Rimsky-Korsakov recommendations?

[Karl Henning]

Hoorah. You'll be the better for it, I warrant.

Yes, with the side benefit that my appreciation for the Tchaikovsky c minor Symphony waxes greater yet.

[brewski]

Reposting here, from the WAYLT thread. Now into the last movement, and there's a lot of lovely, graceful music here.

On impulse, after reading comments in the Rimsky-Korsakov thread and as a fan of the composer, listening to the Symphony No. 1 for the first time, in the Kitajenko/Bergen version. At the risk of placing the bar too low, am I having a good time? Yes. Is it like WOW UNBELIEVABLE? No. One other criterion, which I find helpful for any piece of music: would I listen to it again? Probably. In a way it reminds me of why I like Scriabin's First Symphony, a piece I adore even in its relative naivete.

Probably overthinking it, but liking it for what it is, and the performance is excellent.

[Karl Henning]

Reposting here, from the WAYLT thread. Now into the last movement, and there's a lot of lovely, graceful music here.

A good piece, agreed!

[Elgarian Redux]

Yes, with the side benefit that my appreciation for the Tchaikovsky c minor Symphony waxes greater yet.

Blinkered by my temporary monocular Antaristic vision, I hadn't actually registered the fact, till now, that the Maazel disc could be said to couple two 2nd symphonies. (And yes, Rimsky ultimately declared Antar not to be a symphony after all, but you know what I mean.)

Footnote 1:
I decided to go back and listen to Svetlanov's Antar (with the Philharmonia Orch.) - the recording that kickstarted this entire pilgrimage of mine - to see if my recent explorations had affected my view of it. No, it's fabulous. The early woodwind depiction of the gazelle is possibly the most deliciously ripplingest that I've heard.

Also, looking ahead to a time when I listen to something other than Antar (!!), and sifting through my recent CD arrivals, I'm starting to appreciate what a bonanza pile of other R-K orchestral works I've accumulated, almost inadvertently. The future does not look dull!

Footnote 2
Has anybody read (and can recommend) R-K's autobiographical My Musical Life?

[vandermolen]

Very "Fry's Turkish Delight" (full of Eastern Promise.....)  For those not from this Sceptered Isle - it was a long-running series of TV adverts for a really sickly chocolate covered version of turkish delight.  Along with "Cadbury's Flake" and "The Milk Tray Man" it represents the high-noon of British TV confectionary advertising.............

Wasn't George Lazenby, who briefly played James Bond, 'Big Fry' in some of those adverts? 

[vandermolen]

Not 'Antar' but another striking 'Full of Eastern Promise' CD cover:

[Elgarian Redux]

Not 'Antar' but another striking 'Full of Eastern Promise' CD cover:

Gosh, that's quite a daunting image! Surely a magic princess!

[vandermolen]

Gosh, that's quite a daunting image! Surely a magic princess!

Definitely! I like the music as well.

[Elgarian Redux]

After a long wait, this has finally arrived. I've been very keen to listen to it, because I've read conflicting reviews about it: one saying it's the best Antar to be found anywhere in the universe, and the other saying 'Oh no it isn't'. So I'm going to find out.
I do like the cover art, whatever it means.

[vandermolen]

After a long wait, this has finally arrived. I've been very keen to listen to it, because I've read conflicting reviews about it: one saying it's the best Antar to be found anywhere in the universe, and the other saying 'Oh no it isn't'. So I'm going to find out.
I do like the cover art, whatever it means.

Looks like an interesting release.

[Karl Henning]

Looks like an interesting release.

I look forward to your report. I really enjoyed Bakels' RVW on Naxos back when (still do) 

[Elgarian Redux]

I've had a smashing half-hour listening to Kees Bakels and the Malaysian PO playing Antar. Is it, as someone reviewed it on Classics Today, 'the Antar we've been waiting for'? No, that would do less than justice to some other wonderful renderings. Is it merely average? No. I find it full of colour, delectably quasi-eastern, full of detail, but rich and weighty where it counts. The trill of the gazelle's light steps among the ruins (one of my touchstones) is delicious.

So I think I'm in a position to see where I am after this great journey. The caveat is that I only have myself to please here. I've been trying to find the recorded interpretations that delight me most, and which, I hope, will allow me to listen to Antar a lot in the future without it growing stale. I'm not trying to find 'The Best' (whatever that might mean). I'm quite sure that others would make different judgements.

