Russian Music from Kansas City

The Kansas City Philharmonic Orchestra made but two LPs in its 50-year history, both under Hans Schwieger (1906-2000), music director from 1948-70. These worthy recordings of Russian music, the subject of today's post, both come from early 1959.

The recordings were made for Urania, which had assembled an extensive catalogue of LPs sourced from Europe and was looking for projects in the US. Schwieger chose the repertoire, selecting scores that were unusual but still appealing. He chose two works by Sergei Prokofiev, Alexander Glazunov's fourth symphony, and Mili Balakirev's Overture on Three Russian Themes.

Hans Schwieger

Schwieger was born in Cologne in 1906, and did well in his nascent music career until the Nazis came to power. His wife was Jewish, which limited his prospects. Like many others, he ended up in the US, arriving in 1938. All was well until a few days after Pearl Harbor, when he was mistakenly arrested as an enemy agent. He was interred for more than a year. (More about the conductor's life can be found in this excellent series.)

Schwieger succeeded Karl Kruger and Efrem Kurtz as conductor of the Kansas City Philharmonic, which was dissolved in 1982, but soon was succeeded by the Kansas City Symphony.

Prokofiev - Symphonic Suite of Waltzes, Gypsy Fantasy

The major work on the first Urania LP is Prokofiev's Symphonic Suite of Waltzes, which the composer assembled from several of his other works and premiered in 1947. Schwieger and the Kansas City orchestra presented the first US performance in late 1958.

Sergei Prokofiev

The six movements and the sources of the dances are as follows:

• I. The Meeting, from the opera War and Peace
• II. Cinderella at the Castle, from the ballet Cinderella
• III. Mephisto Waltz, from the film Lermontov
• IV. The End of the Tale, from Cinderella
• V. New Year's Eve Ball, from War and Peace
• VI. Happy Ending, from Cinderella

Ad in High Fidelity

For me, the finest (and most familiar) movement is the sweeping final waltz from Cinderella. (The composer's suites from the ballet can be found here.)

The Gypsy Fantasy comes from the late ballet The Stone Flower, which was not premiered until after Prokofiev's 1953 death.

In general, the record received good reviews. HiFi Review: "[T]he repertoire is interestingly conducted by Hans Schwieger, the Kansas City Philharmonic's regular music director ... Schwieger is revealed on this Urania disc as a musician of excellent taste and outstanding ability. His beat is firm; he maintains a tightly disciplined control over the ensemble; and he conducts with imagination."

Alfred Frankenstein of High Fidelity, however, was not impressed by the second work, calling it a "very ordinary piece of hack work."

LINK to Prokofiev LP

Glazunov - Symphony No. 4; Balakirev - Suite on Three Russian Themes

The Balakirev and Glazunov compositions were recorded at the same sessions as the Prokofiev. A contemporary article in the Kansas City Times says they were scheduled for March 22 and 24, 1959 in the World War II Memorial Building.

The Prokofiev release was given a relatively elaborate presentation. It came in a box with notes, and the fancy labels bore Schwieger's signature. The second LP was a bare-bones affair - no box, no photos and black-and-white labels.

Alexander Glazunov

Glazunov's symphony had been recorded before - by Evgeny Mravinsky and the Leningrad Philharmonic - but this appears to have been its first recording in the West.

Balakirev's Overture on Three Russian Themes (here called the Overture on Themes of Russian Folksongs), had been recorded twice before in the West - by Lovro von Matačić in London and by László Somogyi in Paris.

Glazunov's symphonies have never achieved popularity in the Western world, but they do have much to offer the sympathetic listener. Initially influenced by such earlier composers as Balakirev, by the time of the Symphony No. 4 (1893) Glazunov had adopted a less nationalist tone and did not make use of Russian themes, such as can be heard in the Balakirev work on the same disc.

Mili Balakirev

Balakirev was 30 years the elder of Glazunov, part of a generation that made extensive use of folk materials. The delightful Overture on Three Russian Themes, an early work (1857-58), is an excellent example. The folksong "In the fields stands a birch tree" would later be used to memorable effect in Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony. "There was at the feast" reappears in Stravinsky's Petrushka.

This second Urania LP did not elicit the same positive reviews as the Prokofiev album. The only national review I found was in HiFi Review, where David Hall wrote, "The Balakirev Overture has already received a superb monophonic recording ... and it must be said that Schwieger's merely neat and precise performance is no match for it. The Glazunov performance by Schwieger and his Kansans is in similar vein."

