Often derided (by Shostakovich for one) and the composer of the massive "overblown" "Ilya Muromets" symphony, I have rather a soft spot for Gliere. I had the great good fortune to hear Ilya Muromets live in London a few years ago (the first UK performance of the complete work since 1912!) and greatly enjoyed it. Ok, it is a sprawling epic but wonderfully atmospheric and moving in the doomed apotheosis of the final movement. I like Symphony 2 also.
any other views on Gliere?
I think he's pretty much a hack myself but hey if you dig the big Romantic Wagnerian works then maybe you'll like him.
Like Shostakovich should be saying anything, didn't he come up with such hack-jobs like the 2nd and 3rd symphonies?
Ilya Muromets was one of my first loves. I listen to it all the time. I am not sure if it is quality or nostalgia, but it is still one of my favorite pieces. His other music is OK. My favorite recording is Downes.
Well I have the Chandos recordings of his Symphonies, and I find them to be very good.
Some chamber works also.
I think him a melodic and creative composer, that has many things to say, and gets rather little exposure.
But I am grateful for what there is.
Have his SQ 1 and 2, S.sextet, S.octet and violin concerto.
Love it all. Very russian and very romantic. Old fashioned?.Maybe. But I've russian blood and just looove romantic music. ;) ;) ;)
Just listened to the first two movements of Ilya Muromets (Donald Johanos/Slovak Radio SO). Wow!!!!!!!! Really sumptuous fun music; I especially loved the opening bars of the second movement, with the creepy strings. 8)
Know little of him. But I believe he composed the Red Poppy, which I've enjoyed.
Quote from: scottscheule on April 09, 2007, 12:51:23 PM
Know little of him. But I believe he composed the Red Poppy, which I've enjoyed.
Do you have the full ballet? Which recording?
Well I discovered I have the Naxos recording, and my listening notes said good music, not so good performance.
Quote from: Catison on April 09, 2007, 01:53:15 PM
Do you have the full ballet? Which recording?
I do not. I heard it on ClassicalJunk, a while ago.
http://www.classicaljunk.net/
Quote from: Harry on April 09, 2007, 02:06:52 PM
Well I discovered I have the Naxos recording, and my listening notes said good music, not so good performance.
That is exactly my opinion. The sound is horrible and the playing completely laughable occasionally, but the first 5 minutes or so is great. I was wishing Chandos would release a complete performance, but I doubt they are going to any time soon.
I haven't heard much of his music (yet), but I love his Concerto for Coloratura Soprano and Orchestra. It is a gorgeous, melodic, highly romantic piece and it has an unusual choice of solo instrument for a concerto. I will have to check out more of his music.
Heather
Quote from: Harry on April 09, 2007, 02:06:52 PM
Well I discovered I have the Naxos recording, and my listening notes said good music, not so good performance.
Last night, though, I was blown totally away by the Naxos discs of the Second and Third Symphonies. Unbelievable music! Wow. Everything about the music was stunning, the writing, the sheer epic epicness, the orchestration, the performances. And the Slovak Radio Symphony has
never sounded better (they were almost world class!).
Quote from: brianrein on April 09, 2007, 06:04:23 PM
Last night, though, I was blown totally away by the Naxos discs of the Second and Third Symphonies. Unbelievable music! Wow. Everything about the music was stunning, the writing, the sheer epic epicness, the orchestration, the performances. And the Slovak Radio Symphony has never sounded better (they were almost world class!).
If you say so Brian, then I will try them next to the Chandos.
Will let you know if I agree. :)
Quote from: Catison on April 09, 2007, 02:15:39 PM
That is exactly my opinion. The sound is horrible and the playing completely laughable occasionally, but the first 5 minutes or so is great. I was wishing Chandos would release a complete performance, but I doubt they are going to any time soon.
Its funny, that that was the exact thing I wrote, that after five minutes or so I switched it off, the unbearable sillyness of playing.
That's one big Naxos dud, as there ever was! ;D
Quote from: scottscheule on April 09, 2007, 02:11:23 PM
I do not. I heard it on ClassicalJunk, a while ago.
http://www.classicaljunk.net/
Yeah, that's were it belongs, Classic Junk!
And his harp concerto is one of the most beautiful
I know.
Quote from: carlos on April 10, 2007, 03:58:17 AM
And his harp concerto is one of the most beautiful
I know.
True my friend it is beautiful!
Quote from: Harry on April 09, 2007, 10:31:11 PM
If you say so Brian, then I will try them next to the Chandos.
Will let you know if I agree. :)
Okay. I'd never heard anything by Gliere until the other evening when I tried the Naxos Symphonies 2 and 3, so if you judge a favored recording it may be on my shelf very soon. :)
Oh and the Slovak Radio Symphony actually has sounded better, on Kalman's operetta "Die Csardasfurstin". Forgot about that CD in my excitement ;)
Just wanted to bump this thread up because I've been listening to Gliere again lately and still love his music. :) Ilya Muromets is ... well unique. In a sprawling, sumptuous, wondrous way.
Ilya Murometz is being played at the London Proms this summer on 19th July. Vassily Sinaisky BBC PO. :)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/2007/whatson/1907.shtml#prom8
"Ilya Murotmetz" is a masterpiece of Romantic tone poems and quite nicely sustains its epic length (which depending on performance, can vary a great deal). I've got four recordings, the Downes (Chandos, lovely), the Botstein (Telarc, also great), the Farberman (Unicorn/Regis, the slowest but most majestic) and the Johanos (Naxos, routine).
(http://www.jpc.de/image/cover/front/0/3484027.jpg) (http://www.jpc.de/image/cover/front/0/7042101.jpg) (http://www.jpc.de/image/cover/front/0/6216250.jpg)
Avoid Stokowski's truncated version which cuts the work down by half!
Also worthy is the Chandos CD containing the concertos for Harp and for Coloratura Soprano (yes, that's right):
(http://www.jpc.de/image/cover/front/0/6526999.jpg)
Coupled with Ginastera's masterful Harp Concerto.
Gliere was a minor composer to be sure. His other two symphonies are not as distinguished, and of the ballet scores only "The Red Poppy" is compelling.
Thomas
I have all those recordings too and agree with your verdict. There was a fine Ormandy LP of the reduced version and the following CD is of historic interest:
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.classical.net/music/recs/images/e/emi66886.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/e/emi66887a.html&h=150&w=150&sz=21&hl=en&start=18&tbnid=xACBCAAepSXjMM:&tbnh=96&tbnw=96&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgliere%2Bilya%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG
Quote from: sound67 on May 22, 2007, 11:29:37 PM
Avoid Stokowski's truncated version which cuts the work down by half!
The Botstein recording also has several cuts, but yet I still enjoy it.
Quote from: brianrein on May 22, 2007, 06:42:14 PM
Just wanted to bump this thread up because I've been listening to Gliere again lately and still love his music. :) Ilya Muromets is ... well unique. In a sprawling, sumptuous, wondrous way.
I would say go for the Chandos recordings, they are much better recorded, the overall quality of music making is much better.
It needs a good recording because of the somewhat thick scoring, so you must be able to follow it all, otherwise you loose track quickly.
Quote from: sound67 on May 22, 2007, 11:29:37 PM
(http://www.jpc.de/image/cover/front/0/6216250.jpg)
I bought the Downes recording after hearing Charles Dutoit conduct the piece live a few years ago. Loved both! It's definitely a work that should show up in the concert hall more often.
--Bruce
I've the classic recording of Nathan Rakhlin and
the Moscow Radio and TV 0. (1975), and I like
it very much.
Gliere featured on BBC Radio 3 this week, so I thought I'd revive this old thread. Maybe he was born 50 or more years too late but symphonies 2 and 3 remain works I greatly enjoy and often return to. Seeing the sprawling epic Ilya Murometz Symphony live in London was a great experience.
Quote from: vandermolen on March 27, 2009, 08:26:23 AM
Gliere featured on BBC Radio 3 this week, so I thought I'd revive this old thread. Maybe he was born 50 or more years too late but symphonies 2 and 3 remain works I greatly enjoy and often return to. Seeing the sprawling epic Ilya Murometz Symphony live in London was a great experience.
Did you hear this recently? (I've only heard it live once.)
PS, can't believe no one posted anything in this thread in almost two years!
--Bruce
Quote from: bhodges on March 27, 2009, 08:35:06 AM
Did you hear this recently? (I've only heard it live once.)
PS, can't believe no one posted anything in this thread in almost two years!
--Bruce
Prob. about 3/5 years ago Bruce, at the Barbican Centre. I think that it was the first British performance of the work since c 1912! A great occasion.
Quote from: vandermolen on March 27, 2009, 08:47:55 AM
I think that it was the first British performance of the work since c 1912!
:o Is that just a crime, or what? (Not that the U.S. is programming it nightly either; I don't think I've seen it on a program since the Dutoit performance I heard.)
--Bruce
I will join you in expressing my love for 'Ilya Murometz'(in the Chandos/Downes performance), the Second Symphony, the Harp Concerto etc but can I put in a word for the works which I don't think have been mentioned so far?
There is the Horn Concerto(coupled on Chandos with the Symphonic Suite from the Ballet "The Bronze Horseman"), the splendid Symphonic Poem "The Zaporozhy Cossacks"(the Chandos coupling for the Second Symphony), but most of all-and available on the Naxos disc of the Symphony No.1-the Symphonic Poem "The Sirens", a quite superb piece of nature portraiture whch sounds like Sibelius and Bax rolled together into an intoxicating whole :). If you haven't heard "The Sirens" then I strongly recommend it to you!
Quote from: Dundonnell on March 27, 2009, 05:39:56 PM
I will join you in expressing my love for 'Ilya Murometz'(in the Chandos/Downes performance), the Second Symphony, the Harp Concerto etc but can I put in a word for the works which I don't think have been mentioned so far?
There is the Horn Concerto(coupled on Chandos with the Symphonic Suite from the Ballet "The Bronze Horseman"), the splendid Symphonic Poem "The Zaporozhy Cossacks"(the Chandos coupling for the Second Symphony), but most of all-and available on the Naxos disc of the Symphony No.1-the Symphonic Poem "The Sirens", a quite superb piece of nature portraiture whch sounds like Sibelius and Bax rolled together into an intoxicating whole :). If you haven't heard "The Sirens" then I strongly recommend it to you!
Fortunately I have that CD and will play it over the weekend. Am currently listening to the wonderfully sprawlingly indulgent Harold Faberman RPO recording of Ilya Muromets on Regis (from early early digital Unicorn LPs).
A friend trade me a CD copied from LP with Gliere's two string quartets; No1
op.2 and No2 op.20. The first is an early piece rather weak, but the second is a splendid and very Russian one, IMO as good as any of Glazunov's. Recommended.
Quote from: DFO on March 28, 2009, 04:01:09 PM
A friend trade me a CD copied from LP with Gliere's two string quartets; No1
op.2 and No2 op.20. The first is an early piece rather weak, but the second is a splendid and very Russian one, IMO as good as any of Glazunov's. Recommended.
Thanks, I shall look out for SQ No 2.
Symphony #3 "Ilya Murometz" is at least on the same epic level as Rachmaninov's Isle of the Dead, albeit longer!
If it does not compete e.g. with Schoenberg's Gurrelieder or Pelleas und Melisande or the Mahler Tenth in pushing tonality to the limit and beyond, one can only say that Gliere, like Rachmaninov, saw no reason for it.
Quote from: vandermolen on April 08, 2007, 02:37:36 PM
Often derided (by Shostakovich for one) and the composer of the massive "overblown" "Ilya Muromets" symphony, I have rather a soft spot for Gliere. I had the great good fortune to hear Ilya Muromets live in London a few years ago (the first UK performance of the complete work since 1912!) and greatly enjoyed it. Ok, it is a sprawling epic but wonderfully atmospheric and moving in the doomed apotheosis of the final movement. I like Symphony 2 also.
any other views on Gliere?
