This is a very welcome
disc that presents for the first time
the complete songs of a composer better
known for his orchestral music. Northern
Flowers are also recording Glazunov’s
piano compositions, the string quartets
and an anthology of the organ music.
This is all being done in cooperation
with the Glazunov Foundation (www.glasunow.org)
who are based in Munich.
Glazunov's songs and
romances date from between 1881 and
1916. Most are from the fertile two
decades before 1900; well before the
flight from the 1917 Revolution. They
are variously for soprano, mezzo and
baritone. The poems are either originally
in Russian or set in Russian translation
in the case of the four Heine poems
from the early 1880s (trs. 21, 23, 25,
27).
Glazunov's choice of
poet was unerring. There's a lot of
Pushkin, some in oriental vein, Petrarch,
Lermontov (he of Tamara fame),
Heine as well as lesser known names:
Maikov, Seversky, Kremlev, Korinfsky,
Nekrasov and traditional.
The composer clearly
had serious intentions for these songs
which delve into the deeper realms:
passion, loss, even pictorial opportunities
are handled with enchantment such as
in the Oriental Romanza - the
first of the two Pushkin songs Op. 27.
The Six Songs Op. 59
date from the time of the Sixth Symphony
and the influence of Tchaikovsky's Romances
and of the opera Eugene Onegin ring
assertively without spoiling the experience
in any way. If you want to love (the
fourth of Op. 59) carries, in Yuri Serov's
accompaniment, both moonlight and the
power of great rivers. Later, in the
Heine setting in Russian translation
by Nekrasov, Lukonin conjures the turmoil
and claustrophobia inherent in Stifling
(tr. 21). After the Iberian sultriness
of The Grace Cup (tr. 11) I had
expected a more obviously nationalist
flavour in Spanish Romanza but
despite its charming rise and fall the
accent is enigmatically Scottish if
anything. On the other hand Glazunov
does not disappoint with the fresh and
grumblingly vivacious Spanish Song
(tr. 29). In the preceding Song
from Op. 4 we are also served Arabian
atmosphere with a generous cake slice.
All very attractive even if working
to a style template.
Mikhail Lukonin's supercharged
yet sensitive baritone is from the best
Russian tradition with a ringing Atlantov-style
top array. You are left in no doubt
of his wondrous qualities by The
Belle (tr. 2). He falters however
in the cruelly demanding high pianissimo
at the end of The Sky's All Silver
(tr. 10).
Lyudmila Shkirtil has
a substantial and strong voice with
an emphasis on the thicker diaphragmatic
textures. Her top range trounces all
comers as we can hear at the end of
The Song op. 27 No. 2.
1898 must have been
a good year for songs because he followed
the Op. 59 set with another six, this
time for soprano here taken by Victoria
Evtodieva. The Grace Cup has
more than a touch of Carmen about
it. The Nereid paints and trills
the watery spell of this river nymph.
Not all these songs match the quality
of the Op. 59 set.
In A Free Song Evotdieva
and Shkirtil tackle the duo with sweet
melismatic concord. It’s a lilting setting
which catches the image of long summer
evenings and verandas.
Do not on any account
miss Evtodieva's superbly controlled
and steadfast 'Mashenka's eyes are
full of tears' from the traditional
Russian song Masha is told not to
cross the river. Also notbale is
the undeniably misty passion in Evtodieva's
Whenever I hear your voice (Lermontov).
Throughout the piano
sounds baritonal, softened, sometimes
boxy. The emphasis may be down to the
church acoustic but one soon adjusts
especially in the face of such imaginative
playing as for example in the bardic
trills of The Nightingale (tr.
26).
The track allocation
and identification of singers is inaccurate.
It is listed accurately in the headnote
above.
Yuri Serov provides
the detailed notes. The texts are in
Russian and English side by side but
the Russian is only in Cyrillic. It
would have been even better if a Russian
transliteration could have been given
alongside the Cyrillic. As it is though,
the booklet is extremely well done and
has plenty to inform and provoke the
listener.
I think it's a pity
that two songs have been excluded. No
matter how derivative they may be we
would have been able to have the truly
complete picture if only purism had
not raised its unwelcome head.
If you have any thought
for the Russian romance and perhaps
enjoy the songs by Tchaikovsky or Medtner
or Rachmaninov then be sure to get this
disc. Glazunov will, I think, surprise
you. You might have expected salon tawdry.
On the contrary, while Glazunov might
have had little time for the human voice
he delivers here a generous selection
of songs where he aims for the very
best and in many cases proves that it
is within his grasp.
Rob Barnett