Gliere's Horn Concerto in its World Premiere Recording

An interesting, and quite historical, edition from Classic Edition. The world premiere of Reinhold Gliere's Horn Concerto with the great horn soloist Valeri Polekh and the composer conducting. Along with the horn concerto are orchestral works of Prokofiev, Glinka and Amirov led by the underrated Samuil Samosud.

The Gliere work is an extensive piece at nearly a half hour in length and unabashedly romantic in its conception. Polekh commissioned this piece in 1951 and it is probably one of the last compositions by Gliere. It is tuneful, masterfully orchestrated and the horn part is highly interesting. I love these old Russian small bore horns, I swear at times the horn sounds like a viola! If you are a horn afficionado, this is a great and amusing listen, both for Polekh's superb musicianship and as a recollection of an instrument design which has all but disappeared as Eastern Europe's musicians have adopted the best from the west as their weapons of choice. Gliere and Polekh work very well together, needless to say.

The orchestral fillers are tossed off in the best Soviet style with Glinka's Jota Aragonesa sounding like one Russian's recollection of a Spanish holiday. Amirov's Azerbajian specialty is highly atmospheric and was made for Leopold Stokowski. It's really all quite enjoyable and Samosud displays a deft leadership of the Bolshoi and USSR State Orchestras. I love this music played by the natives!

Admittedly, the sound is rather constricted and lacking much depth or ambiance. This is Melodiya of the early 50's when their state of the art was the US recording industry circa 1935. This all doesn't bother me since I feel priviledged to listen and learn from one of the great brass players of the last century.

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More from Rodzinski and the PSONY

I've heard gazillion recordings of the Nutcracker Suite and so have you. After a while, the music just seems to play itself for god's sake. Well, if you are tired of the hum drum, cookie cutter, totally auto pilot approach, give this a listen. In short, this is the finest take on this overrecorded ballet suite that you are apt to lean an ear towards. There is a bounce in all the numbers and articulation, which often is glossed over, is crisp and clean. Most important, sunshine and a child's sense of merriment abounds in this most childlike of scores. My only regret is that there are a couple of unfortunate skips in the Miniature Overture due to the poor quality of the lp; everything else cleaned up rather well. A gem!

Nutcracker is not the end of the story. Tchaikovsky's Suite No 4 "Mozartiana" is served up in spades, the "prayer" will make your heart melt. To be truthful, I've never much cared for any of these suites or given them much thought but this Rodzinski recording opened my eyes up to Mozart's melodies brilliantly realized by the great Russian master. This is superb arranging and orchestration folks and, Rodzinski knows how to present the palette of colors truthfully and tastefully. 

And....as a fill, I've incorporated a 10 inch by Ormandy of Rimsky's Russian Easter Overture and Prokofiev's Classical Symphony. Each is immaculately performed by this great Philadelphia orchestra. These recordings made during Ormandy's first 20 years in Philly are the real deal.  There is an excitement level, an intensity you might say, that wore off as the stereophonic era took hold and made its way into digital.  Note: The cover above is not from my copy but from the French edition of the record.

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Sviatoslav Richter performs Russian concertos with Kondrashin conducting

A transfer I did sometime ago and I've had it in the can for a while. This one does not benefit from ClickRepair but rather Click Removal in Audacity. And, I believe that the files are mp3 if that matters.

The Monitor label released  a sizeable number of these early to mid 60's Soviet produced recordings and many were benchmark quality, at least for performance!  I would consider these peak Richter performances with Kondrashin and the Moscow PO to be right up there in terms of performance, insight, command of repertoire and interpretative quality. In Richter's hands, the Rimsky comes off as being a minor masterful creation, something that it ain't, certainly not approaching the genius of a Scheherazade. The Prokofiev 1 is a masterpiece and is given a reading that befits its status as one of the great piano concertos of the 20th century. And, the Glazunov 1's interpretation leaves one wondering why this little gem is not more securely fastened to the standard repertoire list. Richter and Kondrashin are like minded artists and this release is a terrific illustration of how the soloists/collaborator role should be followed.

Everything here is quite listenable if forever imprisoned in that distinctive "Melodiya" sound, love it or leave it, depending on your kind of audio preference. Richter is one of the great giants of the keyboard, in any kind of sound!

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Prokofiev conducted by Eduard van Remoortel and the St Louis SO

Here's what appears to be a rather rare find - Eduard van Remoortel conducting the St Louis Symphony Orchestra in Prokofiev's Suite from the Love for Three Oranges and the Scythian Suite on Columbia.

Many of you might know Remoortel from his series of recordings for VOX made mostly in Bamberg and Vienna during the 50's and 60's. I recall a rather fine Grieg disc as well as a convincing Beethoven 7 from London. Anyway, Remoortel had a rather brief and painful stay in the States as music director of the St Louis SO during the late 50's and early 60's. Following the long, and well regarded tenure of Vladimir Golschmann and, being a very young man (not yet in his mid 30's), didn't help the situation. On top of that Remoortel was apparently unhappy with many musicians and he tried to fire a good number though with mixed results. Bottom line, on paper  a failed effort and Remoortel would not hold another significant American appointment, guesting in Europe instead until his early death around the age of 50 in 1977.

Well...its not ALL negative! This is a fine recording by a very good, second tier orchestra. Golschmann had excelled in this repertoire and the STLSO was well prepared for these recordings. Remoortel's efforts are solid and I think this is a fine testament to his musicianship. To fill out  a cd, I've included Golschmann conducting Chout of a  few years earlier, that  being a Capitol record. Enjoy!

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