13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally! A complete performance of a compelling work!, May 30, 1999
This review is from: Glazunov: The King of the Jews (Audio CD)
Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov (1865-1936) composed the incidential score to the play "Tsar Iudeyskiy" (The King of the Jews) of the Grand Duke, Konstantin Konstantinovich Romanov, who commissioned it. The score was completed by late 1913 & the play itself had its premiere at the Hermitage Theatre by January 9th, 1914. The play was forgotten, but the music survives, & rightfully so.
Glazunov wrote the work during the period in which Russia was experiencing both the political & social instabilities. Furthermore Glazunov stopped composing prolifically after 1906 due to his duties as Director of the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Amazingly (at least to a degree), Glazunov managed to retain the orchestral skills which served him well since 1882. The essences of his musical thoughts & ideas: beauty, passion, descriptiveness, vividness, nobleness, poetry, and transparency remained with Glazunov. His music to Tsar Iudeyskiy demonstrates those essences & maintained coherence & attractiveness. The choral writing is attractive & noble in its' own right with the Song of the Singers of Psalms being both memorable & tuneful.
Believe it or not, this work was recorded before, in the 1970s with Kohler conducting the Stuttgart Philharmonic in the Turnabout LP record. The performance was well done but also well abridged, with some orchestral passages & every choral passages omitted. The December of 1991 Chandos recording (or should I say re-issue due to its' release by the Summer of 1996) featured the work in its entirety for the first time. The stars, Gennady Rozhdestvensky with the Russian State Symphony Orchestra & the Russian State Symphonic Cappella. The performance of the Russian State Symphony, although not totally refined, was nevertheless convincing, valiant, energetic, and vivid. The Russian State Capella, probably the best Cappella worldwide, likewise performed with passion and valiance, as well as with warmth and with perfection.
Highly Recommended above all other recordings of this work!
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