Classical Music

Chandos has wisely reduced this original, expensive three-disc set to a moderately priced twofer, without losing any music at all. The performances are wonderful: this recording was made in the first flush of Neeme Järvi's relationship with Chandos, when their recordings with the Scottish National Orchestra were winning accolades the world over for their sonic brilliance. At the time, much of this music was also difficult to find (particularly the suites from Christmas Eve and The Invisible City of Kitezh), and so were additionally welcome in such glittering interpretations. Even now they hold up extremely well: Järvi's strength always was his willingness to let the orchestra cut loose in the big moments, especially the march music in Le coq d'or, or the Dance of the Tumblers from The Snow Maiden. Also as usual, the string playing lacks that last ounce of precision and rhythmic clarity (the galloping rhythms in Christmas Eve, for example), but few will complain. BIS's ongoing series of Rimsky's orchestral music with the Malaysian Philharmonic has even finer sonics, but if you're looking for just the opera suites, you can hardly do better than this.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

A mystic realm tinged with the scent of foreign spices, bewitching music, vivid color and sensual delights... Orientalism sparked a new wave of romanticism in Western art in the 19th century, which had a profound influence on artists. At the time, The Arabian Nights had long been popular in Russia, in a French translation by Antoine Galland that indulged the Francophile passion for all things Arabic. For Rimsky-Korsakov who had a life-long fascination with fairytales especially those from the exotic setting of the mythical Orient,"Scheherazade"was an ideal theme. Born into a family of Russian naval officers, music and the sea became his passion since childhood and he graduated from the Naval Academy of St. Petersburg to become a naval officer himself. While pursuing his musical studies, he embarked on numerous ocean voyages, visiting Brazil, America, Europe etc The Oriental Ballet Suite "Thousand and One Nights" was originally conceived as an orchestral work, first published for piano solo in 1927, and then arranged for orchestra by the composer himself. It gained popularity immediately after it's release and was broadcast on several radio stations.

Opera Suites, Vol. 3

This album offers a new approach to the character of Scheherazade, with Rimsky-Korsakov's musical masterpiece transcribed for the forces of Ensemble K and a previously unpublished text, freely adapted from the Thousand and One Nights and ancient love poems, which tells the story of Scheherazade. The Franco-Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani plays Scheherazade, while Kristin Winters is her sister, Dinarzad: 'For me, this story is a literary and historical treasure of humanity. But our collective imagination has seen Scheherazade as either a seductress or a submissive woman who told stories to survive. The greatness of this character goes far beyond that, and in fact represents the ancient figure of the "hero", or rather the heroine!', says Simone Menezes, who is artistic director of this project. For this second collaboration with Alpha Classics (after Amazonia, ALPHA990), she presents two versions of the programme, one with music and texts, the other with Rimsky-Korsakov's music alone.

Originally released in 2007, Artur Pizarro and Vita Panomariovaite’s ‘Rimsky-Korsakov: Piano Duos’ has been re-issued as part of Linn’s ECHO series. These two talented pianists bring to bear their skill and virtuosity in three colorful arrangements encompassing Rimsky-Korsakov’s most popular music for orchestra, Scheherazade, Sadko and Capriccio Espagnol. Mr. Pizarro’s prize-winning performance at the Leeds Piano Competition marked the beginning of his international concert career. “…wonderful… very effective, evocative and exhilarating performances.” (Int’l Record Review)

Sapyegina/Lissovsky/Fedoseyev/Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra.

A unique selection of sumptuously orchestrated works, some of them rarely recorded. Alongside well-known repertoire is the only available recording of the 'Neapolitan Song' in its orchestral version. Magnificently performed by the BBC Philharmonic under Vassily Sinaisky.

One of the greatest musical creations of Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov is undoubtedly his Scheherazade symphonic suite. The work, which is based on the famous tales of Princess Scheherazade of the Arabian Nights, has now been interpreted by the Philharmonia Zurich with its general music director Fabio Luisi at the rostrum. And one of its Zurich Opera House performances –with the ensemble “in top form”, to quote the Neue Zürcher Zeitung – has now been committed to recording. “Concertmaster Bartlomiej Niziol, who, with his solo violin, embodies the figure of Scheherazade as she tells her life story, plays his prominent part with impeccable intonation and great creative freedom; and Fabio Luisi conducts with a keenly emotional air and, with deftly-varied drive and restraint, brings the whole tale to outstanding dramatic life.”

