Yondani Butt's LSO recording of Glazunov's Symphony No. 3 originally appeared (uncoupled) in 1988, which is not made clear in the documentation of this reissue. However, at 46 minutes it ceased to be competitive and ASV were right to reissue it with other works. Stenka Razin was recorded at the same time and originally coupled with the Raymonda suite. AS welcomed both Stenka Razin and the symphony in his ''Compact Disc Round-up'', observing that the former ''is hardly a dramatic enough tone-poem for the heroic tale it seeks to portray''. I would add that even Glazunov with all his orchestral skill, fails to make a silk purse out of the Song of the Volga Boat Men, which obstinately refuses to sound anything other than robustly folksy. However, the work has a lusciously sinuous secondary string melody (for all the world like Borodin), which the LSO players clearly relish.
The two youthful (teenage) Serenades are another matter: an Allegretto and a Scherzando which provide a good foil for each other. They are charmingly scored, lightweight in the best sense and appealingly melodic. The recording of these pieces are more recent and are nicely played by the RPO. The quality of the sound overall is high, as is that of the symphony and Stenka Razin.
The symphony is given a pleasingly cultured, easygoing performance. On Jarvi's competing Bamberg disc the throbbing wind opening, with the melody soaring aloft on the strings, has a fraction more impetus, yet in the Andante Butt and his players catch that potent Russian nostalgia and much of the passion. The Scherzo is very engaging and well played. However, the finale is over-long (12'00'') and the performance does not solve its problems entirely. Nevertheless, this version is a polished one and rather enjoyable with its flowing unassertive momentum. There is a more vigorous account from the USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra under Rozhdestvensky, but that is marred by brazen Russian narrow-bore trombones and a tendency for the string sound to become desiccated above the stave.'