Listening to Christmas Eve - Wednesday. Seriously underrated, RK. And damaged by the over-familiarity of Scheherazade.
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Yes I agreeOriginally posted by verismissimo View Post -
Speaking as someone who adores Scherazade, Who even after 40 years of acquaintance still enthralls me, I don't know if I would choose 'damaged', but I get the point, that it overshadows the rest of his output. Flight of The Bumblebee and Russian Easter Overture still get programmed here, but Capriccio Espagnole seems to have dissapeared, as it seems to exist in the never land between Pops Concert fare and 'Serious' Music.Originally posted by verismissimo View Post
The truth about Rimsky is that his best music is in his Operas (aside from the works mentioned above). Many discs of Suites from those Operas have been issued in the past decade or so, primarily on the Pentatone and Naxos Labels, and it has definitely raised my estimation of him.
Opera is not my Primary Interest, so I am not sure why they are not better known. One obvious answer would be that most Russian Operas have always had a tough slog with non Russian speakers. The exceptions that prove the rule--Boris, Onegin- probably don't get heard as often as they should if they were Composed in Italian or German, for example.
Rim sky's Operas also have plots based on Russian folk tales that just do not resonate with Western Audiences due to their unfamiliarity. I have been told that most of the librettos for his Operas are less than compelling and their effect tend to take for granted that their audiences would be very familiar with these tales.
Another reason NRK Operas have not made it in the West may be Politics. NRK was fired from his posts and his output became non grata when he publicly sided with the Revolutionaries in the failed 1905 Revolution. When the big Revolution of 1917 occurred, the Russian Expats that made a living in the West may not have had NRK in their active repertoires. Later, when his Operas were revived in Russia, the Cultural Isolation of the U.S.S.R. Via the West would have limited their exposure.
If NRK had written a super duper Piano or Violin Concerto he would have been a hotter Composer, but alas he didn't . And while the Antar Symphony has some exciting moments, my attention wanders before it's completion. NRK was essentially, like Grieg, a miniaturist, who wrote great segments of music of 3 to 6 minutes duration. Scherazade was the one longer work that he succeeded in, but we all know it's structural weaknesses which I won't belabor here. His Operatic Suites are so satisfying because they are Suites of miniatures.Comment
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Lots of interesting stuff there, rf. I'm not sure that his operas support your contention that he was fundamentally a miniaturist. Working my way through them currently in the Gergiev recordings. The Maid of Pskov next!Comment
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Also have that good value box - no libretti so you need to chase them up online to get what's going on. Only two so far: Kashchey the Immortal and Tsar's Bride, which I took on first having greatly enjoyed the Covent Garden staging a few years ago and the marvellous classic film with Svetlanov conducting the soundtrack (got the DVD but available on YouTube). This opera has recently triggered a bit a Rimsky phase for me. Like many people I only knew a few famous pieces up till then.Originally posted by verismissimo View Post
For me, it has also been well worth getting to know the songs on this 3CD set from Brilliant. Also some fine versions from Boris Christoff and Galina Vishnevskaya with Rostropovich on piano accompaniment.
I discovered his Wind Quintet, a most enjoyable work excellently performed on this very good Oz Eloquence twofer. of lesser-known chamber works.Comment
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Well, again, Opera isn't my primary interest, but I would argue that AriasOriginally posted by verismissimo View Post
are miniatures--songs, basically--and the short numbers that comprise the Suites that surround them are miniaturesComment
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