Glazunov Orchestral Works Tracklist+info

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GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol.1

Moscow Symphony, Anissimov
Disc 1
Raymonda, Op. 57 (Complete Ballet)
1. Act I - Introduction - Premier tableau 0:02:08
2. Act I - Scene I 0:04:07
3. Act I - La traditrice 0:01:32
4. Act I - Scene II 0:01:31
5. Act I - Reprise de la danse 0:00:14
6. Act I - Scene mimique 0:00:39
7. Act I - Le recit de la Comtesse 0:01:56
8. Act I - La danse 0:00:53
9. Act I - Scene III 0:00:37
10. Act I - Scene IV 0:00:49
11. Act I - Scene V 0:01:54
12. Act I - Scene VI 0:02:06
13. Act I - Grande valse 0:03:28
14. Act I - Pizzicato 0:01:19
15. Act I - Reprise de la valse 0:01:28
16. Act 1 - Scene mimique 0:03:43
17. Act I - Prelude 0:00:44
18. Act I - La Romanesca 0:01:28
19. Act I - Prelude et variations 0:01:20
20. Act I - Scene mimique 0:02:28
21. Act I - Scene VII: Apparition de la Dame blanche 0:03:32
22. Act I - Entr'acte 0:04:43
23. Act I - Scene VIII 0:01:41
24. Act I - Troisieme tableau 0:01:41
25. Act I - Grand Adagio 0:04:57
26. Act I - Valse fantastique 0:03:53
27. Act I - Variation I 0:01:16
28. Act I - Variation II 0:00:55
29. Act I - Variation III 0:01:01
30. Act I - Coda 0:04:53
31. Act I - Scene IX 0:00:27
32. Act I - Scene Mimique 0:02:39
33. Act I - Scene X 0:00:24
34. Act I - Ronde des follets et des farfadets 0:01:37
35. Act I - Scene XI 0:01:28
36. Act I - Scene XII 0:01:01
Total Playing Time Disc 1: 1:10:32
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Disc 2
Raymonda, Op. 57 (Complete Ballet)
1. Act II - Entr'acte 0:01:55
2. Act II - Scene I 0:01:59
3. Act II - Scene II 0:02:08
4. Act II - Scene III 0:04:42
5. Act II - Variation I 0:01:07
6. Act II - Variation II 0:01:56
7. Act II - Variation III 0:01:04
8. Act II - Variation IV 0:00:59
9. Act II - Grand coda 0:02:56
10. Act II - Scene mimique 0:00:59
11. Act II - Entree des jongleurs 0:01:20
12. Act II - Danse des garcons arabes 0:00:53
13. Act II - Entree des Sarrazins 0:00:49
14. Act II - Grand pas espagnol 0:02:19
15. Act II - Danse orientale 0:01:56
16. Act II - Bacchanale 0:03:06
17. Act II - Scene IV 0:01:48
18. Act II - Le combat 0:01:29
19. Act II - Hymne 0:01:53
20. Act III - Entr'acte 0:04:39
21. Act III - Le cortege hongrois 0:03:30
22. Act III - Grand pas hongrois 0:04:38
23. Act III - Danse des enfants 0:01:50
24. Act III - Entree 0:02:13
25. Act III - Pas classique hongrois 0:03:58
26. Act III - Variation I 0:00:58
27. Act III - Variation II 0:01:23
28. Act III - Variation III 0:00:54
29. Act III - Variation IV 0:02:32
30. Act III - Coda 0:02:14
31. Act III - Galop 0:02:33
32. Act III - Apotheose 0:01:56
Total Playing Time Disc 2: 1:08:36
Total Playing Time Disc 1 & 2: 2:19:08

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Moscow Symphony, Krimets
The Kremlin, Op. 30
1. I. Popular Festival 0:08:11
2. II. In the Cloister 0:10:03
3. III. The Entrance and the Coronation of the Prince 0:09:25
From the Middle Ages, Op. 79
4. I. Prelude 0:08:13
5. II. Scherzo 0:04:18
6. III. The Troubador's Serenade 0:04:09
7. IV. Finale: the Crusaders 0:09:42
Poeme lyrique, Op. 12
8. Poeme lyrique, Op. 12 0:10:43
Poeme epique, Op. Posth.
9. Poeme epique, Op. posth. 0:14:39
Total Playing Time: 01:19:23

Moscow Symphony, Golovschin
The King of the Jews, Op. 95
1. Introduction and Chorus 0:09:43
2. Song of the Disciples of Jesus 0:04:54
3. Entr'acte to Act II 0:08:50
4. Trumpets of the Levites 0:01:08
5. Act II - Conclusion 0:00:51
6. Entr'acte to Act III, Scene 1 0:08:35
7. Entr'acte to Act III, Scene 2 0:06:04
8. Syrian Dance 0:06:46
9. Entr'acte to Act IV 0:06:47
10. Shepherd's Musette 0:01:15
11. Psalm of the Believers 0:04:41

Stenka Razin, Op. 13
1. Stenka Razin, Op. 13 0:16:21
Une fete slave, Op. 26a
2. Une fete slave, Op. 26a 0:12:40
Cortege solennel, Op. 50
3. Cortege solennel, Op. 50 0:06:08
Fantasy, Op. 53, "Ot mraka ko svetu" (From Darkness to Light)
4. Fantasy, Op. 53, "Ot mraka ko svetu" (From Darkness to Light) 0:10:55
Mazurka in G Major, Op. 18
5. Mazurka in G Major, Op. 18 0:09:22
Marche sur un theme russe, Op. 76
6. Marche sur un theme russe, Op. 76 0:04:50

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Symphony No. 2 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 16
1. I. Andante maestoso: Allegro 0:13:30
2. II. Andante 0:10:34
3. III. Scherzo: Allegro vivace 0:08:23
4. IV. Intrada: Andante sostenuto 0:12:28
Symphony No. 7 in F Major, Op. 77, "Pastoral"
5. I. Allegro moderato 0:08:04
6. II. Andante 0:09:16
7. III. Scherzo: Allegro giocoso 0:05:32
8. IV. Finale: Allegro maestoso 0:10:01

Overture: Carnaval, Op. 45
1. Overture: Carnaval, Op. 45 0:10:34
Spring, Op. 34
2. Spring, Op. 34 0:13:50
Concert Waltz No. 1, Op. 47
3. Concert Waltz No. 1, Op. 47 0:09:08
Concert Waltz No. 2, Op. 51
4. Concert Waltz No. 2, Op. 51 0:08:44
Salome, Op. 90: Incidental music to the play by Oscar Wilde
5. I. Introduction 0:09:02
6. II. Dance 0:08:41

Symphony No. 1 in E Major, Op. 5, "Slavyanskaya"
1. I. Allegro 0:11:10
2. II. Scherzo: Allegro 0:04:56
3. III. Adagio 0:09:27
4. IV. Finale: Allegro 0:10:02
Symphony No. 4 in E-Flat Major, Op. 48
5. I. Andante: Allegro moderato 0:16:02
6. II. Scherzo: Allegro vivace 0:05:52
7. III. Andante: Allegro 0:12:20

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Ballet Suite, Op. 52
1. I. Preambule 0:03:16
2. II. Marionnettes 0:02:13
3. III. Mazurka 0:04:09
4. IV. Scherzino 0:01:29
5. V. Pas d'action 0:05:43
6. VI. Danse Orientale 0:02:40
7. VII. Valse 0:04:27
8. VIII. Polonaise 0:05:42
Scene Dansante, Op. 81
9. I. Andante sostenuto 0:09:47
The Seasons, Op. 67
10. I. L'Hiver. Introduction 0:02:24
11. II. ler Tableau 0:01:41
12. III. Variation I 'Le Givre' 0:00:56
13. IV. Variation II 'La Glace' 0:01:09
14. V. Variation III 'La Grele' 0:00:58
15. VI. Variation IV 'La Neige' 0:03:31
16. VII. 2me Tableau. Le Printemps 0:05:17
17. VIII. 3me Tableau. L'Ete 0:02:20
18. IX. Valse des Bluets et des Pavots 0:01:40
19. X. Barcarolle 0:03:00
20. XI. Variation 0:01:15
21. XII. Coda 0:03:59
22. XIII. 4me Tableau. L'Automne 0:04:32
23. XIV. Petit Adagio 0:04:37
24. XV. Allegro 0:02:35

Finnish Fantasy, Op. 88
1. Finnish Fantasy, Op. 88 0:15:39
Finnish Sketches, Op. 89
2. I. From Kalevala 0:05:46
3. II. Solemn Procession 0:04:27
Karelian Legend, Op. 99
4. Karelian Legend, Op. 99 0:21:59
Ouverture solenelle, Op. 73
5. Ouverture solennelle, Op. 73 0:10:45
Wedding March, Op. 21
6. Wedding March, Op. 21 0:06:15

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Le Chant du Destin, Op. 84: Moderato
1. Le Chant du Destin, Op. 84: Moderato 0:19:03
Suite Caracteristique, Op. 9
2. I. Introduction 0:02:20
3. II. Danse rustique 0:03:12
4. III. Intermezzo scherzando 0:07:53
5. IV. Carneval 0:05:08
6. V. Pastorale 0:06:05
7. VI. Danse orientale 0:04:45
8. VII. Elegie 0:04:30
9. VIII. Cortege 0:03:50
Preludes Op. 85, No. 1, 2
10. Op. 85, No. 1, "A la memoire de Wladimir Stassoff": Andante 0:06:15
11. Prelude, Op. 85, No. 2, "A la memoire de Rimsky-Korsakow": Andante lugubre 0:12:23

Rudin, Moscow Symphony, Golovschin
Cello Concerto Ballata, Op. 108
1. Cello Concerto Ballata, Op. 108 0:21:05
Chant du menestrel for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 71
2. Chant du menestrel for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 71 0:04:02
Two Pieces for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 20
3. I. Melodie: Moderato 0:07:19
4. II. Serenade espagnole: Allegretto 0:03:04
A la memoire de Gogol, Op. 87
5. A la memoire de Gogol, Op. 87 0:12:59
A la memoire d'un heros, Op. 8
6. A la memoire d'un heros, Op. 8 0:15:58

Symphony No. 3 in D Major, Op. 33
1. I. Allegro 0:13:09
2. II. Scherzo (Vivace) 0:08:58
3. III. Andante 0:14:14
4. IV. Finale (Allegro moderato) 0:13:49
Symphony No. 9 in D Minor
5. Symphony No. 9 in D Minor 0:11:28

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Symphony No. 6 in C Minor, Op. 58
1. I Adagio - Allegro appassionato 0:11:05
2. II Theme and Variations 0:11:04
3. III Intermezzo: Allegretto 0:04:53
IV Finale: Andante maestoso - Moderato maestoso - Scherzando - Allegro pesante
4. 0:11:03
- Allegro moderato
The Forest, Op. 19
5. The Forest, Op. 19 0:21:02

Yablonskaya, Moscow Symphony, Yablonsky
^^Artsibushev^^/^^Liadov^^/^^Rimsky-Korsakov^^/^^Sokolov^^/^^Vitols^^/^^Glazunov^^
Variations on a Russian Theme
1. Theme 0:01:02
2. Variation 1 (Artsibushev) 0:01:36
3. Variation 2 (Vitols) 0:01:32
4. Variation 3 (Lyadov) 0:00:48
5. Variation 4 (Rimsky-Korsakov) 0:01:59
6. Variation 5 (Sokolov) 0:02:58
7. Variation 6 (Glazunov) 0:03:38
Piano Concerto No. 1 in F Minor, Op. 92
9. II. Theme with Variations 0:20:55
Piano Concerto No. 2 in B Major, Op. 100
10. Piano Concerto No. 2 in B Major, Op. 100 0:21:02

Symphony No. 5 in B-Flat Major, Op. 55
1. I. Moderato maestoso: Allegro 0:12:33
2. II. Scherzo: Moderato 0:05:21
3. III. Andante 0:09:41
4. IV. Allegro maestoso 0:07:37
Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major, Op. 83
6. II. Mesto 0:11:47
7. III. Allegro 0:06:42
8. IV. Finale: Moderato sostenuto - Allegro moderato 0:12:33

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The Sea, Op. 28
1. The Sea, Op. 28 0:21:34
Oriental Rhapsody, Op. 29
2. I. Evening. The Town Sleeps. The Watchmen's Call. Song of a Young Improviser 0:06:48
3. II. Dance of the Young Men and Girls 0:05:15
4. III. An Old Man's Ballad 0:06:56
5. IV. Fanfares. Return of the Victorious Troops. General Triumph 0:03:15
V. Celebration of the Warriors. The Young Improvisor Appears in the Middle of the
6. 0:05:08
Dance. Unbridled Orgy
Ballade, Op. 78
7. Ballade, Op. 78 0:15:36
Cortege solennel, Op. 91
8. Cortege solennel, Op. 91 0:04:11

Moscow Symphony, Ziva
Triumphal March, Op. 40
1. Triumphal March, Op. 40 0:09:46
Serenade No. 1, Op. 7
2. Serenade No. 1, Op. 7 0:04:02
Overture No. 1 on Three Greek Themes, Op. 3
3. Overture No. 1 on Three Greek Themes, Op. 3 0:14:46
Serenade No. 2, Op. 11
4. Serenade No. 2, Op. 11 0:03:48
Overture No. 2 on Three Greek Themes, Op. 6
5. Overture No. 2 on Three Greek Themes, Op. 6 0:18:48
Chopiniana, Op. 46
6. Polonaise 0:05:01
7. Nocturne 0:05:06
8. Mazurka 0:06:02
9. Tarantelle 0:03:14

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Russian Philharmonic, Yablonsky
Maskarad (Masquerade)
1. Act I: Tableau 2 0:00:47
2. Act I: Pantomime 1 0:00:32
3. Act I: Mazurka 0:04:07
5. Act I: Quadrille 0:01:11
7. Act I: Scene 2 0:00:50
9. Act I: Scene 3 0:01:06
11. Act I: Scene 4 0:00:47
13. Act I: Entrance 7 0:00:28
15. Act I: Scene 6: Galop 0:02:24
16. Act III: Tableau 8: Polonaise 0:03:04
17. Act III: Tableau 3: Chiming Clock 0:00:59
18. Act III: Tableau 6 0:00:24
19. Act III: Valse 0:05:37
20. Act III: Tableau 9 0:01:02
21. Act III: Entr'acte 0:01:45
22. Act IV: Scene 1 0:03:15
23. Act IV: Entrance 6 0:00:27
24. Act IV: Pantomime 11 0:00:22
25. Act IV: Chorus 0:00:37
26. Act IV: Moderato 0:02:56
2 Pieces, Op. 14
27. No. 1. Idylle 0:08:38
28. No. 2. Reverie orientale 0:07:15
Pas de caractere, Op. 68
29. Pas de caractere, Op. 68 0:02:22
Romantic Intermezzo, Op. 69
30. Romantic Intermezzo, Op. 69 0:11:09

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Iasi Moldova Philharmonic, Andreescu
Les Ruses d'amour, Op. 61
1. Introduction et Scene I 0:05:11
2. Recitatif mimique 0:02:35
3. Sarabande 0:02:19
4. Farandole et Scene II 0:03:09
5. Danse des marionettes 0:04:04
6. Scene III 0:02:55
7. Scenes IV et V 0:02:55
8. Variation 0:01:00
9. Scene VI: Marcia 0:02:48
10. Scene VII: Grande Valse 0:07:17
11. Scenes VIII - XI 0:03:33
12. Ballabile des paysans et des paysannes 0:04:21
13. Grand pas des fiances 0:04:06
14. Variation 0:01:56
15. La Fricassee 0:02:46

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GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol. 1

Raymonda, Op. 57 (Ballet in Three Acts)
Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov has not fared well at the hands of later critics. He enjoyed a
remarkably successful career in music, becoming Director of the St Petersburg Conservatory in 1905 in
the aftermath of the political disturbances of that year, and retaining the position, latterly in absentia, for
the next twenty-five years. His earlier compositions were well received, but the very facility that had
attracted the attention and friendship of his teacher Rimsky-Korsakov was to be held against him. A
Russian critic could praise him for the reconciliation he had apparently effected between the Russian
music of his time and the music of Western Europe, but for a considerable time the Soviet authorities
regarded his music as bourgeois, while one of the most eminent of writers in the West on Russian music,
Gerald Abraham, considered that it had fallen to Glazunov to lead what he described as the comfortable
decline of Russian music into ignominious mediocrity. Recent critics have occasionally taken a more
balanced view of Glazunov's achievement. Due respect is paid to his success in bringing about a
synthesis of Russian and Western European music, the tradition of the Five and that of Rubinstein. Boris
Schwarz has summarised the composer's career neatly, allowing him to have been a composer of
imposing stature and a stabilising influence in a time of transition and turmoil.
Born in St Petersburg in 1865, the son of a publisher and bookseller, as a child Glazunov showed
considerable ability in music and in 1879 met Balakirev, who encouraged the boy to broaden his general
musical education, while taking lessons from Rimsky-Korsakov. By the age of sixteen he had completed
the first of his nine symphonies, a work that was performed in 1882 under the direction of Balakirev, and
further compositions were welcomed by both factions in Russian musical life, the nationalist and the so-
called German.
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Glazunov continued his association with Rimsky-Korsakov until the latter's death in 1909. It was in his
company that he became a regular member of the circle of musicians under the patronage of Belyayev,
perceived by Balakirev as a rival to his own influence. Belyayev introduced Glazunov to Liszt, whose
support led to the spread of the young composer's reputation abroad. The First Symphony was
performed in Weimar in 1884, the Second directed by Glazunov at the 1889 Paris Exhibition. The Fourth
and Fifth Symphonies were introduced to the London public in 1897. In 1899 Glazunov joined the staff of
the Conservatory in St Petersburg and in 1905, when peace was restored to the institution after student
demonstrations, he became Director, a position he held, nominally at least, until 1930.
In 1928 Glazunov left Russia to fulfil concert engagements abroad, finally, in 1932, making his home in
Paris, where he died four years later. These last years took him to a number of countries, where he
conducted concerts of his own works. In England a reporter compared his appearance to that of a
prosperous retired tea-planter, with his gold watch-chain spread across his starched white waistcoat,
resembling, for all the world, a well-to-do bank-manager. His views on modem music were often severe.
He found the Heldenleben of Richard Strauss disgusting and referred to the composer as cet infame
scribouilleur. Of Stravinsky he remarked that he had irrefutable proof of the inadequacy of his ear.
Nevertheless it was under his direction that the Conservatory produced a number of very distinguished
musicians. While Prokofiev did little to endear himself to Glazunov, Shostakovich received considerable
encouragement and was unstinting in his admiration of the older composer as a marked influence on all
the students with whom he had contact, to whom Glazunov was a living legend.
The music of Raymonda has proved very much more satisfactory than the original ballet. In 1895 the
minor novelist and columnist Lydia Pashkova submitted her scenario to the director of the Imperial
Theatres, Ivan Vsevolozhsky. After revision this was sent to the veteran choreographer of the Imperial
ballet, Marius Petipa. The work was eventually staged at the Marlinsky Theatre in St Petersburg in
January 1898, initially with a benefit performance for Pierina Legnani, who danced the title role. Sergey
Legat took the premier danseur role of Jean de Brienne, with Pavel Gerdt in the character role of
Abderakhman. Sets were designed by Orest Allegri, Konstantin Ivanov and Petr Lambru and costumes by
Ekaterina Ofizerova and Ivan Kaffi.
The action of the ballet is set in medieval Hungary. Raymonda is betrothed to Jean de Brienne, a
crusader, who is called away to the wars. She is also the object of desire to the Saracen knight
Abderakhman, who plans to abduct her. The White Lady (Dame blanche), a guardian spirit of
Raymonda's noble family, appears and prevents the abduction, and Abderakhman is killed in combat by
Jean de Brienne. The principal action ends with the second act. The third act honours the happy couple,
Raymonda and Jean de Brienne, and is sometimes offered now as a separate item in ballet programmes.
It consists of a series of divertissements, including the famous Pas classique hongrois.
There have been various re-stagings of Raymonda, either in its original form, or with a revised scenario
and adapted choreography, with versions by Pavlova, Balanchin and Nureyev among others. Dyagilev
himself took from it a men's pas de quatre, with Nizhinsky, for his opening season in Paris in 1909.
However unsatisfactory the narrative and dramatic structure of the piece, it remains, in the version of
the eighty-year-old Marius Petipa, a classic of choreography, while its music has its own lasting
attractions. Glazunov shared with Tchaikovsky an ability to handle the short forms that ballet demands,
within a coherent wider structure. His evocative score for Raymonda is immensely colourful, whether in
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the varied set-pieces of the first act, with its romance, its ghostly apparitions and dance of elves and
goblins, or in the character dances of the exotic second act or in the final celebrations of the third.
Reviews
Penguin Guide, January 2009

This Naxos version is played elegantly and affectionately, and the Moscow upper strings are full and
warm as recorded. It does not lack life. But in seeking atmosphere, the playing creates a less than
vibrant effect, although this is partly caused by Alexander Anissimov’s tendency to luxuriant tempi.
Penguin Guide, December 1996

"...variety is the spice of a geographically fidgety scenario with all musical opportunites skilfully taken;
and conductor Alexander Anissimov looks for lively phrasing at every turn in another Naxos
thoroughbred."
American Record Guide, October 1996

