GREAT RUSSIAN SYMPHONIES (10-CD Box Set)

The word ‘symphony’ is used to describe an extended orchestral composition in Western classical music. By the eighteenth century the Italianate opera sinfonia—musical interludes between operas or concertos—had assumed the structure of three contrasting movements, and it is this form that is often considered as the direct forerunner of the orchestral symphony. With the rise of established professional orchestras, the symphony assumed a more prominent place in concert life between 1790 and 1820 until it eventually came to be regarded by many as the yardstick by which one would measure a composer’s achievement.

The symphony came late to Russia. The first attempts at a Russian Nationalist symphony were made in the late nineteenth-century by Balakirev and his acolytes, Borodin and Rimsky-Korsakov as well as by Tchaikovsky, whose symphonies (despite his European leanings) have a distinctly Russian flavour. In their wake followed numerous composers, from Glazunov to Myaskovsky, similarly instilling their music with the melodies of their homeland. In the years that followed Russian politics had an unmistakable impact on the Russian symphonists, as Rachmaninov and Prokofiev (among others) went into exile whilst composers such as Shostakovich vented their political frustrations through the medium of music—his Leningrad Symphony being a prime example.


Disc 1

Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Il'yich
[Hide Details]   Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra
Leaper, Adrian, Conductor
 
1.   		I. Andante sostenuto - Moderato con anima 00:18:59
2.   		II. Andantino in modo di canzona 00:09:52
3.   		III. Scherzo: Pizzicato ostinato - Allegro 00:05:53
4.   		IV. Finale: Allegro con fuoco 00:09:15

Borodin, Alexander Porfir'yevich
[Hide Details]   Symphony No. 2 in B minor
Seattle Symphony Orchestra
Schwarz, Gerard, Conductor
 
5.   		I. Allegro 00:06:59
6.   		II. Scherzo: Prestissimo. Trio: Allegretto 00:05:31
7.   		III. Andante 00:07:50
8.   		IV. Finale: Allegro 00:06:19


Disc 2

Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Il'yich
[Hide Details]   Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra
Wit, Antoni, Conductor
 
1.   		I. Andante - Allegro con anima 00:15:09
2.   		II. Andante cantabile, con alcuna licenza 00:13:38
3.   		III. Valse: Allegro moderato 00:05:39
4.   		IV. Finale: Andante maestoso - Allegro vivo 00:12:19
[Hide Details]   Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture (3rd version, 1880)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Leaper, Adrian, Conductor
 
5.   		Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture (3rd version, 1880) 00:19:03


Disc 3

Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Il'yich
[Hide Details]   Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74, "Pathetique"
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra
Wit, Antoni, Conductor
 
1.   		I. Adagio - Allegro non troppo 00:18:54
2.   		II. Allegro con grazia 00:08:40
3.   		III. Allegro molto vivace 00:09:21
4.   		IV. Finale: Adagio lamentoso 00:10:49
[Hide Details]   1812 Overture, Op. 49
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Leaper, Adrian, Conductor
 
5.   		1812 Overture, Op. 49 00:15:32


Disc 4

Prokofiev, Sergey
[Hide Details]   Symphony No. 5 in B flat major, Op. 100
Ukraine National Symphony Orchestra
Kuchar, Theodore, Conductor
 
1.   		I. Andante 00:14:05
2.   		II. Allegro marcato 00:08:58
3.   		III. Adagio 00:13:30
4.   		IV. Allegro giocoso 00:10:31

Myaskovsky, Nikolay
[Hide Details]   Symphony No. 24 in F minor, Op. 63
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
Yablonsky, Dmitry, Conductor
 
5.   		I. Allegro deciso 00:12:38
6.   		II. Molto sostenuto 00:11:04
7.   		III. Allegro appassionato 00:11:14


Disc 5

Shostakovich, Dmitry
[Hide Details]   Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Petrenko, Vasily, Conductor
 
1.   		I. Moderato 00:18:01
2.   		II. Allegretto 00:05:12
3.   		III. Largo 00:15:34
4.   		IV. Allegro non troppo 00:12:50