Hans Schwieger in rehearsal

Although the two LPs were recorded during the same sessions, the sound of the Prokofiev was much better received.

Hall's opinion of the second record: "The recorded sound in stereo has fine spread, but not much depth, warmth or the kind of presence that makes for the best kind of symphony orchestra sound."

Actually the two records do sound different. The string sound in the Prokofiev was very wiry, possibly because the violins were too closely miked, which I've tamed. The second LP does not have such a glare, but it also does not, as Hall wrote, offer much depth or warmth.

1961 ad

But even so, these are worthy representations of a very good orchestra under a skillful conductor. It's too bad more were not forthcoming.

I transferred these records from my collection as the result of a request. The download includes an article on Schwieger from the Kansas City Times, as well as ads, the reviews, scans, etc.

LINK to Glazunov-Balakirev LP

Prokofiev and Vivaldi from Violinist Stoika Milanova

The Bulgarian violinist Stoika Milanova (b. 1945) made a splash after placing second in the Queen Elisabeth Competition and first in the Carl Flesch Competition in her 20s. She produced several excellent LPs about then, but since has mainly been a teacher, for some time at the State Academy of Music of Sofia.

Today we have two superior examples of her art: the Prokofiev Violin Concertos and Vivaldi's The Four Seasons.

Prokofiev Violin Concertos

Prokofiev's two violin concertos could have been purpose-built for Milanova. She was (and presumably still is) a supreme instrumentalist, and her readings of these two works are impeccable - secure, forthright, even and totally in control.

She is backed beautifully by the Symphony Orchestra of the Bulgarian Radio and Television. Milanova and conductor Vassil Stefanov are completely in alignment, making these some of the most satisfying recordings you will hear.

Vassil Stefanov

Prokofiev's first concerto is an impressive work, written in his 20s and premiered in 1923. Milanova's stamina (admittedly, these recordings are likely pieced together) is remarkable, considering that she plays continuously throughout the work.

The second concerto, from 1935, is more lyrical, and it, too, suits Milanova and her accomplices. The recording is a complete success.

The LP was released circa 1972 by Balkanton, and reissued in the US on Monitor, from which this transfer comes. The download includes the garish Balkanton cover along with the usual scans from the Monitor release and a laudatory review.

Vivaldi - The Four Seasons

Stoika Milanova

The Four Seasons are hardly what you would call unusual repertoire, but Milanova and the Sofia Chamber Orchestra manage to make the work fresh, even though there is nothing unusual about their approach.

This LP comes from about 1971, when smaller forces were coming into vogue for classical and baroque music. The Sofia group is excellent, comparable to such ensembles as the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields and I Musici. This was before the dominance of historically informed performances, but there is little that will seem anachronistic about these readings (at least to this older listener).

Vassil Kazandjiev

The conductor is Vassil Kazandjiev, who, like Stefanov, leads performances that seem just right.

As with the Prokofiev, Milanova is well integrated into the ensemble. Here too the recordings are excellent.

The Prokofiev is from my collection; I added a cleaned-up needle drop from Internet Archive of the Vivaldi for a bonus.

Mitropoulos Conducts Prokofiev and Swanson

This is a continuation of two ongoing series - one devoted to the music of Howard Swanson, the other to the recordings of conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos. The record also contains music by Sergei Prokofiev, which the blog has presented a number of times as well.

This 1950 LP is unusual in that represents the only appearance of Mitropoulos on US Decca records. At the time, he was recording for Columbia with his band, the New York Philharmonic.

Dimitri Mitropoulos

The Philharmonic does not appear here, but the featured ensemble is related to the Philharmonic even so. Its unwieldly name, "The New York Ensemble of the Philharmonic Scholarship Winners," signifies that the musicians all had received scholarships from the Philharmonic in younger years. In gratitude, they banded together to provide their own scholarships to other worthy young musicians. Mitropoulos was the honorary chair of the effort.

While the term "Scholarship Winners" might lead you to think participants were neophytes, that was not the case. All were well-regarded professionals generally in their 30s. The members included clarinetist David Weber, pianist William Masselos, cellist Avron Twerdowsky of the Kroll Quartet, violinist Jacques Margolies and bassist Fred Zimmerman, who were in the Philharmonic at the time, bassoonist Harold Goltzer and his oboist brother Albert, who also were in the Philharmonic for many years, and the well-known horn player David Rattner.

