These works come from the early 1900s when Glazunov was established as a successful composer in his native Russia. He had also become conservative, looking more to the past than the present, certainly never to the future. His version of Salome (specifically, incidental music for Oscar Wilde’s play) makes her sound more like the Tsar’s Bride, very old-fashioned. The composer’s mammoth score for the mystery play, King of the Jews, also smacks of Rimsky-Korsakov, though at times it brushes shoulders with a more modern style. Oddly enough, the Entr’acte to Act II sounds much like Death and Transfiguration by Glazunov’s nemesis, Richard Strauss. Since the section is subtitled “The Palace of Pontius Pilate”, perhaps it was some sort of in joke to make this voluptuous music sound decadently more “contemporary”. Although there are many lovely moments scattered throughout the score, the most successful section for me was the unaccompanied chorus, titled “Song of Jesus’ Disciples”, which owes a lot to Russian Church music.
Conductor Valeri Polyansky has proved less than thrilling in his Rachmaninov series for Chandos, so it is a pleasure to report that Glazunov seems to bring out the best in him. These performances are alert, well-paced, and definitely heartfelt. Discipline is good. The orchestra and chorus play and sing extremely well. In fact, this is one of the best Russian choruses I have heard, full-bodied and in tune, with an appealing dark timbre. The recorded sound is rich, full, and detailed, one of Chandos’ top-notch engineering efforts. [10/14/2000]
