Resurrecting an old tradition, some may remember (WAY back in 2013/2014), I dedicated March to be a month to listen to Russian symphonies.
I plan on doing one per weekday (weekends I'm too busy doing other things and rarely have time for music listening). Thus, this equates to 21 days (21 symphonies).
My plan is 21 different composers. If anyone wants to join, there aren't any rules. If you want to listen to 5 per day, or none, have at 'er. :laugh:
This will be exciting (for me), as I don't know symphonies of 21 different Russian composers. Thus, many of these will be first listens! I'm going to have to do a little research. :D
Quote from: ChamberNut on February 24, 2025, 09:53:11 AMThis will be exciting (for me), as I don't know symphonies of 21 different Russian composers. Thus, many of these will be first listens! I'm going to have to do a little research. :D
Myaskovsky.
Done.
:P
My initial listening list, in no particular order (and subject to be changed):
Rimsky-Korsakov - 2 (Antar)
Taneyev - 2
Kalinnikov - 2
Prokofiev - 7
Stravinsky - Psalms
Rachmaninov - 1
Tchaikovsky - 3
Shostakovich - 4
Glazunov - 4
Miaskovsky - 24
Popov - 1
Borodin - 2
Kabalevsky - 2
B. Tchaikovsky - 2
Schnittke - 6
Roslavets - Chamber Symphony Auerbach - Symphony No. 1 (Chimera)
Scriabin - 3
Arensky - 2
Balakirev - 2
Gliere - 3
Juon - A major
For me, every month is Symphony by a Russian Composer Month!
Consider:
Alexander Tcherepnin: Symphony #2 (4 total)
Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov: Symphony #1 (4 total, available on YouTube)
Lera Auerbach (Russian-American): Symphony #1 (Chimera)
Quote from: Cato on February 24, 2025, 02:01:04 PMFor me, every month is Symphony by a Russian Composer Month!
Consider:
Alexander Tcherepnin: Symphony #2 (4 total)
Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov: Symphony #1 (4 total, available on YouTube)
Lera Auerbach (Russian-American): Symphony #1 (Chimera)
Good, then you will have no issues with participating! :laugh: I may "sub" a few off my list for yours.
Quote from: ChamberNut on February 24, 2025, 03:34:13 PMGood, then you will have no issues with participating! :laugh: I may "sub" a few off my list for yours.
None! ;D
My own list is ready for beginning Monday. Including what will be 9 "first listens!"
Rimsky-Korsakov - 2 (Antar)
Taneyev - 2
Kalinnikov - 2
Prokofiev - 7
Stravinsky - Psalms
Rachmaninov - 1
Tchaikovsky - 3
Shostakovich - 4
Glazunov - 4
Miaskovsky - 24
Popov - 1
Borodin - 2
First Listens
Kabalevsky - 2
B. Tchaikovsky - 2
Schnittke - 6
Auerbach - Symphony No. 1 (Chimera)
Scriabin - 3
Arensky - 2
Balakirev - 2
Gliere - 3
Juon - A major
Quote from: ChamberNut on February 28, 2025, 12:18:55 PMMy own list is ready for beginning Monday. Including what will be 9 "first listens!"
Rimsky-Korsakov - 2 (Antar)
Taneyev - 2
Kalinnikov - 2
Prokofiev - 7
Stravinsky - Psalms
Rachmaninov - 1
Tchaikovsky - 3
Shostakovich - 4
Glazunov - 4
Miaskovsky - 24
Popov - 1
Borodin - 2
First Listens
Kabalevsky - 2
B. Tchaikovsky - 2
Schnittke - 6
Roslavets - Chamber Symphony Auerbach - Symphony No. 1 (Chimera)
Scriabin - 3
Arensky - 2
Balakirev - 2
Gliere - 3
Juon - A major
Tomorrow I hope to hear the
First Symphony of
Nikolai Roslavets!
From the
"What Are You Listening To" topic: I should mention that the orchestra is a student group from England and the performance took place in 2022. They are not bad (the strings waver somewhat).
Perhaps a professional orchestra will tackle it soon!
Quote from: Cato on March 01, 2025, 03:50:22 AMFor Symphonies by Russian Composers Month! 8)
This apparently is the world premiere of an early one-movement symphony from 1910 by Nikolai Roslavets, whose life as a composer was ruined by the Communists ("formalism" "anti-revolutionary") in the late 1920's.
From the notes:
Quote
"...As a work from the composer's student years, it reflects a period in the composer's life where he was searching for his own individual voice. While it still has a foot in the romantic school of Tchaikovsky there is clear exploration into the more adventurous styles of Scriabin which Roslavets was fascinated by at the time...."
@CatoThank you for starting the festival! :laugh:
Quote from: ChamberNut on March 01, 2025, 04:03:02 AM@Cato
Thank you for starting the festival! :laugh:
No problem!
Here is another
Symphony #1, by
Alexander Tcherepnin: the work is often cited as the first symphony to have an all percussion movement, the
Scherzo.
I revisited it this morning, after the
Roslavets First:
Thanks for the Roslavets!
I took a plunge into mystery vaults of YouTube and am listening to Mikhail Nosyrev's 1978 Symphony nr. 3 (ca 35 mins.)
Dark, tormented, angry, very tense and difficult music - Nosyrev spent 10 years in a gulag.....
More on his symphonies :
http://www.nosyrev.com/articles
The conception of the three-movement Third Symphony, created just a year after the monumental Second Symphony, develops, to some extent, the ideas of the latter. Dodecaphonic themes, super polyphony, a supremely sharp harmonic language become the composer's habitual expressive means. True, against sharply modern soundings more common, sometimes diatonic intonations and chords are used.
@ ChamberNut: Boris Tchaikovsky's 2nd (and all his other ones): chef's kiss.
I would participate, were it not for being engaged in my own musical Marchfest. Currently going through a British Symphonic Music set and will probably continue with more of the same. 20th century English symphonic music is the perfect foil for same period's German/Austrian symphonic music.
Very tangentially, it reminds me of my last european trip last October, which included visiting the war cemeteries of Normandy. You wouldn't imagine the huge difference of impression/feelings the german and allied cemetaries gave off. I feel the same level of difference can be heard and felt musically.
This popped up on YouTube, so I thought I would give it a chance this morning: certainly a conservative piece for 1907, but a fine work nevertheless.
Ippolitov-Ivanov:
Symphony #1 For Americans, the last movement has a theme resembling the start of the
Hymn of the U.S. Marine Corps (
From the Halls of Montezuma), which theme was adopted/adapted from an 1859 opera by
Jacques Offenbach! I think it unlikely that
Ippolitov-Ivanov knew anything about the opera. ;D
Probably a first listen, too:
It is time to explore
Miaskovsky: this morning
Symphony #1 in three movements!
The three-movement structure reminds me of the
Rachmaninoff Third Symphony, but his work came almost 40 years after this one.
Cross-post:
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Symphony № 3 in C Op. 32
Bergen Phil
Dmitri Kitaenko
Via: IDAGIO streaming
Borodin
Symphony No. 2 in B minor, "Heroic"
Ashkenazy
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
(https://i.discogs.com/7Y7SOjj1vB0sjNav1m17du2mAgc3kqQvFM2LqINCPmY/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:584/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE2Mjg5/OTM3LTE2MDY2NjQ4/MzMtMTkyNS5qcGVn.jpeg)
Quote from: Karl Henning on March 03, 2025, 10:14:28 AMCross-post:
Hope you enjoyed. That second movement is something beautiful!
Quote from: ChamberNut on March 03, 2025, 11:04:50 AMHope you enjoyed. That second movement is something beautiful!
Very nice!
Today's symphony:
Via: Idagio Streaming
Arensky
Symphony No. 2 in A major, Op. 22
Svetlanov
USSR State Symphony Orchestra
Pretty enjoyable!
(https://i.discogs.com/8ot6tYDdLFCxIPTe3uu6JNF8zdUSeXGFienySISEhwM/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:592/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTk4MzMy/NDctMTU0MTE4ODQ5/MS00NzMwLmpwZWc.jpeg)
Quote from: ChamberNut on March 04, 2025, 04:53:58 AMToday's symphony:
Via: Idagio Streaming
Arensky
Symphony No. 2 in A major, Op. 22
Svetlanov
USSR State Symphony Orchestra
Pretty enjoyable!
(https://i.discogs.com/8ot6tYDdLFCxIPTe3uu6JNF8zdUSeXGFienySISEhwM/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:592/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTk4MzMy/NDctMTU0MTE4ODQ5/MS00NzMwLmpwZWc.jpeg)
Many thanks for the recommendation!
Later today, I will try another
Miaskovsky symphony:
What a great work!
Nosyrev is a new all-around fave! This work shows him to be something of a Russian
Karl Amadeus Hartmann, yet with roots in the "musical sarcasm" of
Prokofiev.
I will be listening to other works of his tonight for a while!
Quote from: Cato on March 04, 2025, 02:26:40 PMWhat a great work!
Nosyrev is a new all-around fave! This work shows him to be something of a Russian Karl Amadeus Hartmann, yet with roots in the "musical sarcasm" of Prokofiev.
