Kurtz, Sevitzky, Golovanov and Rodziński Conduct Music from Khachaturian's Gayane

I am of two minds about the music of Aram Khachaturian (1903-78), the composer of Armenian descent. I enjoy some of his music (the Violin Concerto in particular), but can't stand much of it (the symphonies, the piano concerto). His ballet suites are uneven - individual dances can be enchanting or ear-splitting.

Today I want to examine his best-known ballet, Gayane (also transliterated as Gayaneh and Gayne), presenting it in four versions.

• The first was the initial recording of music from the ballet, with Nikolai Golovanov conducting a radio orchestra. 
• The second (Efrem Kurtz and the New York Philharmonic) was the first Western recording, which helped to start the mania that formed around Gayane's most notorious and noisiest piece - the Sabre Dance - in the postwar era. 
• Another, recorded by Artur Rodziński during his short tenure as Chicago Symphony music director, was issued to capitalize on the Sabre Dance vogue. 
• The final recording, from Fabien Sevitzky and the Indianapolis Symphony, didn't come out until several years later.

Kurtz, Rodziński and Sevitzky were all talented conductors who have appeared on this blog a number of times. This is the first time I have featured Golovanov, who was the leading Russian conductor of the day.

Background of the Ballet

The young Khachaturian

Khachaturian initially wrote the Gayane music for a ballet called Happiness in 1939. That ballet soon morphed into a drama taking place on a collective farm, where the protagonist Gayane must chose between what is right and her feelings for her husband, who turns out to be a traitor. That original scenario has apparently changed a number of times since its first production, in 1942.

The composer extracted three suites from the ballet as early as 1943, although I believe their contents may have changed over time. This makes little difference for our discussion. As often happens with ballet music, conductors like to construct their own sets of excerpts - as is the case with the four represented here.

Recording History
 

Label from one of the Golovanov 78s

As far as I have been able to trace, the first recording of music from Gayane was in 1945, led by Golovanov, who conducted the All-Union Radio Orchestra in five selections from the ballet. I've been able to locate three of those selections for the download.

Efrem Kurtz took the Sabre Dance into the studio that same year, but Columbia chose not to issue it. Undaunted, Kurtz returned to the microphones in April 1946 to record what he called the Suite No. 1, although it differed from the composer's own conception. It started off with the Sabre Dance, which Khachaturian had slotted into the third suite. Columbia issued the Kurtz-led excerpts as 78 set M-664, right after Morton Gould's String Time, featured here recently.

First issue of the Kurtz recording

Columbia finally got around to issuing the Kurtz set in March 1947. The following month, the album showed up on Billboard's best-selling classical list for the first time. It kept appearing there periodically for many months. Columbia promoted the album with a giant photo of Kurtz in Life's October 13, 1947 issue.

Life magazine ad (click to enlarge)

Other record companies took note. In 1947, EMI paired Nikolai Malko with the Philharmonia, M-G-M brought in Macklin Marrow to record with a studio band, and, in November and December, RCA Victor had Artur Rodziński record four excerpts with the Chicago Symphony.

Cover of Rodzińsk's set

By March 1948, the Sabre Dance was becoming increasingly popular. On Billboard's March 12 classical singles chart, it held down the first four spots, in versions by Oscar Levant, Kurtz, Rodziński and Arthur Fiedler. Kurtz's set was the top-selling album.

Popularity of the Sabre Dance and More Recordings

Much of this popularity was fueled by the pop versions of the Sabre Dance that began appearing as 1947 turned into 1948. There were big band arrangements from Freddie Martin and Woody Herman, and Levant recorded his piano and orchestra transcription for Columbia. I cover all these records in a Sabre Dance round-up on my singles site, along with a vocal adaptation from the Andrews Sisters and a Yiddish version from Mickey Katz ("You're gonna plotz!").

UK cover for Kurtz's LP of his two suites

Over time, the Rodzinki faded into obscurity, but the Kurtz recording just kept on being reissued. In preparation for the imminent launch of LP, Columbia had him return to the studio in December 1947 to record a second suite. It then coupled the two suites on ML-4030 in its first flight of LP recordings in 1948. Eventually it was issued in many countries - the download shows the artwork used in France, South Africa and Argentina, along with the UK and various US covers. Amusingly, the Argentines took Columbia's cover for Mitropoulos' record of the Ippolitov-Ivanov Caucasian Sketches, threw out the typography and substituted Kurtz, Khachaturian and Gayane. Also amusingly, in 1955 US Columbia reissued the Kurtz LP with a cover that labeled it "Sabre Dance" in big type and "Gayne Suites" in small type, with no mention of the composer, conductor or orchestra, at least on the front.

