Alexander Glazunov - The King of the Jews (Gennady Rozhdestvensky)

Information

Composer: Alexander Glazunov

1. The King of the Jews, Op. 95: I. Introduction and chorus – Entrance of Christ into Jerusalem –
2. The King of the Jews, Op. 95: II. Song of Jesus's Disciples –
3. The King of the Jews, Op. 95: III. Entr’acte to Act II – The Palace of Pontius Pilate –
4. The King of the Jews, Op. 95: IV. The Levites’ Trumpets –
5. The King of the Jews, Op. 95: V. Conclusion to Act II –
6. The King of the Jews, Op. 95: VI. Entr’acte to Act III, Scene 1 –
7. The King of the Jews, Op. 95: VII. Entr’acte to Act III, Scene 2 –
8. The King of the Jews, Op. 95: VIII. Syrian Dance –
9. The King of the Jews, Op. 95: IX. Entr’acte to Act IV –
10. The King of the Jews, Op. 95: X. Shepherds’ Musette –
11. The King of the Jews, Op. 95: XI. Song of the Singers of Psalms

State Symphony Capella of Russia
Gennady Rozhdestvensky, conductor

Date: 1996
Label: Chandos
https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%209467

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Review

Glazunov’s incidental music to the Grand Duke Konstantin Romanov’s mystery play holds much the same spiritual place in his works as Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Invisible City of Kitezh does among his operas – allowing, of course, for differing levels of genius. I warmed to this score when I was working (I confess) on the notes for the issue, and I like its quiet integrity still more on a third and fourth hearing. What can so often be a dutiful weakness in Glazunov’s symphonic music, the steady development of a short idea, here becomes a virtue: the self-styled ‘figure on the cross’ theme of this passion-play grows in stature and authority from its sorrowful origins on cor anglais; and once the orchestra has said just about all it can on the subject, the male chorus sing an a cappella Orthodox hymn with the same basis.

It helps, of course, that Rozhdestvensky nurtures the romantic style in his phrasing as Konstantin Krimets, in the second volume of Naxos’s Glazunov series (see below) does not. The warm presence of the recording adds to the mystery of why an important release such as this has been hanging around since 1991. True, the music of the Pharisees and of the march to Calvary could be a little more incisively taken, and some of the more incidental numbers that flank the central Passion are not of the highest order (the Fokine-choreographed ballet for Pilate’s feast while Christ dies on the cross strikes the only tacky note). Yet the opening and closing sequences alone raise the performance above the current tide of Russian releases. Glazunov was right to be proud of his Russian Easter Festival Hymn, and between them Rozhdestvensky, his orchestra and the Russian State Symphony Chorus do it dignified justice.

-- Gramophone

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Alexander Glazunov (10 August 1865 – 21 March 1936) was a Russian composer of the late Russian Romantic period, music teacher and conductor. He served as director of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory between 1905 and 1928 Glazunov was significant in that he successfully reconciled nationalism and cosmopolitanism in Russian music. While he was the direct successor to Balakirev's nationalism, he tended more towards Borodin's epic grandeur while absorbing a number of other influences, including Rimsky-Korsakov's orchestral virtuosity, Tchaikovsky's lyricism and Taneyev's contrapuntal skill.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Glazunov

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Gennady Rozhdestvensky (born 4 May 1931 in Moscow) is a Russian conductor. He studied conducting with his father, noted conductor and pedagogue Nikolai Anosov, at the Moscow Conservatory and piano with Lev Oborin. Rozhdestvensky is considered a versatile conductor and a highly cultured musician with a supple stick technique. With the USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra he recorded all the symphonies of Dmitri Shostakovich, Alexander Glazunov, Anton Bruckner, Alfred Schnittke, and Arthur Honegger for the label Melodiya. He also premiered many works of other Soviet composers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gennady_Rozhdestvensky

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