Glazunov - The Seasons [Svetlanov-Philharmonia Orchestra]
I don't play this work all that often, and i only have a couple of recordings of it, it's a 40 minute Ballet, roughly along the lines of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, though not as memorable in the tunes department, it was clever of Glazunov to start with Winter, it means he ends with Autumn, which is a nice season to finally rest at, unlike Vivaldi's Seasons which rest in an icy wilderness, Glazunov is clever at these short tone poems, each representing something pictorial, Winter is portrayed as glissandos on the strings, Spring is of course very dance-like, Summer is lazy and languid, while Autumn is very much nostalgic, a time of remembering all the other seasons, there's 19 individual tracks, so that each number lasts an average of 2 minutes, enough to convey a mood, and then it's gone, individual numbers stand out from others, and i'm sure you'll develop some favourites like i have, Glazunov is certainly an underestimated Composer.
Yevgeny Svetlanov was a Russian Conductor [1928-2002], he made this recording in 1978, the front cover picture is not credited, i think it's a Sycamore or a Maple leaf, covered in water droplets, a nice idea, the EMI logo is well placed.
The two big slow numbers are the sweetest and softest centres in this array of chocolates, the Adagio from Autumn, and especially the Barcarole from Summer, a short introduction, and then the sweet violins serenade us with the main tune [0:26+], it's a truly gorgeous moment, the music slightly swells [0:58+], creating a dark cloud on the otherwise sweetness, and there's this sort of culmination that Glazunov creates, and there's this moment which just sounds so perfect [1:20+], it's hard to use words to how i feel, Glazunov uses piccolos towards the end [2:17+], Glazunov could have used this for a whole slow movement, enlarged it out, or made a larger Tone Poem out of it, but here it is tucked away in the middle of Summer, 3 minutes of rhapsody.
Here's Stephen Michael Smith conducting Summer by Glazunov on YouTube, the Barcarole starts at 4:55.
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