Fikret Amirov - One Thousand and One Nights; To the Memory of Nizami (Dmitry Yablonsky)

Information

Composer: Fikret Amirov

• (01) Symphony 'To the Memory of Nizami'
• (05) One Thousand and One Nights Suite

Kiev Virtuosi Symphony Orchestra

Dmitry Yablonsky, conductor

Date: 2020

Label: Naxos

https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.573803

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Review

This is not the first appearance of Amirov’s music in the Naxos catalogue (review).

This CD begins with a four-movement symphony for strings composed in 1941. The composer designed it to illustrate the life of the celebrated 12th-century Azerbaijani poet, Nizami Ganjavi. Naturally enough, given the demands that the Soviet musical authorities placed on their composers, the work is thoroughly tonal, using a melodic tag derived from Azerbaijani material. To my ears, this sounds somewhat neo-classical and academic in style. The booklet notes state that it is not impossible to detect the style of Rimsky-Korsakov in the first movement, also referencing Rheinhold Gliere. I cannot hear any such derivations. By far the most attractive movement is the third, an Andante, in which the rather busy style of the outer movements is jettisoned in favour of a pleasantly lyrical effusion; it slowly rises to a brief impassioned climax, then falls away before rising into the highest regions of the violins. The last movement begins in a scurrying manner, but soon becomes statelier, with a distinct oriental colouration. The faster manner soon returns, alternating as the movement proceeds.

The larger work is a suite, extracted in 2017 from the 1979 full-length ballet Arabian Nights, also known as One Thousand and One Nights. I find this to be a far more attractive listen than the symphony, but even here, comparisons with Rimsky are somewhat wide of the mark. More obvious is a kinship with the Armenian Aram Khachaturian, whose sinuous melodies those of Amirov rather resemble. It strikes me, though, that Amirov had not even half the melodic inspiration that Khachaturian displays in such scores as Spartacus, Gayaneh, Masquerade and the Violin Concerto. In particular, Khachaturian’s Sabre Dance has far more sheer verve and orchestral interest than Amirov manages in the many percussive interludes played here. He relies too much on repeated drum beats for my taste.

 

The booklet makes play regarding the two lyrical parts of the score, Sheherazade’s Love Theme and Sadness of Sheherazade, once again invoking Rimsky-Korsakov. Khachaturian would be a better comparison.

The recording is good, the playing fine and the booklet documentation decent.

-- Jim Westhead, MusicWeb International

More reviews:

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2020/Nov/Amirov-sy-8573803.htm

https://www.pizzicato.lu/grandiose-musik-von-fikret-amirov/

https://www.naxos.com/reviews/reviewslist.asp?catalogueid=8.573803&languageid=EN

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Fikret Amirov (November 22, 1922, Ganja – February 20, 1984, Baku) was a prominent Azerbaijani composer of the Soviet period. He studied at the Ganja Music College and the Azerbaijan State Conservatoire, where he was a student of Boris Zeidman and Uzeyir Hajibeyov. Amirov's music was strongly influenced by Azeri folk melodies. His symphonic "mugams" were based on classical folk pieces and were performed by many renowned symphony orchestras throughout the world. Amirov was a prolific composer; his works include symphonic pieces, concertos, ballets, an opera, piano pieces and numerous film scores.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fikret_Amirov

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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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