As with their Tchaikovsky,
Glazunov,
Strauss,
Rachmaninov and Shostakovich Editions, Brilliant Classics here offer
the only truly extensive Borodin collection on the market.
The set’s lineage can in part be traced to existing smaller
Brilliant issues: the piano music (93894),
the chamber music (93973) and the symphonies (94453).
To this are added a Delos-licensed single disc (DE3277) of the Complete
Songs and Romances and a late 1980s full digital Sony celebrity
Prince Igor (S3K44878). There has never been anything
like this set - at least not for Borodin.
Russian, or at least ex-Soviet Bloc artists (Armenian and Bulgarian)
predominate with the only exception being the Italian pianists who
are heard in the piano music.
Brilliant Classics lay no claims to completeness. This is not everything
that Borodin ever wrote but there’s not that much that is left
out. Certainly every genre he tackled is represented and sometimes
pretty thoroughly. Offhand I can only think of the orchestration of
the Petite Suite that was recorded by Tjeknavorian for RCA
and Järvi for Chandos in the 1970s. Then there’s a movement
from one of the string quartets the originals of which are here and
the orchestral versions of a couple of the songs which you could hear
on Chandos or Brilliant
Classics as part of the Järvi symphonies double. Rapetti
can be relied on to let us hear the piano original of the Petite
Suite on CD6. Another small lacuna is the Act IV finale of Mlada
- a cooperative opera left incomplete - with Cui, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov
and Minkus all participating. Tjeknavorian included it in his LP box
set.
Borodin’s collegiate creativity, posthumous and lifetime, is
there to hear from the composite piano works, to the ministrations
of Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov in Igor to Glazunov’s
completion of the unfairly dismissed Third Symphony.
The performances are not also-rans. We hear Mark Ermler and the Bolshoi
orchestra in the symphonies with the same vigorous sense of theatre
that he brought to the Tchaikovsky
ballets. At one time Brilliant had a licence for the Järvi-Stockholm
Chandos set (93348);
that must have expired and Ermler stepping gamely forward is no mere
consolation prize. Loris Tjekavorian, whose analogue
set of the symphonies still holds great allure, is here with In
The Steppes of Central Asia from his glory days with ASV. Emil
Tchakarov turns in a strong - perhaps coarse but certainly vivid -
Prince Igor. It has a starry cast including Nikolai Ghiaurov
at the centre. If the other singers in Igor are less familiar
they raise few causes for dissatisfaction. It was made in the composer’s
centenary year. Sony did a little series of Russian operas from Sofia
in the 1980s, spilling over into the 1990s. I hope that we will see
the others restored. It’s a while since I have heard them but
my impression is that this Sony line-up, all under Tchakarov, is generally
pretty good if you err on the side of ruddy virility.
The nine page Brilliant Classics booklet note in English only is by
David Nice and the sung words with translations are to be found as
a pdf download on the Brilliant Classics website via this page.
The usual stiff-card clamshell box is in light olive livery and holds
the ten CDs plus a booklet. Each disc is in its own substantial card
sleeve with the contents, artist list and provenance printed on the
back.
How unfair it must have seemed to the others that Borodin, a spare-time
composer whose main career was as a research chemist, became the most
famous of the ‘Kouchka’ - the 'Mighty Handful': the five
Russian composers who included Balakirev, Cui, Rimsky-Korsakov and
Mussorgsky. Allowance must be made for Rimsky’s Scheherazade
but Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances, Second Symphony and
‘that tune’ from the Second String Quartet rank now in
majority public affection higher than anything produced by the others.
His music’s standing even survived the 1953 Broadway musical
Kismet
as adapted by Robert Wright and George Forrest. Some might argue that
the music actually found a wider audience as a result of that musical
in a way that Grieg’s music never needed through the same Wright
and Forrest’s Song of Norway (1944).
