Russian conductor Evgeny Svetlanov is widely respected for his long service and deep devotion to the music of his homeland, but BBC Music has done him no favors by releasing this 1999 recording, with the BBC Symphony playing Rachmaninov's The Isle of the Dead and Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.
Svetlanov hardly sounds like the conductor he was in Russia.
Though the basic performances are sound -- Svetlanov manifestly knows these pieces and how they work -- too many things go wrong for them to be recommended.
Too often, downbeats fail to bring in the whole orchestra and cues don't elicit clean entrances from soloists.
Details are smudged, textures are thick, sonorities are heavy, and colors are more garish than brilliant.
Whether the fault lies with the orchestra missing Svetlanov's cues and intentions or with his inability to communicate clearly enough, neither of these performances can touch Svetlanov's earlier recordings with the USSR Symphony.
Even the disc's modern sound is less impressive than the earlier Soviet sound.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Isle of the Dead, symphonic poem, Op. 29 | Evgeny Svetlanov | Play | 24:53 | 56 MB | 110 MB |
| 2 | Etudes-Tableaux, For Piano, Op. 39 - No. 2 La Mer Et Les Mouettes | Evgeny Svetlanov | Play | 09:12 | 21 MB | 37 MB |
| 3 | Etudes-Tableaux (17) For Piano, Opp. 33/39 - La Foire | Evgeny Svetlanov | Play | 02:10 | 4 MB | 12 MB |
| 4 | Pictures At An Exhibition (Kartinki S Vïstavski) - Promenade 1 | Evgeny Svetlanov | Play | 01:29 | 3 MB | 6 MB |
| 5 | Pictures At An Exhibition (Kartinki S Vïstavski) - Gnomus | Evgeny Svetlanov | Play | 02:34 | 5 MB | 11 MB |
| 6 | Pictures At An Exhibition (Kartinki S Vïstavski) - Promenade 2 | Evgeny Svetlanov | Play | 00:45 | 1 MB | 2 MB |
| 7 | Pictures At An Exhibition (Kartinki S Vïstavski) - Il Vecchio Castello | Evgeny Svetlanov | Play | 05:06 | 11 MB | 17 MB |
| 8 | Pictures At An Exhibition (Kartinki S Vïstavski) - Promenade 3 | Evgeny Svetlanov | Play | 00:27 | 1 MB | 2 MB |
| 9 | Pictures At An Exhibition (Kartinki S Vïstavski) - Tuileries | Evgeny Svetlanov | Play | 01:04 | 2 MB | 4 MB |
| 10 | Pictures At An Exhibition (Kartinki S Vïstavski) - Bydlo | Evgeny Svetlanov | Play | 03:17 | 7 MB | 13 MB |
| 11 | Pictures At An Exhibition (Kartinki S Vïstavski) - Promenade 4 | Evgeny Svetlanov | Play | 00:43 | 1 MB | 2 MB |
| 12 | Pictures At An Exhibition (Kartinki S Vïstavski) - Ballet Of The Unhatched Chicks | Evgeny Svetlanov | Play | 01:23 | 3 MB | 5 MB |
| 13 | Pictures At An Exhibition (Kartinki S Vïstavski) - Samuel Goldenberg And Schmuyle | Evgeny Svetlanov | Play | 02:30 | 5 MB | 11 MB |
| 14 | Pictures At An Exhibition (Kartinki S Vïstavski) - The Market At Limoges | Evgeny Svetlanov | Play | 01:31 | 3 MB | 8 MB |
| 15 | Pictures At An Exhibition (Kartinki S Vïstavski) - Catacombae | Evgeny Svetlanov | Play | 01:55 | 4 MB | 7 MB |
| 16 | Pictures At An Exhibition (Kartinki S Vïstavski) - Cum Mortuis In Lingua Mortua | Evgeny Svetlanov | Play | 01:52 | 4 MB | 6 MB |
| 17 | Pictures At An Exhibition (Kartinki S Vïstavski) - The Hut On Hens Legs (Baba-Yaga) | Evgeny Svetlanov | Play | 03:20 | 7 MB | 15 MB |
| 18 | Pictures At An Exhibition (Kartinki S Vïstavski) - The Great Gate Of Kiev | Evgeny Svetlanov | Play | 06:35 | 15 MB | 35 MB |
| 70 mins | 162 MB | |||||
| 70 mins | 310 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colin Anderson | Liner Notes |
| 2 | Paul Baily | Remastering |
| 3 | BBC Symphony Orchestra | Orchestra |
| 4 | Jules Hammond | Product Manager |
| 5 | Kevin Jones | Design |
| 6 | Thierry Martinot | Cover Photo |
| 7 | John Patrick | Director, Executive Producer |
| 8 | Maurice Ravel | Orchestration |
| 9 | Ottorino Respighi | Orchestration |
| 10 | Evgeny Svetlanov | Conductor, Primary Artist |
Evgeny Svetlanov
2007 - 5 tracks
Shostakovich - Symphony No. 5; Rachmaninov - The Isle Of The Dead - Evgeny Svetlanov
2006 - 6 tracks
Borodin Symphony No. 1, Symphony No. 2 - Evgeny Svetlanov, USSR RTV Symphony Orchestra
1995 - 10 tracks
Tchaikovsky Swan Lake CD 1 No. 1 - Evgeny Svetlanov, Mexican State Symphony Orchestra
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |