Search - Vasily Kalinnikov, Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Nikolai Golovanov :: Tchaikovsky: The "Francesca da Rimini" Fantasia; Kalinnikov: First Symphony

"Golovanov's reading of the Kalinnikov remains unchallenged"

Robert Mueller | Seattle WA | 07/04/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The title above is an excerpt from Jeff Lipscomb's Amazon review of a different Golovanov CD, where he cites Golovanov's other recordings. There, he also describes the Francesca da Rimini rendition as "scorching". I ordered this recording based on his comments, plus my previous euphoric amazement upon hearing renditions of Liszt's tone poems, the 1812 Overture, and Glazonov's 6th symphony on Golovanov's Great Conductor's CDs.



I first became aware of the Kalinnikov 1st Symphony in 1962 on a low fidelity Westminster LP conducted by Nathan Rachlin as recommended by the Pittsfield MA library. I was entranced by his melodies, syncopation, and soring recapitulation in the last movement coda using all the main melodies. I have enjoyed many stereo versions since then, notably by Kondrashin and Swetlanov. But I may have difficulty appreciating them from now on having been blown away by Golovanov's version. The mid-1940s sound is clear enough for his expressive idiosyncratic concoction to convey a special insight. I found Francesca da Rimini equally astounding and exciting. I appreciate Amazon's website permitting me to find rare recordings based on customer's knowledgeable and perceptive reviews.

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