Gliere: Taras Bulba/Stankovych: Rasputin

Reinhold Gliere (Composer), Yevhen Stankovitch (Composer), Hobart Earle (Conductor), Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra), Alexey Shmitov (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Alexey Shmitov
• Orchestra: Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: Hobart Earle
• Composer: Reinhold Gliere, Yevhen Stankovitch
• Audio CD (April 22, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Asv Living Era
• ASIN: B0000030X6
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #399,877 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Taras Bulba - Ballet Suite: The Cossacks Ride Forth To Zaporizhia Sich

2. Taras Bulba - Ballet Suite: Taras Awaits His Sons

3. Taras Bulba - Ballet Suite: Andrily

4. Taras Bulba - Ballet Suite: Ostap

5. Taras Bulba - Ballet Suite: The Boundless Ukrainian Steppe

6. Taras Bulba - Ballet Suite: Whirlwind

7. Taras Bulba - Ballet Suite: Grand Adagio

8. Taras Bulba - Ballet Suite: Mazurka di Bravure

9. Taras Bulba - Ballet Suite: The Dance Of The Zaporizhians

10. Rasputin - Ballet Suite: Grand Adagio

11. Rasputin - Ballet Suite: Banya - Galop

12. Rasputin - Ballet Suite: Solo For Orchestra

13. Rasputin - Ballet Suite: Meeting Of Iskra And The Poet In Red

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A faithful musical rendition of Gogol's novel, July 29, 2003

By 

Marina J. Neary (Stamford, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gliere: Taras Bulba/Stankovych: Rasputin (Audio CD)

I am a huge fan of Gogol's early works, especially his novel Taras Bulba. Gliere's musical interpretation is engaging and faithful to the spirit of Ukrainian nationalism. Track 3 is romantic and lyrical.

3.0 out of 5 stars deception, February 6, 2011

By 

cleuza - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gliere: Taras Bulba/Stankovych: Rasputin (Audio CD)

I've found Taras Bulba extremely beautiful. But Rasputin is not what I expected. However, the product worth because of the first item.

4.0 out of 5 stars Colorful and enjoyable if you don't expect too much, June 12, 2010

By 

G.D. (Norway) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Gliere: Taras Bulba/Stankovych: Rasputin (Audio CD)

This is a very enjoyable release of some exciting although hardly profound music. Gliére's Taras Bulba suite dates from 1952 but doesn't really venture beyond the style of, say, Glazunov. At 34 minutes it is a relatively ambitious work, but it is nevertheless consistently enjoyable, with some fine atmospheric music and nice tunes. Later Gliére sometimes succumbed to nondescript and gray partyline works, but although the music here would hardly put him at risk for official denouncement, at least he found a rich ore of melodic invention to tap for this one. Highlights include the atmospheric Boundless Ukrainian Steppe and the frenzied final Zaporozhi dance.

While Stankovich's Rasputin ballet suite is clearly a more modern work (1990), it would at least for the most part still not strike anyone as particularly modernist if it had been premiered at the same time as the Gliére. It is tonal and folk inspired but nevertheless manages to incorporate some more modern techniques. The adagio is grand and heroic, and the sarcastic, mechanical Galop is a striking movement somewhat reminiscent of Prokofiev in futurist mode. The Solo for Orchestra is radiant and the final Meeting movement quite stirring. Not a masterpiece, perhaps (neither is the Gliére, far from it), it is still an approachable and enjoyably colorful work. The performances are not without rough edges, but they are generally appropriately spirited and colorful. The sound is resonant, sometimes overly so, but vivid and with a punch. Recommended.