I will be listening to other works of his tonight for a while!
I am listening to the
Fourth Symphony of
Mikhail Nosyrev!It was composed a year before his death in 1981 at age 57: what a tragedy! Another twenty or thirty years would have allowed him to produce even more masterpieces!
Here is a link to some articles, but beware: at first I tried to go to the website through a YouTube link, which brought up a warning from Firefox that if I clicked on the link, my computer would essentially become possessed by Pazuzu!
So I tried a different pathway via DuckDuckGo, and no problems: the link contains articles about
Nosyrev's terrible sufferings under Communism, including a death sentence at age 19 for thought crimes in his diary.
http://www.nosyrev.com/articles (http://www.nosyrev.com/articles)
"
WOW, Bob!"
Just WOW! 😇
Rachmanioff's Symphony No. 3 (Trevino and the Euskadiko Orkestra):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N71Ss5hYRNI
Shostakovich: Symphony #14
Vishnevskaya, Reshetin; Barshai: Moscow Chamber Orchestra
The recording has flaws (such as saturating during loud passages), but it's great to hear Vishnevskaya sing this work.
(https://i.discogs.com/gFHwG_HUOISK7TzZeNSFjZgFpIwTDgyCUmcGmxazwho/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:597/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTEyMzAz/MTA4LTE1MzI1MjI1/NDEtOTc1OC5qcGVn.jpeg)
Today's selection:
Via: Idagio streaming
Balakirev
Symphony No. 2 in D minor
Rozhdestvensky
Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra
(https://i.discogs.com/YdDfBsxMD__njb1t6cVreEX6-4mcv04t6Rxt90IFrQo/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:597/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTUxNjA2/MjQtMTQxMTkxMTg4/NC05OTMxLmpwZWc.jpeg)
Some people would say that, if you have not heard
Yevgeny Mravinsky conduct the last three
Tchaikovsky symphonies (apparently he never recorded the first three, for whatever reason), you must hear them!
Therefore:
Also, allow me to push once again the symphonies of
Mikhail Nosyrev and thanks to various members for mentioning him!
Gunzenhauser with the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra playing Anton Rubinstein's Symphony No. 2 (the "first" "Russian" symphony):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2e-yqTqSLk
Quote from: hopefullytrusting on March 05, 2025, 03:02:43 PMGunzenhauser with the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra playing Anton Rubinstein's Symphony No. 2 (the "first" "Russian" symphony):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2e-yqTqSLk
What did you think of the Rubinstein symphony? He was big in the 19th century!
Continuing the
Nosyrev Festival!
This version of
Mravinsky conducting
Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony is much better than the one offered earlier: the tape-hiss is not audible!
An exciting, crisp and crackling, highly recommended performance, full of nuances: it will not sound like a "warhorse" by any means!
Via: Idagio streaming
First listen.
Paul Juon
Symphony in A major, Op. 23
Christof Escher
Moscow Symphony Orchestra
(https://blob.cede.ch/catalog/100216000/100216237_1_92.jpg?v=1)
Quote from: Karl Henning on March 03, 2025, 10:14:28 AMCross-post:
My orchestra played this - it was a big blow (ending is full of loud brass) and the audience loved it. I don't think any of the orchestra or audience had heard it before.
We all love Shchedrin's Symphony No. 1.
Quote
Quote from: relm1 on March 06, 2025, 05:22:16 AMMy orchestra played this - it was a big blow (ending is full of loud brass) and the audience loved it. I don't think any of the orchestra or audience had heard it before.
I recall the
Kalinnikov symphonies when they were first released on
Melodiya in the late 1960's or early 1970's: wonderful works!
Quote from: relm1 on March 06, 2025, 05:22:16 AMMy orchestra played this - it was a big blow (ending is full of loud brass) and the audience loved it. I don't think any of the orchestra or audience had heard it before.
Sweet!
Quote from: Cato on March 06, 2025, 04:00:10 AMWhat did you think of the Rubinstein symphony? He was big in the 19th century!
It was enjoyable, but it didn't feel very "Russian" to me. I also didn't feel the ocean title like it felt like a symphony and not a tone poem. It was well-orchestrated, unsurprisingly, and well-played; I mean it was a good time and kept my interest, for the most part, but it didn't feel unique - it felt like a symphony any great composer could have written - like if you told me Rimsky had composed it, I wouldn't have cried foul.
Today, I'm listening to the other symphony which is considered Russia's "first" symphony, at least by Russian critics, if the AI is telling me the truth:
Botstein with The Orchestra Now playing Rimsky-Korsakov's Symphony No. 1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSlSjKf5IjM
Today's selection
Via: Idagio Streaming
Kabalevsky
Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. 19
N. Jarvi
BBC Philharmonic
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/712NBiOKkWL._AC_SL1024_.jpg)
More thunder, darkness, Angst, doom and gloom!
Quote from: Karl Henning on March 07, 2025, 05:13:14 AM
A favorite of mine. Don't know why it doesn't connect with others more. I guess it is a personal work from a personal favorite.
Quote from: pjme on March 07, 2025, 05:24:38 AMMore thunder, darkness, Angst, doom and gloom!
Sounds like my kind of stuff. ;D
Quote from: pjme on March 07, 2025, 05:24:38 AMMore thunder, darkness, Angst, doom and gloom!
Quote from: relm1 on March 07, 2025, 05:34:54 AMSounds like my kind of stuff. ;D
😇
AMEN!!! "Thunder, Darkness, Angst, Doom, and Gloom" are
TIGHT!!!" ;D
Yuri Butsko is in the club!
Quote from: Karl Henning on March 07, 2025, 05:13:14 AM
Late
Shostakovich works, from the
Tenth Symphony onward, keep leaping from one high mountain to ever higher ones.
One of my favorite performances:
Quote from: Karl Henning on March 07, 2025, 05:13:14 AM
I was at that concert!
As I write this, I'm in Symphony Hall waiting for a BSO performance of Rachmaninoff's 3rd Symphony.
Quote from: Mapman on March 07, 2025, 09:15:21 AMI was at that concert!
As I write this, I'm in Symphony Hall waiting for a BSO performance of Rachmaninoff's 3rd Symphony.
Enjoy! I wasn't able to make it.
Quote from: Mapman on March 07, 2025, 09:15:21 AMI was at that concert!
As I write this, I'm in Symphony Hall waiting for a BSO performance of Rachmaninoff's 3rd Symphony.
A Friday morning concert! Excellent!
Right now...
Yuri Butsko's Symphony #2!
At times, monolithic, a symphony of Brobdingnagian bulldozers and 3-story, strip-mine dump trucks! :o
Quote from: pjme on March 07, 2025, 05:24:38 AMMore thunder, darkness, Angst, doom and gloom!
I'm in! Very tasty! Maybe just a simple slip, but it's (mildly) curious that the YT vid has "in four movements" in the title, when the cover clearly reads (in both English and Russian) "in four fragments."
Quote from: Karl Henning on March 07, 2025, 01:06:02 PM
Symphony #26 by a Russian composer: it must be by
Nikolai Miaskovsky! ;D
I was indeed sorry to miss this in Symphony Hall yesterday!
Quote from: Karl Henning on March 08, 2025, 07:42:34 AM
Reminiscent of
Schoenberg's Kammersymphonie I at times: I wonder if he had heard it!
Quote from: Karl Henning on March 07, 2025, 11:53:31 AMI'm in! Very tasty! Maybe just a simple slip, but it's (mildly) curious that the YT vid has "in four movements" in the title, when the cover clearly reads (in both English and Russian) "in four fragments."
A couple of years ago I tried to communicate with someone at the Yuri Butsko website, but the language barrier was quasi unsurmountable....
Still, some texts are now in English and this is the only comment on the second symphony:
"The symphony uses musical material from the ballet "Insight", the libretto of which tells about the events of 1905.The first fragment can be thought of as a large folk scene: its main musical idea evokes images by Mussorgsky, perhaps the choruses from the Prologue or the scene "At Basil's" from "Boris Godunov". The awakening, the purposeful movement of the human crowd is expressed with even greater force in the second fragment, where, together with the previously heard ostinato motifs, a mournful song theme is widely developed. Its build-up is interrupted by a harsh, dry, "knocking" fugue – an opposing force, a wall, which the previous movement runs into. In the reprise-coda of the third fragment, the fugue sounds distant, detached, dying down – it is answered by deep mournful sighs of the crowd and a plaintive human voice – a recitation of the English horn. From the individual voices scattered in space, intertwining, continuing each other, a gloomy, but solemn, powerful final image is born in the fourth fragment."
Quote from: pjme on March 08, 2025, 07:54:17 AMA couple of years ago I tried to communicate with someone at the Yuri Butsko website, but the language barrier was quasi unsurmountable....
