I must admit to having a soft spot for Ippolitov-Ivanov's music, especially his Symphony no. 1 in E minor. This work is a hugely appealing combination of the drama and pathos of Tchaikovsky and the energetic, exotic flavor of Borodin (especially in the Scherzo). It has the benefit of being quite cogently argued and free of any longueurs for a late-romantic symphony. There are two recordings of the symphony available. Of the two, I prefer the Bamberg SO/Gary Brain rendition on Conifer, not only due to a superior performance but also because of the inclusion of the fragrantly exotic, Rimskian symphonic poem Mtzyri with soprano solo, which I prefer to the couplings on the Marco Polo disc. You can't go seriously wrong with the Singapore SO/Choo Hoey recording on Marco Polo, either. It's just that the Marco Polo reading lacks that last ounce of conviction. Sound quality is better on the Conifer disc, too.
What do others think of this fine work?
I haven't listened to it in many years, but you have whetted my appetite to revisit it!
LateRomantic's description of the Symphony although succinct is illuminating - the drama and pathos of Tchaikovsky and the energetic, exotic flavour of Borodin seems to me utterly spot on right. Yes, time to extract that Conifer recording from the shelves and revisit it.
It is impossible to arrive at some overview of Ippolitov-Ivanov's music simply because it seems to be so rarely performed, let alone recorded. Like other minor and neglected composers a few bits and pieces turn up as 'fillers' on discs of Russian music. And I always think of them as finely written, sometimes quite gorgeous, and yet somehow unmemorable. But I'm sure that's an unfair verdict for a quick glance at the worklist shows a considerable number of works. I wonder what the second Symphony of 1935 is like? Given that it lacks an opus number, does that mean it was never published in his lifetime or left unfinished? He was clearly a busy man in the Conservatory, but nonetheless produced much. There are a large number of songs and choral works, much music for solo piano, and even some operas. I'd be especially interested in finding out more about the early Violin Sonata, Piano Quartet, and a single String Quartet. But I suspect the orchestral works are best. The highly accomplished, and often lush, orchestral writing clearly shows his debt to Rimsky. But alas, whether or not he is a minor master is something we can't discover, for the works other than a few favourite pieces remain inaccessible. A pity I think.
I too am a fan of Ippolitov's orchestral works. I have not come across any recordings of the Symphony No. 2 'Karelia', nor the suites opp. 65, 69, and 79, or Auf der Wolga musical picture, Op. 50.
Fortunately the violin sonata Op.10, piano quartet Op.9 (don't forget that too) and (first?) string quartet Op.13 (dedicated to the violinist-composer Jan Hrimaly...) - about which I also have long been curious - have been digitally scanned and uploaded online as have a number of his other chamber, vocal, etc. works (including his All-Night Vigil, the Op.50 "On the Volga" for orchestra (published 1904-or-so in piano reduction), etc.) (one can find some of them at IMSLP for instance) but I know nothing definite about the 2nd symphony either for what that's worth...
Quote from: Balapoel on Saturday 20 July 2013, 22:49
I too am a fan of Ippolitov's orchestral works. I have not come across any recordings of the Symphony No. 2 'Karelia', nor the suites opp. 65, 69, and 79, or Auf der Wolga musical picture, Op. 50.
I'd really love to hear these works you mention! Like Eric, I have not been able to find anything definite regarding the state of Symphony no. 2. Ippolitov-Ivanov made an orchestration of his Violin Sonata (!) for chamber orchestra, renaming it
Sinfonietta-another work I'd love to hear (along with the original version and the other chamber works).
I think the original (well, violin and piano- if you mean that's a revised version, don't know 'bout that...) version of the Ippolitov-Ivanov violin sonata, we can help you with. Check the downloads section. It was in a concert together with Gyorgy Catoire/Katuar's also fine (and also A minor) piano quartet.
As to the piano quartet op.9 in E-flat by the way, the fact that there is a group calling themselves the Ippolitov-Ivanov Piano Quartet leads me to hope that there is at least one group with the work in their repertoire. :) (I haven't read their group bio or even tried to see where I can find it, so I don't yet know if or where they've performed it; I've yet to turn up a video, etc., for what that's worth- certainly no commercial recording of the work is known to me. Unless it's on their disc of Beethoven and Brahms and I just didn't look...)
There used to be a recording of the symphony by the Bamberg orchestra on Conifer. Incidentally, have any of the old Conifer recordings been re-released?
Certainly quite a bit of interest in Ippolitov-Ivanov here - thanks to all above for contributing to the thread. I do hope some day someone will issue commercial recordings of those chamber works (would seem to me a good Naxos project given their splendid series of recordings of the S. Taneyev quartets).
If there was a Conifer recording of Symphony 1, Giles, it surely never made it to a CD format?
