Fancy some full-blooded Slavic chamber music? Then look no further than this superb new release of cello sonatas by Ivan Krizhanovsky (1867-1924) and Nikolai Potolovsky (1878-1927) on Acte Préalable:
http://www.acteprealable.com/albums/new_ap0220.html (http://www.acteprealable.com/albums/new_ap0220.html)
Excerpts here:
http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Nikolai-Potolovsky-1878-1927-Sonate-f%FCr-Cello-Klavier-op-2/hnum/3283129 (http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Nikolai-Potolovsky-1878-1927-Sonate-f%FCr-Cello-Klavier-op-2/hnum/3283129)
(tracks 1-3: Krizhanovsky Cello Sonata; 4-5: Potolovsky Deux pièces; 6-8: Potolovsky Cello Sonata)
Acte Prealable produce some splendid disks. People might like to know that Valentina Seferinova will record a disk of solo piano music by Rozycki for the label this year.
Thanks for the notice. A great label, indeed. I have lots of AP discs - and have just ordered this one. From the excerpts it all sounds schmaltzy enough for a good wallow.
It just occurred to me that Krizhanovsky retains the singular honor of having been one of the 48 names of Russian composers in the song "Tchaikovsky (and other Russians)," lyrics by George Gershwin - featured in the 1941 Broadway musical Lady in the Dark. The inimitable Danny Kaye made this patter-song famous by reeling off all the names in less than a minute. Great stuff!
http://youtu.be/hh-wOvuOHPE (http://youtu.be/hh-wOvuOHPE)
There's Malichevsky, Rubinstein, Arensky, and Tschaikowsky,
Sapelnikoff, Dimitrieff, Tscherepnin, Kryjanowsky,
Godowsky, Arteiboucheff, Moniuszko, Akimenko,
Solovieff, Prokofieff, Tiomkin, Korestchenko.
There's Glinka, Winkler, Bortniansky, Rebikoff, Ilyinsky,
There's Medtner, Balakireff, Zolotareff, and Kvoschinsky.
And Sokoloff and Kopyloff, Dukelsky, and Klenowsky,
And Shostakovitsch, Borodine, Glière, and Nowakofski.
There's Liadoff and Karganoff, Markievitch, Pantschenko
And Dargomyzski, Stcherbatcheff, Scriabine, Vassilenko,
Stravinsky, Rimsky-Korsakoff, Mussorgsky, and Gretchaninoff
And Glazounoff and Caesar Cui, Kalinikoff, Rachmaninoff,
Stravinsky and Gretchnaninoff,
Rumshinsky and Rachmaninoff,
I really have to stop, the subject has been dwelt upon enough!
He'd better stop because we feel we all have undergone enough!
Quote from: febnyc on Saturday 04 February 2012, 20:32
It just occurred to me that Krizhanovsky retains the singular honor of having been one of the 48 names of Russian composers in the song "Tchaikovsky (and other Russians)," lyrics by George Gershwin - featured in the 1941 Broadway musical Lady in the Dark. The inimitable Danny Kaye made this patter-song famous by reeling off all the names in less than a minute. Great stuff!
http://youtu.be/hh-wOvuOHPE (http://youtu.be/hh-wOvuOHPE)
There's Malichevsky, Rubinstein, Arensky, and Tschaikowsky,
Sapelnikoff, Dimitrieff, Tscherepnin, Kryjanowsky,
Godowsky, Arteiboucheff, Moniuszko, Akimenko,
Solovieff, Prokofieff, Tiomkin, Korestchenko.
There's Glinka, Winkler, Bortniansky, Rebikoff, Ilyinsky,
There's Medtner, Balakireff, Zolotareff, and Kvoschinsky.
And Sokoloff and Kopyloff, Dukelsky, and Klenowsky,
And Shostakovitsch, Borodine, Glière, and Nowakofski.
There's Liadoff and Karganoff, Markievitch, Pantschenko
And Dargomyzski, Stcherbatcheff, Scriabine, Vassilenko,
Stravinsky, Rimsky-Korsakoff, Mussorgsky, and Gretchaninoff
And Glazounoff and Caesar Cui, Kalinikoff, Rachmaninoff,
Stravinsky and Gretchnaninoff,
Rumshinsky and Rachmaninoff,
I really have to stop, the subject has been dwelt upon enough!
He'd better stop because we feel we all have undergone enough!
I thought George's brother Ira was the lyricist. And if George
had written those lyrics he most likely did it before 1941, because by then he'd been dead for 4 years!
Touché to you - of course it was Ira who wrote the lyrics. They're still brilliant, in spite of my senility. (And, PS, lots of unsungs sung in this song!)
