Composer: Mily Balakirev
Performer: Joseph Banowetz, Alton Chung Ming Chan, Olga Kalugina, Svetlana Nikolayeva, Pavel Kolgatin
Orchestra: Russian Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Konstantin Krimetz
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Toccata
Catalogue: TOCC0018
Release: 2007
Size: 342 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
01. Grande Fantaisie sur airs nationals Russes pour Le Pianoforforté avec accompagnement d’Orchestre, Op. 4
30 Songs of the Russian People – dukhovnaya (spritual songs associated with particular Orthodox feastdays)
02. No. 1 (folksong): ‘Dormition of the Mother of God’
03. No. 1 (piano duet): ‘Dormition of the Mother of God’
04. No. 2 (folksong): ‘Egoriy the Brave’
05. No. 2 (piano duet): ‘Egoriy the Brave’
06. No. 3 (folksong): ‘Lazar’
07. No. 3 (piano duet): ‘Lazar’
08. No. 4 (folksong): ‘The Last Judgement’
09. No. 4 (piano duet): ‘The Last Judgement’
10. No. 5 (folksong): ‘The Book of the Dove’
11. No. 5 (piano duet): ‘The Book of the Dove’
30 Songs of the Russian People – bylina (epic songs about historical characters)
12. No. 6 (folksong): ‘The King’s Sons from Kraków’
13. No. 6 (piano duet): ‘The King’s Sons from Kraków’
14. No. 7 (folksong): ‘Kostruk’
15. No. 7 (piano duet): ‘Kostruk’
16. No. 8 (folksong): ‘Nikita Romanovich’
17. No. 8 (piano duet): ‘Nikita Romanovich’
18. No. 9 (folksong): ‘Grisha Otrepyev’
19. No. 9 (piano duet): ‘Grisha Otrepyev’
20. No. 10 (folksong): ‘Vasiliy Okulyevic’
21. No. 10 (piano duet): ‘Vasiliy Okulyevic’
22. No. 11 (folksong): ‘The Razvoinik Brothers and their Sister’
23. No. 11 (piano duet): ‘The Razvoinik Brothers and their Sister’
24. No. 12 (folksong): ‘Birds and Animals’
25. No. 12 (piano duet): ‘Birds and Animals’
30 Songs of the Russian People – wedding songs
26. No. 13 (folksong): ‘They Said: Fedot-Ot doesn’t drink beer…’
27. No. 13 (piano duet): ‘They said: Fedot-ot doesn’t drink beer…’
28. No. 14 (folksong): ‘There were no winds…’
29. No. 14 (piano duet): ‘There were no winds…’
30. No. 15 (folksong): ‘Are you, my river, little river…’
31. No. 15 (piano duet): ‘Are you, my river, little river…’
32. No. 16 (folksong): ‘Oh, drinking berry…’
33. No. 16 (piano duet): ‘Oh, drinking berry…’
34. No. 17 (folksong): ‘Many, many by a damp oak tree…’
35. No. 17 (piano duet): ‘Many, many by a damp oak tree…’
36. No. 18 (folksong): ‘Mummy wasn’t hoping’
37. No. 18 (piano duet): ‘Mummy wasn’t hoping’
38. No. 19 (folksong): ‘My girlfriends, dear girlfriends…’
39. No. 19 (piano duet): ‘My girlfriends, dear girlfriends…’
40. No. 20 (folksong): ‘Oh, you geese, you geese…’
41. No. 20 (piano duet): ‘Oh you geese, you geese…’
42. No. 21 (folksong): ‘Grape-harvest’
43. No. 21 (piano duet): ‘Grape-harvest’
44. No. 22 (folksong): ‘There is a tree on a hill’
45. No. 22 (piano duet): ‘There is a tree on a hill’
30 Songs of the Russian People – khorovodnaya (round-dance songs)
46. No. 23 (folksong): ‘I went into the garden’
47. No. 23 (piano duet): ‘I went into the garden’
48. No. 24 (folksong): ‘Our wide street’
49. No. 24 (piano duet): ‘Our wide street’
50. No. 25 (folksong): ‘Utushnaya’
51. No. 25 (piano duet): ‘Utushnaya’
30 Songs of the Russian People – protyazhnaya
52. No. 26 (folksong): ‘Rowanberry and Raspberry’
53. No. 26 (piano duet): ‘Rowanberry and Raspberry’
54. No. 27 (folksong): ‘What a heart’
55. No. 27 (piano duet): ‘What a heart’
56. No. 28 (folksong): ‘It’s enough for you, my dear, to walk in the field’
57. No. 28 (piano duet): ‘It’s enough for you, my dear, to walk in the field’
