Khachaturian: Kaufman vs. Kogan

When I recently posted a transfer of Oscar Levant's Gershwin recordings, reader Brent asked if I had the pianist's rendition of the Khachaturian concerto. I did not, but my good friend Bryan does, and he proceeded to post his fine transfer over at his blog The Shellackophile.

This transaction got me thinking about the composer, and records of his music in my collection. And in truth, my favorite Khachaturian concerto is not his rumbustious effort for the piano, but his gorgeous, atmospheric violin concerto.

My first choice for soloist was blog favorite Louis Kaufman. So I dutifully transferred his version, coming to the reluctant conclusion that this isn't his best recording. He sounds over-stretched, and the sound, too, is wuzzy (a word I just invented that combines fuzzy and woozy). The good news is that the accompaniment from the Santa Monica Symphony and Jacques Rachmilovich is sturdy, what you can hear of it.

Cover of the Kogan version

At that point I decided to bring out one of my favorite artists, the Soviet violinist Leonid Kogan, for a contrasting view of the work, and presumably a definitive one, being backed by the composer himself in a 1951 rendition with the USSR State Radio Orchestra.

A later Kogan recording had been my introduction to this work many years ago, in his early stereo version with the Boston Symphony and Pierre Monteux. I still find that reading entirely magical, but this earlier effort is not far behind and has reasonably good sound to boot.

I believe the Kogan-Khachaturian is either the third or fourth commercial recording of the work. My pressing is on the "International Recorded Music Society" label, which appears to be a Concert Hall Society spin-off dating from the late 1950s.

Kaufman's effort is purportedly from 1945, which would likely make it the concerto's second recording. I am a little dubious of the date because it would come before the founding of the record company itself (i.e., Concert Hall Society), but I suppose it is possible.

The initial recording of the concerto was by dedicatee David Oistrakh with Alexander Gauk, made the year after the work's 1940 premiere.

Please enjoy these contrasting views of this delightful composition and feel free to provide your reactions in the comments.

ADDENDUM - Reader Hiram from Venezuela recommended a version of the concerto with the short-lived Julian Sitkovetsky and the USSR State Radio Symphony under the composer's direction. This comes from 1956, the same year the 30-year-old violinist was diagnosed with lung cancer. He died in 1958. I found a low bit-rate version on YouTube, listened, and was very impressed. I highly recommend it to all. I have remastered the sound and provided a link in the comments to this post.

Khachaturian and Kogan with Soviet notables circa 1960. From left in the front row are the composer, Tikhon Khrennikov, Premier Nikita Khrushchev, and Dmitri Shostakovich. Kogan is third from the left behind this group, with Mstislav Rostropovich over his left shoulder.

Kabalevsky's Second Symphony

New series here - living composers whose music was issued on 10-inch LPs, but not represented in our American or British series.

First up is Dmitri Kabalevsky, with his enjoyable and straightforward Symphony No. 2. This symphony is from 1934 - admittedly a bit shy of our mid-century mark.

The symphony is performed by the Santa Cecilia Orchestra of Rome, conducted by the American Jacques Rachmilovich, who was then the conductor of the Santa Monica Symphony. He keeps the piece moving along, with the orchestra for the most part playing well. (The string sound is not terribly alluring.)

Kabalevsky doesn't have a great reputation in the West. His politics were Communist and his music was conservative. Taken on its own terms, this is a fine record, however.

Capitol put out quite a few records of classical repertoire circa 1950. Many were sourced from Telefunken masters and issued in this drab garb, which may have been thought to look prestigious. This may be a Capitol recording, however; Rachmilovich was active in Los Angeles, where Capitol was based.