The old Tzar Dodon, tired of ruling his country, manipulated by his political advisors - among which the obscure Astrologer - and showing little interest in protecting his kingdom against foreign agression, relies on a magic Golden Cockerel to warn him in case of an attack. But when the Cockerel tells him of his own defeat, the Tzar quickly falls in love with his enemy, the beautiful Tzaritza of Shemakha, who easily convinces him to surrender his empire by making him propose to her. A cruel and sardonic fairytale, Rimsky-Korsakov's Golden Cockerel draws from a poem by Alexander Pushkin, and undoubtedly counts among the most subversive works in the history of music. A very direct attack against autocracy, stupidity and political inertia, it was censored and premiered only in 1909, one year after Rimsky-Korsakov's death. This new production from the The�tre de la Monnaie was imagined by Laurent Pelly. Drawing from the modernity of Rimsky-Korsakov's musical and dramatic imagination, the ambiguities of it's specular structure, and it's underlying reflection on language, manipulation and absurdity, the French stage director underlies the heavily symbolical aspects of this fierce and pitiless tale, all the while remembering both it's historical context and it's universal philosophical depth... French conductor Alain Altinoglu works wonders with the The�tre de la Monnaie Symphonic Orchestra, and reaffirms his strong affinities with Russian music, which were already made clear in the Tchaikovsky dyptich Iolanta / The Nutcracker at the Paris Opera in 2015.

On a previous disc of Rimsky-Korsakov?s orchestral music, Kees Bakels and the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra gave us their interpretation of one of the composer?s most popular works, Sheherazade, coupled with the less well-known Second Symphony. (About this disc (BIS-CD-1377) International Record Review wrote: ?Bakel's new release is impressive, with Sheherazade a particular joy. The recorded sound, like the performances is lucid and natural.?) On the present release, the favourites are represented by the ever-popular Capriccio espagnol and that favourite encore The Flight of the Bumble-Bee, unusually presented in its context as the third movement of a suite of orchestral excerpts from the opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan. But at least as attractive, and every bit as glowing, is the Russian Easter Festival Overture, dedicated to the memories of Mussorgsky and Borodin, and the composer?s final large-scale orchestral piece. Based on Russian liturgical themes it progresses from a solemn pre-Easter processional, through the discovery of Christ?s empty tomb, and finally to the joy and triumph of the Resurrection. Another work that definitely deserves to be better known is the Piano Concerto. Possibly because its short duration (only 14 minutes) it has proved difficult to programme in concerts, but within this short time-span it daringly explores a wide range of expressive possibilities, which soloist Noriko Ogawa and the orchestra know to exploit to the hilt. All in all, a most attractive programme then, performed by an orchestra which in a previous review has been described as follows: ?the players are obviously excellent; more importantly, this is an orchestra that plays with character and commitment ??

In the mind of the general music lover, Rimsky-Korsakov is to a large extent associated with two works: Sheherazade and The Flight of the Bumblebee. It is therefore a great pleasure to be able, in our ongoing series of his orchestral music, to present works less well-known but equally deserving of a wider audience.

Described by the composer as a kaleidoscope of fairy-tale images and designs of oriental character, Rimsky-Korsakov’s symphonic suite Sheherazade has delighted listeners for generations. The rapturous solo violin plays the part of the slave who narrates the wonderful tales of the Arabian Nights, including the adventures of Sinbad, Prince Kalender and the Festival of Baghdad. The suite, or ‘musical pictures’, from The Tale of Tsar Saltan depicts episodes from this magical opera, from which the mischievous Flight of the Bumblebee is also drawn. The Seattle Symphony is one of the world’s most recorded orchestras, with 12 GRAMMY nominations and two Emmy Awards.

When the 21 year old Rimsky-Korsakov’s Symphony No.1 in E minor was premièred in December 1865 it was hailed in some quarters as the first truly Russian symphony. The leader of ‘The Five’, Balakirev, favoured the use of eastern themes in the search for a personal symphonic path for national music and Rimsky seemed to signal an alternative to the German-influenced music of Anton Rubinstein. He completed Symphony No.3 in C major in 1874. Again it was cast in a thoroughly Russian manner, full of vivacious romanticism and revealing significant technical advances on the earlier work.

These classic Vox recordings feature two former music directors of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in their prime - Walter Susskind (Smetana) and Jerzy Semkow (Rimsky-Korsakov). Newly remastered from the original tapes.

