Nikolay Andreyevich Rimsky Korsakov

This collection has been prepared with three main aims: firstly to prove that the so-called boundaries between light and classical music are not as insurmountable as some people seem to imagine; secondly to illustrate that many composers, who may usually be associated with more serious works, also had their lighter moments; and thirdly to offer several examples of the tasteful way in which arrangers of the 20th century adapted the classics to make them more instantly appealing to their audience. For many years such ‘tampering with the classics’ was banned by the BBC in Britain, although commercial recordings could be freely purchased. However a lack of broadcasts obviously affected sales, which partly explains why such recordings were more common in the United States than in Britain. Among the leading US musicians who often strayed into classical territory were David Carroll, Andre Kostelanetz, Percy Faith, Clebanoff and even Ray Conniff. They are joined by Charles Williams, Angela Morley and other familiar figures on the UK scene.

"The Slavonic works presented here include original works for trumpet, written by composers who are not well known to the general public, and also arrangements of popular works, ones that everyone must have heard at some time or another. The latter include Vocalise by Rachmaninov, Valse Sentimentale and the last movement, Mélodie, from Souvenir d’un lieu cher by Tchaikovsky, and the famous Flight of the Bumblebee, an orchestral interlude written by Nikolay Rimsky- Korsakov for his opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan. This recording represents an important new step for me; I hope it will give the listener as much pleasure as it gave me. “ Romain Leleu

Holst’s orchestral suite The Planets is one of the most spectacular orchestral showcases on the repertoire, and a remarkable work for its time. Completed in 1917 the work reflects in part the influence of Diaghilev’s Ballets Russe that visited London in 1913, and the advent of the First World War in 1914.

Another master orchestrator was Rimsky-Korsakov, who would teach the art to composers as varied as Ravel, Respighi and Vaughan Williams. His Scheherazade remains a supreme example of orchestral tone painting, and many of his operas contain music as vivid and colourful using Ukranian folk melodies. Mlada (1889) is an extraordinary work, written for vast orchestral forces, with a lush orchestral sound that reveals his recent immersion in the music of Wagner. The many scene changes made the opera expensive to stage, so Rimsky arranged Act 3 for smaller forces and made this suite from the opera.

‘The movement (Saturn) opens with an achingly, despairing remorseless tread and moves with powerful dignity and hammering timpani to its strong climax at 5'40", with the belts sounding the knell of doom: afterwards, the dark woodwind and dejected violins are very poignant against the growling bass. Then the texture lightens magically (6’27") and the piece moves sadly to its serene close: it is most impressive’ Gramophone September 1992.

Recording made by ASV, produced by Andrew Keener.

Unlike many piano arrangements, all these pieces have been arranged by the composers themselves for four hands. The Piano Duo Trenkner-Speidel presents these arrangements in authentic interpretations on a sonorous Steinway concert grand piano from 1901. Evelinde Trenkner and Sontraud Speidel have recorded a whole series of CDs on MDG exhibiting their perfect symbiosis.