Reminds me tangentially of a song by Cole Porter, but that suggests another topic. Anyway. :) Thanks!
Quote from: febnyc on Saturday 04 February 2012, 20:32...and Gretchaninoff
And Glazounoff and Caesar Cui, Kalinikoff, Rachmaninoff,
Stravinsky and Gretchnaninoff,
Rumshinsky and Rachmaninoff,
I really have to stop, the subject has been dwelt upon enough!
He'd better stop because we feel we all have undergone enough![/i]
Quote from: febnyc on Saturday 04 February 2012, 21:38
Touché to you - of course it was Ira who wrote the lyrics. They're still brilliant, in spite of my senility. (And, PS, lots of unsungs sung in this song!)
Well, did Ira Gershwin also mention Gretchaninoff and Rachmaninoff twice, or was that also just senile old you? ;D
Quote from: JimL on Sunday 05 February 2012, 07:36
Well, did Ira Gershwin also mention Gretchaninoff and Rachmaninoff twice, or was that also just senile old you? ;D
I assume you did not listen to the YouTube clip, are not familiar with the song - or simply are tongue-in-cheekish (always hard to ascertain in a written comment).
These were Ira Gershwin's lyrics, not my senility. ::)
Well, he could have fit Potolovsky in there somewhere. ;) And no, I didn't listen to the YT. Guess I'll have to now. Without having done so may I venture a guess that it is sung to the tune of the Major General's Song from Pirates?
Enough already! Let's get back to the music!
Quote from: febnyc on Saturday 04 February 2012, 20:32
It just occurred to me that Krizhanovsky retains the singular honor of having been one of the 48 names of Russian composers in the song "Tchaikovsky (and other Russians)," lyrics by George Gershwin - featured in the 1941 Broadway musical Lady in the Dark. The inimitable Danny Kaye made this patter-song famous by reeling off all the names in less than a minute. Great stuff!
http://youtu.be/hh-wOvuOHPE (http://youtu.be/hh-wOvuOHPE)
There's Malichevsky, Rubinstein, Arensky, and Tschaikowsky,
Sapelnikoff, Dimitrieff, Tscherepnin, Kryjanowsky,
Godowsky, Arteiboucheff, Moniuszko, Akimenko,
Solovieff, Prokofieff, Tiomkin, Korestchenko.
There's Glinka, Winkler, Bortniansky, Rebikoff, Ilyinsky,
There's Medtner, Balakireff, Zolotareff, and Kvoschinsky.
And Sokoloff and Kopyloff, Dukelsky, and Klenowsky,
And Shostakovitsch, Borodine, Glière, and Nowakofski.
There's Liadoff and Karganoff, Markievitch, Pantschenko
And Dargomyzski, Stcherbatcheff, Scriabine, Vassilenko,
Stravinsky, Rimsky-Korsakoff, Mussorgsky, and Gretchaninoff
And Glazounoff and Caesar Cui, Kalinikoff, Rachmaninoff,
Stravinsky and Gretchnaninoff,
Rumshinsky and Rachmaninoff,
I really have to stop, the subject has been dwelt upon enough!
He'd better stop because we feel we all have undergone enough!
Moniuszko Russian?!!
And Malichevsky (Maliszewski) and Nowakofski (Nowakowski)?
As I said, back to the music, please!
You are welcome to start another thread...
Oh, many thanks.
I'll drop the subject of the Russian composers song - am getting too much flak from all quarters. Anyway, our boy Krizhanovsky is therein memorialized for all eternity.
As punishment you should pick out the Unsungs from the song and direct us to recordings of their works!! :D
Fine! But not in this thread! ;)
Quote from: Alan Howe on Sunday 05 February 2012, 17:10
Enough already! Let's get back to the music!
Well, to get back to the music - albeit a bit late - these are two gorgeous Sonatas. I cannot decide which is the better, so I'll take them equally.
Inter alia, the Khrizhanovsky has a magnificent slow movement and the Potolovsky finale is almost orchestral - amazing to realize that there are only two instruments at work here. The cellist Jaroslav Domzal is marvelous. A 5-star disc, to be sure.
Glad you like them too. Thought it was just me...
I'm listening to these two these days. These two wonderful cello sonatas by two names completely unknown to me are really astonishing. These instantly leap into the league of my favorite cello sonatas!
In fact before listening to these I just tried de Hartmann's repetitive and desultory (and really, melodically uninteresting) string sonatas and PC (the finale of his cello sonata finally saved his day though). And that just strengthened my good impression on these pieces.
I strongly urge you to take out your discs and give it another spin.