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.

Glazunov - Piano Concerto 2 [Coombs/ Brabbins-BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra]

Glazunov really doesn't get the accolades he deserves, he still remains on the fringes of the Russian greats, there's some truth to the accusation that he didn't create a truly oustanding piece of work, all of his Symphonies are accomplished and nice, but does anything rise into the league of memorable?, maybe his short Violin Concerto, and his Ballet the Seasons, and for me his Symphonic Poem Stenka Razin is thrilling, but his two Piano Concertos are certainly worth hearing again and again, unjustly neglected, they have some good musical ideas.

Stephen Coombs is English, and is now 51, records extensively for Hyperion Records, he recorded this disc in 1996, it's volume 13 in Hyperion's ongoing 'The Romantic Piano Concerto', all the booklets have these small black and white portraits of the Composers, with the background as a sheet of musical score, half in cream, and the other half a different colour for each issue, it gives a uniformness to the whole series, but i certainly wouldn't want to collect them all.

I certainly liked the Scond Piano Concerto, it lasts just over 20 minutes, fairly short i suppose, it's full of tuneful invention, he actually sounds quite English, this Concerto reminds me of Delius and Stanford rather than Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov, it was the third movement that i liked the best, and it lasts a tad longer than the first two put together, the movements are in fact linked as one continuous work, it starts off with a very Rimsky-Korsakovian theme, which it explores thoroughly, but soon turns into a jolly Elgarian tune that uses extensive use of the triangle!, i guess it's quite a fantasy as it shifts all over the place with its different themes, Glazunov's Concerto is designed to come to a glorious majestic close, and halfway through we get the beginnings of the fanfare culmination on the brass [5:54+], and afterwards a life affirming warmth on the lower strings [6:24+], with rippling piano underpinnings, the music gets truly majestic [9:07+], and Glazunov gets a glorious close.

Here's Stephen Coombs playing the third movement of the Second Piano Concerto on YouTube.

Glazunov - Piano Concerto 1 [Kolly/ Griffiths-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra]

I bought this in a second-hand shop in London for £8 i think, i have the Hyperion disc with Coombs / Brabbins, and that inspired me to pick up this one too, the Glazunov Piano Concertos are very underrated, i guess a cross between Rachmaninov and say Stanford, lovely tunes, and great ideas.

Karl-Anreas Kolly is Swiss, born in 1965, he recorded this disc in 1995, the booklet was one of the extra things that attracted me to this disc, a really colourful painting, but no mention is made of who it's by, or what it's called, i think it's probably of Narcissus in Greek legend, who saw his reflection in a pool and fell in love with it, lovely greens and reds, and the lettering is really clever, almost like calligraphy, nicely done, a good visual product.

Glazunov - Violin Concerto [Udagawa/ Klein-London Philharmonic Orchestra]

I have been late coming to the Glazunov Violin Concerto, but only less than a month ago with Josefowicz [24th August 2011], i was enjoying this Concerto as finally unfolding and flowering, again i feel there's a certain 'Rodrigo - Fantasia Para Un Gentilhombre' about it, i like the fanfare trumpets that start the third movement, i've always looked upon this Concerto as slight because it's short, about 21 minutes, but that's how long the Rodrigo work lasts, which is quite a major work, maybe it's the first movement here, Beethoven and Brahms created mammoth opening movement statements of 20 minutes plus, but here Glazunov gives us a little over 4!, can it really be taken seriously?, but it is a lovely work, some of the best things come in small packages [Chopin - Etudes?], and it's been a joy getting to know this work more. 

Hideko Udagawa is Japanese, she isn't a name that automatically rolls off your tongue as a 'regular' in the Violin circuit, i don't know why she hasn't cut into the more well known names, she's good, but her discography isn't excellent, in some ways this is a strange disc, because it takes a whole Concerto, and places it alongside shorter Concertante works, it would have been more logical to either couple it with another Concerto, or to make a disc full of short Concertante works, but here we're given half of one and half of the other, the front cover [photo by Hanya Chlala] is certainly colourful, i like IMP's rainbow logo. 

On this listen i certainly liked the last two movements, and since i spoke of the last movement a month ago, i thought i would delve into this middle movement, in many ways it's the core of the work, it lasts roughly the same amount as the other two outer movements put together, 

Here's Hilary Hahn playing the second movement on YouTube.