Vasily Kalinnikov, Symphony 1. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Orchestral Pieces. by Evgeni Svetlanov, conductor. The USSR Symphony Orchestra.

Towards the end of his life, Kalinnikov received some financial relief through the good offices of Sergei Rachmaninov, who also introduced Kalinnikov's compositions to his publisher Jurgenson.

The death of the 34-year-old composer induced Jurgenson to offer Kalinnikov's widow an unexpectedly high sum for her husband's manuscripts, with the remark that he paid because the composer's death had multiplied the value of his works by ten. You may see, that nothing has changed in the music industry in a hundred years - the dead composers are much more welcome than alive!

Kalinnikov's First Symphony, the best known composition by him, was written during 1894 and 1895, and was dedicated to one of his teachers and friends Semyon Kruglikov. It was premiered in 1897 in Kiev, and shortly after that - in Moscow, Vienna and Berlin. It is amazing after reading his biography to find skillful counterpoint in the development sections, rich colourful orchestration and no clichés in the tutti. All polyphonic lines are individualized by different timbres, which allow hearing of the smallest details of the orchestral texture.

Symphony #1 demonstrates the mastery of the composer and his great spirit. It belongs

to the best samples of Russian symphonic music.

Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai (1844-1908) is a celebrated Russian composer and theorist. His family was preparing him for a naval career. He became a naval officer and undertook a round-the-world trip on the clipper "Almaz". Rimsky-Korsakov absorbed numerous impressions from the journey and many of these impressions were turned into his music later.

Though Rimsky-Korsakov met Balakirev and joined the "Mighty Five" in 1861, his real development as a composer started after his return from the round-the-world trip to Saint-Petersburg. The completion of his First Symphony under the supervision of Balakirev and the successful premiere of this composition became a pivotal moment in his final determination to pursue a career as a composer. After resigning from the navy, Rimsky-Korsakov was 27 when he received an invitation to teach at the Saint-Petersburg Conservatory. Being a great composer himself Rimsky-Korsakov also taught Stravinsky and Prokofiev. He together with Glazunov finished and orchestrated "Prince Igor" after the death of Borodin and made the final edition of "Boris Godunov" after the death of Mussorgsky.

The Saint-Petersburg conservatory now bears the name of Rimsky-Korsakov.

It was common for Rimsky-Korsakov to revise his compositions many times. His first opera "The Maid of Pskov" written in 1871 after Lev Mei's melodrama with the same name, was revised in 1877 and, the third time, in 1894. Working on the third edition, Rimsky-Korsakov decided to compose "The Noblewoman Vera Sheloga" - the one-act opera based on the introduction to Mei's melodrama. The introduction tells a story of the maid's mother - a noblewoman Vera Sheloga and her father - Tsar Ivan the Terrible. The maid was their illegitimate child. Both operas are represented in our programme by overtures, and orchestral episodes from "The Maid of Pskov".

The unique feature of "The Maid of Pskov" is that this opera was written at the same time (1871), in the same room, and at the same table with the second version of "Boris Godunov" by Mussorgsky. Being room-mates the composers had very similar musical ideas and we can recognize it in their music. Topics taken from Russian history were also very similar. This is an example of the unique phenomenon of "twin operas"!

Evgeni Svetlanov (1928-2002) was born in Moscow. He studied piano with Maria Gurvich, composition with Mikhail Gnessin and Yuri Shaporin and conducting with Gauk. After graduating from the Gnessin Institute and Moscow Conservatory he joined the staff of the Bolshoi as a principal conductor (1963-1965). In 1965 he became a leader of the USSR

Symphony Orchestra and was in this position till 2000.

In 1979 Svetlanov received appointment as principal guest conductor at the London

Symphony Orchestra and the last concert in his life was given in London in 2002.

Svetlanov received numerous honors and awards: 1968 - People's Artist of the USSR;

1978 - the Order of Lenin; 1983 - Soviet State Prize for Creative Achievements; 1998 -

Order for Meritorious Services to the Nation. He also was awarded the Paris Grand Prix

for his recording of the complete symphonies by Tchaikovsky.

Svetlanov's work at the position of principal conductor of the USSR Symphony

Orchestra from 1965 till 2000 resulted in the performance and recording of almost

the entire Russian symphonic repertoire.

©2003 Evgeni Kostitsyn

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