I've been reading Richard Taruskin and how neglected Rimsky-Korsakov has been. If you take away his war horses Scheherazade, Russian Easter, Antar (to a lesser degree), The Golden Cockerel, and Capriccio Espagnol, you have quite a number of unsung works. I was introduced to this Opera through the writings of Taruskin and discovered what he calls the "rusky" sound and how this motif appears in so many of not only his works but others in the circle.
Tom :)
Very much agreed.
I remember playing the Sinfonietta (you can find the score in IMSLP) in my student days; never heard it since. There is a performance on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsM5BKW_Mp4&list=PL8CF646A4BDB5BF7F).
I remember it as a very interesting and engaging piece, challenging, but still accessible enough to make a good performance by decent amateurs possible. A great choice for all those orchestras who constantly overreach and play stuff that is just too hard.
One more thought: Rimsky-Korsakow is getting a lot of bad press from musicologists for his modification of works by Mussorgsky and to a lesser degree Borodin. I think this is unfair (and ahistoric); at the time it probably made the works more performable and he did it as far as I know out of generosity.
I recently attended a chamber music concert and the centerpiece was the RK Quintet for piano and winds. Absolutely delightful. Companion expected something like Scheherazade or Russian Easter, but was surprised that he could be so playful and "musical". RK was no hack, but a hardworking, dedicated musician who had seemingly endless energy.
Before the classical music era ends wouldn't it be wonderful if some enterprising Russian billionaire would commission some Russian opera house to put on every RK opera and release it on Blu Ray and audio? Some have been done. Given the opera sets of Wagner, Puccini, and Verdi, is RK any less deserving?
As to amateurs playing the lesser known music - they all want to play the big three. Hardly anyone knows the rest, even Antar. And getting the performance materials can be a challenge. Nonetheless, I will continue to get a live performance of Night on Mt. Triglav, which I think is wonderfully atmospheric writing. Creepy music and perfect for a Halloween concert. Can't wait to hear those pan pipes!
I have an MGM transfer that is free of surface defects and has excellent sound considering the age of the recording. It is available through Albany Records, distributor of the Guild Label.
In addition the recording also includes Skazka, Snow Maiden, and Tchaikovsky's Slippers Suite also in the catalog of obscurity.
Musicologists need to discuss something so they pick on Rimsky-Korsakov and the fine job that he did on Pictures and Prince Igor.
Lievko's song from the start of Act III of "May Night" is hauntingly beautiful, real spine-tingling stuff ("How Still And Cool It Is! And How The Lake Sparkles! Sleep My Beauty, Sleep Sweetly!"). It gets encored through the roof in Russia. Gedda sings it here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr0Gp9VmHuk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr0Gp9VmHuk) - but if you can find the version with Ivan Kozlovsky and the Orchestra of the GABT of the USSR conducted by N. Golovanov then that (imho) is the best one! Piotr Malyutenko's performance with the Moscow Radio Choir & Orchestra under Nikolai Golovanov also gets a v honourable mention.
I would also single out the "Song of the Indian Merchant" from his opera "Sadko". It also exists in good versions for cello+orchestra, and violin+orchestra.
I'm so happy to know that there are three forum members in my corner. My reading of Walker and Taruskin has really opened my eyes.
Tom :)
There's an interesting-looking recording of his secular cantatas (including Iz Gomera/Homer, and other works), iirc, on Brilliant Classics, that's been tempting me, too. Anyhow, I agree he's underrated (not in the sense that unknown composers are, but that other composers with a few very well-known works that both overshadow other great and interesting accomplishments of theirs, and which bias critical opinion unfavorably (Holst, Mussorgsky, maybe?...) - can be. (I've read that Boulez, too, regards Rimsky's accomplishments highly, though in mentioning this I may be destroying the spell. :D )
Been meaning to hear his operas ever since I read an intriguing review in Fanfare of a recording of Sadko, awhile back.
I've had that cantata disc for many years (originally on Le Chant du Monde), it is indeed fantastic.
The Opera "The Maid of Pskov" is available in complete on the Russian historical "Best of Opera" CD series. It's a Bolshoi production of 1947. On the same series one can have some 6 other Rimsky Operas. Wonderful singers!
As a bonus, there are three excerpts form "Vera Sheloga"
I agree that Holst belongs in the same category as Rimsky-Korsakov both with wildly popular works and a series of other works that definitely deserve attention and get none.
Has anyone read Rimsky-Korsakov's autobiography? It is in the Minnesota library system and I could request it.
Tom
I am not a huge fan of opera. I cannot just listen to a recording. I need to see the staging, costumes, and singers.
Over the years, I've really enjoyed the available DVDs of RK's operas. My favorite, from the spectacle aspect and entertainment value, is the DVD of Mlada. I also like the Sadko DVD. There has been a lot of criticism of the staging of Legend of Invisible City of Kitezh, but it's no worse than the typical "Eurotrash" tortures often inflicted on more famous operas by the likes of Oliver Py. The Tsar's Bride gets treated better by the Bolshoi than the poor production of May Night. Le Coq d'Or turns out much better as well. To my knowledge, Kashchey the Immortal is available only in the form of a lip-sync movie, paired with Rachmaninoff's Aleko.
Maybe that should be the Maid of Pskoff...
http://www.worldcat.org/title/ivan-le-terrible-la-pskovitianka-the-maid-of-pskoff-opera-in-three-acts-and-five-tableaux/oclc/751477071 (http://www.worldcat.org/title/ivan-le-terrible-la-pskovitianka-the-maid-of-pskoff-opera-in-three-acts-and-five-tableaux/oclc/751477071)
...by Rimsky-Korsakoff...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=rimsky+korsakoff&tag=googhydr-21&index=aps&hvadid=25134062286&hvpos=1o1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1047856097466045100&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_62gvhgsi2_b (http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=rimsky+korsakoff&tag=googhydr-21&index=aps&hvadid=25134062286&hvpos=1o1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1047856097466045100&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_62gvhgsi2_b)
;)
Maybe Alan :(
I've noticed a number of ways to spell the Russian names and I for one wish there were would be one (s) that all would use.
Tom
That there is no single right spelling of Russian names is Sad...ko!!! :P
Rachmaninov, Rachmaninoff.....tomato tomato.
With apologies....back to the music.
I too tire of having this argument over and over and over with people who, under *any* other circumstance, would be meticulous about the correct spelling of composer's names. But I'll not say anything further about it, Mr. Howe.
well, yes, there is a correct spelling or two- AND ONLY ONE. Use the original Cyrillic (tense etc. depending on etc., using unicode, etc. ...)
I don't happen to know how to conjugate Cyrillic, so I settle for English approximations... that's all the others are. Approximations.
OK, that really is the final word on the subject in both this and the other Russian composer's thread. Further contributions risk deletion!
Enuff is enuff....?!
My original thread really brings up a valid point for the unsung composer and that is Rimsky-Korsakov and the formation of the "rusky" sound a mixture of the orient and folk music. I would encourage all to read Taruskin and his fine books.
If memory serves, there's a tale that R-K lived for a time with Moussorgsky in the early 1870s. The two sat at opposite sides of a table, Moussorgsky writing Boris and Rimsky writing The Maid of Pskov. (Anyone know if the tale is false?) Boris is no doubt the greater opera, but in my opinion Rimsky's not entirely dissimilar tale is not so far behind in ambition and execution.
You're correct Chill. This was at a time where Moussorgsky had lost his government job. As you know Rimsky-Korsakoff spent a lot of time working on Moussorgsky's works.
Tom