RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Christmas Eve / Night on Mount Triglav

Glazunov, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol. 2 - the Kremlin / Fr

1998 release. Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov (1865-1936) Orchestral works 8, the Seasons, Op. 67; Scenes de Ballet, Op. 52, Scene Dansante, Op.81 performed by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra Alexander Anissimov conductor. Recorded at Mosfilm Studio, Moscow, Russia in August 1995.

RUSSIAN BALLET FAVOURITES

Meredith Willson, certainly one of the most remarkable individuals in the history of American music, is finally given his due by these world premiere recordings of his two symphonies of 1936 and 1940.
The First Symphony was written as a commemorative piece for the 30th anniversary of the San Francisco earthquake of 1916. But rather than recall the horror of that event, the piece is more of a tone poem celebrating the city. The second movement, however, is poignant in its evocation of a city rebuilding itself. The rising opening violin line, emulating a rebirth out of the ashes, is particularly effective.
The Second Symphony, another work celebrating the glory of California, has a vague Spanish character to it as it pays homage to Father Junipero Serra, a "padre-pioneer" in the words of Willson. As with the First Symphony, the outstanding movement is the Andante with its veiled references to Gregorian chant and its Spanish motives as an allusion to the Spanish mission founded by Serra.
William Stromberg, a conductor who has an affinity for performing film music, is to be commended for bringing to light these once forgotten works with sterling performances from the Moscow Symphony Orchestra.

Alexander Anissimov was a conductor unfamiliar to me (some may have heard his much-praised Tchaikovsky Cherevichki at Wexford). He keeps the Moscow Symphony Orchestra on their toes: the strings are keener of articulation than their Bolshoi or Kirov counterparts while balances and dynamics are all observed in an end result of greater sophistication than you might expect from this source (with handsome sound to match). Anissimov excels in the grand symphonic unfolding of the first two numbers and the two Entr’actes, over which he takes more time and care than Fedotov [conducting Kirov].

-- Gramophone [8/1996]

Scriabin seems to be an "in" composer all of a sudden, what with numerous new recordings of his youthful Piano Concerto and late tone poems/symphonies. In the past few months, we've had new recordings by some real "heavyweights", including Boulez and Pletnev on Deutsche Grammophon, Rozdestvensky on Chandos, and Ashkenazy on Decca. This budget-priced production from the composer's compatriots certainly holds its own against all comers. Konstantin Scherbakov plays the concerto with steel and sensitivity in equal measure, and he's particularly successful in knitting together the loose architecture of the outer movements, while at the same time making the filigreed piano writing sound like real Scriabin, rather than Chopin on steroids. The performance of Prometheus is predictably less smooth than the recent Boulez/Chicago, and not as sumptuously recorded. But despite the slower overall tempo, the performance is much more physically exciting and has a naturalness of flow that Boulez doesn't quite match. The couplings, orchestrations of various short piano pieces, are also captivating and unique. In all, the disc is definitely worth a listen, even if you think you've had enough of this music.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

To have such romantic richness . . . offered on a bargain label is cause for celebration in itself; to have it performed and recorded with such tireless commitment is a double blessing. . . . [S]uccessful on all counts. Scherbakov, praised by Richter and recently hailed as a ‘modern Rachmaninov’, is now more attuned to Medtner’s widely fluctuating idiom, complementing his unquestioned virtuosity with inwardness and conviction. . . . Scherbakov’s agility at, say, the con moto (8'38'') is never at the expense of a composer whose bravura is always poetically motivated, and so all lovers of romantic piano concertos need look no further. . . . -- Bryce Morrison, Gramophone

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Kabalevsky, D.B.: Romeo and Juliet / Colas Breugnon / Comedi

Glazunov, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol. 3 - the King of the

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