"Annissimov positively luxuriates in this music...in terms of both sound and performance this is the
Raymonda to have."
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The Kremlin / From the Middle Ages / Poeme Lyrique / Poeme Epique
impressed Balakirev and attracted the attention and friendship of his teacher Rimsky-Korsakov was to be
held against him. A Russian critic could praise him for the reconciliation he had apparently effected
between the Russian music of his time and the music of Western Europe, but for a considerable time the
Soviet authorities regarded his music as bourgeois, while one of the most eminent of writers in the West
on Russian music, Gerald Abraham, considered that it had fallen to Glazunov to lead what he described
as the comfortable decline of Russian music into ignominious mediocrity. Recent critics have occasionally
taken a more balanced view of Glazunov's achievement. Due respect is paid to his success in bringing
about a synthesis of Russian and Western European music, the tradition of the Five and that of
Rubinstein, founder of the St Petersburg Conservatory and a system of professional training for
musicians. Boris Schwarz has summarised the composer's career neatly, allowing him to have been a
composer of imposing stature and a stabilising influence in a time of transition and turmoil.
called German.
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Glazunov continued his association with Rimsky-Korsakovuntil the latter's death in 1909. It was in his
demonstrations, he became Director, a position he held, nominally at least, unti11930.
resembling, for all the world, a well-to-do bank- manager. His views on modern music were often severe.
He found the Heldenleben of Richard Strauss disgusting and referred to the composer as'' cet inf3me
scribouilleur". Of Stravinsky he remarked that he had irrefutable proof of the inadequacy of his ear.
musicians. While Prokofiev did little to endear himself to Glazunov, Shostakovich, whose father secured a
supply of vodka for his son's teacher, received considerable encouragement and was unstinting in his
admiration of the older composer as a marked influence on all the students with whom he had contact, to
whom Glazunov was a living legend.
The symphonic picture The Kremlin was written in 1890 and is fully in the nationalist mood, as
characterized by Glazunov's mentor Rimsky-Korsakov. The picture is, in fact, thoroughly Russian in its
thematic content, revealing the heart of Russia in the great monuments of the Kremlin, its palaces and
cathedrals, in music that seems to reflect something of the music of the Five and something of what was
to come with the Russian ballets of Rimsky- Korsakov's pupil Stravinsky. The first of the three
movements shows the grandeur of the Kremlin, against which is set a popular festival, before the
meditative and religious mood of the second movement, with the tolling of the bell and the solemn
traditional chant. The third movement brings a lightening of atmosphere, with music of alternating
energy and lyricism, ending in exultant triumph, for the entry of the Prince.
There is a further return to an older world in the suite Iz srednikh vekov (From the Middle Ages), written
in 1902. The opening Prelude, ominous in its first bars, moves forward to something more lyrical and
romantic in contour, as young lovers lie together, oblivious of the stormy sea outside the castle. The
second movement Scherzo bursts in, with all its vigour, a street-actor's Dance of Death, a demonstration
again of Glazunov's mastery of instrumental colour. This leads, without a perceptible break, to the third
movement, Troubadour's Serenade, with its harp accompaniment and gently extended melody that
gradually dies away to nothing. The suite ends with The Crusaders. A fanfare introduces music of martial
character, although there are again moments of lyrical contrast, with a meditative element suggested by
the nature of the subject, ending in a hymn of triumph.
Glazunov's poeme lyrique was written between 1884 and 1887, during the first years of his connection
with Belyayev. The work opens with a fine-spun melody of essentially romantic dimension, Russian in its
colouring, if less so in its thematic content. The poeme epique was written in 1933 and 1934 during the
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composer's final years in Paris, in honour of the Academie des Beaux Arts de l'lnstitut de France. Any
programme to this Russian epic bilina, with finely crafted music, an example of Glazunov's continuing
sureness of touch and command of earlier idiom in what is by now a new age, is best left to the
imagination of the listener. Nevertheless, thematically, the work is based on the letter-names A, C, A, D,
E (mi) and E, although it is completely in the earlier idiom of The Kremlin.
Reviews
Matty J. Hiffi
Classical Rough and Ready, January 2010
GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol. 2 - The Kremlin / From the Middle Ages / Poeme Lyrique /
Poeme Epique (Moscow Symphony, Krimets) 8.553537
GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol. 3 - The King of the Jews (Moscow Symphony, Golovschin)
8.553575
GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol. 11 - Concerto Ballata / Chant du menestrel (Rudin, Moscow
Symphony, Golovschin) 8.553932
Revered by his own generation, maligned by the next. It’s the story of too many composers. Just think
for a moment and you can probably come up with a half a dozen examples. No? Well, I can. But there is
one in particular whose downgraded reputation cannot be known by anyone with ears to be anything
other than the glaring error which it is. I shouldn’t even characterize it as “an error.” That makes it
sound as if someone just accidentally goofed, or overlooked The Truth. No, this man’s reputation was
systematically scuttled by some critics determined to vilify anything less than avant garde and others
anything less than politically correct. And I’m referring to the brand of political correctness which was
born under Lenin and flourished under Stalin. The composer in question? Alexander Konstantinovich
Glazunov.
Now, you might say, good old Glazunov has been restored by the current generation of critics to his
rightful throne of mediocrity. But I would challenge this. Yes, contemporary critics may praise him for
embodying the synthesis of Russian and European music, they may admire his adroit traversal of
tumultuous times, and they may applaud his role in the education of the next generation of Russian
composers. But in the same breath they will accuse him of sounding too much like Borodin, Rimsky-
Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, and even Tanayev, all at the expense of sounding like himself. As if any artist
would not seek to emmulate what has been successful in the past. As if it were some sort of crime to be
influenced by others. As if any artist can exist in a vacuum. What fools these critics be. All anyone has to
do is actually listen to the music. I wonder if that ever occured to any of them.
So even the Glazunov of the revisionists is only grudgingly positive, suggesting that all the hard work the
man did cannot make up for an ultimate lack of inspiration. Inspiration? Inspiration! It’s there in every
note! Why does no one listen to anything but the violin concerto? I mean, it’s a charming concerto and
everything. I love it. But there’s so much more!
Now I don’t presume to be a Glazunov specialist. In fact, just the opposite. I’ve come to him late, and
only in fits and starts. (Mostly because he’s so hard to find on account of the musical world choosing to
pass him by). But I’m astounded by every note I hear, and I cannot figure out why such a prolific
composer has only 313 cds currently in print. It’s a scandal.
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So let me put a few of his exemplary compositions on the table for you. Try them if you feel
adventurous. I might be wrong, but I bet you’ll be surprised. Pleasantly.
Huge praise to Naxos, for a start. Everything under discussion here is from them. I will also give some
small credit to Chandos for making a token effort with Glazunov (and with Gretchaninov, another
unjustly forgotten Russian), but their efforts pale beside those of Naxos. In fact, Naxos accounts for 11%
of all Glazunov in print, with 34 discs. I call your attention to volumes 2, 3 and 11 in their series of
Glazunov’s Orchestral Works.
Amongst the treasures of volume two you will find a little gem called The Kremlin. First movement, guts.
Second movement, quiet introspection. Third movement, glory. It has it all. It may not be quite as
extroverted as, say, Capriccio Espagnol, but it definitely has backbone and bottom, as Chief Whip Francis
Urquhart would say. And that’s more than a lot of music has. Certainly more than you’d think Glazunov
to have, if you listen to the “conventional wisdom.” Conventional nonsense, more like. (People say Ravel
was a master of orchestral color—well, just listen to the tolling-bell effect in the second movement and
tell me Glazunov wasn’t a genius of orchestration!) This is perhaps the last of the great 19th century
Russian musical postcards and a very fitting end to the tradition. Out with a bang, not with a whimper.
Accessible, well-developed, some hefty brass writing, rousing, charming, very Russian, and very, very
good. (At the 7:28 mark of the last movement one of the Moscow Symphony’s trumpeters hits a clunker,
but apart from that it’s all good.)
Volume three is incidental music from a play called The King of the Jews…I have only the Golovschin on
Naxos. But it’s brilliant. This is atmospheric, at times quite engaging, and an excellent example of the art
of incidental music—all the more impressive considering the scarcity of models, Russian or otherwise.
The introduction is a very nicely crafted exercise in subtle variation of scale, rather than of theme. It is,
like much of the work, introspective, often stately, and a little mournful—how could it not be given the
subject matter? But the piece as a whole is punctuated with occasional outbursts of grandeur—The
Trumpets of the Levites, Entr’acte to Act III, Scene 2 and the Syrian Dance are all dramatic and/or lively
enough to engage even the most humorless listener. The final section, Psalm of the Believers, is a quietly
glorious variation of the original statement from the introduction, and a beautiful homage to traditional
Russian liturgical music.
And finally, on volume eleven, you will find works for cello and orchestra, and in particular I would draw
your attention to the Concerto Ballata. Sweet, very Russian, and just the right amounts of melancholy
and drama. Recorded only three times. I could understand a conductor choosing to ignore Glazunov’s
orchestral works in favor of…whatever else happened to catch his fancy. But the Concerto Ballata seems
like a no-brainer for any cellist. Usually when a concertante work fails to find champions it’s because it
isn’t virtuosic enough. Now, as you may recall, I’m no cellist, but quite apart from being a genuinely
appealing piece of music, the concerto seems enough of a technical challenge to attract at least a little
more attention than it gets. Why isn’t it a staple of the repertoire? Any cellists out there feel free to
chime in. And, just to rub it in the faces of the idiots who claim that Glazunov looked too much to the
past and not enough to the future, there are some genuinely forward-looking moments in this work.
Maybe not a lot of them, but there are some rather brilliantly edgy (for Glazunov) moments toward the
end, as well as a soloist’s dream of a finale. You’ll hear a definite debt to Elgar’s Enigma but more
importantly you’ll hear little twinges of the more chromatic Rachmaninoff. Not enough to make you think
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he’s copying his compatriot, but enough just to show you that he can do it, and do it with style. The
cadenza which starts around the thirteen minute mark is achingly sweet. I especially appreciate that
Glazunov’s idea of virtuosity goes beyond merely having the soloist leap about on the A string. There is
so much more to any instrument than the hairy edge of its range, and Glazunov understands this. Also,
the finale is utterly brilliant.
Try them all, or just try any one of them. You’ll see what I mean. And you’ll begin to realize just what is
(or isn’t) the worth of “conventional” music criticism.
Gramophone, October 1996

The Moscow Symphony players show real feeling for the orthodox choruses and bellsongs of The
Kremlin’s middle movement…
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The King of the Jews, Op. 95 (Incidental Music)
music of his day and the music of Western Europe, but for a considerable time the Soviet authorities
synthesis of Russian and Western European music, the tradition of the Five and that of Rubinstein,
founder of the St Petersburg Conservatory and a system of professional training for musicians. Boris
imposing stature and a stabilising influence in a time of transition and turmoil, while Simon Mundy, in a
recent monograph, has done much to restore interest in a composer who has been generally
undervalued.
- Page 20 of 90 -
called German.
resembling, for all the world, a well-to-do bank-manager. His views on modern music were often severe.
He found the Heldenleben of Richard Strauss disgusting and referred to the composer as cet infdme
scribouiIleur. Of Stravinsky he remarked that he had irrefutable proof of the inadequacy of his ear.
Glazunov's incidental music to the play The King of the Jews (Tsar Iudeyskiy) was composed in 1913 for
a religious drama written by the Grand Duke Konstantin, to be performed at the Hermitage by a group of
army officers. Glazunov had been approached in 1912 by Captain Danilchenko of the Ismailov Regiment
and the producer Nikolay Nikolayevich Arbatov. At first he was unenthusiastic, but his interest was
aroused when he read the text, in which Christ himself never appears, but is seen only by the actors.
Glazunov later explained how a melody came to him, to be associated with the figure of Christ on the
cross, a theme that was at the basis of the whole work, as he conceived it. He worked on the original
score in the spring of 1913, completing it in the autumn, when he played the music through to the Grand
Duke at the Pavlov Palace. Winning immediate approval, he then set about orchestrating the work,
devising it in a form that would also allow concert performance. The court orchestra was conducted by
Hugo Warlich, with stage direction by Arbatov and choreography by Fokin. The Grand Duke took the part
of Josef, with professional actors in other major roles, minor parts being left to officers of the Imperial
Guard. The play was first performed in the Hermitage Theatre on 9thJanuary 1914, but the music was
later played under Glazunov's direction in a number of cities. He himself related how the officers of the
Ismailov Regiment remembered in particular the chorus for the resurrection of Christ, in the difficult
times of war that lay ahead.
The very Russian score that Glazunov provided for the drama begins with a serene Introduction leading
to the first chorus, greeting Christ with hosannas. This is immediately followed by the strongly liturgical
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Song of the Disciples of Jesus. The Entr' acte before the second act is again markedly Russian in feeling.
It is followed by the brass of the Levite trumpets and the act ends in tragedy. The Entr' acte to the first
scene of the third act leads to a sombre march, while the second scene Entr'acte, opening strongly, ends
on a more plaintive note. The Syrian Dance provides a note of relative exoticism, while the shepherd
plays a pipe, rather than a musette. The music ends with the fervent Psalm of the Believers, the chorus
that appealed so strongly to the officers of the Ismailov Regiment.
Moscow Capella (choms-master Sergey Krivobokov)
The Moscow Capella was founded in 1991 by Sergey Krivobokov and is the official choir of the Patriarch's
Krutitskoye two residence in Moscow. The choir performs religious and secular repertoire and has made a
number of recordings.
Moscow Symphony Orchestra
The Moscow Symphony Orchestra was established in 1989 and is under the direction of the distinguished
French musician Antonio de Almeida. The members of the orchestra include prize-winners and laureates
of International and Russian music competitions, graduates of the conservatories of Moscow, Leningrad
and Kiev, who have played under conductors such as Svetlanov, Rozhdestvensky, Mravinsky and Ozawa,
in Russia and throughout the world. The orchestra toured in 1991 to Finland and to England, where
collaboration with a well known rock band demonstrated readiness for experiment. A British and
Japanese commission has brought a series of twelve television programmes for international distribution
and in 1993 there was a highly successful tour of Spain. The Moscow Symphony Orchestra has a wide
repertoire, with particular expertise in the performance of contemporary works.
Igor Golovschin
The Russian conductor Igor Golovschin was born in Moscow in 1956 and entered the piano class of the
Special Music School at the age of six. In 1975 he joined the class of Kyril Kondrashin at the Moscow
Conservatory and in 1981 joined the Irkutsk Symphony Orchestra, winning the Herbert von Karajan
Conductors' Competition in the following year, followed, in 1983, by victory in the Moscow National
Conductors' Competition. Five years later he was invited to join the USSR State Symphony Orchestra,
where he is assistant to Yevgeny Svetlanov. With this orchestra he has toured throughout Europe and as
far afield as Japan.
Reviews
Matty J. Hiffi
8.553575
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Glazunov.
- Page 23 of 90 -
Volume three is incidental music from a play called The King of the Jews. Recorded only twice, the
second time by Polyansky…I have only the Golovschin on Naxos. But it’s brilliant. This is atmospheric, at
times quite engaging, and an excellent example of the art of incidental music—all the more impressive
considering the scarcity of models, Russian or otherwise. The introduction is a very nicely crafted
exercise in subtle variation of scale, rather than of theme. It is, like much of the work, introspective,
often stately, and a little mournful—how could it not be given the subject matter? But the piece as a
whole is punctuated with occasional outbursts of grandeur—The Trumpets of the Levites, Entr’acte to Act
III, Scene 2 and the Syrian Dance are all dramatic and/or lively enough to engage even the most
humorless listener. The final section, Psalm of the Believers, is a quietly glorious variation of the original
statement from the introduction, and a beautiful homage to traditional Russian liturgical music.
Classic CD, December 1996

