Glazunov: Orchestral Works Vol 18 / Yablonsky, Russian PO
Naxos
Available as
CD
$19.99
Jul 28, 2009
Glazunov never published his incidental music to Lermontov’s Masquerade, perhaps because it consists of so many very short numbers. There are a couple of larger bits: a mazurka, a gallop, a polonaise, and a Valse-Fantasia. The music is typically tuneful, beautifully crafted, and the use of the chorus, both wordless and normally, adds immeasurably to the effect. The remaining items have been recorded previously on occasion, and they are also more substantial than their titles might otherwise suggest (the Romantic Intermezzo particularly). These are excellent performances, warmly and vividly played, and boldly engineered, though as usual from this source the sonics are a touch “studio bound”. This is volume 18 in Naxos’ ongoing series of Glazunov orchestral works, and it’s certainly one of the most interesting. Give it a shot, if you’re curious.
-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
The Naxos mission to record all of Glazunov’s orchestral legacy has reached volume 18. Almost by definition that fact alone makes this review redundant. If you are a Glazunov acolyte you will have pre-ordered this disc as soon as it was advertised, but if you are new to his music I cannot imagine this disc being a point of entry of choice. Even though it proves to be a hugely charming disc few would claim that this music is central to one’s appreciation of the composer – there are other places to start for that. As with many of the other discs in the series Naxos make use of their Russian ‘house’ orchestra – The Russian Philharmonic this time under the baton of Dmitry Yablonsky. This is an orchestra whose playing can range from the inspired to the positively pedestrian so I’m pleased to report that on this occasion it is neat and alert with some aptly characterful solos taken when required. The recording too is clear and warm without some of that glassy resonance that occasionally afflicts the engineering from this source. Most interestingly added to the mix is the Gnesin Academy Chorus. More of their role in the music later but enough to say that they sing well and blend into the musical textures effectively.
The main work here is the thirty-six or so minutes of incidental music Glazunov wrote for a 1917 staging of Mikhail Lermontov’s 1835 play Masquerade. Keith Anderson’s detailed liner-note explains that this significant score by Glazunov existed only in manuscript. Confusion is compounded by the fact that the exact musical sequence and how they relate to the play is unclear. Hence we have a detailed synopsis of the play and in parallel a musical sequence that is satisfying in itself but not necessarily one that follows the action of the play. The problem arises from the fact the much of the score provides music for the various balls that constitute many of the scenes. Glazunov has composed a score that is both practical – as in the dance sequences above and emotionally illustrative, seemingly underlining the prevailing mood or emotion of a scene. The score is divided into twenty-six tracks running from a miniature fife and drum march lasting just seventeen seconds to a full blown Valse-Fantasie at five and a half minutes. The latter is authentic Glazunov, very much in the style of the similar movement from Raymonda or the Concert Waltzes. It could be argued that this continuity/similarity is both Glazunov’s strength and his weakness. Really it could date from any point during his compositional career and certainly as a piece dating from 1917 breaks no musical frontiers – although why should it if the requirement is for a romantic waltz. Glazunov’s fabled orchestral mastery is on display throughout – the previously mentioned fife and drum is a perfect example how just two instruments are used to perfect effect (track 14 – Pantomime 8). Elsewhere the greatest musical interest is provided in the movements featuring the chorus. The very opening track is instantly atmospheric and full of foreboding - the synopsis makes it clear that this is a dark and tragic play with echoes of Eugene Onegin and Othello. This is sung to great effect by the Gnesin Academy Chorus with a definite Russian colour to their sound that feels absolutely right although lacking that last ounce of deep implacable resonance. Apart from the cantatas used as fillers on Valery Polyansky’s cycle of the Glazunov Symphonies on Chandos there have not been many opportunities to hear Glazunov’s writing for voices. I particularly like the way he uses them colouristically on occasion. Elsewhere they sing a text in traditional style. Act IV of the play depicts the final descent into madness and death of the Othello-like character Arbenin. The music accompanying Act IV Scene 1 here (track 22) is a marvellous unaccompanied chorus. Sadly there is no text given in the liner notes. It is sung with a beautiful tonal blend and sensitivity – a real highlight of the disc – but I have no idea what they are saying. The tracks have been well sequenced so that the movements flow one to another – very important with many short cues. This is an excellent addition to the Glazunov discography. One interesting and diverting thought; Khachaturian’s suite Masquerade is also incidental music written for a 1941 production of the same play. Given the synopsis outlined by Keith Anderson I am even more at a loss as to how Khachaturian’s riotously good humoured music - at least as far the suite is a sample - fits!
