Evgeny Soifertis; Alexander Titov: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Release Date: 01 July 2005
Label: Hyperion Records Ltd
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 034571175119
Genres: Classical Orchestral
Description
Eduard Napravník is hardly a household name, but he was one of the most important figures in nineteenth-century Russian music. As conductor of the Mariinsky Theatre—one of the finest opera houses in Europe, which became the Kirov Theatre—he worked with many of the most important composers of the day, including Tchaikovsky and ‘The Five’. He composed four operas, and many works in a range of genres, including four symphonies and the two works for piano and orchestra on this disc. His A minor Piano Concerto (1877) begins with a striking reference to the ‘Dies irae’ of Verdi’s Requiem, and is a work of tremendous energy and lyricism, with a nocturne-like slow movement and a dance-like finale. The Fantaisie russe (1881) is based on three Russian folk tunes, and is infectious in its melodic richness and thrilling in its virtuosity.
Felix Blumenfeld is probably best known as the piano teacher of Vladimir Horowitz and Simon Barere, but he too was a key figure in Russian music, as pianist, conductor, editor, teacher and composer. His Allegro de concert (1889) combines an oriental flavour reminiscent of Glinka, Rubinstein and Balakirev with piano-writing that owes much to Liszt.
Evgeny Soifertis, who was born in Kiev but has settled in London, breathes life into these neglected scores and plays with zestful energy and poetic repose. He is superbly supported by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Alexander Titov, and this is another distinguished addition to Hyperion’s exploratory Romantic Piano Concerto series.
Tracklisting
Marc-Andre Hamelin, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra / Andrew Litton
Gothic Voices / Christopher Page
Alina Ibragimova, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment / Vladimir Jurowski
Mahan Esfahani
The Binchois Consort / Andrew Kirkman
Mishka Rushdie Momen
The Gesualdo Six / Owain Park
Takacs Quartet
Alfredo Campoli
BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC Singers, Alice Farnham
Marc-Andre Hamelin, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra / Andrew Litton
Alina Ibragimova, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment / Vladimir Jurowski
Howard Griffiths; Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
Rudolf Firkusny
Rafael Orozco
Roeland Hendrikx, Jan Michiels, Brussels Philharmonic, Il Novecento, Robert Groslot
