Nikolai Myaskovsky - Symphonies Nos. 24 & 25 (Dmitry Yablonsky)

Information

Composer: Nikolai Myaskovsky

• (01-03) Symphony No. 24 in F minor "To the memory of Vladimir Derzanovsky", Op. 63
• (04-06) Symphony No. 25 in D flat major, Op. 69

Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
Dmitry Yablonsky, conductor

Date: 2000
Label: Naxos
http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.555376

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Review

These two symphonies were composed during Myaskovsky’s last decade. The 24th was a product of his wartime evacuation and was begun in March 1943, completed by the end of August and premiered by Mravinsky in Moscow in December of that year. In three movements of almost equivalent length, it’s a work of appealing character written in Myaskovsky’s characteristic vein of noble seriousness. The horn call to arms of the opening Allegro deciso is followed by brass power, dynamic bass pizzicati and the unveiling of a consolingly eloquent lyricism in the orchestra. The gravity is accompanied by an ominous percussion part that hints at the unsettledness of all that we are privy to before the return of the brass but not forebodingly now … more in a contemplative way. Myaskovsky is often criticised for obvious thematic development and for pat overuse of cyclical elements in his writing but as has been seen before it depends how acute the ear of the conductor. A plodder will recycle; a thinker will subtly inflect and change the character of the music or will allow Myaskovsky’s voice true space. Yablonsky, thankfully, falls into the latter category. The Molto sostenuto is quite brisk in his hands – melodically he drives things forward. In the identical coupling on Melodiya back in the early 1990s Svetlanov took something of a leisurely view of the movement, allowing it to expand, but Yablonsky does allow the gravity of the lyricism to emerge and underscores the simplicity with which the movement ends, the reconciliatory strings predominant. Myaskovsky wrote wonderfully evocatively for woodwind and there’s ample evidence in the finale. The verdancy here prefigures some dogged writing later on – it’s most instructive to listen to the oppositional writing here - declamatory and hectic and then lyrically generous. Indeed the ending itself is withdrawn, secretive, and ambiguous. A symphony that demands investigation.

The 25th, the D flat major, followed three years later, Myaskovsky having written the work in 1946. One of his staunchest champions – and still one of his most acutely penetrative executant interpreters - Alexander Gauk premiered it in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire in March 1947. The opening adagio is graced by a long-breathed melody of wistfulness, flecked by a favoured clarinet. Throughout he cultivates a cellistic sonority – it’s tempting to call this autumnal but it doesn’t really have that quality. The central moderato is very brief, a slither of a piece only four minutes long but the weight falls on the Allegro impetuoso finale. This opens in a vigorous, rather bluff way that soon relaxes into a very special eloquence. Admirers won’t need telling from me how acutely understanding Myaskovsky is of the inevitable-seeming unfolding of a benevolent and affectionately lyrical line. The dramatic bursts that interrupt this threaten fugato development as they often do in Myaskovsky. As with the earlier work declamatory outburst and rhythmic drive contrast in an oscillatory way with moments of reflective intimacy. Yablonsky is good at extracting a genuine weight of Miaskovskian bass sonority and at developing equally a sense of philosophic seriousness and resolution.

Indeed he secures an excellent sense of weight and balance throughout. This is vibrant and sensitive playing and does Myaskovsky proud. The recent mini proliferation of Myaskovsky on disc will gladden many a heart and here’s another reason to be content. No complaints at all about the disc? None.

-- Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International

More reviews:
http://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/myaskovsky-symphonies-nos-24-and-25
http://www.classicstoday.com/review/review-9406/
http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/n/nxs55376a.php
http://www.amazon.com/Myaskovsky-Symphonies-Nos-24-25/dp/B00008ZZ2P

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Nikolai Myaskovsky (20 April [O.S. 8 April] 1881 – 8 August 1950) was a Russian and Soviet composer. He is sometimes referred to as the "Father of the Soviet Symphony". Myaskovsky wrote a total of 27 symphonies (plus three sinfoniettas, three concertos and works in other orchestral genres), 13 string quartets, 9 piano sonatas as well as many miniatures and vocal works. He is professor of composition at Moscow Conservatory from 1921 until his death, and há an important influence on his pupils. His students include big names such as  Aram Khachaturian, Dmitri Kabalevsky, Rodion Shchedrin and Boris Tchaikovsky.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Myaskovsky

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Dmitry Yablonsky (born 1962 in Moscow) is a Russian classical cellist and conductor. His mother is famed pianist Oxana Yablonskaya. Yablonsky was educated at the Juilliard School of Music and Yale University. Among his teachers are Lorne Munroe, Aldo Parisot, Zara Nelsova and Otto Werner Muller. For several years Yablonsky has been Principal Guest Conductor of Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra and has conducted many orchestras all over the world. He has made more than 70 recordings as conductor and cellist for Naxos, Erato-Warner, Chandos, Belair Music, Sonora, Connoisseur Society.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitry_Yablonsky

http://www.dmitryablonsky.com/

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