1859) [7.01]2
Trio in G (1860) [18.53]2
Piano Trio in D (1862) [22.01]3
Alexander Detisov and Alexander Polonsky (violins),12 Igor
Suliga and Alexander Brobovsky (violas),1 Alexander Osokin12
and Alexander Gotthelf1, cellos: Moscow Piano Trio3
rec. location not stated, 1995
CD 6 [76.59]
Petite Suite (1885) [23.36] 76.59
Scherzo in A flat (1885) [3.16]
In the steppes of Central Asia (1880) [7.36]1
Paraphrases (1878-9) with Liszt, Liadov, Rimsky-Korsakov,
Cui [25.03]12
Tarantella in D (1862) [4.22]1
Allegretto in D flat (1861) [1.43]2
Scherzo in E (1861) [4.16]2
Adagio patetico in A flat (1849) [4.03]
Polka Hélène in D minor (1843) [2.10]2
Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937)
A la manière de Borodine (1913) [1.44]
Marco Rapetti (piano) with Daniela de Santis1 and
Giampaolo Nuti1
rec. Villa Vespucci, San Felice a Ema, Florence, 3-5 September 2008
CD 7 [47.12]
The pretty girl no longer loves me (1854) [4.02]45
Listen to my song, little friend (1854) [3.48]15
The beautiful fisher woman (1854) [1.32]25
Why so early, O sunset? (1864) [2.28]3
The sleeping princess (1867) [5.30]1
My songs are poisoned (1868) [1.34]4
The sea princess (1868) [2.40]1
The false note (1868) [1.18]2
Song of the dark forest (1868) [3.10]4
From my tears (1868) [1.43]4
The sea (1870) [3.47]2
Pride (1884) [3.25]4
For the shores of thy far native land (1881) [4.05]1
Those folk (1881) [3.26]3
The magic garden (1885) [2.15]4
Arabian melody (1881) [2.30]4
Marianna Tarassova (mezzo)1, Konstantin Pluzhnikov (tenor)2,
Andrey Slavny (baritone)3, Nikolai Okhotnikov (bass)4,
Irina Molokina (cello)5, Yuri Serov (piano)
rec. St Catherine Lutheran Church, St Petersburg, March 1995
CDs 8-10 [73.12 + 73.17 + 63.21]
Prince Igor (1888)[209.50]
Boris Martinovich (baritone) - Igor, Steka Estatieva (soprano) - Yaroslavna,
Kaludi Kaludov (tenor) - Vladimir, Nicolai Ghiuselev (bass) - Galitsky,
Nicolai Ghiaurov (bass) - Konchak, Alexandrina Milcheva (mezzo) -
Konchakovna, Minco Popov (tenor) - Ovlur, Stoil Georgiev (tenor) -
Skula, Angel Petkov (bass) - Yeroshka, Elena Stoyanova (mezzo) - Polovtsian
maiden, Yaroslavna’s nurse
Sofia National Opera Chorus, Sofia Festival Orchestra/Emil Tchakarov
rec. National Palace of Culture, Sofia, 14-20 July 1987
