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Philip Edward Fisher - Piano Works by 'The Mighty Handful' (2011)

Posted By: Designol
Philip Edward Fisher - Piano Works by 'The Mighty Handful' (2011)

Philip Edward Fisher - Piano Works by 'The Mighty Handful' (2011)
works by Mussorgsky, Balakirev, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov and César Cui

EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 241 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 195 Mb | Artwork included
Genre: Classical | Label: Chandos | # CHAN 10676 | Time: 01:21:07

On his first solo recital disc for Chandos, Philip Edward Fisher performs piano works by members of the so-called ‘Mighty Handful’, a group of five Russian composers – César Cui, Alexander Borodin, Mily Balakirev, Modest Mussorgsky, and Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov – who in the 1860s banded together in an attempt to create a truly national school of Russian music, free of the perceived stifling influences of Italian opera, German lieder, and other western European forms.

Igor Golovschin, Russian State Symphony Orchestra - Mily Balakirev: Symphony No.2; Russisa (1994)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Igor Golovschin, Russian State Symphony Orchestra - Mily Balakirev: Symphony No.2; Russisa (1994)

Igor Golovschin, Russian State Symphony Orchestra - Mily Balakirev: Symphony No. 2; Russia (1994)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 203 Mb | Total time: 53:30 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Naxos | # 8.550793 | Recorded: 1993

Balakirev worked on the second of his twosymphonies between 1900 and 1908 and it was first performed at a Free Schoolconcert in April 1909 under the direction of Liapunov. Work on his firstsymphony had been resumed thirty years after the first sketches, with no traceof a change of style. Similarly the second symphony, which makes use of theScherzo planned in the 1860s for the earlier work, is in a style that hadpassed. This, after all, was the age of Stravinsky's Firebird. It is,nevertheless, a compelling enough work, testimony to Balakirev's craftsmanshipand to the Russian source of his his inspiration.

Igor Golovschin, Russian State Symphony Orchestra - Mily Balakirev: Symphony No. 1; Islamey; Tamara (1994)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Igor Golovschin, Russian State Symphony Orchestra - Mily Balakirev: Symphony No. 1; Islamey; Tamara (1994)

Igor Golovschin, Russian State Symphony Orchestra - Mily Balakirev: Symphony No. 1; Islamey; Tamara (1994)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 280 Mb | Total time: 74:55 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Naxos | # 8.550792 | Recorded: 1993

Igor Golovschin directs his old band, and gives us a clear, no-fuss, classically informed performance; it doesn't miss out on some of the more gripping drama of this music, either, however. The symphony itself belongs firmly to the Russian romantic tradition, cast in four movements (with the scherzo placed second); it is relatively ambitious in scope but Balakirev actually manages to pull of a work that doesn't really have any dull moments. Stylistically it isn't too far away from the Borodin symphonies, is heavily influenced by folk music and is stronger on atmosphere (and orchestration) than on thematic development, but the ideas themselves are actually pretty interesting, and in particular the first movement is stirring.

Malcolm Binns, David Lloyd-Jones - The Romantic Piano Concerto Vol. 5: Rimsky-Korsakov & Balakirev: Piano Concertos (1993)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Malcolm Binns, David Lloyd-Jones - The Romantic Piano Concerto Vol. 5: Rimsky-Korsakov & Balakirev: Piano Concertos (1993)

Malcolm Binns, David Lloyd-Jones, English Northern Philharmonia - The Romantic Piano Concerto Vol. 5: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov & Mili Balakirev: Piano Concertos (1993)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 215 Mb | Total time: 60:30 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Hyperion | # CDA66640 | Recorded: 1992

Composed in 1882/3, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Piano Concerto was the last of a series of works written in the very happy middle period of his life; other compositions of this period, rich in charming lyricism, included the opera The Snow Maiden and the orchestral Szakza (‘Fairy Tale’). The Concerto was first performed in March 1884 at one of Balakirev’s Free School concerts in St Petersburg and was the last work of Rimsky to be wholly approved of by his erstwhile mentor. While the lyricism is still sincere and deeply felt in the Concerto, the work also foreshadows the master artificer of the later years.

Evgeny Svetlanov, Philharmonia Orchestra - Mili Balakirev: Symphonies Nos.1 & 2; Symphonic Poems (1998)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Evgeny Svetlanov, Philharmonia Orchestra - Mili Balakirev: Symphonies Nos.1 & 2; Symphonic Poems (1998)

Evgeny Svetlanov, Philharmonia Orchestra - Mili Balakirev: Symphonies Nos.1 & 2; Symphonic Poems (1998)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 458 Mb | Total time: 59:44+67:44 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Hyperion | # CDD22030 | Recorded: 1991

Mily Balakirev was the brilliant, dynamic leader of the group of St Petersburg composers known as ‘The Mighty Handful’ or ‘The Five’, which included, besides himself, Mussorgsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov and Cui. As well as stimulating these other men, who might never have taken up composition but for him, he was a very fine composer in his own right. Completely lacking in conventional musical training, he had educated himself by studying the works of the Western masters and of his great Russian predecessor, Mikhail Glinka, and he was thus without the preconceived ideas inculcated in conservatoires of music in his day.

Evgeny Svetlanov, USSR Symphony Orchestra - Mily Balakirev: 2 Symphonies, Symphonic Poems, Overtures (1997)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Evgeny Svetlanov, USSR Symphony Orchestra - Mily Balakirev: 2 Symphonies, Symphonic Poems, Overtures (1997)

Evgeny Svetlanov, USSR Symphony Orchestra - Mily Balakirev: 2 Symphonies, Symphonic Poems, Overtures (1997)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 708 Mb | Total time: 75:56+77:14 | Scans included
Classical | Label: BMG-Melodiya | 74321 49608 2 | Recorded: 1974, 1978, 1984, 1985, 1987

Couplings of the two Balakirev symphonies are not uncommon. Naxos and Hyperion are examples although no doubt there are others. This set, which in terms of musical playing time is amongst the most generous in the BMG-Melodiya series, includes both symphonies and six other works, three tone poems and three overtures. Balakirev's dedication to folk music and the exotic orient is well known. It puts in an appearance to greater or lesser extents in all these works.