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Ilya Murometz is depicted on a 1913 Russian postage stamp and is the subject of Reinhold Gliere’s massive post romantic program Symphony No. 3 in B minor, Op.42, better known as “Ilya Murometz”. If any symphonic work originally composed for the concert hall ever sounded like it could easily be a film score, this is it. The opening of the second movement is mystical, almost as if it could be Scriabin, but develops into one of the most incredibly beautiful themes you are ever likely to hear.
At nearly 95 minutes in length, Gliere’s Symphony is rarely programmed in concert today, unless it is performed in a revised version which the composer edited down to about one hour for Leopold Stokowski in 1940, when the conductor introduced the work to American concert goers in Philadelphia that year. Shortly afterwards Stokowski made the first recording ever of this revised version, but pruned down further to about 45 minutes (probably due to the limited playing time in the 78 era.) Curiously, although the Symphony became a favourite of Stokowski, who performed it many times in concert during his long career and recorded it 3 times, the score was further reduced mercilessly to less than 40 minutes when he was set to record it for the first time complete in stereo with the Houston Symphony in 1957 for Capitol Records and the label refused to release the complete version as a 2 LP set. “Ilya Murometz” was, however, performed complete (except for the optional repeats, which reduced it to about 80 minutes) for the first time since its 1912 premiere in Russia in 1952 by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Hermann Scherchen and subsequently recorded by Westminster, who released it as a 2 LP box set. Eugene Ormandy, Stokowski’s hand-picked successor in Philadelphia, recorded the complete 1940 one hour revised version for the first time in 1971 with the Philadelphia Orchestra, a truly spectacular performance that unfortunately suffered from indifferent recording and mastering. In 1978, “Ilya Murometz” was finally recorded totally complete, repeats and all, by Unicorn Records with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Harold Farberman. This was one of the very first digital recordings, a process so new at the time that the label backed it up with a simultaneous analog recording from the same console. The resulting LPs and later CD releases were mastered using the digital source while the analog backup tape was used by Barclay Crocker to master a four track Dolby B reel to reel commercial tape for release in that audiophile format. Several years ago I remixed and remastered the Farberman recording from that DSD archived analog reel source and the result can be heard in the download provided here. It is my opinion that the analog is far superior in sound to the digital and brings out a warmth and detail lacking in previous digital commercial releases. I hope you agree. Until the digital era, recordings of this beautiful symphony were few and far between. Now there are quite a few more in varying lengths but none with the scope and completeness of the Farberman, in my opinion. Included with this download, which was originally configured as a 2 CD set, is an excellent 1995 recording of Gliere’s Suite from the ballet, “The Bronze Horseman”, also remixed and remastered for better sound.
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