On your incidental question about resurrected Conifer recordings my first reaction was 'Of course, many have been re-released'. But a very quick search (i.e. one not having reliable results) suggests you have uncovered a good question. There were, for example, some esteemed Vernon Handley recordings of Malcolm Arnold and many others of (non-Romantic) 20th century tonal works. But scanning my shelves for original Conifer CDs and then checking to see if they've ever been re-released on some other label strongly suggests they haven't. What a pity, for there was some good stuff there. Anyone know what might have happened to it? (Apologies - rapidly turning into another thread causing moderators to get hot under the collar.)
Here's the Conifer recording of Symphony 1 on CD:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ippolitov-Ivanov-Symphony-Armenian-Rhapsody-Caucasian/dp/B0000268F9/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1374927931&sr=8-5&keywords=ippolitov+ivanov (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ippolitov-Ivanov-Symphony-Armenian-Rhapsody-Caucasian/dp/B0000268F9/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1374927931&sr=8-5&keywords=ippolitov+ivanov)
May I respectfully suggest that friends conduct a few simple searches themselves before posting questions that are easily answered? Saves a lot of time and fruitless speculation...
Oops says I with a red face. Apologies, Alan, I did look on Amazon but failed to notice the disc. Can't think why, and it wouldn't seem all that ingenious to blame it on my computer!
Apology gratefully accepted. Blame it on a twitchy search finger...
Quote from: petershott@btinternet.com on Saturday 27 July 2013, 14:59
Oops says I with a red face. Apologies, Alan, I did look on Amazon but failed to notice the disc. Can't think why, and it wouldn't seem all that ingenious to blame it on my computer!
Don't feel bad, Peter. I couldn't find it on Amazon either! I discovered the existence of the disc through ArkivMusic.
You got me to dig into my archives and find my CD with Hoey conducting the Singapore. I hadn't listened to it for at least ten years and my listening experience was a very positive one. Was this recording from an lp? I noticed two dates 1984 and 1989 so perhaps it had its premiere on HNH.
Tom
QuoteI discovered the existence of the disc through ArkivMusic.
Where it has been available for years as an Arkiv re-release after the original was deleted.
Quite. Seek and ye will find...
LP? it seems so anyway. (http://www.worldcat.org/title/symphony-no-1-in-e-minor-op-46-turkish-fragments-op-62-turkish-march-op-55/oclc/13653994)
I'm more than satisfied with the recording I have so I doubt I'll ever pursue the Conifer recording. I even found the "Turkish Fragments" reading to compare favorably with the newer Naxos recording from 1997.
Tom
Eric, I reckon that catalogue entry is a mistake. As far as I am aware, Marco Polo never issued LPs (please correct me if I'm wrong). The date of issue of the CD was 1994 - so 1984 could easily be a typo. I think it's a question of: "You just can't get the staff nowadays!"
Actually, looking it up, it seems it wouldn't have been the first case (not hardly!!) that Marco Polo CDs were remasterings of HNH LPs. Marco Polo never issued an LP, but HNH certainly did.
Quote from: eschiss1 on Monday 29 July 2013, 22:37
Actually, looking it up, it seems it wouldn't have been the first case (not hardly!!) that Marco Polo CDs were remasterings of HNH LPs. Marco Polo never issued an LP, but HNH certainly did.
I agree with you on this one. An HNH digital release on LP in 1984 was very possible and having the CD released 5 years later makes sense. The label indicates DDD.
Tom
I have a copy of Ippolitov-Ivanov's Symphony No. 1 that was issued by HK-Marco Polo in 1984 on album no. 6.220217. I too hope more of his music would be issued on cd. There also is a recording of this Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 37 on CBS issued a few years ago.
I was sure that I had at least a couple of Marco Polo LPs. Rubinstein's Violin Concerto rings a bell...
Quote from: jerry.buszek on Tuesday 30 July 2013, 04:07
I have a copy of Ippolitov-Ivanov's Symphony No. 1 that was issued by HK-Marco Polo in 1984 on album no. 6.220217. I too hope more of his music would be issued on cd. There also is a recording of this Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 37 on CBS issued a few years ago.
I say that the information we came up with is a team effort. And I agree with you Jerry that more of his material should be released.
Tom
QuoteActually, looking it up, it seems it wouldn't have been the first case (not hardly!!) that Marco Polo CDs were remasterings of HNH LPs. Marco Polo never issued an LP, but HNH certainly did.
You are dead right, Eric. I've just done some homework. Apologies for doubting you.
I have several Marco Polo Lps in my vinyl collection.
My mistake as to the latter, then- sorry!
http://www.amazon.com/music/dp/B0000045S2 (http://www.amazon.com/music/dp/B0000045S2)
For those of you who are interested the Marco Polo is available thru Amazon.