As far as I can tell, this is the only record that the Ensemble made. It is entirely a chamber program, so Mitropoulos' presence may only have been to lend prestige to the affair.

Sergei Prokofiev and Howard Swanson

The bulk of their program is devoted to two Prokofiev works, his Quintet, Op. 39 and his wonderful Overture on Hebrew Themes. Howard Swanson's then-new "Night Music" completes the enjoyable program, which is well played by the talented ensemble. That said, the Swanson perhaps could have sounded more nocturnal and less careful. Also, the witty Prokofiev overture may have benefitted from a more relaxed approach.

Decca's engineers produced sound that was close and a little harsh. It benefited from my adding a small amount of convolution reverberation to the mix. The download includes a review from The Gramophone.

The LP's cover art is by Erik Nitsche, who handled many assignments for Decca during the period. His cabalistic symbols look like they ought to represent something, but I have no idea what. Interpretations are welcome.

Rignold Conducts Prokofiev's Cinderella

About a month ago, I featured excerpts from Prokofiev's score for the ballet Cinderella, from the Royal Opera House Orchestra under Warwick Braithwaite. Now here, on request, are two of the three suites that the composer authorized from the score - also from the ROH Orchestra, this time under Hugo Rignold.

The Braithwaite recording was made in conjunction with the ballet first Western performance, which was by the Sadler's Wells Ballet in 1948. Frederick Ashton's staging became a mainstay of the company, and in 1957 was the basis of an American television program, which was likely the impetus behind this second recording.

Margot Fonteyn and Michael Somes

The televised production was in the prestigious NBC series Producers' Showcase, broadcast live and in color from 1954-57. It marked the second time that the ballet company had appeared in the series. First was Sleeping Beauty in late 1955, followed by the May 1957 Cinderella staging. Both featured Margot Fonteyn and Michael Somes in the leading roles. A DVD of the televised Cinderella is available; you can see an excerpt on YouTube.

Hugo Rignold

Although the NBC telecast was on April 29 and the recording session for this LP was the following week, they employed two different conductors. Robert Irving led the orchestra for the TV show, as he had for the most recent performances at Covent Garden. But Hugo Rignold, then new to the company, was in charge for the recording session at Kingsway Hall. What is more peculiar, later in May Irving took the Royal Philharmonic into the studio to make a competing recording for EMI. While this was presumably done for contractual reasons, the Royal Ballet's administration could not have been happy to see its longtime (1949-58) music director become a competitor.

The online biographies of Irving and Rignold both state that they were music directors of the Royal Ballet in 1957 and 1958, so it is unclear who was in charge when this record was made. In any event, Irving was off to the US in the latter year to take up residence with the New York City Ballet.

Rignold stayed with the ballet until 1960, when he moved to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Previously he had been with the Liverpool Philharmonic. Rignold had a background in popular music, so he was not (and is not) taken very seriously as a classical conductor. Nonetheless, this present effort is well done, and moreover is nicely recorded. This was during a period when RCA Victor's sessions were handled by English Decca's production staffs.

First Red Seal cover

The record first came out in mono in 1957. I believe the initial stereo issue was this 1965 pressing in RCA's budget Victrola series. I own a mono Red Seal pressing (cover above), but have never seen an early stereo Red Seal and Philip Stuart does not list such an issue in his UK Decca discography. All stereo Red Seals that I have seen date from the 1990s or later (and use the mono back cover). The Irving recording for EMI also was first issued in mono, which is the format of my copy on American Angel.

The download includes several photos from the television production, a few brief reviews of the Rignold LP, and front and back scans of both the Red Seal and Victrola covers.

Kurtz Conducts Prokofiev

My previous post of selections from Prokofiev's ballet Cinderella reminded me that I wanted to feature this record presenting music from the composer's greatest ballet, Romeo and Juliet.

Directing matters is a veteran dance conductor, Efrem Kurtz, who has appeared here a few times before.

Efrem Kurtz

Despite his experience in ballet, I doubt that Kurtz ever conducted a staged performance of this ballet. He left the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo in 1942, before the work was widely known in the West.

