Alexander Glazunov’s brilliantly melodic, brightly colored, vividly orchestrated Fifth fits comfortably within the late-19th-century Russian symphonic style. That Glazunov was a pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov shows in the first movement’s similarity of character to that master’s ebullient Third symphony. Surprisingly, Glazunov seems to have picked up a bit of Brahms in the very familiar-sounding (from Brahms Symphony No. 2) main rhythm of the scherzo. A lovely cantabile melody forms the basis of the moving Andante, and the work ends in a traditionally festive Russian finale.
It’s remarkable how little Glazunov’s style had changed in the years between 1895 and 1906, especially considering the growth Rachmaninov experienced during this same period (to say nothing of the Modernist Scriabin). Still, the hefty Symphony No. 8 (43 minutes as compared to the Fifth’s 35) does have its enjoyable moments, most notably the scherzo, a whirlwind movement with plenty of harmonic twists and turns and dazzling orchestration that points to Stravinsky’s Scherzo Fantastique. Grouchy brass pronouncements make the slow movement (Mesto) memorable, and the Finale is one of those time-honored celebrations of harmony and counterpoint brimming with scales, fugues, and other academic devices. There’s nothing academic about Alexander Anissimov and the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, who play this music as if it might be banned tomorrow. Naxos’ sound transmits a large acoustic but contains a noticeable degree of harshness.