Tom :)
http://sdtom.wordpress.com/2013/08/04/symphony-no-1ippolitov-ivanov/ (http://sdtom.wordpress.com/2013/08/04/symphony-no-1ippolitov-ivanov/)
I decided to do a little piece on my blog.
Tom
I ordered the Marco Polo recording from the record store (this was before Amazon existed) when I read about it in Fanfare back when it came out. It's a cool piece, but the orchestra sounded pretty scrawny. If I ever see that Conifer recording I will snap it up. I have the other MP Ippolitov-Ivanov CDs too. I would love to have recordings of the rest of his output. I see that another recording of Mtzyri on the ASV label.
Yes, the Conifer performance of the symphony is superior in every regard to the Marco Polo one. Mtzyri, the main coupling on the Conifer disc, is pure exotic escapism. :)
After listening to the MP recording for years I thought I should try out the Conifer. Sorry, I cannot agree: yes, the orchestra is better and the recorded sound, too, but the conducting I find uninspired and inflexible. Has anyone of you listened to the Dudarova recording and can recommend it?
UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ippolitov-Ivanov-Symphony-No-1/dp/B007Q57R1M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376071655&sr=8-1&keywords=ippolitov+dudarova (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ippolitov-Ivanov-Symphony-No-1/dp/B007Q57R1M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376071655&sr=8-1&keywords=ippolitov+dudarova)
US
http://www.amazon.com/Ippolitov-Ivanov-Symphony-No-1/dp/B007Q5EAHG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376071709&sr=8-1&keywords=ippolitov+dudarova (http://www.amazon.com/Ippolitov-Ivanov-Symphony-No-1/dp/B007Q5EAHG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376071709&sr=8-1&keywords=ippolitov+dudarova)
I will have to look for this Conifer recording, I have not heard this symphony, but I do have the Naxos disc of orchestral works with the 2 Caucasian Sketches and Turkish Fragments, I love them, I love the orientalism of many of these Russian composers (Balakirev's Tamara is a favourite).
There is also the Veronika Dudarova recording (found it on Spotify). I find it richer in sound than the Bamberg recording.
But I didn't know the symphony at all, so thank for bringing it up!
I've been looking online, it seems like the Conifer recording is no longer available? That's a shame, maybe I will have some luck in the used-cd bins.
Quote from: pianobaba on Friday 23 August 2013, 15:40
I've been looking online, it seems like the Conifer recording is no longer available? That's a shame, maybe I will have some luck in the used-cd bins.
Did you check ArkivMusic? I haven't found it anywhere else.
Here's the link:
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/Drilldown?name_id1=5768&name_role1=1&comp_id=5645&bcorder=15&name_id=58528&name_role=3 (http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/Drilldown?name_id1=5768&name_role1=1&comp_id=5645&bcorder=15&name_id=58528&name_role=3)
Quote from: Alan Howe on Friday 23 August 2013, 19:23
Here's the link:
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/Drilldown?name_id1=5768&name_role1=1&comp_id=5645&bcorder=15&name_id=58528&name_role=3 (http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/Drilldown?name_id1=5768&name_role1=1&comp_id=5645&bcorder=15&name_id=58528&name_role=3)
Interesting, I notice that it says "This CD is reissued by ArkivMusic" (I also looked up another out-of-print album, Beethoven's VC with Gidon Kremer and the Schnittke cadenza, same thing). Has anyone gotten these reissued discs from ArkivMusic before? Is the production quality good? i.e. Not a flimsy CDR which wont play or will skip terribly on many cd players?
Not too sure how they do it - I believe Archiv obtains permission from the original manufacturer to copy the item.
I've had quite a number of what for me have been immensely valuable discs. To both the ear and the eye (i.e. the booklet) they appear qualitatively indistinguishable from the original.
If you want the disc I'd say 'Go for it'. An Archiv copy is often a better purchase than a second-hand disc from some unknown dealer - I've had a few cases where I've bought a S/H CD from a dealer on a day out in the big city, and you get home and discover some fault. In which case you're stuck with the thing. Never with an Archiv copy - they are certainly not shoddy 'bootleg' things of inferior quality. Hope that helps reassure you.
