#28 Featuring Constantine Orbelian
SHOSTAKOVICH: Waltzes • Constantine Orbelian, conductor • Moscow Chamber Orchestra DE 3257
“You won’t find any Shostakovich collection around like this one… So if the music appeals to you, this disc won’t let you down. Delos offers stunning sound.” — AllMusic
“Still another side of this prodigious composer is shown in Shostakovich Waltzes, featuring the Moscow Chamber Orchestra in 21 waltzes, polkas and galops. These impish pieces are drawn from various sources and are absolutely delightful, especially an orchestration of Vincent Youmans’ ‘Tea for Two’ that Shostakovich for some reason relabeled ‘Tahiti Trot.” — Parade
The “delightful” Shostakovich Waltzes album was among our first recordings with Constantine Orbelian in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. The sessions were an “event,” and spirits were high. Constantine put together an exhilarating range of Shostakovich music from theater, film and ballet. Once you’ve heard this lively, one-of-a-kind program, you’ll know why it continues to be popular with a wide audience.
Contents:
1. Waltz from Michurin • A film about the Russian botanist; director Aleksandr Dovzhenko, Moscow, 1948.
2. Waltz from The Return of Maxim • Part two of the historical trilogy about Maxim, a worker from the outskirts of St. Petersburg who became an important Bolshevik administrator; directors Grigoriy Kozintzev and Leonid Trauberg, Leningrad, 1935-6.
3. Waltz from Golden Hills Director Sergey Yutkevich, Leningrad, 1931
4. Waltz from The Gadfly • Adaptation of the novel by E.L. Voynich; director Aleksandr Fayntzimmer, Leningrad, 1955.
5. Galop (VI) from Ballet Suite No. 1 (L. Atovmian, 1949)
6. Waltz from Pirogov • A film about the outstanding Russian surgeon; director Grigoriy Kozintzev, Leningrad, 1947.
7. Waltz from The First Echelon (Click for video) • A film on the conquest of virgin soils; director Mikhail Kalatozov, Leningrad, 1956.
8. Polka (IV) from Ballet Suite No. 1 (L. Atovmian, 1949)
9. Waltz from Moscow, Cheremushki (Operetta, 1957-58)
10. Waltz from The Human Comedy • After H. de Balzac, adaptation by P. Sukhotin, directors A. Kozlovsky and B. Shchukin, 1933-34
11. Folk Festival [Spanish Dance] • from The Gadfly
12. Waltz from Unity • (Song of the Great Rivers, a documentary; director Joris Evans, East Berlin, GDR, 1954)
13. Dance (III) from Ballet Suite No. 3 (L. Atovmian, 1952)
14. Lyric Waltz from Ballet Suite No. 1
15. Galop (VI) from Ballet Suite No. 3
16. Humoresque-Waltz from Ballet Suite No. 1
17. Polka from The Golden Age, 1929-30
18. Waltz (I) from Ballet Suite No. 2
19. Tahiti Trot from The Golden Age
20. Dance (II) from Ballet Suite No. 1
21. Waltz (V) from Ballet Suite No. 3
Shostakovich wrote film music for many decades, beginning in the late 1920s. He loved the cinema, and while he was studying at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, earned his living as a pianist at the movie houses of his native city. He also knew and liked ballet from childhood; his mother was a faithful ballet amateur. In his film and ballet scores, the orchestration is virtuosic and brilliant; the music has humor and satire, and at times a wistful, nostalgic tone.
biography posted separately on this blog details Constantine’s remarkable story as the first-ever American music director of a Russian ensemble, The Orbelian-Delos recording series is rich and exciting — and certainly unique. Constantine has brought us together with like-minded artists who have become part of our extended Delos family; among them the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia of Russia, Spiritual Revival Choir of Russia, Olga Guryakova, Marina Domashenko, Federico Mondelci, Raffaele Trevisani, the great Ewa Podles and opera star Dmitri Hvorostovsky.