The 3rd is a quintessential masterpiece; much Scriabin influence but marvelously moves along on its own. However, I am not nearly as impressed with the 2nd.
Quote from: schweitzeralan on April 03, 2009, 07:22:02 AM
The 3rd is a quintessential masterpiece; much Scriabin influence but marvelously moves along on its own. However, I am not nearly as impressed with the 2nd.
Thanks. I largely agree. Symphony No 3 is Gliere's clain to posterity I think.
For all of you Gliere/Murometz junkies, some kind soul downloaded the score to the Third Symphony to the Petrucci Music Library online!!!
See: http://imslp.org/wiki/Symphony_No.3%2C_Op.42_%27Ilya_Murometz%27_%28Glière%2C_Reinhold%29 (http://imslp.org/wiki/Symphony_No.3%2C_Op.42_%27Ilya_Murometz%27_%28Gli%C3%A8re%2C_Reinhold%29)
[Pasted from "What Are You Listening To?"]
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/612APNRPP2L._SL500_AA240_.jpg)
Glière: Symphony No. 3 "Ilya Murometz"
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Harold Farberman, cond.
UNICORN-KANCHANA
This is an interminable, nearly 100-minute exercise in Late Romantic non-expression. The first hour might make for good background music, but only if one can abide a persistent drone of near-Wagnerian swelling and ebbing of massed strings -- Dramamine is not included. I realize the symphony has a program, but this might work better as a silent movie soundtrack; several grueling listens have failed to convince me otherwise.
Glière's "Ilya Murometz" has its fervent fans, but if one truly wishes to be introduced to this bloated gargantua, I'd feel comfortable in suggesting almost any other recording (though I've yet to hear any of them and am well-nigh loath to do so), apparently all of which are either appreciably amended or reinterpreted for "listening compactness". Farberman's recording is probably best left for cognoscenti...or for someone's extended sessions of morbid self-imposed sleep deprivation.
Quote from: Moldyoldie on July 13, 2009, 06:59:57 AM
[Pasted from "What Are You Listening To?"]
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/612APNRPP2L._SL500_AA240_.jpg)
Glière: Symphony No. 3 "Ilya Murometz"
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Harold Farberman, cond.
UNICORN-KANCHANA
This is an interminable, nearly 100-minute exercise in Late Romantic non-expression. The first hour might make for good background music, but only if one can abide a persistent drone of near-Wagnerian swelling and ebbing of massed strings -- Dramamine is not included. I realize the symphony has a program, but this might work better as a silent movie soundtrack; several grueling listens have failed to convince me otherwise.
Glière's "Ilya Murometz" has its fervent fans, but if one truly wishes to be introduced to this bloated gargantua, I'd feel comfortable in suggesting almost any other recording (though I've yet to hear any of them and am well-nigh loath to do so), apparently all of which are either appreciably amended or reinterpreted for "listening compactness". Farberman's recording is probably best left for cognoscenti...or for someone's extended sessions of morbid self-imposed sleep deprivation.
I suggest you listen to the chandos recordings, they are by far superior.
I have CD versions of Gliere's Ilya Muromets Symphony conducted by:
Harold Faberman (Regis/Unicorn)
Nathan Rakhlin (Russian Disc)
Igor Golovchin (Russian Disc)
Donald Johanos (Marco Polo/Naxos)
Leon Botstein (Telarc)
Lepold Stokowski (EMI and Andante)
Edward Downes (Chandos)
Jacques Rachmilovich (EMI)
+ an LP version with Eugene Ormandy (RCA)
Whilst this is clearly indicative of an obsessive-compulsive disorder, I do like the work very much - either you allow yourself to wallow in the wagnerian/sibelian self-indulgence of the piece - or you don't. The final section The Heroic Deeds and Petrification of Ilya Muromets I find genuinely moving - a kind of doomed struggle, which appeals to my sense of looming catastrophe.
As for the different versions, my favourites are Nathan Rakhlin's on Russian Disc (my No 1 choice) but also excellent are the Downes recording on Chandos and I rather like the truncated Jacques Rachmilovich version with the Orchestra Dell'Academia Di Santa Cecilia, Roma - a very interesting CD (with Kabalevsky's Second Symphony and Glinka's Russlan and Ludmilla) dubbed from 78s and recorded in 1949. I had not come across Jacques Rachmilovich before - he died at sea in 1956 and was buried in the Strait of Gibralter. Unfortunately the CD is quite rare (I got it as a US import).
Here is an article about some different recordings:
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://classicalcdreview.com/gliere.jpg&imgrefurl=http://classicalcdreview.com/ilyafinal.html&usg=__Fz-6OL0Nk8II6KuqWn-dvI8qKV4=&h=240&w=179&sz=9&hl=en&start=6&um=1&tbnid=2kmiAyFwJvR-zM:&tbnh=110&tbnw=82&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgliere%2Btalmi%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4ADBR_enGB327GB328%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1
I swear, not more than five minutes after clicking on "Order" for the Downes/BBCSO/Chandos recording of Ilya Murametz, I came across this on another message board: :(
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/georgepitcher/100003227/the-sad-sad-deaths-of-sir-edward-and-lady-downes/ (http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/georgepitcher/100003227/the-sad-sad-deaths-of-sir-edward-and-lady-downes/)
Quote from: Moldyoldie on July 14, 2009, 05:08:01 AM
I swear, not more than five minutes after clicking on "Order" for the Downes/BBCSO/Chandos recording of Ilya Murametz, I came across this on another message board: :(
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/georgepitcher/100003227/the-sad-sad-deaths-of-sir-edward-and-lady-downes/ (http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/georgepitcher/100003227/the-sad-sad-deaths-of-sir-edward-and-lady-downes/)
Yes, I too had just that type of experience today. Downes's death at the Dignitas clinic is the headline of the London Evening Standard today. The CD you ordered is a worthy tribute to this fine conductor and I hope that you will enjoy the work more in this recording. I saw the work live a few years ago in London - a concert I shall never forget (first complete performance in UK since 1912!)
Quote from: vandermolen on April 03, 2009, 02:52:49 PM
Thanks. I largely agree. Symphony No 3 is Gliere's clain to posterity I think.
You liked the 1st. Symphony. From what you wrote it sounds interesting. Wonder whether I should order it. Hpefully it isn't infused with 19th century influences. I am a profuse lover of early 20th century musical harmoniesl modes, etc. Bax, Scriabin, Debussy, Sibelius, rank high on my list. Perhaps I shall give Gliere's 1st. a try. It's just one of my many gambles over the years.
Quote from: Dundonnell on March 27, 2009, 05:39:56 PM
I will join you in expressing my love for 'Ilya Murometz'(in the Chandos/Downes performance), the Second Symphony, the Harp Concerto etc but can I put in a word for the works which I don't think have been mentioned so far?
There is the Horn Concerto(coupled on Chandos with the Symphonic Suite from the Ballet "The Bronze Horseman"), the splendid Symphonic Poem "The Zaporozhy Cossacks"(the Chandos coupling for the Second Symphony), but most of all-and available on the Naxos disc of the Symphony No.1-the Symphonic Poem "The Sirens", a quite superb piece of nature portraiture whch sounds like Sibelius and Bax rolled together into an intoxicating whole :). If you haven't heard "The Sirens" then I strongly recommend it to you!
Just received the 1st Symphony and the "Sirens." Intriguing harmonies and chromatic structures conceived during the years he must have been exorcising his masterpiece, the beloved "Ilya." Superb. Don't know how I could have missed that one. His first two symphonies appear to be mere approaches toward his ultimate fulfillment in the 3rd. Other than"Sirens," and the "Ilya,' I don't know if there are any other significant works. I personally think that the "Red Poppy" is a lightweight. Gliere, not unlike the plight of so many other Soviet era composers, had to survive during the Stalinesque nightmare.
An unofficial transfer of a 2-disc Westminster LP set was not to be shipped to Canada.
Reinhold Glière * Symphony #3 in B minor, Op. 42, "Ilya Murometz"
Vienna State Opera Orchestra/Hermann Scherchen
ReDiscovery RD025 ADD monaural 79:55
I was reading an internet article about the conductor Charles Gerhardt which mentioned that he'd always wanted to make a recording of Gliere's Ilya Mourometz. How sad that this was not to be - I have no doubt that it would have been a great performance.
If you've wondered if his output might have something smaller in it, there's the
12 Duets for 2 Violins, op.49
10 Duets for 2 Cellos op.3
8 Duets for Violin and Cello op. 39
on Discover 920 526 which won't wake the neighbors if used for late night listening
Quote from: listener on November 06, 2009, 02:47:13 PM
If you've wondered if his output might have something smaller in it, there's the
12 Duets for 2 Violins, op.49
10 Duets for 2 Cellos op.3
8 Duets for Violin and Cello op. 39
on Discover 920 526 which won't wake the neighbors if used for late night listening
That looks like a very interesting CD - thank you. In fact my wife has just instructed me to 'TURN THE MUSIC DOWN AS IT IS UNFAIR TO THE NEIGHBOURS! Personally I do not see what is wrong with playing Braga Santos's Third Symphony at top volume at 7.30 am on a Sunday morning ;D.
I find that the last movement of Symphony No 3 'Ilya Murometz' conveys one of the best examples of hopeless defiance or hopeless striving - something I always look out for in music. I really like this work although there is a generally fairly low critical opinion of it. I feel that Gliere deserves more attention.
Gliere gets a daily airing in St Petersburg...
... when the overnight Red Arrow Express train from Moscow arrives in St Petersburg next morning, it's greeted by Gliere's magnificently over-the-top Hymn To A Great City, belted-out over the station's loudspeakers. It's usually still playing as the passengers are walking along the platforms to the main station building.
Quote from: False_Dmitry on August 02, 2010, 01:32:03 PM
Gliere gets a daily airing in St Petersburg...
... when the overnight Red Arrow Express train from Moscow arrives in St Petersburg next morning, it's greeted by Gliere's magnificently over-the-top Hymn To A Great City, belted-out over the station's loudspeakers. It's usually still playing as the passengers are walking along the platforms to the main station building.
I love that! And trying to imagine a parallel situation in any American city, e.g., as people enter Grand Central Station in New York, they hear Copland's
Fanfare for the Common Man.
--Bruce
Quote from: vandermolen on July 14, 2009, 12:01:27 AM
Whilst this is clearly indicative of an obsessive-compulsive disorder, - a kind of doomed struggle, which appeals to my sense of looming catastrophe.
Tears,...coming out of my eyes, laughing :-*
Quote from: False_Dmitry on August 02, 2010, 01:32:03 PM
Gliere gets a daily airing in St Petersburg...
... when the overnight Red Arrow Express train from Moscow arrives in St Petersburg next morning, it's greeted by Gliere's magnificently over-the-top Hymn To A Great City, belted-out over the station's loudspeakers. It's usually still playing as the passengers are walking along the platforms to the main station building.
Yes, I experienced this a couple of years ago. Shostakovich made fun of this in 'Testimony'. When my plane landed in Prague a few years ago they played an extract from Smetana (Ma Vlast) as the aircraft landed and taxid to a stop.
Quote from: snyprrr on August 02, 2010, 08:07:57 PM
Tears,...coming out of my eyes, laughing :-*
Well, we aim to please :)
The Farberman recording is being reissued on Alto.
(http://i.prs.to/t_200/altoalc2019.jpg)
Coming to the end of my first listen to the epic 3rd symphony, "Ilya Muromets". What an incredibly epic work! Captivating throughout the gigantic duration, full of gorgeous orchestration, thrilling climaxes, awesome depictions and moving emotions. Amazing!!
http://www.youtube.com/v/li0dr71wItc
Will be keen to get a copy of this performance from Downes very soon.
