...a performance from 1993* with one of Japan's premier orchestras, the NHK Symphony:
https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00005NNZS?pf_rd_r=J9RQNWG0ZR2WXJTYJ276&pf_rd_p=a49e340b-04fe-443c-bfa6-899cc4590d58&pd_rd_r=a22d9421-8d09-4d7b-affc-84009252dc41&pd_rd_w=6OHES&pd_rd_wg=egVWF&ref_=pd_gw_cr_simh (https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00005NNZS?pf_rd_r=J9RQNWG0ZR2WXJTYJ276&pf_rd_p=a49e340b-04fe-443c-bfa6-899cc4590d58&pd_rd_r=a22d9421-8d09-4d7b-affc-84009252dc41&pd_rd_w=6OHES&pd_rd_wg=egVWF&ref_=pd_gw_cr_simh)
*Corrected as per next post.
The back cover says the 1999 one was the Borodin, and the Kalinnikov was from 1993 (which I assume the same live performance uploaded on youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EdnO6vEaHk)?)
Thanks for the correction - duly noted.
This could well be the same performance as the one uploaded to YouTube. Many (most?) of these high-end Japanese recordings seem to be of live performances. If it is, it's a wonderful memorial of a master-conductor and expert in this repertoire.
I urge anyone interested to listen to this utterly transcendent performance! And notice that Svetlanov's first thought at the end is to applaud the orchestra...
Thank you Alan, I was moved to tears by this performance. A huge credit goes to Svetlanov's interpretation - Grand!
I had a similar reaction. Glorious, isn't it?
Wow, what a joyous way to end the day! The finale had me transfixed. Without doubt it's the best performance I've heard of this evergreen work, Svetlanov gives it so much more depth than Järvi, say, and yet the finale is just so exciting. Svetlanov also deserves praise for so generously showing his appreciation of such a fine orchestra, and for brandishing the score to demonstrate where the ultimate credit lay. Thanks to Alan for the heads up and vesteel for the YouTube link.
Yes, watching the performance on youtube. Its one of my favourite symphonies anyway and this is miles better than Jarvi. :)
Is there a point to be made here about Järvi as a great 'turn-up-and-record' conductor with an enormous repertoire as opposed to other great conductors whose repertoire is more restricted, but who have a deeper understanding of what they perform? Or is that being too harsh on Järvi?
A little bit harsh, I think, but this isn't by any means the first time when a Järvi performance, previously my well-established go-to, has been supplanted by one which reveals much more depth to the music than I'd previously suspected.
Is the Svetlanov recording of the Kalinikov Symphonies (with USSR State Academic Symphony Orchestra) on Melodiya as good as the performance above?
Good question. I have it, but don't have the time to make a proper comparison.
If this is the Melodiya recording...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ecu4lyqO4iE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ecu4lyqO4iE)
...you can judge for yourself.
Immediately obvious is the harsh recording quality when compared with the one made in Japan!
Yes, the Melodiya recordings are a little rough around the edges, which is a shame.
Thanks for the link. Extremely enjoyable - Svetlanov had his hits and misses, but there are some things he was top-notch in and here's one. It still frustrates me to no end that this beautiful symphony is so out of the standard repertoire. And yes, Jarvi can be glib and not profound, but I really enjoy his Kalinnikov recordings, too. And Dudarova.
Veronika Dudarova, she was some conductor. I found she used a quicker pace for the Kalininkov but still is a great version.
Wasn't aware she died back in 2009 actually- I agree she was a very good conductor.
Dudarova was great! She recorded also Tchaikovsky's tone poems (Olympia, 2 CDs, 1992) and Khachaturian's works for Cello and Orchestra (Olympia, 1994) and, before that, in 1992, an exciting and complete "Gayaneh" on Melodiya LP's in 1990, which was one of Melodiya's first digital metal mastering LPs.
OK - well, once again I'll be the 'outlier' and say that I prefer Svetlanov's old Melodiya performance. Perhaps it's because it's the one I 'discovered' when it first appeared on LP decades ago and that I quickly grew to love. His live version on YT is just a little too smooth for my taste, but nonetheless a great performance of a wonderful symphony by a superb orchestra, and better than Jarvi.
I have a soft spot for the original Svetlanov recording, having discovered an imported Melodyia LP of the recording, in a shop in Manette Street off Charing Cross Road. The shop had been mentioned in Gramophone, so I decided to explore, and discovered Glazunov, Scriabin, Medtner long before they were readily available in the U.K.
Kalinnikov 1 was a symphony I fell in love with then, probably some 45 years ago, and remains one of my go to symphonies. The Svetlanov version on You Tube, I find spine tingling, with the added pleasure of watching Svetlanov conduct it.
Quotea shop in Manette Street off Charing Cross Road
I remember that place so well. It was opposite Foyles book shop and I must have visited it around the same time. An unheated, poky upstairs room IIRC, manned by a chap wearing a thick overcoat. But what treasures there were...
Who remembers Farringon Records? That was my go-to haunt...
Ah, yes. Happy days! And who remembers Michael G. Thomas?
Mark you have remembered it very well. My early unsung composers love, stemmed from an initial liking for Russian Romantic or late Romantic music. Not the most salubrious of venues but I found it very exciting.
Alan yes I do remember Farrington Records. There was something particularly rewarding searching through classical LP's and being able to read the back to give an idea of what was on offer musically.
My first experience of Farringdon records was in about 1968; they operated out of a warehouse in Farringdon Street which must be the insalubrious venue tappell is remembering. I think you had to descend a short step-ladder to get in! Later they went more commercial with shops in the Strand and elsewhere that I used to walk past (more often into) on my daily commute. When they finally opened a shop in Lamb's Conduit Street I knew they were stalking me.
Farrington Records: Alan, wasn't it the shop where John Goldsmith of Unicorn was also involved with at that time? I made his acquaintance there during my London stay of 1972. I also met with Joyce Hatto's husband Bill Barrington-Coupe (or was he perhaps the shop's manager?). I bought there a huge box of LPs, and Joyce's fabulous Revolution Records LP with Bax's Symphonic Variations (an Item I still cherish) was offered to me as a gift. At that time I was not aware of the big hoax around Joye's recordings, but at least her Bax was authentic :-)
In the same box figured also EMI's Elgar's "The Apostels" and "The Dream of Gerontius". Tempi passati, as we say in Italy...
Quotethe big hoax around Joyce's recordings
I think that came a lot later.
I wouldn't have known who was who at Farringdon Records in those days - I was far too ignorant! I actually went there rather later, in the late seventies/early eighties with a friend from university days.
I know we're straying from the topic but just a short question. Was it Farringdon Records that ran a mail order business, with long printed lists, full of obscure composers, sent out to enquirers? I certainly bought lots of LPs in this way during the 70s - but mostly from Squires Gate Music Centre - still operating.
HK Lewis and Foyles - fond memories!
Yes, I used to receive FR's lists - and benefited from their mail order service.
I like Jarvi's versions the best...
Järvi's versions? How many recordings of No.1 has he made?