Glazunov: Salome/The King of the Jews

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Glazunov seems to be achieving a level of acceptance that was, unjustly, long denied him. Chandos has already issued the second symphony and the Coronation Cantata (with the same forces as those on the present disc). Here the emphasis is on theater music: the Salomé pieces were written for the 1908 St. Petersburg production of Oscar Wilde's play of the same name, and the The King of the Jews was composed for a mystery play by Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich. First and foremost, this disc is 70 minutes of sheer delight. The sweeping melodies of "Salomé's Introduction" give way to the beautifully affecting chinoiserie of her dance. Almost all of the music for The King of the Jews (1913-1914) is recorded here. The chorus has a rich, homogeneous delivery, and there are excellent (but uncredited) solo lines in some of the movements. While the "Shepherd's Musette" is 43 seconds of sweetness personified, it is the "Entr'acte to Act IV" that is marvelously peaceful, nodding toward Wagner in its solemn chord progressions. Full texts and translations are included. --Colin Clarke

Glazunov: Salome/The King of the Jews, Music, Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov, Valery Polyansky, Russian State Symphony Orchestra, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, Orchestral, Orchestral & Symphonic, Romantic Incidental Music for Orchestra

Average customer rating:

Agreeable Performnaces, lack Rozhdestvensky's dramatic flair

Glazunov: Salome/The King of the Jews

Manufacturer: Chandos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Incidental Music | Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music | Forms & Genres | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00004TD55
Release Date: 2000-07-25

Amazon.com

Glazunov seems to be achieving a level of acceptance that was, unjustly, long denied him. Chandos has already issued the second symphony and the Coronation Cantata (with the same forces as those on the present disc). Here the emphasis is on theater music: the Salomé pieces were written for the 1908 St. Petersburg production of Oscar Wilde's play of the same name, and the The King of the Jews was composed for a mystery play by Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich. First and foremost, this disc is 70 minutes of sheer delight. The sweeping melodies of "Salomé's Introduction" give way to the beautifully affecting chinoiserie of her dance. Almost all of the music for The King of the Jews (1913-1914) is recorded here. The chorus has a rich, homogeneous delivery, and there are excellent (but uncredited) solo lines in some of the movements. While the "Shepherd's Musette" is 43 seconds of sweetness personified, it is the "Entr'acte to Act IV" that is marvelously peaceful, nodding toward Wagner in its solemn chord progressions. Full texts and translations are included. --Colin Clarke

Customer Reviews:

Agreeable Performnaces, lack Rozhdestvensky's dramatic flair.......2000-07-26

An interesting CD, most especially since: 1) it's the second Chandos release of Alexander Glazunov's incidental score "Tsar Iudeyskiy" in 4 years (the first released in 1996 & with the same orchestra, same Capella, but with a different conductor), 2) it's the third complete recording of the work in four years (one of three recordings made by Naxos & likewise released in 1996), & 3) the newest recording is coupled with another work (Introduction & Dance of Salome). It's hardly surprising for somewhat of a surge of interest to prop up surrounding "Tsar Iudeyskiy", since it is appealing & the thematic ideas nicely linked together (despite the play fragmentary in nature by it's January 9th, 1914 premiere). The play was written by the Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich Romanov who commissioned Glazunov for the score. The play was shelved & forgotten, but the music legitimately survives (the 1970s premiere recording was given by Siegfried Kohler & the Stuttgart Philharmonic-but minus the choral passages & over 20 bars of orchestral music).

Valeri Polyansky has become a chief pioneer in the recordings of Glazunov's works & the results yield some satisfaction (the brass undernourished, the recording a little recessed, the performances not as charismatic as in Fedoseyev, Rozhdestvensky, or even Svetlanov). The same shortcomings exist in these performances on this disc, unfortunately. There's no doubt that Polyansky brought warmth & sympathy in his readings of the works & the vividness is all but dismissible here. But unlike Rozdestvensky (with the Russian State Symphony Orchestra & the Russian State Symphonic Cappella), Polyansky (with the same ensembles) fails to drive the playing hard enough to make the works wholly convincing & captivating. This is especially true in the Introduction of Salome, with the Tchaikovskian opening & the very active & dramatic measures which follow. Polyansky's reading of the Dance of Salome was well paced, however, not allowing the music to sound overlonged. But, for "Tsar Iudeyskiy" the drama, the spirit, & the vividness were more captured by Rozhdestvensky than by Polyansky, especially in the Entrance of Christ into Jerusalem where immediately one senses something grand & sensation about to enter into one's consciousness. The Cappella is as polished & immaculated as it was under Rozhdestvensky. But the orchestra is a little too lightfooted for the demands of the works.

The recording on this disc has more richer opulence of sound than the previous Chandos disc. But, of all the recordings of "Tsar Iudeyskiy", Rozhdestvensky remains unbeatable.

Track Listings:

Track Listings

track listings

Track Listings

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