Did Gliere write anything else anywhere close to being as good as this? :)
Quote from: madaboutmahler on March 28, 2013, 12:51:28 PM
Coming to the end of my first listen to the epic 3rd symphony, "Ilya Muromets".
Will be keen to get a copy of this performance from Downes very soon.
Did Gliere write anything else anywhere close to being as good as this? :)
The Red Poppy may not be great, but it's a good piece. Avoid the Faberman 3rd, I agree it makes bad Bruckner sound good. The concertos - for coloratura soprano (vocalising, no words) and horn are quite pleasant too.
Quote from: listener on March 28, 2013, 01:56:11 PM
The Red Poppy may not be great, but it's a good piece. Avoid the Faberman 3rd, I agree it makes bad Bruckner sound good. The concertos - for coloratura soprano (vocalising, no words) and horn are quite pleasant too.
Thanks for the feedback. Think I have heard most of the horn concerto before, I remember it being very enjoyable, and pleasant is certainly a good word to describe it! Less 'cutting edge' than the 3rd symphony though.... any other works where he is as adventurous?
Quote from: madaboutmahler on March 28, 2013, 02:37:28 PM
... Less 'cutting edge' than the 3rd symphony though.... any other works where he is as adventurous?
I would say no. After the
Symphony #3, for orchestral works at least, he stepped back and stayed with his rather conservative style from before 1912.
Somewhat similar to
Richard Strauss abandoning the path which had led to
Elektra.
Just received the Bearac Reissue transfer of Symphony No 3 (Rakhlin). The transfer is incomporably better than the same performance on Russian Disc. I think that it's the greatest recorded performance of the work.
Quote from: vandermolen on March 29, 2013, 02:36:55 PM
Just received the Bearac Reissue transfer of Symphony No 3 (Rakhlin). The transfer is incomporably better than the same performance on Russian Disc. I think that it's the greatest recorded performance of the work.
I have the Locked In the Vault transfers (and also the CBS-Melodiya Lps). Where can one get this transfer?
Quote from: Daverz on March 29, 2013, 02:39:48 PM
I have the Locked In the Vault transfers (and also the CBS-Melodiya Lps). Where can one get this transfer?
http://www.bearacreissues.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=335&category_id=1&keyword=gliere&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=12
Quote from: vandermolen on March 30, 2013, 05:52:39 AM
http://www.bearacreissues.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=335&category_id=1&keyword=gliere&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=12
Thanks. Maybe I'll try transfering my own copy.
Quote from: listener on March 28, 2013, 01:56:11 PM
The Red Poppy may not be great, but it's a good piece. Avoid the Faberman 3rd, I agree it makes bad Bruckner sound good. The concertos - for coloratura soprano (vocalising, no words) and horn are quite pleasant too.
With due respect,I'm afraid I just have to,completely, disagree with that. The Faberman recording was my introduction to the symphony,as a teenager,courtesy of my local library. I like his approach. As one 'critic' observed,there is a sense of timelessness. His pacing is slow & measured,but this is justified,imho,by a feeling of scale,grandeur & atmosphere which is absent from the more hectic,technicolor approach favoured by many of his rivals. Yes,they are superficially exciting,if you like the Hollywood blockbuster approach;but that's the problem with allot of these recordings as far as I'm concerned. I think Faberman was spot on! A marvellous performance. Alto should have kept the original Unicorn cover 'painting',though. I remember rummaging through that library record rack,all those years ago & thinking,'Whoa! That's wierd!' I just had to take it out! ;D
Quote from: cilgwyn on March 30, 2013, 04:51:04 PM
With due respect,I'm afraid I just have to,completely, disagree with that. The Faberman recording was my introduction to the symphony,as a teenager,courtesy of my local library. I like his approach. As one 'critic' observed,there is a sense of timelessness. His pacing is slow & measured,but this is justified,imho,by a feeling of scale,grandeur & atmosphere which is absent from the more hectic,technicolor approach favoured by many of his rivals. Yes,they are superficially exciting,if you like the Hollywood blockbuster approach;but that's the problem with allot of these recordings as far as I'm concerned. I think Faberman was spot on! A marvellous performance. Alto should have kept the original Unicorn cover 'painting',though. I remember rummaging through that library record rack,all those years ago & thinking,'Whoa! That's wierd!' I just had to take it out! ;D
I agree about the Alto cover! The Regis one was better but not as good as the Unicorn. Rakhlin remains my favourite for the epic Russian/soviet atmosphere of the playing and it is more deeply felt than some recordings; I think highly of the Faberman too. My own introduction was Ormandy's RCA LP which I have never seen on CD.
The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and JoAnn Falletta are the somewhat unlikely combo who will present the next CD version of "Ilya Murometz." Last month, between concerts in Buffalo and at Carnegie Hall, they recorded the piece for Naxos. Falletta writes, (http://www.naxos.com/news/default.asp?op=1065&displayMenu=Naxos_News&type=2) "People travelled to Buffalo and to New York City from all over the country to hear the performance(s).... The musicians of the Buffalo Philharmonic embraced the gorgeous fabric of this extraordinary work and—from the solo contrabassoon to the nine courageous horns to the large string section and everyone else—performed the work with complete conviction, passion and high drama. It was a very memorable week for all of the members of the orchestra, and has become a high point in our BPO musical history. The Buffalo Philharmonic performed and recorded the symphony complete and uncut."
Here's a tiny recording session clip on YouTube. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tpIskkC18EE)
Quote from: Brian on June 06, 2013, 05:05:52 AM
The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and JoAnn Falletta are the somewhat unlikely combo who will present the next CD version of "Ilya Murometz." Last month, between concerts in Buffalo and at Carnegie Hall, they recorded the piece for Naxos. Falletta writes, (http://www.naxos.com/news/default.asp?op=1065&displayMenu=Naxos_News&type=2) "People travelled to Buffalo and to New York City from all over the country to hear the performance(s).... The musicians of the Buffalo Philharmonic embraced the gorgeous fabric of this extraordinary work and—from the solo contrabassoon to the nine courageous horns to the large string section and everyone else—performed the work with complete conviction, passion and high drama. It was a very memorable week for all of the members of the orchestra, and has become a high point in our BPO musical history. The Buffalo Philharmonic performed and recorded the symphony complete and uncut."
Here's a tiny recording session clip on YouTube. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tpIskkC18EE)
Great news about the new recording.
Well, I shan't have any excuse not to listen to the piece now ; )
I don't think I've expressed my admiration for Gliere's music yet; allow me to do so now. His music may not be the most profound ever composed, but it is great fun for those (like myself) who enjoy a romantic wallow and is full of gorgeous and memorable tunes. He did write some embarrassingly trite, tub-thumping stuff, such as the late Heroic March (which goes on for a painful eleven minutes!), but the fact that he wrote such marvelous works as Symphony no. 3, The Sirens, The Red Poppy and the concertos for coloratura soprano, horn and harp far outweigh this fact.
What are everyone's favorite recordings of the irresistible Symphony no. 3? My favorite is Farberman's 93-minute (!) account which, surprisingly, keeps the dramatic tension going as much as any performance. It has, thankfully, been reissued on the Alto label along with his Cello Concerto, a fine but rather overlong piece, which, in the end, is rather disappointing and not one of Gliere's better efforts. It's still a worthwhile listen, though. Back to Symphony no. 3, my second favorite performance is Downes', which is captured in Chandos' opulent sound. I advise anyone new to this work to steer well clear of Botstein's and Stokowski's truncated recordings of the piece. I don't find the piece one bit overlong and the cuts certainly don't benefit it at all.
Is anyone familiar with this disc? I'm particularly interested in it because it includes the only recording of the first movement of Gliere's unfinished VC:
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51tjAp%2BwXEL._SY300_.jpg)
Quote from: kyjo on August 24, 2013, 04:10:23 PM
I don't think I've expressed my admiration for Gliere's music yet; allow me to do so now. His music may not be the most profound ever composed, but it is great fun for those (like myself) who enjoy a romantic wallow and is full of gorgeous and memorable tunes. He did write some embarrassingly trite, tub-thumping stuff, such as the late Heroic March (which goes on for a painful eleven minutes!), but the fact that he wrote such marvelous works as Symphony no. 3, The Sirens, The Red Poppy and the concertos for coloratura soprano, horn and harp far outweigh this fact.
What are everyone's favorite recordings of the irresistible Symphony no. 3? My favorite is Farberman's 93-minute (!) account which, surprisingly, keeps the dramatic tension going as much as any performance. It has, thankfully, been reissued on the Alto label along with his Cello Concerto, a fine but rather overlong piece, which, in the end, is rather disappointing and not one of Gliere's better efforts. It's still a worthwhile listen, though. Back to Symphony no. 3, my second favorite performance is Downes', which is captured in Chandos' opulent sound. I advise anyone new to this work to steer well clear of Botstein's and Stokowski's truncated recordings of the piece. I don't find the piece one bit overlong and the cuts certainly don't benefit it at all.
Is anyone familiar with this disc? I'm particularly interested in it because it includes the only recording of the first movement of Gliere's unfinished VC:
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51tjAp%2BwXEL._SY300_.jpg)
Yes, I have that disc. I like Symphony 2, which gets a bad press. Didn't make much of the VC but must listen again. Rakhlin and Faberman are my favourite versions of Symphony No 3 with Downes not far behind.
I like Symphony No 2 better!! ??? ;D And his first isn't bad! But I need another listen.
I agree with kyjo's first choice for No3. The Faberman has that feeling of 'timelesness' noted by one reviewer/critic (I can't remember who or where?). It evokes a remote past and has a sense of scale and architecture;a result of Faberman's often slow tempi;yet knowing where to move on when he needs to. Downes is initially exciting,but ultimately,after a few listens,too hard driven. It's all spectacle on the surface,but ultimately a rather hollow experience,good as it is.
A pity they couple the Faberman with the Cello Concerto. I don't want that,I just want the symphony. Who cares if the duration of cd 2 ends up being 'too short'. And yes,I know you can use the program button,or make cdrs!!!
What a pity Gliere doesn't seem to have conducted a recording. I'd have killed to hear him conduct even a cut version,through the swish,crackles & even boxy sound!
The Red Poppy Ballet on Naxos is very enjoyable. Some lovely music. And I didn't like the 'complete' version,at first! Does anyone here know if Melodiya ever recorded a 'complete' version. Various searches have produced no evidence of one,so far!
I believe that Melodiya did record one of his operas;but I may be wrong. It would be interesting to be able to hear one.
Update: Nothing here! :(
http://www.durbeckarchive.com/melodiya.htm
Thanks for the replies, Jeffrey and cilgwyn! I'll check out that ASV disc as well as the Rakhlin recording of the Third, which I don't yet own.
EDIT: I read a one-star Amazon review of the Rakhlin recording (which is quite hard to obtain) that said the audio quality of the transfer is horrendous! ??? (BTW 6 out of 7 customers agreed with this reviewer.) What transfer of this performance do you own, Jeffrey, and how is the audio quality?
Quote from: kyjo on August 26, 2013, 05:32:34 PM
Thanks for the replies, Jeffrey and cilgwyn! I'll check out that ASV disc as well as the Rakhlin recording of the Third, which I don't yet own.
EDIT: I read a one-star Amazon review of the Rakhlin recording (which is quite hard to obtain) that said the audio quality of the transfer is horrendous! ??? (BTW 6 out of 7 customers agreed with this reviewer.) What transfer of this performance do you own, Jeffrey, and how is the audio quality?
Kyle, the Russian Disc transfer of the Rakhlin recording is poor. So, the version to get is the much better recent Bearac Reissues transfer:
http://www.bearacreissues.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&product_id=335&flypage=flypage.tpl&pop=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=12&vmcchk=1&Itemid=12
Quote from: vandermolen on August 27, 2013, 03:16:12 PM
Kyle, the Russian Disc transfer of the Rakhlin recording is poor. So, the version to get is the much better recent Bearac Reissues transfer:
http://www.bearacreissues.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&product_id=335&flypage=flypage.tpl&pop=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=12&vmcchk=1&Itemid=12
Thanks, Jeffrey. :) Is that transfer available from Amazon? It doesn't seem to be.
