Search - Miaskovsky, Downes, Bbcpo :: Symphonies 5 & 9

Interesting music worthy of wide audiences

John London | PA | 12/19/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Miaskovsky's 5th Symphony was the first work to win the composer international renown -- rather to the chagrin, one suspects, of his lifelong friend Prokofiev, who was "simply horrified by much of it". Prokofiev's complaint? Too conservative in style and too much influence of Glazunov. "And it's well known [by whom, one wonders -- Prokofiev?] that Glazunov is not a classic."Prokofiev was wrong about Glazunov, and he was wrong about Miaskovsky's Fifth, also. This symphony provides one of the best introductions to the music of this vastly underrated Soviet composer.The Lento alone is worth the cost of the CD. An English reviewer once claimed Miaskovsky as perhaps the greatest composer of symphonic slow movements, bar none. Over-enthusiastic, perhaps, but there is a kernel of truth in the statement. And in my opinion, the 5th Symphony's Lento is Miaskovsky's greatest slow movement -- melancholy, nostalgic, profound and utterly haunting. Great stuff.Of these two symphonies, only the fifth has been previously recorded. Another Amazon reviewer complained of the sound in the fifth, and on listening to the other CD of this work (Ivanov on Melodiya/Olympia) I must agree, up to a point. However, for me at least the sound does not distract. And I prefer the Downes rendition to Ivanov's.I also prefer the coupling on the current recording; the 9th is a more interesting work than the 11th on the Melodiya. It opens with a falling, sighing phrase that is archetypical of this period in the composer's life. Similar melancholic phrases are found in the 6th and 7th symphonies, amongst several others. The phrase is the leitmotiv for this period of the composer's work.The middle two movements, however, seem to me to be the most intriguing. The Presto is driven, troubled and compelling, while the Lento Molto is a typically haunting Miaskovsky slow movement spiced here and there with moments of anger.Enthusiastically recommended for people who don't know where to start with Miaskovsky's vast opus of 27 symphonies, 13 string quartets and 9 piano sonatas!"

An essential compact disc!

David A. Hollingsworth | Washington, DC USA | 01/26/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As I stated in my previous reviews on the composer's works, Nikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky (1881-1950) was deemed by serious critics to be the greatest of Soviet symphonists. I tend to lean towards that conclusion. Before his death by 1950, Myaskovsky was truly a popular composer, with major Soviet and Non-Soviet conductors (Gauk, Golavanov, Mravinsky, Ivanov, Kondrashin, Svetlanov) who advocated and pioneered his works. Frederick Stock, chief conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, performed his symphonies every season from the 1920s through 1941, including his 21st Symphony Stock commissioned for the jubilee aniversary of the Chicago Symphony. After his death, performances of his works in general declined noticeably (as with Sir Arnold Bax and even Glazunov) and only less than a handful of conductors (mainly Yevgeni Svetlanov) kept the importance of his art alive. There has been no new recordings of fresh performances of his symphonies (even in Russia) since Sir Edward Downes performances of his Fifth and Ninth Symphony with the BBC Philharmonic in 1992.So what went wrong? Myaskovsky's works are generally with honesty and substance, sometimes inspirational and poetic yet usually philosophical. The slow movements of his large scale works are his best and although his ideas tend to lose their creative spark and focus in places, there's no doubt that Myaskovsky was the composer not out of touch with his audience, most especially after 1932, the turning point of his career.His Fifth Symphony of 1918 is essentially the first Soviet symphony, despite the fame of the Sixth (generally looked upon as one with the purpose closer to Soviet ideals). Premiere by Nikolai Malko by 1920, the Fifth is more of a peaceful and reflective responses to his turbulant and anguish 3rd and 4th Symphonies. The Fifth is close to Russian folk idioms and its themes are straightforward throughout. Although the Fifth is troubled in places, the mood is overall optimistic, especially in the Gliere-like third movement. The Ninth Symphony, by contrast, is somewhat more epic and disturbed, yet romantic and lucid in other places, especially in the First and Third movements. The finale is the less convincing of all, but the symphony overall is attractive. Sir Edward Downes and the BBC Philharmonic performed the Fifth & the Ninth Symphonies with total discipline and commitment. Of the other recordings of the Fifth (Konstantin Ivanov and the USSR Radio State Symphony-Melodiya LP and Gennadi Rozdestvensky and the USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony-Russian Revelation CD), Downes' performance is generally more refined, supported by the more clearer and atmospheric, though slightly congested Marco Polo recordings.It's now the time (obviously overdue) for orchestras & ensembles (especially of Russia) to performed Myaskovsky's symphonies & other works. Perhaps, Pletnev and the Russian National Orchestra or Temirkanov and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic or even Polyansky and the Russian State Symphony, will take up the cause in advancing the idea of how important Myaskovsky was to 20th Century Russian music and music abroad. Yevgeni Svetlanov and his USSR State Symphony has done their shares.This disc is recommended, without hesitation."

Brooding and atmospheric readings, unexceptional sound

David A. Hollingsworth | 08/16/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In the UK at least, Edward Downes is regarded as a master of repertoire such as this. His readings with the fine BBC Philharmonic lives up to this reputation. The performances are throughout sensitive to the brooding and doom-laden atmosphere that is a feature of all of this composer's symphonies that I have heard. Try in particular the opening of the second movement of the fifth, which is quite chilling in this rendition. Indeed, in this coupling the fifth overall comes across as a more memorable work than the ninth. The playing throughout is very fine, particularly since the recordings were apparently made live. And this leads to the drawback: the recording of no 5 in an unnamed venue in Derby, UK, is resonant to the point of murkiness. As an example, the climax of the 5th's slow movement is muddled as a result. The sound for the 9th (Manchester, unspecified venue) is better and sounds similar to that normally obtained in that city's BBC studios. Both recordings sound as if the resonance might have been electronically induced to some extent. This is a shame, since this is otherwise a distinctive and most recommendable pairing, and the best performance of the fifth that I have heard which, with better sound, would have merited 5 stars."