Glazunov's glass of vodka

[foxandpeng]

I WISH that Naxos would box up their 19-disc orchestral series and have emailed them to that effect. This is such wonderful music and the performances are never less than impressive...

 

I have all 19 of these and couldn't agree more. I need to fold Glazunov into my ongoing Russian odyssey, because he stands amongst my favourite composers. Or at least, he has historically. This series is outstanding in every way, and as my introduction to Glazunov, still stands as my preferred recordings of his work.

PS... this also includes Volume 14, with his two piano concertos, despite my recent protestations of general disdain for such works.

Colour me hypocritical.

[Brian]

Has anyone tried the new orchestral series from MDG? I see they recorded "Stenka Razin," one of my favorite Glazunov works - might stream that as a sample to see how it compares to the Naxos series and others.

Really wish the Alexander Lazarev Symphonies 4 and 5 disc was more easily available. That is a pure thrill ride unlike any other.

[Brahmsian]

Is there really 19 discs of orchestral music from Glazunov?    Wow, I didn't realize he wrote that much orchestral music.

[Albion]

I have all 19 of these and couldn't agree more. I need to fold Glazunov into my ongoing Russian odyssey, because he stands amongst my favourite composers. Or at least, he has historically. This series is outstanding in every way, and as my introduction to Glazunov, still stands as my preferred recordings of his work.

PS... this also includes Volume 14, with his two piano concertos, despite my recent protestations of general disdain for such works.

Colour me hypocritical.

Never!!! This was just such an important recording project that it needs to be treasured and presented in the best possible format for the listener. Naxos has done so many excellent boxed sets (most recently the Bax symphonies and major tone poems) that surely they can do the same for Glazunov...

Is there really 19 discs of orchestral music from Glazunov?    Wow, I didn't realize he wrote that much orchestral music.

Oh, yes. There's a ton of the bloody stuff and it's all lovely.

[Albion]

My request for a boxed set has apparently been "passed on to the relevant department", which is quite nice. It would be a damn sight more nice if they actually brought it to fruition...

 

[Maestro267]

PS... this also includes Volume 14, with his two piano concertos, despite my recent protestations of general disdain for such works.

Colour me hypocritical.

You have disdain for piano concertos?

[foxandpeng]

You have disdain for piano concertos?

Sadly. I'm not a big lover of classical music where pianos predominate or have a large role. There are exceptions, of course, but it is a general preference.

[Albion]

My word, the 8th symphony is a bloody corker! It's still in a "conservative" idiom but there is just so much drama and colour. Can anybody remember the last time that a Glazunov symphony, suite, concerto or tone poem was programmed live? I suspect only those aged 120 or over. This is an international disgrace: scanning the Russian broadcasts he gets absolutely NO attention...


 

[Brian]

Can anybody remember the last time that a Glazunov symphony, suite, concerto or tone poem was programmed live?

Well the jaw dropping Lazarev Fifth Symphony CD is a live performance recording from 2017 in Japan!

[dhibbard]

Yes his music is wonderful... and I agree the Symphony no 8 is one of my favorites along with The Kremlin and Karelian Legend.  Its a real shame that his music is not performed live or very rarely performed live.  I know the ERSO had programmed one of his symphonies a few years back, but who can travel to Tallinn to hear it.

[Spotted Horses]

I have all 19 of these and couldn't agree more. I need to fold Glazunov into my ongoing Russian odyssey, because he stands amongst my favourite composers. Or at least, he has historically. This series is outstanding in every way, and as my introduction to Glazunov, still stands as my preferred recordings of his work.

PS... this also includes Volume 14, with his two piano concertos, despite my recent protestations of general disdain for such works.

Colour me hypocritical.

Why didn't I find out about this when the Chandos' Naxos download sale was still on!!!! 

[vandermolen]

My word, the 8th symphony is a bloody corker! It's still in a "conservative" idiom but there is just so much drama and colour. Can anybody remember the last time that a Glazunov symphony, suite, concerto or tone poem was programmed live? I suspect only those aged 120 or over. This is an international disgrace: scanning the Russian broadcasts he gets absolutely NO attention...

My word, the 8th symphony is a bloody corker! It's still in a "conservative" idiom but there is just so much drama and colour. Can anybody remember the last time that a Glazunov symphony, suite, concerto or tone poem was programmed live? I suspect only those aged 120 or over. This is an international disgrace: scanning the Russian broadcasts he gets absolutely NO attention...


 

No.8 is arguably the greatest. It is, IMO, the most deeply felt of them all. I'm sorry that he never finished No.9 - the only completed movement is very poignant and soulful.

[Roasted Swan]

No.8 is arguably the greatest. It is, IMO, the most deeply felt of them all. I'm sorry that he never finished No.9 - the only completed movement is very poignant and soulful.

Interesting - I like 8 (I like them all tbh) but 5,6 or 3 would come before 8 in my favourites list.  5 was the first I heard - shock horror played in a concert by the RLPO - so I have a "first-love-syndrome" with that one.

[Albion]

Interesting - I like 8 (I like them all tbh) but 5,6 or 3 would come before 8 in my favourites list.  5 was the first I heard - shock horror played in a concert by the RLPO - so I have a "first-love-syndrome" with that one.