The rest of the disc is filled with judiciously chosen pieces. Naxos has consistently shown considerable care and imagination with the couplings in this series and this disc is no exception. None of the music is revelatory or startling but in style and mood they match well. The two pieces forming Op. 14 are slight and charming and beautifully played here. Likewise the dance fragment that is the Pas de caractére Op.68. The largest single piece on the whole disc is the Romantic Intermezzo Op.69 which in turn is also the most familiar piece. It has appeared as a filler for part of Gennadi Rozhdestvensky’s symphony cycle on Olympia as well as Evgeny Svetlanov’s similar traversal on Melodiya. The title says it all – a lyrical slow movement in all but name it receives another sympathetic performance here although one that tends to the lugubrious. It runs about a minute longer than either of the other named versions.
To summarise: an automatic purchase at this price for anyone with an interest in this composer or the byways of theatrical music. The comparison with Khachaturian’s suite is quite fascinating – two such varying responses to literally the same text. It is better engineered than some in this series and is conducted and played with sympathy and insight.
Appealing yet very rare music performed with great aplomb.
-- Nick Barnard, MusicWeb International
Glazunov: Orchestral Works Vol 18 / Yablonsky, Russian PO
$19.99
CD
Naxos
Jul 28, 2009
8570211
Glazunov: Orchestral Works Vol 17 / Ziva, Moscow So
Glazunov: Orchestral Works Vol 17 / Ziva, Moscow So
$19.99
CD
Naxos
Aug 01, 2003
8555048
Glazunov: Symphonies Nos. 4 And 8
BIS
Available as
CD
$21.99
Oct 01, 2003
Classical Music
Glazunov: Symphonies Nos. 4 And 8
$21.99
CD
BIS
Oct 01, 2003
BIS-CD-1378
Glazunov: Complete Music for Piano, Vol. 1
Bridge Records
Available as
CD
$18.99
Nov 28, 2000
Classical Music
Glazunov: Complete Music for Piano, Vol. 1
$18.99
CD
Bridge Records
Nov 28, 2000
BCD9102
Seascapes - Debussy, Zhou Long, Bridge, Glazunov
BIS
Available as
SACD
$21.99
Apr 01, 2007
The sea and Singapore are inextricably bound together - indeed, the first records of a settlement here give it the Javanese name Temasek ('sea town'). Ever since, these islands have provided a base for traders and fishermen, pirates and sailors. With the arrival of the British East India Company in 1819 Singapore quickly developed into one of the most important trading hubs of Asia and, indeed, the world. And although the patterns and methods of world trade and transport have changed, the sea still permeates the daily life of Singaporeans. This also applies to Lan Shui and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, who on this disc perform four works inspired by the sea by composers as varied as Debussy, Glazunov, Frank Bridge and Zhou Long (b. 1953). The latter was the subject of Rhymes, the orchestra's previous and highly praised disc, of which web site Classics Today wrote: 'Zhou's is a personal, distinctive voice; and his beautifully crafted music achieves a remarkable synthesis of Western and Eastern musical traditions with musically rewarding results.' The reviewer at BBC Music Magazine agreed, calling the result 'utterly compulsive' with the addition: 'Here is orchestral playing of the highest calibre.' Zhou Long's The Deep, Deep Sea has as its title a quotation from Tang dynasty poet Li Bai, and was written for flautist Sharon Bezaly who performs it here. If the sea in Zhou Long's piece is an Asian one, Glazunov used a visit to Crimea and the Black Sea for his inspiration, adding a good pinch of Wagnerism to its not very salty water. Debussy and Bridge on the other hand most probably had the same sea in mind when they composed their works: Debussy finished his La Mer while visiting England in 1904, staying in Eastbourne on the south coast, and Frank Bridge (1879-1949) was born and grew up in Brighton, some thirty kilometres further west.