Over the years I and several other reviewers on this site have been bemoaning the failure of Melodiya, when reissuing their recordings of rare Russian material, to provide texts, translations or indeed adequate booklet notes of any meaningful description for their releases – a damaging omission which does little to make more accessible the excellent recordings themselves. In this selection of Rimsky-Korsakov melodies, CPO have gone to the opposite extreme. Not only do we get the full texts complete with translations, but we also are vouchsafed a lengthy essay from CPO stalwart Eckhardt van den Hoogen discoursing on the composer himself, his psychological background, his attempts to establish himself as a pedagogue, and many other peripheral issues while managing almost entirely to avoid any discussion of the music itself as featured on this disc. Now, I fully appreciate the efforts that CPO put into their booklet notes, which do indeed in many issues offer valuable insights into the music and the composers themselves. However, the turgid prose style of Professor van den Hoogen (which often seems to totally defeat Susan Marie Praeder’s attempts at English translation), are perhaps best regarded in the light of the provision of unintentional amusement. In a final footnote, the booklet essay of eight pages (in small type) notes: “The fact that the Firebird hymn is heard in the Night will be mentioned here for the sake of curiosity and registered completely free from all speculation.” If it is not the intention of the author to discuss the matter, why mention it at all? Earlier in his essay the writer attempts to turn the received opinion of the last century on its head by describing Mussorgsky in the following terms: “Ilya Repin’s famous portrait really tells us everything we need to know about the last years of this original sloth’s life: from his dishevelled hair and watery eyes to the red bulb of a nose shining like a sad lighthouse out of the rolling hills of his face.” Is this really “everything we need to know” about a composer whose output of songs has not only comprehensively outdistanced Rimsky-Korsakov’s in reputation but is also by some considerable margin the most often performed body of vocal works coming from Russia during the nineteenth century?

Still, one has to concede that Professor van den Hoogen always gives good value for money, and he clearly values Rimsky-Korsakov’s output of songs highly. And the performances here do much to justify his enthusiasm. Maria Prudenskaya has spent most of the last ten years working in German opera houses and specialising in Wagner and Verdi, and she fully comprehends the dramatic demands that high romantic music demands of its singers. She was a superbly responsive mezzo soloist in a live Bavarian Radio recording of Verdi’s Requiem under Mariss Jansons a couple of years ago, which I reviewed enthusiastically for this site. Her Waltraute in the 2016 Bayreuth Ring was a towering highlight in an admittedly generally execrable production, and her absolute steadiness of tonal production and gleaming higher register are a real pleasure to hear – not a suspicion of Slavonic wobble here. She also displays a plentiful employment of reflective half-tone, as well as an unexpected (and beautifully floated) upper range in the oriental-sounding Op.2/2 (track 30). Her accompanist Cord Garben is a stalwart contributor to many recitals of song, and as always he relishes the challenge of unfamiliar repertoire. Rimsky-Korsakov was not himself a pianist, and his writing for the instrument was condemned during his lifetime as unidiomatic; but he always gets the effects that he wants to convey. The recording was made some three years before the aforementioned Verdi Requiem – it is not clear why it has waited so long for release – and the recorded sound is fine, even if a little more reverberation might have been welcome.

The disc assembles a whole collection of ‘romances’ identified solely by opus numbers on the CD box, and by transliterated Russian titles at the front of the booklet. They vary in length from just under a minute to a maximum of four minutes; there are thirty individual items here. As might be expected they are all highly proficient settings, generally reflective rather than dramatic, and all have an immediate melodic appeal. Rimsky’s choice of poetic texts is admirable, with Tolstoy, Lermontov, Pushkin and Heine (in Russian translation) featured. They are not assembled in order of composition, which robs the listener of a chance to hear how the composer’s style developed over the years; but Rimsky’s opus numbers are often misleading, with earlier pieces subjected to later revision – it is a pity that the extensive booklet note did not find room to explore this development, including indeed references to songs not actually included on this disc! There are moments which occasion surprise: the clear echo of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata in Op.39/1 (track 5), for example, is an unusual reference to non-Russian material. The treatment of the theme quoted by Stravinsky in The Firebird at the outset of Op.8/2 (track 23) is totally different from that of Rimsky’s pupil.

The songs are generally grouped by the poet whose verses are set, although Rimsky does not seem to make any real stylistic discrimination between his lyrics. Most will I suspect be totally unfamiliar to listeners, although some may have crossed the hearer’s path in miscellaneous recitals of Russian song. But since titles (let alone translations) may differ between one recording and another, there seems to be little point in itemising them here.

So far as I can see this is the only current available single disc devoted entirely to the composer’s output in the field, although Brilliant Classics do have a three-disc compendium of his ‘complete songs’ although there appear to be some individual items omitted (77 songs are included out of some 80 apparently given in published editions), and they are distributed between a whole raft of different singers and pianists. This set suffers also from the fact that no sung texts or translations were provided, even in its original issue on Chant du Monde in 1993. Rimsky-Korsakov enthusiasts will obviously have to own the ‘complete’ set; but for lesser mortals this CD, with its judicious selection complete with transliterated text and translations into both German and English, will be more readily approachable. The music itself will certainly prove enjoyable.