Still, some texts are now in English and this is the only comment on the second symphony:
"The symphony uses musical material from the ballet "Insight", the libretto of which tells about the events of 1905.The first fragment can be thought of as a large folk scene: its main musical idea evokes images by Mussorgsky, perhaps the choruses from the Prologue or the scene "At Basil's" from "Boris Godunov". The awakening, the purposeful movement of the human crowd is expressed with even greater force in the second fragment, where, together with the previously heard ostinato motifs, a mournful song theme is widely developed. Its build-up is interrupted by a harsh, dry, "knocking" fugue – an opposing force, a wall, which the previous movement runs into. In the reprise-coda of the third fragment, the fugue sounds distant, detached, dying down – it is answered by deep mournful sighs of the crowd and a plaintive human voice – a recitation of the English horn. From the individual voices scattered in space, intertwining, continuing each other, a gloomy, but solemn, powerful final image is born in the fourth fragment."
Most interesting, thanks!
Quote from: pjme on March 08, 2025, 07:54:17 AMA couple of years ago I tried to communicate with someone at the Yuri Butsko website, but the language barrier was quasi unsurmountable....
Still, some texts are now in English and this is the only comment on the second symphony:
"The symphony uses musical material from the ballet "Insight", the libretto of which tells about the events of 1905.The first fragment can be thought of as a large folk scene: its main musical idea evokes images by Mussorgsky, perhaps the choruses from the Prologue or the scene "At Basil's" from "Boris Godunov". The awakening, the purposeful movement of the human crowd is expressed with even greater force in the second fragment, where, together with the previously heard ostinato motifs, a mournful song theme is widely developed. Its build-up is interrupted by a harsh, dry, "knocking" fugue – an opposing force, a wall, which the previous movement runs into. In the reprise-coda of the third fragment, the fugue sounds distant, detached, dying down – it is answered by deep mournful sighs of the crowd and a plaintive human voice – a recitation of the English horn. From the individual voices scattered in space, intertwining, continuing each other, a gloomy, but solemn, powerful final image is born in the fourth fragment."
I had something parallel to that in mind, when I heard it! Thank you for these notes!
Today, more
Butsko: Symphony #3 "Dithyramb" Almost Neo-Classical in comparison to the above!
There is apparently an introductory talk for a few minutes at the beginning:
A piano/symphony/concerto: very creative in both form and content!
Revisiting the
Symphony #1 of
Mikhail Nosyrev:
I can see that I'll listen to more
Butsko, but now, a piece I haven't listened to since before my stroke:
Quote from: Karl Henning on March 08, 2025, 12:17:23 PMI can see that I'll listen to more Butsko, but now, a piece I haven't listened to since before my stroke:
I had not forgotten that this symphony is a trip, but I had forgotten some of the stops on the trip.
Quote from: Karl Henning on March 08, 2025, 02:38:59 PM
That work should be played more at concerts!
Today,
Mravinsky and his orchestra show how the
Tchaikovsky Fourth Symphony should be played!
"
Wow, Bob! WOW!"
Shostakovich: Symphony #4
Slovák: Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
This is as good of a time as any to revisit my favorite Shostakovich symphony!
(https://i.discogs.com/dz1cWbaI2er1LYbTdvwJLSw9fY5RL4xFL9Zr0vsAs7I/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:592/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE4MTg1/NjQtMTM4Mjg2ODk2/OC0yMTY4LmpwZWc.jpeg)
Quote from: Mapman on March 09, 2025, 12:08:51 PMShostakovich: Symphony #4
Slovák: Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
This is as good of a time as any to revisit my favorite Shostakovich symphony!
(https://i.discogs.com/dz1cWbaI2er1LYbTdvwJLSw9fY5RL4xFL9Zr0vsAs7I/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:592/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE4MTg1/NjQtMTM4Mjg2ODk2/OC0yMTY4LmpwZWc.jpeg)
The only time that's a bad time is when there's too little time!
Yannick with the RPO at Proms playing Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCXaPxeSkkI
Extraordinary. :)
Quote from: hopefullytrusting on March 09, 2025, 01:10:24 PMYannick with the RPO at Proms playing Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCXaPxeSkkI
Extraordinary. :)
I'm in!
Via: Idagio Streaming
First Listen. Quite an epic work!
Gliere
Symphony No. 3 in B minor, Op. 42
Botstein
London Symphony Orchestra
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71O5lITTQ0L._AC_SL1036_.jpg)
Quote from: ChamberNut on March 10, 2025, 06:24:07 AMVia: Idagio Streaming
First Listen. Quite an epic work!
Gliere
Symphony No. 3 in B minor, Op. 42
Botstein
London Symphony Orchestra
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71O5lITTQ0L._AC_SL1036_.jpg)
Yes! Welcome to the club! Check out his earlier symphonies, for they will not disappoint you either!
Speaking of epic...yesterday and today:
Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov:
Symphony #1We need more recordings of all of his works: YouTube offers Symphonies I, II, what might be the last movement of III, and IV. Wikipedia mentions a 1991 Symphony V, but I can find nothing about it,
Also:
Popov:
Symphony #1
Today's selection, via Idagio streaming
First listen! I definitely recommend.
Auerbach
Symphony No. 1 "Chimera" (2006)
David Hattner
Portland Youth Philharmonic
(https://www.navonarecords.com/nv/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/NV6691_First-Symphonies.jpg)
Quote from: ChamberNut on March 11, 2025, 04:17:43 AMToday's selection, via Idagio streaming
First listen! I definitely recommend.
Auerbach
Symphony No. 1 "Chimera" (2006)
David Hattner
Portland Youth Philharmonic
(https://www.navonarecords.com/nv/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/NV6691_First-Symphonies.jpg)
Oh yes! Quite a work!
Her
Second Symphony uses Russian poets, but is not available on YouTube or a CD (as far as I can find).
Here is a performance of her
Symphony #3, which also uses poems...of a very different kind! ;)
Beggars cannot be choosers: Alexander Goedicke's Symphony No. 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ymsxsix7hOE
Quote from: hopefullytrusting on March 11, 2025, 06:02:28 AMBeggars cannot be choosers: Alexander Goedicke's Symphony No. 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ymsxsix7hOE
Several other works are available (e.g. a
Horn Concerto), but no other symphonies.
The above recording, according to the YouTube information, is a 1950's Melodiya LP, so not the best sound quality.
I will need to listen to it later today!
Quote from: Cato on March 11, 2025, 07:26:07 AM
Several other works are available (e.g. a Horn Concerto), but no other symphonies.
The above recording, according to the YouTube information, is a 1950's Melodiya LP, so not the best sound quality.
I will need to listen to it later today!
Yeah, it suffers from sound, hence, beggars cannot be choosers. For me, I am just happy (amazed actually) that I even have a chance to listen to the symphony at all. I mean it wasn't that long ago (1990s) that this essentially would have been impossible. I think that sometimes we forget how wonderous the Internet actually is. I am amazed daily. :)
Quote from: hopefullytrusting on March 11, 2025, 07:30:12 AMYeah, it suffers from sound, hence, beggars cannot be choosers. For me, I am just happy (amazed actually) that I even have a chance to listen to the symphony at all. I mean it wasn't that long ago (1990s) that this essentially would have been impossible.
I think that sometimes we forget how wondrous the Internet actually is. I am amazed daily. :)
Yes! And especially the videos with obscure musical scores! Where does the channel owner find those? Maybe at a local university's Music Library?
Quote from: Cato on March 11, 2025, 07:40:42 AMYes! And especially the videos with obscure musical scores! Where does the channel owner find those? Maybe at a local university's Music Library?
Exactly, truly extraordinary stuff, I think.
And to align it perfectly - makes me question whether I even know what the word dedication means, lol. :)
Quote from: Cato on March 11, 2025, 07:26:07 AM
Several other works are available (e.g. a Horn Concerto), but no other symphonies.
The above recording, according to the YouTube information, is a 1950's Melodiya LP, so not the best sound quality.
I will need to listen to it later today!
I just heard the First Movement: very impressive, full of drama!
I found a reference that the
Second Symphony uses a Russian translation of a scene from
Goethe's Faust, and that
Rachmaninoff found it scandalous that the symphony was not received well!
No recordings of the
Second Symphony or the
First seem to be available: a two-piano reduction of the orchestral score is available at the IMSLP.
Today's selection!!
Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 3 in D major, Op. 29 "Polish"
Muti, Philharmonia Orchestra
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51RY759Z60L._AC_.jpg)
(https://i.discogs.com/N1v9_uFtxTZNtXj-2YUOIqmz7-IryyTpSE6epD5wlkE/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:599/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTg3NTg4/NTYtMTU1MDgzNjY1/MC02MzIwLmpwZWc.jpeg)
Quote from: ChamberNut on March 12, 2025, 04:19:13 AMToday's selection!!
Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 3 in D major, Op. 29 "Polish"
Muti, Philharmonia Orchestra
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51RY759Z60L._AC_.jpg)
(https://i.discogs.com/N1v9_uFtxTZNtXj-2YUOIqmz7-IryyTpSE6epD5wlkE/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:599/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTg3NTg4/NTYtMTU1MDgzNjY1/MC02MzIwLmpwZWc.jpeg)
Tchaikovsky's Third Symphony is one of my favorites and should be better known!
Today, this popped up on YouTube and seemed intriguing: I have never heard of
Karamanov, so I will need to look into him more tomorrow!
