Siege of Leningrad aniversary concert

[Christopher]

In the recent thread about Kasili Kalafati, I drew attention to this concert ("Leningraders: 900 Days in the Name of Life" ("ЛЕНИНГРАДЦЫ. 900 ДНЕЙ ВО ИМЯ ЖИЗНИ")) which was held and broadcast in St. Petersburg in 2014 to mark 70 years since the end of the Siege of Leningrad. The music chosen was written by composers living, and in some cases dying, under the Siege. Most can be considered "Unsung".

Some of the pieces fall within "our" era.  Some are borderline.  And one or two are definitely outside our era.  I discussed with moderator Mark, and he felt that only the first piece was definitely outside our era (in this instance his views were more generous than mine).  If I am honest, and here Mark agreed, there is little here that makes the soul leap. But as the majority is Unsung, I am posting up in case any of the pieces should be of interest to anyone.  The concert was a "son-et-lumière" spectacle, and you can hear speech and the sound effects of war at some points in the music.

Bogdanov-Berezovsky, Valerian Mikhailovich (1903-1971) - overture-poster to the opera "The Leningraders"
Shostakovich, Dmitri (1906-1975) - "Oath to the People's Commissariat"
Zhelobinsky, Valeriy Viktorovich (1913-1946) - "A man bent over the water"
Bogdanov-Berezovsky, Valerian Mikhailovich (1903-1971) - People's scene from "The Leningraders" opera
Kamensky, Alexandr Danilovich (1900-1952) - Heroic Partizan March
Bogdanov-Berezovsky, Valerian Mikhailovich (1903-1971) - Violin Concerto in memory of Tchaikovsky - Part I
Kochurov, Yuri Vladimirovich (1907-1952) - Heroic Aria
Bogdanov-Berezovsky, Valerian Mikhailovich (1903-1971) - Entr'Acte and Scene in the bomb shelter from the opera "The Leningraders"
Veysberg, Yuliya Lazarevna (1880-1942) - lullaby from the opera Geese-Swans
Asafyev, Boris Vladimirovich (1884-1949) - choral miniature "Holy God"
Goltz, Boris Grigorevich (1913-1942) - "A Star Shines High in the Sky"
Asafyev, Boris Vladimirovich (1884-1949) - "Maybe I Will Die"
Miaskovsky, Nikolai Yakovlevich (1881-1950) - cantata "Kirov is with us" - parts 2 and 4
Kalafati, Vassily Pavlovich (1869-1942) - Ceremonial march "Stars of the Kremlin"

https://tvkultura.ru/brand/show/brand_id/61446/

Kalafati's "Solemn March of  Stakhanovite Workers' Movement" ("Torzhstvenny Marsh Udarnikov", 1931–1933) Op.25 for chamber orchestra, ordered by Soyuzkino (the Soviet film studio of the time), is the same exact work as his Stars of the Kremlin (above), with a few minor changes.

Yuliya Veysberg was the daughter-in-law of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, married to his son Andrei.

Bogdanov-Berezovsky - https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Богданов-Березовский,_Валериан_Михайлович
Zhelobinsky - https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Желобинский,_Валерий_Викторович
Kamensky - https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Каменский,_Александр_Данилович
Kochurov - https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Кочуров,_Юрий_Владимирович
Veysberg - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuliya_Veysberg
Asafyev - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Asafyev
Goltz - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Goltz

[matesic]

I listened to the overture before reading Christopher's comments above. I thought there must be two pieces being played concurrently

[Mark Thomas]

That was the one piece which definitely falls outside our area of interest, as I advised Christopher, so I'm disappointed to see it posted... 

[Alan Howe]

If I am honest, and here Mark agreed, there is little here that makes the soul leap.

My response is not to post this sort of thing if there's little of real interest. So much of this type of production-line Soviet-era music is of little intrinsic value. It took great composers to transcend the political and cultural limitations imposed upon them - and they're mostly beyond our stylistic remit.

And remember, please: the majority of pieces don't actually fall within our era at all.

[Gareth Vaughan]

I think you are being a bit hard on the overture. It is not my cup of tea, and certainly not great music, but I don't find it aurally offensive: it is not atonal - just loud and boring! I have not listened to the rest of the concert yet.

[Christopher]

I posted the link to the concert as a whole, while advising which piece(s) were likely to be to our tastes or not.  Sorry but I am not going to put up 13 individual links! Also, as the concert was a continuous "sound" piece, it was difficult to know where to make the exact breaks.  In this instance, I think the caveat that "Some of the pieces fall within "our" era.  Some are borderline.  And one or two are definitely outside our era...there is little here that makes the soul leap" was sufficient to advise people of what lay within.  So let's lighten the tone - Happy Christmas season everyone (and be thankful you weren't in Leningrad in winter 1941-44)!

That was the one piece which definitely falls outside our area of interest, as I advised Christopher, so I'm disappointed to see it posted... 

And Mark please feel free to turn that frown into a smile, it uses fewer muscles!

The good news (for 'tis the season) is that, due to this concert containing a work by Kalafati, it led me to a musicologist in Greece (long story) who introduced me to a contact in the Athens Philharmonic who told me that they are planning to release (I think commercially) recordings of Kalafati's symphony (already recorded) and symphonic poem(s).  And (furthermore) this musicologist believes she may have access to archived recordings by Nikola Atanasov, whose symphony was posted some time ago on here and was much liked. 

[Alan Howe]

It's just that the music is so...well...frown-inducing.

[Christopher]

It's just that the music is so...well...frown-inducing.

I certainly agree with that! 

[eschiss1]

I like the Myaskovsky cantata (and am glad to see even a partial new performance), but I'm partial toward that composer in general anyway. One way or the other thanks for the info

(btw: for music announcements outside the orbit of this group having to do with Eastern European classical music, there is a Facebook group devoted to such things that's quite good. Not a general endorsement of that site from me by any means at all, but yes, there is a good discussion group there to take material like this whether or not it's suitable for here.)

[semloh]

Soviet music is interesting for socio-historical reasons, and especially when it is linked to the commemoration of such a significant event as the siege of Leningrad, but my reactions to the music itself are the same as those expressed above. Maybe they would be different if I were Russian, and watching the presentation with a heart full of patriotism and following every word.
Thanks go to Christopher for helping us eliminate these works from our list of UCs awaiting discovery!