Quote from: kyjo on August 27, 2013, 05:13:32 PM
Thanks, Jeffrey. :) Is that transfer available from Amazon? It doesn't seem to be.
No Kyle, just from Bearac themselves. They are based in Greece I think but deliver quickly and are not too expensive.
Quote from: cilgwyn on August 26, 2013, 04:32:02 AM
What a pity Gliere doesn't seem to have conducted a recording. I'd have killed to hear him conduct even a cut version,through the swish,crackles & even boxy sound!
He did conduct his horn concerto for an recording (LP, never reissued as far as I know)
(http://i.prs.to/t_200/naxos8573161.jpg)
"The Glière Symphony No. 3 has always been a piece that shimmered on my horizon – a cult piece, in a way, renowned as the composer's towering masterpiece but rarely played in concert. As long as a Mahler symphony and enormous in its instrumental requirements, it was a work that people spoke about reverently but almost never heard live. The recording was an adventure that changed our orchestra, strengthened us, and became an artistic benchmark for our musicians. We revelled in the gorgeous landscape of the Symphony – from mysterious bass murmurings to crushing walls of brass fortissimo to breathtaking impressionistic renderings of forests and birds. We performed and recorded this massive work uncut to preserve Glière's extraordinary architecture. This work is a cathedral in sound that unfolds in breathtaking swashes of colour, poetry and monumental climaxes." – JoAnn Falletta
Scheduled for release February 2014
Quote from: Brian on December 30, 2013, 03:46:50 PM
(http://i.prs.to/t_200/naxos8573161.jpg)
"The Glière Symphony No. 3 has always been a piece that shimmered on my horizon – a cult piece, in a way, renowned as the composer's towering masterpiece but rarely played in concert. As long as a Mahler symphony and enormous in its instrumental requirements, it was a work that people spoke about reverently but almost never heard live. The recording was an adventure that changed our orchestra, strengthened us, and became an artistic benchmark for our musicians. We revelled in the gorgeous landscape of the Symphony – from mysterious bass murmurings to crushing walls of brass fortissimo to breathtaking impressionistic renderings of forests and birds. We performed and recorded this massive work uncut to preserve Glière's extraordinary architecture. This work is a cathedral in sound that unfolds in breathtaking swashes of colour, poetry and monumental climaxes." – JoAnn Falletta
Scheduled for release February 2014
The work is a barn-burner! I have always heard the spirit of
Scriabin hovering in the area.
So the Buffalo Philharmonic is tackling this work! I can well imagine that the work was something of an epiphany!
Track timings now available for the new Naxos recording - here's the PDF of the back cover of the CD (http://www.naxos.com/SharedFiles/pdf/rear/8.573161r.pdf#)! Several minutes faster than the old Johanos recording, and faster yet than Downes on Chandos.
On the basis of JoAnn Falletta's excellent recent Moeran CD, I shall greatly look forward to hearing her take on the Gliere. I was very lucky to hear it live some years ago in London.
Quote from: Brian on December 30, 2013, 03:46:50 PM
(http://i.prs.to/t_200/naxos8573161.jpg)
"The Glière Symphony No. 3 has always been a piece that shimmered on my horizon – a cult piece, in a way, renowned as the composer's towering masterpiece but rarely played in concert. As long as a Mahler symphony and enormous in its instrumental requirements, it was a work that people spoke about reverently but almost never heard live. The recording was an adventure that changed our orchestra, strengthened us, and became an artistic benchmark for our musicians. We revelled in the gorgeous landscape of the Symphony – from mysterious bass murmurings to crushing walls of brass fortissimo to breathtaking impressionistic renderings of forests and birds. We performed and recorded this massive work uncut to preserve Glière's extraordinary architecture. This work is a cathedral in sound that unfolds in breathtaking swashes of colour, poetry and monumental climaxes." – JoAnn Falletta
Scheduled for release February 2014
I have greatly enjoyed this new release. A super performance and recording by JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo PO. The ancient church chant, played, as the notes say, by a pleading bassoon and English horn near the start of the work is more affecting and Boris Godunov-like than I recall from other recordings and, it is all on one CD unlike the Regis version for example. The epic battle of the last movement - the best music in the symphony I think, when Muromets battles the armies of Heaven is as exciting as any other version. If you want a recording of this sprawling epic I think that this would be as good as any version. The Moeran and Gliere Naxos new releases have given me a lot of pleasure and I shall be looking out for more recordings by JoAnn Falletta.
Quote from: vandermolen on February 08, 2014, 11:17:11 PM
I have greatly enjoyed this new release. A super performance and recording by JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo PO. The ancient church chant, played, as the notes say, by a pleading bassoon and English horn near the start of the work is more affecting and Boris Godunov-like than I recall from other recordings and, it is all on one CD unlike the Regis version for example. The epic battle of the last movement - the best music in the symphony I think, when Muromets battles the armies of Heaven is as exciting as any other version. If you want a recording of this sprawling epic I think that this would be as good as any version. The Moeran and Gliere Naxos new releases have given me a lot of pleasure and I shall be looking out for more recordings by JoAnn Falletta.
Cheers,
Jeffrey, thanks for this. I think I'll give this one a try!
Quote from: kyjo on August 24, 2013, 04:10:23 PM
I advise anyone new to this work to steer well clear of Botstein's and Stokowski's truncated recordings of the piece.
The Botstein/LSO is supposed to be complete. Do you hear cuts in it?
Th Downes/BBC version is on Youtube with the score that you can follow along. It is a bit hard to see but if you have a big enough screen you can almost make out the notes.
Quote from: PerfectWagnerite on April 21, 2014, 07:08:04 AM
The Botstein/LSO is supposed to be complete. Do you hear cuts in it?
Th Downes/BBC version is on Youtube with the score that you can follow along. It is a bit hard to see but if you have a big enough screen you can almost make out the notes.
Dude! ...where have you been for the last three years?
Sarge
Quote from: Sergeant Rock on April 21, 2014, 07:23:17 AM
Dude! ...where have you been for the last three years?
Sarge
Sorry, had a couple of job changes due to the ever-changing economy here in the NYC metro area. Suffice to say job duties prevent me from being on this forum very much. Good to see all the old-timers are still here.
Quote from: PerfectWagnerite on April 21, 2014, 07:31:35 AM
Sorry, had a couple of job changes due to the ever-changing economy here in the NYC metro area. Suffice to say job duties prevent me from being on this forum very much. Good to see all the old-timers are still here.
And it's good to have you back 8)
Sarge
Has anyone ever read why he changed his last name from the German form to a French-sounding one?
A composer of German-Polish parents born in Kiev who spoke Russian changes his last name to sound French. :)
Quote from: Scion7 on September 04, 2014, 08:27:34 PM
Has anyone ever read why he changed his last name from the German form to a French-sounding one?
A composer of German-Polish parents born in Kiev who spoke Russian changes his last name to sound French. :)
French was popular in the court in those days (language, fashion, etc.), so it may have been linked to that.
Quote from: Scion7 on September 04, 2014, 08:27:34 PM
Has anyone ever read why he changed his last name from the German form to a French-sounding one?
A composer of German-Polish parents born in Kiev who spoke Russian changes his last name to sound French. :)
Could it be connected with his Jewish origins? Don't know when he changed his name though.
Jewish? He was baptized when born. I've never read anything that said his parents were Jews. ???
I was just listening to Igor Markevitch's recording of Liadov's "From the Apocalypse, op. 66" and felt an incredible kinship between this work and Gliere's Ilia Muromets (No. 3). I also realized that Muromets was actually written before the Liadov so my first question is who influenced who? Are these two separate composers who did not influence each other and miraculously arrived and a simultaneous influence from Rimsky-korsakov's late opera and mid/late Scriabin? This is a very important period in late romantic Russian music because the seeds of Scriabin, Prokofiev, and Stravinsky's lush and violent pre-soviet music is in these evocative works.
Quote from: relm1 on February 21, 2015, 07:05:57 PM
I was just listening to Igor Markevitch's recording of Liadov's "From the Apocalypse, op. 66" and felt an incredible kinship between this work and Gliere's Ilia Muromets (No. 3). I also realized that Muromets was actually written before the Liadov so my first question is who influenced who? Are these two separate composers who did not influence each other and miraculously arrived and a simultaneous influence from Rimsky-korsakov's late opera and mid/late Scriabin? This is a very important period in late romantic Russian music because the seeds of Scriabin, Prokofiev, and Stravinsky's lush and violent pre-soviet music is in these evocative works.
I'm not going to make a serious speculation but I doubt that Lyadov knew of Gliere's
Symphony No. 3 "Ilya Muromets". Lyadov was already a fully formed composer, although, of course, a lazy one, by the time he composed
From the Apocalypse. :) But still, I think any similarities between the works that you're hearing is purely coincidental.
Quote from: Scion7 on September 05, 2014, 01:26:59 PM
Jewish? He was baptized when born. I've never read anything that said his parents were Jews. ???
Sorry to be replying to this so late; some sources describe him as of 'Belgian-Jewish descent' but obviously if he was baptised he wasn't Jewish. Maybe he had some Jewish relatives - who knows? Thank you for the info.
Quote from: relm1 on February 21, 2015, 07:05:57 PM
I was just listening to Igor Markevitch's recording of Liadov's "From the Apocalypse, op. 66" and felt an incredible kinship between this work and Gliere's Ilia Muromets (No. 3). I also realized that Muromets was actually written before the Liadov so my first question is who influenced who? Are these two separate composers who did not influence each other and miraculously arrived and a simultaneous influence from Rimsky-korsakov's late opera and mid/late Scriabin? This is a very important period in late romantic Russian music because the seeds of Scriabin, Prokofiev, and Stravinsky's lush and violent pre-soviet music is in these evocative works.
I'm not sure about this either but I see what you mean about the Liadov/Gliere connection; both composers whom I admire.
Is this from the DG cd? I presume it is. Some fantastic recordings on there,including R-K's The Golden Cockerel-Suite and Tchaikovsky's Francesca da Rimini. I think the Markevitch Liadov is my favourite recording after Svetlanov's on Melodiya (or next to?!) I can see what you mean in terms of the general atmosphere of the piece;but Gliere's score is obviously more varied and quite a bit longer! ;D
Incidentally,my old Penguin guide (to compact discs and cassettes) tells me that Miaskovsky's third symphony "is an epic,ambitious work,conceived in a grand manner and cast in two long movements;it's world is close to that of Gliere's Ilya Mourmetz Symphony." Is that true? I've never heard it. Maybe vandermolen (or someone else) will know?!
Quote from: cilgwyn on February 22, 2015, 02:39:47 AM
Is this from the DG cd? I presume it is. Some fantastic recordings on there,including R-K's The Golden Cockerel-Suite and Tchaikovsky's Francesca da Rimini. I think the Markevitch Liadov is my favourite recording after Svetlanov's on Melodiya (or next to?!) I can see what you mean in terms of the general atmosphere of the piece;but Gliere's score is obviously more varied and quite a bit longer! ;D
Incidentally,my old Penguin guide (to compact discs and cassettes) tells me that Miaskovsky's third symphony "is an epic,ambitious work,conceived in a grand manner and cast in two long movements;it's world is close to that of Gliere's Ilya Mourmetz Symphony." Is that true? I've never heard it. Maybe vandermolen (or someone else) will know?!
