The Third Symphony is Alexander Glazunov’s largest, particularly apparent in a performance as expansive as this one, but it’s also one of his more persuasive serious orchestral works. In his own way, he really does rise to the challenge, writing a first movement with some impressive, dramatic developments, a delicious scherzo with a zany solo glockenspiel part, a typically warm and lyrical slow movement, and a finale that rounds off the whole work in an appropriately grand manner. This was the symphony that inspired Rachmaninov in his own First Symphony: Glazunov’s first movement development is clearly the father of Rachmaninov’s, and even employs the same tunes. In fact, so close is the resemblance between the two works that the younger composer’s far more powerful development of the same material goes a long way toward explaining just why Glazunov (as conductor) sabotaged the premiere of the Rachmaninov symphony.
Alexander Anissimov turns in a very “Russian” performance in the grand tradition. Tempos are moderate, and the orchestra plays well if a little coarsely here and there at the climaxes. The scherzo, though, has all the necessary lightness of touch, and if this performance doesn’t eclipse Järvi’s swifter Orfeo recording as an overall conception, it’s perfectly valid in its own right. Besides, Järvi’s orchestra (the Bamberg Symphony) is hardly a model of discipline, and costs three times as much. The coupling, a single movement representing all that exists of a projected Ninth Symphony, adds nothing of particular value. This is a welcome entry in Naxos’ ongoing survey of Glazunov’s complete orchestral music.
