Sergei Rachmaninov; Sergei Prokofiev - The Bells; Alexander Nevsky (Evgeny Svetlanov)

Information

Composer: Sergei Rachmaninov; Sergei Prokofiev

1. Rachmaninov - The Bells, Op. 35 (revised version): I. Allegro ma non tanto (The Silver Sleigh Bells)
2. Rachmaninov - The Bells, Op. 35 (revised version): II. Lento (The Mellow Wedding Bells)
3. Rachmaninov - The Bells, Op. 35 (revised version): III. Presto (The Loud Alarum Bells)
4. Rachmaninov - The Bells, Op. 35 (revised version): IV. Lento (The Mournful Iron Bells)
5. Prokofiev - Alexander Nevsky, Op. 78: I. Russia under the Mongolian Yoke
6. Prokofiev - Alexander Nevsky, Op. 78: II. Song about Alexander Nevsky
7. Prokofiev - Alexander Nevsky, Op. 78: III. The Crusaders in Pskov
8. Prokofiev - Alexander Nevsky, Op. 78: IV. Arise, ye Russian People
9. Prokofiev - Alexander Nevsky, Op. 78: V. The Battle on the Ice
10. Prokofiev - Alexander Nevsky, Op. 78: VI. The Field of the Dead
11. Prokofiev - Alexander Nevsky, Op. 78: VII. Alexander's Entry into Pskov

(01-04) Elena Prokina, soprano
Daniil Shtoda, tenor
Sergei Leiferkus, baritone
BBC Symphony Chorus & Orchestra

(05-11) Alfreda Hodgson, mezzo soprano
Philharmonia Chorus & Orchestra

Evgeny Svetlanov, conductor

Date: 1988 (5-11), 2002 (1-4)
Label: ICA

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Review

Sometimes, archive recordings have the air of, “Well, as long as we have access to it, let’s release it on CD.” Some of ICA Classics’s BBC discs have presented fairly unexceptional music-making, to say the least. Here, though, we have one absolutely fabulous performance (The Bells) and one very good one (Alexander Nevsky), and I would even give them preference over Svetlanov’s studio recordings of these same works.

With gorgeous live sound to boot, this version of The Bells really rings my chimes, so to speak. This is a work that stands or falls with the quality of the chorus. When I first auditioned this disc, I was unaware that I was not hearing a native Russian group; that’s how good the BBC Symphony Chorus is here. Furthermore, some recordings of this work content themselves with wimpy or emotionally anonymous soloists. Tenor Daniil Shtoda, on the other hand, displays brilliance of both sound and temperament, and the first movement, depicting the silver sleigh bells of youth, has great élan. Sergei Leiferkus is appropriately mournful in the funereal fourth movement; as with Shtoda, familiarity with the language and the style pays off. I am less impressed with soprano Elena Prokina, who is affected by what used to be called a “Slavic wobble,” but even she convinces this listener with the involvement of her singing. Svetlanov tended to get slower as he got older. Here, though, he never drags, and he points up the contrasts between the four movements with vivid color and attention to mood. The booklet note indicates that he looked frail on this occasion, and in fact, he died just a few weeks later. There’s nothing infirm about his conducting here, though.

The sound in Alexander Nevsky is more recessed and even a little muffled, although not fatally so. It doesn’t shoot the performance in the foot, but of course this is music that benefits from as much sonic realism as engineers, live or in the studio, can muster. Svetlanov is more introspective here. I get the feeling that he was trying to purge the score of its inherent vulgarity without cutting down on its excitement. If that was the case, he largely succeeded. The Philharmonia Chorus can’t hide its Englishness (for better or worse) and mezzo Alfreda Hodgson is rather maternal in her sixth-movement solo. Still, there is a lot to like here. In some ways, this is like André Previn’s EMI studio recording in its refusal to confuse weight with ponderousness, its avoidance of bombast, and its rather sensitive demeanor. (I recently discovered the Previn on an English EMI LP, and it immediately moved to the top of my list, so my comparing Svetlanov to Previn is meant as high praise.) It’s better than Svetlanov’s harshly recorded and only superficially exciting Soviet-era studio recording.

No sung texts are included, but do you really need them? The booklet note includes an interesting bit of trivia: As a child, Svetlanov appeared onstage in the role of Trouble in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. He also made, according to annotator Colin Anderson’s reckoning, more than 3,000 recordings for Russian, Japanese, French, British, and Dutch companies. And you thought Neeme Järvi made a lot of CDs!

I’d get this if I were you.

-- Raymond Tuttle, FANFARE

More reviews:
MusicWeb International  RECORDING OF THE MONTH
http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/i/ica05069a.php
http://classicalsource.com/db_control/db_cd_review.php?id=10218
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalcdreviews/9287777/Rachmaninov-The-Bells-classical-CD-review.html
http://www.amazon.com/Rachmaninov-Bells-Prokofiev-Alexander-Nevsky/dp/B007ZTE5DW

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Sergei Rachmaninov (1 April [O.S. 20 March] 1873 – 28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. He is widely considered as one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music. Some of his works are among the most popular in the romantic repertoire. His style is notable for its song-like melodicism, expressiveness and his use of rich orchestral colors. The piano is featured prominently in Rachmaninoff's compositional output, and through his own skills as a performer he explored the expressive possibilities of the instrument.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Rachmaninoff

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Sergei Prokofiev (23 April, 1891–March 5, 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor. As the creator of acknowledged masterpieces across numerous genres, he was one of the major composers of the 20th century. Prokofiev wrote seven completed operas, seven symphonies, eight ballets, five piano concertos, two violin concertos, a cello concerto, a symphony-concerto for cello and orchestra, and nine completed piano sonatas, many of which are widely known and heard. He also enjoyed personal and artistic support from a new generation of Russian performers, notably Sviatoslav Richter and Mstislav Rostropovich.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Prokofiev

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Evgeny Svetlanov (6 September 1928—3 May 2002) was a Russian conductor, composer and though less well-known, a pianist. Svetlanov was born in Moscow and studied conducting at the Moscow Conservatory. He was principal conductor of the USSR State Symphony Orchestra (now the Russian State Symphony Orchestra) from 1965 to 2000. Svetlanov was particularly noted for his interpretations of Russian works as he covered the whole range of Russian music, from Mikhail Glinka to the present day. He was also one of the few Russian conductors to conduct the entire symphonic output of Gustav Mahler.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yevgeny_Svetlanov

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