Yes, that is the CD. It is good! I typically think of Liadov to be very conservative but in this work,
Fragment from the Apocalypse, there seems to be some really interesting era transitions. For instance the orchestration is unusual - 2 sets of timpani and 2 tubas for example. Which darkens the colors and adds to the sense of darkness plus those building climaxes with percussion playing their own (just like Gliere's bass drum + tam-tam climaxes). Also the poly-chord at the end of Liadov (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw7YXNXaaYk&feature=player_detailpage#t=496) at 8:20 of this recording has G augmented and F Augmented at the same time. Very Stravinsky-esque and Prokofievian!!
I do agree Myaskovsky's Symphony No. 3 also has a similar esthetic to the Gliere No. 3 in its heavy reliance on low register tremolos and brassy heroics. It feels programmatic and nostalgic.
Quote from: cilgwyn on February 22, 2015, 02:39:47 AM
Is this from the DG cd? I presume it is. Some fantastic recordings on there,including R-K's The Golden Cockerel-Suite and Tchaikovsky's Francesca da Rimini. I think the Markevitch Liadov is my favourite recording after Svetlanov's on Melodiya (or next to?!) I can see what you mean in terms of the general atmosphere of the piece;but Gliere's score is obviously more varied and quite a bit longer! ;D
Incidentally,my old Penguin guide (to compact discs and cassettes) tells me that Miaskovsky's third symphony "is an epic,ambitious work,conceived in a grand manner and cast in two long movements;it's world is close to that of Gliere's Ilya Mourmetz Symphony." Is that true? I've never heard it. Maybe vandermolen (or someone else) will know?!
I agree that Miaskovsky's Third Symphony, his first really excellent one in my view, has echoes of Gliere. It also sounds a bit like Cesar Frank's Symphony. Miaskovsky's Third Symphony ends in the deepest gloom, rather like the Gliere - which appeals to me. :(
Thank you for your reply. Sounds very intriguing,and tempting,vandermolen! Unfortunately,as usual,for me anyway,the prospect and expense of a further twenty five symphonies that aren't in my collection (got two No's 21!) may prove too much! ??? :(
Guys, Gliere is one my favourite composers! Eversince I came to know his orchestral works, I can't live my life without thinking about Gliere.
Usually most people think very high of his 3rd Symphony, but his rest of his works do not fail to deliver.
For instance, I was taken completely aback by the 5th disc with Vassily Sinaisky that Chandos presented.
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2011/Oct11/Gliere_CHAN106795X.htm
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2011/Nov11/Gliere_collection_CHAN10679X.htm
It is one of my favourite brain foods to have exoticism combined with lavish, sumptuous, rich, extravagant, hyper-coloured and elephantine orchestrations. And who else could deliver better than Gliere?
I mean, the 5th disc is pure eargasm (Gyul'sara, Shakh-Senem Overture, Heroic March of Buryiat-Mongolian ASSR, Overture on Slavonic Themes)
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There is also Gliere's Taras Bulba Suite, a rarity, but worth listening for all the fans.
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2000/oct00/gliere.htm
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The only recording to find a DDD reading of the Symphonic Poem Sirens
http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/n/nxs50898a.php
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2000/nov00/gliere.htm
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Macal's Gliere shouldn't be missed
https://sdtom.wordpress.com/2011/07/05/symphony-no-2-in-c-minor-op-25red-poppy-ballet-suite-op-70gliere/
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(http://militscky.narod.ru/GLIERE-Shakh-Senem.jpg)
http://militscky.narod.ru/cd-r2.html
GLIERE, REINHOLD Shakh-Senem, Opera excerpts, Concerto
VSG/Melodiya, Mono M10-36867 GOST 5289-73
"Shakh-Senem", Opera excerpts
Anatoly Orfenov
K.Rachevskaya
All-Union Radio Orchestra, Reinhold Gliere, G.Stolyarov conductors
Concerto for Voice and Orchestra, op.82
Bella Rudenko soprano
Kiev Philharmonic Orchestra, Stepan Turchak conductor
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Gliere's Khrizis and Sheep's Spring
http://www.allmusic.com/album/reinhold-moritzovich-gli%C3%A8re-ballet-suite-ii-from-chrysis-eight-duets-for-violin-and-cello-op-39-mw0001534992
http://www.allmusic.com/album/release/reinhold-gliere-ballet-suites-nos1-and-2-mr0002156964
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Well the question is : what are the chances to see DDD recordings for Gliere's lesser know works?
Op.65 Khrizis [Хризис], Mimes ballet in 3 acts [or alternatively, Op.65a - Suite No.1 ; Op.65b - Suite No.2]
Op.66 Trizna, Symphonic Poem in F♯ minor (1911-1915)
Op.69a Suite for Symphonic Orchestra from the opera Shakh-Senem
Op.73 Zapovit (The bequest) Symphonic poem in E minor (1941)
Op.78 Cleopatra, Egyptian nights, Ballet mime in one act (1925)
Op.79 The friendship of the peoples Overture for symphonic orchestra in A major (1941)
Op.80 Symphonic Fantasy for Folk-Instruments orchestra in F major (1943)
Op.85 Music to the play Farhad and Shirin (1946)
Op.86 Victory Overture for symphonic orchestra in B♭ minor (1944)
Op.93 Glory of the Soviet army Cantata for soloists, choir, narrator, symphonic- and wind orchestra (1953)
Op.97 Festive overture for symphonic orchestra in D major (1955)
Op.94 Leili and Medshnun, opera in 4 acts (1940)
-Symphonic Fragment (1934)
-For the Happiness of the Fatherland, Overture for symphony orchestra (1942)
-The Imitation of Ezekiel, Symphonic Poem (Melodram) for narrator AND orchestra (1919)
-Esmeralda, for symphony orchestra (1926)
-The Cossacks whistled it, Ukrainian folk song. For mixed Choir with big symphony orchestra. (1935)
http://www.sikorski.de/475/en/0/a/0/orchestral_music/1007939_sinfonisches_fragment_fuer_orchester.html
http://www.sikorski.de/475/en/0/a/0/orchestral_music/1005591_das_verm_chtnis_sinfonisches_poem_fuer_orchester.html
http://www.sikorski.de/475/en/0/a/0/orchestral_music/1005593_schah_senem_ouvert_re_fuer_orchester.html
http://www.sikorski.de/475/en/0/a/0/orchestral_music/1005594_die_saporoger_kosaken_sinfonisches_bild_fuer.html
http://www.sikorski.de/475/en/0/a/0/orchestral_music/1000467_roter_mohn_suite_nr_1_fuer_orchester.html
Quote from: vandermolen on February 21, 2015, 11:51:54 PMSorry to be replying to this so late; some sources describe him as of 'Belgian-Jewish descent' but obviously if he was baptised he wasn't Jewish. Maybe he had some Jewish relatives - who knows? Thank you for the info.
According to Wikipedia 'About 1900 he changed the spelling and pronunciation of his surname to Glière, which gave rise to the legend, stated by Leonid Sabaneyev for the first time (1927), of his French or Belgian descent.[2]'
BTW, French was THE European lingua franca in that time, certainly in the Russian Empire. Other composers - e.g. Stravinsky, Prokoviev ('Prokofieff'), or 'Rachmaninoff' - also preferred the French spelling (transliteration) of their names.
Nice to see some renewed interest in Gliere. 'The Sirens' is a work I like very much. Gliere taught Miaskovsky and there are echoes of Miaskovsky's fine tone poem 'Silence' in the Gliere work.
Well, Let the Gliere power be unleashed! Can't wait to have more of Gliere's orchestral power.
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2000/nov00/Glieremultiple.htm
My only hope is Naxos now, since Chandos doesn't seem to plan to record more of his opuses (they ceased their Gliere activities back in the 90s).
Need to check Myaskovsky's tone poem.
Obviously, the latest Gliere entry by Naxos and JoAnn Falletta is all the buzz now
http://www.classicstoday.com/review/falletta-buffalo-define-glieres-monumental-third-symphony/
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2014/Mar14/Gliere_sy3_8573161.htm
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2015/Feb/Gliere_sy3_NBD0041.htm
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2014/Sep14/Gliere_sy3_NBD0041.htm
http://www.sa-cd.net/showtitle/10058
http://audaud.com/2014/09/gliere-symphony-no-3-ilya-muromets-buffalo-philharmonic-orch-joann-falletta-naxos-audio-only-blu-ray/ (http://audaud.com/2014/09/gliere-symphony-no-3-ilya-muromets-buffalo-philharmonic-orch-joann-falletta-naxos-audio-only-blu-ray/)
http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_cd_review.php?id=12102
http://www.classicalmusicsentinel.com/KEEP/keep-gliere.html
http://classicalmodernmusic.blogspot.gr/2014/04/reinhold-moritsevich-gliere-symphony-no.html
http://maestrosteve.xanga.com/2014/04/03/fabulous-new-monumental-gliere/
http://www.classical-cd-reviews.com/2014/02/gliere-symphony-no-3-falletta-buffalo.html
(http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2011/Mar11/ippolitov_caucasian_4802428.jpg)
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2011/Mar11/ippolitov_caucasian_4802428.htm (http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2011/Mar11/ippolitov_caucasian_4802428.htm)
(http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2007/Dec07/Gliere_dom292996.jpg)
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2007/Dec07/Gliere_DOM292996.htm
http://www.sa-cd.net/showtitle/4696
(http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0001/058/MI0001058896.jpg)
http://www.classicstoday.com/review/review-8347/
http://www.allmusic.com/album/gli%C3%A8re-violin-concerto-op-100-symphony-no-2-in-c-minor-mw0001941204
http://www.theclassicalshop.net/Details.aspx?CatalogueNumber=CHAN%2010166
Svetlanov conducted Gliere's Solemn Overture Op. 72 for full symphony orchestra. This Svetlanov reading has made it to an '80s Olympia CD
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u197/Aggelos_05/Music%20Related/Gliere%20front_side_zpsnuz6sdk5.jpg)
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u197/Aggelos_05/Music%20Related/Gliere%20back_side_zpskbzrjbg2.jpg)
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A nice page dedicated to Gliere's life and work
http://www.reinhold-gliere.net/index8.htm
" Glière was born in Kiev, Ukraine, then in the Russian Empire. He was the second son of the wind instrument maker Ernst Moritz Glier (1834–1896) from Saxony (Klingenthal), who emigrated to the Russian Empire and married Józefa (Josephine) Korczak (1849–1935), the daughter of his master, from Warsaw, Poland. His original name, as given in his baptism certificate, was Reinhold Ernest Glier. About 1900 he changed the spelling and pronunciation of his surname to Glière, which gave rise to the legend, stated by Leonid Sabaneyev for the first time (1927), of his French or Belgian descent. "
By the way, did you know he is considered the 'founder of Soviet ballet' ?
Quote from: Scion7 on August 18, 2015, 03:51:23 PM" Glière was born in Kiev, Ukraine, then in the Russian Empire. He was the second son of the wind instrument maker Ernst Moritz Glier (1834–1896) from Saxony (Klingenthal), who emigrated to the Russian Empire and married Józefa (Josephine) Korczak (1849–1935), the daughter of his master, from Warsaw, Poland. His original name, as given in his baptism certificate, was Reinhold Ernest Glier. About 1900 he changed the spelling and pronunciation of his surname to Glière, which gave rise to the legend, stated by Leonid Sabaneyev for the first time (1927), of his French or Belgian descent. "
Quote from: Christo on August 16, 2015, 11:17:07 PMAccording to Wikipedia 'About 1900 he changed the spelling and pronunciation of his surname to Glière, which gave rise to the legend, stated by Leonid Sabaneyev for the first time (1927), of his French or Belgian descent.[2]'
BTW, French was THE European lingua franca in that time, certainly in the Russian Empire. Other composers - e.g. Stravinsky, Prokoviev ('Prokofieff'), or 'Rachmaninoff' - also preferred the French spelling (transliteration) of their names.
