Gliere: Symphony No. 2 / The Zaporozhy Cossacks [CD on Demand]

Keith Clark (Artist, Conductor), Reinhold Gliere (Composer), Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava) (Orchestra)

Product Details

• Orchestra: Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava)
• Conductor: Keith Clark
• Composer: Reinhold Gliere
• Audio CD (August 17, 2009)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Naxos
• ASIN: B000001406
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #127,549 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

GLIERE: Symphony No. 2 / The Zaporozhy Cossacks by Keith Clark

This product is manufactured on demand using CD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Searching for Ilya Mourometz, October 28, 2000

By	Thomas F. Bertonneau (Oswego, NY United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

One might be forgiven for saying of Reinhold Glière's artistic career that he built up to "Ilya Mourometz" and then built down from it. Yet in auditing the two symphonies that come before the colossal Third, it is hard not be aware of the way that they forecast the later work. In them, Gliere appears to be searching for his protagonist. The First Symphony (1900)is thus already one stage on the way to "Ilya Mourometz" and the Second (1908) is a considerable stage farther along. Right away, in the opening bars of the First Movement, Glière puts us in the misty land of Russian lore; the harmonies are more exotic than those in the earlier symphony. The Second Movement (Allegro Giocoso) points toward the "Vladimir Fair-Sun" movement of "Ilya Mourometz." The Third Movement (Andante con Variazioni) strikes me as more domestic in mood, although it, too, points toward "Ilya Mourometz," where the transformation of themes on a Wagnerian scale will constitute the order of business. The Finale (Allegro Vivace) returns us to the serious mood of the First Movement: We are again in a land of swirling mists and demonic forces. There is a wild dance, a kind of Slavic Bacchanalia. Keith Clark leads the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra in a performance recorded in 1987, and which previously circulated, at full price, on a Marco Polo CD. The makeweight, "The Zaporozhye Cossacks" (1921) is part of Glière's long building-down after his great achievement of 1911, but merits attention and pays a dividend. At the Naxos price, fans of "Ilya" will not want to pass this up.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable recording, March 7, 2007

By	Slovakophile - See all my reviews

This is my favourite symphony by Gliere. It isn't as long or bombastic as Symphony No. 3 and it's more accessible. Indeed Symphony No. 2 has grown on me as I particularly enjoy listening to the first movement which proceeds rather energetically.

"The Zaporozhye Cossacks" is a decent piece but a few of its melodies are repeated a few too many times for my liking. In a way, it reminds me of the symphonic poems by Liszt, but "The Zaporozhye Cossacks" seems a little less polished than them.

Keith Clark and the Slovak orchestra give a good account of themselves in my view, and I'm not complaining about their abilities.

Naxos' price is a bargain, and it's hard to pass up this CD in spite of what I feel are a few flaws in "The Zaporozhye Cossacks".