Tag Archives: Rimsky-Korsakov

Filing past the tomb of the master: Jurowski and the LPO on Stravinsky’s debt to Rimsky-Korsakov

Stravinsky: LPO/ Jurowski **** Royal Festival Hall, 7th February 2018 “To orchestrate is to create, and this cannot be taught,” explained Rimsky-Korsakov in the preface to his book Principles of Orchestration. The composer himself was self-taught in such matters, yet the dazzling … Continue reading

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Valery Gergiev and a youthful Mariinsky surge through Scheherazade

Mariinsky Orchestra/ Valery Gergiev **** Cadogan Hall, 8th October 2017 There are many incarnations of the Mariinsky Orchestra. On any day, it can be found simultaneously in its three St Petersburg venues. Yesterday evening, for example, it played Les Noces and Firebird for the ballet … Continue reading

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Rewriting Rimsky: Daniel Kramer directs a dismal Sadko in Ghent

Rimsky-Korsakov: Sadko ** Opera Vlaanderen, Ghent, 20th June 2017 Opera is capable of great ironic timing. On Monday, the hapless David Davis trooped into Brussels to begin Brexit negotiations with the European Union. The next day, half an hour northwest … Continue reading

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A not so brief encounter with the Moscow Philharmonic

Yuri Simonov/Moscow Philharmonic **** The Anvil, Basingstoke, 23rd May 2017 What a difference a week makes. After last Thursday’s Pictures at an Exhibition where the Orchestre de Paris coated a pristine layer of French polish over Mussorgsky’s score, the Moscow … Continue reading

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Nights in the Harem: Scheherazade spins her tales with the Orchestre Pasdeloup

Chatoiement Oriental: Orchestre Pasdeloup/Diakun *** Philharmonie, Paris, 20th May 2017 Scheherazade had to spin her tales out for 1001 nights to earn a stay of execution from the Sultan Shahryar’s wicked decree that each new wife shall be killed the … Continue reading

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