;)
Another LP by Melodiya. Features
Nathan Rakhlin conducting Zaporozhye Cossacks Op. 64,
Kirill Kondrashin conducting Holiday at Ferghana Op. 75,
and eventually Alexander Gauk conducting Sirens Op. 33
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u197/Aggelos_05/Music%20Related/Gliere_zpsinvnbki6.jpg)
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u197/Aggelos_05/Music%20Related/Gliere_03_zpsfbissul4.jpg)
I wonder why Olympia didn't get this one on its remastered CDs list....
Svetlanov conducts Gliere's Solemn Overture Op. 72 for full symphony orchestra
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx7gxMQJrW0
Alexander Gauk conducts Sirens Op. 33
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjjmFS5-Ga4
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It's nice to have some links that review Gliere's various recordings of the 3rd Symph
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/music/0904/classical/gliere.htm (http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/music/0904/classical/gliere.htm)
http://www.classicalcdreview.com/ilyafinal.html
http://www.classicalcdreview.com/rgilyals.html
http://www.classicalcdreview.com/rgilyaeo.htm
Thanks for posting the reviews. The Rakhlin is perhaps my favourite. I have many recordings as I like the epic, technicolor qualities of the work and the overwhelming climax of the last movement.
Now with the internet, it is obvious that one can find-acquire multiple recordings without much effort and obstruction. I wouldn't disagree that Natan Rakhling's reading makes the 3rd Symph an arresting experience.
Among all the available covers and booklet artwork for Gliere's 3rd, which one do you prefer?
Quote from: Angelos_05 on August 21, 2015, 09:21:50 AM
Now with the internet, it is obvious that can find-acquire multiple recording without much effort and obstruction. I wouldn't disagree that Natan Rakhling's reading makes the 3rd Symph an arresting experience.
Among all the available covers and booklet artwork for Gliere's 3rd, which one do you prefer?
[asin]B00HFDKTC4[/asin]
I would say Chandos.
The Chandos engineering is pretty stellar (audio quality is fantastic), the performances are top-notch, and the overall covers and booklets are very fascinating to leaf through and read (and very informative-authoritative). What more would a Gliere fan-buff want?
(http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2011/Oct11/Gliere_CHAN10679X.jpg)
Two more Gliere entries by Naxos.
(http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0000/968/MI0000968530.jpg)
http://www.allmusic.com/album/gli%C3%A8re-the-red-poppy-complete-ballet-mw0001797941
https://sdtom.wordpress.com/2008/04/04/the-red-poppy-complete-balletgliere/
http://www.theclassicalshop.net/Details.aspx?CatalogueNumber=NA%203496
(http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0000/979/MI0000979084.jpg)
http://www.allmusic.com/album/release/gli%C3%A8re-orchestral-works-mr0002704496
http://www.theclassicalshop.net/Details.aspx?CatalogueNumber=MP%203675
I've been listening to Nathan Rakhlin's CD of Symphony 3 'Ilya Murometz' and think it the greatest of all recorded performances. But the transfer made by the private company Bearac Reissues is far better than the one on Russian Disc and that is the one to get. I have never been so moved by a performance of this work.
Yes, indeed. It has been suggested by the reviewer to steer clear from the Russian Disc release, since its transfer is a bitter disappointment. On the other hand, Nathan Rakhlin certainly delivers an unforgettable rendering/reading of Gliere's 3rd.
I would be interested in an ADD Melodiya CD of the Vinyl that features Rakhlin, Kondrashin and Gauk conducting Gliere.
[audio]L[/audio]
Quote from: vandermolen on August 21, 2015, 11:53:48 PM
[asin]B00HFDKTC4[/asin]
Seconded, and I'd add Ormandy's second recording
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=180374
It is cut, but not with the ruthlessness of the Stokowski recording -- there are 59 minutes of the music here.
Quote from: Angelos_05 on September 20, 2015, 07:07:19 PM
Yes, indeed. It has been suggested by the reviewer to steer clear from the Russian Disc release, since its transfer is a bitter disappointment. On the other hand, Nathan Rakhlin certainly delivers an unforgettable rendering/reading of Gliere's 3rd.
I would be interested in an ADD Melodiya CD of the Vinyl that features Rakhlin, Kondrashin and Gauk conducting Gliere.
That sounds interesting! Which works are featured?
Quote from: Daverz on September 20, 2015, 10:59:31 PM
[audio]L[/audio]
Seconded, and I'd add Ormandy's second recording
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=180374
It is cut, but not with the ruthlessness of the Stokowski recording -- there are 59 minutes of the music here.
The Ormandy on the RCA LP was my introduction to this fine work. I hope it gets issued on CD one day.
Quote from: vandermolen on September 20, 2015, 11:10:47 PM
That sounds interesting! Which works are featured?
I posted the Vinyl covers a couple of posts above
http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,137.msg915470.html#msg915470
Features
Nathan Rakhlin conducting Zaporozhye Cossacks Op. 64,
Kirill Kondrashin conducting Holiday at Ferghana Op. 75,
and eventually Alexander Gauk conducting Sirens Op. 33
Enjoying this now:
[asin]B000000AOZ[/asin]
Sprawling, rambling, drawn-out but magnificent in its way.
Always has me gripped, like a piece of epic cinema, from beginning to end.
Il'ya Muromets is one of the great programme symphonies.
A little late-nite Spanish Rice, with home-grown tomatoes, and Gliere. :)
Quote from: Scion7 on June 24, 2016, 10:15:27 PM
A little late-nite Spanish Rice, with home-grown tomatoes, and Gliere. :)
Which Gliere?
And all washed down with a nice glass of fizzy Popov! :)
The Rakhlin recording is available on Russian disc s/h (from a certain ubiquitous Seller,I might add!) and Bearac. I think the latter is a download,or they can provide a cd copy? (Would that be a cd-r?) I will have a good look at their website a bit later. How does the sound quality differ from the Russian Disc,I wonder?
I have to say,my all time favourite is the old Unicorn recording. It's the one I grew up with. I love the glacial tempi,the feeling of timelessness and a remote,mysterious past it evokes. Every other performance I have heard sounds too rushed. I am perfectly happy with it. Very happy,indeed! That said,I know some people don't like his approach at all. If you like your Gliere more up tempo,I can't fault Downes;which has the advantage of the celebrated (I love it!) Chandos sound. That said,my copy went to the charity shop two or three years ago!
NB: According to a review under the relevant cd,Russian Disc "totally botched" the sound! ???
I really enjoy this recording of Ilya Murometz from Harold Farberman/RPO:
(http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_1080/MI0003/448/MI0003448281.jpg?partner=allrovi.com)
I can't say I know many others but I have heard, and own, the Downes and Bostein, but don't remember much about them.
That's the one. I've got the original Unicorn (fat box) release without the Cello Concerto! The only one I need or want,quite frankly. We all respond differently,however;so if Rakhlin gets Vandermole going,or Downes;I can quite understand. For me it's the slow tempi that makes it for me. Yet,Faberman's approach is never flabby. He has an iron grip which never lets go;and he knows how to make the music breathe in the slower,quieter bits. The second movement is sensuous,you really feel the lure of those forest maidens. They'd have me! I'd be be doing the washing up and (*censored!*) more!! ??? ;D
Quote from: cilgwyn on June 25, 2016, 06:46:21 AM
That's the one. I've got the original Unicorn (fat box) release without the Cello Concerto! The only one I need or want,quite frankly. We all respond differently,however;so if Rakhlin gets Vandermole going,or Downes;I can quite understand. For me it's the slow tempi that makes it for me. Yet,Faberman's approach is never flabby. He has an iron grip which never lets go;and he knows how to make the music breathe in the slower,quieter bits. The second movement is sensuous,you really feel the lure of those forest maidens. They'd have me! I'd be be doing the washing up and (*censored!*) more!! ??? ;D
I have the Faberman too - in all its CD incarnations (fat box, Regis, Alto ::)). It is a terrific version - one of the best. Rakhlin is certainly my favourite one disc version and I have recently been enjoying the Downes recording.
The string quartets - but I went to bed before the 2nd was over.
Quote from: Scion7 on June 25, 2016, 08:40:23 AM
The string quartets - but I went to bed before the 2nd was over.
Thank you!
Anyone know if there is a complete RED POPPY other than this one?
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51cgI53UIwL._SS500.jpg)
Quote from: PerfectWagnerite on September 30, 2016, 02:26:46 PM
Anyone know if there is a complete RED POPPY other than this one?
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51cgI53UIwL._SS500.jpg)
Not that I'm aware of. I suspect there was an LP version.
Maybe this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Gliere-Symphony-Mourometz-Poppy-Ballet/dp/B003JCLTQ0/ref=pd_sbs_15_t_1/158-5617415-4527956?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=1WDES2ZFRZ370FKN6FBY
I thought it was Brian Blessed for a moment!! ???
Quote from: PerfectWagnerite on September 30, 2016, 02:26:46 PM
Anyone know if there is a complete RED POPPY other than this one?
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51cgI53UIwL._SS500.jpg)
Added this to my wish list.
Quote from: cilgwyn on October 02, 2016, 06:21:18 AM
I thought it was Brian Blessed for a moment!! ???
huh?
Quote from: arpeggio on October 02, 2016, 07:20:55 AM
Added this to my wish list.
yes it is very cheap on Amazon. I suppose the plot of the ballet doesn't lend itself well to present day politics so no one is going to record it.
Quote from: cilgwyn on October 02, 2016, 06:21:18 AM
I thought it was Brian Blessed for a moment!! ???
Very funny! :)
(http://i1362.photobucket.com/albums/r688/dinasman/s-l1600_zpsoodnbwzt.jpg)
(http://i1362.photobucket.com/albums/r688/dinasman/s-l1600bb_zpsg41hvosr.jpg)
I'M AN ACT-ORR,VANDERMOLEN!! ;D
I'm surprised,and a little disappointed,that the Soviets never seemed to have recorded the ballet complete. I thought I remembered seeing it in those old catalogues from Collets and the Russian Record Company. This could be the recording;although the one listed may have had different artwork. I would like to hear it with the old style Russian brass rasping away! The cd reissue on the Olympia label was coupled with Knipper's Fourth,which may not be for the faint hearted,even if you could find,or afford a secondhand copy. (Although,I note that Knipper has at least one fan,judging by the review left next to the Amazon uk listing!)
Time to revive this thread.
I don't know why I waited so long to listen to this CD with two lovely works: the String Octet in D major and the String Sextet Nr. 3 in C major
(https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/613inCv1KjL._SS500.jpg)
Both works have that so characteristic tasteful Russian air with strong melodic material. However, the Octet made a bigger impression on me. There are simply incredible and catchy melodies that haunt you for some days, especially on the 1st movement, some incredibly lovely music that melts your heart, at least it was made on me. The movements 2 and 4 have infectious folksy nature, while the 3rd is almost elegiac but not much, therefore is rather touching.
Glière was not only a master in orchestral works but also in chamber ones, and these works are proof of it.
Quote from: SymphonicAddict on July 26, 2018, 08:56:17 PM
Time to revive this thread.
I don't know why I waited so long to listen to this CD with two lovely works: the String Octet in D major and the String Sextet Nr. 3 in C major
(https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/613inCv1KjL._SS500.jpg)
Both works have that so characteristic tasteful Russian air with strong melodic material. However, the Octet made a bigger impression on me. There are simply incredible and catchy melodies that haunt you for some days, especially on the 1st movement, some incredibly lovely music that melts your heart, at least it was made on me. The movements 2 and 4 have infectious folksy nature, while the 3rd is almost elegiac but not much, therefore is rather touching.
Glière was not only a master in orchestral works but also in chamber ones, and these works are proof of it.
I know none of his chamber music so many thanks for posting this Cesar. More temptation of course but clearly I need to hear this one!
Quote from: vandermolen on July 26, 2018, 10:36:36 PM
I know none of his chamber music so many thanks for posting this Cesar. More temptation of course but clearly I need to hear this one!
These works are good fun. They should appeal to your tastes!
