Glazunov Orchestral Works
A combination of vintage Glazunov and less-inspired works, these well-played [piece] pieces are worth having at Naxos's budget price
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov
Label: Naxos
Magazine Review Date: 2/2000
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 75
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 8 553857
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Suite caractéristique |
Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov, Composer
Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov, Composer Igor Golovschin, Conductor Moscow Symphony Orchestra |
| (Le) Chant du destin |
Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov, Composer
Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov, Composer Igor Golovschin, Conductor Moscow Symphony Orchestra |
| (2) Préludes |
Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov, Composer
Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov, Composer Igor Golovschin, Conductor Moscow Symphony Orchestra |
Author: Ivan March
Le chant du destin, written in 1907, opens with and is dominated by a sombre two-phrase theme which reminds one incongruously of Gershwin's song, 's Wonderful, only the mood and colouring is utterly different. The music is eloquently presented, but rather outstays its welcome. The eight-movement Suite caracteristique from two decades earlier is vintage Glazunov, an orchestral transcription of piano pieces. Slavic melancholy characterises the 'Introduction', which serves to usher in an engaging 'Danse rustique'. The central, delicately scored 'Pastorale' is particularly charming and the following 'Danse orientale' is at first piquant, in the best Russian pseudo-oriental manner, but reaches an expansive climax, and the gentle beginning of the 'Elegie' is followed by a passionate interjection (in a surprisingly Tchaikovskian manner). The grand closing 'Cortege' makes a resplendent, very Russian ending, using the theme of the 'Introduction' eloquently transformed into the major.
The two Preludes date from 1906 and 1908 respectively. One remembers, in a grave, valedictory mood, Vladimir Stassoff (famous for naming Balakirev and his contemporary group of Russian composers 'the mighty handful') ; the second (much more extended) opens surprisingly like Tchaikovsky's Francesca da Rimini and this curious leitmotif dominates the early part of the piece, which later produces a gentle, disconsolate chorale and a sonorously Wagnerian coda. It is inscribed 'a la memoire de Rimsky-Korsakov' and is played most impressively, as indeed is the Suite. The recording is very good too. At Naxos's prices this is well worth having.'
The two Preludes date from 1906 and 1908 respectively. One remembers, in a grave, valedictory mood, Vladimir Stassoff (famous for naming Balakirev and his contemporary group of Russian composers 'the mighty handful') ; the second (much more extended) opens surprisingly like Tchaikovsky's Francesca da Rimini and this curious leitmotif dominates the early part of the piece, which later produces a gentle, disconsolate chorale and a sonorously Wagnerian coda. It is inscribed 'a la memoire de Rimsky-Korsakov' and is played most impressively, as indeed is the Suite. The recording is very good too. At Naxos's prices this is well worth having.'
Glazunov Orchestral Works
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