USSR Symphony Orchestra, Evgeny Svetlanov conductor For information about this work visit muswrite.blogsp.... For information about other master works visit Musical Musings at muswrite.blogsp...
Very reminiscent of later works- isle of the dead, the rock, symphonie n1 - recognisable instantly. He must have had this dark side in him all along. Hard to believe he was only a teenager. !!
Thanks for the upload. I'm a great admirer of Rachmaninov but this is the first time I've heard this early work. Already it was apparent there was nothing ordinary about this composer!
La furia báquica, de una espesura omnímoda y de talante superior a la razón mortal, termina en un santo sosiego que calma hasta al alma más viciosa. Reconvirtiéndose ésta en todo un espejismo de valor noble y eterno.
Светланов сделал очень грамотные ретуши в оркестровке этого раннего сочинения и форме (убран один повтор в коде, и дубли глиссандо арфы на пианиссимо), из за чего сочинение только выиграло.
Prince Rostislav of Pereyaslav was apparently an 11th century figure who drowned aged only 23 while fleeing from a battle against the Polovtsy. In this piece based on a poem by Aleksey Tolstoy (the cousin of Leo) he is lying on the bed of the Dnieper being ministered to by wood-nymphs who comb his golden hair. However, he desperately wants to be remembered by those he left behind, so he cries three times (on trombones) - first to his wife, but she is now betrothed to another, then to his brother and finally to the priests of Kiev, but his cries are not strong enough to reach them. His despair becomes unbearable, but he is eventually resigned to his oblivion, with only the nymphs for comfort.
If this doesn't prove Rachmaninoff was a genius of the caliber of Liszt and Mendelssohn I don't know what will. Musicians are quick to dismiss Rach as a great pianist who dabbled in composing and nothing could be further from the truth. talk about atmospheric. You can see vampires gliding down gloomy hallways in deserted ruins of long-abandoned castles in the opening and closing of this masterpiece. And Rach never got a chance to hear it. He composed it and put in away. What a guy.