Just I found this on YouTube:
String octet in D major
https://www.youtube.com/v/g8hw5X92xhE
and the String sextet No. 3 in C major
https://www.youtube.com/v/tI13ZUJp4CQ
As I said previously on this thread, this is LOVELY stuff. Please, take a listen to these works. Some early pieces with an incredible potential.
Quote from: SymphonicAddict on September 26, 2018, 11:12:29 AM
Just I found this on YouTube:
String octet in D major
https://www.youtube.com/v/g8hw5X92xhE
and the String sextet No. 3 in C major
https://www.youtube.com/v/tI13ZUJp4CQ
As I said previously on this thread, this is LOVELY stuff. Please, take a listen to these works. Some early pieces with an incredible potential.
Well, I just listened, with much pleasure, to the String Octet and find your analysis, Cesar, to be spot on. It is a delightful work, catchy and engaging. It reminded me a bit of Borodin brought into the Twentieth Century although it is hardly modernistic (composed in 1900). The tunes are memorably inspiriting. I can see that this is another CD which may have to be smuggled into the house. My cat enjoyed it too. Thanks very much for posting them here. On to the String Sextet next. :)
Quote from: vandermolen on September 26, 2018, 12:21:06 PM
Well, I just listened, with much pleasure, to the String Octet and find your analysis, Cesar, to be spot on. It is a delightful work, catchy and engaging. It reminded me a bit of Borodin brought into the Twentieth Century although it is hardly modernistic (composed in 1900). The tunes are memorably inspiriting. I can see that this is another CD which may have to be smuggled into the house. My cat enjoyed it too. Thanks very much for posting them here. On to the String Sextet next. :)
Nice, Jeffrey! My pleasure
The Borodin link is quite right, his 2 string quartets came to my mind when listened to these pieces.
New release with review of concert by the same forces:
[asin]B07J3H7FFW[/asin]
https://bachtrack.com/review-gliere-ilya-muromets-feltz-belgrade-philharmonic-march-2018
Possible candidate for the interesting orchestra names thread.
The only video recording of Ilya Muromets I'm aware of. Yuri Simonov conducting the Orchestras of Zurich University of the Arts and Haute école de musique de Geneve. There should be more fans of this colossal work out there.
https://www.youtube.com/v/4MClLBA5o1w&feature=youtu.be
Thanks for linking to it. Why oh why is it unlisted? This needs to be in the public!
Quote from: Maestro267 on December 11, 2019, 01:56:47 AM
Thanks for linking to it. Why oh why is it unlisted? This needs to be in the public!
Yes, many thanks!
In scouring YouTube for other live performances, I cam across this curiosity:
https://www.youtube.com/v/LZGypdJoPSc
If anyone would like to analyze the connection of that picture to the works involved, I would be interested in reading it! ;) Possibly it is meant to be symbolic of the slow eroticism in the
Scriabin Symphony #4, but...are snails on the face erotic?! ???
Quote from: Cato on December 11, 2019, 04:30:08 AM
If anyone would like to analyze the connection of that picture to the works involved, I would be interested in reading it! ;) Possibly it is meant to be symbolic of the slow eroticism in the Scriabin Symphony #4, but...are snails on the face erotic?! ???
The image is a commentary on society's obsession with youth and fleeting beauty. Woman use snails on their face as a beauty treatment because of the proteins in their slime however this woman is already beautiful so is beauty obsessed so the image is showing that beauty has a dark and obsessive side...just like the beautiful music in the recording. :-*
https://www.wowamazing.com/trending/rare/live-snails-slither-across-face-beauty-treatment/
Quote from: relm1 on December 11, 2019, 06:46:37 AM
The image is a commentary on society's obsession with youth and fleeting beauty. Woman use snails on their face as a beauty treatment because of the proteins in their slime however this woman is already beautiful so is beauty obsessed so the image is showing that beauty has a dark and obsessive side...just like the beautiful music in the recording. :-*
https://www.wowamazing.com/trending/rare/live-snails-slither-across-face-beauty-treatment/
Snail Slime for Beauty! Sounds like a (fairly small) niche market to me!
Quote from: Symphonic Addict on December 10, 2019, 03:52:11 PM
The only video recording of Ilya Muromets I'm aware of. Yuri Simonov conducting the Orchestras of Zurich University of the Arts and Haute école de musique de Geneve. There should be more fans of this colossal work out there.
https://www.youtube.com/v/4MClLBA5o1w&feature=youtu.be
Wonderful! Thanks for posting the link. Simonov has the most lyrical and expressive means of conducting since Bernstien. ( I'll probably get my head bitten off for that claim)
Quote from: Cato on December 11, 2019, 12:57:27 PM
Snail Slime for Beauty! Sounds like a (fairly small) niche market to me!
Snail slime works to remove facial wrinkles and heal faster. It's curious indeed.
Quote from: Symphonic Addict on December 11, 2019, 05:58:24 PM
Snail slime works to remove facial wrinkles and heal faster. It's curious indeed.
I wonder if you can buy it in a tube rather than having to find a cooperative snail. I wonder if Gliere used this treatment.
;D
Quote from: dissily Mordentroge on December 11, 2019, 01:50:15 PM
Wonderful! Thanks for posting the link. Simonov has the most lyrical and expressive means of conducting since Bernstien. ( I'll probably get my head bitten off for that claim)
I saw Simonov conducting just last month and he is really very good indeed. Yes quite a bit of it is playing to the gallery but at the same time there is enough there to really help the orchestra too so its not just showmanship.
He came and conducted the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra when I was there back in the early 80's. He brought the Bolshoi's own set of the Prokofiev Romeo & Juliet Ballet Suites and we played that in concert with him. I remember so well how brilliantly he galvanised the orchestra even though he spoke very little English - it was very exciting and inspiring.
Just recently discovered Glière's wonderful Horn Concerto, which despite its late date (1951) is a throughly late-romantic work with not a hint of Shostakovichian irony or bitterness. It has great tunes and colorful orchestration, and a particularly gorgeous slow movement. It is now one of my favorite concerti for the instrument along with those by Atterberg, Damase, Gipps, and Tomasi. I listened to the Chandos recording below, which is excellent:
[asin] B000000AX5[/asin]
Quote from: kyjo on December 18, 2019, 10:33:23 AM
Just recently discovered Glière's wonderful Horn Concerto, which despite its late date (1951) is a throughly late-romantic work with not a hint of Shostakovichian irony or bitterness. It has great tunes and colorful orchestration, and a particularly gorgeous slow movement. It is now one of my favorite concerti for the instrument along with those by Atterberg, Damase, Gipps, and Tomasi. I listened to the Chandos recording below, which is excellent:
[asin] B000000AX5[/asin]
I heard Radek Baborák playing this concerto live. A great experience.
Actually, I like all his concertos, even the ones for violin and cello.
Quote from: Symphonic Addict on December 18, 2019, 11:37:16 AM
I heard Radek Baborák playing this concerto live. A great experience.
Actually, I like all his concertos, even the ones for violin and cello.
How exciting that you got to hear it live! I like all of Glière's concerti too - even the admittedly rather overlong one for cello - although I haven't heard the one for violin yet.
Quote from: kyjo on December 18, 2019, 10:33:23 AM
Just recently discovered Glière's wonderful Horn Concerto, which despite its late date (1951) is a throughly late-romantic work with not a hint of Shostakovichian irony or bitterness. It has great tunes and colorful orchestration, and a particularly gorgeous slow movement. It is now one of my favorite concerti for the instrument along with those by Atterberg, Damase, Gipps, and Tomasi. I listened to the Chandos recording below, which is excellent:
[asin] B000000AX5[/asin]
I also like that CD for 'The Bronze Horseman Suite'.
Quote from: vandermolen on December 18, 2019, 04:06:58 PM
I also like that CD for 'The Bronze Horseman Suite'.
+1 for same reason
I was delighted to find this on CD from a Japanese company and not too expensive. It was my first encounter with the work on an RCA LP and, as far as I'm aware, had never been reissued on CD. I think that Ormandy's versions featured some cuts but I recall it as a very exciting and gripping performance. Also, this CD release, I just noticed, features Rachmaninov's 'Three Russian Songs' which was a great discovery for me over the last couple of years:
(//)
Quote from: vandermolen on December 18, 2019, 04:06:58 PM
I also like that CD for 'The Bronze Horseman Suite'.
I've yet to listen to that, but I recall hearing an extract from it a while ago that was very promising.
Quote from: vandermolen on December 18, 2019, 04:45:22 PM
I was delighted to find this on CD from a Japanese company and not too expensive. It was my first encounter with the work on an RCA LP and, as far as I'm aware, had never been reissued on CD. I think that Ormandy's versions featured some cuts but I recall it as a very exciting and gripping performance. Also, this CD release, I just noticed, features Rachmaninov's 'Three Russian Songs' which was a great discovery for me over the last couple of years:
This fully lived up to expectations:
(//)
Quote from: vandermolen on December 18, 2019, 04:06:58 PM
I also like that CD for 'The Bronze Horseman Suite'.
Surely BBC recordings series is the most complete.IMHO sound quality isn't at height.
This is hardly a 'solemn' overture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LeyAEyty-Q but fun music nonetheless!
Road Music: Chewing Up the Miles to Glière's The Red Poppy
https://www.youtube.com/v/Ph_J9gD6014
Absolutely splendorous music! I have a weakness for works with soaring melodies, shimmering orchestration, late-Romantic lyricism and exotic elements like this utterly fun ballet. One of my discoveries of this year. It receives a most committed performance here (I think it's the only one available).
(https://d1iiivw74516uk.cloudfront.net/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJwcmVzdG8tY292ZXItaW1hZ2VzIiwia2V5IjoiNzk0NzkyOC4xLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTAwfSwianBlZyI6eyJxdWFsaXR5Ijo2NX0sInRvRm9ybWF0IjoianBlZyJ9LCJ0aW1lc3RhbXAiOjE0MDE5ODI1NTd9)
I saw it Petersburg orchestra is superior
Quote from: Roy Bland on February 27, 2023, 05:51:06 PMI saw it Petersburg orchestra is superior
Looks like a lovely staging, but the acoustics is not the best.
Reinhold Gliere is one of my favorite Russian composers (I should say Ukrainian since he was born in kyiv). I listened to many of his works, and I must say that I loved them all: his 3 symphonies, his concertos, his symphonic overtures and poems, octet, sextet and other chamber music. I particularly like the Red Poppy, but for his other ballets, I only listened to the suites.
I don't think anyone here has mentioned the Zaporozhian Cossacks yet, you can find it on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJY489x_8U4
The unusual Concerto for Coloratura Soprano definitely deserves a mention!
I like this recording of the underrated 2nd Symphony
How do you rate this piece?
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Joann Falletta.
I can't help being a sucker for this epic symphony. I love the work even though many consider it trash and it continues impressing me whenever I listen to it. So I voted excellent.
Quote from: W.A. Mozart on April 23, 2023, 07:55:24 AMHow do you rate this piece?
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Joann Falletta.
One thing you can be assured of with Gliere: as long as you can listen with sufficient fidelity and volume so that the music can have its effect, then what you hear is what you get. And the Falletta recording is an effective one.
Quote from: Løvfald on April 23, 2023, 08:25:30 AMI can't help being a sucker for this epic symphony. I love the work even though many consider it trash and it continues impressing me whenever I listen to it. So I voted excellent.
Absolutely agree, Not sure who considers it "trash". It is a quite unique and genuinely epic piece. I like the old Faberman/RPO recording because he really stretches the time frame and embraces the sheer scale of the work. Not that fussed about this Faletta version although others seem to like it.
Quote from: Roasted Swan on April 23, 2023, 08:46:32 AMAbsolutely agree, Not sure who considers it "trash". It is a quite unique and genuinely epic piece. I like the old Faberman/RPO recording because he really stretches the time frame and embraces the sheer scale of the work. Not that fussed about this Faletta version although others seem to like it.