Seascapes - Debussy, Zhou Long, Bridge, Glazunov
$21.99
SACD
BIS
Apr 01, 2007
BIS-SACD-1447
Glazunov: Piano Sonatas / Medvedev
Quartz Music
Available as
CD
$18.99
Nov 04, 2022
Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov was undoubtedly the most gifted Russian composer of his generation – that is to say, those born during the 1860s – and his profound musical aptitude led him to take full advantage of the educational facilities underpinning the burgeoning interest in the arts that grew exponentially in Russia during the second half of the 19th-century. He was not alone, but Glazunov’s superlative gifts did not lead him initially to a conservatoire. He began musical studies privately with Rimsky-Korsakov (twenty-one years his senior) rather than enter the St Petersburg Academy as just another gifted student.
We all know this: debut albums come and go; young wizard violinists who for the most part all sound alike come and go; and certainly marketing efforts come and go. Aside from tepid reviews for a Nielsen concerto performance at Carnegie Hall with the Leipzig Gewandhaus and Herbert Blomstedt in late 2001, there hasn't been much attention paid to 26-year-old violinist Nikolaj Znaider, but in the meantime RCA Red Seal signed him to an exclusive deal. (In the interest of full disclosure, the label asked me to write the short Znaider biography that appears on its website, but I have no attachment to this disc.)
Well, RCA made a very smart move: this guy is a powerhouse, and this is one of the most impressive discs I've heard in a long time. (It's actually not his first album; he made a recording of Nielsen and Bruch for EMI that--surprise, surprise--was issued and cut out in near record time, and a lot of people are mistaking this RCA disc as Znaider's debut.) Although he studied with the late Dorothy DeLay at Juilliard, he has honed a distinct sound and a clear point of view, unlike many of DeLay's other students who have an unfortunate tendency to machine-gun their way through difficult scores, firing off passages with rat-a-tat-tat accuracy and zero emotion. Znaider, on the other hand, manages to be both muscular and achingly sweet, an unbelievable combination that works especially well in the shifting moods of the Prokofiev.
There's a nasty edge to the outer movements, a knowing sourness to Znaider's playing that's reminiscent of Oistrakh. The excitement that builds in the final minute and a half of the concerto's last movement is palpable; the tension of the thudding percussion sets off Znaider's emotionally crazed (but technically impeccable) cross-registral runs. On the other hand, the inner Andante assai offers the violinist a chance to show off a lyrical romanticism that is echoed in the less interesting Glazunov concerto, a piece that compositionally is far more one-dimensional than the Prokofiev. The tossaway here is the Tchaikovsky Méditation, but again it's a chance for the young Danish violinist (of Polish-Israeli heritage) to show off his lush, rich sound and flexible phrasing that undoubtedly will remind many listeners of the golden age of violinists.
Mariss Jansons and the Bavarian Radio Symphony are astute accompanists, playing crisply and cleanly (if a bit leaden-footed in the first movement of the Prokofiev), but the truth is that in all respects this is Znaider's star turn. The sound is realistic and the balance between soloist and orchestra is excellent. --Anastasia Tsioulcas, ClassicsToday.com
This new SOMM release features two perennial favorites, the Glazunov and Dvorak Violin Concertos. They are often recorded together, deriving their inspiration from Russian Bohemia's musical heritage whilst still remaining close to Brahmsian Viennese traditions. Greek-born violinist Efi Christodoulou has been reviewd by The Strad as "a powerful violinist, demonstrating a high level of technical achievement" Efi is developing a career in the UK where she has recently given recitals at St. John's, Smith Square and Wigmore Hall.