First up, then: for me, there are four recordings that stand clear of the rest - recordings that I could not now be without. Performances that I know I shall return to again and again for their sensitive presentations of the music. They are:

Morton Gould and the Chicago SO: The Cinemascope, majestic, superb, sweeping, epic Antar. Not to be missed.
Yevgeny Svetlanov and the Philharmonia: My introduction to the magic of Antar, still loved after all this listening marathon.
Yondani Butt and the Philharmonia Orchestra: The lightest, airiest, 'take me on a flying carpet' version of Antar.
Kees Bakels and the Malaysian PO: Rich and powerful in the inner movements, always offering delicate detail where I hope to find it, and full of eastern promise.

That leaves the highly commended group. Every one of these has rewarded my attention with jewels, but perhaps not so much as to be unforgettable:

Lorin Maazel and the Pittsburgh SO
Jiri Belohlavek and the BRNO State PO
David Zinman and the Rotterdam PO
Neeme Jarvi and the Goteborgs Symfoniker

The only one that disappointed me - and this for purely personal reasons - is Ernest Ansermet and L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. It's beautifully played, very romantic, and lots of folk will love it, but I felt it lacked some of the essential (for me) eastern magic.

When I started this, @vandermolen wondered if maybe there are no bad Antar recordings. I think he's right.

[Karl Henning]

@Elgarian Redux most interesting and highly gratifying. 

[Elgarian Redux]

@Elgarian Redux most interesting and highly gratifying.

Your Servant, Sir. It's been an enthralling ride, and enormously personally rewarding. And now I have all these marvellous R-K discs, which mostly cost me next to nothing.

I've ordered a copy of My Musical Life, to see what it's all about from Nikolai's point of view.

[Karl Henning]

You gave it a good shot. It seems to be a piece which just doesn't sing to either of you, and that's obviously fine. I'm content that I found it better than expected, which is a win. It was his Opus One, so perhaps "routine" is a little to be expected.

I should add, though, that to dismiss the Andante tranquillo (the second mvt of the First Symphony) as "routine" is awful harsh. I should not be ashamed to have composed it.

[Elgarian Redux]

I should add, though, that to dismiss the Andante tranquillo (the second mvt of the First Symphony) as "routine" is awful harsh. I should not be ashamed to have composed it.

I wouldn't, myself, dismiss it at all. Rather, I merely felt uninvolved, finding it hard to stay interested, when I was listening to it recently. I wouldn't want to confuse the inherent musical merits of the piece with my decidedly limited appreciation of it. You are a far better judge than I am, Karl.

Incidentally, in the course of this experiment, I've acquired (inadvertently) several recordings of symphonies 1 and 3. So who knows what might happen next?

[relm1]

You know, this composer doesn't get enough recordings in the opera world.  I was looking for a recording of The Tale of Tsar Saltan (not the suites, those are everywhere) and there were very few available.  Most were from 50+ years ago.  The Golden Cockerel was similarly difficult to find but I managed to find a good mid 1980's complete opera from Svetlanov.

[Karl Henning]

I wouldn't, myself, dismiss it at all. Rather, I merely felt uninvolved, finding it hard to stay interested, when I was listening to it recently. I wouldn't want to confuse the inherent musical merits of the piece with my decidedly limited appreciation of it. You are a far better judge than I am, Karl.

Incidentally, in the course of this experiment, I've acquired (inadvertently) several recordings of symphonies 1 and 3. So who knows what might happen next?

I do recall your reporting feeling unengaged, and one's responses are inarguably genuine. I'm unsure I've listened to the Third Symphony. I'm reserving it for Russian March Madness with @ChamberNut

[Cato]

You know, this composer doesn't get enough recordings in the opera world.  I was looking for a recording of The Tale of Tsar Saltan (not the suites, those are everywhere) and there were very few available.  Most were from 50+ years ago.  The Golden Cockerel was similarly difficult to find but I managed to find a good mid 1980's complete opera from Svetlanov.

There should be more recordings of the operas!

e.g. The Czar's/Tsar's Bride is one of his best, and a Melodiya recording from 50+
 years ago with Galina Vishnevskaya is still the best choice.  But a CD version has been discontinued, as far as I know.  Used ones are available!

An excerpt from that recording:

[Karl Henning]

Listening to Antar again. Obviously I owe this chance momentary (?) obsession to our @Elgarian Redux with thanks. I cannot escape the conclusion that there's really no reason why this piece should not be fully as popular as Sheherazade.