Although Prokofiev finished the ballet in the mid-1930s, it had a prolonged gestation period before reaching the stage. There were concerns about the ending (happy or not) and about the music (undanceable?), along with severe political machinations - it was the time of Stalin's Great Purge. The first performance - in truncated form - was not in Russia but in Brno, in 1938. Finally, it came to the Kirov Ballet in complete form in 1940. (This is an oversimplified account - see here for a more complete version.)

The original Juliet (Galina Ulanova) and Romeo (Konstantin Sergeyev) at the Kirov

The first recording of music from the ballet was by Prokofiev and the Moscow Philharmonic in 1938, followed by the Boston Symphony and Serge Koussevitzky in 1945 and the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra and Yuri Fayer in 1946.

Prokofiev himself derived three orchestral suites from the complete score, along with a piano suite. The present recording is in effect the second orchestral suite, along with a few pieces from the first suite. It is a satisfying selection, and Kurtz skillfully balances the balletic and dramatic aspects of the score. The music itself is remarkable; I well remember hearing it for the first time and being overwhelmed by its power and poetry. Prokofiev's masterly use of the orchestra is fully on display, and has been a source of inspiration - and sometimes more than that - for other composers, notably such movie artisans as Bernard Herrmann and John Williams, and even pop musicians.

Original cover

This recording is from June 1963 and EMI's Abbey Road Studio No. 1. My transfer comes from a later reissue. The Philharmonia Orchestra plays beautifully for Kurtz, who often recorded with the ensemble. The sound is clear and well balanced.

I have not included any production photos from the ballet itself in the download because this recording was not associated with any particular staging. I did locate four diverse reviews of Kurtz's reading, which is called elegant and effective, but also lacking thrust, vitality and poignancy, depending on who you read. If you believe me, both the music and the performance are treasurable.

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Gordon and Prokofiev Ballet Scores with Lambert and Braithwaite

This post is another in a series devoted to Constant Lambert's recordings as composer, conductor and orchestrator.

Today he and Warwick Braithwaite conduct scores from notable 20th century ballet scores as mounted by the Sadler's Wells Ballet - Gavin Gordon's score for The Rake's Progress and Sergei Prokofiev's music for Cinderella.

The Rake's Progress

Constant Lambert by
Lola Walker (1951)

Gordon (1901-83) wrote his score for the Vic-Wells Ballet, which first mounted it in 1935. This recording dates from a 1946 revival soon after the Sadler's Wells Ballet took residence at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Lambert had led the 1935 premiere of the ballet, many intervening performances, and the March 1946 revival and recording. Lambert was one of the three artistic directors of the ballet along with choreographers Ninette de Valois and Frederick Ashton. 

Here, as in the Prokofiev work, the Royal Opera House Orchestra performs, as it did for the ballet performances themselves.

The Rake's Progress is notable in that it has remained in the repertory for many decades even though its composer is known for no other works. Gordon was not a full-time composer;  he also worked as an actor and singer, appearing both in the first performance of Vaughan Williams' Hugh the Drover and in a stage production of My Fair Lady. In the musical realm, Gordon did produce a series of ballets and other compositions, but none were nearly as successful as The Rake's Progress.

It was Gordon himself who conceived mounting a ballet based on William Hogarth's series of pictures known as A Rake's Progress, bringing his ideas and music to the Vic-Wells Ballet. This was presumably through the intercession of Lambert, a friend from the Royal College of Music. It turned out to be quite a good conception, not the least because of the brilliant choreography by de Valois and the scenic design and costumes from the remarkable Rex Whistler.

Costume designs for The Rake and The Dancer

Among the leading roles in the 1935 premiere were Robert Helpmann as The Rake and Alicia Markova as The Betrayed Girl. Helpmann also took the leading role in the 1946 revival, with Margot Fonteyn as the girl.

Robert Helpmann
as The Rake

The current recording includes three scenes of the eight in the one-act ballet. Gordon's music is lively and descriptive, even though his "Orgy" music is more of a genteel English romp than a Dionysian revel.  Lambert is fully in command of the proceedings, as always in his recordings.

Igor Stravinsky was later to produce far better known Rake's Progress music in the form of his 1951 opera, but Gordon's music remained closer to Hogarth's scenario.

Cinderella

Moira Shearer
as Cinderella

Profofiev's Cinderella ballet music was first heard in Moscow in 1945. The Sadler's Wells production was the ballet's first Western performance. It premiered on December 23, 1948 with choreography by Ashton and scenery and costumes by Jean-Denis Malcles. Moira Shearer was Cinderella and Michael Soames the Prince, with Helpmann and Ashton himself as the wicked stepsisters.