…Golovshin’s interpretation is undoubtedly effective…At bargain price the…one to buy if you are trying
out this intermittently beguiling music for the first time.
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Stenka Razin / Une fete slave / Cortege solennel
Noticed by Balakirev (founding father of the Mighty Handful), taught by Rimsky-Korsakov, and
encouraged by Liszt, Glazunov was Director of the St Petersburg Conservatoire from 1905 to 1930. In
1932, disenchanted with communism, he settled in Paris, joining other Russian emigres there, among
them the younger Medtner. His copious output - belonging principally to that period between the deaths
of Mussorgsky (1881) and Scriabin (1915) – included eight completed symphonies, four concertos for
violin and piano, three ballets, a number of choral works, seven string quartets, and two piano sonatas.
He published a centenary volume on Schubert in 1928.
A living legend, the oracle of Establishment St Petersburg, Glazunov's life was charmed, rewarded,
honoured (from Ox bridge doctorates in 1907 to People's Artist of the Republic in 1922), but ultimately
uneventful, and finally disillusioned. "Few composers," wrote Rosa Newmarch many years ago, "made
their debut under more favourable auspices or won appreciation so rapidly [the schoolboy First
Symphony and first two quartets] ...His career seemed the realisation of a fairy-tale set to music until
the political troubles of his country threw his life and his art into the shadows". In October 1883 Vladimir
Stasov, critic and champion of the Balakirev circle, predicted a golden future for him (he was just
eighteen): "The principal characteristics of his music thus far are an incredibly vast sweep; power,
inspiration, wondrous beauty, rich fantasy, sometimes humour, sadness, passion, and always amazing
clarity and freedom of form". Life, history, the years took their toll. When the young Nicolas Slonimsky
auditioned for him in 1908, he remembered an imposing man of "corporeal immensity (he weighed over
300 pounds)", matching "the contrapuntal solidity of his music ...He liked good food and he drank liquor
to excess [he was also a heavy smoker]. When I saw him again in 1918, he looked like a skeleton
covered with loosely hanging clothes; he must have lost half of his weight". He ended his post-Revolution
New Order days pitifully deprived -sharing two rooms with his aged mother (he was still her "baby boy"),
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fearing his stock of music manuscript paper would run out, and dependent on Shostakovich's father
risking his life to keep him illegally supplied with raw government alcohol.
Widely travelled, the cosmopolitan Glazunov was a radical second generation Russian nationalist-turned-
conservative European Brahmsian, "a stabilising influence in a time of transition and turmoil" (Boris
Schwarz, 1980). He was a lyricist in the Tchaikovsky manner. He revered Mussorgsky and Borodin
(editing the former, and completing the latter's Prince Igor and Third Symphony). He caught the essence
of Rimsky's orchestration with a brilliance to match the colour and imagination of the original. And he
thought so totally "about music [that] when he spoke about it, you remembered for life" (Shostakovich).
Historically, though - being how he was, living in the era and place he did - was it his misfortune to have
been born arguably too late for the nineteenth century and too early for the twentieth? His music, more
reviled than revived since his death, has certainly had difficulty withstanding the legacy of his
predecessors and successors.
Published in memory of Borodin, the symphonic fantasy-poem Stenka Razin, Op. 13 (1885), was one of
Glazunov's earliest nationalist successes. First performed at Belayev's expense at a concert in St
Petersburg directed by GO Dutsch (23rd November 1885), he himself later conducted it during the 1889
Paris Exposition Universelle - as the final item of Rimsky-Korsakov's first "Concert Russe" at the
Trocadero (22nd June). Around the same time also, according to Rimsky's Autobiography, Messager and
Raoul Pugno played it in a piano duet arrangement (Glazunov's own), a feat repeated some years after
(in 1905) by Ravel and Ricardo Vines. Stefan Razin was a chief (ataman) of the Don Cossacks, who in
1670 rebelled against the ruling-landowner / serving-peasant reforms of the Romanov Tsar Alexis.
Executed in Moscow, his daring exploits and raiding parties, and his struggle for the rights of common
people, were long the stuff of epic Russian minstrel song. One traditional ballad tells of his capture of a
Persian princess, whom he places on one of his ships, surrounded by servants and plunder. His men say
that his love for her has dulled the fight in him. He denies the accusation. Offering Mother Volga "neither
gold nor silver, but the most precious of all my possessions", he sacrifices "his princess fair" by throwing
her into the river, leaps ashore, and, warrior-captain to the finish, leads his followers into renewed
battle. Broadly mirroring this story, Glazunov's romantically opulent score is largely founded on the Song
of the Volga Boatmen (printed by Balakirev in 1866). The unforgettable gravitas of this tune provides the
basis for the B minor Andante introduction and Allegro outer sections; with a contrasting clarinet melody
in the major a semitone lower (said to be of Persian origin), symbolic of the gentler princess, Allegro
moderato. As inspired as Balakirev's Tamara, Borodin's In the Steppes of Central Asia or Mussorgsky's
Khovanshchina Prelude, the introduction survives among the genuinly great romantic examples of
Russian landscape painting and mood evocation. In 1913-15, Chaliapin (famed for his singing of the
Volga Boatmen) wanted Gogol and Glazunov to collaborate on an opera about Stenka Razin. Nothing
came of the idea -but it was possibly the closest Glazunov ever came to the genre.
The rhythmically vibrant symphonic sketch Une fete slave (Slav Holiday), Op. 26a (1888), was an
adaptation of the orchestrally suggestive Ukrainian dance-finale from the popular G major String
Quartet, Op. 26. Written in the wake of Tchaikovsky's suicide the previous November, the (first) Cortege
solennel in D major, Op. 50, and the Fantaisie, Op. 53, both date from 1894. Glazunov subtitled the
latter From darkness to light, musically representing such transfiguration by beginning in pathetique B
minor and closing in "white" C major - a familiar enough old Neapolitan relationship (think of Haydn and
Beethoven) but also a very Russian one in its semitonal sidestepping.
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According to his pupil Shostakovich, Glazunov "insisted that composing ballets [and by extension dance
music] was beneficial because it developed your technique... he was right". The Mazurka in G, Op. 18
(1888), was the first of several "concert" dances for orchestra independent of a balletic / cyclic context.
Together with the earlier Wedding Procession (March), Op. 21 and Triumphal March, Op. 40, the March
on a Russian Theme, Op. 76 (1901) shares the same militaristically heroic key of E flat perorated by
Mussorgsky in the "Great Gate of Kiev" and Tchaikovsky in his 1812 Overture.
@ 1996 Ates Orga
Reviews
Fanfare
"[Konstantin Krimets] provides inspired leadership that prevents Glazunov's music from becoming too
saccharine....Even at full price I would recommend this issue"
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Symphonies Nos. 2 and 7, "Pastoral"
Glazunov was born in Tsarist St Petersburg, the son of a well-known publisher and bookseller. Showing a
precocious aptitude for music, with a total recall and gift for reconstruction that was said to have been
legendary, witness his supposed rescue job on Borodin's Prince Igor, he was early on discovered by
Balakirev, founding father of the nationalist Five or Mighty Handful, before being taken up by Rimsky-
Korsakov with whom he studied composition and theory, and whose orchestral arsenal was to be a life-
long model. He also received encouragement from Liszt. Famous across Europe as composer and
conductor, albeit an indifferent one, he became Director of the St Petersburg Conservatory in December
1905, devoting his energy for the next quarter of a century to its academic, administrative and pastoral
well-being, and numbering among his later students Shostakovich. In 1928, embittered by the
consequences, hardship and deprivations of New Order communism, and unwilling any longer to play
political chess or become involved in factional infighting, he left his country, ostensibly to attend the
Schubert centenary commemorations in Vienna but effectively to escape. Relinquishing his directorship of
the Conservatory in 1930, he settled in Paris two years later, "respected, but not... much loved... not
really knowing for whom and for what he was writing", as Shostakovich said. Published by the millionaire
benefactor Belyayev, his copious output, dating mostly from the period between the deaths of
Mussorgsky (1881) and Scriabin (1915), included eight completed symphonies (1881/82-1906), four
concertos for violin and for piano, three ballets, a number of choral works, seven string quartets, and a
pair of piano sonatas.
Even more than Tchaikovsky, the best of whose poeticism he absorbed, Glazunov was a vital link
between the musical traditions of oriental Russia and occidental Europe. As a selfless, musically enriched,
musically enriching teacher, an unbiased humanist, he exposed himself to countless stylistic by- roads in
the work of his students. He delighted in going back to Josquin and Palestrina, and he so powerfully
"spent all his time thinking about music [that] when he spoke about it, you remembered for life",
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according to Shostakovich. But what, in the end, did this do for his own expressive voice? Did he pay the
price of being an educator, substituting professional gloss for inspirational gold? Was he a flaming, up-to-
date, progressive Russian nationalist who faded into a burnt-out, old-fashioned, retrogressive European
Brahmsian? Was he a man simply swept aside by more radical newcomers, Scriabin, Stravinsky,
Prokofiev? Certainly he has had his defenders. "To him the transformation of themes is as easy as his art
of orchestration; and is limited only in two ways. He will not make a pedantic transformation, nor will he
transform his own themes into other people's" CTovey)." Strong personality and fine imagination"
CCalvocoressi). "A master of the art" CShostakovich). But he has also had his critics. Only two years
after his death, the English Slavophile Gerald Abraham could generalise of him as a Borodin/Rimsky
clone who had "degenerated into a fluent, prolific, agreeable note-spinner whose music is neither very
national nor very personal nor very significant in any respect whatsoever". Typical of much latter-day
reaction is the suspicion, perpetrated by the same few yet repeated by many, that all he left was "music
of a fluent and charming order... [lacking in] any touch of genius... [possessing] the deeply conservative
temperament of a Spohr or a Saint-Saens ...his career ...leaves the same, rather sad impression made
by other precocious artists who failed to develop after early youth ...a sentimental, perhaps rather
feminine soul, addicted to sugary harmony and a persistent abuse of the appoggiatura" CSackville-West /
Shawe-Taylor, The Record Guide, 1955 edition). He once had a glittering reputation, but, in the years
since, his music has more often been reviled than revived, largely denied that place in the repertoire
once so confidently predicted for it by Henry Wood.
Dating from between Tchaikovsky's Manfred and Fifth Symphony, Glazunov's Second Symphony in F
sharp minor, Op. 16 (1886) was dedicated, like Saint-Saens's contemporaneous Third Symphony, to the
memory of Liszt, whose spirit is recalled in the flamboyant brass climaxes and the Mephistophelean
countenance of the nervy scherzo. Stylistically, it is otherwise broadly rooted in the old-world
revolutionary nationalist ideals of (generally) Balakirev and (particularly) Borodin, notably his epochal,
banner- waving B minor Symphony. This is especially apparent from the archaic Russian mood of the
first movement's slow introduction, and the central Asian oriental turn of the Andante. The finale, despite
its prophetic polyphony, is of a lesser order.
In the dawning of the new century" Alexander Glazunov reigned supreme in the science of the
symphony. Each new production of his was received as a musical event of the first order, so greatly were
the perfections of his form, the purity of his counterpoint, and the ease and assurance of his writing
appreciated... I shared this admiration whole-heartedly, fascinated by the astonishing mastery of this
scholar" (Stravinsky, Chroniques de ma vie, Paris 1935). The Seventh Symphony in F major, Op. 77
(1902, the so-called Pastoral) unfolds Glazunov's feeling for Germanic music and classical thought, its
first movement alluding specifically to the thematic world and rustic sound of Beethoven's own Pastoral,
as well as the wider associations of classico-romantic F major pastoralism. In common with the C minor
examples of Taneyev (1898) and Scriabin (1901) it seeks also to establish a structural overview distinct
from the sectionalised approach of earlier Russian composers, albeit one less exclusively sonata-
orientated. "More by instinct than by premeditated intention I wanted to combine variation form (which
latterly I have come to love passionately) with sonata and rondo forms and to build my music more on
contrapuntal than harmonic bases" (letter to Taneyev). By common consent the first movement is the
best, the finale the least successful in its mosaic effort to organically summarise preceding events. The
chorale-like Andante, with its lyrical D major cantilena episode and decorative variation, is demonstrably
linear. In the Mendelssohn / Reger tradition, Glazunov, like Taneyev, was a skilled practitioner of the
"learned" style, adroitly "capable of devising fugatos with lives of their own" (David Brown 1993). In the
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longer of his two autobiographies, published posthumously in Moscow in 1973, Prokofiev recollected
hearing Glazunov conduct the work at the Conservatory in 1907: it "seemed pallid to me: made but not
composed. But Rimsky-Korsakov, who was sitting in the front row at the rehearsal with the score in his
hands, was delighted and kept praising it. (1 must admit that later, when I played a four- hand
arrangement of it with Myaskovsky, I liked it better -especially the first movement)".
@ 1996 Ates Orga
Reviews
Fanfare
"performed and recorded as handsomely, sympathetically, and idiomatically as on this Naxos release.
The disc deserves a high recommendation"
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Carnaval / Spring / Concert Waltzes / Salome
music of his time and the music of Western Europe, but for a considerable time the Soviet authorities
synthesis of Russian and Western European music, the tradition of the Five and that of Rubinstein. Boris
imposing stature and a stabilising influence in a time of transition and turmoil.
called German.
- Page 31 of 90 -
and Fifth were introduced to the London public in 1897. In 1899 Glazunov joined the staff of the
Conservatory in St Petersburg and in 1905, when peace was restored to the institution after student
prosperous retired tea- planter, with his gold watch-chain spread across his starched white waistcoat,
resembling, for all the world, a well-to-do bank-manager. His views on modern music were often severe.
He found the Heldenleben of Richard Strauss disgusting and referred to the composer as cet infilme
scribouilleur. Of Stravinsky he remarked that he had irrefutable proof of the inadequacy of his ear.
Glazunov wrote his Carnaval Overture in 1892, dedicating it to Herman Laroche, a well known champion
of Tchaikovsky and opponent of the new Russian School that Balakirev had nurtured. The overture is
scored for a large orchestra, with he optional use of an organ in a central section marked Moderato. The
work is in broadly classical form, with contrasting melodic material, a lilting F major principal theme and
a more gently lyrical secondary theme in C major. This is developed before its final return.
The musical picture The Spring (Vesna) was written in 1891. A rhapsodic work, it is prefaced by a poem
on the subject by Fyodor Tyuchev, translator of Schelling, Heine, Goethe and Schiller, a poet associated
with Pan-Slavism and described by Dostoyevsky as a philosopher-poet. The music brings the singing of
birds in a gently breaking spring dawn, before mounting to a climax, the whole work colourfully
orchestrated, a testimony to Glazunov's early skill.
The two Concert Waltzes, No.1 in D major and No.2 in F major, were written in 1893 and 1894
respectively, the first of them presented to Rimsky-Korsakov together with a copy of Glazunov's
Chopiniana. Both works have enjoyed popularity, skilfully constructed, colourful in orchestration and
showing the usual early technical command of musical resources.
Oscar Wilde's French play Salome attracted wide attention. In 1892 Sarah Bernhardt had planned and
begun to rehearse a production in London, but the intervention of the Lord Chamberlain to prevent the
appearance of biblical characters on the stage put a stop to this. Lord Alfred Douglas published an
English translation in 1894, with illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley, but it was with the opera based on it
by Richard Strauss in 1905 that the work reached the form in which it has exercised the greatest
influence, allowing composers to explore realms of musical sensuality that would before have been
unthinkable. The play deals with the supposed erotic desire of Herod for his step-daughter Salome,
whose mother Herodias has killed her husband to become the wife of the King. Salome is fascinated by
the captive John the Baptist, whom she desires and who rejects her advances. Demanding as a reward
for her dance of the seven veils the head of the prophet, she passionately kisses the severed head,
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before Herod orders her own death. Glazunov's incidental music was written in 1908 and provides a
portentous introduction and a dance of the seven veils of Polovtsian proportions.
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Igor Golovschin
Conservatory and in 1981 joined the Irkutsk Symphony Orchestra, winning the Herbert von Karajan
Conductors' Competition in the following year, followed in 1983 by victory in the Moscow National
Conductors' Competition. Five years later he was invited to join the USSR State Symphony Orchestra,
where he is assistant to Yevgeny Svetlanov. With this orchestra he has toured throughout Europe and as
far afield as Japan.

French musician Antonia de Almeida. The members of the orchestra include prize-winners and laureates
and Kiev, who have played under conductors such a Svetlanov, Rozhdestvensky, Mravinsky and Ozawa,
repertoire, with particular expertise in the performance of contemporary works
Reviews

There are some attractive ideas in Spring (Vesna), a charming work, refined and transparent in its
orchestration, playing on birdsong and building to a sensuous climax. The more familiar Concert Waltzes
contain some of Glazunov’s most winning tunes. The novelty most likely to excite curiosity here is
Glazunov’s music for Oscar Wilde’s Salomé, with Salome’s dance leading to a Polovtsian climax. Salome
sheds her veils in a most unerotic fashion. But this cannot be blamed on the conductor, and generally
there are warm, idiomatic performances, richly recorded.
Gramophone
"Golovschin draws an enthusiastic, colourful response from his Moscow players. Overall, an eminently
pleasing hour's worth and very decent value"
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Symphonies Nos. 1, "Slavyanskaya" and 4
It is becoming increasingly unnecessary to defend the reputation of Glazunov. He belonged to a

generation of Russian composers that was able to benefit from more professional standards of
compositional technique, absorbing and helping to create a synthesis of the national, that might
sometimes be expressed crudely enough, and the technique of the conservatories, that might sometimes
seem facile. Glazunov worked closely with Rimsky-Korsakov, to whom Balakirev, his mother's teacher,
had recommended him, and played an important part in the education of a new generation of Russian
composers such as Shostakovich.
Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov was born in St Petersburg in 1865, the son of a publisher and
bookseller. As a child he showed considerable musical ability and in 1879 met Balakirev and hence
Rimsky-Korsakov. By the age of sixteen he had finished the first of his nine symphonies, which was
performed under the direction of Balakirev, whose influence is perceptible in the work. The relationship
with Balakirev was not to continue. The rich timber-merchant Mitrofan Petrovich Belyayev had been
present at the first performance of the symphony and travelled to Moscow to hear Rimsky-Korsakov
conduct a second performance there. He attended the Moscow rehearsals and his meeting with Rimsky-
Korsakov was the beginning of a new informal association of Russian composers, perceived by Balakirev
as a threat to his own position and influence, as self-appointed mentor of the Russian nationalist
composers. Glazunov became part of Belyayev's circle, attending his Friday evenings with Rimsky-
Korsakov, rather than Balakirev's Tuesday evening meetings. Belyayev took Glazunov, in 1884, to meet
Liszt in Weimar, where the First Symphony was performed.
In 1899 Glazunov joined the staff of the Conservatory in St Petersburg, but by this time his admiration
for his teacher seems to have cooled. Rimsky-Korsakov’s wife was later to remark on Glazunov's
admiration for Tchaikovsky and Brahms, suspecting in this the influence of Taneyev and of the critic
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Laroche, champion of Tchaikovsky and a strong opponent of the nationalists, a man described by
Rimsky-Korsakov as the Russian equivalent of Hanslick in Vienna, a comparison that, from him, was not
entirely complimentary.
Glazunov, however, remained a colleague and friend of Rimsky-Korsakov, and demonstrated this after
the political disturbance of 1905, when the latter had signed a letter of protest at the suppression of
some element of democracy in Russia and had openly sympathized with Conservatory students who had
joined liberal protests against official policies. Rimsky-Korsakov was dismissed from the Conservatory, to
be reinstated by Glazunov, elected director of an institution that, in the aftermath, had now won a
measure of autonomy. Glazunov remained director of the Conservatory until 1930.
It says much for the esteem in which Glazunov was held that he was able to steer the Conservatory
through years of great hardship, difficulty and political turmoil, fortified in his task, it seems, by the illicit
supply of vodka provided for him by the father of Shostakovich, then a student there. Emaciated through
the years of privation after the Revolution, he eventually assumed a more substantial appearance again,
compared by the English press to a retired tea-planter or a prosperous bank-manager, with his rimless
glasses and gold watch-chain. His appearance was in accordance with his musical tastes. He found fault
with Stravinsky's ear and could not abide the music of Richard Strauss, while the student Prokofiev
seems to have shocked him with the discords of his Scythian Suite. His own music continued the
tradition of Tchaikovsky and to this extent seemed an anachronism in an age when composers were
indulging in experiments of all kinds.
Rimsky-Korsakov left a brief description of the first performance of Glazunov's First Symphony, the
rejoicing of younger Russian composers and the grumbling of Stasov, the literary guide of the Five,
disapproving, no doubt, of such a foreign form, and then the surprise of the audience when a school-boy
came out !o acknowledge the applause. There were those prepared to hint that the symphony, dedicated
to Rimsky-Korsakov, had been written by another musician, hired for the purpose by Glazunov's parents.
Rumours of this kind were contradicted by the works that followed. Belyayev arranged for publication of
the symphony in Leipzig, and this marked the beginning of the Belyayev publishing enterprise that
proved so helpful to Russian composers thus able to benefit from international copyright agreements.
The work opens with an Allegro in 6/8 metre, its lilting first subject followed by a second, duly in the
dominant key and entrusted to clarinets and bassoons. There are shifts of key, skilfully manipulated, in
the central development section of the movement, followed by a recapitulation that varies the
orchestration and proceeds to an emphatic coda. The Scherzo that forms the second movement, in the
key of C major, is underpinned by an accompanying drone, in folk-style, from lower strings and
bassoons, while violas and clarinets provide the first thematic element. The trio section, in A flat, allows
the flute to propose a Polish theme, taken up by the first violins, before the transition is made back to
the Scherzo itself, now mingled with reminiscences of the Polish melody. Clarinets and bassoons start the
E minor slow movement, with its further suggestions of Slav thematic material. Violas and clarinets again
provide a drone accompaniment, in syncopated rhythm, !o a Polish theme from the oboe. There are
moments of relaxation and shifts of tonality in contrasting episodes as the music moves forward,
dominated always by the principal theme that gives the movement its character.
Glazunov completed his Fourth Symphony in 1893, a work dedicated to Anton Rubinstein, now nearing
the end of his life, a composer who had long seemed persona non grata to Balakirev and his friends, his
very name a synonym for kitsch. Rimsky-Korsakov, present at the first performance in January 1894,
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found the orchestration cumbersome in places, particularly in the third movement, but his disciple Vasily
Vasilyevich Yastrebtsev writes with approval of the symphony as marking a renaissance in Glazunov's
creativity, drawing attention to the pictorial nature of the second movement as a reflection of Böcklin's
painting Diana's Chase. The first movement starts with an introductory, gently swaying Andante, of
obvious Russian provenance, with its opening cor anglais melody, leading forward into an Allegro
moderato that seems to continue, often with greater intensity and excitement, a pastoral mood,
suggested by the rhythm of the music and its melodic content. The Scherzo opens brightly, with a rustic
dance, relaxing into a trio section, and this is followed by an Andante of tender nostalgia, soon to be
replaced by the urgency of an excited Allegro, vigorous in its energy, suggesting thematically, as does
the whole symphony, something of the spirit of the Caucasus region that was to provide a further
element of exotic inspiration in other works. The symphony ends in triumph, an example of Glazunov's
assured craftsmanship and powers of invention that could only add to his already growing international
reputation.

