Search - Alexander Glazunov, Kees Bakels, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra :: Glazunov: Violin Concerto; Meditation; The Seasons

Interesting late romantic pieces well played and recorded

Jeffrey Chan | Silicon Valley | 01/14/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Glazunov is an interesting bridge from earlier Tchaikovsky and his teacher Rimsky-Korszakov to the later Stravinsky and Prokofiev. The Concerto is definitely in a late Russian romantic style that sounds almost like golden age movie music to my ears. It has some very technically challenging parts for the soloist which the highly-skilled and always thoughtful Rosand makes sound easy as usual, and the piece is quirky enough to be interesting, novel and memorable. Glazunov's orchestrations through these works exemplify the masterful Russian school.



The Seasons ballet suite is very cleanly styled almost to the point of being classical in spirit. I find it less thickly romantic or saccherine than Tchaikovsky's ballet pieces, which Glazunov should owe much to but seemingly doesn't. Both of the major pieces on this disc, the Violin Concerto and Les Saisons ballet suite can easily stand on their own as outstanding works. Having both together along with Rosand and the Philharmonic performing the brief Meditations make this a disc worthy of note and recommendation.



Sound and performances from Rosand and the Malaysian Philharmonic are excellent throughout. Aaron Rosand is one of the best violinsts most people have never heard of. The Malaysian Philharmonic's performances under Kees Bakels are artful, pretty and fun. This is a world-class orchestra, well-led, and playing music they clearly enjoy performing. Late romantic would seem to be one of their strengths.



The Concerto and Meditation were engineered by the renowned Tony Faulker. Sound on the ballet suite is also excellent with clean reverberation and very realistic instrument sounds. Hopefully engineer Eleanor Thomason attained this high sound quality naturally and not through close-miking and artificial processing. Sound is excellent for a mainstream circa 2001 recording. Great work artists, engineers and Vox!"