Customer Reviews

Khachaturian: Concerto for violin in Dm; Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky, Op. 78

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4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

The only real question is whether you really should see the film "Alexander Nevsky" first, before listening to this recording. I think so. I saw it perhaps twice, circa 1973-74, when it was featured on PBS. This recording conjured up a host of vivid, often jarring, images from the film that have never really left my consciousness. As great music, the score certainly stands on its own as an exceptional work of art. However, the full effect is achieved only if you also have been exposed to the accompanying images. The opening track on the CD is near the top of my list for most ominous and/or scary passages in music.

In brief, the late 1930's Soviet film recounted a 13th century attempt by the (German) Teutonic Knights to conquer Russia, and their defeat by a Russian army under Alexander Nevsky (who, by the way, is recognized as a saint by the Russian Orthodox Church). Produced before the Nazi-Soviet pact of 1939, it was conceived largely as anti-German propaganda, portraying the Knights as a brutally murderous gang, driven in part by a warped (Western) religiosity (thus also an anti-Christian, especially anti-Western Christian, subtext). Setting aside the historical debate over exactly how bloodthirsty the Knights really were, the film is extremely well-crafted, and the scenes of the Knights' depredations are truly haunting.

In the print that I saw aired on TV eons ago, the musical soundtrack was poorly-recorded. The sound ranged from murky to screeching. Nonetheless, it had a great power that was integral to the story. On this disc you can hear how that score should have sounded.

You might check the packaging of this same work in RCA's Basic 100 Series, Volume 72. As some of the customers reviewing that disc comment, it does seem rather odd that the vocals were done in English translation, rather than in Russian. I find this to be a rather minor issue, given the quality of the voices and the overall effect which transcends what actually is being sung (rather banal lyrics, in any tongue).

The Khachaturian piece is wonderful, and shows a side of the composer that may be unfamiliar to those who just know him from Gayane or Masquerade. If you'd prefer more Prokofiev, consider the Basic 100 pairing with Lt. Kije instead. Either way, you can't go wrong.

The probably apocryphal story is that while making Nevsky, they recorded a scratch track with fewer musicians before doing the final recording, played the movie for Stalin, he said "Love it! Don't change a thing!"-- and they were afraid to do the final recording after that, hence the crummy sound that the soundtrack of Eisenstein's film has had ever since. In reality it's probably a perfectly typical recording job for the mid-30s, but if it's how you know Prokofiev's score, this classic recording from less than two decades later-- but a different era in terms of recording technology-- will be a revelation. This is bombast at its finest, an incredibly vigorous and muscular and rousing performance, and after listening to it you'll wonder why Reiner didn't lead his orchestra out of the hall and straight to Russia to overthrow Communism. Especially given its bargain price, this is a great reissue and essential as an example of one of the great orchestra-conductor combos of all time.

This nth CD reissue of Reiner's classic account from 1959 of Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky doesn't need my endorsement, of course. But still, any comments on interpretation aside, it does suffer two drawbacks: one is that it is sung in English. Not a good choice, ultimately. It adds very little to the text's understandability - you still need the read the text to understand what the chorus is singing (it is provided in the excellent liner notes). And as excellently as the Chicago Symphony Chorus prepared by Margaret Hillis manages to imitate a deep sounding Russian chorus, the effect is somewhat akin to hearing Gospel or Negro Spirituals or Porgy and Bess sung in Russian - it's OK for Russians, I guess, but for purists it is simply not the authentic thing.

Another problem is the sound of this remastering. It is certainly wide and deep and ample and spacious, but there is so much stereo separation at times, with bass and brass confined to the right channel and violins to the left, that I can't help suspect some fiddling with the original sonics. I don't have the original LP to compare this reissue with, nor the previous CD reissues (with the Suite from Ltn Kijé, Glinka: Russlan and Ludmilla; Prokofiev: Lieutenant Kijé; Alexander Nevsky or Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky; Lieutenant Kije Suite) but it sounds at times like those wretched "electronically-reprocessed stereo" mono recordings from the early stereo era. Sometimes more is not better. But maybe on loudspeakers it isn't as bothersome as heard over headphones.

