Borodin: Symphonies Nos. 1-3

“[the Second Symphony's] usually leonine, masculine profile is lightly feminised here...but how the melodies flow, with characterful contributions from first clarinet and horn...Schwarz's players take delight, and so do we.” --BBC Music Magazine, September 2011 *****

“After rather plodding its way through the First Symphony, the Seattle Symphony responds to Borodin's deeper feelings in the Second with some terrifically rich and imposing playing...A bonus is the attractive and discernibly Slavic 'edge' to the orchestra's string tone, particularly low down.” --Classic FM Magazine, September 2011 ***

“Three cheers to the Seattle Symphony for championing Borodin’s symphonies, particularly in such fresh, lithe performances...Gerard Schwarz shows how virile the symphonies are, and how worthwhile it can be to explore other areas of the Romantic Russian repertoire than the usual Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff...This is glorious music, played with character and vitality.” --The Telegraph, 30th June 2011 ****

“Schwarz and his Seattle Symphony deserve awards for venturing where many conductors and orchestras are nowadays unwilling to tread. These performances are very fine, with the First beautifully expansive, and the Second lean and taut without losing its poetry. The bucolic Third is too hard-edged for my taste, though it's nicely played...it's a fine disc and a terrific bargain. Treat yourself.” --The Guardian, 11th August 2011 ****

The World of Borodin

Decca's "The World of ..." series have been of variable quality, but for this issue, the selection is exactly on the mark. This CD presents all the major works of Borodin and provides a wonderful snapshot of his music. The three excerpts from Prince Igor are dramatically played, full of Russian vigour and energy. Sir Georg Solti injects power and grandeur into the London Symphony Orchestra, and one would be hard-pressed to find a more lyrical Polovtsian Dances.

Borodin's meagre chamber music output is represented here by the Nocturne from the Second String Quartet, ravishingly played by the Borodin Quartet. The song For the shores of your far-off native land is yearningly performed by the Ghiaurovs, while Ashkenazy plays stylishly in the Scherzo. The collection comes to a thundering conclusion with the rousing Second Symphony, a work to place alongside those of Peter Tchaikovsky.

This well-filled disc is great value for money, and will surely be of interest to anyone who enjoys full-blooded, powerfully nationalistic, late Romantic Russian music. There is no other compilation that offers such a satisfying overview of Borodin's musical career, so get it! -- I.K.

Rimsky-Korsakov: Golden Cockerel Suite, May Night Overture, Etc

"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

Russian Cello Sonatas

“The meaty piano parts in the Rachmaninov and Borodin benefit hugely from [Sudbin's] near-orchestral range and depth, and his sculptor's sense of form and phrase. Not that he outshines cellist Alexander Chaushian, who displays a deeply instinctive connection with this repertoire...This is a near-ideal performance of Rachmaninov's magnificent work that stands alongside those by the greatest.” --BBC Music Magazine, February 2012 ****/*****

“Chaushian and Sudbin shows that it is actually possible to deliver Rachmaninov's Sonata full-throatedly without making it sound like a piano concerto with cello accompaniment. And they demonstrate equally that Shostakovich's Sonata does not need hysterical exaggeration of its subtexts in order to be richly communicative.” --Gramophone Magazine, August 2011

“Chausian and Sudbin provide a majestic overview of chamber-style sensitivity. Every phrase is beautifully sculpted, Sudbin subtly tames Rachmaninov's swirling solo line, and Chaushian plays with a bewitching restraint and technical clarity that works wonders, especially in the rarely-heard Borodin Sonata.” --Classic FM Magazine, June 2011 ****

“There is no lack of personality and temperament, and the bigness of [Chaushian's] sound contributes to the music's symphonic aspirations...no one plays these sonatas quite like Russian performers do. Chaushian is no exception, bringing interpretative insight and native soulfulness into play with his technical mastery...His basic sound is appealingly buzzy - that is to say, human.” --International Record Review, May 2011

Borodin: Symphonies 1 & 2, Etc

"With its wealth of striking and richly melodic themes and its original dramatic structure, Borodin's Second Symphony should by rights be one of the most popular of Russian symphonies... Ashkenazy's coupling is both apt and generous. If I regret that he did not include the unfinished Symphony No. 3 as well as No. 1... there is no doubt that the symphonic poem, In the Steppes of Central Asia, is a finer example of Borodin's genius, and is given a warmly atmospheric performance here.