French musician Antonia de Almeida. The members of the orchestra include prize-winners and laureates
and Kiev, who have played under conductors such a Svetlanov, Rozhdestvensky, Mravinsky and Ozawa,
repertoire, with particular expertise in the performance of contemporary works.
Alexander Anissimov
A graduate of the St Petersburg Conservatory, the conductor Alexander Anissimov completed his studies
at Moscow Conservatory in 1972. After some years as a conductor of the St Petersburg Maly Academic
Opera and Ballet theatre he was appointed in 1980 to the position of Conductor-in-Chief of the
Byelorussian Opera Ballet Theatre in Minsk, an appointment he now combines with that of guest
conductor at the Kirov Opera and of several foreign orchestras. An active international career has taken
him to engagements throughout the former Soviet Union, Europe, the Far East and the Americas. He
made his Wexford Festival début with Cherevichki.
Reviews
Penguin Guide
"Anissimov gets an eminently sympathetic performance from the Moscow orchestra"
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The Seasons / Scenes de Ballet / Scene Dansante
Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov has not fared well at the hands of later critics, although in his own
time he enjoyed considerable success. In 1905 he became Director of the St Petersburg Conservatory
and was to retain that position through all the difficulties of the next 25 years, before leaving Russia to
spend his final years in Paris. A composer of great facility, with a phenomenal musical memory, he
worked closely with Rimsky-Korsakov, assisting him in that debt of honour he fulfilled in editing the
music left by those other members of the Mighty Handful, Borodin and Mussorgsky. To immediate
contemporaries he seemed to have brought about a synthesis between Russian music and the music of
Western Europe, but to some Russian critics after the Revolution he seemed rather to epitomise the
music of the bourgeoisie, an impression that may well have been fortified by his dress and appearance,
compared by a contemporary English critic to those of a prosperous bank-manager.
Glazunov was born in St Petersburg in 1865, the son of a publisher and bookseller. As a child he showed
considerable musical ability and in 1879 met Balakirev, from whom his mother had earlier sought theory
lessons for herself, to be recommended instead to Rimsky-Korsakov. It was with the latter that Glazunov
was to study and by the age of sixteen he had completed the first of his nine symphonies, which was
performed in 1882 under the direction of Balakirev whose influence is apparent in the composition.
The relationship with Balakirev was not to continue. The rich timber-merchant Mitrofan Petrovich
Belyayev had been present at the first performance of the symphony in St Petersburg and travelled to
Moscow to hear Rimsky-Korsakov conduct a second performance there. Belyayev attended the Moscow
rehearsals and his meeting with Rimsky-Korsakov was the beginning of a new informal association of
Russian composers, perceived by Balakirev as a threat to his own position and influence as self-
appointed mentor of the Russian Nationalists. Glazunov was to form part of this new circle, attending his
Friday evenings with Rimsky-Korsakov, rather than Balakirev's Tuesday evening meetings.
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for his teacher seemed to have cooled. Rimsky-Korsakov's wife was later to remark on Glazunov's
admiration for Tchaikovsky and Brahms, suspecting the influence of Taneyev, surely the only composer
to set songs in Esperanto, and the important critic Laroche, champion of Tchaikovsky and staunch
opponent of the Nationalists.
Glazunov remained a colleague and friend of Rimsky-Korsakov, and demonstrated this after the political
disturbances of 1905. The latter had added his signature to a letter of protest at the suppression of some
element of democracy in Russia and had openly sympathised with Conservatory students who had joined
liberal protests against-official policies. Rimsky-Korsakov was dismissed from the Conservatory, to be
reinstated by Glazunov, elected Director of the Conservatory, which had won a certain degree of
autonomy. Glazunov remained Director of the St Petersburg Conservatory until 1930.
It says much for the general esteem in which Glazunov was held that he was able to steer the
Conservatory through years of extreme difficulty, both in the war and the subsequent political revolution,
fortified, it seems, by illicit vodka procured by the good offices of the father of his student Dmitry
Shostakovich, but in other respects willing to share the physical hardships of the time, during the course
of which he lost a great deal of weight.
In 1928 Glazunov left Russia to fulfill concert engagements abroad, finally making his home in Paris,
where he died in 1936. These last years took him to a number of countries, where he conducted concerts
of his own works. A Daily Express critic described his appearance at a concert in England in 1929: When
I went to watch him conduct he drew his baton from a pigskin sheaf with his monogram in gold upon the
cover. The general impression was that of a wealthy retired tea-planter. His skin is parchment-coloured,
his glasses square-shaped and rimless, and a lot of gold watch-chain apparatus is spread about his
starched white waistcoat.
Glazunov, in short, cut a respectable figure, matching the conservatism of his musical tastes. Richard
Strauss's Heldenleben he found "disgusting", he alleged that Stravinsky had no ear, and he was known
to dislike the music of Prokofiev, a difficult student at the Conservatory. His own music continued the
tradition of Tchaikovsky in an age that ventured into more experimental territory, an apparent
anachronism. In recent years it has proved increasingly possible to hear the music of Glazunov without
the prejudices of an earlier generation.
The Seasons was written for the Russian Imperial Ballet and first produced at the Maryinsky Theatre in
St Petersburg in February 1900 with choreography by Marius Petipa. There is no particular story to the
ballet, which offers a series of tableaux, one for each of the four seasons, set to music that seems to
continue the tradition established in the three ballets of Tchaikovsky.
Alter a short introduction the curtain rises to show Winter surrounded by Frost, Ice, Hail and Snow, amid
whirling snowflakes. For the first of these, Frost, there is a Polonaise, for Ice a dance played by violas
and clarinets, for Hail a scherzo and for Snow a waltz. The cold of winter is banished by two gnomes,
who light a fire, preparing the temperature for the following scene.
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Spring is ushered in by the harp and accompanied by the gem le Zephyr, Birds and Flowers. There is a
dance for Roses, for Spring and for one of the Birds, all of whom depart as the summer sun grows hotter.
Summer is set in a cornfield, where Cornflowers and Poppies dance, with the Spirit of the Corn. The heat
exhausts them, and as they rest a group of Naiads enter, to a Barcarolle, bringing the water that the
flowers need. There is a dance for the Spirit of the Corn, accompanied by a clarinet solo and a coda,
interrupted by an attempt by satyrs and fauns to carry off the Spirit, frustrated by the intervention of the
Zephyr.
A wild Bacchic dance introduces Autumn. There are brief appearances by Winter, Spring, the Bird and the
Zephyr, reminiscence, of the year that is now passing. There is a dance for Summer, and then the
Bacchanale resumes, to be brought to an end by multitudinous falling leaves. The stage grows dark and
the final Apotheosis shows the stars, as they circle the Earth.
In December, 1894, the first Russian Symphony Concert in St Petersburg was devoted to a memorial
concert for Anton Rubinstein, an event that was ill attended. The second concert of the series included
two new works, the suite from Rimsky-Korsakov's opera Snegurochka and Glazunov's suite scènes de
ballet, dedicated to the orchestra of the Russian Imperial Opera.
The music of the Scène, de ballet speaks for itself. The introductory Préambule is followed by a
characteristically orchestrated dance for marionettes and a rhythmic Mazurka. The Scherzino is a more
whimsical piece of writing, leading to a deeply romantic Pas d'action. The succeeding oriental dance
explores thematic material familiar enough in Russian music of the period, and the suite ends with a
lyrical waltz and a final energetic Polonaise. The work is an example of Glazunov's skill in orchestration
and his ability to capture the essence of the world of Russian ballet.
Glazunov wrote his Scène dansante, Gadaniye i plyaska, Opus 81 (‘Fortune-telling and country dancing’),
in 1904. It is thoroughly Russian in spirit, with a principal theme in the first section that seems
essentially Russian and all too familiar in its contour. There follows a series of divertissements, a cheerful
little dance, followed by an even more vigorous dance, in traditional mood. More delicate dances follow,
but interrupted by the rhythms and melodic contours that may be associated with the busy opening
scenes of Stravinsky's Petrushka.
Alexander Anissimov
After graduating from the St Petersburg Conservatory, Alexander Anissimov completed his studies at the
Moscow Conservatory in 1972. He conducted for a number of years at the St Petersburg Maly Academic
Opera and Ballet Theatre, and in 1980 was appointed Chief Conductor of the Byelorussian Opera and
Ballet Theatre in Minsk. He has combined this position with the post of Guest Conductor of the Kirov
Opera and an active concert career has taken him to engagements throughout the former Soviet Union,
Europe, the Far East and the Americas. In 1997 Alexander Anissimov was appointed Principal Conductor
of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, with which he had already recorded for Naxos a complete
cycle of Rachmaninov Symphonie. He has also had a continuing association with the Moscow Symphony
Orchestra with which he has contributed to the Naxos series of orchestral music by Glazunov.
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Finnish Fantasy / Finnish Sketches / Karelian Legend / Ouverture solennelle / Wedding March

for his teacher seems to have cooled. Rimsky-Korsakov's wife was later to remark on Glazunov's
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It says much for the esteem in which Glazunov was held that he was able to steer the Couservatory
through years of great hardship, difficulty and political tuffi1oil, fortified in his task, it seems, by the illicit
supply of vodka provided for him by the father of Shostakovich, then a student there, Emaciated through
glasses and gold watch-chain, His appearance was in accordance with his musical tastes. He found fault
disapproving, no doubt, of such a foreign foffi1, and then the surprise of the audience when a school-boy
came out to acknowledge the applause. There were those prepared to hint that the symphony, dedicated
The work marked the beginning of what promised to be a remarkable career.
The countries bordering on or dominated by Russia provided an ample source of exoticism for
composers, both under the old regime and in the changed circumstances after 1917. Glazunov turned to
Finland for material in his C major Finnish Fantasy, Opus 88, written in Helsinki in 1909. The work makes
imaginative use of a simple folk-song, making a modest appearance, to be gradually developed. A
dramatic interruption leads to material of greater menace, to be followed by a strongly romantic
passage. This in turn gives way to a well-known Lutheran chorale, principally for the brass, with an
urgent string accompaniment, and moving forward to the dramatic conclusion of the Fantasy, based on
elements of the chorale and earlier thematic material.
Three years later there followed Finnish Sketches, Opus 89, with its first movement drawing on the great
Finnish epic, the Kalevala. This last deals, in some fifty cantos, with the conflict between Kalevala, the
country of the Finns, and Pohjola, the North Country .The epic is traditionally sung to a so-called
Kalevala melody, which itself has regional variants. It is, however, normally syllabic, eight notes long, to
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fit the eight-syllable trochaic tetrameters of the verse, with the last two, identical notes prolonged.
Glazunov makes use of this ending in the theme of the first of his Sketches, creating a miniature musical
epic from the material, varying the melodic formula and adding other accompanying elements. The
second sketch, Solemn Procession, is based once again on a simple theme, repeated with insistence,
suggesting the progress of a solemn ritual procession and leading to the brief appearance of the
Lutheran hymn Ein' teste Burg ist unser Gott (A firm stronghold our God is still), soon replaced by the
final march motif.
Glazunov's Karelian Legend, Opus 99, was written in 1916, shortly before the composer's Second Piano
Concerto, which closes a stage in his career. In this work he turns to the disputed border region of
Karelia which had already drawn the attention of Sibelius, associated as he was with those determined to
end Russian domination of Finland. Glazunov's work, imaginatively scored, makes use of elements of
folk-song in a colourful work, dedicated to the Latvian composer Joseph Wihtol, a pupil of Rimsky-
Korsakov and for a number of years a member of the staff of the St Petersburg Conservatory, before he
established himself in Riga, after 1918. The Karelian Legend opens with an idyllic picture, but the music
grows in excitement and intensity, as the story unfolds, leading to a rhythmic dance and an exciting and
triumphant episode, before it finally dies away.
The Ouverture Solennelle, Opus 73, was written in 1900 and is highly characteristic of its composer,
combining, as it does, sureness of technique in orchestration and construction with the mood proclaimed
in its title. It finds a place for attractive and colourful melodic writing and mounting intensity in sequence
after imitative sequence, much of it based on a transformed and much repeated motif.
Glazunov's Wedding March, Opus 21, is, more correctly a wedding procession (Svadebnoye shestviye). It
was written in 1889, the year after the composer's first experience of orchestral conducting. It opens in
an appropriately ecclesiastical mood but there is romantic contrast, presented in varied orchestral
colours, far removed from the nominal subject of the work, although the procession eventually resumes.
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Suite Caracteristique / Le Chant du Destin / Preludes
Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov was born in St Petersburg, the son of a comfortably well-off
publisher and bookseller. Balakirev, self-appointed leader of the nationalist Five, the Mighty Handful,
recommended study with Rimsky-Korsakov and he had encouragement from Liszt, to whose memory he
dedicated his Second Symphony, Celebrated throughout Europe as a composer and conductor, Glazunov
directed his Stenko Razin and Second Symphony at the 1889 Paris Universal Exhibition and was
appointed director of the St Petersburg Conservatory in December 1905. Here his students included
Shostakovich. On 15th June 1928, embittered by the consequences, hardship and deprivations of post-
Leninist New Order Communism, he left Russia, ostensibly to attend the Schubert centenary
commemorations in Vienna but effectively to escape Relinquishing his directorship of the Conservatory in
1930, he settled in Paris two years later, "respected, but not ...much loved ...not really knowing for
whom and for what he was writing", as Shostakovich observed. Published in Leipzig by the millionaire
benefactor Belyayev, his copious output, dating mainly from between the death of Mussorgsky in 1881
and that of Scriabin in 1915, included eight completed symphonies (1881/82-1906), five concertos, three
ballets, a number of choral works, seven string quartets, and a pair of piano sonatas.
Bridging the chasm between Tsarists and Bolsheviks, Glazunov was an artist of legendary pedagogy and
picturesque personality, a man of physically gargantuan girth, a "Homeric" drinker (he must have found
Prohibition America hard) Less pioneer, more reconciler, journeying a battle-scarred road from homeland
to exile, he knew life in all its facets, from society riches to tenement rags.
The "dramatic overture" Le Chant du Destin, Opus 84, was written in 1907, the year following the Eighth
Symphony, Predominantly in 0 minor, notwithstanding paragraphs of major key contrast, it is a sonata-
allegro concert-piece of varying material, tempi and metre, unified by a recurrent, motto figure in
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dotted/long.triplet/long rhythm The successive minor/major third cells of this leitmotif prove, in the long-
term duration of the first subject group, to be a provocative reversal of the major/minor ones generating
Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, in the course of the exposition even offering the same pitch-pairings
backwards (F/D, G/E flat) To the Russian Romantics, as we know from Tchaikovsky, Beethoven's Fifth
Symphony was the first great fate symbol of the age. Barring incidental diversions, the overall tonality
scheme is very Slav.
The youthful yet assured Suite Caractiristique, Opus 9, written between 1884 and 1887, dates from the
time of the Second Symphony and the revision of the First (Slavyanskaya). Sources suggest that
portions of the work began life as a set of piano variations written under Rimsky-Korsakov's guidance in
1880, which Glazunov then turned into a symphonic suite, before offering it in the form in which we now
know it. It is this earlier orchestral suite, first played at a rehearsal in SI Petersburg on 8th Apri11884, to
which Rimsky refers in his autobiography. Befitting the greatest late nineteenth-century master of formal
Russian ballet- music after Tchaikovsky, as witnessed by the ballets Raymonda and The Seasons and the
Bollet Suite, Opus 52, dance is the all-pervasive inspiration of the music, brightly coloured by allusive
folk images. The opening and closing tableoux are each bipartite -the first (0 major) comprising an
andante Introduction followed by a Danse rusique, allegro ma non troppo; the last a passionately
climactic Elegie (adagio, D minor) and grand Cortege (alla marcia maestoso, D major). Prophetic of
Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony, the Cortege strikingly takes the Introduction theme, transforming it into
the major. Evocatively scored, with trumpets and massive brass brilliantly lit, it provides a conclusion
distinctive, too, in its parody of the patterns and shape of the Danse rustique, and in referring to ideas
and keys met in the second and third movements -the E flat major Intermezzo scherzando and the rapid
Cameval, in D minor/major and E flat. Seekers after links of another sort may enjoy comparing the
unlikely 518 Trio section of the second movement, notable for its irregular 2+3 and 3+2 accents, with
the 518 Scherzo from Borodin's unfinished Third Symphony, cobbled together by Glazunov early in 1887
from one of Borodin's quartet movements for Belyayev, Les Vendredis No.3. The pagan elements of tbe
suite look most evidently to Balakirev, Borodin (the finale of the Second Symphony and perhaps Prince
Igor music Glazunov knew intimately) and Rimsky-Korsakov. Not all is derivative, however. The
physically exultant B minor Danse orientale, witb its repetitive percussion rhythms and reedily nasal oboe
timbre, has enough twists and turns and modal side-steps to suggest more than once the future exotic
trans-Caucasian music of Ippolitov-Ivanov and Khachaturian Rimsky, indeed, who preferred his folk
cosmetic to be beautiful, found it so "very odd and savage" as actually to have it suppressed from the
1884 try-out The artfully counterpointed Pastorale for woodwind, horns and strings, about as close as
one will get to a Russian equivalent of The Gift to be Simple, plumbs occidental deptbs of a very different
kind.
Published in 1911, the Two Preludes, Opus 85, for large orchestra, were composed in 1906 and 1908 in
memory respectively of Stasov and Rimsky-Korsakov Stasov, champion of the Balakirev circle,
responsible in 1867 for naming the Five the Mighty Handful, died in St Petersburg on 23rd October 1906.
More than two decades earlier, in a seminal essay on recent Russian music, published in 1883, he had
welcomed the youthful Glazunov as "a true master". "The principal characteristics of his music thus far"
he wrote, "are an incredibly vast sweep, power, inspiration, wondrous beauty, rich fantasy, sometimes
humour, sadness, passion, and always amazing clarity and freedom of form." Glazunov's tribute is an A
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minor Andante. Calling for forces including three kettledrums, unusually tuned to the tritone on B and
high and low Fs, tam-tam, harp and piano, its funereal dotted rhythms unfold a gravely poetic picture,
reinforced by a closing coda making poignant use of modally flattened sevenths. The outer sections
feature a sixteen-note long/short pattern of harmonized falling fifths, perfect and diminished, which
mayor may not signify a reference to the sixteen-letter westemised form of Stasov's name, "Wladimir
Stassoff', printed on the title-page.
Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov died in Lyubensk on 21st June 1908 A staunch supporter, as his posthumously
published memoirs testify, he had always admired his precocious student's gifts and artistry, believing
his symphonies and other works to be among "the finest adornments of contemporary musical
literature". Glazunov's Andante lugubre piece, In memoriam, longer than the one for Stasov but
otherwise similarly tripartite in structure, is akin to a quasi-Wagnerian portrait. Underlined by chromatic
growls and "Song of India" delirium, sensuous thirds and sixths and pulsing triplets, "Easter" chorales
and oceanic arias, its diatonically wistful E major Amen goes back hauntingly to the anchorage of
Sheherazade and the 1880s.
Ates Orga

The Moscow Symphony Orchestra was established in 1989 and until 1998 was under the direction of the
distinguished French musician Antonio de Almeida. The members of the orchestra include prize-winners
and laureates of international and Russian music competitions, graduates of the conservatories of
Moscow, Leningrad and Kiev, who have played under conductors such as Svetlanov, Rozhdestvensky,
Mravinsky and Ozawa, in Russia and throughout the world. The orchestra toured in 1991 to Finland and
to England, where collaboration with a well- known rock band demonstrated readiness for experiment. A
British and Japanese commission has brought a series of twelve television programmes for international
distribution and in 1993 there was a highly successful tour of Spain. The Moscow Symphony Orchestra
has a wide repertoire, with particular expertise in the performance of contemporary works.
Igor Golovschin
Conservatory and in 1981 joined the Irkntsk Symphony Orchestra, winning the Herbert von Karajan
Conductors' Competition in the following year, followed, in 1984, by victory in the Moscow National
Conductors' Competition. Five years later he was invited to join the former USSR State Symphony
Orchestra, where he was assistant to Yevgeny Svetlanov until the latter's death in 1998.
Reviews

Le Chant du destin, written in 1907, is dominated by a sombre two-phrase theme which curiously
reminds one of Gershwin’s song, ‘Swonderful, only the mood and colouring are utterly different. The
music, which is presented eloquently, still has its longueurs. The eight-movement Suite caractérestique,
from two decades earlier, is vintage Glazunov, an orchestral transcription of piano pieces. The two
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Preludes date from 1906 and 1908 respectively; the second (much more extended) opens surprisingly like
Tchaikovsky’s Francesca da Rimini and this curious leitmotif dominates the early part of the piece. It is
well played, as indeed is the Suite. The recording is very good, too. At Naxos price this is worth
considering.
Ivan March
Gramophone, February 2000
"The two Preludes date from 1906 and 1908 respectively. The second... 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."
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Concerto Ballata / Chant du ménestrel, Op. 71 /Pieces for Cello
and Orchestra/ A la mémoire de Gogol / A la mémoire d'un héros

performed under the direction of Balakirev , whose influence is perceptible in the work. The relationship
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measure of autonomy. Glazunov remained director of the Conservatory unti11930.
with Stravinsky’s ear and could not abide the music of Richard Strauss, while the student Prokofiev
Glazunov left Russia in 1928 in order to attend the Schubert celebrations in Vienna. Thereafter he
remained abroad, with a busy round of engagements as a conductor, finally settling in Paris in 1932 until
his death four years later. The Concerto Ballata was written in 1931, three years before his Saxophone
Concerto and is dedicated to Pablo Casals. It is introduced by the cello alone, leading the narrative until a
passage of orchestral excitement intervenes, with an Elgarian melody of descending sequences for the
soloist, echoed by the orchestra in some agitation. Elements of the opening are followed by an A flat
major passage marked Tranquillo,followed by an Adagio, quasi ballata, as the tale unwinds. A C minor
cadenza allows the cello to continue the story, finally in terms of great simplicity, before another, longer
cadenza. There follows an Allegro marciale,then an Allegretto scherzando, which breaks off. The final
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section follows, with an air of defiant optimism, its final section accompanied by the cello in continued
double-stopping, ending a work of sure and skilled craftsmanship.
The Chant du ménestrel (‘Minstrel's Song’) was written in 1900, a poignant minstrel's song, with a
change of mood in the central section, before the woodwind returns with the first melody. The Two
Pieces for cello and orchestra are still earlier, dating from 1887 and 1888. The Mélodie is delicately
orchestrated, always giving due prominence to the cello melody-line. The Sérénade espagnole (‘Spanish
Serenade’) makes use of a harp and plucked strings in its orchestration, an accomplished Russian
evocation of Spain, perhaps a recollection of Glazunov's visit to that country with Belyayev in 1884.
Glazunov's tribute to Gogol is described as a symphonic prologue and was written in 1909, the centenary
of the writer's birth. It opens in sombre Russian style, before moving into a mood of more tender
recollection, with a final hymn to form the substance of the grandiose closing section. The homage to an
anonymous hero was written in 1885, when the composer was twenty, and has the sub-title Elégie. It
takes a generally elegiac course, with Russian thematic material, from its opening in C sharp minor and
motivic development in assured counterpoint until its final mood of calm optimism. The whole work is a
demonstration of Glazunov's early mastery of the techniques of composition and his natural use of
Russian melody.
Keith Anderson
Reviews
Matty J. Hiffi
8.553575
Glazunov.
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Volume three is incidental music from a play called The King of the Jews. Recorded only twice, the
second time by Polyansky…I have only the Golovschin on Naxos. But it’s brilliant. This is atmospheric, at
times quite engaging, and an excellent example of the art of incidental music—all the more impressive
considering the scarcity of models, Russian or otherwise. The introduction is a very nicely crafted
exercise in subtle variation of scale, rather than of theme. It is, like much of the work, introspective,
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often stately, and a little mournful—how could it not be given the subject matter? But the piece as a
whole is punctuated with occasional outbursts of grandeur—The Trumpets of the Levites, Entr’acte to Act
III, Scene 2 and the Syrian Dance are all dramatic and/or lively enough to engage even the most
humorless listener. The final section, Psalm of the Believers, is a quietly glorious variation of the original
statement from the introduction, and a beautiful homage to traditional Russian liturgical music.

