Search - Rimsky-Korsakov, Moscow Symphony Orchestra :: Secular Catatas

Rare Rimskii

Patrick Yamada | South Central Orange County, CA USA | 01/10/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"After falling in love with RK's "Russian Easter Fesitval Overture", "Sheherazade" and some other orchestral works, I researched this fascinating composer. I devoured _My Musical Life_ and some biographies, and I decided to collect recordings of all his works. I figured even if I didn't like some of the pieces, perhaps they would give me insight into his creative development.



One of the more noticeable lacunae in my RK discography was "Switezianka" and his other secular cantatas. After about 13 years of searching, I finally found this disc in 2002. While his cantatas will not make it onto a "Best of Rimsky Korsakov" CD, they make for enjoyable listening. Don't expect any new artistic revelations here-- the cantatas sound like his opera choruses. If you like his operas, this is a good thing.



As RK wrote milder operas than the bombastic puffery penned by Verdi and his Italian compatriots, his choruses and cantatas are less dramatic. The first work on the disc, "The Song of Alexis, Man of God" sounded familiar. If I hadn't known what I was listening to I would have guessed it was a chorus from RK's orchestration of "Boris Godunov" or perhaps his own "May Night". "The Song of Oleg the Wise" (track 2) sounded like it could have come from "Sadko".



If you are a Rimsky-Korsakov fanatic, this disc is a must-have. There are no other recordings I have seen of his cantatas, so this is THE disc. If you like some of his works but don't like recitative and arias in operas, you'll probably like it, also. If you are just starting to dip your feet into the pool of Russian nationalism, it may take you a bit to warm up to it."