Classical

Balakirev - Symphonies 1 And 2 • Russia • Tamara • Overture On Three Russian Themes (1992)

2019-07-17T15:38:52Z

Balakirev - Symphonies 1 And 2 • Russia • Tamara • Overture On Three Russian Themes (1992)

Symphony No 1 In C Major 	(44:11)
1-1 	Largo - Allegro Vivo 	13:31
1-2 	Scherzo: Vivo - Poco Meno Mosso 	8:11
1-3 	Andante - 	13:30
1-4 	Finale: Allegro Moderato - Tempo Di Polacca 	8:58

1-5 	Russia Symphonic Poem 	15:20

2-1 	Overture On Three Russian Themes 	9:01
2-2 	Tamara Symphonic Poem 	21:45
Symphony No 2 In D Minor 	(36:31)
2-3 	Allegro Ma Non Troppo 	10:00
2-4 	Scherzo Alla Cosacca: Allegro Non Troppo, Ma Con Fuoco Ed Energico 	8:32
2-5 	Romanza: Andante 	9:04
2-6 	Finale: Tempo Di Polacca 	8:40

The Philharmonia
Yevgeny Svetlanov - conductor

‘Unjustly neglected’ says one note; ‘waiting to be discovered’ claims the other. Yet the First Symphony, which anti-establishment figure Balakirev took over 30 years to complete, has been championed with spirit by Beecham, Järvi, Svetlanov (twice) and now Sinaisky. To anyone who treasures this 19th-century leader and teacher for infusing Western music with the shot-silk cadences of Russia’s oriental neighbours, the first movement is something of a hurdle, even though its sober symphonic argument does flip into rhapsody-mode halfway through. Sinaisky judges it beautifully, with sprightly definition of phrase and rhythm that serves the exotic remainder of the symphony equally well. Svetlanov’s pulse is certainly slower than it was in his old Melodiya days, but his stately progress, abetted by plush if sometimes remote recording, revels in the Philharmonia’s velvety sheen – like a wealthy Russian merchant parading in his fine new fur coat. Certainly his other readings reflect at leisure all the colours in the suite-like Second Symphony, with the splendid cossack scherzo originally discarded from its predecessor, and the three fantasies on Russian and oriental themes. The Overture is especially fascinating for its use of melodies better known from Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony and Stravinsky’s Petrushka: and all three are finer than Chandos’s companion-pieces – though the King Lear Overture has a fine main theme beautifully reprised by the BBC Philharmonic oboist. Chandos should certainly be looking to Sinaisky in Manchester, rather than its job-lot Polyansky recordings from Moscow, for its Russian repertoire. ---David Nice, classical-music.com

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Mily Balakirev – King Lear-Suite in B minor-Spanish March (1991)

2014-09-08T15:18:46Z

Mily Balakirev – King Lear-Suite in B minor-Spanish March (1991)

King Lear, Music for W. Shakespeare's tragedy 
1.  Overture
2.  Procession
3.  Entre'acte 2
4.  Entre'acte 3
5.  Entre'acte 4
6.  Entre'acte 5