And now Constantine and Delos would like to offer you a lavish spread of “Vodka and Caviar.”
Vodka and Caviar — The Ultimate Russian Spectacular • Constantine Orbelian, conductor • Philharmonia of Russia • Spiritual Revival Choir of Russia DE 3288
Khachaturian: Suite from Gayeneh: Sabre Dance, Dance of the Rose Maidens, Lullaby, Lezginka • Adagio from Spartacus • Borodin: Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor • Tchaikovsky: Grand Polonaise from Eugene Onegin • Waltz from Swan Lake • Waltz from Sleeping Beauty • Khachaturian: Masquerade Suite; Waltz, Nocturne, Mazurka, Romance, Galop
“The sound is truly spectacular… the recording contains
some wonderful music …Orbelian, born in America of Russian and Armenian emigré parents, has a real feel for this material, and the Philharmonia of Russia plays with precision and verve. The recording is simply a lot of fun; you’d have to be a thoroughly jaded curmudgeon not to enjoy it. File this one under ‘Guilty Pleasures,’ if you like, but don’t miss it.” Stereophile
“San Francisco native Orbelian has become the most popular American conductor to record in Russia, where he heads several orchestras, including this one employing Russia’s best instrumentalists. The program is unabashedly popular… two Khachaturian suites, plus the swoony love duet from ‘Spartacus’… Tchaikovsky con brio… [and] the complete ‘Polovtsian Dances… a good time is had by all.” San Francisco Examiner
This exhilarating symphonic “spectacular” of grand and exquisite music from Russian Ballet and Theater is played by Constantine’s crème de la crème Philharmonia of Russia. Stirring music of Khachaturian shares the program with favorites of Borodin and Tchaikovsky. Because it is also a sonic blockbuster, this disc was quickly snapped up as a demo for sound developments via Sony’s DSD recording technology, and to show off hardware at A/V conventions. Amelia Haygood remarked that she had so many favorite tracks on this album that it was hard to settle on one for a demo. You won’t get the true sonic impact from the samples here, but the musical excitement leaps out in any format.
George Loomis provides an interesting background on some of the musical colors in this album:
As Russian composers developed an appetite for depicting facets of their vast and diverse country, it was only natural that they would seek out new and spectacular musical colors. Regional folk elements, whether from Western Russia or the exotic East, in themselves add color, yet their effect is multiplied when the full resources of the orchestra are brought to bear.
The Polovtsian Dances’ strong oriental flavor is a product of their role in the opera’s drama [Prince Igor]. They constitute the exotic entertainment that the Polovtsian warrior Khan Konchak provides for the Russian Prince Igor, whom he has defeated in battle and holds captive but is determined to treat with all due respect. The Grand Polonaise from the opera Eugene Onegin creates the perfect atmosphere for the party scene in which the jaded Onegin finds himself smitten by the girl he once rejected. A certain similarity exists between the familiar waltzes from the ballets Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty; each waltz embodies a peasant celebration.
In the 20th century, orchestral virtuosity was a hallmark of any Russian composer worth his salt, and none exploited the orchestra’s potential more enthusiastically or with greater confidence than Aram Khachaturian… Suites from Khachaturian’s colorful ballet scores Gayaneh and Spartacus have become popular for their bracing rhythms and vivid percussion (Saber Dance and Lezginka) as well as his evocative melodies (Lullaby and Adagio). The incidental music for Lermontov’s play Masquerade…”vibrantly reinforces the play‘s aura of intrigue and glitter amidst the ballrooms of 19th century St. Petersburg.”
A biographical note about the wonderful young Spiritual Revival Choir of Russia, heard here in the Polovtsian Dances: the choir was formed at the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, when the music of the Orthodox Church could once again be performed freely. The name of the Choir celebrates this Orthodox revival. The Choir has made some highly praised recordings for us on its own, including “Serene Ecstasy,” and “Sounds on My Spirit.”