Alexander Glazunov: The Piano Concertos

[sdtom]

I guess this new release by christophorous che0201-2 is a re-release from a 1998 recording of the two unsung piano concertos of Alexander Glazunov. Both works were composed during his time spent as head of the St. Petersburg Conservatory when he was appointed during the Russian Revolution of 1905. Neither are the traditional 3 movement form. The first filled with chromaticism is followed by the second and final movement which are 8 variations followed by a ninth which returns to the first melody. The second written in 1917 is a single movement but has movements within it.

Doing a small amount of research I couldn't find one well known pianist who performed these reinforcing the unsung category that Glazunov has fallen into in the last 50 or 60 years.

I'm looking for a book on the Russian composers. Does anyone have a suggestion?
Tom

[ken]

GLAZUNOV - Piano Concerto No. 1 / Piano Concerto No. 2 / GOEDICKE – Concertstuck (Steven Coombs) - BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra - Martyn Brabbins (Hyperion)

GLAZUNOV - Piano Concerto No. 1 (Alexei Nasedkin) / Piano Concerto No. 2 (Dmitri Alexeev) / Violin Concerto (Semen Snitkovsky) – USSR Symphony Orchestra – Gennadi Rozhdestvensky (Le Chant du Monde)

GLAZUNOV - Piano Concerto No. 2 (Dmitri Alexeev) / Violin Concerto (Sergei Stadler) / Saxaphone Concerto (Lev Mikhailov) - The USSR Radio Symphony Orchestra - Yuri Nikolaevsky (Melodiya)

GLAZUNOV - Piano Concerto No. 1 (Alexei Nasedkin) / Mazurka for Violin & Orchestra (Tatiana Grindenko) / LYAPUNOV - Piano Concerto No. 2 - USSR Radio & Television Large Symphony Orchestra - Algis Zhiuraitis (Russian Disc)

[sdtom]

GLAZUNOV - Piano Concerto No. 1 (Alexei Nasedkin) / Mazurka for Violin & Orchestra (Tatiana Grindenko) / LYAPUNOV - Piano Concerto No. 2 - USSR Radio & Television Large Symphony Orchestra - Algis Zhiuraitis (Russian Disc)

I found this recording. How is it?

[Revilod]

Perhaps they're not mainstream works but haven't these concertos been on the radar for many years? Richter and Ogdon played the 1st concerto and recordings are available...Ogdon's in the studio but Richter's is probably a live performance. Trifonov, I see, plays the Second Concerto. I'm very fond of both concertos although the way in which Glazunov reintroduces material from the first movement at the end of the First Concerto is, I think, more than a little contrived!

I got to know the First Concerto from Nasedkin's HMV/ Melodiya disc where it was coupled with Alexeev's version of the second...an excellent disc.

[ken]

You can listen to Alexi Nasedkin's performance of Glazunov Piano Concerto No. 1 here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCSOLgZ-BzI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIElh-Uxumg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIElh-Uxumg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlaoKtm_yFI

[ken]

You can listen to Glazunov Piano Concerto No. 2 with Dmitri Alexeev here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekmis3OwTUw

[eschiss1]

Don't know if he ever performed the concertos, but Gilels performed at least one, I believe both?, of the piano sonatas. I'd still regard Glazunov as un- or under-sung, but in Russia and the USSR especially he seems to have received some recognition.