My favourite symphony resolutely remains the 5th (although I love the others, along with pretty much everything that Glazunov scribbed whenever he was sober enough to focus on a page of manuscript paper), which has just such a majestic sweep and memorability. I think that Serebrier's sumptuous eight disc Warner box is now OOP? All the more reason for Naxos to get their collective arses into gear and reissue their splendid Glazunov series in a lovely big box. Yum...

 

[vandermolen]

Interesting - I like 8 (I like them all tbh) but 5,6 or 3 would come before 8 in my favourites list.  5 was the first I heard - shock horror played in a concert by the RLPO - so I have a "first-love-syndrome" with that one.

I like them all as well. My very favourites are 8,7,2,1 and the fragment of 9.

[foxandpeng]

Glazunov Orchestral Works Volume 15, Symphonies 5 and 8. Other Works are great, but these two symphonies are amongst my favourites.

[vandermolen]

Glazunov Orchestral Works Volume 15, Symphonies 5 and 8. Other Works are great, but these two symphonies are amongst my favourites.

Yes, that's a fine CD Danny.

[Irons]

Alongside a recording of Glazunov's 5th String Quartet is a later work Elegy in Memory of M.P. Belyaev which I found more impressive. Didn't take much digging to discover that Belyaev, a philanthropist, was a great supporter and promoter of Russian music.

 
Sitting left to right - Lyadov, Stayson, Cui, Rimsky-Korsakov, Belyaev, (with daughter), Glazunov and Sokolov.

[kyjo]

Recently I made the acquaintance of Glazunov's Two Preludes for orchestra, Op. 85 (I. To the Memory of Vladimir Stasov; II. To the Memory of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov) and Symphonic Prologue "To the Memory of Nikolai Gogol", Op. 87:

https://youtu.be/gN4oTtdENpM?si=SViCnTjbvTqfqTss

https://youtu.be/6Oh2a6gNq5I?si=rEk8X0HF8qGsVWiW

(USSR SO/Svetlanov)

I was not prepared for the serious, tragic, and deeply-felt nature of these commemorative works. Glazunov is a composer I associate almost exclusively with joyfulness, contentedness, and other positive emotions, so it's fascinating to hear him write music that expresses grief and sadness (and he does it much better than I expected). Powerful stuff - I wish he would've composed in this vein more often (the slow movement of the 8th Symphony is probably the closest thing I've heard to the two above works stylistically).

[Brian]

I've owned the Serebrier box for a few years now - and by the way, it seems to be back in stock at some outlets; Amazon US has 8 copies. I've loved symphonies 4 and 5 most, but on a recent road trip was blown away by 6 and 7, and decided to listen to the whole symphony cycle through, taking notes.

No. 1 opens in jovial E as a bright Russian folk festival. It sounds very nationalist romantic, and very happy. The scherzo continues that mood. The slow movement is where he tries to be profound - it builds to a big brassy climax - but it stays comfortably within that traditional Russian romantic template. The finale begins quietly but returns to the jovial festival atmosphere of the opening, with cymbals, triangle, and more. The ending is kind of abrupt and took me by surprise - it felt like it just stopped in the middle of a development section, rather than combining the themes or anything like that. An entertaining light symphony up until the disappointing end.

No. 2 is a 43-minute epic in F-sharp minor that starts with a grand, brassy slow introduction. I think it might be the most formal and "fancy" of the Glazunov symphonies. The introduction sounds Slavic again but in a different way, a sort of religious procession. I predicted quickly that this would be a motto theme, and indeed, the allegro (which starts halfway through the movement) is a sped-up version of the same. The symphony ends with a dramatic minor-key tutti restatement.

Serebrier's way with the slow movement, its fluttering accompaniment to a clarinet solo, reminds me of the slow movement of Kalinnikov's First Symphony, though developed to almost twice the length. The scherzo has a nice alternation of minor- and major-key episodes and a catchy secondary tune. The finale again begins with a slow introduction, then moves on to a cheery Russian romantic folk movement that has a lot in common with the "Five" (Balakirev etc.). The very ending has a cool string gesture that shows he'd learned how to do a cool finish. Overall, this is feels more like the nationalist Five rather than Glazunov's maturity, but it is very likeable. Dedicated to the memory of Liszt.

No. 3 in sunny D major combines pastoral elements and Russian coloristic skill. It is also Glazunov's longest symphony at 48 minutes, a good 5 minutes longer than 2 or 8. The scherzo is an absolutely glittering creation with fluttering woodwinds and perpetual motion. Though chirping woodwinds also appear in the two outer movements, I find everything but the scherzo to be somewhat generic and uneventful. Background music stretched to epic length. Wouldn't want to see this live, but it's nice to play while working.

La Mer should, of course, not be compared to Debussy! A Russified Liszt would be more apt. It starts with the exotic sounds of the gong and a bass trombone snarl, then roiling violas. We're being plunged into the middle of a tempest. The waves are also frequently depicted by big sweeps of the harp. Although more conventional melodic material arrives around 2:50, this piece is the best kind of kitschy, cheesy romantic pictorial fluff, like Balakirev's Tamara or Borodin's In the Steppes of Central Asia.

Next week, my favorites, Nos. 4-6.