http://sdtom.wordpress.com/2011/08/14/prince-rostislavrachmaninoff-1873-1943/ (http://sdtom.wordpress.com/2011/08/14/prince-rostislavrachmaninoff-1873-1943/)
Written when he was but 18 in one week this work certainly qualifies as a unsung one.
Tom :)
This is one of my favorite Russian works of all. It's atmospheric, beautiful, exciting. Too bad it's so unknown. It's fun to play, too. Along with Caprice Boheme, they shed a whole new light on a composer most people only know for one symphony, one concerto and one piano piece.
I couldn't agree more and while we're at it "The Isle of the Dead" is a good solid piece. Glad to see Chandos taking on the project of recording these somewhat obscure recordings.
Tom :)
Prince Rostislav is a brilliant piece, I particularly like Svetlanov's histrionic reading of it. Rachmaninov certainly wrote some impressive things in his youth. It's a pity that his early 'Manfred' tone-poem was lost, I would definitely like to hear that!
By the way, am I imagining it, or did Disney swipe some of Prince Rostislav to use in their old animated film Alice in Wonderland?
I haven't seen it for a long time now, but I'm positive they used part of the scurrying central section for the scene where Alice was fleeing from the Queen of Hearts and her army of playing cards. Can anyone confirm or deny this for me?
I agree - this is one of most amazing works and should rank up there with his PCs 2 & 3, C# Prelude, etc. And if you like this, you should also check out his Op.7 Symphonic Poem "The Cliff" (sometimes also translated as "The Rock" or "The Crag" ("Utyos", or "Утёс" anyway in Russian). Has a thrilling recurring theme.
His All-Night Vigil (Op.37) and Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (Op.31) are also regarded as masterpieces here in Russia.
What I notice most about this piece is how a recurring motif sounds a bit like Shirly Walker's Batman animated theme.
IIRC the CD Tom reviews got not great reviews elsewhere, but the OTHER Chandos CD with this piece, that also has the other tone poems and the scherzo (a wonderful ditty in its own right) is one of my favorites.
http://sdtom.wordpress.com/2011/08/15/caprice-bohemien-op-12rachmaninoff/ (ftp://sdtom.wordpress.com/2011/08/15/caprice-bohemien-op-12rachmaninoff/)
This is the second selection Caprice Bohemien from the CD another piece which I really like. I know the new digital sound has somewhat influenced my opinion :). Compared to the old Vox recordings I have there is no comparison. I've not heard the Svetlanov and would like to at some point. Where is it available from?
Tom :)
The first ever Prince Rostislav was a Melodiya lp conducted by Svetlanov and I think reissued on CD in their Moscow Studio Archives series. Better to seek out the digital (and very expensive when new, don't know how hard to get it is now) Canyon Classics set of Svetlanov doing all the purely orchestral works of Rachmaninoff. Personally, I find the performances of the early works vastly superior to the later ones (best ever Symphonies 1 and 2 and Isle of the Dead and very fine Rostislav) not so good with the 3rd and Symphonic Dances (dubious and exaggerated tempo choices in both, slack, lumbering rhythms).
That Canyon Classics set is fantastic (the library where I used to live had it), but was only ever a Japanese release AFAIK....it was released in individual CDs for 1500 yen (IIRC) each a few years ago, no idea if they are still in print.
Prince Rostislav has been quite widely recorded by (as well as Svetlanov), Noseda (Chandos), Slatkin (Vox Box) de Waart (Exton SACD), Prats (ASV), Hughes (BIS), Maksymiuk (Naxos) & Polyansky (Chandos) and can be found on Youtube.
It is indeed an impressive work, one of the finest of Rachmaninov's youth and infintely better than The Rock (Op.7) and probably the Caprice Bohemien (Op.12).
Perhaps the best buy for anyone wishing to explore the early works is the Slatkin Vox Box of 3 CDs which includes all those mentioned in these posts plus the early Scherzo (his first ever orchestral work), The Bells, 3 Russian Folksongs, Symphonic Dances (his last work) & Vocalise in its orchestral version. The Bells is sung in English (originally translated with the composer's approval for a performance by Sir Henry Wood at the Sheffield Festival) which is helpful for non-Russian speakers.
Consider exploring also the two piano trios (in G minor, without opus number and in D minor Op.9) and (if you can find them) the two incomplete string quartet fragments. See also www.rachmaninoff.org
I'll look into the Canyon Classics set. Were the recordings stereo or is it a hit or miss thing like Brilliant. I have a 10 CD set and the engineering part is a negative part of the time.
Tom :)
The Three Russian Folksongs are ALSO in English on the Vox set.
The Canyon Classics recordings are digital from the early (or mid?) 90s.
Quote from: JohnBL on Tuesday 16 August 2011, 14:30
Prince Rostislav has been quite widely recorded by (as well as Svetlanov), Noseda (Chandos), Slatkin (Vox Box) de Waart (Exton SACD), Prats (ASV), Hughes (BIS), Maksymiuk (Naxos) & Polyansky (Chandos) and can be found on Youtube.
