To have all three symphonies on a single CD is very convenient. Borodin made it possible by leaving No. 3 unfinished; in fact Glazunov completed the existing two movements from memory, relying on the composer's sketches and his recollections of Borodin's piano performances of what he had in mind. The result is a rather pleasing two movement torso, although the charm of the Scherzo reflects the fact that Glazunov was very good at scherzos in his own symphonies. Borodin's own complete First Symphony, however, also has a scherzo as a highlight and its scoring is felicitous. It is an agreeable work in its own right, but here seems like a preparation for the Second Symphony, for its layout is very similar. The recordings derive from live concerts, but the audience is very well behaved, so the clapping at the end comes almost as a surprise. However, the acoustics of the Foro Italico, Rome are fairly dry and the impression is more of a radio broadcast. The sound, though pleasing, is a bit amorphous and needs more sparkle and glitter.
The Rome orchestra play well enough, although the brass sonority is less than ideal. Perhaps not surprisingly, the performances haven't a great deal of Russian feeling: this music needs more vehemence and bite. The Italian strings sing the melody of the Andante of the Second Symphony rather appealingly, and elsewhere the lyrical flow of the music is attractive. But this record must be regarded as a stopgap until something more idiomatic comes along. There isn't a great deal of competition from Brusilow on mid-price EMI Studio; the sound is rather more vivid (though less smoothly consistent), but the music is not really strongly characterized in Bournemouth either.'