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Glazunov, Sibelius & Dvorák: Violin Works
$20.99
$15.99
CD
SOMM Recordings
Oct 01, 2015
SOMMCD 0153
TCHAIKOVSKY / BALAKIREV / GLAZUNOV: Arrangements for 2 Piano
Naxos
Available as
CD
$19.99
Jun 20, 2006
TCHAIKOVSKY / BALAKIREV / GLAZUNOV: Arrangements for 2 Piano
TCHAIKOVSKY / BALAKIREV / GLAZUNOV: Arrangements for 2 Piano
$19.99
CD
Naxos
Jun 20, 2006
8557717
Orchestral Works Vol 14 - Glazunov: Piano Concertos 1 & 2
Naxos
Available as
CD
$19.99
Jul 01, 2000
Glazunov, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol. 14 - Piano Concertos
Orchestral Works Vol 14 - Glazunov: Piano Concertos 1 & 2
$19.99
CD
Naxos
Jul 01, 2000
8553928
Glazunov: Symphonies No 3 & 9 / Anissimov, Moscow Symphony
If one tries to characterize Russian music, then one almost involuntarily finds descriptions such as "soulful", "melancholic" or even "emotionally charged", attributes that could also apply to the sphere of sound of the violoncello. Benjamin Kruithof and the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie conducted by Conrad van Alphen play Tchaikovsky's short tasteful salon piece Pezzo Capriccioso, the cheerful, elegant and witty Rococo Variations, the Nocturne in C-sharp minor from his piano cycle Opus 19 and the slow movement (Andante cantabile) from his String Quartet No. 1 op. 11 - plus Glazunov's Chant du Ménestrel op. 71 and Dawidov's peacefully flowing Sunday Morning op. 20. Popper's Fantasy on Little Russian Songs op. 43 combines the lyrical mellifluousness and sheer unfailing bravura that also distinguished Popper's own cello playing. Rachmaninov's Vocalise Op. 34, No. 14 completes RUSSIAN MOOD.
Glazunov: Symphony No 6, "the Forest" Fantasy / Anissimov
Naxos
Available as
CD
$19.99
May 01, 2000
Classical Music
Glazunov: Symphony No 6, "the Forest" Fantasy / Anissimov
$19.99
CD
Naxos
May 01, 2000
8554293
Glazunov, Tchaikovsky: Violin Concertos / Gluzman, Litton, Bergen PO
BIS
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SACD
$21.99
Jan 01, 2008
This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.
Glazunov, Tchaikovsky: Violin Concertos / Gluzman, Litton, Bergen PO
$21.99
SACD
BIS
Jan 01, 2008
BIS-SACD-1432
Glazunov: Raymonda / Sutherland, ENB Philharmonic
Opus Arte
Available as
CD
$27.99
$20.99
May 10, 2024
This studio recording of Alexander Glazunov's Raymonda was captured in October 2022. The arrangement was created for the ENB's 2022 production, with a score specially adapted and edited by Gavin Sutherland and Lars Payne. The lavish orchestral adaptation retains the best of the composer's original score, updating it to match the dramatic new narrative devised by Tamara Rojo.
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Glazunov: Raymonda / Sutherland, ENB Philharmonic
$27.99
$20.99
CD
Opus Arte
May 10, 2024
OA CD9051D
Glazunov: String Quintet, Etc / Rosen, Fine Arts Quartet
Naxos
Available as
CD
$19.99
Mar 27, 2007
I gained significant enjoyment from this desirable release. The delightful and substantial Five Novelettes are a hidden gem worthy of discovery.
Founded over sixty years ago in Chicago the Fine Arts Quartet is a highly accomplished ensemble. On the evidence of these superb performances and other recent releases such as the Schumann String Quartets 1-3 they prove themselves to be in the same elevated league as ensembles such as the Emerson, Škampa, Talich, Takács, Hagen, Quatuor Mosaïques, Kodály, Henschel, Belcea and Zehetmair.
