Search - Reinhold Gliere, Vassily Sinaisky, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra :: Glière: Orchestral Works

Some pleasant - and even fascinating! - Gliere trivia!

Lawrence Kinsley | Lakeland, FL USA | 03/25/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This well-recorded (as usual) Chandos 20 bit DDD disc features mostly minor orchestral works by the Russian late-Romantic composer Reinhold Gliere written after he came under the purview of the artistic 'guidance' of the Soviet regime. Yet all in all, as was often the case of composers such as Gliere, Prokofiev or Shostakovitch, when 'encouraged' to write music 'for the people,' they usually reverted to a basic romantic idiom that at least showed off some of their best virtues as compared to the harsher, more pessimistic and less lyrical expressionistic and other alien idioms most of them writing in the 20th century felt compelled to indulge in.



Another interesting aspect of this recording is a surprising - in fact fascinating - appearance of western themes in at least two of Gliere's Russian national works presented here. And by 'western' I mean the term literally as found in our own country's western music idiom. One of the main themes in each of the final 2 presentations on this disc - the Heroic March & the Holiday at Ferghana Overture, could just as well be written by a Gould or Copeland to accompany an American Western cattle drive! This may even be a bit understandable in the latter work, as it was actually commissioned in 1941 by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on the occasion of its 50th anniversary celebration. But how does an even more representative 'cowboy' theme find its way into the Heroic March, written by Gliere in celebration of the eastern Soviet Republic of Buryiat-Mongolia, written some time before the Overture?!



In any event, the typically tuneful entries on this disc are ably presented by Vassily Siniasky and the BBC Philharmonic, and are recommended for Gliere enthusiasts especially, along with, of course, any John Ford/John Wayne afficianados interested in classical music!"

Interesting

David Saemann | 03/17/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I am a great fan of Gliere's 3 symphonies, absolutely wonderful music. So I was a little disappointed with this disc. The music is energetic and well conceived, but nothing here is as memorable as the symphonies are. The performances seem to be very good, but the sound engineering is rather vaporous. It features good tone quality but an absence of body in the reproduction of the orchestra. I got this for $2.50 from Musical Heritage Society, so it was an agreeable and interesting addition to my Gliere library. Whether it's worth paying full price for is pretty much up to your need for a complete picture of Gliere."