The trio of chamber music CDs is unique. The two string quartets are
not rare birds. In fact the Second with its Nocturne which
has become Baubles, Bangles and Beads courtesy of Wright and
Forrest tends to feature in most ‘Best of Borodin’ collections,
though often in an orchestral transcription. The rest of it is either
rare or unique in these recordings.
The First Quartet is a pretty sober party-beast in the first two movements
and at the start of the last. The breathless third movement Scherzo
and the end of the finale are closer to the composer’s naturally
joyous stride. The Piano Quintet is again puritanically serious, swinging
into gloomy. The central scherzo mixes wild Russian dance and elements
of fugue. This Mendelssohnian fluffiness also surfaces in the otherwise
overcast finale which in any event ends in brooding shadows.
The Second Quartet shakes off the predominant ‘brown study’
hanging over CD3. There’s grace here - delicacy, dancing and
delight. The piercingly poignant solo violin of Alexander Detinov
sings out in the Nocturne, which ends in a quiet valediction. The
less frequently encountered finale spins along at speed and the players
seem to lap up challenges, to all of which they are equal. The finale
reminds us of similar passages in the first two symphonies.
The String Quintet is again fairly sober and determined - earnestly
Beethovenian but its first movement ends with a rare fragility. There’s
a trend developing here: Borodin had to shake off unsmiling Teutonic
inclinations before he could beguile with Russian nationalism. The
Serenata alla Spagnola is a brevity but full of the very engaging
freshness that fights to put in an appearance elsewhere in the chamber
music apart from in the string quartets - superb pizzicato sound here.
The little Sextet in D minor works well. There’s a touch of
Mendelssohn’s elfin Octet here and an Andante that sets up a
juicily counter-pointed tension. There are just two movements. The
single movement trio in G minor on What have I done to hurt you
is a smooth and rather placidly Mozartean production. The two-movement
Trio in G is off the same inspirational shelf. While the Andante -
again a second and last movement, like the Sextet - moves in pretty
much the same circles. You would never know that this is Borodin,
the Russian nationalist. The Piano Trio is in three fully developed
movements. It drives forward with splendid energy but with nary a
glimmer of nationalist flavouring. Fervour aplenty but you must not
expect to find the Polovtsian Dances or the Second Symphony
writ small.
The tone of the players on these three discs is lean and not lush;
certainly unequivocal and well forward. I might complain a little
about there being few really quiet soft passages but these feel well-centred
and caringly prepared performances.
Marco Rapetti presides over the piano music. He has previously recorded
the piano music of Lyapunov, as well as the Dukas sonata and works
for two pianos by Malipiero. This set features first recordings of
In the Steppes of Central Asia in the composer’s arrangement
for four hands; likewise four other pieces. All of this is nice to
have but not compelling.
After the neatly done solo piano music we are introduced to the 16
songs and romances - just over 47 minutes in total. These take a stronger
Russian accent and flavour from the stern bass song with cello and
piano, The Pretty Girl to the similarly specified lugubrious
Listen to my Song, this time for mezzo. There’s the delicate
and dancing The Beautiful Fisher Woman for tenor. Why so
early for baritone is as serious as much of the music on the three
chamber CDs. Many of these songs are quite ‘advanced’
in relation to the chamber music including the French-flavoured The
sea princess to words by Borodin himself, as are five others out
of the 16. As for the others there is the urgently imploring tone
and plangently regretful From My Heart to the defiantly assertive
The Sea with its stormy heaving deck. There’s a strangely
exploratory piano part sounding for all the world like Cyril Scott
in The Magic Garden. The final song is for bass: Arabian
Melody is a typically lugubrious ballad.
There’s nothing approaching this box - at least not as a single
composite purchase. Speaking of which, we should remember that the
price point is lower bargain. Money issues aside this is a very attractive
collection. It gathers together all you are likely to need
and quite a bit of what you might want from Borodin. Its value
greatly exceeds the modest investment required.
