BBC Legends BBCL 4121-2
 Total Time [74:12]
Full Price

Current Reviews

by Derek Lim

Sergei Prokofiev
Piano Concerto No. 1-3

Martha Argerich, piano
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor



Samuel Barber
Orchestral Works and Concertos
Leonard Slatkin, Charles Munch



Rimsky-Korsakov
Evgeny Svetlanov


Beethoven
Symphony No.9
Piano Transcription by Franz Liszt
Konstantin Scherbakov, Piano



Kronos Caravan

Although his recorded repertoire extended far beyond the Russians (most of it sadly unavailable on disc today), it is as a champion of the great composers of his heritage that Svetlanov is best known. This BBC Legends release does little to correct that popular image of Svetlanov but makes up for it wonderfully by presenting a Scheherazade that, if I had my way, would be in the catalogue for a long time.

His commercial recording, on a BMG-Melodiya two-fer with the Antar and his two symphonies (now not available) was with the USSR State Symphony Orchestra, his own orchestra for many years. What is remarkable though is the extent to which he makes the London Symphony Orchestra in this live performance, his own. The general concept of the work is the same, with the same broad swathes of colour coupled with the understanding of Scheherazade as more than just a virtuoso showpiece in the conventional “Pictures at an Exhibition” sense. His account displays, rather a natural sympathy with the inner-ness of the music, something that is altogether rarer, yet manages plenty of excitement when called for.

Memorable, too, are his soloists, whose contributions are full of character, yet fit into the picture as a whole rather than sticking out. When I first popped this disc into my player, not bothering to look at the sleeves, I was convinced that this was a Russian orchestra, so idiomatic and full of verve was the playing, and taken aback when I saw that I was wrong. Of course the London Symphony was one of the finest orchestras at that time (1978), but what a great conductor he must have been, to have made a tired warhorse like this all his own with the number of rehearsals normally accorded guest conductors. The London Symphony Orchestra's playing is of such a high technical standard that the USSR State recording must be left biting the dust. Even if you have many accounts of this work – the Reiner, the Stokowskis the Beecham and of course, Svetlanov's own USSR State Symphony come to mind – make room for this one. John Georgiadis is the excellent solo violin and the recording is very natural, with lots of space.

The rest of the disc is filled with Scriabin’s Poem of Ecstacy, this time with Svetlanov’s own orchestra in a performance ten years earlier, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Procession of the Nobles from Mlada, from the same concert as Scheherazade. Both are, as you might expect, first rate.

A fine tribute to a great Russian conductor.

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