The Chant du ménestrel has an easy charm that delights the ear. A la mémoire de Gogol is a dignified,
well-shaped piece which belies (as does the Concerto ballata) Glazunov’s reputation for scoring too
thickly. Alexander Rudin’s playing here is eloquent. The Moscow orchestra plays well for Igor Golovschin
and the sound has pleasing warmth and clarity.
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Symphonies Nos. 3 and 9
Glazunov belonged to a generation of Russian composers that was able to benefit from more professional
standards of compositional technique, absorbing and helping to create a synthesis of the national, that
might sometimes be expressed crudely enough, and the technique of the conservatories, that might
sometimes seem facile. His music seems to bridge the gap between the two, continuing at the same time
a romantic tradition into a world that had turned to eclectic innovation. As a young man, he worked
closely with Rimsky-Korsakov, to whom Balakirev, his mother's teacher, had recommended him, and
played an important part in the education of a new generation of Russian composers such as
Shostakovich.
composers. Glazunov became part of Belyayev' s circle, attending his Friday evenings with Rimsky-
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Glazunov left Russia in 1928 in order to attend the Schubert centenary celebrations in Vienna. Thereafter
he remained abroad, at first with a busy round of engagements as a conductor, finally settling near Paris
at Boulogne-sur-Seine until his death in 1936.
to Rimsky Korsakov, had been written by another musician, hired for the purpose by Glazunov's parents.
The Symphony No. 3 in D major, Opus 33 occupied Glazunov intermittently for a number of years. He
started assembling material for this work and for the Second Symphony in 1883, the year in which he
left school. By 1888 he was expressing doubts about the viability of the symphony, earning Rimsky-
Korsakov's rebuke, but two years later the work was nearing completion, arousing the interest of
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Tchaikowsky, to whom it was dedicated. The first performance took place in St Petersburg in December
1890, conducted, because of the composer's illness, by Lyadov. The first movement, skillfully
orchestrated, offers a lyrical first theme, heard first from the violins before being taken up by the
trombones before a shift to the key of D flat. This is interrupted by a passage of marked vigour,
eventually leading back to the initial mood. The Scherzo, suggesting still more the influence of
Tchaikovsky, makes use of a glockenspiel in its scoring. The lively opening moves on, briefly, to a more
sinister contrast, and the oboe, followed by the flute, introduces a trio section, with more than a
suggestion of Russia in its course. The F major Scherzo is followed by a C sharp minor Andante,
introduced initially by the woodwind. A solo clarinet leads to the principal theme, announced by the first
violin, a melody that has about it something of the poignancy of Tchaikovsky Here the tenor oboe, the
cor anglais, adds a colour of its own, particularly in the central section of the movement. The original
theme returns, eventually to be restored to its proper key, as the movement comes to an end. The Finale
starts with cheerful exuberance, with a minor key secondary theme offering contrast, leading to two
fugal sections in a carefully structured movement that constantly suggests its Russian origin.
Glazunov started work on his Symphony No. 9 in D minor in 1910 but sketched only the first movement
in short score, fearing the sinister implications of its numbering. For too many composers their ninth
symphony had been their last. The score was given to Rimsky-Korsakov's son-in-law, Maximilian
Shteynberg, in 1928 and was orchestrated in 1947 by Gavril Yudin. The seed from which the movement
grows is heard in the first four notes of the viola in the slow introduction, marked Adagio, mounting to a
dynamic climax as instrument after instrument enters. The Allegro moderato that follows is drawn from
the same source, while the clarinet introduces an Elgarian secondary theme, to be accompanied by a solo
French horn, similarly orchestrated when it is heard again in recapitulation. The movement ends with the
return of the slow introduction, gradually fading away to a whisper.
Keith Anderson
Reviews
Laurent Campellone
Repertoire, June 2000
"Encore un volume sublime dans l'intégrale des oeuvres orchestrales de Glazounov. Dans les Symphonies
nos. 3 et 9, ces deux partitions si éloignées, le Anissimov parvient chaque fois à créer une atmosphère
sonore fascinante. Dans la 3e, le Scherzo a des reflets de Tchaikovski et de Stravinski. Avec la 9e
(inachevée), on se retrouve sous l'ombre d'un immense arbre tortueux où passent les fantômes d'Elgar
et de Brahms."
"Another sublime volume in the complete orchestral works of Glazunov. In Symphonies 3 and 9, two
vastly different scores, Anissimov manages each time to create a bewitching sonic atmosphere. In the
3rd, the Scherzo has echoes of Tchaikovski and Stravinsky. With the 9th (unfinished), one finds oneself
under the shade of an immense tortuous tree where the ghosts of Elgar and Brahms pass."
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Symphony No. 6 / The Forest

composers. Glazunov became part of Belyayev' s circle, attending his Friday evenings with Rimsky-
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In 1928 he left Russia in order to attend the Schubert celebrations in Vienna. Thereafter he remained
abroad, with a busy round of engagements as a conductor, finally settling near Paris until his death in
1936.
Symphony No. 6 in C minor, Opus 58 was completed in 1896, during a period in which Glazunov shared
the duties of conductor of the Russian Symphony Concerts with Rimsky-Korsakov. The new work was
dedicated to Sigismund Blumenfeld, brother of the composer Felix Blumenfeld and described by Rimsky-
Korsakov as a talented singer, accompanist and composer of songs. It had its first performance in the
Hall of the Nobility on 8th February 1897, welcomed by Rimsky-Korsakov as the highest point at that
time in the composer's development and a sign of a new era in Russian music. The first movement starts
with a slow introduction that reaches a brief climax before the brass momentarily renews the tension and
the lower strings, subdued again, lead to the stormy opening of the Allegro appassionato, the theme of
which has already been heard in the introduction. The second subject is marked Più tranquillo, succeeded
by the development of the first subject. The secondary theme too returns, before the material is
combined in a final coda. The second movement is in the form of a theme and seven variations. The G
major theme itself is presented by the strings. The wind instruments make their appearance in the
second variation, marked Più mosso, Allegro moderato, the theme heard first from the flutes against the
descending line of the accompaniment. This is followed by a change of metre from 2/4 to 3/8, the altered
theme now entrusted to the oboe. The third variation, an E major Allegro in 6/8, is a Scherzo, the flutes
at first accompanied by plucked strings. A Fugato follows, in 4/4 and marked Andante mistico, leading in
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turn to a fifth variation, a B major Nocturne. The sixth version of the material, in G major, is marked
Allegro moderato and in triple metre, the treatment of the theme principally heard in the wind. The
movement ends with a Finale introduced by the brass. The third movement is an E flat major
Intermezzo, marked Allegretto, with a central section that shifts through various keys before the return
of the opening. The Finale of the symphony has an Andante maestoso introduction foreshadowing the
principal triumphantly Russian C major theme stated by the full orchestra. The following subsidiary
material, in G major, is marked Scherzando, to be followed by the return of the principal theme, now
marked Allegro pesante. A pastoral episode intervenes before the final return of the main theme and the
coda with its fugal textures.
In his autobiography Rimsky-Korsakov is less flattering in his view of The Forest, to which he refers in
scathing terms. Others, however, have heard the work as in the true spirit of the Russian nationalist
composers, from whom Glazunov gradually diverged. In a letter to Stasov in November 1882, however,
the composer tells of playing the work through to Balakirev, leader of the nationalist movement in music,
and being scolded and told that the composition had no logic in it. Balakirev found the nymph episode
unsatisfactory, remarked of the hunt section that there was no hunting in the forest, and advised
Glazunov to abandon the piece. He subsequently modified this judgement.
Later published under the title Fantaisie, The Forest, Opus 19, was completed in 1887, a year in which
Glazunov became closely concerned with the completion and publication of works by Borodin, who had
recently died. The opening depicts something of the mystery of the forest of the original title in a dark-
hued C sharp minor Adagio. The music moves forward to an Allegro, as the forest wakes, subsiding into
an A major clarinet theme, the nymph episode that Balakirev found not to his taste. Horns and trumpets
introduce the hunt in all its excitement. Tranquillity is momentarily restored, returning again to lead to a
rustic suggestion of birds in a piccolo and violin solo, melting into the serenity of the conclusion of a work
that reflects the contemporary interests of the Russian nationalist composers in its illustrative
programme, its orchestration and its thematic material.
Keith Anderson
Reviews

Anissimov also handles the symphony admirably and, with the Moscow players responding persuasively,
the performance is a great success. However, The Forest is an over-extended pantheistic tone-poem with
an ingenuous programme. The performance is sympathetic, the recording very good, but Anissimov fails
to persuade us that this piece is not too long for its material. Yet the work is rarely if ever performed,
and the fine account of the symphony is worth its modest Naxos price.
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Stephen J. Haller
American Record Guide, August 2000
"With 6 Anissimov is back in peak form and certainly beats out the other Russian contenders for the
title...Anissimov and his Moscow players give an excellent account of themselves, and the engineers
have obliged with truly room-filling volume, taking care to bring out the deep bass and rich, dark coloring
so important for a full appreciation of the score. There's nothing subtle about the playing — especially
the trenchant low brass — but then save for the central sections there's not much that's subtle about the
music either, and Anissimov's exuberant embrace of the outer movements is immensely satisfying.
"But the real reason to buy this may be Anissimov's splendid account of the fantasy The Forest,
composed together with The Sea and The Kremlin over the space of three years while Glazounov was in
his 20s. Tremolos in the strings set the scene, perhaps an idyllic evening in the forest before the hunters
pass through loudly and it takes some time before the tranquil mood of the woods at night can settle
down again. ...Those still trying to find a really good Forest on CD need look no further."
Andrew Clarke
, August 2000
"This disc demonstrates the very best of Glazunov's output. The symphony is dramatically romantic, with
huge tunes and top-drawer orchestration. The accompanying tone poem, no less effectively scored,
betrays his tendency to overplay a shallow idea. Alexander Anissimov draws direct performances from
his Moscow forces..."
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Piano Concertos Nos 1 & 2; Variations on a Russian Theme
Yablonskaya, Moscow Symphony, Yablonsky
Rimsky-Korsakov, from whom he took lessons in composition. By the age of sixteen he had finished the
first of his nine symphonies, which was performed under the direction of Balakirev, whose influence is
perceptible in the work. The relationship with Balakirev was not to continue. The rich timber-merchant
Mitrofan Petrovich Belyayev had been present at the first performance of the symphony and travelled to
Moscow to hear Rimsky-Korsakov conduct a second performance there. He attended the Moscow
rehearsals and his meeting with Rimsky-Korsakov was the beginning of a new informal association of
Russian composers, perceived by Balakirev as a threat to his own position and influence, as self-
appointed mentor of the Russian nationalist composers. Glazunov became part of Belyayev's circle,
attending his Friday evenings with Rimsky-Korsakov, rather than Balakirev's Tuesday evening meetings.
Belyayev took Glazunov, in 1884, to meet Liszt in Weimar, where the First Symphony was performed.
Rimsky-Korsakov as the Russian equivalent of Wagner's opponent, Hanslick, in Vienna, a comparison
that, from him, was not entirely complimentary.
the political disturbance of 1905, when the latter was dismissed from his post at the Conservatory after
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showing open sympathy with students who had joined liberal protests against official policies. Rimsky-
Korsakov was reinstated by Glazunov, now elected director of an institution that, in the aftermath, had
won a measure of autonomy. Glazunov remained director of the Conservatory until 1930. In 1928,
however, he left Russia in order to attend the Schubert celebrations in Vienna. Thereafter he remained
abroad, with an initially busy round of engagements as a conductor, finally settling near Paris until his
death in 1936.
The Variations on a Russian Theme is a composite work, written in honour of the tenth anniversary of
Nikolay Vladimirovich Galkin's conductorship of the concerts at Pavlovsk. It was first performed there on
4th July 1901. The theme itself was chosen by Rimsky-Korsakov's youngest daughter, Nadezhda
Nikolayevna, from Balakirev's collection of traditional Russian folk-songs. According to Vasily Vasilyevich
Yastrebsev in his Reminiscences of Rimsky-Korsakov, only Nikolay Sokolov had taken the task seriously,
while Rimsky-Korsakov, Lyadov and Glazunov had approached the work in lighter-hearted fashion.
Largely forgotten as a composer, Nikolay Artsybushev succeeded Rimsky-Korsakov in 1907 on the Board
of Trustees for Russian Composers, established after the death of the publisher and benefactor Belyayev
in 1904. Rimsky-Korsakov regarded Artsybushev, a lawyer by profession, as a sound businessman. His
opening variation is in the style of a triumphant march. The evocative second variation with its answering
phrases, a version which Yastrebsev describes as 'quite good', was by the Latvian composer Vitols, a
former pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov and a professor of composition at the St Petersburg Conservatory until
the Revolution. Lyadov, the composer of the lively third variation introduced by flutes and piccolo, was a
colleague of Rimsky-Korsakov at the Conservatory, while the latter's variation, introduced by trumpets
and clarinets, is compared by Yastrebsev to a traditional Russian bilina. Nikolay Sokolov, a former pupil
of Rimsky-Korsakov and later teacher of Shostakovich at the Conservatory, offers a finely crafted version
of the material and the set ends with Glazunov's Moderato maestoso, a stately celebration of Galkin, well
fitted to the occasion.
In 1910 Glazunov, as superstitious as many composers after Beethoven, abandoned his Ninth Symphony
and set to work on his First Piano Concerto. In a letter of 21st June from his dacha at Ozerki he wrote to
the pianist Konstantin Igumnov, complaining of the difficulties he found in writing the work, explaining
that although he understood the piano, he found problems in what to allocate to the orchestra and what
to the soloist, adding that what he found comfortable might not be so for the specialist. He dedicated the
concerto to Leopold Godowsky, who seemed satisfied with the work, and the first performance was given
by Igumnov on 24th February 1912.
The first movement opens with a chromatically descending melody, then taken up and developed in a
cadenza-like passage by the piano, leading to a romantically lyrical theme and a dramatic climax. The
soloist introduces a slower E major theme, embroidering it when the orchestra takes up the theme. The
central development brings back the opening material and the lyrical theme of the soloist is explored,
before the recapitulation, in which the principal themes return. The second movement offers a gently
lyrical D flat major theme. This is taken up by the soloist in the first variation, with muted strings. The
second chromatic variation is introduced by the soloist, while the third, described as 'heroic' offers a
bolder view of the material, with its dotted rhythms. Lyricism returns in the Adagio fourth version of the
theme, with the direction con sentimento. A dynamic climax is followed by a brief cadenza and a shift of
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key to C sharp minor for the Intermezzo. The same key is used for the sixth variation, Quasi una
fantasia, and in a final passage marked a capriccio the soloist leads on to an A major Mazurka with
distinct echoes of Chopin. The following Scherzo, with its embroidered piano sequences, also finds a
place for a short cadenza.
The last variation, in F major, with its reminiscences of the first movement, brings to an end a very
Russian and thoroughly Romantic concerto.
Glazunov's Piano Concerto No. 2 in B/E major, Op. 100, was first performed on 29th October 1917 in the
Small Hall of the Petrograd Conservatory with S.V. Bentser as soloist. The work was given in Paris in
December 1928 with the pianist Elena Gavrilova, subsequently adopted by Glazunov as his daughter
after his marriage the following year to her mother, Olga Nikolayevna Gavrilova. With the Sixth
Symphony the concerto formed part of Glazunov's programme at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in
December 1929, with Elena as soloist, and was repeated during their American tour.
Much of the concerto, played as one movement, is derived from the opening theme, linked briefly to a
secondary theme. An octave passage for the soloist, a derivative of the main theme, is heard and there
is a further lyrical expansion of this material, before a cadenza relaxes into an F major Andante that
draws on the secondary theme. This is followed by an Allegro, based on the principal theme, followed at
once, with a further shift of key, by the secondary theme, as the two thematic elements blend. The wind
instruments introduce an Allegro scherzando, before a tenderly felt version of the romantic secondary
theme makes its way to an Allegro moderato in which the whole orchestra offers a triumphantly Russian
E major version of the main theme. The material is variously explored, lyrically and playfully, before the
finely crafted and thematically unified virtuoso concerto comes to an end.
Keith Anderson
Oxana Yablonskaya
Oxana Yablonskaya was born in Moscow and began her piano studies at the age of five. She showed such
gifts that at six she was accepted into the Moscow Central School for Gifted Children where she was put
in the care of one of Russia's foremost teachers, Anaida Sumbatyan, who also taught Vladimir
Ashkenazy, working with her until the age of sixteen. From then until she was 21, Yablonskaya studied at
the Moscow Conservatory with the legendary teacher and pianist, Alexander Goldenweiser. At the age of
22, she studied with Tatiana Nikolayeva and began teaching as her assistant at the Moscow
Conservatory. Following her graduation with highest honours, she won top prizes at the Long-Thibaud
Competition in 1963, the Rio de Janeiro Competition in 1965 and the Vienna Beethoven Competition in
1969. She appeared extensively in the Soviet Union and the Eastern-bloc countries and recorded for the
Melodiya label. In 1977 Oxana Yablonskaya emigrated to the United States and made her first recital
appearance to great acclaim four months later at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall. A sold-out Carnegie
Hall concert followed and she has since taken her place among the major pianists of the world. She has
performed in the world's major concert halls, including the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Orchestra Hall
in Chicago, Royal Albert Hall in London, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Her international career
has taken her to over thirty countries from the United States, Mexico, Central and South America, and
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most of Western Europe, to the Orient, India, Australia, and New Zealand. In 1990, after a thirteen year
absence, she returned to Russia for a sold-out concert in the Great Hall in St Petersburg and master-
classes and recitals in the Moscow Conservatory. She has since returned to Russia on a regular basis and
continues to be recognized as one of the élite piano virtuosos to come out of Soviet Russia. Since 1983,
she has held the post of Professor of Piano at The Juilliard School in New York.
Dmitry Yablonsky
The cellist and conductor Dmitry Yablonsky emigrated to the United States of America from the former
Soviet Union in 1977, having already made his orchestral début at the age of nine in Haydn's Cello
Concerto in C major. In America he studied at the Juilliard School of Music and at the Curtis Institute and
graduated from Yale University. His subsequent career has brought concert appearances both in Russia
and throughout Western Europe and America, as a soloist with orchestras and conductors of great
distinction and in chamber music with musicians such as Yuri Bashmet, Vadim Repin, Boris Berezovsky
and with his mother, the pianist Oxana Yablonskaya. Dmitry Yablonsky enjoys a parallel career as a
conductor, having studied first with Yuri Simonov. He has appeared with orchestras throughout Europe in
this capacity and was until 1999 Principal Guest Conductor of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, under
whom he recorded over 60 CDs for Naxos and Marco Polo. Dmitry Yablonsky enjoys an active career as a
teacher. He has given masterclasses at, among other institutions, the Moscow Conservatory, Rotterdam
Conservatory, Tours Festival in France and the Royal College in Dublin. Yablonsky is also the founder and
Artistic Director of the Puigcerda Summer Festival in Puigcerda, Spain.
Reviews
John Bauman
Fanfare, February 2001
"This disc opens with the seldom-heard Variations on a Russian Theme that five composers wrote to
honor the conductor Nikolai Galkin. It is an attractive theme that is wittily scored by the five. Only
Sokolov took the task seriously, but all five provided a rousing work.
"Glazunov's two piano concertos retain a rather weak hold in the recorded repertoire, with three or four
recordings each. Both are Romantic, rather lush, and need a strong pianist to make them memorable. I
am always reminded of the wretched-sounding performance that Richter recorded nearly 50 years ago,
which still remains as my choice for the first concerto. His flamboyance really makes it sound like a first-
class work. The modern recording with the mother-son team of Yablonskaya-Yablonsky comes very close
to Richter in most respects. There is fire and passion in Yablonskya's playing, which helps to carry both
scores, while Yablonsky provides full0blooded orchestral support.
"The recorded sound is very fine, as re the notes. Naxos's bargain price is just an added incentive to buy
this well-filled disc."
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Geoffrey Norris
The Daily Telegraph (Australia), August 2000
"GLAZUNOV has never really enjoyed the posthumous recognition he deserves, but over the past few
years Naxos has certainly been doing its bit in trying to get his music more widely known. This disc is Vol
14 in a series of his orchestral works, and brings together the two piano concertos and the Variations on
a Russian Theme that Glazunov wrote in contemporaries, including Rimsky-Korsakov and Lyadov.
"These affectionate performances by Oxana Yablonskaya and the Moscow Symphony Orchestra highlight
not just the technical professionalism that Glazunov could always rely upon to get him through, but also
the blend of lyricism and orchestral colour that distinguish his music at its most engaging. Neither the
First Concerto (1910-11) nor the Second (1917) might have the strong melodic profile of a Rachmaninov
or Tchaikovsky, but they are works in the ripe Romantic tradition, with a breadth and grandeur of their
own."
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Symphonies Nos. 5 and 8
Glazunov belonged to a generation of Russian composers that was able to benefit from more professional
standards of compositional technique, absorbing and helping to create a synthesis of the national, that
might sometimes be expressed crudely enough, and the technique of the conservatories, that might
sometimes seem facile. His music seems to bridge the gap between the two, continuing at the same time
a romantic tradition into a world that had turned to eclectic innovation. As a young man, he worked
closely with Rimsky-Korsakov, to whom Balakirev, his mother's teacher, had recommended him, and
played an important part in the education of a new generation of Russian composers such as
Shostakovich.
Korsakov, rather than Balakirev's Tuesday evening meetings, and in 1884 Belyayev took him to meet
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measure of autonomy, Glazunov remained director of the Conservatory until 1930.
indulging in experiments of all kinds. Glazunov left Russia in 1928 in order to attend the Schubert
centenary celebrations in Vienna. Thereafter he remained abroad, at first with a busy round of
engagements as a conductor, finally settling near Paris at Boulogne-sur-Seine until his death in 1936.
Glazunov wrote his Symphony in B flat major, Opus 55, in 1895, dedicating the work to Sergey Taneyev,
whose monumental Oresteia, based on Aeschylus, was first performed in the same year. The work met
with approval from Rimsky-Korsakov, who found in it the beginning of something new, although a few
years later his youngest daughter, Nadezhda Nikolayevna, expressed dislike for it, when she played it
through, rather badly, we are told, with Stravinsky. The first movement opens with a strong motif in the
lower register of the orchestra, answered by the woodwind, the outline of the first subject heard from
bassoons and cellos in the Allegro that follows the solemn introductory section. The material forms the
substance of the transition that leads to the secondary theme, heard first from flute and clarinet with
harp accompaniment, as it shifts in harmony from D minor to the dominant key of F major. There is a
technically assured development, before the varied return of the material and the excitement of the final
section of the movement. The G minor Scherzo has a reminiscence of Mendelssohn about it and a more
direct debt to Tchaikovsky. It includes a trio section and elements of both return in conclusion. The
principal theme of the E flat major Andante is first heard from the violins. An interruption by the brass
introduces contrasting material, before the return of the thematic substance of the first section of the
movement. The symphony, very properly, ends with a rondo, always with rhythmic and melodic
suggestions of Russia, both in its principal theme and in its contrasting episodes.
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It was in the winter of the disturbed year of 1905 that Glazunov worked on his Symphony No.8 in E flat
major, Opus 83, completing the piano score during the following spring. The composer played it through
to Rimsky-Korsakov and his friends on several occasions, with the second movement regarded as
superior to the others and agreement that the scherzo was without a trio and really a kind of rondo. The
orchestrated version was played at a Russian Music Society concert in December 1906 and heard again
the following January at Glazunov's jubilee concert. The principal theme of the first movement is heard
initially from bassoons and horns and motifs derived from this play a large part in the tripartite sonata-
form movement, with its secondary theme entrusted first to the oboe. The central section finds scope for
contrapuntal development and the principal theme returns in a varied form in the final recapitulation.
The E flat minor slow movement starts menacingly, the main theme continuing with suggestions of the
first movement, with a secondary theme introduced by the flute. These themes return in due course, the
first in a lower register and the second initiated by the oboe, in a movement of great intensity. If the
stormy scherzo has no formal trio, it certainly has contrasting material to its busy opening, re-
establishing its nominal key of C major in its conclusion. The wind instruments provide a
characteristically Russian hymn-like opening to the last movement, now confirming the home-key of E
flat major. An episode in B major with an opening clarinet melody leads to the return of the wind chorale
and the principal theme, which is later to return in contrapuntal form, followed by the second theme and
a triumphant conclusion in which the principal theme plays a pervasive part. The whole work, the last
symphony that Glazunov completed, represents the height of his achievement, in particular in its
command of symphonic form and orchestration.
Keith Anderson

