I received my weekly email from Presto and lo and behold, there's a new recording of Balakirev's wonderful "Tamara" from the LSO and Gergiev. I didn't think anyone was still interested in that atmospheric work and here it is in a new SACD recording with one of the greatest orchestras out there. The sample provided is great and as a dedicated Balakirevite, I'll have to order it. The only downside is the coupling: Rachmaninoff's 1st symphony. Wish it had been the Balakirev first...maybe later?
Trouble is, it was recorded in the Barbican, one of the worst recording venues I know. So is this really going to be any better than, say, Sinaisky on Chandos? I doubt it.
Those LSO Live recordings have had some hits and misses, so I can only hope the sound is good on this outing.
Please do report back. The main problems in the past have included a rather restricted acoustic and a shallow sound-stage. I would be pleased to be proved wrong.
No need for me of Don Gergiev for that! I'd rather cherish those "old" Svetlanov recordings, the youngest of which was done in 1991 by Hyperion - and with the Philharmonia. Svetlanov's "older" Soviet recording with the USSR SO comes from 1977 and has been digitally remastered into a nice Melodiya 2CD set with Overtures, Symphonic Poems, his Suite for Orchestra and King Lear music. A pioneering Ansermet recorded this already in 1954 - and quite respectably (Decca Eloquence reissue, excellent remastering!). Hope everybody guesses that Ravel's "Boléro" may have been born from that short percussion/oboe/pizzicati episode at 6:15 playing time :-). This is being particularly emphazised in Ansermet's recording, less in Svetlanov's. There is also a pre-Khachaturian Lezghinka episode in this piece (In fact, Balakirev's first version was entitled "Lezghinka" and had yet nothing to do with the Tamara legend).
I enjoyed the CD very much including the first of Rachmaninoff which I happen to enjoy. Worth being in your collection.
Tom