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#22
Composers & Music / Re: Glazunov 4 a hit!
Last post by John Boyer - Tuesday 26 March 2024, 13:27
It seems to me the Violin Concerto clings to the fringes of the American repertory.  I heard it in Chicago many years ago.  In fact, thanks to the miracle of the Internet, I see that I heard it on Saturday, November 13, 1982.  Lydia Mordkovitch was the soloist, and Solti lead the CSO. 

Like Alan, the Glazunov 5th ranks highest in my memory, but I now have the Serebrier on order, so I will give the 4th -- and the others -- another try.  I went through them in the 90s, but at that time I was cool to them (except the 5th).
#23
Recordings & Broadcasts / Re: Rheinberger Overture 'Deme...
Last post by John Boyer - Tuesday 26 March 2024, 13:08
Is there an online score available? I did not see one at IMSLP. 
#24
Composers & Music / Re: Glazunov 4 a hit!
Last post by Christopher - Tuesday 26 March 2024, 10:00
I'd give an honourable mention here to his 16-minute tone poem Stenka Razin. It has all the dramatic elements à la Rimsky/Tchaikovsky/Borodin that audiences love, and would be the perfect concert opener in a Glazunov programme. As we say so often on this site, when you hear it you will ask why it's not better known.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stenka_Razin_(Glazunov)
Stenka Razin, Op. 13, is a symphonic poem composed by Alexander Glazunov in 1885. Dedicated to the memory of Alexander Borodin, it is one of the few compositions written by Glazunov on a nationalist subject and is composed in a style reminiscent of Borodin and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

Glazunov's composition dramatizes and romanticizes the career of the Cossack Stenka Razin. After leading raids against the Tsarist regime, Razin was captured and given amnesty in exchange of an oath of allegiance. He broke his promise, leading an army of several hundred thousand in an attempt to overthrow the government. Captured again, he was executed in 1672.

The score focuses on a dramatic moment immediately preceding Razin's recapture. Razin and his mistress, a captured Persian princess, are afloat on a richly caparisoned boat on the River Volga. There, in one version of the story, the princess relates an ominous dream, warning of imminent disaster and her own death in the river. They are suddenly surrounded by tsarist soldiers. Razin casts the princess into the water, declaring, "Never in all my thirty years have I offered a sacrifice to the Volga. Today I will give it what is for me the most precious of all the world's treasures." The Cossacks then descend desperately upon the Russian troops. Another version of the story has Razin's men claiming that his love of the princess has dulled his lust for fighting—a charge Razin counters by drowning the princess before leading his followers once again into battle.

The slow introduction evokes the River Volga, quoting "The Song of the Volga Boatmen," with the song's solemnity coloring not only the B minor introduction but also the outer sections of the main Allegro con brio in the same musical key. These outer sections depict Razin's raids on villages along the river. A gentler central section (Allegro moderato) features a contrasting clarinet melody in the major a semitone lower and was claimed to be of Persian origin; this theme, sensual and undulating in Russian orientalist fashion, portrays the princess. The two themes, singly and in conjunction, provide the substance for the central development section, culminating in the graphic depiction of the princess's death. "The Song of the Volga Boatmen" is reprised in the brass to bring the work to a rousing conclusion.

The work was premiered in St. Petersburg on November 23, 1885 in a concert, arranged at Mitrofan Belyayev's expense, conducted by the Rimsky-Korsakov pupil Georgi Ottonovich Dutsch.


#25
Composers & Music / Re: Who would you consider a B...
Last post by Maury - Monday 25 March 2024, 19:53
I got the Wetz LP of Sym 3 with the Berlin Sym as well as the Col Legno CD of the Scherber Sym 3 and can recommend both recordings, both for themselves and as likely to interest Bruckner fans. I have also started listening to the CPO CD box of Wetz complete symphonies and violin concerto. I have to thank the Rheinland Pfalz orchestra for most of the available Wetz recordings plus the Scherber. I find Scherber quite interesting too. Many thanks to this site for mentioning these two composers.
#26
Composers & Music / Re: Glazunov 4 a hit!
Last post by Maury - Monday 25 March 2024, 19:26
The situation with the Glazunov Violin Concerto as with the Korngold Violin Concerto points up the critical aspect of a big name advocate. Without Heifetz where would both concertos be? My contact with the Glazunov VC was via the Stokowski-Marcovici recording followed by Haendel and Milstein, another great name well known in the US. Even the marginal notoriety of Serebrier got a few people to invest in his Glazunov box. I thank mbhaub for his persistent pestering of the conductor for a rare Glazunov symphony performance.

But the degree of adverse opinion about Glazunov here in the US (not just benign neglect) is reminiscent of Korngold's bad reputation for many years.
#27
Composers & Music / Re: Glazunov 4 a hit!
Last post by Alan Howe - Monday 25 March 2024, 18:51
Oh, the 'Glazunov situation' here in the UK is pretty dire, as far as public performances are concerned. And yet his name is certainly known - unlike most of the composers we discuss here. I first got to know him many moons ago through his Violin Concerto which Heifetz championed, although I never had his recording. The LP I owned was with the great Ida Haendel (Supraphon, I believe). Any resurgence of interest in him would certainly be a discovery for all those involved.
#28
Recordings & Broadcasts / Re: Paul Lacombe: Symphony No....
Last post by Alan Howe - Monday 25 March 2024, 16:56
This is the link to their shipping page: https://www.duttonvocalion.co.uk/shipping.php
#29
Composers & Music / Re: Glazunov 4 a hit!
Last post by Maury - Monday 25 March 2024, 15:10
Thanks very much for the replies. Yes as my Glazunov recordings were all by Russian conductors, orchestras and string quartets (until 20 years ago with Serebrier), I assumed he was still played occasionally in Russia/USSR. Part of the problem with the earlier recordings was the generally awful mastering by Melodiya. On some business trips to the UK I did find the few UK and German LP pressings of Glazunov which were much better mastered. But CD transfers often just used the Melodiya tapes which resulted in poor CD sound too.

Since this is a UK site, with what seems to be heavy European and UK membership, I was just pointing out the dire circumstances of Glazunov's music in the US. Even in Europe it doesn't appear at all good. There is no getting around the dismal position of Glazunov on Bachtack. (Russian performances might as well be played on the Moon.) The title of the upcoming BBC Phil concert is "Discovering Glazunov" !!
#30
Recordings & Broadcasts / Re: Paul Lacombe: Symphony No....
Last post by terry martyn - Monday 25 March 2024, 13:21
Thanks,Alan.  I have sent them an email, on the offchance that they might ship to me.  If they tell me that they certainly don't ship to Spain, then I will report back.