A 5-movement symphony:
Quote from: ChamberNut on March 12, 2025, 04:19:13 AMToday's selection!!
Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 3 in D major, Op. 29 "Polish"
Muti, Philharmonia Orchestra
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51RY759Z60L._AC_.jpg)
(https://i.discogs.com/N1v9_uFtxTZNtXj-2YUOIqmz7-IryyTpSE6epD5wlkE/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:599/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTg3NTg4/NTYtMTU1MDgzNjY1/MC02MzIwLmpwZWc.jpeg)
Love the
Muti set! I should revisit the
Third!
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Symphony № 3 in D, « Polish » Op. 29
LSO
Igor Borisovich Markevich
Quote from: Karl Henning on March 12, 2025, 06:21:24 PMPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Symphony № 3 in D, « Polish » Op. 29
LSO
Igor Borisovich Markevich
In the back of my mind, there's the apparently settled thought, "I like symphonies 4-6
a lot," and as a result, when I get around to listening to 1-3, that notion gets blasted by, "How do I not remember how very
good these are?!"
Today's selection:
First listen!
Boris Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 2 (1967)
Krondrashin
Moscow Philharmonic
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/715hoX7sPYL._AC_SL1200_.jpg)
Quote from: Karl Henning on March 12, 2025, 08:27:42 PMIn the back of my mind, there's the apparently settled thought, "I like symphonies 4-6 a lot," and as a result, when I get around to listening to 1-3, that notion gets blasted by, "How do I not remember how very good these are?!"
Yes!
I became acquainted with I-III through
Loren Maazel's London/Decca recordings in the early/mid 1960's and always thought they were wonderful, especially the
First and
Third.
Concerning
Alemdar Karamanov: I have found references quoting e.g.
Shostakovich and
Schnittke that
Karamanov was one of the best - perhaps the best - composer alive.
Quote
"...When Karamanov was still a student, Shostakovich described Karamanov as "one
of the most original and unique composers of our time."3
Karamanov was apparently shunned under Communism in Russia because of his open religiosity.
e.g.
Symphony #23 is known as
I Am Jesus or
Risen From the Ashes:
A Ph.D. thesis about his
Piano Concerto #3:
https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc6036/m2/1/high_res_d/dissertation.pdf (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc6036/m2/1/high_res_d/dissertation.pdf)
Kabalevsky with the Leningrad PO playing Kabalevsky's Symphony No. 4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-swQdItu5kA
Will most definitely give you a jolt! :)
Quote from: ChamberNut on March 13, 2025, 05:19:38 AMToday's selection:
First listen!
Boris Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 2 (1967)
Krondrashin
Moscow Philharmonic
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/715hoX7sPYL._AC_SL1200_.jpg)
More power to Boris B ! This is a superb symphony.
Tomorrow I'm hosting our quarterly meeting of classical music nuts. That's a small group of me and a few old friends.
Nosyrev will be our Composer of the Day. One of my friends just discovered his music (one of the symphonies) and wants to know more. Since I happen to have half a dozen releases of his music on Olympia I'll introduce the others to this fine composer's music (most don't even know the name).
What a great thread. Life is a little too busy at the moment to allow for much music, but I look forward to revisiting it later 🙂
Via: Idagio Streaming
Today's selection. First listen!
Schnittke
Symphony No. 6
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/718qBYx5tkL._AC_SL1200_.jpg)
Quote from: ChamberNut on March 14, 2025, 04:34:33 AMVia: Idagio Streaming
Today's selection. First listen!
Schnittke
Symphony No. 6
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/718qBYx5tkL._AC_SL1200_.jpg)
Love these!
Gliere conducts the All-Union Radio Orchestra in Gliere's Symphony No. 1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8x8gdCpmriY
The recording sounds a bit tinny, and the orchestra sounds a bit flat, but the brass still blares and the strings/winds loft the melody. You might think the symphony is straightlaced, but it does lead in something interesting and unexpected directions, at times. In that sense, it is a bit of a dichotomous piece making its overall structure feel a bit loose. Overall, quite a solid effort. :)
Cross-post
First-Listen Fridays!
One of the most idiosyncratic scores you will ever hear: episodic, with the strongest contrasts, at times you might think you are listening to one of
Bernard Herrmann's scores for a
Ray Harryhausen epic (
Neo Magellan on the Moons of Jupiter :o 8) ), and then a trite, monotonous march arrives and persists, until it abruptly stops and a melancholy solo is heard, etc.
Nosyrev:
Symphony #4 (1980)
Quote from: Cato on March 14, 2025, 07:12:33 AMOne of the most idiosyncratic scores you will ever hear: episodic, with the strongest contrasts, at times you might think you are listening to one of Bernard Herrmann's scores for a Ray Harryhausen epic (Neo Magellan on the Moons of Jupiter :o 8) ), and then a trite, monotonous march arrives and persists, until it abruptly stops and a melancholy solo is heard, etc.
Nosyrev: Symphony #4 (1980)
All this talk of Nosreyev is very tempting!
Nicolai Karetnikov
Symphony 4
Gennady Rozhdestvensy
USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra
Melodiya
I really like this. This thread made me dig it out from my Spotify playlists as a symphony that deserves more airplay.
Quote from: foxandpeng on March 14, 2025, 01:34:01 PMNicolai Karetnikov
Symphony 4
Gennady Rozhdestvensy
USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra
Melodiya
I really like this. This thread made me dig it out from my Spotify playlists as a symphony that deserves more airplay.
Here is #4: very mysterious opening!
The spirit of
Schoenberg must have orbited the composer while he worked on this score!
I found the
Symphony #3, but will need to listen tomorrow morning:
Quote from: Cato on March 14, 2025, 03:52:55 PMHere is #4: very mysterious opening!
The spirit of Schoenberg must have orbited the composer while he worked on this score!
I found the Symphony #3, but will need to listen tomorrow morning:
I hope you enjoy! The Rozhdestvensky and the Gergiev performances are both excellent, in my view. After that, the #3 is almost equally compelling 😁
Ippolitov-Ivanov Symphony No 1 conducted by Hoey with the Singapore SO:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXbPHIAffPI
It is amazing that even after all these years, millions stacked upon million of notes, that music still sounds as fresh as it does. You'd figure at some point it would stagnate turn stale and spoil, but I have never heard or seen that. This piece could be more moving, more striking, but I think, at least in this instance, that this is a conductor/orchestra not being to live up to the music. It feels as if they are just putting in their time rather than being truly in love with the music. It is too light, too well-coordinated, and if you listen to more of Ippolitov-Ivanov's output.
I will say in the sections designated by the composer to be light the orchestra performs admirably.
I cannot recommend this recording.
Quote from: Cato on March 14, 2025, 07:12:33 AMOne of the most idiosyncratic scores you will ever hear: episodic, with the strongest contrasts, at times you might think you are listening to one of Bernard Herrmann's scores for a Ray Harryhausen epic (Neo Magellan on the Moons of Jupiter :o 8) ), and then a trite, monotonous march arrives and persists, until it abruptly stops and a melancholy solo is heard, etc.
Nosyrev: Symphony #4 (1980)
I'm in!
Well, I may not have listened to this one since before my stroke:
Quote from: Cato on March 14, 2025, 03:52:55 PMHere is #4: very mysterious opening!
The spirit of Schoenberg must have orbited the composer while he worked on this score!
I found the Symphony #3, but will need to listen tomorrow morning:
It has been decided: We need
MORE KARETNIKOV! ;)
The two symphonies above are highly dramatic and demonstrate a most unique style!
Wikipedia claims that he composed 6 symphonies: where are recordings of the other four?!
NAXOS, cpo: get going!!! 8)
The only symphony from the famous Krein family, I believe.
Krein's (Alexander) Symphony No. 1 conducted by Brabbins with the LPO:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v24hmjgLltc
I originally came across them through Julian (Forest Paths), but Alexander was the workhorse of the family, compositionally speaking. The symphony itself is strong, and fits well, I think, within the formalistic tradition of Soviet orchestration, but like all good composers - he finds freedom within that constraint, and does add a bit of subtle flair, subtle enough, I think, to escape the state-sponsored censors - a slight, Jewish invocation, which weaves in and out, but is not crucial to the overall infrastructure of the symphony itself (I suspect that is how he got away with, as there are few people more with more guile than a censor). Overall, the experience was not enjoyable, but I didn't feel anything standout, and because of that my recommendation of this would be middling, at best. :)
Quote from: Karl Henning on March 15, 2025, 03:27:52 PMWell, I may not have listened to this one, either since before my stroke:
Today's selection - A great performance!
Shostakovich
Symphony No. 4 in C minor, Op. 43
Raiskin
Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61Ps+HriKcL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg)
Myaskovsky's Symphony No. 23 conducted by Kovalyov with the Moscow RSO:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tYqX8f2JAk
Color me surprised. I don't know what I was expecting to hear, but it wasn't this. This is reminiscent of Strauss's Alpine Symphony; it is a jaunty little affair. It is light as air but not buoyant (I don't feel like I am floating, but I also don't feel like I will sink). Just like the Alpine, it expressed the whole range of emotions, and this recording of the symphony is lovely. I was very pleasantly surprised.