If in the Symphony No. 1 Ashkenazy's performance is less high-powered than in No. 2, that reflects a rather less challengingly original work. None the less, its many delights come over richly, thanks not only to the quality of the RPO's playing but to the full-bodied recording. Though the three works were recorded in three different venues—respectively Watford Town Hall, Abbey Road and Walthamstow Assembly Rooms—the Decca engineers have produced sound consistently satisfying, full and brilliant." -- Edward Greenfield, Gramophone [8/1994]

MP3 320 · 154 MB

Tchaikovsky: 1812, Marche Slave · Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin: Orchestral Works

"Järvi's 1812 is exciting - and not just for the added Gothenburg brass and artillery or for the fervour of the orchestra at the opening. He clearly knows the histrionics, and so do we.” " --Gramophone

Tchaikovsky didn't much care for the 1812, preferring the Serenade for strings which he was composing at the same time. In fact, as Jarvi shows, the Overture is a very professionally structured piece which effectively combines national patriotic and folk melodies from which the composer generates a really thrilling ending.

Jarvi's is a very musical reading, broadening nicely for the folksy lyricism, yet keeping up the flow of adrenalin. Besides the very impressive cannon of the Gothenburg Artillery and carillon, the Gothenburg Symphony Chorus make a very considerable contribution at the opening, singing the Russian hymn sonorously and affectingly and then producing a burst of fervour before the orchestra takes over. It rejoins the fray at the very end, but is rather too backwardly balanced here. This is a comment rather than a serious criticism: it must be almost impossible electronically to intertwine orchestra, bells, pre-recorded cannon and chorus, and please all ears. Generally, the engineers do a very good job. The overall effect is both exciting and genial.

Then comes a strong account of the Marche slave, with just the right touch of solemn melancholy in the opening paragraphs to balance the exultant ending. Borodin's In Central Asia is one of the most memorably poetic of all Russian orchestral evocations. It has two marvellous tunes, one used to create atmosphere and at the same time suggest movement, and the second ravishingly sinuous, able to combine with the first quite perfectly as the oriental caravan draws near.

The Polovtsian Dances alas, omit the opening percussion-led ''Dance of the Polovtsi maidens'' and begin at the ''Flowing dance''. Otherwise we are given a first-rate performance, with the chorus splendidly balanced and providing some lovely lyrical singing and a climax of considerable fervour (if not quite as unbuttoned as some versions, notably Beecham on EMI). But this is very enjoyable and in the ''General dance'' (the one with the bass drum) there is a surprise. What appears to be a brief solo from the Khan is sung by a member of the chorus, rather effectively reminding us that we are in the opera house rather than the concert hall.

Rimsky-Korsakov's Russian Easter Festival Overture is an episodic, loosely structured piece that can too easily fall apart. It doesn't here and most important, Jarvi propels everything forward without pushing too hard. The performance of the Capriccio espagnol has great zest and brilliance. The opening is faster than the recent Mackerras Telarc/Conifer version, and when the ''Alborada'' returns with great dash, after the colourful variations, one wonders if it isn't a trifle too fast. But the closing ''Fandango asturiano'' and the exciting lead up to it—with splendid bite and attack from strings and brass alike—create much exhilaration. All in all this concert can receive the strongest recommendation. The overall playing time is very generous indeed.

-- Ivan March, Gramophone [3/1991]

MP3 320 · 163 MB