Established in 1989, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra includes prize-winners and laureates of Russian
and international music competitions and graduates of conservatories in Moscow, Leningrad and Kiev
who have played under such conductors as Svetlanov, Rozhdestvensky, Mravinsky and Ozawa, in Russia
and throughout the world. In addition to its extensive concert programmes, the orchestra has been
recognized for its outstanding recordings for Marco Polo, including the first-ever survey of Malipiero's
symphonies, symphonic music of Guatemala, the complete symphonies of Charles Tournemire and
Russian music by Scriabin, Glazunov, Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky and Nikolay Tcherepnin, It has also
embarked on a survey of classic film scores from Hollywood's golden age. The orchestra toured in 1991
to Finland and to England, where collaboration with a well known rock band demonstrated readiness for
experimentation. A British and Japanese commission has brought a series of twelve television
programmes for international distribution and in 1993 there was a highly successful tour of Spain.
Alexander Anissimov
Alexander Anissimov graduated from the St Petersburg Conservatory in 1970 and completed his studies
at the Moscow Conservatory. In 1980 he was appointed Chief Guest Conductor of the Bolshoi
Byelorussian Opera and Ballet Theatre and has made many appearances at the Bolshoi Theatre in
Moscow and the Maryinsky-Kirov Theatre in St Petersburg. Since September 1997 he has been Chief
Conductor of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra 'Russian Philharmonia'. In recognition of his talent the
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Orchestra of Santa Cecilia, Rome, presented him with Leonard Bernstein's baton in 1993 and he was
named Conductor of the Year by the Russian magazine Muzikai Elite in 1995. His operatic performances
have included Cherevichki and The Demon at the Wexford Festival, Boris Godunov at La Fenice in Venice,
Eugene Onegin in Paris and Barcelona and Prince Igor in San Francisco and Marseilles. He has
accompanied Monserrat Caballé at the Kremlin and Galina Gorchakova at the Hong Kong Festival. In
addition to his appearances with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland in Dublin he has conducted
concerts at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and various ballets at the Bastille Opera in Paris, toured
Spain with the Monte Carlo Philharmonic and Ireland and the USA with the National Youth Orchestra of
Ireland. He now holds the position of Principal Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland,
having been their Principal Guest Conductor since 1994.
Reviews

These are both delightful symphonies, even if the Eight is rather thickly scored. However, Alexander
Anissimov does his best to make the textures as clear and well ventilated as possible, and pays great
attention to details of dynamics and balance. Try the Scherzo of the Fifth Symphony and you will find
much lightness of touch and a greater transparency than is often encountered in records of these works.
Strongly recommended, especially at such a model cost.
Sensible Sound, July 2001

"The sound Naxos delivers here is among the best from this source...The disc's low cost makes it easy
for anyone to sample Glazunov's talents, the Moscow orchestra under Anissimov makes it easy to listen
to, and the music takes care of itself in offering the differing sides of this fascinating composer."
Gerald French
Classical Net, June 2001
"Serviceable recordings and detailed notes added to an evocative front cover make this a very desirable
bargain."
Haller
American Record Guide, February 2001
"This well-filled disc concludes the Naxos survey of the symphonies of Alexander Glazounov directed by
Alexander Anissimov... there has been much to praise, especially given the low asking price...but the
Moscow musicians play with gusto - not to mention formidable lung power from the low brass.
Actually Anissimov is rather expansive in the opening movement as well, yet with a firm pulse and
smooth flow that quite elude the other conductors; and the warm, rich sound furnished by the Naxos
engineers is a strong point in his favor. Also more than the others he captures beautifully the underlying
lyrical element of the music, if perhaps at the cost of a sameness of tempo among the various themes.
He certainly has the players on their toes for the delightful Scherzo, with its delicate by-play of winds and
glockenspiel...certainly they stand forth with admirable resolve in the glorious finale, which not as manic
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as it might be but a good, rugged account that perhaps impresses more for its underlying tensile
strength and sinew than mere juggernaut power, as well that exhilarating swaying melody in the
middle...
Anissimov and the Moscow Symphony really seem to be enjoying themselves, savoring the challenge of
bringing everything together. For those willing to accept his rather amiable account of I on its own terms
the sumptuous sonics and low cost make this a highly attractive recording..."
Victor Carr
ClassicsToday.com, November 2000
"Alexander Glazunov's brilliantly melodic, brightly colored, vividly orchestrated Fifth fits comfortably
within the late-19th-century Russian symphonic style. That Glazunov was a pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov
shows in the first movement's similarity of character to that master's ebullient Third Symphony.
Surprisingly, Glazunov seems to have picked up a bit of Brahms in the very familiar-sounding (from
Brahms Symphony No. 2) main rhythm of the scherzo. A lovely cantabile melody forms the basis of the
moving Andante, and the work ends in a traditionally festive Russian finale.
"It's remarkable how little Glazunov's style had changed in the years between 1895 and 1906, especially
considering the growth Rachmaninov experienced during this same period (to say nothing of the
Modernist Scriabin). Still, the hefty Symphony No. 8 (43 minutes as compared to the Fifth's 35) does
have its enjoyable moments, most notably the scherzo, a whirlwind movement with plenty of harmonic
twists and turns and dazzling orchestration that points to Stravinsky's Scherzo Fantastique. Grouchy
brass pronouncements make the slow movement (Mesto) memorable, and the Finale is one of those
time-honored celebrations of harmony and counterpoint brimming with scales, fugues, and other
academic devices. There's nothing academic about Alexander Anissimov and the Moscow Symphony
Orchestra, who play this music as if it might be banned tomorrow. Naxos' sound transmits a large
acoustic but contains a noticeable degree of harshness."
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The Sea / Oriental Rhapsody / Ballade / Cortège solennel

Rimsky- Korsakov. By the age of sixteen he had finished the first of his nine symphonies, which was
present at the first performance of the symphony and travelled to Moscow to hear Rimsky- Korsakov
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Glazunov, however, remained a colleague and friend of Rimsky-Korsakov , and demonstrated this after
measure of autonomy. Glazunov remained director of the Conservatory until 1930. In 1928 he left Russia
in order to attend the Schubert celebrations in Vienna. Thereafter he remained abroad, with a busy
round of engagements as a conductor, finally settling near Paris until his death in 1936.
glasses and gold watch- chain. His appearance was in accordance with his musical tastes. He found fault
indulging in experiments of all kinds. The fantasy The Sea, Opus 28, was written in 1889 and dedicated
to the memory of Richard Wagner. The score contains the following programme.
Through long centuries the sea has carried its waves to the shore, sometimes pursued by a raging wind,
sometimes rocked by the light breath of the air. A man sat on the shore and the various pictures of
nature passed before his eyes. Bright sun shone in the sky, the sea was calm. Suddenly a raging
whistling gust of wind arose, followed by another. The sky grew dark, the sea became agitated. The
elements launched into a struggle, relentless, with a great roaring, with majestic force. A violent storm
burst. But the tempest passed away, the sea became calm again. The sun shone anew over the calm
surface of the water. And everything that the man had seen and all that he had felt in his soul- he
recounted later to other men.
Rimsky-Korsakov found the work too Wagnerian, of the Meistersinger period, and others of his circle
were critical of it, although some might have detected a debt to Rimsky-Korsakov himself. Audiences,
however, responded to a colourful and evocative score. Certainly the picture offered is a vivid one, as the
waves mount, followed by a sudden calm, with the harp leading to a romantic new theme. A storm
gathers force, only to subside, as the tranquillity of the opening is restored.
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Glazunov wrote his Oriental Rhapsody. Opus 29, in the same year, following the Russian vein of
exoticism that had found expression in some of the work of Borodin and of Rimsky-Korsakov. The work,
dedicated to the painter Ilya Repin, is in five movements, for which a programme is provided. The first
movement suggests evening, with the town sleeping. The call of the watchmen is heard from a French
horn, echoed by a second, muted horn, and the song of an itinerant musician, an exotic theme, forms
the melodic substance of the movement, which closes with the echoed calls of the watch. The first theme
of the dance of young men and girls is announced by the oboe over the plucked notes of the strings and
the rhythm of the tambourine. Occasionally cross-rhythms are introduced, as the energetic dance
continues, never relenting in its progress. The harp and divided lower strings, with the woodwind,
introduce the old man's ballad, its narrative melody entrusted first to the violins in a slow movement that
finally leads to fanfares and, in the next movement, the march of troops, returning in victory, and
general triumph. The last movement finds the warriors celebrating their victory, with the young singer
appearing in the midst of the dance with his song from the opening movement. The Rhapsody ends in a
final wild orgy, with reminiscences of what has passed.
The F major Ballade, Opus 78, was written in 1902. In May Glazunov played it through to Rimsky-
Korsakov and other guests at the latter's house, together with another work, the still unfinished Seventh
Symphony. In his Reminiscences of Rimsky-Korsakov, Yastrebtsev, present on that occasion, praises the
strength and beauty of the Ballade. The work is framed by a slower section, dominated by a strongly felt
and extended theme rather from the world of contemporary Vienna than that of St Petersburg. The
central section brings greater excitement in what might be imagined as martial acts of bravery, if a
narrative is to be sought.
1910 brought the third of Glazunov's solemn processionals, the Cortege solennel, Opus 91. The
procession opens with a fanfare, followed by a very Russian hymn-like theme, developed with touches of
contrapuntal imitation and deft use of the contrasting sections of the orchestra.
Keith Anderson
Igor Golovchin
The Russian conductor Igor Golovchin was born in 1956 and entered the piano class of the Special Music
School at the age of six. In 1975 he joined the class of Kyril Kondrashin at the Moscow Conservatory and
in 1981 joined the Irkutsk Symphony Orchestra, winning the Herbert von Karajan Conductors'
Competition in the following year, followed, in 1984, by victory in the Moscow National Conductors'
competition. Five years later he was invited to join the former USSR State Symphony Orchestra, where
he was assistant to Yevgeny Svetlanov.

The Moscow Symphony Orchestra, the first independent orchestra in modern Russia, was established
through private resources, free of state support, in 1989. Four years later the distinguished French
conductor Antonio de Almeida was invited to become musical director and chief conductor, positions he
held until his sudden and much lamented death in February 1997. From the beginning the orchestra has
been an active participant in the musical life of Moscow, appearing with famous Russian and foreign
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conductors and in collaboration with soloists of great international distinction. In addition to its extensive
concert schedule the Moscow Symphony Orchestra has also won acclaim for its recordings, which include
the complete symphonies of Scriabin, many of the orchestral compositions of Glazunov and Rimsky-
Korsakov, sixteen symphonies by the twentieth century Italian composer Gian Francesco Malipiero, an
anthology of Flemish music and a series dedicated to famous overtures. The orchestra has participated in
a number of international festivals and has undertaken concert tours throughout Europe, the United
States and the Far East.
Reviews
David Hurwitz
ClassicsToday.com, March 2001
"The Oriental Rhapsody offers five movements (and 27 minutes) of genuine fun. Golovchin and his band
clearly relish the chance to show off a little, and work up a respectable head of steam in the concluding
'Celebration of the warriors'. ... you'll find nearly fifty minutes of first-rate Glazunov here, and every
complete edition has, by definition, some items that are better than others. An enjoyable disc, on the
whole, and the sound is good too."
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Triumphal March / Serenades / Overtures on Three Greek Themes / Chopiniana
Moscow Symphony, Ziva
A precocious pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov, Glazunov combined national inspiration with

masterful compositional technique. Dating from the earlier part of his career, as do all the
works on this recording, the two Serenades demonstrate his facility for handling simple melodic
material. The two Overtures based on popular Greek themes reflect the contemporary
fascination in Russian music for the exoticism of the music of neighbouring countries. The
Triumphal March makes imaginative use of the Philadelphia camp-meeting song best known as DDD
‘John Brown's Body’, while the suite Chopiniana, an orchestral arrangement of pieces by 8.555048
Chopin which received its première under Rimsky-Korsakov, was eventually to form the basis
of the ballet Chopiniana, better known outside Russia as Les Sylphides. Playing Time
70:33
Alexander Konstantinovich
7
GLAZUNOV
47313 50482
(1865-1936)
1 Triumphal March, Op. 40 9:46

.
2 Serenade No. 1, Op. 7 4:02
3 Overture No. 1 on Three Greek Themes, Op. 3 14:46
4
4 Serenade No. 2, Op. 11 3:48
www.naxos.com
Made in E.C.
Booklet notes in English • Kommentar auf Deutsch
h 2003 & g 2003 HNH International Ltd.
5 Overture No. 2 on Three Greek Themes, Op. 6 18:48
Chopiniana, Op. 46 19:23
6 Polonaise 5:01
7 Nocturne 5:06
8 Mazurka 6:02
9 Tarantelle 3:14
Moscow Symphony Orchestra • Vladimir Ziva

Recorded at the Mosfilm Studios, Moscow, Russia, in February 2000 • Producer: Betta Inc.
Engineering & Editing: Edvard Shaknazarian & Vitaly Ivanov • Booklet Notes: Keith Anderson
Cover Painting: The Overgrown Pond, 1880, by Vasilij Dmitrievich Polenov (1844-1927) (Bridgeman Art Library)

compositional technique, absorbing and helping to create a synthesis of the national (which might
sometimes be crudely expressed), and the technique of the conservatories (which might sometimes
seem facile). Glazunov worked closely with Rimsky-Korsakov, to whom Balakirev, his mother’s teacher,
Rimsky-Korsakov. By the age of sixteen he had finished the first of his nine symphonies, and this was
composers. Glazunov became part of Belyayev’s circle, attending his Friday evenings with Rimsky-
Korsakov, rather than Balakirev’s Tuesday evening meetings. Belyayev took Glazunov, in 1884, to meet
for his teacher seems to have cooled. Rimsky-Korsakov’s wife was later to remark on Glazunov’s
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measure of autonomy. Glazunov remained director of the Conservatory until 1930. In 1928 he left Russia
in order to attend the Schubert celebrations in Vienna. Thereafter he remained abroad, with a busy
round of engagements as a conductor, finally settling near Paris until his death in 1936.
with Stravinsky’s ear and could not abide the music of Richard Strauss, while the student Prokofiev
From the opening bars of Glazunov’s Triumphal March, written in 1892 and including an optional chorus
part, American listeners will have a feeling of déjà entendu. The melody on which the greater part of the
march is based is the Philadelphia camp-meeting song ‘Say, bummers, will you meet us?’, better known
as John Brown’s Body. Glazunov makes imaginative use of the melody, deriving from it a triumphant
paean of victory. The march was written for the Chicago Exhibition and published in 1895 with Russian
words by Belyayev, bearing as well the full English title Triumphal March on the Occasion of the Worlds
Columbian Exposition in Chicago 1893.
The Serenade No.1 in A major, Op. 7, written in 1883 and published three years later, shows Glazunov’s
early facility in handling simple melodic materials. A solo clarinet enters, over a plucked string
accompaniment, to be joined by other wind instruments. Mock-oriental motifs appear and the principal
melody returns in the full orchestra before the work ends. The second of the pair, the Serenade in F
major, Op. 11, was written in 1884 and scored for a smaller orchestra. It opens with a flute melody
hinting at G minor, accompanied by the sustained notes of two clarinets, before the theme appears in the
violins, in
F major, later to return with a flowing accompaniment. There are contrasts of thematic material, but it is
the delicate F major theme that returns in conclusion.
The G minor Overture No. 1 on Three Greek Themes, Op. 3, dates from the years 1881-1884, and was
first performed under the direction of Anton Rubinstein. Here Glazunov drew on melodies published by
Louis Bourgault-Ducoudray in his Mélodies populaires de Grèce et d’Orient. The French musicologist had
collected this material during a journey through Greece in 1874 and it was through him that Rimsky-
Korsakov’s music was made known to music students in Paris. After a meeting in Paris Rimsky-Korsakov
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described him as a serious musician and a ‘bright’ man. The vein explored is that Russian preoccupation
with the relative exoticism of neighbouring countries, displayed, for example in Borodin’s Prince Igor, in
Balakirev’s Islamey or in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sheherazade. The overture opens with a characteristic
theme that forms the substance of the slow introduction. A lively dance-song is entrusted to the clarinet,
leading to a second, gentler melody for the oboe. The development of these is followed by the return of
the initial Adagio and a rapid and ultimately triumphant summary of what has gone before. The work was
dedicated to Bourgault-Doucoudray. The D major Overture No. 2 on Three Greek Themes was written in
the same period and first introduced to the public under the direction of Balakirev, to whom it is
dedicated. Again Glazunov demonstrates his precocity in his deft handling of the orchestra and his facility
with the borrowed melodic material, now in full Russian guise.
In 1892 Glazunov put together an orchestral suite with arrangements of piano music by Chopin,
Chopiniana, Op. 46. This was introduced to the public in December 1893, when it was conducted by
Rimsky-Korsakov, who received a copy of the score the following year as a present from the composer,
when it was published by Belyayev. It formed the basis of a later ballet Chopiniana, better known outside
Russia as Les Sylphides. The ballet was first staged at the Marïinsky Theatre in St Petersburg in 1907
with choreography by Fokin and with Pavlova as prima ballerina, Fokin’s wife Vera Petrovna Fokina, and
Anatol Obukhov. The earlier suite opens with an arrangement of Chopin’s Polonaise in A major, Op. 40.
This is followed by the Nocturne in F major, Op. 12, No.1, the Mazurka in C sharp minor, Op. 50, No. 3,
and the Tarantella in A flat major, Op. 43, a final Neapolitan whirling dance. Glazunov’s orchestral suite,
now perhaps more familiar in the theatre, demonstrates the expected skill of the composer in
orchestration, transforming the original piano pieces into something truly Russian.
Keith Anderson
Reviews
Film Music: The Neglected Art, May 2011