High recommend. :)
Seryozha Prokofiev
Symphony № 7 in c# minor, Op. 131
Phila Orchestra
Eugene Ormandy
Seryozha Prokofiev
Symphony № 6 in eb minor, Op. 111
Phila Orchestra
Eugene Ormandy
Let
Antarmania continue!
Quote from: Karl Henning on March 17, 2025, 07:41:20 AMSeryozha Prokofiev
Symphony № 6 in eb minor, Op. 111
Phila Orchestra
Eugene Ormandy
The
Sixth is one of the best, up there with #3 and #2!
Don't act surprised:
Seryozha Prokofiev
Symphony № 5 in Bb, Op. 100
Phila Orchestra
Eugene Ormandy
Prokofiev 4 under Neeme Jarvi this morning
Today's selection (well, 3!)
Stravinsky
Symphony in Three Movements
Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Symphony in C
CBC Symphony Orchestra
Symphony of Psalms
Festival Singers of Toronto
CBC Symphony Orchestra
Stravinsky - conducting
(https://i.discogs.com/mAKTcu7Wf99OmWyHu0E_XSFtXCOSrJgCYBgBMfhh5g4/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:594/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE4NTIz/NDgtMTI0Nzg2MzA2/OC5qcGVn.jpeg)
(https://i.discogs.com/Ntun1OwgG548ep88H8zIVZCgUTZlL1jC0DNr_0enid0/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:599/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE4NTIz/NDgtMTQ0Mzg4NDY3/MC01NzUwLmpwZWc.jpeg)
Seryozha Prokofiev
Symphony № 4 in C (revised), Op. 112
Phila Orchestra
Eugene Ormandy
Was feeling lazy today, so I didn't want to do any thinking, so I went with the goat conductor, with a goat-ish orchestra, with a goat composer, and a goat symphony aka a surefire can't miss.
Rozhdestvensky conducts the Orchestra of the USSR Ministry of Culture in Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJwKX_50bcg
This is THE recording of this symphony, and I've heard nearly all of them. None of them come even close to approaching the power, the rawness, the umph of Rozhdestvensky who most have been on one that day. The stars aligned; the heavens opened up, and out emerged a perfect recording. There is only one other symphonic recording I rate higher than this one (Bernstein's "Berlin Wall" Beethoven's Symphony No. 9), but I don't think I need to sell this recording to anyone who posts on a classical music forum.
Highest recommendation! :)
A second visit to this dramatic, fantastic, orchestral Sherman-Tank-assault on the soul:
Karetnikov -
Symphony #4:
The Drama and Tragedy continue with one of the best performances ever with
Vladimir Ashkenazy and the
Concertgebouw:Rachmaninov -
Symphony #1
Quote from: hopefullytrusting on March 18, 2025, 06:57:42 AMWas feeling lazy today, so I didn't want to do any thinking, so I went with the goat conductor, with a goat-ish orchestra, with a goat composer, and a goat symphony aka a surefire can't miss.
Rozhdestvensky conducts the Orchestra of the USSR Ministry of Culture in Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJwKX_50bcg
This is THE recording of this symphony, and I've heard nearly all of them. None of them come even close to approaching the power, the rawness, the umph of Rozhdestvensky who most have been on one that day. The stars aligned; the heavens opened up, and out emerged a perfect recording. There is only one other symphonic recording I rate higher than this one (Bernstein's "Berlin Wall" Beethoven's Symphony No. 9), but I don't think I need to sell this recording to anyone who posts on a classical music forum.
Highest recommendation! :)
I'm in!
Quote from: Karl Henning on March 18, 2025, 09:13:41 AMI'm in!
Quote from: Cato on March 18, 2025, 09:04:57 AMA second visit to this dramatic, fantastic, orchestral Sherman-Tank-assault on the soul:
Karetnikov - Symphony #4:
The Drama and Tragedy continue with one of the best performances ever with Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Concertgebouw:
Rachmaninov - Symphony #1
Quote from: Karl Henning on March 18, 2025, 05:50:17 AMSeryozha Prokofiev
Symphony № 4 in C (revised), Op. 112
Phila Orchestra
Eugene Ormandy
A great day for symphonies by Russian composers!
For the last one above:
Today's selection!
Taneyev
Symphony No. 2 in B flat major
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/719XHekahiL._AC_SL1200_.jpg)
Quote from: ChamberNut on March 19, 2025, 03:54:56 AMToday's selection!
Taneyev
Symphony No. 2 in B flat major
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/719XHekahiL._AC_SL1200_.jpg)
Excellent! I first heard this symphony 50+ years ago and was amazed that most of
Taneyev's works at that time were unrecorded.
That situation has changed for the better! The
Second Symphony is a wonderful composition.
But that also applies to
Symphony #4, which will be my contribution for today!
On a recommendation from
@Karl Henning I first listened to a "newer" recording of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11 conducted by Rozhdestvensky with the BBC SO in 1997 (the one from yesterday was a bit over a decade before). First things first, it is still Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11 (my second favorite symphony ever), and I don't think I've heard a bad or poor recording of it yet - I think once a piece reaches a certain level of greatness it is nearly impossible to muck it up (unless you are doing in on purpose ala Victor Borge).
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71lAgsU3Y9L._SL1450_.jpg)
Secondly, because it is the BBC, it has much higher production values, but, in this symphony, I feel that works against it, as higher production values, more often than not, smooths things out, and the shrillness, especially from the percussion, I feel is a significant design element, as it demonstrates the insanity of war. Additionally, all the instruments sound flat to me, almost as if they were tuned down (but that might be due to the overall conservative nature of the orchestra).
Thirdly, this feels almost like the symphony is being introduced to a new audience; therefore, they have held back of of those elements which might frighten off a new audience (I don't know if that is the case, but the cold war has only recently ended, so that might have played some influence). Also, this feels like the conductor coming down to the level of the orceshtra rather than them elevating to his level (but this could be for a huge variety of reasons, I suspect, many of them cultural).
Finally, I, myself, would not recommend this recording, although, it is a fine recording - I've just heard better (or what I think is better - I've not looked at the score, and I doubt could understand the score - even when I had more music training - 2 to 4 staffs was my limit of comprehension). This version feels very safe, and I think safe is not a word I've ever want to associate with this symphony.
I did enjoy listening to it though; I mean it is Shostakovich's Symphony 11. :)
One of my friends during my high-school days was a big fan of Lyapunov: so, I tried his
First Symphony.
I think everyone here will enjoy it:
First listen! Via Presto streaming
Scriabin
Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 43 "The Divine Poem"
Ashkenazy
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61Fezj290tL._SL1200_.jpg)
Quote from: ChamberNut on March 20, 2025, 04:54:42 AMFirst listen! Via Presto streaming
Scriabin
Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 43 "The Divine Poem"
Ashkenazy
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61Fezj290tL._SL1200_.jpg)
Excellent performances under
Vladimir Ashkenazy!
Prokofiev's Symphony No. 1 conducted by Alondra de la Parra with the Orquesta Sinfonica WDR:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8WB6KGNGJA
Another safe choice, from my perspective, as this is my favorite symphony of Prokofiev (and likely in my top-10 symphonies of all time), and this recording of it (live) is also a perfect fit. Parra's youthful exuberance, her pluck and punch, is pitch perfect for to draw out the ironies of Prokofiev's first symphony, and the orchestra matches her at every step. A quote from Seinfeld sums it up nicely - "unbridled enthusiasm," you can not only see but sense the love and passion everyone has for the work, and that love and passion elevates the recording. Production-wise it is top notch (sonically top-notch). If there can be a final version of a symphony, my vote would be for this one.
High recommendation. :)
Quote from: Cato on March 20, 2025, 03:59:37 AMOne of my friends during my high-school days was a big fan of Lyapunov: so, I tried his First Symphony.
I think everyone here will enjoy it:
I had an opportunity to hear the opening movement of
Lyapunov's Second Symphony: very impressive!
Today's selection!!
Miaskovsky
Symphony No. 24 in F minor, Op. 63
(https://i.discogs.com/E_0qFC7Ulluaakdh_1zckS01pkWgA-A54Pl9qlZTXhI/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:564/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTM3OTA1/NTktMTM0NDUzMDk0/MS0zMTQ2LmpwZWc.jpeg)
(https://i.discogs.com/Ssz1CI1wGLEFIUp100jgr9Q6NllmrDRW3O6xYROgo8w/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:357/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTM3OTA1/NTktMTY1MDg1ODYx/My0xOTA2LmpwZWc.jpeg)
Today's offering is the
Lyapunov Symphony #2: on one YouTube screen, rather than 4!
I only heard the First Movement yesterday and was very impressed!