Perhaps the best buy for anyone wishing to explore the early works is the Slatkin Vox Box of 3 CDs which includes all those mentioned in these posts plus the early Scherzo (his first ever orchestral work), The Bells, 3 Russian Folksongs, Symphonic Dances (his last work) & Vocalise in its orchestral version. The Bells is sung in English (originally translated with the composer's approval for a performance by Sir Henry Wood at the Sheffield Festival) which is helpful for non-Russian speaker
I just have a difficult time with the Vox quality. Slatkin is fine and so is the St. Louis Symphony.
Tom :)
Many Vox recordings do sound bad.
This set isn't one of them, though.
Quote from: TerraEpon on Tuesday 16 August 2011, 20:46
The Three Russian Folksongs are ALSO in English on the Vox set.
That's interesting. On my copy they are sung in Russian! Are you sure? I was not aware that there was a version in English.
Quote from: JohnBL on Wednesday 17 August 2011, 17:53
That's interesting. On my copy they are sung in Russian! Are you sure? I was not aware that there was a version in English.
I'd have to check again, but I seem to remember I went and bought another disc just to have the Russian version. Maybe I was mishearing?
I don't consider any of these unsung, but am delighted to talk about Rachmaninoff at any time.
Rachmaninoff did prepare an English version of The Bells for debut in England. However, the changes involved more than just the translation of text. Rachmaninoff was also asked to tone down the 3rd choral movement, as it was deemed too violent and frightening for English audiences. Which he did. If you listen to the two versions, you will immediately note the changes made in this movement.
Ormandy recorded both versions of The Bells as well, and his recording of the English language version is superior to any others IMO.
To my knowledge, I have every recording ever released of The Bells. This was Rachmaninoff's favorite of his symphonies, but it has never really caught on like the 2nd. I think that is probably because the final movement ends in the serenity of acceptance of mortality rather than exciting and uplifting spirits. In this way, it has a kinship to Myaskovsky's 6th, which I've always liked also.
My own favorite is his 1st symphony. It is sad to me that he never heard a proper performance of the 1st. The premier performance with an unrehearsed orchestra led by that drunkard Glazunov was surely a disaster. It's a hard symphony to play properly even today. It was never performed again in his lifetime and the original score was lost or destroyed. Luckily, most of the parts were found in Moscow after his death and pieced back together. To me, this is a true masterpiece of classical music. One can only imagine what might have followed, had the premier been a success.
Of course, as it was, things didn't turn out too shabby. His music was reviled by the modernists, yet audiences have never acquiesced. Rachmaninoff deserves his place in the pantheon of great Romantic era composers. He was not prolific, but the quality to quantity ratio is certainly impressive.
I seem to recall that Vladimir Nabokov had a hand in one or another English translation of Balmont's version of The Bells. Anyone know anything about it? I suppose it's the expense of performance that keeps The Bells in the shadows. Although Rachmaninoff is [one of] my favorite composer, I've always found the two mature operas disappointing and that The Bells gives an idea of what a great Rachmaninoff opera ought to sound like.
It is strange. He was very close friends with the great bass Feodor Chaliapin, and even gave him counsel regarding performance technique, but was just not adept writing opera.
It is a mystery particularly in view of his magnificent vocal music. Rachmaninoff and Chekhov had discussed collaborating on an opera version of the latter's story The Black Monk, but according to Rachmaninoff Chekhov had little feeling for the operatic. Well... Perhaps in the world to come we'll have that and the Brahms-Turgenev opera that never got past the talking stage. In the meantime we still don't have a decent modern biography of Rachmaninoff, but that is another matter...
FWIW, I recall seeing a few changes in the choral writing of the English version of The Bells, and if IIRC they were not rhythmic changes accommodating the translation but were rather SR's response to differences between British choirs of the 1920s or 30s and Russian ones of the 1910s.
Quote from: X. Trapnel on Monday 22 August 2011, 03:59
In the meantime we still don't have a decent modern biography of Rachmaninoff, but that is another matter...
And it's a very annoying matter, too. Given the man's popularity, his amazing life story, and the continuing interest in recording his complete output, that someone would put together a comprehensive bio. I wouldn't expect (nor want) anything like de La Grange's monumental Mahler bio, but something like Kennedy's Elgar would sure be nice. Of course, there are a lot of composer bios that I'd like to see done in a first-class manner: Prokofieff, Shostakovich, Rimsky-Korsakov, Raff, Stanford...and for conductors Ormandy, Bohm, Paray.
Fond as I am of Kennedy's Elgar (all of Kennedy's books in fact) I think Rachmaninoff merits something on the scale of Jerrold Northrup Moore's Elgar. Prokofiev is already and very capably getting the multi-volume treatment from David Nice and I'll bet there's something even larger on Shostakovich in the works (so much Soviet-era mythology to straighten out plus the feeling of Richard Taruskin breathing down your neck). I never thought much of Faubion Bowers' Scriabin bio.
Quote from: TerraEpon on Wednesday 17 August 2011, 06:42
Many Vox recordings do sound bad.
This set isn't one of them, though.
I just can't agree with that at least on my system.
Tom :)