Dmitri Kabalevsky (1904-1987)

[Dundonnell]

....and Shebalin's five

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,12704.0.html

[cilgwyn]

I actually DO rather like the Khrennikov symphonies,they get played quite allot! ,but I would be the first one to admit that Kabalevsky's got more fire and poetry to his muse. I hope to hear one of his opera's one day,too,if I get the chance;I've heard rumours that they are quite good.
I remember reading a very enthusiastic review of the Salmanov symphonies,in Gramophone,I think,before it got swapped for IRR! I'm a bit of a sucker for the politically incorrect byways of lesser Soviet composers and I will certainly look into them.( I DO wish more of Melodiya's more 'exotic' back catalogue could get reissued,somehow or other).

NB: Tikhon's going on next!

[Dundonnell]

I actuallyDO rather like the Khrennikov symphonies,they get played quite allot! ,but I would be the first one to admit that Kabalevsky's got more fire and poetry to his muse. I hope to hear one of his opera's one day,too,if I get the chance;I've heard rumours that they are quite good.
I remember reading a very enthusiastic review of the Salmanov symphonies,in Gramophone,I think,before it got swapped for IRR! I'm a bit of a sucker for the politically incorrect byways of lesser Soviet composers and I will certainly look into them.( I DO wish more of Melodiya's more 'exotic' back catalogue could get reissued,somehow or other).

IRR is SO much better than The Gramophone these days, isn't it!! Proper, lengthy, detailed reviews not the wretched paragraph reviewers in The Gramophone get. I still buy The Gramophone but really out of residual loyalty(having been buying it for the best part of 50 years now!)

[cilgwyn]

Have you ever seen 'Fanfare'? I have heard good things about it,but the subscription is daunting!
I thought IRR was a bit dry at first,but it grows on you. Like the old Gramophone of yore,I keep referring back to my copies,and there always seems to be something I missed. In a dumbed down age like ours,IRR is a bit of an oddity,it's actually worth reading.

[Dundonnell]

Have you ever seen 'Fanfare'? I have heard good things about it,but the subscription is daunting!

Hmmmm. Better keep my money for buying more cds

[cilgwyn]

Around £74 for six copies. You could buy a few cds for that,but it is around the thickness of a paperback book,apparently. IRR,very nicely,provide sample copies. In fact they sent me two. Now I'm hooked.

[mahler10th]

What is IRR and where can it be got?

[Dundonnell]

What is IRR and where can it be got?

I was just about to go to bed...but logged back on to say:

"International Record Review"  http://recordreview.co.uk/index.php

I get mine sent through the post. Highly recommended!!

[cilgwyn]

The reviews are far longer & more detailed than Gramophone. No celeb stuff,no pages of inane interviews with dippy diva's & inane lists,it just gets down to the job of reviewing cds,which is what Gramophone used to be so good at doing. I found it a little dry at first,but that's probably because Gramophone style glossy mags had dumbed ME down! Some critics have suggested that the reviews are overtly positive.At times I feel there's a little truth in that,somewhere. Romantic obscurities like York Bowen's Symphonies getting rave reviews,for example! Otherwise,I find it very good & I won't be returning to Gramophone & I have read some VERY negative reviews in IRR,so,there we are!

OOps,sorry Kabalevsky! I'm looking forward to that s/h Unicorn. Hope the Miaskovsky Symphony 21 doesn't induce me to go on a Myaskovsky spending spree! (If I was loaded,I REALLY,honestly, wouldn't mind!).

Just to clarify a point. I do quite like the Khrennikov symphonies,particularly No 2. BUT! While they do get played now & again,I would like to point out,they're not exactly on rotation! The poor mans Shostakovich,he may be,but he's got his own spicy harmonic style,the quiet bit's linger in the mind,the playing of that old Soviet orchestra is really quite phenomenol,(maybe they were so terrified of him,it spurred them to excel them selves,in some way) & the those 'filmic' 'himalayan' bits in the finale of No3 ARE fun! He WAS a bit of a rotter,though!
A Lev Knipper symphony cycle next,please!