Rob Barnett
Previous review: Paul Godfrey
Full Contents List
CDs 1-2 [43.48 + 49.35]
Symphony No. 1 in E flat (1867) [36.13]
Symphony No. 2 in B minor (1876) [30.02]
Symphony No. 3 in A minor (1887) [19.33]
Symphonic Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre/Mark Ermler
In the steppes of Central Asia (1880) [7.35]
Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra/Loris Tjeknavorian
rec. Yerevan, Armenia, 1994-6 and 2000
CDs 3-4 [67.26 + 58.13]
String Quartet No. 1 in A (1880) [41.21]
String Quartet No. 2 in D (1885) [28.21]
Serenata alla spagnola (1886) [2.17]
String Quintet in F minor (1854) [29.35]1
Piano Quintet in C minor (1862) [26.05]2
Moscow String Quartet with Alexander Gotthelf (cello)1,
Alexander Mindoiantz (piano)2
rec. location not stated, 1995
CD 5 [56.05]
Sextet in D minor (1861) [8.11]1
Trio in G minor on a Russian song What have I done to you?
(1859) [7.01]2
Trio in G (1860) [18.53]2
Piano Trio in D (1862) [22.01]3
Alexander Detisov and Alexander Polonsky (violins),12 Igor
Suliga and Alexander Brobovsky (violas),1 Alexander Osokin12
and Alexander Gotthelf1, cellos: Moscow Piano Trio3
rec. location not stated, 1995
CD 6 [76.59]
Petite Suite (1885) [23.36] 76.59
Scherzo in A flat (1885) [3.16]
In the steppes of Central Asia (1880) [7.36]1
Paraphrases (1878-9) with Liszt, Liadov, Rimsky-Korsakov,
Cui [25.03]12
Tarantella in D (1862) [4.22]1
Allegretto in D flat (1861) [1.43]2
Scherzo in E (1861) [4.16]2
Adagio patetico in A flat (1849) [4.03]
Polka Hélène in D minor (1843) [2.10]2
Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937)
A la manière de Borodine (1913) [1.44]
Marco Rapetti (piano) with Daniela de Santis1 and
Giampaolo Nuti1
rec. Villa Vespucci, San Felice a Ema, Florence, 3-5 September 2008
CD 7 [47.12]
The pretty girl no longer loves me (1854) [4.02]45
Listen to my song, little friend (1854) [3.48]15
The beautiful fisher woman (1854) [1.32]25
Why so early, O sunset? (1864) [2.28]3
The sleeping princess (1867) [5.30]1
My songs are poisoned (1868) [1.34]4
The sea princess (1868) [2.40]1
The false note (1868) [1.18]2
Song of the dark forest (1868) [3.10]4
From my tears (1868) [1.43]4
The sea (1870) [3.47]2
Pride (1884) [3.25]4
For the shores of thy far native land (1881) [4.05]1
Those folk (1881) [3.26]3
The magic garden (1885) [2.15]4
Arabian melody (1881) [2.30]4
Marianna Tarassova (mezzo)1, Konstantin Pluzhnikov (tenor)2,
Andrey Slavny (baritone)3, Nikolai Okhotnikov (bass)4,
Irina Molokina (cello)5, Yuri Serov (piano)
rec. St Catherine Lutheran Church, St Petersburg, March 1995
CDs 8-10 [73.12 + 73.17 + 63.21]
Prince Igor - opera in four acts and a prologue (1869-1887)
Vladimir - Kaludi Kaludov (tenor), Prince Igor - Boris Martinovich
(baritone), Prince Galitsky - Nicolai Ghiuselev (bass), Khan Konchak
- Nicolai Ghiaurov (bass), Konchakovna - Alexandrina Milcheva (mezzo),
Skula - Stoil Georgiev (bass), Ovlur - Mincho Popov (tenor), Yeroshka
- Angel Petkov (tenor), Polovtsian Girl - Elena Stoyanova (mezzo),
Yaroslavna - Stefka Evstatieva (soprano)
Sofia National Opera Chorus, Sofia Festival Orchestra/Emil Tchakarov
rec. National Palace of Culture, Sofia, 14-20 July 1987
