Russian Five

[chriss]

In the 90s the RCA Red Seal label started a series with recordings of the "Russian 5" conducted by Evgeny Svetlanov. In terms of unsung compositions the most interesting CD was the Mussorgsky album. I think only Borodin, Rimsky-Korssakov and Mussorgsky were released back then and the series stopped. Is it kown if albums with music by Balakirev and Cui were planned? These two composers could be seen in the logo on the CD covers. A Cui release could have been very interesting. I suppose Svetlanov never recorded music by him.

[sdtom]

on YouTube there is a Cui piece of his Orchestral Suite No. 4. Very Russian sounding!

[eschiss1]

and if his 2nd quartet (see IMSLP) is representative of his chamber work, I wouldn't at all mind hearing more.  (One of the other two was recorded quite awhile back, I know.) Some (most - almost all-, I imagine) composers were better in some genres and some media than others.

[chriss]

There was perhaps no need for another Balakirev recording on RCA in the mid 90s. Svetlanov had just released an album of Balakirev's symphonies and other symphonic works on Hyperion in 1992.

https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDD22030

[TerraEpon]

I've had that Hyperion set forever. It's quite good.

[sdtom]

I think the precious little gem we are talking about is the Cui orchestral suites arranged by Glazunov. I had forgotten that I had this until I realized it ended up in the dumpster with my other CD's. For now I must be content with YouTube.
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7999488--cui-orchestral-suites-nos-2-4

[Christopher]

How would people rank the Five I wonder?

For me it would be:

1. Rimsky-Korsakov - the colour (listening to his music is like listening to a kaleidoscope, if that were possible) and the range (opera, symphonic, chamber, solo, choral...). And not to mention his influence over the generation of composers below him (how often do you read "pupil of R-K").
2. Mussorgsky - touches emotional depths like no other. (Though remember that often the colour is provided by R-K, see above!).
3. Borodin - a smaller output but usually impressive.
4. Balakirev - I find very enjoyable while I am listening to his music, but it's not at all hummable, I never walk away with it still playing in my head.
5. Cui - ten out of ten for effort...

[Kevin]

Rimsky's always been my favourite. His operas are top class. He is loved and fawned over in his homeland for that very reason. But the west just shrugs their shoulders as far as that's concerned and know him best for a couple of showpieces for orchestra. Richard Taraskin calls him the most underrated composer of all time.(no doubt someone's going to disagree with this)

[Alan Howe]

Ok, let's keep this thread on topic, please - i.e. the RCA Red Seal 'Russian 5' series of recordings conducted by Evgeny Svetlanov, not a general discussion of the merits or otherwise of the composers involved.

[Wheesht]

Would it help if the thread was renamed accordingly?

[Alan Howe]

No. And please remember: this isn't a general music discussion forum. We discuss unsung music by great composers here. In this thread that means unsung compositions recorded by Svetlanov in the RCA 'Russian 5' series. Should be enough scope for debate, surely...

[Wheesht]

Fair enough.

[Alan Howe]

You are, of course, perfectly entitled to start a different thread about other unsung music by The Mighty Handful. But please: no rankings and no lists!

[chriss]

Here are the pieces recorded for the Mussorgsky album. The most impressive one in terms of unsung compositions. I think all have been recorded by Svetlanov before. The most popular piece is obviously the Gopak from "Sorochinsky Fair", here in the orchestra only version.

1. Scherzo in B-flat orch. Rimsky
2. Intermezzo in modo classico orch. Rimsky
3. Solemn March form Khovanshchina (recorded by Abbado as Triumphal March: The Capture of Kars)
4. Introduction and Polsky from Boris Godunov orch. Rimsky
5. Entr'acte from Khovanshchina
6. Dance of the Persian Woman from Khovanshchina
7. Overture to Sorochinsky Fair orch. Liadov
8. Gopak from Sorochinsky Fair orch. Liadov
9. Parassia's Dumka from Sorochinsky Fair
10-15 Without the Sun orch. Svetlanov
with Nathalia Gerasimova, soprano

I enjoy this disc very much. The Borodin and Rimsky symphonies recorded for the series are really hit and miss. I like Sevtlanov's earlier recordings of this pieces much better. More verve and gusto!

I wonder what Svetlanov would have chosen for a Cui album. The closest we will ever see of such a production is possibly the wonderful Polyansky album on Chandos!
And another thought, Svetlanov should really have recorded a complete version of Mussorgsky's wonderful Sorochinsky Fair.

[Christopher]

I wonder what Svetlanov would have chosen for a Cui album. The closest we will ever see of such a production is possibly the wonderful Polyansky album on Chandos!
And another thought, Svetlanov should really have recorded a complete version of Mussorgsky wonderful Sorochinsky Fair.

My Cui "wish" would be for a CD of the overtures to his operas (those that have them) and any other orchestral music from them (intermessi, entractes, etc).  A few of them do exist in electronic MIDI form (I've posted about them on this forum, with links) and sound like they good be good dramatic pieces of music, so I wonder if opera inspired Cui with the drama needed to inject colour and life into his music that I find lacking in his other orchestral music.

If there was to be a Vol.2 of the "Russian Five" series, or a successor issue, and they wished to explore the unsung music of the Five, that's a line they could follow.

(Cui's operas:
Prisoner of the Caucasus (1858)
The Mandarin's Son (1859)
William Ratcliff (1869)
Mlada (Act I, 1872)
Angelo (1876)
Le flibustier (1894)
The Saracen (1899)
Feast in Time of Plague (1901)
Mademoiselle Fifi (1903)
The Snow Bogatyr (1906)
Mateo Falcone (1907)
The Captain's Daughter (1911)
Little Red Riding Hood (1911)
Ivan the Fool (1913)
Puss in Boots (1915) )