I was stunned to see that this was only the first CD reissue of Leonid Kogan and Pierre Monteux' recording of Khachaturian's Violin Concerto, made in 1958, and it is good to have it back. The remastered sound is less blooming, ample and spacious than in Reiner's Nevsky, but much more natural, with a realistic balance between violin and orchestra - meaning that the violin is not prominent, but embedded in the orchestral texture. Kogan's tone may be leaner and less sunny than with the concerto's first performer and dedicatee, David Oistrakh, but he plays with precision and drive. The liner notes reproduce the original LP notes by Rudolph Elie, recounting Kogan's US debut on January 10, 1958, with the same orchestra and conductor, in Brahms' Violin Concerto. Khachaturian was recorded two days later (with Saint-Saens' Havanaise, the original LP coupling), and Monteux had never before conducted the piece. In the outer movements, you don't hear it. The orchestra has all the required snap and brilliance, marginally more even than Oistrakh and Khachaturian in their 1965 stereo recording with the USSR Radio and TV Symphony Orchestra (the brass in particular have great bite), and the two partners never milk the more lyrical moments, avoiding any mawkish sentimentality. In fact the approach is very similar to Oistrakh and KhachaturianÂs earlier, mono recording from 1954 with the London Philharmonia on HMV/EMI. Kogan practices a substantial cut in the first movement cadenza (18 measures, at 8:28) - Oistrakh always played his own cadenza, not the printed one. Like Oistrakh, Kogan also does a minor cut in the finale. It is only in the slow movement that Khachaturian and Oistrakh, especially in their later recording, delve deeper, developing a more brooding atmosphere, finding incomparable shades of soft dreaminess, and offering a more despaired climax.

I have the 1954 recording of Oistrakh and Khachaturian on Khachaturian: Gayane Suite for orchestra No1; Concerto for violin in Dm, but it now can be more cheaply found on Khachaturian: Violin Concerto/Taneyev: Suite de Concert - David Oistrakh, Aram Khachaturian, Philharmonia Orchestra. As for the 1965 stereo remake, I have it on a French Chant du Monde CD, volume 3 of the 15-CD "Edition David Oistrakh" published in the late 1980s (paired with Kabalevsky's Violin Concerto), and not listed on this website. The same recording can be found on on Khachaturian: Concerto for violin in Dm; Concerto for piano in Df paired with the Piano Concerto, in another composer-conducted performance with Nicolai Petrov, on Khatchaturian: Symphony No.1, Violin Con, a 2-CD set from Melodiya with various composer-conducted Khachaturian compositions, on a Mobile Fidelity CD with Sibelius' Violin Concerto (Rojdestvensky conducting), which, despite the horrendously incomplete product description, I assume is listed as Khachaturian/Viol, and on a 2-CD set from Vox with the same Sibelius, plus Franck and Shostakovich's Violin Sonatas played by Oistrakh and Richter (Sibelius: Concerto Op47; Franck: Sonata for violin in A).

When Pierre Monteux was hired at the last second to conduct this performance of the Khachaturian Violin Concerto for the American debut recording of Russian Legend Leonid Kogan, a miracle truly occurred. The result was this legendary recording. Historic as the Reiner recording of Alexander Nevsky may be, you can safely disregard that portion of this CD release and BUY IT for the Khachaturian alone. The electricity in Kogan's playing is not matched in any other Kogan recording before or since. There are certain passages that are unparalleled by any other violinist, including Kogan's other recordings and those of the great Oistrakh. Monteux performs magic with the Boston Symphony as accompaniment here, making Khachaturian's own conducted performances pale. This recording belongs in every library of CD violin concerto collections. The sound is outstanding (despite what an odd review or two on this page says) for its time, and the balance is fine. One hears the thrilling energy in every note of the violin. Grab it while you can -- this recording was unavailable for the longest time, and we are very fortunate to have this wonderful window of opportunity to purchase it now. I could name several well-known violinists who own copies of this magnificent performance in THEIR libraries, TWO copies in one case -- owing to the possibility of one falling into disrepair. This is a recording well worth having. [Also recommended is Oistrakh & Khachaturian in their original "commercial" release on Angel/EMI ... even still, this is ONE recording where Kogan arguably surpasses the master in many respects! Not to be missed.]