Written prior to his first symphony sometime around 1881 as a teenager the themes were taken from a
series of collected melodies (Melodies populaires de Grece et d’Orient) published by Louis Bourgault-
Doucoudray of material he collected during a journey through Greece in 1874 with the premiere being
conducted by Anton Rubenstein. It is another example of the fascination of exploring exotic themes from
other countries like Prince Igor, Scheherazade, or Islamey. From very early on in his composing career
Glazunov had already developed his sound which offers wonderful arrangements and orchestrations and
a unique Russian sound unlike anyone else. This reviewer for one is happy that Glazunov is being given
the recognition that he is deserving of. When I first started listening over fifty years ago there wasn’t a
lot of recorded material. Today that is not true as many orchestras have recorded him.
The opening theme is a slow methodical which immediately identifies that this is a Russian theme and
one by Glazunov. The clarinet reveals the theme with nice touches from the harp. As it unfolds it leads us
into a lively dance that has a hint of a Greek sound but definitely arranged otherwise. You can’t mistake
this for anything but Russian! The oboe takes center stage as the second melody is introduced. You can
now definitely hear the early influence that Balakirev had on his development. Keep in mind that
Glazunov was but a teenager when he composed this orchestral use. I like the orchestration and how
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each section is included. At the end of the work it revisits the Adagio before coming to a rousing
conclusion.
I found both recordings to be more than acceptable. While the Svetlanov recording has a bright sound,
the Ziva benefits with a newer digital technology giving it a fuller feeling. Both Ziva and Svetlanov have
studied and understand this composition equally well. The selection process would come down to cost
and the desire for a six CD set that includes his symphonies or a single CD that is part of a nineteen CD
collection from Naxos. Since I have and enjoy both I don’t have to choose. If I had to choose I would
lean toward the Naxos recording as it offers his Triumphal March, two Serenades, and his ballet work
Chopinana (Les Sylphides) an orchestral compilation of Chopin’s material.
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Masquerade / 2 Pieces / Pas de caractère / Romantic Intermezzo
Russian Philharmonic, Yablonsky
Glazunov’s beautifully scored incidental music for Lermontov’s play Masquerade has only
survived in manuscript. With characteristic genius, he illustrates both the glittering atmosphere
and dances of splendid St Petersburg balls and depicts the horrifying descent into madness of
the play’s protagonist, Evgeny Arbenin, who jealously poisons his innocent wife. The shorter
works on this disc likewise show Glazunov’s amazing command of orchestral resources,
whether evoking an exotic oriental vision, the vivacious spirit of Hungarian music, in the Pas de DDD
caractère, or painting a mood of gentle romantic lyricism.
8.570211
Alexander Konstantinovich
GLAZUNOV Playing Time
66:57
(1865-1936)
Masquerade (Maskarad) 35:33 & Tableau 3: Chiming Clock 0:59
Act I * Tableau 6 0:24
1 Tableau 2 0:47 ( Valse-Fantaisie 5:37
2 Pantomime 1 0:32 ) Tableau 9 1:02
3 Mazurka 4:07 ¡ Entr’acte 1:45
4 Pantomime 3 1:53 Act IV
5 Quadrille 1:11 ™ Scene 1 3:15
6 Pantomime 4 1:09 £ Entrance 6 0:27
7 Scene 2 0:50 ¢ Pantomime 11 0:22
8 Pantomime 5 0:23 ∞ Chorus 0:37
www.naxos.com
Printed & Assembled in USA
Disc Made in Canada
Booklet notes in English
& 2009 Naxos Rights International Ltd.
9 Scene 3 1:06 § Moderato 2:56
0 Pantomime 6 0:59
Two Pieces, Op. 14 15:53
! Scene 4 0:47
¶ No. 1: Idylle 8:38
@ Pantomime 7 0:13
• No. 2: Rêverie orientale 7:15
# Entrance 7 0:28
$ Pantomime 8 0:17 ª Pas de caractère, Op. 68 2:22
% Scene 6: Galop 2:24
º Romantic Intermezzo, Op. 69 11:09
Act III
^ Tableau 8: Polonaise 3:04
Gnesin Academy Chorus (Chorus-master: Alexander Soloviev)

Russian Philharmonic Orchestra • Dmitry Yablonsky
Recorded at Studio 5, Russian State TV and Radio Company KULTURA, Moscow, Russia,
from 10th to 15th October 2006 • Producers: Pavel Lavrenenkov & Natalya Ruzhanskaya
Engineers: Aleksander Karasev & Gennady Trabantov • Editor: Pavel Lavrenenkov • Booklet Notes: Keith Anderson
Cover Painting: The little tongue of Colombine, 1913 by Konstantin Somov (1869-1939) (Bridgeman Art Library)
From http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.570211:
Glazunov’s beautifully scored incidental music for Lermontov’s play Masquerade has only survived in
manuscript. With characteristic genius, he illustrates both the glittering atmosphere and dances of
splendid St Petersburg balls and depicts the horrifying descent into madness of the play’s protagonist,
Evgeny Arbenin, who jealously poisons his innocent wife. The shorter works on this disc likewise show
Glazunov’s amazing command of orchestral resources, whether evoking an exotic oriental vision, the
vivacious spirit of Hungarian music, in the Pas de caractère, or painting a mood of gentle romantic
lyricism.
as a threat to his own position and influence as self-appointed mentor of the Russian nationalist
composers. Glazunov became part of Belyayev’s circle, attending his Friday evenings with Rimsky-
Korsakov, rather than Balakirev’s Tuesday evening meetings. Belyayev took Glazunov, in 1884, to meet
- Page 78 of 90 -
for his teacher seems to have cooled. He remained, however, a colleague and friend of Rimsky-
Korsakov, and demonstrated this after the political disturbance of 1905, when the latter had signed a
letter of protest at the suppression of some element of democracy in Russia and had openly sympathized
with Conservatory students who had joined liberal protests against official policies. Rimsky-Korsakov was
dismissed from the Conservatory, to be reinstated by Glazunov, elected director of an institution that, in
the aftermath, had now won a measure of autonomy. Glazunov remained director of the Conservatory
until 1930. In 1928 he left Russia in order to attend the Schubert celebrations in Vienna. Thereafter he
remained abroad, with a busy round of engagements as a conductor, finally settling near Paris until his
death in 1936.
Lermontov’s play Masquerade, written in 1836, five years before the writer’s death in a duel, has, over
the years, attracted a number of Russian composers. Glazunov wrote his incidental music for the play in
1912–13 and this was used for Meyerhold’s 1917 production at the Alexandrinsky Theatre. Lermontov’s
hero, Evgeny Arbenin, is bored with the world, despising the decadent society of St Petersburg in which
he moves, moody and suspicious. In a plot that follows the story of Othello, Arbenin is jealous of his wife
Nina, an innocent woman whom he poisons. The play is bitter in its criticism of contemporary society and
was banned for some thirty years. The score of Glazunov’s incidental music has survived in manuscript,
although it is not always easy to place the 26 numbers, some very short, in their exact dramatic context.
Much of the music for the first act seems intended for the second scene, the masked ball, and the third
act brings a second ball, with the fourth showing Arbenin’s final realisation and madness. Nina’s song in
the third act is not included but was written in 1916 and published as Op. 106.
The first act opens with a group of noblemen, including Prince Zvezditch, Kazarin and Sprich playing
cards. The Prince loses and is offered a loan by Sprich, an Iago figure, from whom he turns coldly away.
They are joined by Arbenin, who is introduced to Sprich, but treats him with some disdain. Arbenin turns
to the Prince, who admits that he has lost everything and, as an experienced gambler who has
renounced the game, he plays for the Prince, wins and gives him what he has won, rejecting his thanks
and proposing that they go on to a masked ball, where all are on the same level. Sprich, aside, resolves
to be better acquainted with Arbenin.
The scene changes to the ball. Arbenin thinks nothing of the world he is now in. The Prince approaches,
finding the entertainment equally empty, but Arbenin draws attention to the pleasures of encounters at a
masked ball. The Prince is approached by a masked woman, who claims his acquaintance and seems
charming enough. They go out together, and Arbenin appears, talking to a masked man, who foretells
misfortune for him, before disappearing into the crowd. Sprich enters. Two masked women are sitting on
a sofa and when one is approached she rejects the man, dropping her bracelet as she goes. Arbenin
speaks disparagingly to Sprich, leaving the latter ready to seek revenge. The woman who had been
talking with the Prince returns, sees the bracelet lying on the ground and resolves to give it to the Prince
as a souvenir. The Prince enters and takes her hand, trying to persuade her to remove her mask. She
throws the bracelet down, telling the Prince to take it, before disappearing into the crowd. Joined by
Arbenin, the Prince shows him the bracelet, which Arbenin seems to recognise.
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At home Arbenin awaits his wife’s return, meditating on his earlier life and the change brought about by
his marriage. His wife Nina is late coming back, and the love of the couple is apparent in what follows,
but suddenly he notices that her bracelet has gone, immediately feeling pangs of jealousy and accusing
Nina of infidelity. She leaves the room in tears.
Nina visits Baroness Strahl, where they are joined by the Prince. Nina has been seeking her lost bracelet
and the Prince now believes that it is Nina who, masked, had given him her bracelet as a love token.
Nina is angry at the implication and leaves, and the Prince tells the Baroness of his supposed conquest. It
is the Baroness who, masked, had shown her love for the Prince, and when he goes she expresses her
annoyance at his boasting of his amorous exploit. She is joined by Sprich, to whom she is in debt, and he
now senses the possibility of causing mischief.
In his study Arbenin’s thoughts are on jealousy. Kazarin calls on him, joined shortly by Sprich, who tells
him that Arbenin has been cuckolded. As they await their host, Arbenin enters, in his hand a letter from
the Prince to Nina that he has intercepted. He does not notice the visitors and it is clear his jealousy is
increasing.
The scene changes to the Prince’s apartment. The Prince is resting, when Arbenin arrives and is denied
by the servant, but resolves to wait for him, then tempted to kill the Prince as he sleeps. Instead he
leaves a note, but as he goes he meets a veiled woman, in fact the Baroness, but Arbenin suspects that
it is his wife. He understands his mistake, when he seizes the veil, and her attempts to explain matters
are in vain. When the Prince appears, she explains to him his danger and her part in it. When she goes,
he sees Arbenin’s note, a dinner, to be followed, he knows, by a duel.
Kazarin and Arbenin are at cards, the latter now persuaded to rejoin his friend in their older activities.
The Prince joins them and in response to Arbenin’s insults tries to provoke a duel, which Arbenin rejects,
preferring, instead, to bring disgrace on the Prince.
The new act opens at a ball, where gossip reveals that the Baroness has left town and that the Prince has
been caught cheating at cards and has refused a duel. When he appears, he is shunned by the company,
but, left with Nina, warns her of her husband’s jealousy and her danger. They are observed by Arbenin
and as they leave he gives way to his jealousy and his resolve to kill his wife. Nina, with the other
guests, is persuaded by their hostess to sing. Arbenin comes in and leans on the piano. Nina breaks off
and the guests disperse. Left with Arbenin, Nina asks him to bring her an ice, which gives him the
opportunity to add poison to it. She has premonitions of danger, but eats the ice, handing the empty dish
to Arbenin, who throws it to the ground. They have been observed by an unknown figure, and leave
together.
At home again Nina feels feverish and ill, as her maid helps her prepare for bed. Arbenin appears, sends
the maid away and locks the door. Nina wonders if the ice has made her feel worse, and rejects the idea
of any more such entertainments. Arbenin sits by her and rails on the emptiness of life, a masquerade
ending in death. Nina wants to live, and asks for a doctor, but Arbenin refuses, eventually admitting that
he has poisoned her. As she dies she continues to protest her innocence, and Arbenin his incredulity.
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In the last act a stranger appears, one who has sought revenge for an old wrong, and Arbenin learns at
last of his wife’s fidelity, driven to madness. The Prince too sees Arbenin now out of his mind, while he
himself remains in dishonour.
Glazunov’s Two Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 14, date from 1886 and reveal his early technical skill in
handling the orchestra. The first is a gently lilting Idylle, opened by the French horns, an instrument that
Glazunov had been studying, as he developed his understanding to the orchestra. The second
piece, Rêverie orientale, is characterized by the opening oboe solo, with its oriental intervals and flavour
of contemporary exoticism.
The Pas de caractère, Op. 68, described as genre slave-hongrois, was written in 1899, the year of the
ballet The Seasons. It was dedicated to Adelina Giuri, who danced the rôle of Raymonda in the ballet of
that name in the Moscow première of 1900. The Moderato opening section leads to a lively conclusion.
Intermezzo romantico, Op. 69, was written in 1900. Scored for a relatively large orchestra, the music
unwinds with gentle lyricism, sustaining a mood suggested by its title, and, as always, demonstrating
Glazunov’s command of orchestral resources and classical structure.
Keith Anderson
Reviews
John Sunier
Audiophile Audition, April 2010
GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol. 18 - Masquerade / 2 Pieces / Pas de caractere / Romantic
Intermezzo (Russian Philharmonic, Yablonsky) 8.570211
GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol. 19 - Les Ruses d'amour (Iasi Moldova Philharmonic, Andreescu)
8.572447
The play Masquerade inspired a number of Russian composers…the lovely incidental music for the four
acts of the play mostly depict the glittering environment of the balls…
Performance and sonics…are high quality. It’s such a relief to have all current recordings coming out of
Russia in excellent fidelity today; unlike the mostly atrocious quality of Soviet-era recordings.
The Romanian State Orchestra…sonics are good…
Barry Brenesal
Fanfare, March 2010
The Russian Philharmonic shows off its solo and sectional virtues repeatedly in this colorful music, and to
good advantage…this is an expansive, attractive performance, and likely to be the best we have for some
time to come…this album offers good sound, and attractive readings. Recommended.
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Rob Maynard
MusicWeb International, November 2009
The op. 14 pieces are delicately scored and atmospheric early works, clearly influenced by the Balakirev
school’s fondness for sweeping melodies and faux orientalism, while the Romantic intermezzo both fully
and attractively lives up to its name and also showcases a composer who has, by his mid-30s, succeeded
in establishing a rather more individual—and westwards-looking—style.
We must be grateful to Naxos for its decision to give us, over the past 14 years, such a well-rounded—
and, I trust, still developing—picture of Glazunov’s oeuvre…performances that are quite exemplary. The
Gnesin Academy Chorus is clearly an accomplished and well-drilled body that sings beautifully and
idiomatically, while Dmitry Yablonsky and the orchestra, beautifully recorded, do their considerable best…
Steven J Haller
American Record Guide, November 2009
It seems truly remarkable that anyone could come up with a work by Alexander Glazounov that has
never been recorded before—no, not even by Svetlanov. Gramophone many years ago announced
among its New Releases a Chandos by Polyansky and even gave a record number (9931), but no such
recording has come to light.
Here we have a newly discovered sequence of (mostly) tableaus and pantomimes for Mikhail Lermontov’s
Masquerade that date from 1912–13, some 30 years before the far better known Khachaturian suite.
Lermontov’s play is a thinly disguised setting of Shakespeare’s Othello, telling of a jaded aristocrat, one
Evgeny Arbenin, who has become thoroughly disgusted with the decadence of St Petersburg high society
and rails against the emptiness of life, which he sees as “a masquerade ending in death”. Brooding and
suspicious by nature, Arbenin is all too willing to believe his wife Lily has betrayed him with another
man; incensed, he accuses her to her face on the flimsiest of evidence and haughtily dismisses her
tearful protestations. Tormented by jealousy, Arbenin poisons his wife and is driven to insanity when he
learns—too late—of her innocence.
The notes describe the stage action in considerable detail but make no attempt to link the music to the
goings-on; in fact, Keith Anderson admits “it is not always easy to place the 26 numbers in their exact
dramatic context”. Moreover only six of them are longer than two minutes, while the second act
apparently has no music at all. Standouts are a ‘Mazurka’ and ‘Polonaise’ that might have come from the
Scènes de Ballet, while one prominent chromatic motif first heard in the third Pantomime (track 4)
sounds very much like Glazounov’s music for Oscar Wilde’s Salome written around the same time. Our
Editor informs me that the ‘Chiming Clock’ heard in the flute and muted cymbals (track 17) is actually by
Bortniansky and may also be found in American hymnals. Most curious of all—and apparently quite
unbeknownst to Mr Anderson, who makes no mention of it—is the ‘Valse-Fantaisie’ from Act III that even
the casual listener will surely recognize as Glinka, though overlain by the Salome motif near the close.
The chorus wafts wordlessly in and out until Act IV—when the distraught Arbenin finally learns of his
wife’s innocence—where they offer a moving a cappella hymn—not identified in the notes either (part of
the Vespers perhaps)? For the rest, we have sundry mercurial mood shifts and fleeting flashes of color
that change seemingly at whim like some magical kaleidoscope, living entirely for the moment just like
the mindless hedonists who disport at Lermontov’s masked ball.
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We may actually find more of substance in the fillers, beginning with the gently lilting Idylle—the first of
Glazounov’s Two Pieces dating from 1886 (when he was 21). It already glows with the lustrous melody
familiar from his later works, including Spring and Poème Lyrique and the Intermezzo Romantico offered
here. Its companion piece, Rêverie Orientale, centers around a sinuous melody by the oboe that recalls
Rimsky-Korsakoff’s Antar, only near the close rising above a seductive sigh. Yablonsky caresses both
pieces far more captivatingly than the turgid Svetlanov; on Marco Polo Horia Andreescu phrases warmly
but his Romanian ensemble can’t match the Russians. Svetlanov’s sharply contrasting tempos in the
Hungarian-styled rhythms of the brief Pas de Caractére complement Yablonsky’s more laidback
approach; while at 7:41 Antonio de Almeida (Marco Polo; Nov/Dec 1987) paints the Intermezzo
Romantico in more vernal colors compared to the bittersweet yearning of Yablonsky at 11:09, followed
closely by Odisseiy Dimitriadi (Olympia) and of course Svetlanov. My only cavil is that there was room for
Yablonsky to complete the picture with the Scéne Dansante, even if it meant duplicating the Anissimov
(Naxos; Nov/Dec 1998); but I’m very excited to finally have Glazounov’s Masquerade, and the warm,
detailed backdrop makes it all the more indispensable.
Frank Behrens
Art Times, October 2009
Incidental Music to “Masquerade” is Restored—For lovers of Russian music as it was before the
Revolution, the works of Alexander Glazunov (1865–1936) can stand as excellent examples of stirring
scores that reflect the past history of Russia and the splendor of the courtly under the Tsars.
For example, the Naxos CD of “Masquerade (Incidental Music)” expands on the “Masquerade Suite” that
has so often filled in recorded collections of Russian scores. Asked to compose music for the play
“Masquerade” by one Lermontov, Glazunov obliged with 26 very short pieces that introduced a new act
or accompanied pantomimes and dances. Existing only in manuscript form, the score offers a challenge
to any conductor who has to place them in what might have been the order played during performances
of the play.
Even if some are out of place, the score on this CD is quite enjoyable—never quite reaching to the
heavens as Tchaikovsky’s could do, but competent for what they were supposed to accomplish. The
program notes give a summary of the plot, which might help some. Most will just enjoy the music on its
own terms.
To flesh out the 67-minute disc, three other Glazunov pieces are included: “Two Pieces, Op. 14,” “Pas de
caractere, Op. 68,” and “Romantic Intermezzo, Op. 69.” The Gnesin Academy Chorus and Russian
Philharmonic Orchestra are conducted by Dmitry Yablonsky.
George Dorris
Ballet Review, October 2009
It’s tuneful, attractive, and often balletic…The four accompanying “characteristic pieces” are in the same
pleasant vein, all well performed by these Mosco forces.
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Karl Lozier
Positive Feedback Online, September 2009
Glazunov is not quite as well known as some of the other Russian composers active almost a century
ago. After studying with Rimsky-Korsakov, he eventually was regarded as one of the circle of Russian
composers that somehow combined a bit of the others better attributes into some of his compositions.
He can be counted on, as with other Russian composers of his era, to give us attractive and very melodic
music—no harsh modernistic compositions. Here the featured incidental music to an earlier play is almost
immediately appealing, melodic in the extreme and simply out going and uplifting. It is simply meant to
be enjoyed for the most part. Colorful scoring, common among other Russian nationalist composers, is
abundant here.
Fortunately the Naxos recording delivers their increasingly common fine, solid audio qualities without
noticeable faults. Adding distinctive and very attractive accents and atmosphere is the fine choral
accompaniment at very appropriate times. Yes, this is appealing music that can easily appeal to classical
music newcomers. Look closely at the titles of the other shorter pieces offered here. The words in the
titles are accurate descriptions of the aural effects of the flowing longer lines of music they contain,
Idylic, Reverie and Romantic. A reasonable introduction to Glazunov’s music, though not his best known
compositions, offers listeners a fine variety for listening pleasure. A very enjoyable release with excellent
orchestral playing, excellent choral accents and a fine recorded audio quality makes recommendation
easy.
Nick Barnard
MusicWeb International, September 2009
…The Russian Philharmonic this time under the baton of Dmitry Yablonsky…is neat and alert with some
aptly characterful solos taken when required. The recording too is clear and warm without some of that
glassy resonance that occasionally afflicts the engineering from this source. Most interestingly added to
the mix is the Gnesin Academy Chorus. More of their role in the music later but enough to say that they
sing well and blend into the musical textures effectively.
The main work here is the thirty-six or so minutes of incidental music Glazunov wrote for a 1917 staging
of Mikhail Lermontov’s 1835 play Masquerade. Keith Anderson’s detailed liner-note explains that this
significant score by Glazunov existed only in manuscript. Confusion is compounded by the fact that the
exact musical sequence and how they relate to the play is unclear. Hence we have a detailed synopsis of
the play and in parallel a musical sequence that is satisfying in itself but not necessarily one that follows
the action of the play. The problem arises from the fact the much of the score provides music for the
various balls that constitute many of the scenes. Glazunov has composed a score that is both practical—
as in the dance sequences above and emotionally illustrative, seemingly underlining the prevailing mood
or emotion of a scene. The score is divided into twenty-six tracks running from a miniature fife and drum
march lasting just seventeen seconds to a full blown Valse-Fantasie at five and a half minutes. The latter
is authentic Glazunov, very much in the style of the similar movement from Raymonda or the Concert
Waltzes. It could be argued that this continuity/similarity is both Glazunov’s strength and his weakness.
Really it could date from any point during his compositional career and certainly as a piece dating from
1917 breaks no musical frontiers—although why should it if the requirement is for a romantic waltz.
Glazunov’s fabled orchestral mastery is on display throughout—the previously mentioned fife and drum is
a perfect example how just two instruments are used to perfect effect (track 14 – Pantomime 8).
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Elsewhere the greatest musical interest is provided in the movements featuring the chorus. The very
opening track is instantly atmospheric and full of foreboding—the synopsis makes it clear that this is a
dark and tragic play with echoes of Eugene Onegin and Othello. This is sung to great effect by the Gnesin
Academy Chorus with a definite Russian colour to their sound that feels absolutely right although lacking
that last ounce of deep implacable resonance. Apart from the cantatas used as fillers on Valery
Polyansky’s cycle of the Glazunov Symphonies on Chandos there have not been many opportunities to
hear Glazunov’s writing for voices. I particularly like the way he uses them colouristically on occasion.
Elsewhere they sing a text in traditional style. Act IV of the play depicts the final descent into madness
and death of the Othello-like character Arbenin. The music accompanying Act IV Scene 1 here (track 22)
is a marvellous unaccompanied chorus. Sadly there is no text given in the liner notes. It is sung with a
beautiful tonal blend and sensitivity—a real highlight of the disc—but I have no idea what they are
saying. The tracks have been well sequenced so that the movements flow one to another—very
important with many short cues. This is an excellent addition to the Glazunov discography. One
interesting and diverting thought; Khachaturian’s suite Masquerade is also incidental music written for a
1941 production of the same play. Given the synopsis outlined by Keith Anderson I am even more at a
loss as to how Khachaturian’s riotously good humoured music—at least as far the suite is a sample—fits!
The rest of the disc is filled with judiciously chosen pieces. Naxos has consistently shown considerable
care and imagination with the couplings in this series and this disc is no exception. None of the music is
revelatory or startling but in style and mood they match well. The two pieces forming Op. 14 are slight
and charming and beautifully played here. Likewise the dance fragment that is the Pas de caractére
Op.68. The largest single piece on the whole disc is the Romantic Intermezzo Op.69 which in turn is also
the most familiar piece. It has appeared as a filler for part of Gennadi Rozhdestvensky’s symphony cycle
on Olympia as well as Evgeny Svetlanov’s similar traversal on Melodiya. The title says it all—a lyrical
slow movement in all but name it receives another sympathetic performance here although one that
tends to the lugubrious. It runs about a minute longer than either of the other named versions.
To summarise: an automatic purchase at this price for anyone with an interest in this composer or the
byways of theatrical music. The comparison with Khachaturian’s suite is quite fascinating—two such
varying responses to literally the same text. It is better engineered than some in this series and is
conducted and played with sympathy and insight.
Appealing yet very rare music performed with great aplomb.
Bob McQuiston
Classical Lost and Found, August 2009
RECOMMENDED
The Naxos CD has something new—the first recording in recent memory of over half an hour of incidental
music written for a popular nineteenth century Russian play…The Naxos disc is the eighteenth volume in
their ongoing series devoted to Glazunov’s orchestral works, and it contains some real rarities. The most
noteworthy is the first modern recording of incidental music used for a 1917 production of Mikhail
Lermontov’s (1814–1841) play Masquerade (1836). The drama is a tragedy that’s in many ways a
Tsarist Othello, and was apparently a biting criticism of contemporary society—so much so that it was
banned for thirty years!
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Composed in 1912–13, the music calls for chorus as well as orchestra, and has come down to us only in
manuscript. When heard without the play the twenty-six numbers comprising it form an amazingly
coherent, extended suite that constitutes a major Glazunov find. Bravo Naxos!
Right from the respectively dreamy and then bouncy opening two selections for vocalizing chorus with
orchestra [tracks 1 and 2], one knows this is going to be a different Glazunov listening experience. The
following sixteen numbers [tracks 3 through 18] are for the most part optimistic, with the ninth [track 9]
sounding almost like something Sir Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) could have written. Generally speaking
these little gems will remind you of Alexander’s best ballet scores, i.e. Raymonda (1896–97), Les Ruses
d’amour (1900) and The Seasons (1899). But the next one [track 19] will raise a few eyebrows, because
it’s a shortened version of Mikhail Glinka’s (1804–1857) Valse-fantaisie (1856)! Although the album
notes give a detailed description of the stage action, there’s no mention of this. But it seems likely it was
the featured music for the second of two ball scenes.
The concluding seven numbers [tracks 20 through 26] are much darker, and become increasingly
anguished to a degree reminiscent of Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) in his more agonizing moments. There
are what sound like a couple of Russian religious folk laments sung by the chorus [track 22 and 25],
which must have added significantly to the tragic atmosphere of the drama. The last selection [track 26]
radiates a few melodic shimmers of Glazunovian hope just before this highly dramatic incidental suite
ends in a final measure of despair.
Incidentally, there’s a song Nina (the Desdemona in this drama) sings in the third act, which is not
included here. Written in 1916, it was a late addition for the 1917 production of the play, and became
one of Glazunov’s most popular vocal pieces. It was later published as his Romance de Nina (Op. 102).
The program continues with Two Pieces for Orchestra entitled “Idylle” and “Rêverie orientale.” Written in
1886 they show what a superb melodist and orchestrator Glazunov was even at the tender age of
twenty-one. The first piece paints what sounds like a pastoral scene bathed in autumnal light given off by
the French horns. The second lives up to its name with plaintive solo passages for the woodwinds that
make it all the more exotic. Strangely enough the beginning presages Frederick Delius’ (1862–1934)
Over the Hills and Far Away (1897), while the main body of the work recalls the Antar Symphony (No. 2,
1868, revised 1875 and 1897) by Glazunov’s colleague and good friend Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908).
Next up, Pas de caractère (1899), which was composed the same year as The Seasons, and sounds like
something the composer might have forgotten to include in it. It’s a two-minute balletic truffle with a
sprightly introduction and high-stepping finale of Magyar persuasion.
The closing selection, Romantic Intermezzo (1900), finds the composer at the height of his melodic
powers, and could easily qualify as a slow movement for one of his symphonies. A carefully structured
and beautifully orchestrated edifice, it shows what a master musical architect and builder he was. Oddly
enough at one point there’s a variant of the main theme which seems derived from the “Rheinmaidens”
and “Sword” leitmotifs in Wagner’s (1813–1883) Ring (1869–76) [track 30, beginning at 05:41]. Maybe
Alexander had Siegmund and Sieglinde in mind when he wrote it. In any case it ends the disc with one of
his most sublime creations.
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Conductor Dmitry Yablonsky obviously loves this music judging from the captivating, highly enthusiastic
performances he gets from the Gnesin Academy Chorus and Russian Philharmonic Orchestra. While
paying meticulous attention to tempo and dynamic markings, he maintains that Slavic sweep so essential
to bringing out the full potential of Glazunov’s music.
From the soundstage standpoint these recordings are excellent. There’s just the right amount of space
and reverberation to assure an accurate virtual image of both chorus and orchestra. The balance
between the two is ideal.
David Denton
David's Review Corner, July 2009
Glazunov’s colourful incidental music to Lermontov’s play, Masquerade, exists only in manuscript and has
seldom been performed since its composition in 1913. The name belies the plot of the sinister play, its
story unfolding as a version of the Othello story, with the jealous husband, Arbenin, believing his wife,
Nina, is having an affair with the Prince. Though nothing could be further from the truth, but the stupid
man poisons her and then the truth is revealed to him. As no exact directions appear in the score, the
music’s intended placement is uncertain, much of it being in the form of dance used in the confusion
that masked balls create. It is essentially a score of charm, the nature of the story certainly not made
clear in the music. It would certainly have formed good material for a ballet score . Made up of twenty-
six cameos, it is here largely played as a continuous work, and lasts not far short of forty minutes. It
contains a wordless chorus in its highly effective opening, the scoring throughout highly coloured, and in
total one of Glazunov’s most likeable works. Make track 19 your ideal sampling point. The disc ends with
three substantial pieces, of which the Romantic Intermezzo is the most attractive. I don’t suppose the
orchestra had ever seen the music before this recording, but under Dmitry Yablonsky’s direction it
sounds as if it comes from their regular repertoire. Very strongly recommended.
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Les Ruses d'amour
Iasi Moldova Philharmonic, Andreescu
Glazunov’s ballet Les Ruses d’amour (also known as The Trial of Damis), is a charming
choreographic realization of the French rococo, with a strong element of pastiche.
Although the music is thoroughly Russian in its orchestral colouring and language,
Glazunov makes imaginative use of earlier French dance melodies, and the score was
praised by his former teacher Rimsky-Korsakov for its ‘unusual mastery of writing and
extremely pictorial beauty’. The scenario concerns a duchess’s daughter, Isabella, who DDD
tests the Marquis Damis’s love by disguising herself as a maid servant. 8.572447
Alexander Konstantinovich Playing Time
GLAZUNOV 50:56
(1865-1936)
Les Ruses d’amour, Op. 61 (Ballet in One Act)
1 Introduction et Scène I 5:11
2 Récitatif mimique 2:35
3 Sarabande 2:19
4 Farandole et Scène II 3:09
5 Danse des marionettes 4:04
6 Scène III 2:55
7 Scènes IV et V 2:55
www.naxos.com
Disc Made in Canada • Printed & Assembled in USA
Booklet notes in English
Naxos Rights International Ltd.
1987 & 2010
8 Variation 1:00
9 Scène VI, Marcia 2:48
0 Scène VII, Grande Valse 7:17
! Scènes VIII–XI 3:33
@ Ballabile des paysans et des paysannes 4:21
# Grand pas des fiancés 4:06
$ Variation 1:56
% La Fricassée 2:46
Romanian State Orchestra
(Iaşi Moldova Philharmonic Orchestra)
Horia Andreescu
Recorded in Iaşi, Romania, in November 1986 • Producer: Teije van Geest • Booklet Notes: Keith Anderson
Publisher: M. P. Belaieff • Cover Painting: Dancers Dancing by Krisdog (Dreamstime.com)
From http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.572447:
Glazunov’s ballet Les Ruses d’amour (also known as The Trial of Damis), is a charming choreographic
realization of the French rococo, with a strong element of pastiche. Although the music is thoroughly
Russian in its orchestral colouring and language, Glazunov makes imaginative use of earlier French dance
melodies, and the score was praised by his former teacher Rimsky-Korsakov for its ‘unusual mastery of
writing and extremely pictorial beauty’. The scenario concerns a duchess’s daughter, Isabella, who tests
the Marquis Damis’s love by disguising herself as a maid servant.
Glazunov’s music for the ballet Les Ruses d’amour was written in 1898, and the one-act ballet, with
choreography by Marius Petipa, was first staged at the Hermitage Theatre in St Petersburg on 29 January
1900, with the Italian dancer Pierina Legnani, prima ballerina assoluta and creator of Odette-Odile in
Petipa’s 1895 Swan Lake. She was partnered by one of the greatest Russian male dancers of the time,
Pavel Gerdt.
The ballet, also called The Trial of Damis, uses a plot of respectable antiquity. Isabella, the daughter of a
duchess, is betrothed to the Marquis Damis, but resolves to test his love by disguising herself as a
servant. The Marquis eventually agrees to elope with her. She then reveals her true identity, satisfied at
last that her betrothed loves her for herself and not for her title.
The setting of the ballet is derived from a Watteau fête champêtre, a choreographic realisation of French
rococo. The music is thoroughly Russian in its orchestral colouring and general language. Glazunov,
nevertheless, makes use of earlier French dance melodies, opening the whole work with a dance found in
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the pseudonynous Thoinot Arbeau’s Orchésographie of 1598. In the whole score there is a considerable
element of pastiche, well suited to the chosen period in which the story of intrigue is set. Rimsky-
Korsakov, a strong believer in his former pupil’s ability, seems to have shared with his informal
biographer Yastrebtsev admiration of what the latter refers to as ‘the unusual mastery of writing and
extremely pictorial beauty’ of the music.
Glazunov inspired a considerable degree of devotion and admiration among his own pupils at the
Conservatory of St Petersburg, of which he became director in 1905. Subsequent critical opinion has
generally been less favourable, Glazunov’s very technical competence arousing suspicion, when set
against the wilder extravagances of untutored genius or anarchic experiment.
Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov was born in 1865 in St Petersburg, the son of a bookseller and
publisher who had been raised to the nobility. His mother was an amateur pianist, and it was through her
lessons with Rimsky-Korsakov that her son came to the notice of Balakirev, the aggressive self-appointed
leader and inspiration of the Five, the group of composers of most significant achievement in the creation
of Russian national music in the later nineteenth century. It was Balakirev who arranged for Glazunov to
have lessons from Rimsky-Korsakov. Fifteen months later, at the age of sixteen, Glazunov completed his
First Symphony, which was successfully performed under the direction of Balakirev in 1882. Belyayev,
who had travelled to Moscow to hear the first performance of the symphony there, was induced, as a
direct result, to establish his music-publishing company and the Russian Symphony Concerts that he also
sponsored.
Glazunov was closely associated with Rimsky-Korsakov, sharing with him the task of completing the
opera Prince Igor that Borodin had left incomplete at his death in 1887. The story that he wrote down
from memory the Overture to the opera, which he had heard Borodin play on the piano, he later denied,
in moments of frankness. His memory, however, was phenomenal, and Shostakovich, who studied at the
Conservatory when Glazunov was director, tells us that he was able to remember the name, career and
compositions of every student.
Glazunov remained director of the Conservatory from 1905, when he was appointed after the student
protests with which he had sympathized, until 1930, although he had settled in Paris in 1928. He was
well known as a conductor in Russia and abroad, and had an excellent ear and considerable technical
knowledge of all orchestral instruments, although not impeccable in performance. At the performance of
Rachmaninov’s First Symphony, which he conducted, his powers were impaired by alcohol, if we are to
accept his wife’s account of the matter, and there were other occasions when his direction was less than
distinguished. Certainly his relationship with Shostakovich was strengthened by the fact that the latter’s
father had access to state supplies of alcohol in the early days of the Communist Revolution, something
that was of material assistance to Glazunov.
There is no doubt that ballet in Russia succeeded in bringing together a number of elements of particular
strength in Russian art. It was not only the physical ability of dancers, inspired by teachers such as
Petipa, but the talent in design, and, above all, the genius for the smaller musical forms of which a
ballet-score must consist and for the command of orchestration that can clothe these relatively
- Page 89 of 90 -
undeveloped musical ideas so attractively. Glazunov’s score for Les Ruses d’amour is a fine example of
this particular aspect of national genius.
Reviews
James A. Alten
Fanfare, July 2010
Anyone who likes the ballet scores of Tchaikovsky will enjoy this. The musical vocabulary is much the
same, with rich, colorful romantic Russian tunes and orchestration—Glazunov even employs a celesta in
his “Dance of the Marionettes”—although the music here is less substantial. It is not deep, but simply
delightful, an elegant sugary confection. For some of his numbers Glazunov draws upon material from
18th-century French dances; the melody in the “Récitatif mimique” bears a more than passing
resemblance to that of Ravel’s Pavane. Among the various numbers I find the climactic “Grand pas des
fiancés” particularly winning.
Ballet Review, June 2010

