Fikret Amirov - Symphonic Mugams (Dmitry Yablonsky)

Information

Composer: Fikret Amirov

1. Shur
2. Kyurdi Ovshari
3. Gyulistan Bayati Shiraz
4. Azerbaijan Capriccio

Russian Philharmonic Orchestra

Dmitry Yablonsky, conductor

Date: 2021

Label: Naxos

https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.572170

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 9 / SOUND QUALITY: 9

Let’s face it, Shur sounds suspiciously like the third movement of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, and if the opening of the Azerbaijan Capriccio isn’t Lohengrin orientalized (Act 3 prelude), then I don’t know what is. But who cares? The music is delightful, colorful, tuneful, and unabashed fun. And Fikret Amirov’s style, even in these works, did evolve, sort of. The third of his Symphonic Mugams—Gyulistan Bayati Shiraz—features interesting writing for piano and saxophone, and has a more concise form and less obviously 19th-century harmonic patina. Amirov also wrote symphonies, and it would be interesting to hear them.

The performances here are pretty much the best available. Leopold Stokowski introduced most of us to Amirov with his Everest recording of Kyurdi Ovshari, a couple of minutes quicker than this one. Of the two other recordings of this work (and some of the others), the one on Olympia is rather droopy, while Antonio de Almeida on ASV is aptly lively, but his Moscow Symphony isn’t as good an ensemble as the Russian Philharmonic. Dmitry Yablonsky (a scary picture of whom appears in the CD booklet), seems to get the tempos just right. He’s exciting in the quick bits and lusciously romantic in the big tunes. The engineering is also very good. Very enjoyable indeed.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday

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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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