This recording really shows what can be done in the standard cd format. There are SACD discs that don't sound as good as this. It's amazing how great early stereo recordings can sound. The sound quality is more readily apparent in the Alexander Nevsky, but the recording of the violin concerto is just as good. Also, it is a concerto for violin AND ORCHESTRA. The balance is much better than recordings where the violinist is made more prominent to highlight his skills.

This Cd includes wonderful performances of Prokofiev and Khachaturian.
Nevsky by Reiner is very interesting but the real gem in this CD is the
thrilling performance of Kh`s Violin Concerto. Kogan and Monteux make a
perfect match and give a solid rendition. This is another great sample
of this wonderful RCA Living Stereo Series.

I find the performance of Alexander Nevsky here only mediocre; I confess that I can't hear what the other reviewers are so excited about. If it's the Prokofiev score you're most interested in, buy Valery Gergiev's album excellent recording with the Kirov Orchestra instead. THAT performance breathes the right sort of Russian vernacular accent into the score: the chorus has that disctinctly dark Russian timbre (they sing in the original Russian), and Gergiev brings the right kind of tragic pathos to the orchestral playing... his album reminds me of those thoroughly and uniquely Russian performances of the last three Tchaikovsky symphonies by the Leningrad Philharmonic and Evgeny Mravinsky: performances of an authentic, indigenous character that no American orchestra could ever match. With Reiner and Chicago, on the other hand, the Prokofiev here comes off so square and lame. The chorus sounds like a Sunday school with its prim and proper annunciation of the hokey English translation, and for as good as the Chicago Symphony plays they just don't get the style right... it doesn't sound very Russian at all, and I was tempted to wonder if Reinder and the Chicago Symphony might not have brought a bit of contempt to the table for the Russian patriotism celebrated in the libretto, given that this was an American orchestra (and a conductor whose native country had been assimilated into the Soviet Bloc) performing the piece at the height of the Cold War.

Prokofiev's Nevsky film score is a much better composition than even the best of John Williams' film scores, but this performance weak enough that you really don't realize that. I listened to this disc before I did Gergiev's, and I though, hmm... this isn't really better than Jurassic Park, or the Star Wars scores. I realized the next day how wrong I was!

The Khachaturian Violin Concerto makes the disc worth hearing, however. This lesser-known piece is a real gem, lyrical and colored with a gorgeous Eastern modality. The old Boston Symphony under Monteux offer subtle, sophisticated playing with the soloist Leonid Kogan. It's a piece and a performance much more worth your while than the usual violin concerto offerings by whichever batch of young, hotshot virtuosi it is that currently fills the record store shelves.

I continue to be overwhelmed at the sheer musical power and feeling that Fritz Reiner accomplished during his tenure with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Having recently purchased (just yesterday) Dr. Reiner's interpretation of Sergei Prokofiev's "Alexander Nevsky," and compared it with Yuri Temirkanov's version, I must place Reiner at the top of the chart. There really is "no comparison." While there are those amongst you who profess that the Temirkanov's version is more Russian, which it may be, it leaves the listener feeling hollow. Russian music interpreted by a Russian sounds, Russian. However, if you're looking for a recording that sounds full, rich, earth-shattering, soul moving, and one with a conductor that demands and accomplishes to pull every ounce of feeling from an orchestra and chorus, then by all means, chose Fritz Reiner's Living Stereo Recording. It is alive. Reiner is a musical genius. Be warned though: If you hair doesn't stand on end in the finale . . . Oh, it will.

Khachaturian's Violin Concerto is one of my favorite concertos but this rendition, in my estimation, is poorly executed by the technical recording people. Here the orchestra is the prominent feature and the violin, which should be prominent, is merely bckground accompaniment and is barely audible.
Perhaps in a film scene, where the prime concentration of the audience is not on the music but on the play itself, it may be adequate as backround. But as a separate selection where the listener wants to enjoy the violin music, it is a failure and I would not recommend it to the pure music lover.