Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra Plays Scriabin, Glière & Korsun (at the Lighthouse, Poole, 17th Jan 2023)

Incredible concert recording from January, given a recent broadcast.  Chief conductor Kirill Karabits, as part of a 'Voices From The East' series, put together this programme of Ukrainian and Russian music and started it off with the stunning sonic power of Anna Korsun's Terricone, receiving its world premiere.  Karabits and Korsun, who both have roots in the Donbas region, introduce the work as having its title inspired by large mining heaps there, and it sounds phenomenal - very much appealed to the Xenakis fan in me.

The BSO's artist in residence is featured next, letting the rest of the concert's first half showcase the talent of horn player Felix Klieser (whose adapted-by-necessity technique is quite amazing).  Reinhold Glière's Horn Concerto, composed in 1951 and with strong influence from the Romantic era, contrasts well with the rest of the programme.  As an encore, Klieser offers a Rossini fanfare.  The concert's second half is given over to Alexander Scriabin's 2nd Symphony in all its grandeur and subtlety, with the gorgeous Andante being a highlight for me.  The announcer signing off with a typically bonkers quote from Scriabin is just the cherry on top.

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Scriabin at SGTG: Universe

Sándor Lakatos And His Gypsy Band - Budapest At Night (undated recordings, this compilation first released 1987)

This is the other recent find that I've been enjoying loads.  This collection's from the 80s, but the recordings (no specific years given) might be much older, as Sándor Lakatos (1924-1994) and his Gypsy Band had been releasing albums from the late 50s onwards.  All sounds fantastic though, with so much verve, energy and sheer jawdropping virtuosity brought to these Hungarian folk tunes.  Not much else to say about this one really, other than it's tons of fun.

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Satie - Orchestral Works (Toulouse Capitole Orchestra, 1988)

Couple of recent charity shop finds this week.  First up, here's a really enjoyable hour of the orchestral side of Erik Satie, which I could certainly do with exploring further.  Plasson and the Toulouse Capitole give this music all the subtlety, wit and charm it requires in a beautifully detailed recording from 1988.

A definite highlight of this collection is Satie's music for Parade, a surreal one-act ballet devised by Jean Cocteau, choreographed by Leonide Massine and with bizarre cubist costumes by Picasso.  Lasting only 15 minutes, the score includes the sounds of typewriters and foghorns - allegedly at Cocteau's insistence over Satie's distaste, but in hindsight sounding like an influence on Varèse, who was acquainted with Satie around this time.  Moving from surrealism to Dada, Francis Picabia's ballet Relâche ("Cancelled") sparkles with Satie's lush, expressive and witty score.

Elsewhere, Satie's sense of playfulness and influences from Fin De Siècle cabaret make the dance suite La Belle Excentrique an uproarious joy, and the Varèse-commissioned Cinq Grimaces occupies a similar space.  There's also opportunity on this album to just luxuriate in the sublime compositional genius of Satie in arrangements of works originally for piano (or written in both piano and orchestral forms).  Gymnnopodies No. 1 & 3 are here in orchestrations by Debussy, Gnossienne No. 3 by Poulenc, and Satie's own settings of La Piccadilly and En Habit De Cheval.  A hugely recommended collection.

 

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Erik Satie at SGTG:

Piano Works

Gnossiennes/Ogives

Messe Des Pauvres