N. Jarvi Conducts Rimsky-Korsakov 'Antar' Symphony (4/4)

[DancingChairmanFilms]

A truly great piece of music. 

[pitch89]

This movement is Magical. Following the score I saw where Debussy learnt...

[pianocanival]

I'm usually not fond of hearing complete symphonies. But this ... I mean, wow!!! I can hear it over and over and over ... Too bad there isn't a whole collection of his music pulled together in a boxset.

[bboyairchao]

"Rimsky said: 'All is fine, except that at the end, [...] it would be better to state [the chant] first alone, and only the second time with the bells.'

I was silly and in love with myself in those days--I was only twenty--so I shrugged my shoulders [...] and I never changed a note. Only later did I realize how just Rimsky-Korsakov's criticism had been. The true greatness of Rimsky-Korsakov dawned on me gradually, and I was very sorry that I never got to be his pupil."

- S.V. Rachmaninoff

[PacRimJim]

Lovely legatos. Evocative scales. But not really a symphony. As has been pointed out many times, it's a suite. Doesn't diminish its genius one iota.

[JorPove]

Esta es una bellisima sinfonia cuya tematica pareciera que nada tiene que ver con la seleccion de ritmos utilizados en ella...pero quiza se trate de la descripccion no de una personalidad (el poeta),sino de sus musias y visiones...mas acorde con un pintor como Korsakov.

[shadowrun45]

Thank you for posting - I didn't hear this symphony before.

Do you perhaps know if there exist more than 1 version of this symphony?

[Sinfoniette]

Well, there is Maazel, and theres the scrappy Naxos. There should be one by a well known Russian conductor, but I don't remember seeing one.

Just for note; Jarvi is famous for recording the "underplayed" symphonies, e.g. the complete Rimsky and Glazunov, Borodin, Prokofiev, etc. I suggest you to buy his Rimsky if interested.

There is a rather great 3rd by Svetlanov and Rozhdestvensky and the 1st with Mravinsky.

[shadowrun45]

My score is different from what I hear. Did Rimsky work over his symphony?

[muzykowedma]

Yes, he did it twice: in 1897 and 1903.

[Vsevolod14]

@Sinfoniette

Svetlanov recorded it at least twice; also Ivanov

[thegoodgeneral]

Holy shit this piece is beautiful.

[Sinfoniette]

Congratulations, you are one of the small percentage of people who have listened to this composition. Not many people listen to anything by Rimsky except the Scheherazade and the Bumblebee. Its such a shame that Rimsky-Korsakov is remembered only for that.

[thegoodgeneral]

Personally, I happen to think that Capriccio Espagnol is one of the best pieces of music ever written. Being a huge lover of his music, I was disappointed by Symphonies 1 & 3 and didn't seek Antar out. And to think that this piece was overplayed during his lifetime.

[Vsevolod14]

I wholeheartedly agree with Sinfoniette. A vastly underrated master. Without him there would be no Debussy, Prokofief, Ravel or especially Stravinsky. All the film composers copied him. Yet the received wisdom from when most of his works were unknown is that he "meddled with Mussorgsky" and wrote shallow music.

He was a magician and this music is sublime and very moving

[Sinfoniette]

We can even consider that we got Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker because he wanted to prove that he was a great orchestral painter, also.

We also wouldn't have Glazunov also, which is even worse becaues if we don't have Glazunov, we don't have Prokofiev!

Its a shame that Rimsky-Korsakov will only be remembered for the Bumblebee and Scheherazade. His place is one of the most important places in the history of music, and yet he is basically a one(two?) work composer like Holst or something like that.

[bulansabriel1]

And if I may remark (just six months after), that without Korsakov, there would have been not Schostakovich or Miaskovsky, Diagilev could have not revived the russian ballet and the entire musical pedagogy in russia would be in much a lower level than this master had brought it to be.

His songs are marvelous, his operas are wonderful and the orchestral pieces are splendid. He was not an artist, but an artisan, a true master of his craft

[thegoodgeneral]

@Sinfoniette I think the difference is that Holst's Planets appealed to so many, while the rest of his works, though respected, were generally confined to the smaller audiences for military band. Rimsky-Korsakov also had Capriccio Espagnol, which was so overperformed but almost misunderstood that most conductors get it wrong; as a result, it's not recognized as great. But listen to a recording by Jarvi and you'll see why Tchaikovsky got his panties in a bunch.

[cassandra5322]

@Sinfoniette So sorry for the 2 year old response but, wow, I had no idea that this piece was considered 'obscure', but thanks for the upload.