There's a tendency among many listeners where lengthy works and/or that feature huge orchestras are treated like inferior pieces or junk, including several works by Strauss, Respighi and composers alike, which to me is utterly nonsense, of course. IIRC, the guy who mustn't be named (DH) refered to Glière's 3rd in that way. But anyway, that Farberman recording made a strong impression on me as well, despite being slow it makes a great impact. Downes on Chandos is also a favorite.
Quote from: Løvfald on April 23, 2023, 10:51:19 AMThere's a tendency among many listeners where lengthy works and/or that feature huge orchestras are treated like inferior pieces or junk, including several works by Strauss, Respighi and composers alike, which to me is utterly nonsense, of course.
I can have that tendency to do this with sprawling works, although I never write off music (never junk for me either) and eventually return again. I have successfully 'rediscovered' music I had previously discarded many times.
When I listen to absolute music, I am often following structurally as well as musically, and I tend to lose my way in very long works. If the composer or performers set enough checkmarks or goalposts in the music, I find I enjoy myself more.
This might explain why I take more to Glière's first two symphonies, particularly the 2nd, rather than his 3rd.
Quote from: W.A. Mozart on April 23, 2023, 07:55:24 AMHow do you rate this piece?
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Joann Falletta.
Very highly - both the magnificent, epic, sprawling symphony and that particular performance - one of the best I think.
Nathan Rakhlin's Russian Disc recording is not to be missed either.
I think this one is excellent. Neemi Jarvi.
I also love Nathan Rakhlin's which to me really highlights the Rimsky-Korsakov qualities.
Quote from: relm1 on April 23, 2023, 04:42:26 PMI think this one is excellent. Neemi Jarvi.
I also love Nathan Rakhlin's which to me really highlights the Rimsky-Korsakov qualities.
Is that a live Concert? I wasn't aware of any recording by any Jarvi!
Quote from: relm1 on April 23, 2023, 04:42:26 PMI think this one is excellent. Neemi Jarvi.
I also love Nathan Rakhlin's which to me really highlights the Rimsky-Korsakov qualities.
The Rakhlin was the first version I ever owned on LP and yes I agree its very good - but isn't it slightly cut (in the performing tradition of the time)? Or am I mixing it up with Ormandy who definitely is cut - if not as much as Stokowski! Thankyou for the link to Jarvi - just dipped into it. Just the sort of work Jarvi does well and the WDR Koln are a great band.
Quote from: vandermolen on April 23, 2023, 10:44:19 PMIs that a live Concert? I wasn't aware of any recording by any Jarvi!
I had the same query and checked the YouTube listing - no date but a recording (presumably in concert) by the WDR Koln - the YouTube poster mentions a brief radio-caused fade-out
I never see the Botstein one mentioned. Is it supposed to be terrible? Personally I really like it!
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71WoufPeF0L._AC_SX522_.jpg)
Quote from: Luke on April 23, 2023, 11:18:37 PMI never see the Botstein one mentioned. Is it supposed to be terrible? Personally I really like it!
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71WoufPeF0L._AC_SX522_.jpg)
Botstein has for me the dead hand of efficiency and almost no inspiration.... ever! One of my greatest sorrows is that he was given the chance to perform and record Foulds' "A World Requiem". Not only does that performance enshrine one of the worst most squally sopranos ever I have a nagging sense of cetainty that it is a far finer and more powerful work than that performance (I was there!!) suggests.
Botstein is one of those conductors who seems at his best when there is no viable competition or comparative versions. I applaud his adventurous programming but suspect he knows his own strengths which in part dictates that programming.
PS: I have that version of Il'ya Murometz and almost never play it - Telarc SACD engineering and the LSO not withstanding which tells you something.......
Quote from: Roasted Swan on April 24, 2023, 02:01:25 AMBotstein has for me the dead hand of efficiency and almost no inspiration.... ever! One of my greatest sorrows is that he was given the chance to perform and record Foulds' "A World Requiem". Not only does that performance enshrine one of the worst most squally sopranos ever I have a nagging sense of cetainty that it is a far finer and more powerful work than that performance (I was there!!) suggests.
Botstein is one of those conductors who seems at his best when there is no viable competition or comparative versions. I applaud his adventurous programming but suspect he knows his own strengths which in part dictates that programming.
PS: I have that version of Il'ya Murometz and almost never play it - Telarc SACD engineering and the LSO not withstanding which tells you something.......
;D I stand corrected! As I say, I enjoy listening to it, and I prefer it to other versions I have. It seems to me to hit all the right beats as far as this piece goes - at least in one reading of what kind of a piece it is. I'm interested to hear it done with emphasis on its other aspects.
Quote from: Roasted Swan on April 23, 2023, 10:52:03 PMI had the same query and checked the YouTube listing - no date but a recording (presumably in concert) by the WDR Koln - the YouTube poster mentions a brief radio-caused fade-out
Thanks RS. That solves the mystery.
Ormandy's was significantly cut but the Rakhlin seems pretty long (in a good sense!) to me. I enjoyed the Botstein but it's not one of my favourite versions. I like Faberman, Ormandy, Rakhlin and Falletta. I was at the Foulds 'World Requiem' concert as well - a great evening.
Quote from: vandermolen on April 23, 2023, 10:44:19 PMIs that a live Concert? I wasn't aware of any recording by any Jarvi!
Yes, I think it's a concert performance and not available other than this radio broadcast.
Quote from: Roasted Swan on April 24, 2023, 02:01:25 AMBotstein has for me the dead hand of efficiency and almost no inspiration.... ever! One of my greatest sorrows is that he was given the chance to perform and record Foulds' "A World Requiem". Not only does that performance enshrine one of the worst most squally sopranos ever I have a nagging sense of cetainty that it is a far finer and more powerful work than that performance (I was there!!) suggests.
Botstein is one of those conductors who seems at his best when there is no viable competition or comparative versions. I applaud his adventurous programming but suspect he knows his own strengths which in part dictates that programming.
PS: I have that version of Il'ya Murometz and almost never play it - Telarc SACD engineering and the LSO not withstanding which tells you something.......
Totally agree - Botstein is an almost universally dull conductor. I tend to avoid him just because anytime I hear his releases, they underwhelm or just lack imagination and energy. Very meh. Like you, the only time I can handle him is when he is doing repertoire without any competition.
And there's this recording:
(https://d1iiivw74516uk.cloudfront.net/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJwcmVzdG8tY292ZXItaW1hZ2VzIiwia2V5IjoiODU0MDY4MS4xLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTAwfSwianBlZyI6eyJxdWFsaXR5Ijo2NX0sInRvRm9ybWF0IjoianBlZyJ9LCJ0aW1lc3RhbXAiOjE1NDY0NjU3MjR9)
As far as I remember, it's good but I didn't feel it special.
Quote from: W.A. Mozart on April 23, 2023, 07:55:24 AMHow do you rate this piece?
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Joann Falletta.
Hi WA ... what do you like about this symphony? Do you enjoy other Russians?
I have very much enjoyed hearing Glière's other symphonies today.
It would be good to see you sharing a little of what you like and why 🙂. Great way for us to get to know you!
Quote from: Løvfald on April 24, 2023, 03:36:20 PMAnd there's this recording:
(https://d1iiivw74516uk.cloudfront.net/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJwcmVzdG8tY292ZXItaW1hZ2VzIiwia2V5IjoiODU0MDY4MS4xLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTAwfSwianBlZyI6eyJxdWFsaXR5Ijo2NX0sInRvRm9ybWF0IjoianBlZyJ9LCJ0aW1lc3RhbXAiOjE1NDY0NjU3MjR9)
As far as I remember, it's good but I didn't feel it special.
I liked it.
Quote from: foxandpeng on April 25, 2023, 08:02:29 AMHi WA ... what do you like about this symphony? Do you enjoy other Russians?
I have very much enjoyed hearing Glière's other symphonies today.
It would be good to see you sharing a little of what you like and why 🙂. Great way for us to get to know you!
Hi, I didn't like it so much. I took only the last movement.
My favourite composers at the moment are Mozart and Mendelssohn, maybe even Beethoven if we only count the orchestral works.
I still have to find an equivalent composer in russian music. No, I'm not a fan of Tchaikovsky in general.
I'm also a fan of the cinematic classical: John Williams, James Horner, Alan Menken,...
I mostly like orchestral music (symphonies, concertos, incidental music including film scores), but I also like chamber music. I'm not a great fan of works for solo instruments, but this doesn't mean that there are not piano sonatas that I enjoy (I only think that the same tunes would be better with more instruments).
I like melodic music. Not necessarily 100% tonal, but with a sense of melody. Some people say that melody is not everything and I agree, but for me it's still an essential ingredient for good music.
I can enjoy everything from baroque music to contemproary music: the important thing is that the music is melodic.
I don't hate music which is not classical, but I'm only really interested in classical music at the moment, so I don't actively listen to other genres of music.
Quote from: W.A. Mozart on April 30, 2023, 04:23:20 AMHi, I didn't like it so much. I took only the last movement.
My favourite composers at the moment are Mozart and Mendelssohn, maybe even Beethoven if we only count the orchestral works.
I still have to find an equivalent composer in russian music. No, I'm not a fan of Tchaikovsky in general.
I'm also a fan of the cinematic classical: John Williams, James Horner, Alan Menken,...
I mostly like orchestral music (symphonies, concertos, incidental music including film scores), but I also like chamber music. I'm not a great fan of works for solo instruments, but this doesn't mean that there are not piano sonatas that I enjoy (I only think that the same tunes would be better with more instruments).
I like melodic music. Not necessarily 100% tonal, but with a sense of melody. Some people say that melody is not everything and I agree, but for me it's still an essential ingredient for good music.
I can enjoy everything from baroque music to contemproary music: the important thing is that the music is melodic.
I don't hate music which is not classical, but I'm only really interested in classical music at the moment, so I don't actively listen to other genres of music.
How lovely to hear from you 😊. Good to hear some of your likes. It would be good to hear even more of your thoughts as you read the different threads. Like you, I really enjoy other genres of music, but classical is a big focus for me. I do tend to look outside classical for melodies, mind 🙂
Quote from: W.A. Mozart on April 30, 2023, 04:23:20 AMMy favourite composers at the moment are Mozart and Mendelssohn, maybe even Beethoven if we only count the orchestral works.
I still have to find an equivalent composer in russian music. No, I'm not a fan of Tchaikovsky in general.
Anton Rubinstein and Mili Balakirev might be right up your alley.
Another Russian composer who took a lot of inspiration from Mendelssohn etc. while creating "Russian" music was Glinka.
Quote from: W.A. Mozart on April 30, 2023, 04:23:20 AMHi, I didn't like it so much. I took only the last movement.
My favourite composers at the moment are Mozart and Mendelssohn, maybe even Beethoven if we only count the orchestral works.
I still have to find an equivalent composer in russian music.
Glazunov and Myaskovsky were pretty good tunesmiths. If you haven't tried them before...
You've just inspired me to put on Glazunov's string quintet while I read this Agatha Christie!
Quote from: Brian on April 30, 2023, 07:40:00 AMAnother Russian composer who took a lot of inspiration from Mendelssohn etc. while creating "Russian" music was Glinka.
Yes, Glinka too, good call. Also, Taneyev's string trios are quite Mendelssohnian but WAM prefers orchestral music --- and now that I think of it, Lyadov and Kalinnikov might fit in his bill as well. And there's also that guy, a purveyor of unabashedly melodic music, Rachmaninoff.
IMHO symphonies aren't best part of Gliere's output,he does best in concerts and ballets
Thanks for your suggestions. I'll try with some works of the composers you suggested.
A very cool photo of Ippolitov-Ivanov, Stokowski and Glière:
(https://s3.amazonaws.com/photos.instantencore.com/104073/104073_750.jpg)