– MusicWeb International (Paul Corfield Godfrey)

Sebastian Weigle conducts this acclaimed Oper Frankfurt production of Rimsky-Korsakov’s operatic rarity Christmas Eve. This CD version is taken from the same live performances as the DVD/Blu-ray, released in November 2022 (2.110738 and NBD0154V). Rimsky-Korsakov blends Christian and pagan elements, Ukrainian folk songs and carols, and atmospheric orchestral interludes in this vivacious and fantastical village romance.

The Invisible City of Kitezh, completed in 1905, is a remarkable opera that fuses folklore, mysticism and realism. Its subject is the story of the advancing Mongol army�s entry to Great Kitezh and the city�s subsequent miraculous survival. Rejecting archaisms and the more religiously inclined suggestions of his librettist, Rimsky-Korsakov sought to create an opera that �is contemporary and even fairly advanced�. It is therefore through-composed, hinting at times at Wagnerian procedure, and flooded with the composer�s rich, apt and brilliant orchestral palette, fully supportive of the powerful vocal writing.

Composed using his own libretto, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov created this magical opera based on the short story by Nikolay Gogol ‘The Night before Christmas’ in which Vakula the handsome blacksmith wants to marry the rich farmer’s daughter Oksana, who in turn demands that he must first bring her the Tsarina’s shoes. Meanwhile a witch on her broomstick gathers the stars and the devil steals the moon – demonic forces trying to hinder this romantic union. There is little repertoire in musical theatre in which enchantment and enlightenment come together so happily as in Rimsky-Korsakov’s fairy-tale operas, and this Oper Frankfurt production was considered ‘a perfect seasonal tonic’ by the Financial Times.

Together with narrator Rufus Beck, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin presents "The Five Thieves and the Secret in the Sack". Inspired by the Thousand and One Nights, it is a magical story about the power of friendship. Author Katharina Neuschaefer and illustrator Martin Fengel captivate their young audience with this exotic tale, set amid the vastness of the desert – and musically illustrated by the colorful sounds of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade".

Includes work(s) by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

Nikolay Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) served in the Russian navy and with the encouragement of his mentor Balakirev, a member of "The Five," pursued his musical education. He taught at the St. Petersburg Conservatory from 1871 till "Bloody Sunday" in 1905 when he was dismissed for political involvement. Many of his students also went on to successful careers in music. He taught Glazunov, Respighi, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Myaskovsky, and Lyadov among so many. While he composed operas, chamber music, songs and choral music it is his orchestral material that he is at the front of the line including Scheherazade, Capriccio Espagnol, Russian Easter Festival, and Antar all represented on this CD. And yes his famous "Flight of the Bumble-Bee," template for the Green Hornet theme, and used in numerous cartoons and films is included. Also included is a duet arrangement by Kreisler for violin and piano of the "Hindu Song," well known as "The Song of India" made famous by Tommy Dorsey.

Also available on Blu-ray

Based on an historical case, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tsar’s Bride takes place in the suburbs of Moscow during the reign of Tsar Ivan IV, “the Terrible”, during the latter half of the 16th c. Widowed, he is looking for a new wife, his third. He chooses the young Marfa. She loves another man but bends to the Tsar’s will and renounces her love for the other. From this plot, Russian director Dmitri Tcherniakov retains only the frame. A live competition is organized for a virtual monarch, much like the reality shows of today. Here, the characters become the various players of the audiovisual industry bringing an acerbic critic to contemporary television. Daniel Barenboim conducts the Staatskapelle Berlin. With Olga Peretyatko, Anita Rachvelishvili and Johannes and Martin Kränzle. Recorded at Staatsoper, Im Schiller Theater Berlin, in October 2013.

1 DVD
Run time 152 min
Subtitles: French, English, German
Picture: 16/9, NTSC
Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0, Dolby Digital 5.1

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

Based on an historical case, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tsar’s Bride takes place in the suburbs of Moscow during the reign of Tsar Ivan IV, “the Terrible”, during the latter half of the 16th c. Widowed, he is looking for a new wife, his third. He chooses the young Marfa. She loves another man but bends to the Tsar’s will and renounces her love for the other. From this plot, Russian director Dmitri Tcherniakov retains only the frame. A live competition is organized for a virtual monarch, much like the reality shows of today. Here, the characters become the various players of the audiovisual industry bringing an acerbic critic to contemporary television. Daniel Barenboim conducts the Staatskapelle Berlin. With Olga Peretyatko, Anita Rachvelishvili and Johannes and Martin Kränzle. Recorded at Staatsoper, Im Schiller Theater Berlin, in October 2013.

Rimsky-Korsakov: Maid of Pskov (The) / Fairy Tale