GLAZUNOV - Raymonda (Complete, Audio + Full Score)

Performed by: Alexander Anissimov / Moscow Symphony Orchestra Victor Fedotov / Mariinsky (Kirov) Theater Orchestra (Act I Variation IV, Act III Mazurka) Evgeny Svetlanov / USSR State Academic Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra (Act III Mazurka Coda) If you were to ask anyone on the street who Glazunov was, most likely they would not know. And that’s understandable. His music lacks the heart-on-sleeve lyricism of Tchaikovsky, or the orchestrational flair of Stravinsky, or the “outside-the-box-iness“ of Mussorgsky. But that’s OK. Because Glazunov has found the box, lives comfortably inside the box, and has furnished it with utmost class. He has no need to venture outside, because he already has everything he needs. A piece like his ballet Raymonda (1898) is a good example. On its surface, it might not sound that remarkable. It might even sound a bit bland. However, if you give it a chance, then you will find a composer who pays attention to every detail, handles every voice with care, and, in short, knows exactly what he is doing. His music may be old-fashioned for some, but one can certainly understand why he was in fashion during his time (or at least his early days!) That’s why, when I found out that the complete score had been published to IMSLP, I couldn’t resist making this video. There’s an elegance to Glazunov’s writing that the full score displays and which, in my opinion, makes perfect material for a score video like this. So just sit back, relax, , watch it, please. (Or dance!) (I’ve already uploaded “highlights“ of Raymonda in piano score version, which can be viewed here: DESCRIPTION Born in 1865 in St. Petersburg, Glazunov was a leading Russian composer of the generation after Tchaikovsky. Displaying an immense musical talent as a child, Glazunov started studying with Rimsky-Korsakov at the age of 15. Glazunov’s progress was indeed astonishing, for he completed his Symphony No. 1 at 16. In fact, his symphony, premiered by Balakirev in 1882, established, practically overnight, Glazunov’s reputation as a great Russian composer. In 1884, the rich merchant and publisher Belyayev took Glazunov to Weimar, where the young composer met Liszt. Although absorbing many musical influences, particularly those of Liszt and Wagner, Glazunov eventually crafted an individual style, composing symphonies, ballets, and concertos for various instruments. Owing to his growing international fame as a symphonist, Glazunov was invited to conduct his works in Paris in 1889; an invitation from London came in 1896. During the 1890s, Glazunov composed some of his most successful works, including the fourth, fifth, and sixth symphonies, and the ballet Raymonda. Glazunov’s score for the ballet Raymonda, Op. 57, props up a weak and fanciful narrative by novelist-journalist Lydia Pashkova, who submitted her ideas for a new scenario to Ivan Vsevolozhsy, director of the Russian Imperial Theatres, in 1895. Raymonda was originally produced in January 1898 at the Mariinsky (now Kirov) Theatre in St. Petersburg, with choreography by the great Marius Petipa. Prima ballerina Pierina Legnani (then in her benefit year) took the title role, with Sergei Legat as her suitor, the chivalrous knight Jean de Brienne. The action takes place in medieval Hungary. Raymonda is to marry the crusader Jean de Brienne, but when he is summoned to take up arms abroad, Raymonda becomes the object of desire of the wicked Saracen infidel Abderakhman, who plots her abduction. The beneficent White Lady (a spirit committed to the guardianship of Raymonda’s noble family line in perpetuity) suddenly appears at the critical moment. The planned kidnapping is thus foiled, and Jean de Brienne slays Abderakhman in battle with the sword. The forgoing events, though entirely predictable, are spun out to occupy most of the ballet’s first two acts. The third act focuses entirely on the betrothal and jubilant marriage celebrations for Raymonda and Jean de Brienne. Musically, this final act is composed of a series of divertissements and separate variations, one of which is the “pas classique hongroise,“ the most famous individual episode in the entire ballet. Though the somewhat ramshackle plot, with its banal and unsurprising outcome, is hardly an inspired literary creation, Raymonda survives in the repertory chiefly as the result of Glazunov’s exquisite and imaginative score. Though Act III is occasionally presented on programs as a freestanding item, the complete ballet is seldom revived, overshadowed by the composer’s more popular The Seasons (1898). SOURCE: Allmusic