Customer Reviews

Reinhold Gliere: Symphony No. 3 'Ilya Muromets'

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Downes is well focused and objective in his conducting. The result is a performance that might lack some of the thrills and spills of (say) Stokowski or Ormandy, but emphasises the work's symphonic strength and minimises any feeling that the work is simply too long. No prospect here of spilling over onto 2 CDs, despite being absolutely uncut, unlike some other versions (notably Stokowski who excises half of the score!). The BBC Philharmonic play splendidly. The recording from BBC's Manchester Studios is aptly spacious and well balanced.

Excellently played. Compared to other recordings that I have heard, it seems very legato, especially the contrabassoon solo in the second movement. I believe that this is the best recording of this wonderful music available.

This symphony must be counted in the list of the top 10 or so greatest symphonies ever written.
That is elite company, to be sure, but Gliere earns that distinction with this exceptional entry into the canon of symphonic literature.
There is nothing small about this symphony. It is a vast musical landscape, but one that is easy to understand. Gliere employs tight, compact writing stretched out over a lengthy 75 minute musical canvas. It is a descriptive work filled with intoxicating, hypnotic moments.
I could go on forever, but I'll leave it up to you to experience this excellent, well executed performance of one of the most wondrous, magical symphonies ever put to paper.
My highest recommendation.
Enjoy!

This symphony is one of the last products of the late romantic period. The music is exotic and Gliere's orchestration is colorful and fanciful. It is a huge piece in terms of its length and also its required size of the orchestra.

Sir Edward Downes' conducting is grand and heroic. And the BBC Philharmonic plays superbly. This kind of huge piece needs a great recording to sound right and here it gets just that by the able Chandos engineers. It is vibrant, warm and expansive with great perspective and nice reverberation.

My first exposure to this symphony was in the early 1970's on a two long playing record set from the old Soviet Russia recording company Melodiya as distributed by Columbia records. I was smitten, literally wore the recording out with multiple plays. It was a recording that made cuts in the score and a few additions to the score instrumentation-wise from the conductor Nathan Rakhlin. It was a stunning recording despite the cuts and additions with a sound that was top-notch for the time.

Gustav Mahler, the great conductor/composer thought a symphony should be an entire world unto itself. Gliere's Symphony #3 Ilya Muromets is a symphony that meets Mahler's criterion. It is based on the story of the hero of Russian folklore of the same name as the symphony. For over an hour (roughly 75 minutes) the composer utilizes a huge orchestra with finesse, craftsmanship and pure imagination. Each movement has a title and a short description, but like all good tone painting, the music does not try and literally represent the story in all its detail, but attempts to evoke a mood of the situation. Of course there are a few motifs that represent Ilya and other things, but it is the mood and the emotion conveyed through sound that makes this symphony a masterpiece.

This recording is uncut, as far as I can tell. Anyone that can wade through the huge score of over 400 pages can correct me if I'm wrong. Downes does a good job of holding this vast work together. The sound is rich and deep, and downright impressive in some cases. If you've got any curiosity about this symphony or you're looking for a great recording of it, this is the recording for you. Highly recommended.

This is SOOOOOOOO much better than the recording by Botstein on Telarc in both performance and sound, even if you consider that the Botstein is available in SACD. I haven't heard the Faberman verssion, but I can't imagine it being much better than this. Sumptuously recorded and beautifully played.