Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov - Orchestral Works (Various Artists)

Information

Composer: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

• La Grande Pâque Russe: Ouverture sur des thèmes
• Antar (Symphonie No. 2)
• La Nuit de Mai: Ouverture
• Concerto pour piano en ut dièse mineur
• Le Conte de Tsar Saltan: Le Vol du Bourdon

Philadelphia Orchestra / Eugene Ormandy

Detroit Symphony Orchestra / Paul Paray

Philharmonia Orchestra / Constantin Silvestri

Sviatoslav Richter / Orchestre des Jeunes de Moscou / Kirill Kondrashin

Orchestre symphonique de la Radio de l'Union / Nikolai Golovanov

Date: 2025

Label: Les Indispensables de Diapason

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Antar is dedicated to César Cui, a member of the group known as The Five. When Rimsky-Korsakov wrote his Overture on Themes of the Russian Church (The Russian Easter Overture), two other members of the collective had passed away: Mussorgsky in 1881, and Borodin in 1887. The composer worked extensively on their legacy, revising and completing their works. It is in their memory that he dedicates his Opus 36, which was premiered on December 3, 1888. The score successively evokes, according to Chronicles of My Musical Life, 'Isaiah's prophecy on the resurrection of Christ' (Lento mystico), 'the Holy Sepulchre lighting up at the moment of the resurrection' (Andante lugubre), and 'the joy that characterizes the Orthodox ceremony' (Allegro agitato). In Philadelphia, Eugene Ormandy and a brilliant stereo recording fully honor Rimsky-Korsakov’s genius as an orchestrator in a fascinating array of details.

The brief piano concerto, dedicated in 1883 to Liszt (whose influence is evident), is a 'concert fantasy' based on a soldier’s song taken from a collection by Balakirev. Sviatoslav Richter also emphasizes what Rachmaninoff owes to it.

'Well, now, my bumblebee, forward!' This is from Act III of the opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan, where the famous Flight of the Bumblebee takes place: Princess Swan turns Prince Guidon into a bumblebee to help him secretly cross the seas and see his father again. Golovanov transcends the virtuosic chromatic runs of this perpetuum mobile with a light agogic, soft, and suggestive nuances: the insect hums and flutters with stunning depth!