Suite in B minor
7.  Preambule
8.  Quasi-Waltz
9. Tarantella

10.  Overture on the theme of [a] Spanish March

USSR Symphony Orchestra
Evgeni Svetlanov, conductor

Released by the Svetlanov Foundation

The evolution of concert music in Russia and Eastern Europe during the late nineteenth century can be understood as governed by a continual tension and uneasy symbiosis between Western European influences and the desire by composers to develop a distinctly national musical idiom. At stake in the case of Russia was a struggle among artists and intellectuals over the soul of the nation as essentially either Western or Eastern. Balakirev was perhaps the most formidable and influential of Russia’s unusual group of late nineteenth-century composers. His works range from the relatively obscure Incidental Music for King Lear, originally written in 1858, the overture of which opens this program, to more famous later works such as Islamey, the “oriental fantasy” for piano. Balakirev attempted to utilize the formal procedures of Schumann and Liszt and also integrate so-called “folk” elements, not only from his native Russia, but from Bohemia, Poland and Spain. Other Russian composers, such as Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, who also struggled to reconcile the Russian with the Western European, were profoundly influenced by Balakirev. His orchestral music, particularly the two symphonies in C and D minor, and his many overtures are all too rarely performed. This work was inspired in part by Vladimir Stasov, the influential critic and composer. The choice of a Shakespeare text was not arbitrary. During the second half of the nineteenth century, in part to demonstrate that the language and culture of the Slavic peoples were in every sense the equals of the German and French, translations and productions of Shakespeare became immensely popular. Since Shakespeare had been appropriated by the French and German in translation, nationalist intellectuals used Shakespeare to demonstrate that Slavic languages (often looked down upon by snobs and aristocrats as culturally inferior) could transmit the English original of the world’s greatest playwright just as well as German or French, whose claims to cultural universalism and cosmopolitanism seemed more secure. Not surprisingly, many nineteenth-century Russian and Czech composers were eager to write symphonic music designed to accompany or evoke popular nationalist productions of Shakespeare’s plays. In this overture, Balakirev uses a distinctly Russian sound but develops the material along conventional, Schumann-like structural lines. The result is a rich, robust, and economically-organized musical drama. The thematic contrasts, the color and pace of the work transmit the grandeur and pathos of Shakespeare’s tragedy. ---Leon Botstein, americansymphony.org

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Mily Balakirev – Symphonic Works (1957)

2014-10-23T15:56:16Z

Mily Balakirev – Symphonic Works (1957)


1 Second Overture on Russian Themes for Orchestra - "Russia (Rus)"	12:41
2 Piano Concerto in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 1	14:08
3 Overture on Czech Themes - "In Bohemia" ("V Chechii")	11:48
4 Oriental Fantasy - "Islamey"		8:41

Boris Zhilinsky – piano (2)
USSR Radio Grand Symphony Orchestra
Alexander Gauk – conductor

Many examples of Russian music were inspired by Russia's nineteenth century conquest of Caucasian territories between the Black and Caspian Seas and the conquest of Turkic kingdoms between the states which are now known as Iran and Afghanistan. This resulted in a rise of interest in all forms of arts and literature of these newly incorporated regions, and these people's musics were quickly imitated in Russian concert music. Mily Balakirev's 1862 work Islamey is supreme among piano works with such a genesis. It is a large-scale fantasy incorporating three themes from Islamic regions of the Caucasus area, decked out with rich harmonies and developed into one of the most flashy virtuoso pieces for the instrument. In 1909, one year before Balakirev's death, the Italian Alfredo Casella introduced his orchestration of the piece, which is suitably dazzling and colorful. The two versions are a little off the beaten track of the standard repertoire, yet they are popular when played because of their color and great vigor. --- Joseph Stevenson, Rovi

Initially planned as an overture on Russian themes, Russia was first presented in a concert of the Free School in 1864. Balakirev revised the work numerous times before arriving at its final incarnation in 1884, at which time he gave the work the title by which it is most commonly known today. The work opens in a larghetto tempo. Two chords precede the presentation of the first theme, a tune in minor mode with a modal flavor, taken from a song called "It was Not the Wind." This theme is developed. Then the tempo changes to Allegro moderato for the appearance of "I'll Go Up," a major-mode song. The opening theme returns, followed by a third song, "Jolly Katia in the Fields". These themes are developed and combined. The 15-minute work closes with the return of the opening theme. ---Hector Bellman, Rovi

Balakirev wrote three works for piano and orchestra. Two of them are early—the one-movement First Piano Concerto was composed between 1855 and 1856, and the Fantasie on Russian Folksongs dates from 1852. Both pieces show a thorough understanding of sonata form and the strong influence of Frederic Chopin (the concerto could easily been composed by the Polish master). They also betray the penchant Balakirev showed throughout his career for taking extended periods to finish large compositions, if he finished them at all. He intended to extend both pieces into full-length works but failed to do so. --- flyinginkpot.com

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