"In these days of big boxes, DG really ought to gather together everything Markevitch did and issue it as a set. He was a genius, and his recordings with the Lamoureux Orchestra, especially, combine interpretive brilliance with a classic French instrumental style that no longer exists. They are irreplaceable, and the playing here is amazing. Rimsky-Korsakov’s music demands just the sort of diamond-like precision and clarity that was Markevitch’s stock in trade as a conductor.
There are more raucous, more traditionally Russian versions of The Golden Cockerel Suite available (Järvi’s for example), but none that point up the music’s anticipations of Stravinsky so compellingly. Both here and in the May Night Overture, Rimsky-Korsakov becomes a prophetically modern master.
Markevitch recorded Francesca da Rimini for Philips with the New Philharmonia (Philips), but that performance, good as it is, doesn’t compare to this one in terms of spontaneity and sheer ferocity. I think many listeners in the English speaking world were brainwashed into thinking that performances with British or American orchestras enjoyed a natural superiority in head to head comparison with French orchestras, which were often described as inherently second rate. That was just nationalist propaganda. Compare the coda of Francesca in Markevitch’s two peformances (sound clips), and judge for yourself which orchestra delivers maximum ferocity at a blazingly quick tempo. This is one of the great Francescas, a work that so often suffers both live and on disc.
The rest of the program is just plain delightful. In the Steppes of Central Asia benefits from those characterful French woodwinds, Ruslan and Lyudmila from the kind of disciplined ensemble that makes the tempo sound quicker than it actually is, while Liadov’s From the Apocalypse makes a brilliant encore. DG’s 1959/60 sonics still sound amazingly fine, and suit the performances ideally. This is a great collection–78 minutes of fabulous, inimitable music-making." --David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
Markevitch recorded Francesca da Rimini for Philips with the New Philharmonia (Philips), but that performance, good as it is, doesn’t compare to this one in terms of spontaneity and sheer ferocity. I think many listeners in the English speaking world were brainwashed into thinking that performances with British or American orchestras enjoyed a natural superiority in head to head comparison with French orchestras, which were often described as inherently second rate. That was just nationalist propaganda. Compare the coda of Francesca in Markevitch’s two peformances (sound clips), and judge for yourself which orchestra delivers maximum ferocity at a blazingly quick tempo. This is one of the great Francescas, a work that so often suffers both live and on disc.
The rest of the program is just plain delightful. In the Steppes of Central Asia benefits from those characterful French woodwinds, Ruslan and Lyudmila from the kind of disciplined ensemble that makes the tempo sound quicker than it actually is, while Liadov’s From the Apocalypse makes a brilliant encore. DG’s 1959/60 sonics still sound amazingly fine, and suit the performances ideally. This is a great collection–78 minutes of fabulous, inimitable music-making." --David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
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