Comparison Recordings:
Opp 34, 36: Antal Dorati, LSO. Mercury
Living Presence [ADD] SACD
Opp 5, 57: Neeme Järvi, SNO Chandos
CHAN 8327/29
Op 30: Artur Rodzinski, Paul Badura-Skoda,
RPO, Westminster LP XWN
Op 30: Dmitri Kitajenko, Geoffrey Tozer,
Bergen PO Chandos CHAN 9229
For a long time Rimsky-Korsakov
was one of those composers who was at
once overplayed and ignored. A few of
his pieces were played to death, but
as a composer — as a musical personality
— he was all but unknown. The German/Italian
stranglehold on the opera stage prevented
Russian opera from ever appearing except
when drastically cut, poorly staged
and sung in translation. As a relic
of those dead days, I actually have
a Boris Godunov libretto in Italian
and English! It was the only one available!
But in these enlightened times most
of Rimsky-Korsakov’s operas are available
in good quality recordings and many
in videos. His chamber music, his church
music, and miracle of miracles, even
his early symphonies, are being heard
often. I knew a record store manager
who lamented that Rimsky-Korsakov didn’t
entitle Scheharazade his Symphony
#4 (which it most certainly is) because
had he done so then the other three
would sell better. Why this curious
reluctance of Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninov
and Szymanowski to put a number on their
respective fourth (and last) symphonies?
Is it really just a coincidence? Or
some Eastern superstition that has never
made it to the West?
The Tale of the
Tsar Sultan Suite naturally
contains the ‘Flight of the Bumble Bee.’
The Järvi version of this Suite
is not displaced by this new two channel
version. This particular Sadko
is not musically related to the later
opera of the same name and hence does
not contain the ‘Song
of India.’
This is a gorgeous
recording, highly recommended. The commitment
of the performers is just overwhelming,
and the recording engineers are right
on the job, too. These artists have
a slight edge in drama and dynamics
even over the excellent Chandos recording
of the Piano Concerto and could
convince me that this is great music.
Kees Bakels is a superb conductor for
this richly dramatic music; his orchestra
play perfectly for him. With the Overture
and Capriccio, the Dorati SACD
still has a slight edge, but if and
when this disk comes out on a digital
surround sound SACD it is likely to
blow all of the competition right out
of the water with one shot.
Paul Shoemaker
Noriko Ogawa (Steinway D piano) 
