Works You Collect Compulsively: Glière's "Ilya Murometz" Symphony
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 พ.ย. 2024
- Glière: Symphony No. 3 “Ilya Muromets”
Buffalo Philharmonic, JoAnn Falletta (cond.) Naxos
Czecho-Slovak Radio SO, Donald Johanos (cond.) Naxos
Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy (cond.) RCA
Thanks so much Dave….what a treasure you are! I didn’t know this at all, but your enthusiasm led me to investigate the CDs I inherited, and there it was, Edward Downes and the BBC Phil. What a splendid piece it is! So enjoying it. Amazing orchestration, you can see where Prokofiev got it from. In the glorious tradition of Manfred and Sherezade…..Thank you so much.
Falleta & Buffalo Phil are a American Musical Treasure 👍
To this day, I wish Falleta had gotten Baltimore, instead of Alsop. I think she's a much more interesting conductor.
The Buffalo recording is amazing, probably my favorite. The nice thing about collecting this amazing work is it hasn’t been recorded often, especially if you focus on complete recordings. Despite its Mahlerian length, this is a symphony I could listen to just about every day (if I had the time to do so).
This the most gorgeous, beautiful piece that I never listen to. I love it dearly, but it really is just a lot to get through. I read it described as a "masculine Scheherazade," which I thought was pretty apt, but even Rimsky could've tightened it up.
Ahhh, you're citing my beloved BPO! Yay! They played the Gliere Third in a concert at Carnegie Hall around the time they made this recording, and I remember listening along and thinking, "WOW, this piece is turgid." I probably owe it another listen, though. (It's also interesting that you mention the Rach 2 as a piece that you should hear in its entirety, without cuts, because I attended a BPO concert some years ago where the Rach 2 was on the program and I was incredibly excited as it's my favorite Russian symphony EVAH!!!! [waves hands in the air], but they played a cut version! I couldn't believe it!)
To our community! Presto is doing a Naxos download sale. Most mp3 albums on sale for $4.25! I just snapped up this one. The Moeran in the country, the Sibelius Scaeanouche one, the Poulenc organ concerto disc, the dukas symphony in c and a castelnuovo quartet disk. All for $27!!
Wonderful coverage of this wonderful work! Johanos drew me into this piece, followed by Downes and Farberman, both not matching Johanos. Although, I have to confess, when in a certain mood, I love the Celibidache-paced Farberman version of this piece. Falletta will follow now.
For the multi-media completist, check out the Russian film version of "Ilya Murometz", released in 1956 by the Mosfilm studio; it's insane. Half of the time you're not even sure what you're watching, since the visual style of the film is so surreal...but it's all done with live actors. An incredible viewing experience, which includes the same basic episodes as Gliere used in his Symphony (the 2nd-movement Wind Demon scenes are utterly weird). Note: the film was imported, dubbed into English, and released (1960) as "The Sword and the Dragon.:
Suggestion (forgive me if you've already covered this): "Pieces that are better in cut versions". I could think of a few...
Scherchen also recorded it with the Vienna State in 1952 on Westminster - complete
Yes, he did.
And, considering, it was quite good.
I have four or five recordings of this work. It is quite good. However, I agree with Mr Hurwitz, and the only reason I collected it was because i wanted complete recordings. And, the better recordings have the cuts.....
I love this work, but Gliere totally stole the beginning string passages of the second movement from John Williams' Harry Potter scores. 😏
Good one!
@@HassoBenSoba 😆😆
Yes, and it dogged him for the reat of his career. 🤓
Every major composer of the past stole from Williams.
This was one of the first records I ever owned - a neighbor gave it to me as he didn't like it. It was cut, of course. But I didn't know any better. I must have at least a dozen versions and still await The Greatest Ever. Although I definitely prefer the full-length, uncut Ilya, for a cut-down version that should be a model for concert performances, Yoav Talmi made a terrific recording with the San Diego Symphony a long time ago and the sound is superb, too. And it's still available on Pro Arte. I cannot stand the Farberman - that brass crash in the first movement ruins it; why didn't they fix that? And hopefully in a year or so the Ormandy RCA stereo version will be boxed up.
Love the ILYA MUROMETS...A heady mixture of PRINCE IGOR, FIREBIRD & TRISTAN - with added steroids.
You forgot Harry Potter.
@@LyleFrancisDelp
😏My bad...I was going by works that were actually in existence circa 1912.
@@markfarrington5183 That's the joke. I once played the opening of Gliere 3rd, 2nd movement for my son....and he said...that's Harry Potter.
Are Glière's first two symphonies any good?
They sound nice, but in no way, as rich and colorful as the 3rd.
That sums it up nicely.
I think that description applies to the cello concerto, too. The horn and coloratura soprano concertos are way better.
@@AlexMadorskyThe horn concerto is central to the horn repertoire now.
@goonbelly5841 The 2nd symphony is a gem - it's quite similar to the 3rd in many ways (but not as long!), containing luscious tunes and brilliant orchestration. There are 2 standout recordings- Macal and Downes.
This was the only symphony I know or have where the score was issued only in four separate volumes and not under one cover that I could ever find.
It is a fun wallow. Stokowski did leave the scherzo alone, his cuts are confined to the other three movements. Stokie, Scherchen's historic version, and Falletta are my faves. I used to have the Columbia-Melodiya gatefold album, but deep sixed it. It was conducted by Nathan Rakhlin, an obscure Soviet era conductor. Dave's right. Four lp sides but still a few cuts and stereo sonics that would make paint peel. Westminster had done much better in the mono days for Scherchen.
That about sums it up! There are other scores that come in pieces--Turina's Canto a Sevilla, notably, and lots of stuff by Messiaen. Ma Vlast also comes in individual segments, and so does the critical edition of Sibelilus' Kullervo.
Do check the Stoky/Houston Scherzo again. I'm quite sure there's a cut there, too.
Easy to forget that there was a time when this piece was programmed more frequently (Rodzinski, Stokowski, Fricsay, et al.) and at an abridged length that fit easily into a concert program. One detail that caught my eye was a claim in liner notes for Stokowski's Houston Symphony recording that the abridgement was the result of a collaboration with Gliere. Haven't seen any definitive documentation that that was true, though.