Glazunov and Petipa’s 1900 ballet Les Ruses d’Amour is based on the familiar tale of one aristocrat
betrothed to another without their even having met, so one dons a disguise and wins the love of the
other for herself or himself. Here it’s an eighteenth-century princess who switches places with her maid
and wins the love of her fiancé, a marquis.
The score, which draws on some early French tunes and dances, is melodic and charming: a sarabande
and a farandole establish the period, but there’s also a big waltz to be up-to-date. No wonder it was
successful, if lacking the variety of its immediate predecessor, Raymonda, with its Hungarian color, and
of The Seasons, which came just after. But charm it has, as well as Glazunov’s well-known skills in
orchestration, as shown by Andreescu and his players.
Michael Cookson
MusicWeb International, May 2010
The Naxos series of Glazunov orchestral works reaches volume 19 with this disc. Composed by Glazunov
in 1898 Ruses is also known as The Trial of Damis…The popularity of Les Ruses d’amour has certainly not
endured to the same degree as The Seasons and the longer Raymonda ballets that have remained on the
fringes of the repertoire…Showing a convincing enthusiasm the Romanian State Orchestra under Horia
Andreescu provide creditable playing. I enjoyed the gentle and swaying lyricism of the Introduction and
Scene I and in the Recitatif mimique the woodwind-infused music has a distinct bucolic feel. Melody after
melody is released in the Sarabanda…One notices the childlike lyricism of the Danse des marionettes and
Scenes IV and V are gentle and romantic. The movement Ballabile des paysans et des paysannes is
infectious and energetic. I was struck by the soft and tender love music of Grand pas des fiancés which is
sugar-coated with a gorgeous line for solo violin and cello. The engaging La Fricassée brings the score to
an exciting and energetic conclusion.
- Page 90 of 90 -
Rob Maynard
MusicWeb International, May 2010
…this turned out to be one of the series’ more enjoyable excursions along the by-ways of Glazunov’s
oeuvre…The score is certainly a very appealing one. On the one hand, Glazunov makes use of strong
elements of pastiche, based on musical forms and even some specific scores from the 17th and 18th
centuries. But he combines that, highly successfully, with the typically Russian rhythmic vigour and
lyrical Romantic sweep that had characterised his 1898 ballet Raymonda.
Andreescu is, in general, a somewhat self-effacing interpreter who is disinclined to overplay those
moments of musical ardour to which Svetlanov, for instance, gives more than full rein. The Russian
conductor’s approach is, in fact, consistently the more theatrical one—but I know that there are some
who find his usual heart-on-sleeve manner rather too much when heard away from the context of the
Front Stalls. Andreescu is clearly a very accomplished musician…whose way with the music is an equally
enjoyable one. He is well supported by his skilled orchestra whose obvious abilities suggest that while
the odious Ceausescus may have crippled many other aspects of Romanian life in the last decade of their
rule, musical standards in the 1980s remained high. The sound engineers have also done a fine, discrete
job and the score’s many delicate moments are rendered quite delightfully: Svetlanov, by contrast, is
recorded in a more reverberant acoustic that suits his Technicolor interpretation.
Completists will want volume 19 of this Naxos series simply because they already have volumes 1–18 on
their shelves. Ballet enthusiasts will enjoy hearing a score that has sometimes in the past been
excerpted but rarely heard in full. But this tuneful music—very competitively priced—deserves a wider
currency than that.
Is it too much, by the way, to hope that some enterprising ballet company might stage Les ruses
d’amour one day soon? It would make a great double bill, I venture to suggest, with Glazunov’s tuneful
and inventive ballet score The Seasons.
Classic FM, March 2010

Glazunov’s ballet Les Ruses d’Amour may not be particularly well-known but it’s full of cracking tunes—
as this new disc proves.

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GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol.1

GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol.1

Total Playing Time Disc 2: 1:08:36

Total Playing Time Disc 1 & 2: 2:19:08

GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol.2

Total Playing Time: 01:19:23

GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol.3

Total Playing Time: 0:59:34

GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol.4

Total Playing Time: 1:00:16

GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol.5

Total Playing Time: 1:17:48

GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol.6

Total Playing Time: 0:59:59

GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol.7

Total Playing Time: 1:09:49

GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol.8

Total Playing Time: 1:19:20

GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol.9

Total Playing Time: 1:04:51

GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol.10

Total Playing Time: 1:15:24

GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol.11

Total Playing Time: 1:04:27

GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol.12

Total Playing Time: 1:01:38

GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol.13

Total Playing Time: 0:59:07

GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol.14

Total Playing Time: 1:08:58

GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol.15

Total Playing Time: 1:18:05

GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol.16

Total Playing Time: 1:08:43

GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol.17

Total Playing Time: 1:10:33

GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol.18

Total Playing Time: 1:06:58

GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol.19

Total Playing Time: 0:50:55

GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol. 1

Penguin Guide, January 2009

Penguin Guide, December 1996

American Record Guide, October 1996

GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol. 2

Gramophone, October 1996

GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol. 3

Moscow Symphony Orchestra

Classic CD, December 1996

GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol. 4

@ 1996 Ates Orga

GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol. 5

@ 1996 Ates Orga

GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol. 6

Moscow Symphony Orchestra

Penguin Guide, January 2009

GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol. 7

It is becoming increasingly unnecessary to defend the reputation of Glazunov. He belonged to a

Moscow Symphony Orchestra

GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol. 8

GLAZUNOV, A.K.: Orchestral Works, Vol. 9

It is becoming increasingly unnecessary to defend the reputation of Glazunov. He belonged to a