Serebrier's Glazunov cycle

[Alan Howe]

Friends will be interested - and probably relieved - to know that José Serebrier's Glazunov symphony cycle is to be completed soon with a double-CD of Nos.1,2,3 and the unfinished 9th...

http://www.mdt.co.uk/MDTSite/product//2564689042.htm

[mbhaub]

In my estimation, it's the best overall set of the symphonies. And really well recorded sound, too. 30 years ago all I could hear were symphonies 4, 5, 6 and nothing else. Now I have sets from Bis, Olympia, Naxos, Chandos, Orfeo and now Warner. And the symphonies still rarely show up in concerts.

[Alan Howe]

I share your view that Serebrier's cycle is likely to be to be the best overall. The final instalment's a must-buy for me - and it's cheap too!

[sdtom]

I do rather enjoy Glazunov and have the 18 volume Naxos set.

[Paul Barasi]

Oh dear, I've got the BIS set - where do you think this ranks among the competition? I haven't really got into this set and am unsure which are his best couple of symphonies. I'm even more unsure if Serebrier is sufficiently better to justify buying a second version given that I'm not yet convinced Glazunov is among my favourites.

[Alan Howe]

BIS/Järvi is a fine set. No need to add to it, I'm sure. I'm replacing my distinctively average Naxos set bought when I thought I' d the job on the cheap!

[sdtom]

I have the 18 volume set of Naxos so this is going to have to do.  I agree about the non performing part too.  His work is rarely performed.

[mbhaub]

BIS/Järvi is a fine set. No need to add to it, I'm sure. I'm replacing my distinctively average Naxos set bought when I thought I' d the job on the cheap!

Oops! Jarvi recorded the Glazunov set with Bamberg on the Orfeo label. The BIS set is the BBC National Orchestra of Wales with Tadaaki Otaka.

If you're happy with the Naxos, and Glazunov isn't your thing, there's no need for another set. I like the BIS -- it was cheap, the sound it great, and it's very convenient. But some of the interpretations seem unfinished, like neither conductor or orchestra has lived with the music long enough to really make it sing. Jarvi has some of the same problems, and you get the feeling at times he did a rush job. But since there isn't really a Glazunov performing tradition, I'm not surprised that we don't have a definitive set. If there is one, it's probably Rozhdestvensky on Olympia, but it's out of print and the the sound is irritating at times. The Serebrier is well thought out, has great sound, and he seems to have spent some time really getting to understand the music. I'm champing at the bit waiting for Gergiev to take them up with the London Symphony!

[Alan Howe]

Yes, oops indeed! Järvi/Orfeo is a fine set, but the Otaka/BIS cycle came in for a lot of criticism for rather stodgy performances. The Naxos CDs are pretty uninspiring too. All in all, I'd go for Serebrier if starting from scratch - and I'd hazard a guess that anyone with the Otaka set will be somewhat taken back at how much more Serebrier gets out of these scores.

[TerraEpon]

I'm not the only one who finds most of the symphony recordings in Naxos's  series pretty  bad. They are mostly slow and drearily played. SOME of the orchestral works are fine (hopefully including the new disc just released last month, that I should be getting within the next couple days), but as a whole the series could have been a lot better.

The box on Brilliant, which includes the Chandos recordings, plus Otaka in the 7th (meaning I can't have both, DAMN YOU BRILLIANT) and Butt in Raymonda Suite is as a whole a bit better than the BIS box -- except in Symphony #1 which is really bad for some reason (and the violin concerto recording too isn't all that). Plus it comes with a pair of very nice cantatas.

I'm hoping the Serebrier will be boxed up sometime, but I'm not holding my breath...

[mbhaub]

I bet it will show up in a couple of years. Warner recently issued a box with all of Harnoncourt's Beethoven, there's a box with Rostropovich's Prokofieff. They have a lot of boxes in all. Let the first edition run its course, and eventually they'll show up. But don't dismiss the BIS set, they were very well received in some quarters. Gramophone liked them quite a bit as I recall. To me, the most boring set is the Chandos, but I guess it's a matter of how we all perceive music.

[Amphissa]

 
I've got the complete run by Rozhdestvensky on both CD and LP, and assorted other symphonies by Svetlanov, Fedoseyev, Khaikin and Ivanov - all on LP (my preferred medium), and all with Russian orchestras. I did pick up Serebrier's 8th on CD, but wasn't blown away, so I don't really feel compelled to buy the set.

[TerraEpon]

But don't dismiss the BIS set, they were very well received in some quarters. Gramophone liked them quite a bit as I recall.

Well I didn't dismiss it, just said I liked the other one a bit better. Basically because of my personal rules, I can't have both the BIS set and the Brilliant set (because of the duplication of the 7th), I give the edge on Brilliant as a whole.
But having heard the Serebrier 6th disc, I have to say if the rest are at that level, it easily blows away either.