I strongly believe that Glazunov’s substantial output of music is not as well known as it deserves to be. The most frequently heard work is the Violin Concerto (1904). One sometimes hears music from his two major ballets Raymonda (1898) and The Seasons (1900) also the Chant du Ménestrel (1900) in either of its versions for cello and piano or for cello and orchestra. As a frequent attender of chamber music recitals I have yet to hear any performances of Glazunov’s chamber works. Although not known for their progressive or experimental nature his works are generally of high quality and I commend any chamber music lover to hear the two volumes of String Quartets from the Utrecht String Quartet on MDG 603 1236-2 (Quartets 3 and 5) and MDG 603 1237-2 (Quartets 2, 4 and Elegy for Strings) and also the recording of the Quartets 3 and 5 from the Shostakovich Quartet on Regis RRC 1211.
Grove-Online; Wikipedia and virtually every other resource I have consulted give the composition date for Glazunov’s Five Novelettes, Op.15 as 1886. However, the information in the Naxos booklet notes says 1881; which means that Glazunov would have been a mere sixteen year old when he wrote the score. Evidently he originally gave the less descriptive title of ‘Suite’ to this five movement work. Lasting almost as long in performance as the A major String Quintet the amiable and predominantly folk music-inspired Five Novelettes is an outstanding work and a hidden gem of the chamber music repertoire.
Glazunov’s Five Novelettes have all been given exotic titles. They open with an appealing Alla spagnuola (In the Spanish style). Briskly performed with high spirits by the Fine Arts Quartet the piece also contains a contrasting dreamy central section. The dance-like piece entitled Orientale has the character of a Percy Grainger folk dance rather than anything terribly oriental. Again there is a contrasting central core. In the Dorian mode the third movement is a reverential Interludium in modo antico that reminded me of sacred music from the Russian Orthodox Church. There’s considerable warmth and good humour to be heard in the Valse. The buoyantly played final piece, marked All’ungherese (In Hungarian style), convey strong evocations of tradition gypsy and Magyar rhythms.
The four movement String Quintet in A major, Op.39 is scored for a second cello rather than the more usual viola - in the manner of Schubert’s Quintet in C major, D. 956. Here the Fine Arts are augmented by the services of second cellist Nathaniel Rosen. The opening Allegro begins with a glorious melody for the viola. One is struck by the appeal of this highly attractive music infused as it is with lush and brazen Romanticism. Pizzicato strings herald the opening of the engaging Scherzo. The heartrending strains of the Andante could melt even the stoniest of hearts. In the highly-flavoured Russian-sounding themes of the Finale the players successfully conclude proceedings in a robust and vivacious manner.
There are only a small number of alternative versions of Glazunov’s String Quintet and Five Novelettes and none that I consider an improvement over this superb Naxos release. I am reasonably familiar with what is probably the best known version of the String Quintet from the ASMF Chamber Ensemble on Chandos (c/w Tchaikovsky String Sextet in D minor, Op 70). In the Five Novelettes the versions most likely to be encountered are those from the St. Petersburg String Quartet on Delos and also from the Lyric Quartet on Meridian; both recordings having the String Quartet No. 5, Op. 70 as their coupling.
I gained significant enjoyment from this desirable release. The sonics are to demonstration standard. The delightful and substantial Five Novelettes are a hidden gem worthy of discovery.
-- Michael Cookson, MusicWeb International
Glazunov: String Quintet, Etc / Rosen, Fine Arts Quartet
$19.99
CD
Naxos
Mar 27, 2007
8570256
Scene Glazunov: String Quartets Vol 2 / Utrecht Quartet
MDG
Available as
CD
$23.99
Jan 01, 2005
Classical Music
Scene Glazunov: String Quartets Vol 2 / Utrecht Quartet
Contrasting the first and last string quartets of Glazunov on a single release is a good idea. Unlike many such pairings, they literally do represent the beginning and end of his compositional career, a sort of real-life version of Machaut’s Ma fin est mon commencement. And Glazunov, as one of the foremost admirers in his day of the Franco-Flemish School and its antecedents, would have caught the reference.
