Search - Vasily Kalinnikov, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Evgeny Svetlanov :: Kalinnikov: Symphony No. 1; Rimsky-Korsakov: Orchestral Work

Great selection of popular to relatively unknown Russian mus

Amy | 08/03/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Kalinnikov only wrote two exceptionally beautiful symphonies, both reminiscent of Tchaikovsky, before his untimely death from tuberculosis in 1901, two days short of his 35th birthday. If you haven't heard his Symphony in G Minor piece before, I think you'll consider it an important piece of Russian music. It reminds me of Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy. Kalinnikov's short, tuberculotic life began in Russia, in 1866. Kalinnikov's exceptional talents were discovered by Tchaikovsky, who recommended him for a job as conductor at the Maliy Theatre in Moscow in 1892, but Kalinnikov had to resign a few months later due to his deteriorating health. Would you ever guess from that music that the composer was about to die of tuberculosis? The second part of this cd is dedicated to Rimsky Korsakov. Korsakov was a prolific composer, producing many orchestral works, including the well known Sheherazade and Capriccio Espagnole. He also wrote fifteen operas, including The Tale of Tsar Saltan which includes his most famous piece, "The Flight of the Bumblebee", since arranged for all kinds of different instrumental groups. He also reworked several of Modest Mussorgsky's pieces after his death, and the version of Mussorgsky's Night on the Bare Mountain which is generally performed nowadays is arranged by Rimsky Korsakov. Towards the end of his life, Rimsky Korsakov suffered from angina, and he died in 1908. I hope the beautiful, masterfully orchestrated, very Russian symphonies of Kalinnikov and Korsakov were new discoveries for you and that you'll want to add them to your own personal cd collection.





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