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The role of
Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka
(1804 - 57) in Russian music is comparable to the role of Shakespeare in
English literature. Glinka established the Russian national music
school. Tchaikovsky wrote that "all Russian music was contained
in Glinka's "Kamarinskaya" like a majestic oak in a tiny acorn".
Glinka's music for the first time in Russian history was
perceived as the Voice of Russia. This Voice also was heard and
enjoyed in other countries.
Glinka was born in a noble family which owned Novospasskoye
village near Smolensk. He got the best possible education at that time
at Tsarsko-Selskiy Litseum. The school was established for the education
of the Russian elite. Among graduates were Russian philosophers,
diplomats, writers, painters and composers - Pushkin, Glinka, Griboedov,
Zhukovsky, Odoevsky, Mitskevich, Delvig... These graduates became
the pride of the Russian state for centuries. After his graduation
Glinka spoke six foreign languages. Among basic disciplines at this
school were music, literature, painting and architecture. Glinka
also dedicated a great deal of his time analyzing symphonic scores and
took lessons in composition and piano from John Field in St. Petersburg
and music theory from Siegfried Dehn in Berlin. During the summer
time Glinka loved to play violin and flute with a symphony orchestra owned
by his uncle.
The facts of Glinka's biography are not hidden from
the public, however some Western musicologists portray the composer as
a lustful fellow who studied sex techniques swapping women in countries
he visited and who developed his technique of composition by shaking the
hands of Bellini and Donizetti during his trip to Milan. You may
also read that listening to a clarinet quintet by Crusell, a composer from
the Russian province called in the 19th century Suomi (now Finland), was
crucial for Glinka's determination to become a composer, that the composition
by the Finnish composer developed in Glinka "knowledge and appreciation
of Western-style music" which was "scant until he heard"
quintet by Mr. Crusell. The common
statement is that Glinka was sick, lustful, poor and barely educated before
visiting countries of Western Europe.
In fact these trips were designed to polish and extend his
knowledge, to establish personal contacts and represent Russia abroad.
Glinka was recognized and became a friend not only to the Russian Tsar
Nikolai I, but also to Berlioz, Liszt, Bellini, Donizetti and Johann Strauss.
Glinka's music represents Russian classicism.
It brings an abundance of positive energy, reveals harmony and balance
so common to the Russian character.
This album contains overtures and orchestral pieces
from Glinka's operas "Ivan Susanin", "Ruslan and Ludmila"
and a less known symphonic cycle known as "Andante Cantabile and Rondo
in D minor". This two-movement composition was written in 1823,
in Novospasskoye, and initially was considered as a sketch for a future
symphony.
Evgeni Svetlanov and the USSR Symphony Orchestra perform
the program. Overture to "Ruslan and Ludmila" is performed
together with the USSR Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra.
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 the 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
Mikhail Glinka
(1804 - 1857)
1. Overture to the Opera "Ivan Susanin" - 9:24
Dances from Act II of the Opera "Ivan Susanin":
2. Cracovienne - 5:27
3. Mazurka - 4:31
4. Waltz - 5:32
5. Overture to the Opera "Ruslan and Ludmila" - 5:00
Dances from the Opera "Ruslan and Ludmila":
6. In Naina's Castle (Act III) - 15:04
Oriental Dances In Chernomor's Castle (Act IV):
7. Turkish - 2:34
8. Arab - 1:36
9. Lezghinka - 3:09
10. Chernomor's March from the Opera "Ruslan and Ludmila"
- 4:21
11. Andante Cantabile and Rondo in D minor - 17:04
Total time - 74:09
The USSR Symphony Orchestra (1 - 4, 6 - 11)
The USSR Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra (5)
Evgeni Svetlanov, conductor
Recorded in 1963 (5), 1967 (7 - 9), 1968 (10), 1977 (1, 6),
1982 (4), 1984 (2, 3), 1990 (11).
Recording engineers: Pazukhin (1, 4, 6, 7 - 9), Kozhukhova (2, 3, 11),
Gaklin (5, 10)
Cover painting "Sadko in the Underwater Kingdom" by Ilya Repin
Design by Evgeni Kostitsyn