Just as Prokofiev's glorious music is in part an homage to Tchaikovsky, Ashton's choreography is a tribute to his predecessor Marius Petipa.

Conducting was Warwick Braithwaite (1896-1971), who had become music director of the ballet company. He had previously been an opera conductor for Vic-Wells and then chief conductor of the Scottish Orchestra.

Warwick Braithwaite by
Howard Coster (c. 1944)

The recording sessions, held in January and February 1949, encompassed seven selections from the more than 40 in the three-act ballet. Braithwaite's reading has been described as dull, but I prefer to think he is setting tempos appropriate for the dancers and scenario. But then, many recorded ballet performances seem overly dramatic and demonstrative to me.

This was the second recording of Cinderella excerpts. Yuri Fayer, who had conducted the 1945 premiere, recorded two scenes with the Bolshoi orchestra in 1946. Braithwaite's Cinderella selections do not correlate with any of the three orchestral suites from the ballet published by Prokofiev.

The Rake's Progress and Cinderella recordings were originally issued on 78 by English Columbia. My transfer comes from a circa 1949-50 LP pressing by US Columbia with very well balanced sound. The LP's cover design is by Darrill Connelly, and is typical of the many such illustrations he devised for Columbia during the early days of the LP.

The download includes many additional production photos and images, some from my modest collection of vintage ballet books.

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Cinderella: Moira Shearer, Michael Soames and the corps de ballet

Prokofiev Suites for Children

Prokofiev suites for children? I know what you're thinking - Peter and the Wolf. But Sergei Prokofiev also wrote other music for the young ones, including the two relatively unfamiliar suites contained on this LP. It dates from 1966, and features two fine Czech ensembles. The recording originated with Supraphon; my transfer is from the US label Crossroads.

Supraphon cover

The Summer Day Suite is Prokofiev's orchestration of several pieces in his Music from Children, dating from 1935. The orchestral suite debuted 10 years later. This delightful work receives a smooth performance from the Prague Chamber Orchestra, working without conductor.

Alois Klíma

A Winter Camp Fire comes from 1950. Here it is heard without the narration contained in the score, but with the children's chorus in the "Choir of Pioneers" section. The Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra plays well under its longtime conductor, Alois Klíma.

The sound is good, although the original lacked bass and was below pitch. I have addressed both those issues. Not sure what Michael Mendel's cover on the Crossroads LP is supposed to represent, but it is striking.

The transfer results from a request on another site; I thought readers here would enjoy it, too.

Martinon Conducts Prokofiev

The lurid, Daliesque cover promotes "The Love for Three Oranges," but to me the real attraction here is the other Prokofiev work on the program - his Classical Symphony.

This is an exceptional performance of a composition I love. Jean Martinon conducts the Lamoureux Orchestra, which he then led, in this June 1953 recording.

Jean Martinon

I had not heard any of Martinon's early records before acquiring this disc, although I have several of his much later Chicago Symphony albums. I was very impressed by the highly detailed, beautifully balanced performances on this 10-inch LP.

There is a small offensive image on the cover - my apologies. (Addendum - See a note below from billinrio for an explanation of the image's meaning.)

This recording has now been remastered in ambient stereo.

LINK

Prokofiev's "The Prodigal Son"

Several years ago I posted Léon Barzin and the New York City Ballet Orchestra performing music by Virgil Thomson and Hershy Kay, a recording that is still available here.

Barzin and his troupe had signed a contract with Vox in 1954 for three records per year for three years, but I have only encountered the Thomson-Kay disc and this present rendition of Prokofiev's "The Prodigal Son" ballet music.

Léon Barzin

Prokofiev's music was written for Diaghilev and premiered in 1928. It has been little heard since then, although the music is related to the composer's fourth symphony. This was the first recording of the complete (or near-complete) ballet music, and I believe it has been succeeded by only a few other attempts at the score. If not as well known or memorable as some of Prokofiev's other ballet scores, it is nonetheless worthwhile.

This is a good, straightforward performance, although it sounds like it might have been recorded in the Baths of Caracalla. Barzin, a talented conductor, was more noted as a trainer of orchestral musicians, through his National Orchestral Association. He left relatively few recordings, so this LP is a fine remembrance. It was taped in March 1955.