[Dundonnell]

I would rather have a complete cycle of the symphonies of Maximilian Steinberg and all the Vainberg symphonies before ploughing through all Knipper's 20

[cilgwyn]

I remember some posters having some fun at the expense of Knipper's 'Komsomol Soldier' symphony(his Fourth) on one of these forums. So bad it's funny! They had it on Youtube & possibly still do? To be fair,the Red Army choir was rather good & I would have loved to hear them do 'Das Siegeslied'!
Personally,I would rather sit through every single one of Lev Knipper's 20 symphonies, & everything else he ever wrote,than listen to one single bar of a certain English composer I shall not name! 
Come on cpo,a Lev Knipper cycle.BRING IT ON!

[eyeresist]

Please note,I am posting the above,fully aware of the fact that just saying anything good about Kabalevsky,and Khrennikov in particular,is possibly going to attract some negative comments (or boredom!). Lets face it,they were b*******,weren't they!

I don't think there's any good reason to call Kabalevsky a bastard, beyond the wild speculations in which classical fans sometimes indulge.

[The new erato]

IRR is SO much better than The Gramophone these days, isn't it!! Proper, lengthy, detailed reviews not the wretched paragraph reviewers in The Gramophone get. I still buy The Gramophone but really out of residual loyalty(having been buying it for the best part of 50 years now!)

Yes it is. I had both in tandem for a while, but cut the Gramophone crap a while ago. Those who only rely on the web don't know what they're missing with IRR.

I had Fanfare for about 10 years, but while it's very good, there's only so much time. One mag's enough, for me it's IRR. Their comparative and lengthy reviews are pretty often pure gold.

[Lethevich]

"International Record Review"  http://recordreview.co.uk/index.php

I get mine sent through the post. Highly recommended!!

Okay - I bought the sample issue when I first saw this link, and it was super - much better than Gramophone so I'll be subscribing. Thanks!

I recall the site design, so have visited the page before - I suspect that it was many years ago before UK debit cards became interchangable with the VISA system, and so I couldn't order from them at the time. But I can now, yay.

[cilgwyn]

DId you get two sample copies? I did,even though they specified one!

[Lethevich]

DId you get two sample copies? I did,even though they specified one!

Ah, now I feel cheated! Interestingly, I am already considering picking up a back-issue, as the Liszt retrospective (part 2) in the issue I got was really impressive.

And... um, so Kabalevsky, huh How 'bout dem piano sonatas?

[Pierre]

And... um, so Kabalevsky, huh How 'bout dem piano sonatas?

They're ok but very derivative. Much more characterful are the 24 Preludes, Op. 38, which he wrote during WWII - amongst his best works, I'd say.

[cilgwyn]

Ah, now I feel cheated! Interestingly, I am already considering picking up a back-issue, as the Liszt retrospective (part 2) in the issue I got was really impressive.

And... um, so Kabalevsky, huh How 'bout dem piano sonatas?

I like IRR. At first I thought it was a little dry,and then I realised that Gramophone had probably dumbed ME down! IRR grows on you after a while & like Gramophone,in it's hey day,I find myself poring* over old copies over and over again.Although,maybe that's just because it's in the loo! (Also in the loo,Which consumer Mag,1960s/50s copies of National Geographic [did you know the USSR was still in existence?!] & old copies of the Penguin Record guide). The old Gramophone DID have the edge,though,but IRR magazine is proof that,even in these dumbed down times,it IS actually possible to dumb up!
  On the downside,the November copy had 10 pages on Verdi's 'Don Carlos'. Talk about a snoozefest! And the print is small. I'm glad I'm not an OAP............yet!!!! (But then again,you get more review per square millimeter!!!!)

*'poring over them'! Not in that way,I might add!!!!!!!

Don't know Kabalevsky's Piano Sonata's,but I put on the Marco Polo cd of the, short lived,Stanchinsky's piano music,today. It has been lying in the box for ages. I really enjoed his music. Poor chap,a sad loss. If anyone hasn't heard his piano music,it's a bit like Scriabin,but less potty! Not saying it's as good,but I was quite impressed. No dull note spinning,there. But I'll need to listen again before I can really decide. I gather there are better performances on cd,though.

