Your Favorite Olympia/Melodiya Recordings

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Any Olympia/Melodiya (or other Soviet) recordings you like? My favorites are below.
Jfyi, the below is an obituary article (2010) of Mr. Francis Wilson, founder of Olympia.
Pics are very welcome.

https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2010/may/24/francis-wilson-obituary?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

[JBS]

I have a bunch of Sviatoslav Richter recordings on Regis/Alto; I think they were originally Melodiya recordings.

But of recordings directly issued by Melodiya, I don't have much, and most of it is Shostakovich: the Borodin SQ cycle, the Kondrashin symphony cycle, and the Kagan/Bashmet/Richter Violin/Viola Sonatas CD.

[JBS]

Forgot I had this little gem


I have Svetlanov's set of Miaskovsky symphonies on Warner, and the Northern Flowers sets of Miaskovsky's String Quartets and Tanayev's chamber music.  Were those originally on Melodiya?

[Symphonic Addict]

It's scandalous that these are the only recordings of Popov's symphonies 2, 5 and 6.

[AnotherSpin]

Just out of curiosity, what is it about Soviet music or the Soviet performing school that makes you so interested? Today and in general, if possible.

[Roasted Swan]

Just out of curiosity, what is it about Soviet music or the Soviet performing school that makes you so interested? Today and in general, if possible.

For me quite a lot of this has to do with a certain kind of nostalgia when Melodiya LP's pulled back the curtain on music and performers otherwise unknown.  So;

• the unique sound of the orchestras - raw but stunningly virtuosic (on a wider note the loss of an individual orchestral "sound" is something I miss very much
• the sense that much of the contemporary Soviet repertoire had an extra-musical relevance for the society in which it was written.  I challenge anyone to argue that Shostakovich's "Babi Yar" is 'just' music with no other message intended
• the performing style which again has a power and engagement that in the right repertoire can be overwhelming

Back to favourite Olympia discs (worth also remembering that when 1st released they were a "mid-price" label - £9.99 when a full price CD was £13-15);

(for Ovchinnikov's Francesca NOT Fedoseyev's Symphony)

[vandermolen]

Interesting thread idea.
I love the sepia image of a peasant lighting a cigarette and those other Socialist Realist Olympia covers.

[vandermolen]

A few more (+1 for Cesar's Popov choices)

[vandermolen]

Also this fabulous set:

[AnotherSpin]

For me quite a lot of this has to do with a certain kind of nostalgia when Melodiya LP's pulled back the curtain on music and performers otherwise unknown.  So;

• the unique sound of the orchestras - raw but stunningly virtuosic (on a wider note the loss of an individual orchestral "sound" is something I miss very much
• the sense that much of the contemporary Soviet repertoire had an extra-musical relevance for the society in which it was written.  I challenge anyone to argue that Shostakovich's "Babi Yar" is 'just' music with no other message intended
• the performing style which again has a power and engagement that in the right repertoire can be overwhelming

I'm not quite sure what relevance to society you're talking about: the Babi Yar Symphony was performed a couple of times, after which it was effectively banned from performance in the USSR and as such was not widely known. Shostakovich was notorious in the country as a composer of works glorifying the regime - oratorios about Stalin, symphonies about Lenin, the Bolshevik revolts, etc.

Yes, Soviet orchestras sounded strange at the very least, I agree. The performing style was peculiar and not quite like that of the civilised world. Some may find it interesting, I would not be surprised. Do you like Third Reich music as well? There is a lot in it, too, that is peculiar and relevant for the society in which it was created.

[Roasted Swan]

I'm not quite sure what relevance to society you're talking about: the Babi Yar Symphony was performed a couple of times, after which it was effectively banned from performance in the USSR and as such was not widely known. Shostakovich was notorious in the country as a composer of works glorifying the regime - oratorios about Stalin, symphonies about Lenin, the Bolshevik revolts, etc.

Yes, Soviet orchestras sounded strange at the very least, I agree. The performing style was peculiar and not quite like that of the civilised world. Some may find it interesting, I would not be surprised. Do you like Third Reich music as well? There is a lot in it, too, that is peculiar and relevant for the society in which it was created.

To the bolded text - that's a rather pointed comment if I may say.  What I meant - but perhaps did not articulate well enough - was that works like Babi Yar have a directness of contemporary extra-musical comment that much other 'absolute' music makes no effort to achieve.  BTW - which is the oratorio "about" Stalin or the symphony "about" Lenin?  As far as I know there are none by DSCH.

For me old Soviet orchestras do not sound "strange" neither is their performing style "peculiar" let alone in "the civilised world" and yes I find it "interesting".  I assume something is being lost in translation here.

Don't ask the question and then dismiss the reply.

[vandermolen]

I'm not quite sure what relevance to society you're talking about: the Babi Yar Symphony was performed a couple of times, after which it was effectively banned from performance in the USSR and as such was not widely known. Shostakovich was notorious in the country as a composer of works glorifying the regime - oratorios about Stalin, symphonies about Lenin, the Bolshevik revolts, etc.

Yes, Soviet orchestras sounded strange at the very least, I agree. The performing style was peculiar and not quite like that of the civilised world. Some may find it interesting, I would not be surprised. Do you like Third Reich music as well? There is a lot in it, too, that is peculiar and relevant for the society in which it was created.

It's scandalous that these are the only recordings of Popov's symphonies 2, 5 and 6.

I agree Cesar, although there is/was a recording of Popov's Symphony No.2 'Motherland' on Northern Flowers.

