Autumn by Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky (1940-1893) , Op. 54 No. 14, on a text by Alexey Nicolayevich Pleshchyev (1824-1893). Осень, Музыка П.И. Чайковский, Текст А.Н. Плещеев.
Autumn Op 54 No 14
Music by P.I. Tchaikovsky
Text by A.N. Pleshcheyev
Translation by Richard D. Sylvester from his book “Tchaikovsky’s complete songs”, Indiana University Press , under “song 65”.
Reproduced with permission from Professor Nancy Ries of Colgate University for the Richard Sykvester estate
This presentation is in memory of Professor Richard D. Sylvester, who passed away on November 24, 2020 at age 87, almost exactly one year ago. We have precious memories of him for among many other, love of music and dedication to culture.
The idea to present the beautiful song was also inspired by the images of Autumn in my town, and the melancholy which they inspire. Some of these pictures are included in the video.
In Richard D. Sylvester's reference book "Tchaikovsky's Complete Songs", the author classifies the 103 Tchaikovsky songs in numerical chronological order. This song is No. 65.
The author describes it as follows:
"The mood is melancholy, but this beautifully composed song is very lovely". The recordings listed are by Gmyria, Lemeshev, Levinsky, Pishchayev, Reizen, Vinogradov.
This presentation is the performance recorded by Mark Reizen in 1951. My collection includes the Melodiya LP D 016337-38, and also the reissue on Aquarius CD AQVR 308-2, of great quality, included with their permission.
The translation is from Richard Sylvester’s book mentioned above for which we are grateful to Colgate University professor Nancy Ries, executor of the Richard Sylvester estate.
This translation, in out view, shows the profound knowledge of the Russian language and deep understanding of the poetry.
The performance of Mark Reizen, with the piano accompaniment Abram Makarov needs no introduction. In Richard's book Reizen is described as "A superb singer and powerful actor, with a highly expressive, rich voice of astonishing colour and range."
Mark Reizen had a special affinity for the Tchaikovsky songs, a composer whose songs he performed and recorded more than any other composer. In this performance one can sense, not only the perfect diction, and the beauty of the Russian language, but the deep understanding and expression of every word, every line and the poetry, supported by one of the most beautiful voices on record. As a number of critics noted, Reizen seems to use his beautiful baas voice like a well played cello.
15 сен 2024
