Customer Reviews

Glazunov: Raymonda

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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Unlike Tchaikovsky's three ballets, Alexander Glazunov's slightly posterior "Raymonda" isn't very well served on CD. The few full length recordings prove nonetheless that the score can easily stand on its own. "Raymonda" remains one of the youthful composers best efforts in the genre, and indeed in his whole orchestral output, deserving a wider exposure than the limited circle of balletomanes.
Evgeny Svetlanov's formidable version with the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra remains a clear first choice. Yet, the present Naxos release has the advantage of an excellent digital recording. Alexander Anissimov moreover knows Glazunov's music inside out, has conducted the ballet in the theatre, and obtains excellent results from the Moscow Symphony Orchestra. At this price, one doesn't need to hesitate. Recommended.

Alexander Glazunov composed Raymonda, his first of three ballets by 1897 after the story of Lydia Pashkova, a notable columnist & novelist. Like Lady Soubrette & The Seasons, Raymonda was commissioned by Marius Petipa (who commission Tchaikovsky to compose Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, & The Nutcracker). It was a hugh success at its 1898 premiere at the Maryinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. The performances of this work continues with some regularity (the Boishoi Theater is scheduled to perform it this late Spring)& Act III (Raymonda Variations) had its occassional presentation on the theatrical stage.

Glazunov happened to be the logical choice for the commissions of the ballets. Like Tchaikovsky, Glazunov had memorable themes & melodies. His ballets tend to be coherent, with a good sense of heroics, sentiments, & drama. Typical of Glazunov is a sense of universality in this ballet (with themes of Hungary, French, Indian & Spanish embedded in one, with an impeccable russian orchestration & sound).

The performance of Alexander Anissimov with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra was warm, gracious, grand, with some extra time in performing the first act. A sense of commitment is noticable from start to finish.

Recommendable, although Evgeny Svetlanov's 1962 recording with the Boishoi Theater offered more excitement, fullness (the ballet employs over 100 instruments), & commitment. This recording has been reissued by Melodiya/BMG, although not available in the United States.

Well, think about it.

I can't get enough of this nice ballet music. I have the incomplete Glazunov: Raymonda - Music from the Ballet, and I am getting the complete one here by NAXOS very soon, but it is not the only complete Raymonda, as mentioned in the editorial reviews above. Glazunov: Raymonda (complete) is another complete version I discovered on Amazon, but it is ADD (or AAD?) and rather expensive! I am not a classical music expert, but the NAXOS version with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra sounds really good, and at the price it is offered, it's the one I am going for.

I have come to know Alexander Glazunov's work too late in life: I fear I don't have enough time remaining to savor it. Now, like a potent German "Eiswein," I must take it in small, delectable amounts. I read that the composer was a 'natural' when it came to penning beauty. I heard he also was a carouser who could play the piano a virtuosi with a cigar in one hand. Having been born into late Imperial Russia privilege, he managed to hang on to it within the roiling, puritan early USSR and succeeded in removing himself to France toward life's end. This cat had and used all of his nine lives!
"Raymonda" certainly supports Glazunov's easy brilliance at the piano and on barred paper: I am neither an opera or a ballet fan, but am captivated by Annisov's NAXOS recording of the title. The work is delicate, smooth, melodious, balanced, and masterful - but it has a hidden aspect: it is comfortable and enticing. One hears the world in such music. When I listen to "Raymonda" I hear Tchaikovsky, a little Glinka, perhaps? and R-Korsakov. Listen closer and we hear Liszt and, maybe a skosch of Wagner. Is there an Austrian there, too? Glazunov links Russian classical sound to that of Western Europe, for which he was for a time revered - and now pays a price for same by not being well known outside Russia's frontiers. All the same, his countrypeople know him and claim him as their own justifiably. LISTEN to Glazunov and find yourself at a grand banquet of beautiful music. Only he, however, could bring the cigar....

This is a beautiful version of Raymonda. Each selection of music is broken down into small tracts and works well for teaching variations. Though it seems complete, the music for the Bolshoi version of the variation I chose was not included on these discs.

I am a dancer, and this is a very nice ballet to dance! It helps so much when the music is of good quality! I love this cd and I would like to say that if you are a dancer I think you should buy this wonderful cd!