Mravinsky with the LPO in Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbQLT-Jn9Xg
Tchaikovsky is a composer I have always struggled with - I think it is because I always feel as if he is wearing a mask - that he is always being disingenuous, inauthentic (perhaps, it is because those are also flaws I see in myself that I don't particularly like looking in the mirror or seeing myself reflected back at me). This, of course, did not stop him from making truly lovely music - I doubt I have to sing his praises to anyone, as I imagine every listener of classical music has at least one piece by Tchaikovsky that they treasure (or many, for example, his Nutcracker - the full ballet - is a listening tradition of mine on the 25th of December.
I selected this symphony, in particular, because of how the Wikipedia article trashed its finale decrying it as "hollow rhetoric," and I selected this recording as it was 10-minutes shorter than the others (also, Mravinsky is probably the greatest conductor of Russian-Soviet music, just as I suspect Furtwangler is with the Germans or Bernstein with the Americans).
For me, there is nothing objectionable in this symphony, but, again, nothing that sticks out. It is enjoyable, medium-weight, and thoughtful. You can tell considerable work was put into putting this symphony together, not altogether unique, but if his struggles are similar to mine - that is a mean feat, as constructing something cohesive and massive is a task of a monumental nature, and I don't think of him (or I) as systematic. I found nothing hollow by the finale, unsurprisingly, but I am also finding that I am almost a 100 percent lover - I find it very difficult, almost impossible, to find fault. I mean the ending is fitting given the symphony's overall structure - it led here, so there's no surprise in the ending, but I don't come to a symphony for surprise - that's not what I'm looking or at least, what I am looking for is completion, and this symphony feels complete, and on that basis I can recommend it, but just.
Overall, it is a solid work and can be enjoyed solidly. :)
Quote from: hopefullytrusting on March 21, 2025, 09:06:27 AMMravinsky with the LPO in Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5:
Overall, it is a solid work and can be enjoyed solidly. :)
Yes, indeed: my first hearing was a marvelous monaural recording with the
Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by
Serge Koussevitzky.
The
Mravinsky is also marvelous!
Quote from: Cato on March 21, 2025, 02:08:37 PMYes, indeed: my first hearing was a marvelous monaural recording with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Serge Koussevitzky.
The Mravinsky is also marvelous!
I found this official remastering:
Quote from: ChamberNut on March 21, 2025, 04:24:22 AMToday's selection!!
Miaskovsky
Symphony No. 24 in F minor, Op. 63
(https://i.discogs.com/E_0qFC7Ulluaakdh_1zckS01pkWgA-A54Pl9qlZTXhI/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:564/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTM3OTA1/NTktMTM0NDUzMDk0/MS0zMTQ2LmpwZWc.jpeg)
(https://i.discogs.com/Ssz1CI1wGLEFIUp100jgr9Q6NllmrDRW3O6xYROgo8w/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:357/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTM3OTA1/NTktMTY1MDg1ODYx/My0xOTA2LmpwZWc.jpeg)
It's been a while for me, so:
Glinka's Symphony in B-flat major (completed by Petr Klimov) played by the Musica Viva Ensemble conducted by Alexander Rudin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-rYRtcFF7A
I believe this is the first "Russian" "symphony," and if it was not connected to Glinka's name; it would have been lost to the dustbin of history (thank the lord for bureaucrats and bureaucracy). It is only a fragment (6 minutes 32 seconds), so not much can be deciphered or derived, but more than enough to make this worth your time. This is clearly separate from the European tradition (unlike Anton Rubinstein's First Symphony, which is grounded in that tradition), so this really is Glinka establishing new grounds upon which to composer (he was an iconoclast in that sense). I would highlight the flute interplay in particular (giving a bird-like performance). Even in so short a time, you can tell that Glinka had a mind of a different sort - the beginning of the paradigm shift, as it were.
High recommend. :)
Quote from: Cato on March 21, 2025, 08:44:51 AMToday's offering is the Lyapunov Symphony #2: on one YouTube screen, rather than 4!
I only heard the First Movement yesterday and was very impressed!
I'm in!
Quote from: Cato on March 21, 2025, 08:44:51 AMToday's offering is the Lyapunov Symphony #2: on one YouTube screen, rather than 4!
I only heard the First Movement yesterday and was very impressed!
A dreamy start, esp. considering its era.
TD:
Today, another visit to the
Shostakovich Symphony #10:
And...another visit to the
Lyapunov Symphony #2:
A first time visit to
Glinka's (incomplete)
Symphony on Two Russian Themes:
Not to be confused with this 6+ minute fragment:
Today's selection!
Glazunov
Symphony No. 4 in E flat major, Op. 48
(https://i.discogs.com/QKn7jMpanuzLrwKpmgRih1ZlmqT8AHJVhPABKWgiv8Q/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE1MTk5/OTc3LTE3MzY2MDU0/ODMtNzAzNy5wbmc.jpeg)
Quote from: ChamberNut on March 24, 2025, 04:47:02 AMToday's selection!
Glazunov
Symphony No. 4 in E flat major, Op. 48
(https://i.discogs.com/QKn7jMpanuzLrwKpmgRih1ZlmqT8AHJVhPABKWgiv8Q/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE1MTk5/OTc3LTE3MzY2MDU0/ODMtNzAzNy5wbmc.jpeg)
This was A LOT better than I remembered!
Quote from: ChamberNut on March 24, 2025, 04:47:02 AMToday's selection!
Glazunov
Symphony No. 4 in E flat major, Op. 48
(https://i.discogs.com/QKn7jMpanuzLrwKpmgRih1ZlmqT8AHJVhPABKWgiv8Q/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE1MTk5/OTc3LTE3MzY2MDU0/ODMtNzAzNy5wbmc.jpeg)
Quote from: ChamberNut on March 24, 2025, 05:16:27 AMThis was A LOT better than I remembered!
Okay, it looks like I will need to explore the
Glazunov Symphony #4!
Arseny Avraamov's Symphony of Sirens:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz2MoALz8I8
That we have a recording of this work should literally blow everyone's mind. This piece, when originally composed, was essentially an intentional happening, and I cannot imagine the charisma Avraamov must have had to bring something like this together, but I doubt any living composer could accomplish this feat without the help of the nation itself (which is how we have this recording). I mean it essentially uses an actual cannon as a conductor. The piece is off the wall, but it is a piece - nothing here is by accident, everything is well-planned out and intentional. This is peak avant garde, so it most definitely is not for the faint of heart, but I think anyone interested in composition should be interested in this.
An awesome work (here awesome is not a superlative, as it often is elsewhere).
Highest recommendation. :)
Quote from: Cato on March 24, 2025, 06:03:12 AMOkay, it looks like I will need to explore the Glazunov Symphony #4!
I think Serebrier's Glazunov is a lot better than his Dvorak FWIW......
Today's selection!
Rimsky-Korsakov
Symphony No. 2, Op. 9 'Antar'
Philharmonia Orchestra
Butt
(https://i.discogs.com/sesj0CQ6pZM0cWXJf8HKHvnxsJzsF0Nw8SIS6M_pQnI/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:596/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTk4MjM2/ODQtMTcwMTYxMTc1/NC03NDUyLmpwZWc.jpeg)
@Elgarian ReduxThe more I listen to Antar, the more it is becoming one of my favourite symphonies. It is so inventively and beautifully orchestrated!
Quote from: ChamberNut on March 25, 2025, 04:35:43 AM@Elgarian Redux
The more I listen to Antar, the more it is becoming one of my favourite symphonies. It is so inventively and beautifully orchestrated!
Antarmania is contagious! ;D
For your consideration:
Alexander Tcherepnin's Symphony #4 (in 3 movements)
Quote from: Cato on March 25, 2025, 06:18:16 AMAntarmania is contagious! ;D
For your consideration: Alexander Tcherepnin's Symphony #4 (in 3 movements)
I find Tcherepnin really satisfying 🤗
Mosolov's Symphony No. 5 played by the MSO conducted by Arnold:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mza8p_iM2gE&list=OLAK5uy_kuPrlwr_zujDG1vYJhrkG5mU_rFRx4cVQ
Mosolov is an interesting composer, and I think he suffers because of it. He's sort of a one-hit wonder, but that isn't very unique save his one-hit is a piece of avant garde, futurism which means it is often a task to get that one-hit off the ground, which also means that his other music, for better or worse, gets stained, and as we know - recordings are very expensive, even if you engage cheaply (as they did on this recording, and the music suffers for it, in my opinion). Nothing feels connected, everything feels disengaged, and it hurts because there are also some moments of brilliance that shine through which drag you back in, when in reality this is proof positive of what not following the law of diminishing returns gets you. It sounds wrong, but Mosolov needs a Soviet orchestra and a Soviet conductor.
I cannot recommend this recording of this symphony. :)
Quote from: hopefullytrusting on March 25, 2025, 08:11:24 AMMosolov's Symphony No. 5 played by the MSO conducted by Arnold:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mza8p_iM2gE&list=OLAK5uy_kuPrlwr_zujDG1vYJhrkG5mU_rFRx4cVQ
Mosolov is an interesting composer, and I think he suffers because of it. He's sort of a one-hit wonder, but that isn't very unique save his one-hit is a piece of avant garde, futurism which means it is often a task to get that one-hit off the ground, which also means that his other music, for better or worse, gets stained, and as we know - recordings are very expensive, even if you engage cheaply (as they did on this recording, and the music suffers for it, in my opinion). Nothing feels connected, everything feels disengaged, and it hurts because there are also some moments of brilliance that shine through which drag you back in, when in reality this is proof positive of what not following the law of diminishing returns gets you. It sounds wrong, but Mosolov needs a Soviet orchestra and a Soviet conductor.
