Anton Rubinstein's sacred opera Moses Op112

[Martin Eastick]

I have just come across this rather interesting announcement http://sinfoniaiuventus.pl/the-world-premiere-of-anton-rubinsteins-moses-called-the-undertaking-of-the-century/. I know there are some here who may have reservations about Rubinstein's abilities as a composer - especially of over-long works with perhaps a limited melodic content and structual weakness - but I am certainly looking  forward to this forthcoming release with more than a little excitement!

[Alan Howe]

I'm sure we'll all be interested in this when the recording (on Warner) comes out. Thanks for the heads-up, Martin. The conductor is Michail Jurowski, father of Vladimir.

[MartinH]

That's great news. Although I find his symphonies less than compelling, often dull, his works for solo piano, piano and orchestra are wonderful to listen to, and so is the opera The Demon. When i first heard The Demon I was astonished at just how entertaining it was. I'm looking forward to this new release. Thanks for pointing it out.

[Mark Thomas]

Thanks for this really fascinating news.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Yes indeed. I fear this is going to be something of an expensive "must buy" for me when it is released. I never thought I would get to hear this piece. I like The Demon a lot and am disappointed that there is still no ideal recording of that opera. But this article augurs well for the quality of the performance (and, one hopes, the recording) of Moses.

[Alan Howe]

The article definitely mentions a recording:

...the simultaneously scheduled recordings of an album for Warner

[Gareth Vaughan]

I meant it augurs well for the quality of the recording. Sorry - could have been clearer.

[Alan Howe]

...and I could have read you more carefully. Apologies.

[adriano]

Oh, I am interested too! Hope the next opera to be recorded will be "Christus", which Rubinstein wrote for the (apparently great) tenor Raimund von zur-Mühlen, with whom my singing teacher had studied in Berlin. The 2003 Tyumen performance was available only in excepts.

[Gareth Vaughan]

There is what seems to be a complete recording of "Christus" on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1Os9HJar3A&t=3091s
but it sounds as if it was recorded about 10 miles away from the venue!!! At least it does on my PC.

[Mark Thomas]

The sound is pretty dire, unfortunately, and isn't it also heavily cut (I thought Christus was a four-hour long leviathan)? Somewhere (I can't immediately put my hands on it) I have a radio recording of Rubinstein's two-hour long oratorio Paradise Lost, a much earlier work (from 1858), which I think is just as persuasive in its own way as The Demon. In those two works at least his shortcomings as symphonist don't seem to have been an impediment to him producing effective large scale vocal works. A recording of Moses is a very exciting prospect.

[Gareth Vaughan]

I think you are right, Mark - judging by the timing given I reckon it must be cut. Isn't Christus meant to be almost as long (if not longer) than Moses?
I would love to hear Paradise Lost, if you can find your recording.  Perhaps Rubinstein was more at home with vocal/choral music and the dramatic structure provided by an opera/oratorio libretto, than with purely orchestral music - and, perhaps especislly, the symphony.

[Mark Thomas]

I'm currently digitising my whole CD collection (just reached Dietrich, so there's a lo-o-ong way to go), and the odd item has gone missing in the process, so I can't guarantee to lay my hands on Paradise Lost anytime soon. Once I do, and assuming there aren't any copyright issues, I'll happily upload it here, of course. That said, we'd better return to Moses.

[adriano]

In the category of over-lenghty "religious opera biographies", there is even today such a tapeworm: Messiaen's "St François d'Assise". It goes for 4 1/2 hours... One also wonders what would Wagner's "Buddha" have become, if ever finished. I was in Paris when Messiaen's publisher showed me his premises, They were just working on a new act's score (each volume needed a year of work by a large staff of copyists/editors - who would regurlarly get nightmares about this piece...
But I think one should still appreciate Rubinstein's Symphonies and Piano Concertos. Those Marco Polo CDs were quite a pioneering work, although with some quite unsatisfactory results. On the other hand, the Piano Concertos CDs are quite good.

[Mark Thomas]

A recording of a 1999 live performance of Rubinstein's oratorio (later sacred opera) Das verlorene Paradies (Paradise Lost) is now available in the Downloads Board.