Prokofiev, Sergey
[Hide Details]   Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 25, "Classical"
Ukraine National Symphony Orchestra
Kuchar, Theodore, Conductor
 
5.   		I. Allegro 00:04:50
6.   		II. Larghetto 00:04:42
7.   		III. Gavotte: Non troppo allegro 00:01:49
8.   		IV. Finale: Molto vivace 00:04:23


Disc 6

Shostakovich, Dmitry
[Hide Details]   Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 60, "Leningrad"
Russian Philharmonic Orchestra
Yablonsky, Dmitry, Conductor
 
1.   		I. Allegretto 00:25:43
2.   		II. Moderato (Poco allegretto) 00:11:27
3.   		III. Adagio 00:18:11
4.   		IV. Allegro non troppo 00:19:57


Disc 7

Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolay Andreyevich
[Hide Details]   Symphony No. 2, Op. 9, "Antar"
St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra
Anichanov, Andre, Conductor
 
1.   		I. Largo - Allegro - Largo - Allegretto - Adagio - Allegretto - Largo 00:09:36
2.   		II. Allegro 00:04:16
3.   		III. Allegro risoluto 00:05:15
4.   		IV. Allegretto - Adagio 00:09:15
[Hide Details]   Scheherazade, Op. 35
Larionoff, Maria, violin
Seattle Symphony Orchestra
Schwarz, Gerard, Conductor
 
5.   		I. The Sea and Sinbad's Ship 00:10:44
6.   		II. The Kalender Prince 00:11:33
7.   		III. The Young Prince and the Young Princess 00:10:44
8.   		IV. Festival at Baghdad - The Sea 00:12:51


Disc 8

Rachmaninov, Sergei
[Hide Details]   Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27
Ireland National Symphony Orchestra
Anissimov, Alexander, Conductor
 
1.   		I. Largo: Allegro moderato 00:20:44
2.   		II. Allegro molto 00:10:41
3.   		III. Adagio 00:14:46
4.   		IV. Allegro vivace 00:11:55
[Hide Details]   Utyos (The Rock), Op. 7
Ireland National Symphony Orchestra
Anissimov, Alexander, Conductor
 
5.   		Utyos (The Rock), Op. 7 00:14:33


Disc 9

Scriabin, Alexander
[Hide Details]   Symphony No. 3, Op. 43, "Le Poeme Divin"
Moscow Symphony Orchestra
Golovschin, Igor, Conductor
 
1.   		I. Lento 00:01:36
2.   		II. Luttes (Struggles) 00:25:37
3.   		III. Voluptes (Delights) 00:13:44
4.   		IV. Jeu divin (Divine Play) 00:11:10
[Hide Details]   La Poeme de l'extase (The Poem of Extasy), Op. 54, "Symphony No. 4"
Lokalenkov, Dmitri, trumpet
Moscow Symphony Orchestra
Golovschin, Igor, Conductor
 
5.   		La Poeme de l'extase (The Poem of Extasy), Op. 54, "Symphony No. 4" 00:24:10


Disc 10

Glazunov, Alexander Konstantinovich
[Hide Details]   Symphony No. 6 in C minor, Op. 58
Moscow Symphony Orchestra
Anissimov, Alexander, Conductor
 
1.   		I. Adagio - Allegro appassionato 00:11:05
2.   		II. Theme and Variations 00:11:04
3.   		III. Intermezzo: Allegretto 00:04:53
4.   		IV. Finale: Andante maestoso - Moderato maestoso - Scherzando - Allegro pesante - Allegro moderato 00:11:03

Kalinnikov, Vasily Sergeyevich
[Hide Details]   Symphony No. 1 in G minor
Ukraine National Symphony Orchestra
Kuchar, Theodore, Conductor
 
5.   		I. Allegro moderato 00:14:18
6.   		II. Andante commodamente 00:07:12
7.   		III. Scherzo: Allegro non troppo - moderato assai 00:08:14
8.   		IV. Finale: Allegro moderato 00:09:16
		
Total Playing Time: 12:04:36