I cannot recommend this recording of this symphony. :)
Color me not shocked, but my summary judgment, based on intuition, was correct: Mosolov's Symphony in E Major conducted by Titov with the St. Petersburg State Academic Capella Symphony Orchestra
(https://d1iiivw74516uk.cloudfront.net/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJwcmVzdG8tY292ZXItaW1hZ2VzIiwia2V5IjoiNzk4NDI2NS4xLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTAwfSwid2VicCI6eyJxdWFsaXR5Ijo2NX0sInRvRm9ybWF0Ijoid2VicCJ9LCJ0aW1lc3RhbXAiOjE0MDE5ODI1NDN9)
Electric, exciting, vibrant, vivacious. It has life!
(https://media.tenor.com/KBi2Vp6BnkwAAAAM/its-alive-gene-w-ilder.gif)
Quote from: hopefullytrusting on March 25, 2025, 10:32:55 AMColor me not shocked, but my summary judgment, based on intuition, was correct: Mosolov's Symphony in E Major conducted by Titov with the St. Petersburg State Academic Capella Symphony Orchestra
(https://d1iiivw74516uk.cloudfront.net/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJwcmVzdG8tY292ZXItaW1hZ2VzIiwia2V5IjoiNzk4NDI2NS4xLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTAwfSwid2VicCI6eyJxdWFsaXR5Ijo2NX0sInRvRm9ybWF0Ijoid2VicCJ9LCJ0aW1lc3RhbXAiOjE0MDE5ODI1NDN9)
Electric, exciting, vibrant, vivacious. It has life!
(https://media.tenor.com/KBi2Vp6BnkwAAAAM/its-alive-gene-w-ilder.gif)
I also appreciate the Wartime Music version of this Mosolov symphony. I have liked all of the series that I've heard so far, mind, but the Mosolov too.
My listening was interrupted, so I've come back to this, and how nice to find a live execution (as it were)
Quote from: ChamberNut on March 25, 2025, 04:35:43 AM@Elgarian Redux
The more I listen to Antar, the more it is becoming one of my favourite symphonies. It is so inventively and beautifully orchestrated!
I know!! And Butt's version is exquisite.
And the tune goes round and round my head.
And the programme is so imaginatively conceived!
And I'm in love with the Magical Queen of Palmyra!
Today's selection! Quite a ride!
Popov
Symphony No. 1, Op. 7
London Symphony Orchestra
Botstein
(https://i.discogs.com/p-fcHqIzHt6ofuANwrJp_1nkCnip-AkuULWs6FvSYFY/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:498/w:500/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTc5NjM0/MTgtMTQ1MjUyMjky/NS04NzE5LmpwZWc.jpeg)
Quote from: ChamberNut on March 26, 2025, 05:02:52 AMToday's selection! Quite a ride!
Popov
Symphony No. 1, Op. 7
London Symphony Orchestra
Botstein
(https://i.discogs.com/p-fcHqIzHt6ofuANwrJp_1nkCnip-AkuULWs6FvSYFY/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:498/w:500/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTc5NjM0/MTgtMTQ1MjUyMjky/NS04NzE5LmpwZWc.jpeg)
WOW! What a coincidence! I revisited the
Popov Symphony #1 yesterday!
It struck me early (very early!) this morning that somebody might have been neglected this month! :o :o :o
Borodin:
Symphony #1(links to the other 3 movements should appear on the side)
Symphony #2: (links on the side)
And there is a partial
Symphony #3, two movements completed by
Glazunov:
Alexander Nemtin's Symphony No. 2 conducted by Gennady Provatorov with the Kharkov Symphony Orchestra:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAQX4DibrrA
That a recording of this exists online is a testament to the power of the internet. Nemtin might be the one true disciple of Scriabin's Mysterium. This really is an oddball piece - to call it a hodgepodge would not be an insult. Just as Scriabin tried to capture his whole universe in a song is also what Nemtin is trying to do, and doing that will always make the work uneven. I will say that he is fairly successful in this endeavor - the piece doesn't feel disconnected because the connective link is the composer themselves - like any good prophet, they have offered themselves up as a sacrifice to truth (artistic integrity).
The recording, itself, is a bit flat, rigid, and stiff, but that does not ultimately, in my opinion, distract from the power of the work.
High recommendation. :)
Quote from: hopefullytrusting on March 26, 2025, 06:30:36 AMAlexander Nemtin's Symphony No. 2 conducted by Gennady Provatorov with the Kharkov Symphony Orchestra:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAQX4DibrrA
That a recording of this exists online is a testament to the power of the internet. Nemtin might be the one true disciple of Scriabin's Mysterium.
This really is an oddball piece - to call it a hodgepodge would not be an insult. Just as Scriabin tried to capture his whole universe in a song is also what Nemtin is trying to do, and doing that will always make the work uneven. I will say that he is fairly successful in this endeavor - the piece doesn't feel disconnected because the connective link is the composer themselves - like any good prophet, they have offered themselves up as a sacrifice to truth (artistic integrity).
The recording, itself, is a bit flat, rigid, and stiff, but that does not ultimately, in my opinion, distract from the power of the work.
High recommendation. :)
Yes,
Alexander Nemtin's works need to be officially recorded by good orchestras!
Where is his
First Symphony? Are there others beyond #2?
Considering that Wikipedia has room for pages and pages of nonsense, it is astonishing that there is no page for him!
For today: Russian Orientalism via
Alexander Tcherepnin's Symphony #3!
Was looking for something else, and then I came across this.
Glinka's Symphony on Two Russian Themes conducted by Alexander Gauk (the person I was searching) with the USSR State Symphony Orchestra:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOJX5cQiO8g
It's Glinka, so you pretty much can't go wrong, but this piece does raise an interesting genre argument - Glinka classes it as a symphony, but the recording classes it as a symphonic poem? The piece is delightful - the themes are very Russian, easy to detect (easy to follow and hear). The music is bouncy and buoyant, like rollicking through a county fair. The recording is superb (the conductor is first rate as is the orchestra, again, and this might just be me, but nationalistic music, and very few are more national than Glinka, should be played by nationalistic orchestras).
High recommendation. :)
Yesterday's and today's selections! Was too busy to post yesterday.
Both absolutely splendid works and performances! Both highly recommended.
Prokofiev
Symphony No. 7 in C sharp minor, Op. 131
(https://i.discogs.com/WclLJNxEIi0f51Nd3BlAKIOKNnsXPiZ5yjCP4zM2Du0/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:595/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTIyMTM0/NTEtMTU1NzY4Njg1/NS0xMzA4LmpwZWc.jpeg)
Kalinnikov
Symphony No. 2 in A major
(https://i.discogs.com/7vv1qoz_bHnDEeJmhQt5dXwdBDx4rd1i9KjdV3_GRq8/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTgyNDM5/MDctMTQ5ODc4MDI5/Ny0zOTA2LmpwZWc.jpeg)
If you didn't think that YouTube has more than demonstrated its value, then this should put you over the top:
Oleg Yanchenko's Symphony No. 3 conducted by Valery Polyansky leading the Minstry of Culture Symphony Orchestra (1983 - introduced by Anna Chekhova):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRLWn6e0taU
I simply cannot believe we even have access to this.
The symphony, itself, is choral with interesting instrumental augmentations - it uses the organ and also Belorussian "folk" instruments, which already indicates that it is going to sound quite different than most symphonies you have encountered. It's overall harmonic drive would be classed by western audiences as dissonance, but that would be missing the influence (the affect) of folk music, usually more vocally dependent, and thus having a more flexible understanding of what may or may not be dissonance.
The orchestration is dense, rich, and thick, and its use of bass is right up my alley, and the organ's appearance is magically. The piece was composed in 1982, and I feel that year is correct - it feels like something that would have come out at that time - it is disparate and fragmentary aka "postmodern". I know that I am missing something significant here, as I cannot speak the language, but, unlike most opera that I listen to - the words feel as if they have actual meaning here, so I may endeavor to uncover that at some point.
The overall mood is somber throughout, but at many moments feels ritualistic (but that might also be me exoticizing, as the folk elements are very foreign to me, and they become more dominant as we move through the work). There is something creeping, lurking inside the music - like it feels at points, like this could be the soundtrack to a horror film. I love how it ends (don't know how to express it appropriately, but it is very, very fitting).
Highest recommendation. :)
Quote from: ChamberNut on March 28, 2025, 04:36:50 AMYesterday's and today's selections! Was too busy to post yesterday.
Both absolutely splendid works and performances! Both highly recommended.
