Gauk Conducts Miaskovsky

About a month ago I uploaded a recording of Symphony No. 21 by the 20th century Russian composer Nikolai Miaskovsky (latterly Myaskovsky), in a vivid performance by the Philadelphians under Eugene Ormandy.

I enjoyed that experience so much, I went off in search of more Miaskovsky in my library, and came up with this item - a version of his beautiful Symphony No. 17 as led by Alexander Gauk, the score's dedicatee, who conducted its first performance in 1937.

Nikolai Miaskovsky

This performance is with the USSR Radio Symphony, which I believe is the same ensemble which was variously known as the USSR State Symphony Orchestra, the USSR Large Radio and Television Orchestra, and perhaps other names. It is now the State Academic Symphony Orchestra "Evgeny Svetlanov" - also, so as to continue its legacy of confusion, the Russian State Symphony Orchestra. Gauk was its music director for several years.

Alexander Gauk

The recording here comes from relatively late in Gauk's career (he lived from 1893 to 1963). Sources disagree on the exact date, but it appears to be from the late 1950s. This pressing is on the MK (Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga, or "International Book") label, which the state agency was using for its export issues at the time. You can see the very Soviet-style logo on the cover, with a book slicing through the globe. I believe the rest of the hideous cover may have been the responsibility of the US importer Abbey.

Anyone who had ever heard a recording of this group during this period will know what to expect. Horns that sound like saxophones, blatant brass, etc. (along with much lovely playing, of course), all set in a distant, reverberant acoustic. I imagine this is what Miaskovsky expected, and it has its own distinct charm, at least to me. The mono sound is actually quite good, in its own way.

Gauk was not considered the best Soviet conductor of his time, and apparently even the composer could be indifferent to his skills (even considering the dedication). But this delightful performance of Miaskovsky's work is committed and convincing, providing a good case for the composer's music to be heard far more often than it is today.

Bartok from Sándor and Ormandy, Plus Miaskovsky

Not long ago, I featured György Sándor's sublime rendition of Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto, mentioning that at the time of recording in early 1946, the pianist was about to premiere the Third Piano Concerto of the recently deceased Béla Bartók.

Cover of 78 set

Both the premiere and this subsequent recording were with with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandy. Columbia issued the Bartók as a 78 set (M-674) that year, and then transferred it to the new LP format in 1949. There, it was coupled with the Ormandy recording of the Symphony No. 21 of the then-living Russian composer Nikolai Miaskovsky (today usually transliterated as Myaskovsky), set down in 1947.

Sándor and Bartók

Sándor was a Bartók pupil and was closely associated with that master. He would record the Third Concerto two more times, first with the young Michael Gielen and a Vienna orchestra in 1959, and then with Adám Fischer and the Hungarian State Orchestra in 1990. As a bonus to the Philadelphia recording, I've transferred the Vienna rendition and included it in the download. Originally on the Vox label, it is an early stereo effort, with Sándor crowded over to the right of the sound stage. My transfer is from a later Turnabout pressing.

Both Bartók performances are quite good. As might be expected, the Philadelphians have more tonal allure than the Vienna band, but the playing on both is alert and Sándor is impressive, as always.

Miaskovsky

Don't skip the Miaskovsky symphony, which is well worth getting to know and wonderfully handled by Ormandy and his troops. The Chicago Symphony and Frederick Stock commissioned the work, which dates from 1940, but did not record it, to my knowledge. The first recording was by Nathan Rachlin (aka Natan Rahklin) with the USSR State Symphony Orchestra in 1941.

Both the Bartók 78 set and the subsequent LP have covers by Alex Steinweiss. The LP art has fun with stereotypes, as that artist often did. I'm not sure what he is depicting on the 78 cover. A piano hammer? An avocado? Perhaps someone more perceptive than I am can decipher it.