Hello all,
I wanted to draw your attention to a new recording by the NDR Radiophilharmonie under Stanislav Kochanovsky (https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9746721--tchaikovsky-orchestral-suite-no-3-rimsky-korsakov-capriccio-espagnol-tcherepnin-la-princesse?srsltid=AfmBOorwJbFRJcMC1NCrV7vrK7gslCEGkEikhDw5bC_hqEDAoENOIqby) on Harmonia Mundi. It contains Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol (meh), Tchaikovsky's Symph- er... Suite in G major (more interesting) and an absolutely stunning rendition of Nikolai Tcherepnin's La princesse lointaine prelude, Op. 4. It's an early piece, and shows him at his most Rimsky-Korsakovian, and I've never heard it being played better than it is here. The Tchaikovsky Suite receives a very good effort, too (and I'm collecting the courage to brave the saccharine cheerfulness of the Capriccio).
In any case, Nikolai Tcherepnin (1873-1945) is the father and grandfather of the composers we're more likely to ban outright from this forum (whatever my own personal opinion!!), not them their ownselves... (though I will admit I do not know what Nikolai's later music sounds like. I have a few hours before a very interesting - and mostly very modern (Bach/Gubaidulina/Kürtag) - concert this afternoon - and no harm in finding out, I think...)
Not least, thanks for pointing out the recording!!
Nikolai Tcherepnin has mostly become known because of his work for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. He created music for the ballets Le pavillon d'Armide in 1907, and Narcisse et Echo in 1911. The latter one is particularly interesting because it is quite similar to Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé, premiered the following year, in just about every way: dramatic subject, construction and certainly its overall mood. Just listen to their opening: Narcisse (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkCHN5WZYB0&pp=ygUTdGNoZXJlcG5pbiBuYXJjaXNzZQ%3D%3D) vs. Daphnis (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR-eIVbz5qE&list=OLAK5uy_kRXIOpLzhekVt6lPCQD03RL7RPG-Lv73s&index=1). Tcherepnin usually wears his Rimsky-Korsakov on his sleeve though, and that's the late Rimsky of Le coq d'or and Kitezh. Even his late trio of symphonic poems Le destin from 1938 is clearly inspired by his teacher. Interestingly, it almost sounds like a social realist composition even when Tcherepnin never returned to the Soviet Union post-revolution. That in itself may reveal something about the evolution of Rimsky's legacy in a more modernist setting. That's not to say he's a mere Rimsky-Korsakov clone though; there are other influences and some of his compositions are more idiosyncratic and individual (e.g., his Piano Concerto in C♯ minor from 1905).
Alexander Tcherepnin is a very different composer, and, at least after his very first period, not really suited for discussion here.