58. No. 29 (folksong): ‘Oh you, winter’
59. No. 29 (piano duet): ‘Oh you, winter’
60. No. 30 (folksong): ‘She became, she became a colonel’s wife’
61. No. 30 (folksong): ‘She became, she became a colonel’s wife’
If Russian composer Mikhail Glinka was the father of Russian nationalism, Mily Balakirev was its St. Peter, evangelizing to fellow apostles Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin, and others and therefore acting as “the rock” whereupon Glinka’s church was built. Nevertheless, the Balakirev works that have been available on disc for the most part — the glittering, Lisztian piano fantasia Islamey, the lush and orientalist tone poem Tamara, and his quirky, idiosyncratic symphonies — certainly sound “Russian,” but provide little evidence of what it was in Balakirev’s music that motivated the “Mighty Handful” to follow his lead. An 1866 collection of folk songs harmonized by Balakirev is often cited in relevant literature as breaking the ground for the first generation of Russian Nationalists.
Not that this was in any way an easy thing to achieve — the main supporters of concert life in Russia in Balakirev’s time was made up among educated nobles, aristocrats, bureaucrats, well-to-do military officers, and others who looked down upon Russian folk song as the unworthy, culturally poor product of illiterate serfs and peasants. In Russia, the serfs were liberated in 1861, a little later than in most European nations, though not, incidentally, than England! Nevertheless, in 1852 the 14-year-old Balakirev was already making an honest stab at working what he thought were their melodies into his Grand Fantasia on Russian Folksongs for piano and orchestra, Op. 4, recorded on Toccata Classics’ Balakirev and Russian Folksong for the first time. Performed by pianist Joseph Banowetz with the Russian Philharmonic of Moscow under Konstantin Krimets, the work is far more sophisticated and involved than one would surmise from a composer so young, although the example of Chopin’s piano concerti — the use of glittering sequences in the solo part and of a spare, restrained orchestral component — is readily apparent. While the piece consists of moderate and slow movements only and is technically unfinished, it still feels like a coherent whole even as Balakirev left it.
The main event, though, is the 30 Songs of the Russian People, a collection of folk song harmonizations Balakirev created and published in 1898-1900. Balakirev did not personally collect the folk melodies, as he had in the 1866 volume, and here a two-piano version, played by Banowetz and Alton Chung Ming, is favored over the parallel voice and piano edition that appeared at about the same time. In this realization, singers Olga Kalugina, Svetlana Nikolayeva, and Pavel Kolgatin sing the original folk melodies, unaccompanied, and Balakirev’s piano duet harmonizations follow. Some listeners may feel the back and forth nature of this arrangement is a little disorienting, but it makes good musical sense, and Balakirev’s settings deliberately avoid attempting to pin down or drive the traditional melodies around harmonically. It is easy to hear how this naked approach helped define the art of setting Russian folk song, not only for Balakirev’s immediate circle, but also for others outside it, such as Tchaikovsky. In sum, Toccata Classics’ Balakirev and Russian Folksong offers one of the most direct perspectives offered so far on Balakirev’s work as an avatar of traditionally tinged Russian Western art music.