[vandermolen]

Just listened to the cpo recording of the Fourth,after a long gap  & I have to say I'm with Vandermolen on this one. Quite impressive in it's own way. A bit of an eye opener if you're previous experiences of were Kabalevsky were scores like The Comedians,the Colas Breugnon Overture and the noisy,brash but fun Second Symphony. Maybe Kabalevsky was capable of some depth after all? After this it would be nice to sample one of the opera's,which were once available on the Olympia label,I believe (and Melodiya before that,no doubt).

It would be nice if the same team could have a go at Tikhon Khrennikov's three,especially the Second,which I believe Vandermolen is quite partial to,as well. While I would place Kabalevsky's Fourth a little way above the Khrennikov 2,in terms of general inspiration,there is something about Khrennikov's best music;the tangy harmonies,haunting lyricism,that places him a little above the level of the hack he's generally supposed to be.
 
Please note,I am posting the above,fully aware of the fact that just saying anything good about Kabalevsky,and Khrennikov in particular,is possibly going to attract some negative comments (or boredom!). Lets face it,they were b*******,weren't they! And,no I'm not an admirer of Lev Knippers fourth symphony! (Although,I'd be prepared to give the other Knipper symphonies a go,if they ever get recordings as good as this!)

NB: I think I might dig out the Chandos cds later (although this one's better).

Sorry I missed this post. I agree with Colin - you'll like the Salmanov set. My youthful self also listened a great deal to that wonderful old Unicorn LP of Miaskovsky Symphony No 21/Kabalevsky Symphony No 2 (an inspired coupling).  Measham's performance of both works remains very competitive still. I wish they'd issue the Goossens Symphony No 1 in the same series on CD too.

[cilgwyn]

Thank you for you're reply Vandermolen. I will say,you're own posts are always a very rewarding read.I HAVE made a note of the Salmanov set. Colin knows his stuff & as far as I can make out,he's heard every composer I've heard & more!!! I don't entirely agree with him about Khrennikov,well,the symphonies,anyway. I play then now and again & I always enjoy them. Knowing what the bloke was like I suppose I shouldn't,but I do! Like you,Vandermolen,I regard the Second as the finest of the three,but,peronally,I do have a rather soft spot for the third,with those kitschy 'Himalayan' harmonies,as Rob Barnett,I think,referred to them. Very 'filmic' & fun......but not if you're Colin,or Dundonnell,as I am used to calling him,who thinks 'Comrade Khrennikov' was a hack!   

Of course,you only have to listen to Shostakovich for five seconds,to see the difference,but like Dundonnell,I'm not keen on comparisons!


Anyway,back to Salmanov. I have not bought these yet,for two simple reasons. 1) The last time I looked,the Sellers on Amazon were asking silly prices & there's only so much I'm prepared to pay,and 2) I have so many things allready on my 'list. Like Comrade Albion,I mean Albion ,I do get round to buying these things,eventually;they just gradually get ticked off,as I work through the list. It really is a pity that some budget label can't emerge to release some of these old soviet era recordings. It really would help enhance our perspective on some of these un pc composers. Thirdly,while one or two Salmanov cds are currently being offered at a reasonably low price,they are on offer from Sellers,that,in my experience,I would prefer not to do business with. End of sermon!

Myaskovsky's another one & I gather you are a bit of an expert on him. But there are so many symphonies & if I bought one & I really enjoyed it,like Oliver Twist,I'd probably want more. And I don't fancy busking outside Tesco in this weather!

The Hungarian,Laszlo Lajtha's another soviet era composer whose pretty good. Some of his themes could be more memorable,at times,I suppose &  he lacks the distinctive profile of,say,Martinu. On the other hand,I do like the clear,transparency of his orchestration,and,at best,he has a flair for colour,which reminds me of Roussel,when he's in a sunny mood & not being too strenuous.   I really,do think his music would benefit from a really first rate,state of the art recordings.In fact,maybe,the time is about ripe for a Laszlo Lajtha thread,but I'd probably only get one reply! Symphonies 8 & 9,in particular, are not bad at all!!!! Not to mention Marco Polo's unusual artwork!

Regarding the Unicorn Goossens recording. I hadn't heard of this one. Was this Measham,too? A fine conductor. Is he still around? I recently bought the Unicorn cd of his reading of the Barber symphony. Very impressive!

Finally,let's hear it for Stanchinsky!!!!!