Warner Classics & Jazz are proud to continue its celebrated Serebrier / Glazunov symphonic cycle with the 4th release in the series. Grammy Award-winning conductor and composer José Serebrier guides the Royal Scottish National Orchestra through a stunning Glazunov cycle – which Fanfare called “made in heaven” and which continues to draw attention to this oft-neglected composer. The Observer wrote; "Serebrier's intensity and precision draws attention to detail previously unsuspected of this neglected composer". The reviews of the previous RSNO/Serebrier Glazunov recordings called the performances "outstanding" and "a perfect introduction to Glazunov's sweet pleasures" (BBC Music Magazine / 5 stars). The release of Glazunov’s Symphony No.5 and The Seasons drew much acclaim. “Quite superb, rigorously thought out, and brilliantly executed,” wrote Gramophone, while Classics Today thought that “Serebrier's vibrant and vital rendition lifts Glazunov out of second-rate status and reveals his work to be one of the finer symphonies from 19th Century Russia.
“Glazunov is a composer close to my heart,” comments Serebrier, “When my father left Russia in the late 1920's Glazunov was at the height of his creativity. Glazunov stands as a link between Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich, the turn of the century period before Stravinsky broke new grounds. Glazunov was one of the greatest scholars in Russian music, and it shows in every bar of his music. Most of his predecessors were self-taught and had other professions. Glazunov was one of the first full-time professional composers in Russia. His music has been neglected partially because some performers have played it rather "literally", without reading what's behind the notes. If played metronomically and without emotion, the music can sound uninteresting. It requires passion and subtlety.”
José Serebrier, who worked with legendary conductors Leopold Stokowski at the American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall (as his Associate Conductor) and George Szell at the Cleveland Orchestra (as Composer in Residence), has been hailed by the New York Times for the “great intensity, precision and clarity” which he brings to his music making. One of today’s most-recorded classical artists, José Serebrier’s recordings have received 36 Grammy nominations and numerous international awards, including the Latin Grammy for "Best Recording of the Year" (for the CD of the Bizet-Serebrier "Carmen Symphony" with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra).
Tim Ashley
12th September 2008
**
“José Serebrier and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra make a superbly articulated case for [the Sixth Symphony] but can't disguise the fact that the Tchaikovskyan overtones are self-consciously done, as if Glazunov was angling for the supposed succession from the outset.”
October 2008
****
“José Serebrier secures an entirely convincing performance in the most opulent sound I've yet heard in his RSNO Glazunov series.”
March 2009
“Warm and approachable with Serebrier drawing beautifully moulded playing from the Scottish orchestra, with rubato perfectly judged and with the orchestra as fine and resonant as I have ever heard it, it is vividly recorded in rich, unexaggerated sound. The fill-ups, though much less powerful, are well worth hearing... Altogether a splendid issue, adding significantly to Serebrier's excellent Glazunov series...”
2010
“From the formidable list of rival versions of the Sixth, arguably Glazunov's most powerfully dramatic symphony, dating from 1896, this one from José Serebrier and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra is among the very finest. Warm and approachable with Serebrier drawing beautifully moulded playing from the Scottish orchestra, with rubato perfectly judged and with the orchestra fine and resonant in vividly recorded, rich, unexaggerated sound. Glazunov's lyrical second subjects were always striking, and the one in the first movement here is no exception. The structure is clearly defined with fine thrust from the performers, and with that theme coming thrillingly back fortissimo at the climax of the movement. The theme and seven variations which make up the second movement go with an easy flow, with the brassy climax of the seventh variation well controlled in its dynamic contrasts. The third movement is a charming allegretto with neo-classical overtones, while the finale is the most powerful movement of all with its Borodin echoes at the start and a most ingenious combination of sonata and double-variation form, all of which Serebrier brings out most persuasively. The fill-ups, though much less powerful, are well worth hearing, two works that vie with the masterpieces of Debussy and Strauss. La mer of 1889 (antedating Debussy) is a richly evocative seascape with the harp very prominent, hardly equalling Debussy's masterpiece but very attractive, while the Introduction and Dance fromSalomé, more conventional than the rest, were from incidental music that Glazunov wrote for a production of the Oscar Wilde play in 1908. There is a powerful gesture at the start of the Introduction with Salomé's Dance predictably getting faster and faster and with the horn-writing adding to the exotic orientalism. Altogether a splendid issue.”
Click on any of the works listed above for alternative recordings.
