Rimsky-Korsakov/Skazka

[sdtom]

http://sdtom.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/skazka-fairy-talerimsky-korsakov/

While Rimsky-Korsakov is certainly not an unsung composer some of his works certainly fall into that category and the skazka/legend work certainly does. I've compared three different recordings that I have collected over the years.
thomas

[sdtom]

http://sdtom.wordpress.com/2010/07/21/piano-concerto-in-c-sharp-minor-op-30rimsky-korsakov/

Lately I've been going back and revisiting all of my Rimsky-Korsakov material and I do have a multitude of recordings. Yesterday I was listening and comparing the three versions I had of his piano concerto, an area he seldom got involved in.

[Pengelli]

'Antar' has had a few recordings,but it's qualities are under appreciated. Some critics regard it as superior to 'Scheherazade'. I find it more subtle & to be quite honest, I prefer it. (I also think Balakirev's best orchestral works are in the same category. It would be nice if they got a bit more attention in the concert halls,too).

[mbhaub]

The problem with Antar is that it's not as flashy as Scheherazade - RK hadn't yet figured out the orchestral technique he needed to make Sheherazade, Capriccio Espagnol, and Russian Easter so brilliant sounding. In generations gone by it used to be more popular in the concert hall. There was a time when Antar, the Kalinnikov symphonies, Ippolitov-Ivanov's Caucasian Sketches, and Balakirev's music was better known by conductors. But alas, there's a lot of music from the Russian nationalists that is known only through recordings and the occasional outing by amateur/community groups. I played Antar several years ago and the conductor asked for a show of hands who knew this music? One hand went up - mine.

[Amphissa]

 
It is unfortunate that R-K's operas are so under-appreciated. The suites drawn from them are readily available, but watching the DVDs or listening to the recordings of the complete operas, one discovers that much of R-K's best music is in his operas, more innovative and varied than that of the core repertoire we so often hear from him. There were 16 operas, I think.

One interesting discovery in his operas involves his innovative compositional techniques, using whole tone and octatonic scales, especially in his fantasy segments. The resulting harmonies were considered quite radical to Western ears at the time, although to us, now, the music seems quite conventional. But of course, those who learned from him, including Stravinsky and others, pushed their use further than he did.

It is the operas containing fantastical and fairy tale elements that were most creative (to me), such as Mlada, The Snow Maiden, Kashchey the Immortal, The Tale of Tsar Saltan. In these, he employed lyrical and lushly melodic music that we associate with R-K (like Scheherazade) for "real world" segments of the operas, with the whole tone and octatonic music for the fantastical and magical segments. This turned out to be (to me) quite an interesting and successful compositional strategy.

For those unfamiliar with R-K's operas, I personally prefer the DVDs, since I did not grow up with opera and need the visual guidance and subtitles.

[chill319]

If you haven't heard it, Sviatoslav Richter's recording of the Rimsky-Korsakov concerto (Moscow SO/Kondrashin) is well worth a listen. The opus number (30) places the concerto in the general vicinity of Capriccio espagnol, Scheherazade, and Russian Easter Overture. I find it atmospheric, tuneful, and well constructed, as those works are. Haven't played it, but it sounds just as pianistic as the Capriccio is violinistic.

[Delicious Manager]

I first heard Skazka in the 1970s on the old Philips recording by David Lloyd-Jones, which also included the first recording of the original version of Musorgsky's Night on the Bare Mountain, Balakirev's King Lear overture and Borodin's unfinished Third Symphony - then something of a rarity (still a bit 'unsung', I'd say). I still enjoy it today and have often wondered by it hasn't won a place in the orchestral repertoire.

The many orchestral suites Rimsky-Korsakov extracted from his operas provide colourful and exuberant additions to the Russian Nationalist orchestral repertoire and I'd urge people to hear the suites from The Tale of Tsar Saltan (from which also comes the ubiquitous Flight of the Bumble Bee, curiously omitted from the concert suite, Le coq d'or (The Golden Cockerel) (Rimsky's last major work), The Invisible City of Kitezh, The Snow Maiden, Mlada (from which comes The Procession of the Nobles) and Pan Voyevoda.

I'm afraid I have to say I find the Rimsky symphonies a little flabby and uninspiring. Only a Svetlanov-type conductor can make these worth extended or repeated listening for me.

And one last thing - Sheherazade needs no 'c' at the beginning in an English transliteration - the 'c' seems to be some inexplicable hang-over from the German version of the word (rather like the unnecessary 'T' in Tchaikovsky comes from the French!). But that's another topic of discussion entirely ... Thankfully, the correct spelling of Sheherazade is being taken-up widely (including by the BBC). In fact, it should really be Sheherazada with an 'a' at the end (in German, the final 'e' is pronounced - another reason for not transferring transliterations from one language to another!).

[Pengelli]

Thank you  for that DM. I am afraid I just googled the name to answer your post. I have a huge abridged hardback edition of Richard Burtons 'Tales from the 1001 Nights' somewhere. I wonder how they spell it in there? (Incidentally,some of it is VERY rude! There are allot of words I definately couldn't use here). Come to think of it, I think I have seen 'Sheherazade used,recently, in BBC listings,so I haven't got that much of an excuse & I used to love those stories,when I was young. On the other hand, the BBC always get the Welsh language excrutiatingly wrong,especially the pronounciation, ie 'Coomrie',instead of 'Cymru',and 'Laneli',instead of 'Llanelli. Although,they are a bit better than they used to be. Anyway..........
Incidentally, I have never heard Kalinnikov or Ippolitov-Ivanov. How good are they? As good as 'Antar'? (Have I got the spelling right?) Also,Borodin's magnificent Second Symphony seems to have dropped out of favour. I can't even remember the last time I saw a new recording reviewed.

