Gliere - Sym #3 - Botstein, LSO (2003) [Philidor; FLAC]

Reinhold Gliere was a compositional pupil of Ippolitov-Ivanov, and a grandson pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov. So he came by his Russian Nationalist credentials honestly, and never abandoned them over a very long, carefully non-controversial career that stretched into the 1950s.

Three years separate Gliere's Second Symphony (1908) from his Third (1911), but the difference is enormous. Where the Second is an excellent symphony, the Third is easily the closest thing Gliere ever wrote to earning that dubious award, "great." Whether it was the programmatic nature of the symphonic structure, or a growing awareness of a later generation of Russian Nationalists (Rachmaninoff, Medtner, etc), or something else entirely, it was the Third that brought the greatest attention to the composer. Oddly, though he lived more than 40 years after that, he never turned to the symphonic genre, again. Perhaps he considered it too dangerous a minefield to venture into in his Soviet years.

The Third is sometimes referred to by its subject, "Ilya Murometz." He's the central figure of a heroic myth cycle, the kind that grew so popular over time that it drew other legends and tales into itself (much like Robin Hood in that single respect). The first movement reveals Ilya Murometz as an exceedingly weak young man, who comes upon the knight Svyatogor. The latter has all the strength of the earth, and when he dies, touches Ilya, passing along his full power. The second movement is called Solovei (Nightingale) the Brigand. Solovei is a peculiar sort (and East Slavic folk tales have a lot of that): a human with bird-like features, who can fly yet speak, and lives in a huge nest with his human wives. He regularly sends out his three beautiful daughters bedecked in fabulous jewels to tempt the unwary in the forest where he lives. When they get close by he whistles, stunning them, then kills each and steals whatever they have. Ilya captures Solovei, and takes him to The Extraordinary Palace of Prince Vladimir the Sun.

That's the third movement, the opulent palace, and Vladimir himself. The Prince demands to hear Solovei whistle, which he does--destroying every building for miles around, and knocking down all who are standing save Ilya and Vladimir. Ilya then chops off Solovei's head, and presumably Vladimir engages in a work grant program to rebuild the place.

In the finale, Ilya and his heroic friends defeat the pagan army of Batygha the Wicked, then wish to challenge the heavenly hosts. Two great warriors appear, but when they're killed, four spring up; and when those are killed, eight. At that point, Ilya and his companions realize the game is rigged, and head quickly for the hills, but as they go, one by one, they end up petrified. There have been various interpretations of this: whether it represents the defeat of paganism by Christianity; the the sin of pride being punished; or just a particularly self-righteous god with absolutely no sense of humor. Regardless, as Ilya fades to stone he recalls the glories of his past, the themes of the previous movements melting into one another.

Transfers are made at 768 kBits/s, directly from the disc.

Bio enclosed. You can find all my classical uploads by searching on Philidor, or just looking in this regularly updated thread:

http://kickasstorrents.ee/community.../philidor-s-classical-stuff/