The recordings have continued through the years. Khachaturian himself first set down a piano version in 1950, followed by orchestral suites with the Philharmonia in 1954. I have the latter LP, but chose instead the Sevitzky-Indianapolis version from 1953, which couples Gayane excerpts with a suite from the ballet Masquerade, which also has attained much popularity via its memorable Waltz.

Sevitzky LP cover

Comparing Kurtz, Rodziński, Golovanov and Sevitzky

Three of the four conductors here were Russians by birth - Golovanov, Kurtz and Sevitzky, but I am not sure that gives them more of a feel for the music than the Polish Rodziński. The composer drew upon Ukrainian, Georgian, and Russian music along with Armenian for Gayane - and even incorporated a Polish mazurka into Masquerade. The Sabre Dance may be the best-known piece, but there are several dances that are reminiscent of Tchaikovsky and especially Rimsky, and memorable in their own right.

The only selection chosen by all conductors was the Sabre Dance, as you might expect. Here are a few thoughts about how the four sets compare in the excerpts they share.

Dance of Ayshe

First a slight clarification: what Rodziński presents as the "Awakening and Dance of Ayshe" is actually just the Dance. Sevizky does include the Awakening. Kurtz does not.

Rodzinski and Kurtz are both very well played. Rodziński is the most strongly characterized, although the orchestral balances can be strange. Sevitzky's ensemble is not as polished as the mighty Chicago and New York orchestras, the finest of the day along with Boston. Apparently trying to provide a stronger profile for the music, Sevitzky takes a more symphonic approach than the others. But simpler is better - the music is repetitious, but very beautiful.

Dance of the Rose Maidens

This is another luscious piece that Rodziński does well; his reading is controlled and strongly profiled, but still lovely.

Kurtz takes a much faster tempo than Rodziński, which the New Yorkers sustain beautifully.

Unlike the others, Sevitzky includes the Introduction, which opens the first suite and is followed by the Dance. Here, some of the solo playing is not up to the standards of the other orchestras. While his basic tempo seems fine, but he can't resist a distracting tendency to change speeds and dynamic levels.

Lullaby

An extraordinarily lovely piece, the Lullaby was strongly influenced by Scheherazade, and is related to the Dance of Ayshe. It is beautifully done by Rodziński. Here Kurtz begins by underplaying the gorgeous melody, perhaps emphasizing the nocturnal quality of the lullaby.

Russian Dance

Only Golovanov and Kurtz include the Russian Dance in their selections. Kurtz's orchestra is much more refined than the Russian radio band.

Sabre Dance

In the Sabre Dance, Rodziński adopts a fast tempo, which extremely well executed by his musicians. It's not really a dance tempo, though. The Chicago horns are fantastic.

Rodziński, February 1947

My guess is that Rodziński wanted to outdo the Kurtz reading that was already in the market. Kurtz's tempo is not as fast as Rodziński's. He underplays the contrasting trio, but does comes roaring out of that section.

Sevitzky sets a good tempo, also underplays the trio, but his reading is generally nicely done.

Seated are Shostakovich, Khachaturian and Golovanov, 1945

Golovanov's recording is notable in that he has what sounds like a saxophone lead the trio section theme, while the others give the theme to the strings. The trio usually sounds too muted in comparison with the raucous main section; the pungent saxophone sound helps avoid this.

Conclusion

Overall, I prefer the virtuosic Rodziński recording, even though it includes only four of the dances. His conducting is always apt, and the orchestral playing is remarkable.

Among the pop recordings of the Sabre Dance discussed on my other blog, Mickey Katz is far and away my favorite, even though I don't understand Yiddish. His manic presentation is perfect for the music.

Note about sources: I transferred the Kurtz from the UK Columbia pressing (cover shown above). The Sevitzky transfer is from the original Capitol release. The Rodziński and the Golovanov selections are courtesy of needle drops found on Internet Archive. The sound ranges from boxy (Golovanov) to excellent (Rodziński).

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