His String Quartet No. 1 was the composer’s first published work, premiered in 1882, when he was 16. It was first presented at one of the Friday soirées of the wealthy timber merchant Mitrofan Belyayev, where composers and performers met each week to perform and critique each other’s work. The public premiere took place a few months later, and received an ovation similar to Glazunov’s First Symphony. At a time when Russian nationalism was still a subject of intense debate, with few adequate examples in chamber music, this First Quartet conveys technical assurance and a rich sense of style. The opening movement possesses an authority in its inspired materials and detailed, idiomatic writing that would credit a far more experienced composer. The scherzo is competent, but less individualized, as Glazunov wouldn’t start up his series of remarkable essays in this vein until the Second Symphony, four years later. By contrast, the songful, miniature andante is an early cradle song-like example of the striking lyricism and harmonic subtleties the composer would subsequently lavish on many similar movements. The finale is one of those hybrid sonata-rondos based on two folklike themes that Glazunov would use repeatedly to round off his larger multimovement works.
The Seventh String Quartet was completed in 1930, in Paris. It was among Glazunov’s last compositions, and is both considerably more vivid and imaginative than the pallid Sixth of nine years earlier. Its opening movement is unusually rich in imitative textures and contrapuntal procedures, looking back to the Renaissance, as noted above—not for nothing its subtitle, Hommage au passé. Russian nationalism, which had become less pronounced in Glazunov’s later works, reappears as well, though without discarding the chromatically shifting harmonies of his Eighth and unfinished Ninth symphonies. The slow movement, “Le souffle du printemps,” has the character of a lyrical recitative surrounding lighter material that occasionally launches into full-throated, Borodin-like song. The scherzo, labeled “Dans la forêt mystérieuse,” is the last in an amazing series notable for their delicacy, whimsy, and imagination. This one, spun out of short motifs, irregular rhythms, and counterpoint, creates an impression of unpredictable, fast-moving shadows and complex features beneath a transparently simple surface. The finale, “Festival Russe,” is exactly what it says—with celebratory bells, balalaikas strumming, and a chorus singing joyous hymns, as well as brief recollections of earlier movements, handled with panache. Thus Glazunov returned to the inspiration of his musical youth, and for a brief moment successfully recovered it.
This is the final release in the Utrecht String Quartet’s Glazunov series. I’ve previously reviewed its recordings of the Third and Fifth quartets (MDG 603 1236-2), the Sixth Quartet and the Novelettes (MDG 603 1239-2), and the String Quintet and Suite for String Quintet (MDG 603 1238). The features of its work as a group have remained fairly constant: technically expert playing, a sleekly attractive tone, and an internal response to each other and to the music that is only possible when an ensemble has worked a great deal of time on a given work. The approach is cooler, more objectified than the older Shostakovich Quartet recordings of Glazunov from the 1970s (on Olympia; deleted, but still available from some sources) that feature warmer phrasing, a less linear approach to tempo, and more rubato and portamento. Overall, I respond better in this music to the Shostakovich’s approach, which was developed in training under musicians to whom Russian nationalism was as natural as Beethoven and Brahms. But I find much to enjoy in the Utrecht’s balance, textural clarity, and affection for these works.
The group is least successful in the First Quartet’s finale, where in place of the moderato tempo designation it prefers an andante for much of the movement, and in the Seventh Quartet’s andante affectuoso, which goes at a moderato clip and loses much of its charm in the process. These two instances on this disc (and others, in the series) seem of a part with the group’s emotional coolness, a certain reticence to engage the music at a simple emotional level—hence the inability to express effusive enthusiasm and tenderness. Far better is the finale to the Seventh Quartet, also marked moderato, but with more vigor and flexibility, perhaps because the movement is more complex than its counterpart in the First. The soft playing in the Seventh’s scherzo is a treat, and the four-part harmony, though lacking the richness of the Shostakovich performers, has a spaciousness and majesty that contributes much to the opening movements of both works.
The sound is immediate and close, yet without mechanical noises. In short, this is a distinguished recording by the Utrecht String Quartet, and a suitable one on which to end its survey of Glazunov.
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