Rozhdestvensky's live Vaughan Williams Cycle

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I wonder if they had been instructed by GR, to get some listening in to RVWs music, or would it be their sheer musicality that made them aware of what the composer had to say?

Well - they did have the Scores (and Parts): I'm not sure what more might be needed; RVW's requirements are very adequately communicated therein.

[Ferretfancy]

Well - they did have the Scores (and Parts): I'm not sure what more might be needed; RVW's requirements are very adequately communicated therein.

I seem to be spending my mornings listening to RVW in the mornings before setting off for the Proms. Today it was No. 6, another remarkable performance. The opening is very deliberate, and perhaps the first movement could use a little more fire, but I like the relatively direct way in which we hear the famous tune at the end. There's plenty of menace in the second movement, but could there be more savagery in the scherzo? The acid test for me is always the epilogue. Rozhdestvensky manages it beautifully, taking a full 14 minutes, three minutes longer than Boult in his EMI version, without losing the tension at all. The entry of violas and basses near the end could almost be likened to a consort of viols. The engineers have not been tempted to boost the level, and there is a decent pause before the applause from a virtually silent audience.

A small footnote, back in the ( really!) good old days on what was then the Third Programme, when this symphony was broadcast a message was sent all the way down the broadcast chain to the transmitters warning operators on no account to boost the gain. This was because a standing rule existed that if level fell below PPM 2 for more than two minutes, level must be raised.

I rather doubt that such finesse would be in evidence today.

[Nick Armstrong]

A chance to sample the set on CD Review tomorrow. This is the listing of the pieces to be featured:




11.00am Melodiya 50th birthday releases

Andrew picks highlights from two sets of recordings released for the Russian Melodiya label’s 50th anniversary this year.



A Sea symphony for soloists, chorus and orchestra (Symphony no.1)

Performers: Boris Vasiliev (baritone), Choir of the Leningrad Music Society, State SO of the USSR Ministry of Culture, Gennady Rozhdestvensky (conductor)

Composers: Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958)

Album Title: Melodiya: MEL CD 10 02170





A London symphony (Symphony no.2)

Performers: State SO of the USSR Ministry of Culture, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky (conductor)

Composers: Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958)

Album Title: Melodiya: MEL CD 10 02170





Symphony no. 4 in F minor

Performers: State SO of the USSR Ministry of Culture, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky (conductor)

Composers: Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958)

Album Title: Melodiya: MEL CD 10 02170





Symphony no. 5 in D major

Performers: State SO of the USSR Ministry of Culture, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky (conductor)

Composers: Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958)

Album Title: Melodiya: MEL CD 10 02170





Sinfonia antartica for soprano, women's chorus and orchestra (Symphony no.7)

Performers: Elena Dof-Donskaya (soprano), USSR Ministry of Culture Chamber Choir, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky (conductor)

Composers: Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958)

Album Title: Melodiya: MEL CD 10 02170





Symphony no. 8 in D minor

Performers: State SO of the USSR Ministry of Culture, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky (conductor)

Composers: Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958)

Album Title: Melodiya: MEL CD 10 02170





Symphony no. 9 in E minor

Performers: Gennadi Rozhdestvensky (conductor), State SO of the USSR Ministry of Culture

Composers: Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958)

Album Title: Melodiya: MEL CD 10 02170

[EdgeleyRob]

I'm still not convinced by No 4,far too careful a reading for me.
An extraordinary cycle though.

[Petrushka]

I heard Rozhdestvensky perform quite a bit of British music during his time with the BBC Symphony Orchestra including this programme from 1979:

Peter Maxwell Davies: Five Klee Pictures
Hugh Wood: Scenes from Comus
Elgar: Symphony No 1

Also heard the PMD Symphony No 2 and Elgar Violin Concerto from him and the Britten Diversions for the Left Hand was in his very first concert with them.

I'm therefore not surprised that this new RVW cycle has been so positively received. I'm unsure whether to invest as it means yet another Sea Symphony a work I do not care for

[makropulos]

I heard Rozhdestvensky perform quite a bit of British music during his time with the BBC Symphony Orchestra including this programme from 1979:

Peter Maxwell Davies: Five Klee Pictures
Hugh Wood: Scenes from Comus
Elgar: Symphony No 1

Also heard the PMD Symphony No 2 and Elgar Violin Concerto from him and the Britten Diversions for the Left Hand was in his very first concert with them.

I'm therefore not surprised that this new RVW cycle has been so positively received. I'm unsure whether to invest as it means yet another Sea Symphony a work I do not care for

Petrushka: It's a Sea Symphony but not as you know it - the soloists have a rather quaint grasp of English (fair enough - they're Russians) and there's some quite shaky ensemble in places. Aside from that, there's the considerable pleasure (and fascination) of hearing VW played by a Soviet (as it was) orchestra. But this isn't a cycle that trumps the best of the competition. It's very interesting, and I'm glad to have it, but I'm not sure how often I'll listen to individual symphonies from it...

[Alison]

Can you remember what the Elgar 1 was like, pet ?

[Petrushka]

Can you remember what the Elgar 1 was like, pet ?

Not after all these years, I'm afraid, Alison, though it must have been the first time I'd heard it live. It'd be good if it re-surfaced as a CD. I loved those Rozhdestvensky BBCSO Proms and went to many of them. My favourite was the Tchaikovsky Act 2 Nutcracker in 1981 now happily on DVD.

[cloughie]

Can you remember what the Elgar 1 was like, pet ?

I probably heard it at the time but have no recollection. I would hazard a guess that it was nearer to Elgar's original than it was to Barbirolli's expansive approach!