[Delicious Manager]

I am a great fan of Kalinnikov's works (his is another name spelt a number of ways, but 'Kalinnikov' transliterates exactly and perfectly well from the original Cyrillic). He was an almost exact contemporary of Glazunov and he died just short of his 36th birthday and was not a particularly prolific composer. Nonetheless, he left behind some beautiful orchestral works, many of them recorded in the 1960s and 1970s in excellent, idiomatic performances by Yevgeni Svetlanov and the USSR Symphony Orchestra. The two-CD MBG/Melodia 'twofer' is worth hunting down on eBay or Amazon. It contains the wonderfully lyrical 2nd Symphony along with many other shorter works. the 1st Symphony used to get an occasional airing many years ago and there is a wonderful performance by Kirill Kondrashin and the Moscow Philharmonic worth tracking down. Svetlanov also recorded the 1st Symphony, although this recording is much more elusive. Neeme Järvi recorded both symphonies with the RSNO for Chandos. Originally on separate CDs with fillers, they have now been squeezed onto one very well filled CD on Chandos's medium price label.

Ippolitov-Ivanov is also worth investigating as there are fine, inexpensive performances available. The first of the Caucasian Sketches suites was, again, once reasonably popular, but has slipped in recent times. There is a Naxos CD with both Caucasian Sketches suites and the evocative Turkish Fragments.

If you like these, also look-out the beautiful short orchestral tone poems of Anatol Lyadov. A very fine, if lazy composer, Lyadov's main claim to fame is as the composer originally commissioned by Diaghilev for a Firebird ballet in 1909. Lyadov's failure even to make a start on this project gave a certain young and hitherto 'unsung' Igor Stravinsky his big break.

[Pengelli]

I used to have a Melodiya LP of the Lyadov works you mention. Also,the more famous Balakirev symphony. I used to love some of the record sleeves with the 'cyrillic',(have I got that right?) writing,which was sometimes very ornate. Some of the Melodiya box sets were quite beautiful & quite different from anything else in my collection. And that includes the smell! I am told they used some kind of animal glue. Is this true? Also,another thing about the boxes. They weren't individually printed like ours & just seemed to have the design pasted onto the fronts. I still have two boxed sets,one is a performance of Kalman's 'Bajadere',c 1980. Very good too,if you like that sort of thing. It's a pity they don't re-issue it. Apparently,Kalman's very popular over there.
   (Supraphon boxes were rather nice too. I found the eccentric booklet translations,that some people complained about, were all part of the charm).
    I also,rather like the sound of the Russian orchestras in this repertoire. I remember they used to get sneered at by the critics,years ago,but attitudes seemed to have changed. It's as if,this is the authentic Russian sound,this is how this music is played. And it is,really.
The new generation of Russian conductors have also helped. But is it also,because they're not communist,(ie 'the enemy)',any more? So it's okay to praise what they do.
 

[Pengelli]

Regarding Rimsky Korsakov's opera's. One thing I hate,nowadays,is the way allot of opera venues try to update opera's with fairy tale or supernatural storylines,with modern day settings & all kinds of pseudo psychological mumbo jumbo,as if they are ashamed of them. I like the way the Russians do their Glinka & Rimsky,with all the traditional scenery and props.

[eschiss1]

A review of a recording of Sadko noted the elephants... yes, I can see that.  I do like a lot of R-K personally, for what that's worth, and his later music got strange (not a complaint. Though some I know more by reputation and look forward to hearing )
As to Ippolitov-Ivanov, has anyone recorded, I wonder, his string quartet or his violin sonata? Good stuff by him too, so far, what I've heard and seen of it.
Eric

[Pengelli]

I wish Melodiya would hurry up and re-issue some of their less well known repertoire. I remember the catalogues from the 'Russian Record Company',(anyone here remember them? They always used to have an ad in the back of 'Gramophone),used to contain page after page of composers and recordings that never appear to have been re-issued in the cd format. It used to take me ages to pore through the listings. Very good they were too. I wonder what happened to the folks who ran it?  If not,then maybe they could license the recordings to someone else. Melodiya,the one good thing about the Soviet Union!

[Pengelli]

...arguably!

[Mark Thomas]

I wonder what happened to the folks who ran it?

In the early 1970s, I ordered several LPs from the Russian Record Company, particularly performances of Glazunov symphonies. IIRC Nos.3 and 5 had come out on western LPs, but the others weren't available. Those old Melodiya LPs were as heavy and solid as dinner plates and the recordings were invariably tinny, but how else was one to get hold of these rarities?

My order for Glazunov's Fourth went awry. I wrote and wrote and got no reply, tried to 'phone but never got through, and in the end, when I was in London to attend a concert, I went to the address given in those Gramophone advertisements. It turned out to be a single room, on the third floor of a run down building in a side street off the Charing Cross Road. Foyles bookstore was opposite. In the height of Winter the room was unheated, its sole occupant sitting there in overcoat, scarf and thick wollen gloves. First of all he denied getting my order or my follow up letters. Then he said that he had written to me to explain that a shipment from Russia was delayed and finally, went I stood my ground, he dug out a small EP-sized disk which, he said, was the recording of Glazunov's Fourth. I took it reluctantly (because I couldn'd read the cyryllic and he seemded to be so untrustworthy) but, when I got it home, it turned out to be the Symphony. Obviously the operation was by then existing on a financial shoe string.

One upshot of the experience is that I have never liked the Symphony itself. It is always spoiled for me by that too- quirky sounding scherzo, which reliably brings back the memory of my visit to the Russian Record Company.