Tchaikovsky: The Snow Maiden, Op. 12: melodrama

Evgeny Svetlanov (1928–2002) was, together with Mravinsky and Kondrashin, one of the greatest Russian conductors of the 20th century. He was principal conductor of the USSR State Symphony Orchestra (Russian State Symphony Orchestra) from 1965 to 2000 and became a familiar figure in London (notably with the LSO in the 1970s), France and Japan.

These performances have never been issued before on CD.

The performance of Shostakovich’s Symphony No.10 was given on the very night that Soviet tanks invaded Czechoslovakia in a concentrated effort to halt ‘The Prague Spring’, the liberal political reforms initiated by Alexander Dubcˇek. The atmosphere in the Royal Albert Hall, as can be heard from the shouts of protest, was electric and very tense. It is likely that the USSR State Symphony Orchestra had not heard the news, but after the first few bars, the disruption was finally drowned out by other members of the audience and from various accounts, Svetlanov, as can be heard here, then went on to give the performance of his life. Svetlanov’s widow, on hearing the test pressings of this CD, said that the performance brought tears to her eyes and the emotion of that evening came across very strongly.

Two short bonus titles have been added – Tchaikovsky’s Melodrama from The Snow Maiden and two excerpts from Rimsky-Korsakov’s Invisible City of Kitezh (here recorded in stereo) –, reflecting the historic three concerts Svetlanov and his orchestra gave in London at the August 1968 BBC Proms.

This year, we celebrate the thirty-year conducting career of Neeme Järvi with Chandos Records, as well as the conductor’s own seventy-fifth birthday.

We mark the occasion with this two-disc set of highlights, featuring a varied selection of concert hall rarities and core classics, along with some popular showpieces and examples of Järvi’s championing of Estonian and American music.

In the course of his conducting career, Järvi has amassed a distinguished discography of more than 440 recordings, well over 150 of them for Chandos.

Järvi has a rare ability to galvanise an orchestra into giving an interpretation of exceptional vigour and drive. Gramophone said of his recently concluded Halvorsen series (from which La Mélancolie and Bojarernes Indtogsmarsch are taken): ‘Järvi finds in the music a drama and pathos that might come as a revelation even to the composer.’

Also on this disc is the ‘Jester’s Dance’ from Tchaikovsky’s The Snow Maiden, a personal favourite of the conductor’s, and one that Järvi often performs as an encore at his many concerts around the world.