Rachmaninoff The Bells, Symphony Orchestra of Russia, Joel Spiegelman, conductor, Soloists, Marina Lapina & Vladimir Bukin, Bolshoi Theatre, withYurloff Choir, performed in Moscow, 29 9 1992

[iwavns]

It is quite obvious that the musicians did not have lunch...I'm sorry to be the first person to dislike this...

[peterlunow]

what is all this about the organ???? there IS no organ is this gorgious piece and YES the soundquality is awful,but the performance is GREAT ,wonderful tenor,choir ,conductor

[LJBSasha]

@peterlunow: In the last 13 bars of the last movement (4), there IS an organ part marked 'ad libitum'. Since the part IS in there and they have such an important instrument, it certainly would have been worth it. [Admittedly, many conductors & other non-organist musicians have a certain bias against the organ as an instrument & prefer to leave it alone as much as possible - a real pity, especially as at the end of his life, Rakhmáñinov was working on an organ concerto for Charles Courboin...

[aspergershawn]

@LJBSasha How very interesting - I have been studying Rachmaninoff`s life and music for years and was not aware of this possible organ concerto - would love to read something about that, so if you could cite some sources I`ll go directly to them to find out more, thanks.

[LJBSasha]

@aspergershawn: The source I read that information from is "The American Organist" magazine, notably regarding an article series about the famous Belgian organist Charles Courboin (who was a friend of Rakhmáñinov's). If you really insist on it and give me a week's time, I probably could then give you the specific year and month issue as well as the page, column and paragraph numbers.  Hopefully you can find the information on the American Guild of Organists' webpage.

[aspergershawn]

@LJBSasha - thanks very much, I would appreciate that kind of information, it's rather a fascinating subject.

[LJBSasha]

@aspergershawn: The American Organist magazine, September 1996, page 65, 2nd column, bottommost paragraph. It's part of the article "Charles Marie Courboin 1886-1973 Perhaps the Last Survivor of the Heroic Age of Organists: An Appreciation by His Student, Robert Arnold - With supplemental material compiled by Ray Biswanger." This is the reference in where yours truly found this information: (contd.)

[LJBSasha]

(contd.) The particular paragraph in question reads: "When Rachmaninoff died (1943), he was in the process of composing an organ concerto for Courboin. They met several times at the American Academy of Arts and Letters for organ/piano readings of the developing score." Footnote 19 of that article, on page 68 of the same issue, 2nd column, 5th paragraph from the top, reads "Courboin's son, Robert, says he does not have the manuscript for this work. He notes that his father was an admirer of

[LJBSasha]

(concl.) Rachmaninoff and his technique, and possessed many of his recordings."

I'm sorry that more wasn't apparently there written about that prospective work - if the MS. still exists, WOW what a find that could well be. I'll try rereading the 3 back issues (September, November and December 1996) to see if any more info. is yet available on the matter.

[LJBSasha]

Most unfortunately, the concerto project didn't apparently yield enough music to be put into somebody else's hands to be appropriately completed - I've zero doubt that it could have been not only a masterful addition to the repertoire but perhaps even a revolution in concerto-writing for the instrument...

[LJBSasha]

This performance loses at least 2 stars on the basis of 1) poor-quality sound including no stereophonic effect whatsoever - it feels strictly as if monophonic, 2) the organ-part for the last 13 or so bars is omitted - if they could have everybody else fitted in, why not an organist too??

Also, some of the balances seem skewed, while enough of the performance doesn't seem as distinguished as one could hope for. Normally it would be 4 (maybe, just maybe 5) stars; as it is, it's only

3/5

[LJBSasha]

Regarding the organ seen here, in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory (the venue of this performance): if it was out of commission at the time of this performance, one could understand; otherwise it's an absolute PITY (one sees the closed tracker + Barker-levers -console without an organist behind it!!)!!!! [It's worth noting that this majestic Aristide Cavaillé-Coll instrument was that great organbuilder's very last instrument - it was completed by his successor Charles Mutin.]

[LJBSasha]

While I'm not sure, the odds are overwhelmingly AGAINST Edgar Allan Poe ever having visited Russia whilst alive.

Rakhmáñinov got to know Poe's poems via a poetic-type translation by Konstántin Balmónt, which differs so completely from the Poe's English-language original so as make the latter impossible to sing with Rakhmáñinov's music - one's forced to translate back into English from Balmónt's Russian words!

[Moskvakvakva1]

Marina Lapina best of Russia

[morrename]

In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire,

In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire,

Leaping higher, higher, higher,

: the original poem by Edgar Allan Poe strikes a chord with the Russian soul, has Poe ever visited Russia?

brilliant work Joel

[joelwarren33]

Great quote ! And thank you for your comment. It is most appreciated. I frankly don't know if Poe ever did vist Russia but its a question that i will look into and let you know.