[vandermolen]

For me quite a lot of this has to do with a certain kind of nostalgia when Melodiya LP's pulled back the curtain on music and performers otherwise unknown.  So;

• the unique sound of the orchestras - raw but stunningly virtuosic (on a wider note the loss of an individual orchestral "sound" is something I miss very much
• the sense that much of the contemporary Soviet repertoire had an extra-musical relevance for the society in which it was written.  I challenge anyone to argue that Shostakovich's "Babi Yar" is 'just' music with no other message intended
• the performing style which again has a power and engagement that in the right repertoire can be overwhelming

Back to favourite Olympia discs (worth also remembering that when 1st released they were a "mid-price" label - £9.99 when a full price CD was £13-15);

(for Ovchinnikov's Francesca NOT Fedoseyev's Symphony)

Yes, this was largely my experienced as well. I picked up more Soviet stuff at the Colletts Record Shop in London that I did when I dropped into the 'Melodiya Shop' in Nevsky Prospect, Leningrad over New Year 1985/86 where they looked at me with blank amazement when I mentioned Miaskovsky (all they had was an LP of some SQs no symphonies at all). I owe a lot to Olympia and their kindly proprietor Francis Wilson (who occasionally sent me freebies).

[vandermolen]

I'm not quite sure what relevance to society you're talking about: the Babi Yar Symphony was performed a couple of times, after which it was effectively banned from performance in the USSR and as such was not widely known. Shostakovich was notorious in the country as a composer of works glorifying the regime - oratorios about Stalin, symphonies about Lenin, the Bolshevik revolts, etc.

Yes, Soviet orchestras sounded strange at the very least, I agree. The performing style was peculiar and not quite like that of the civilised world. Some may find it interesting, I would not be surprised. Do you like Third Reich music as well? There is a lot in it, too, that is peculiar and relevant for the society in which it was created.

Was there a Third Reich music? I thought that, as in art, they infiltrated existing styles (bombastic Neo-Classicism) and used then for their own purposes.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Yes, this was largely my experienced as well. I picked up more Soviet stuff at the Colletts Record Shop in London that I did when I dropped into the 'Melodiya Shop' in Nevsky Prospect, Leningrad over New Year 1985/86 where they looked at me with blank amazement when I mentioned Miaskovsky (all they had was an LP of some SQs no symphonies at all). I owe a lot to Olympia and their kindly proprietor Francis Wilson (who occasionally sent me freebies).

The Melodiya Shop sounds wonderful. Any pics? There was a record shop specialized in Soviet recordings in Tokyo. The store closed about 10 years ago.  I haven't seen the Myaskovsky 6 and Shebalin recordings. I will check them out.

[vers la flamme]

It's scandalous that these are the only recordings of Popov's symphonies 2, 5 and 6.

Agreed...

[JBS]

To the bolded text - that's a rather pointed comment if I may say.  What I meant - but perhaps did not articulate well enough - was that works like Babi Yar have a directness of contemporary extra-musical comment that much other 'absolute' music makes no effort to achieve.  BTW - which is the oratorio "about" Stalin or the symphony "about" Lenin?  As far as I know there are none by DSCH.

For me old Soviet orchestras do not sound "strange" neither is their performing style "peculiar" let alone in "the civilised world" and yes I find it "interesting".  I assume something is being lost in translation here.

Don't ask the question and then dismiss the reply.

The symphony about Lenin is the Twelfth, while Song of the Forest included in its original text some glorification of Stalin

The Song of the Forests (Песнь о лесах), Op. 81, is an oratorio by Dmitri Shostakovich composed in the summer of 1949. It was written to celebrate the forestation of the Russian steppes (Great Plan for the Transformation of Nature) following the end of World War II. The composition was essentially made to please Joseph Stalin and the oratorio is notorious for lines praising him as the "great gardener", although performances after Stalin's death have normally omitted them. Premiered by the Leningrad Philharmonic under Yevgeny Mravinsky on 15 November 1949, the work was well received by the government, earning the composer a Stalin Prize the following year

My impression is that the public knew him best as a composer of film music, and I would suggest only the most naive among them failed to recognize the undercurrents of disatisfaction.
They might have noticed for instance that the symphony he ostensibly wrote to commemorate the 1917 revolution depicted the non-Bolshevik 1905 Revolution.
But Shostakovich seems to have muddied the waters to stay out of trouble, so I doubt we'll ever get a clear picture about what he meant with his music or how the public perceived him.

[Cato]

Shostakovich was notorious in the country as a composer of works glorifying the regime - oratorios about Stalin, symphonies about Lenin, the Bolshevik revolts, etc.

Yes, Soviet orchestras sounded strange at the very least, I agree. The performing style was peculiar and not quite like that of the civilised world. Some may find it interesting, I would not be surprised. Do you like Third Reich music as well? There is a lot in it, too, that is peculiar and relevant for the society in which it was created.

At the height of the Cold War in the early 1960's, I learned as a teenager that Shostakovich may have seemed occasionally like a puppet, but word had already leaked to The West that he was terrified of his government...as were millions of others in "The Workers' Paradise."

See e.g.  https://www.carnegiehall.org/Explore/Articles/2021/03/11/Shostakovich-and-the-Soviet-State

[Cato]

Here is my favorite:

[Mandryka]

Pletnev's Grieg. His 1979 concert is also worth a listen.
Ekaterina Novitskaya plays Prokofiev

I think the Feinberg Mozart sonatas probably too.