Malko, Shafran & Rozhdestvensky
- paulrterry1921
- Jul 26, 2025
- 1 min read
Updated: Jul 27, 2025
A Russian miscellany today.
Firstly, two LPs by Malko:
Disc 1:
Track 1: Saint-Saens Danse macabre (rec. 1951)
2: Debussy Prelude a l'apres midi d'une Faune (2nd February 1951)
Danish National Orchestra
Tracks 3 - 6: Ippolitov-Ivanov: Caucasian Sketches (5th November 1948)
The Philharmonia Orchestra
Bluebird LBC 1019
Disc 2:
1: Tchaikovsky Theme & Variations (Suite No. 3) (23rd March 1950)
2 - 5: Borodin Symphony No. 2 (19th & 23rd February, 4th March 1948)
The Philharmonia Orchestra
Bluebird LBC 1024
Both transferred by Alan Bunting from LPs kindly loaned by Ben Cutler.
Secondly, two recordings from the Soviet Union issued in the UK under licence by Decca. A few Russian items were issued as a tribute to our wartime ally, between 1941 & 1945. Many were patriotic pieces of lesser interest, but this set is of more significance. Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations are played by Daniel Shafran, with the Leningrad Philharmonic under Alexander Gauk. This took 5 sides, and the last item is a scherzo by Goltz, played by Sofronitski (this has been reissued elsewhere, but I have included it for completeness). I think the Tchaikovsky was recorded in 1938, as the Decca label states that he is the winner of the All-Union Competition, which was in that year.
Decca X 269 - 271
Third & last, a Prokofiev rarity, "Seven, They Are Seven", a "Chaldean Invocation" for tenor, chorus & orchestra, setting a poem by Balmont. This was on HMV LP ASD 2669, though this reissue is from an old Chant du Monde CD, 278.389. Yuri Elnikov and the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra & Chorus under Gennadi Rozhdestvensky.
Comments