Well you are bad people ;D
I've ordered the Ippolitov-Ivanov with the Bamberg SO reissue by Arkivmusic, and since I was there, I went ahead and ordered the Beethoven VC with the Schnittke cadenza reissue, the 3rd volume of Ernst Levy on Marston Classics (very belated for me to do it, I think he is possibly the greatest pianist ever recorded, this just from vol. 1 I bought when I first heard about him over a decade ago, I've tried to get vol. 2 but it is out of print and I am not alone in my estimation of this pianist, seeing as it's become a collector's item, someone is trying to sell one on Amazon for over $400, and I did fail at an ebay auction once with the price going over $100, I pulled out at about 75 :( ). And lastly, a new release with a pianist Nicolas Horvath with a recital given to transcriptions of 8 movements from Liszt's magnificent Christus. 5 of them are Liszt's transcriptions, recorded by Leslie Howard of course, and they are exquisite, so I am interested in the other 3 and hearing a 2nd pianist perform this extremely rare Liszt for a change. :)
An odd tangent, I was just browsing the Bamberg SO website today daydreaming about concerts in Germany, they have one program I'd like to see in March 2014, Strauss's Metamorphosen, Liszt's Totentanz, Bruckner's 7th. I've never heard the Bamberg SO before (I'll see once I get the disc), and they're not necessarily the Vienna or Berliner, but I imagine professional regional German orchestras are still better than my local fare.
Every 'review' of Arkiv CDRs have said they are good quality. I have a different story -- I accidentally got one once, before they signed deals with major labels and were pretty much only using it for Vox and Marco Polo discs, and though the quality itself was good...it was burned with the whole "2 second silence" things, which given this was a ballet with a lot of attaca tracks (Victoria and Marie England by Sullivan....I think) made it impossible to listen to. Thankfully I got a refund and tracked down a 'real' copy...
I did a little investigating and found the Conifer at a decent price on amazon so I decided to order it. It was lost in the mail so I've not been able to compare.
Tom
I received the Conifer recording from Arkiv and I've listened to it twice. I enjoyed the symphony, particularly the opening adagio and the 3rd movement Elegy. I also really enjoyed the other pieces on the album, Mtzyri and Armenian Rhapsody.
To all who might be interested Naxos has re-released the 1st symphony of Ippolitov-Ivanov which also includes the Turkish March and Turkish Fragments. The new Naxos # is 8.573508. In my opinion the symphony is crying for a larger orchestra for those parts where it is louder. I would also say that if you're a listener of Russian/Slavic recordings you would find it pleasant enough.
A real pity that Svetlanov never managed to record Ippolitov-Ivanov's Symphonies!
Agreed!
This is something that someone should take on as a project. I rarely speak ill of any orchestra but in this case, well I'll say nothing.
Tom
The symphony was on a single track in the previous release. I ended up buying it (and not the rest) back when I was buying from eMusic, so it ended up costing me all of around 25 cents (maybe less).
Nice piece though.
I would very much like to hear the Symphony No. 2 "Karelia" (without opus no.).
Gareth,
As far as you kmow, does this work (Symphony No. 2 "Karelia") actually exist? I've found no references to it beyond works lists of the composer. I'm curious.
Michael
I don't know if it exists, I'm afraid. Like you, I know of it only from work lists.
I see no mention of anything like Karelia (or transliterated, even vaguely in form) in what I can decipher at rsl.ru (of entries under Ипполитов-Иванов, Михаил Михайлович or somewhat similar) either. (My Russian is horrible, though- I'm not the person for that job...)
Anyone have a vague notion where (singular, plural(s)) his manuscripts might be? That might be useful ... at the moment my only guess is that it's in worklists because a performance is known.* (If his first symphony hadn't been published, it might be that we would have known of it only from e.g. a 1915 performance of it in - Paris I think?... or... though - well ... I don't know. Of course, some Soviet/Eastern European composers of the era were very lucky (or luck wasn't the only word) in getting performances; e.g., Myaskovsky had, for awhile (1920s/30s), a fair number of American performances of his symphonies, for example (Stokowski, others, conducting, iirc)- not that I, a great fan of his, begrudge him that -at all-!)
*In which case, it's possible that the concert report might have written symphony when a symphonic poem, or somesuch, was actually performed. A number of late symphonic poems by Ippolitov-Ivanov - and similar things - we definitely do have, and maybe a few others are lost. But - I don't know. Depends on the provenance of the report of a 2nd symphony "Karelia"; I am curious. Anyhow. :)
I purchased a cd about one year ago that was listed on e-bay of music by Ippolitov-Ivanov:
Turkish March, Op. 55
Turkish Fragments, Op.62
On the Steppes of Turkmenistan, Op. 65
Musical Pictures of Uzbekistan, Op. 69
Also, a suite from Maeterlink's "Blue Bird" by Ilia Sats.
This was an Aquarius cd (AQVR 377-2) devoted to works conducted by Leonid Pyatigorsky & I. Ermakova with the All-Union Symphony Orchestra. All are in mono, not stereo, recorded in 1949 & 1962. It arrived in the USA after about a one month wait from Russia. The music is your typical pot boilers from the Soviet Union, similar to Glazounow's Finnish Sketches, Op. 89.