Prokofiev
Symphony No. 7 in C sharp minor, Op. 131
(https://i.discogs.com/WclLJNxEIi0f51Nd3BlAKIOKNnsXPiZ5yjCP4zM2Du0/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:595/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTIyMTM0/NTEtMTU1NzY4Njg1/NS0xMzA4LmpwZWc.jpeg)
Kalinnikov
Symphony No. 2 in A major
(https://i.discogs.com/7vv1qoz_bHnDEeJmhQt5dXwdBDx4rd1i9KjdV3_GRq8/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTgyNDM5/MDctMTQ5ODc4MDI5/Ny0zOTA2LmpwZWc.jpeg)
Both score highly in this household!
This will be my last contribution to this thread, as my birthday is on the 30th, so I will spending the weekend offline, and I saved a quite a banger for last, once again highlight that YouTube is the greatest website, bar none.
Gennady Vorobyov's (1918-1939) Symphony in C Minor (1937-1939; completed by Nikolai Peiko):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3pmX6cYvWI
It opens with such mournful, longing (I wonder if he knew his death was upcoming, I suspect it was - he died of typhus). Interleaved, of course - just like Schubert - are sprigs and sprouts of joyful exuberance. There is also a distinctly almost "oriental" sound to the music, but, ironically, it reminds me more of Copland than anyone else (the foreign but not quite so foreign).
There is a great use of silene throughout (in my field, we might declaim it as the mastery of the negative/white space, recognizing that the both the background and foreground are needed to experience phenomena fully. There is this eager playfulness, almost rollicking (reminds of a sleigh bells), but it always restrained, a bounded freedom.
The recoding is from 2011 with conductor, Maurice Yaklashkin and the Chuvash State Symphony Capella. Spring motifs "spring" about, alongside folk tales being regaled. Like Shostakovich's Symphony 11, it has an extremely impressive, and loud (boisterous) percussion section, and those are never not fun.
This does not feel like a first work, and I will admit I didn't look it up, but this might be his only work that saw the light of day. And what an auspicious way to begin, by getting the most difficult composing task out of the way first. He is serious though, no doubt, and wants to be taken seriously. I often wonder how one so young could even get a symphony played by a modern orchestra (I imagine being able to hear the music, textually, helps out a lot here - I cannot do that).
I will say you can tell where Vorobyo stopped, and Peiko begins. Vorobyo is closer to Mussorgsky, while Peiko is in similar begins (it happens in the final movement (not surpisingly), but Peiko is an able, capable, functional orchestra but he lacks the punch, the conviction of Voroybyo, which makes sense s this isn't his symphony, but he did a good job brining this to fruition (ha Wagner-feel/style).
High recommendation. :)
Still s few days to squeeze in some madness!
Perfect time to revisit this recent purchase:
I am on the road and have had no time to hear anything, but maybe tomorrow morning, I will have a chance to hear one of these:
Quote from: Karl Henning on March 29, 2025, 08:33:50 AMStill a few days to squeeze in some madness!
Quote from: Karl Henning on March 29, 2025, 09:17:50 AM
Stravinsky: Symphony in 3 Movements
Rattle: CBSO
(https://i.discogs.com/6RhkK7SXczcuQFuP5lbc9Gw00d3bj_qCQHHAjNRufh0/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:586/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTc4OTYw/NDgtMTU4OTEyMzgx/My0zNjY1LnBuZw.jpeg)
My final entry for this year's madness!! And indeed, the coda of this symphony does feel like that descent into the abyss!
Rachmaninov
Symphony No. 1 in D minor, Op. 13
(https://i.discogs.com/EddF4MbuRpk3ZfBO6mLiJ9MWmZ2q4IPR021VhFrcy8k/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:300/w:300/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTk5MTE0/MTUtMTQ4ODM5ODA5/OC0yMDkwLmpwZWc.jpeg)
(https://i.discogs.com/ub2BcaBRy2iy_pMwA99WLN1VWCUjE5o9how3LcgbKfw/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:585/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTI0MTgy/MDEtMTUwODU3ODQ3/OS00NDY4LmpwZWc.jpeg)
As this last day in March concludes, I want to thank everyone who participated. In particular, to the nearly daily participants
@Cato @Karl Henning and
@hopefullytrusting :)
And especially
@hopefullytrusting , whom I was pleasantly surprised at his thorough diving in to the event!
I hope in the very least it was an opportunity for anyone even on a 'read only' basis to be exposed to some new works, revisiting a favourite recording or revisiting an old favourite work in a new recording!
Cheers!
Quote from: ChamberNut on March 31, 2025, 04:12:20 AMAs this last day in March concludes, I want to thank everyone who participated. In particular, to the nearly daily participants @Cato @Karl Henning and @hopefullytrusting :)
And especially @hopefullytrusting , whom I was pleasantly surprised at his thorough diving in to the event!
I hope in the very least it was an opportunity for anyone even on a 'read only' basis to be exposed to some new works, revisiting a favourite recording or revisiting an old favourite work in a new recording!
Cheers!
Amen and Thank you!
For various reasons, I did not have an opportunity to hear anything this morning, and we are about to "hit the road" again in a few minutes.
Thus there could be a March 32nd or even a March 33rd this year, at least for this topic! ;)
Great fun!
Prompted indirectly by
@Mapman I was hoping to find the ballet version of
Stravinsky's Symphony in Three Movements on youtube, but this is all I could find:
So, I'll content myself with Boulez:
Quote from: ChamberNut on March 31, 2025, 04:12:20 AMAs this last day in March concludes, I want to thank everyone who participated. In particular, to the nearly daily participants @Cato @Karl Henning and @hopefullytrusting :)
And especially @hopefullytrusting , whom I was pleasantly surprised at his thorough diving in to the event!
I hope in the very least it was an opportunity for anyone even on a 'read only' basis to be exposed to some new works, revisiting a favourite recording or revisiting an old favourite work in a new recording!
Cheers!
And many cheers to you, as well!
This was a very fun experience, and I also echo the sentiments of
@Cato :)
Quote from: hopefullytrusting on March 28, 2025, 09:33:32 PMThis will be my last contribution to this thread, as my birthday is on the 30th, so I will spending the weekend offline, and I saved a quite a banger for last, once again highlight that YouTube is the greatest website, bar none.
Gennady Vorobyov's (1918-1939) Symphony in C Minor (1937-1939; completed by Nikolai Peiko):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3pmX6cYvWI
It opens with such mournful, longing (I wonder if he knew his death was upcoming, I suspect it was - he died of typhus). Interleaved, of course - just like Schubert - are sprigs and sprouts of joyful exuberance. There is also a distinctly almost "oriental" sound to the music, but, ironically, it reminds me more of Copland than anyone else (the foreign but not quite so foreign).
There is a great use of silene throughout (in my field, we might declaim it as the mastery of the negative/white space, recognizing that the both the background and foreground are needed to experience phenomena fully. There is this eager playfulness, almost rollicking (reminds of a sleigh bells), but it always restrained, a bounded freedom.
The recoding is from 2011 with conductor, Maurice Yaklashkin and the Chuvash State Symphony Capella. Spring motifs "spring" about, alongside folk tales being regaled. Like Shostakovich's Symphony 11, it has an extremely impressive, and loud (boisterous) percussion section, and those are never not fun.
This does not feel like a first work, and I will admit I didn't look it up, but this might be his only work that saw the light of day. And what an auspicious way to begin, by getting the most difficult composing task out of the way first. He is serious though, no doubt, and wants to be taken seriously. I often wonder how one so young could even get a symphony played by a modern orchestra (I imagine being able to hear the music, textually, helps out a lot here - I cannot do that).
I will say you can tell where Vorobyo stopped, and Peiko begins. Vorobyo is closer to Mussorgsky, while Peiko is in similar begins (it happens in the final movement (not surpisingly), but Peiko is an able, capable, functional orchestra but he lacks the punch, the conviction of Voroybyo, which makes sense s this isn't his symphony, but he did a good job brining this to fruition (ha Wagner-feel/style).
High recommendation. :)
Thank you. I need to spend more time with YouTube and the range of music I don't know from there.
Just barely in time:
Shostakovich: Symphony #10
Mravinsky: Leningrad
Not the greatest recording: audible coughing and some intonation issues. But the moment where the DSCH motif returns in the 4th movement is great!
(https://i.discogs.com/x0EtiaszsT37raC7iRkW9lBQYCZ0b6A7CginfOKUdM8/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:589/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTUzODkz/MDYtMTcwNjg1NjQ3/MS0zOTcyLmpwZWc.jpeg)
Okay, March 36th is "not a thing," as the kids say these days! ;D
Nevertheless, for the first time in days *, I was able to listen to a Russian symphony, the
Miaskovsky Symphony #21: a short work, which does compress a symphonic world into 15 minutes quite well.
For other composers, this might have been the opening movement: certainly it contains many seeds for elaboration!
* We are on the road, visiting our youngest son's family in Florida, a portent of the Apocalypse, where every forest, every swamp, every copse, every tree, every blade of crabgrass is under attack by the lust to build a mass of future slums, i.e. a thousand acres of 4 and 5-story apartment buildings without the roads and services needed to support another 5000 people jammed into an area already jammed with traffic, pollution, and the lunacy which accompanies overcrowding and gridlock.