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Lyatoshynsky

Posted by Jeffrey Davis on August 11, 2022, 9:16 am

I greatly enjoyed Nick Barnard's review of the Naxos boxed set of the complete symphonies (as I had Rob Barnett's earlier one). However I'd be interested to hear what Nick thinks of the tone poem 'Grazhyna' which is also included in the boxed set and which some people consider Lyatoshynsky's masterpiece. Years ago I was on holiday and went into a shop where the radio was tuned to Radio 3. I was so impressed by what was being broadcast that I had to hang around the shop until it finished to hear what it was. It was 'Grazhyna'by Lyatoshynsky.

Re: Lyatoshynsky

Posted by Nick Barnard on August 11, 2022, 3:49 pm, in reply to "Lyatoshynsky"

Thankyou Jeffrey for your positive comments on my review. It was a concious decision - but probably a wrong one! - not to mention at the very least the presence of Grazhyna as part of this set. My rationale was that the sequence of the five symphonies are somehow collectively greater than the sum of their parts since they track the creative life of the composer. But of course Grazhyna has its own considerable merits and is from Lyatoshynsky's most impressive compositional period.

But I must admit although its a colourful and skillfully scored work for me its a bit "out of its time" - a rather traditional heroic tone poem. Interestingly the very opening reminded me of Rachmaninov's early Prince Rostislav with more occasional echoes of Il'ya Murometz! So perhaps that's why I omitted mentioning it - as it doesn't quite sit on the the through thread that seems to link the symphonies into such an impressive single span..... But the performance in this Naxos set is just as spirited and vibrant as in the symphonies.

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Re: Lyatoshynsky

Posted by Jeffrey Davis on August 24, 2022, 9:35 am, in reply to "Re: Lyatoshynsky"

Thank you Nick. I totally understand the rationale for not including Grazhyna in your original review although I was most interested to hear your thoughts on the work, especially the Rachmaninov and Gliere references.

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Re: Lyatoshynsky

Posted by Eric Schissel on October 1, 2022, 10:44 pm, in reply to "Re: Lyatoshynsky"

Somewhat tangentially, are people familiar with his string quartets, which have not, if I remember, been much recorded since LP years, but from what I've heard of them seem worth "resurrecting"?

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Re: Lyatoshynsky

Posted by Jeffrey Davis on October 13, 2022, 9:29 am, in reply to "Re: Lyatoshynsky"

No, I'm not Eric but I really liked the Piano Quintet which featured on a recent Naxos release.

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Somewhat tangentially, are people familiar with his string quartets, which have not, if I remember, been much recorded since LP years, but from what I've heard of them seem worth "resurrecting"?

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Re: Lyatoshynsky

Posted by Jeffrey Davis on January 23, 2023, 10:02 am, in reply to "Lyatoshynsky"

I was delighted to attend the live performance of the original version of Symphony No.3 at the Barbican a week ago. With the Ukrainian conductor Kirill Karabits in charge of the BBC SO (and a Ukrainian pianist performing Rachmaninov's 3rd Piano Concerto and an encore by Silvestrov) this was bound to be a moving occasion. I'd recommend listening to it on BBC Sounds.

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Re: Lyatoshynsky

Posted by Mikeh on January 24, 2023, 8:48 am, in reply to "Lyatoshynsky"

You can hear Karabits, with the BSO, in this symphony on Chandos, a terrific symphony in a great performance!

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Re: Lyatoshynsky

Posted by Jeffrey Davis on March 8, 2023, 1:53 pm, in reply to "Re: Lyatoshynsky"

I agree - it's a great disc, especially as it also features 'Grazhyna'.

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You can hear Karabits, with the BSO, in this symphony on Chandos, a terrific symphony in a great performance!

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