The two premiere recordings of the two pieces by Alexander Mosolov on the new Naxos recording of his Symphony No. 5 and his Concerto for Harp and Orchestra are only the beginning of a new effort to make more of his music available. There are also plans to release a recording of his 3rd and 4th symphonies. That's the interesting bits of news in a press release from Naxos issued earlier. Max Gutbrod, the executive producer the new album, says some of Mosolov's chamber and choir music also is being considered.
The press release, which Mr. Gutbrod passed on to me, has quite a bit of information I did not have when I did my previous blog posts on the album (you can read my review and also read my interview with harpist Taylor Ann Fleshman). Here is the release. -- Tom
Moscow Symphony Orchestra releases world premiere recording Dec. 4 CD is the first to include Alexander Mosolov’s 5th Symphony & Harp Concerto
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 4, 2020
Today, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra (MSO) makes history with the release of a world premiere recording of rare works by Russian composer Alexander Mosolov. Now available on the Naxos label, the CD features Mosolov’s Symphony No. 5, as well as his “lost” Concerto for Harp and Orchestra.
Though no longer a household name, Mosolov (1900–1973) was once dubbed the “experimental head” of Soviet avant garde music. His 1927 work, Iron Foundry, remains his best known composition in the western world. But to be experimental and boundary-pushing did not come without consequences, and by 1937 Mosolov had been expelled from the Union of Composers and arrested on accusations of anti Soviet propaganda. He was granted early release in 1938. After the experience Mosolov altered his style significantly. Most of his post-Gulag works took influence from Central Asian folk music rather than Soviet politics, and were performed only once or twice, if at all.
Mosolov’s Concerto for Harp and Orchestra had its premiere in December 1939 at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. By all accounts it should have become one of his signature works, but after an initial performance featuring famed Russian harpist Vera Dulova and maestro Aleksandr Gauk, it was soon forgotten. Only the cadenza lived on, and to this is day studied in the harp class of the Moscow Conservatory. Mosolov’s 5thSymphony, his last, was completed in 1965. It met a similar fate and the work was never even performed in his lifetime.
Enter entrepreneur and music philanthropist Max Gutbrod. Over the past three years, the retired lawyer, mentor to startups, and avid flute player has supported the restoration and resurgence of these compositions, in collaboration with MSO music director Arthur Arnold.
“I came across the legendary Russian musicologist Ina Barsova who showed me some manuscripts of Mosolov,” Gutbrod recalls. “I immediately contacted Arnold, whose concerts with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra I have been admiring for years now, to see if we could bring these unperformed works to life. Together with Barsova I went to a play-through of the 5th Symphony that Arnold arranged with the MSO. When the music sounded I realized we had found valuable hidden gems.”
The MSO’s managing director, Marina Levine, agrees. “As soon as I heard the 5th Symphony I knew that we had something unique in our hands,” she says. “How wonderful that the Moscow Symphony Orchestra is part of this exciting project.”
The only source for the 5th Symphony is a conductor’s score from now-defunct publisher, Kompositor Moscow and a reprint from Schott. No one knows what happened to the original manuscript. The only source for the harp concerto is the composer’s manuscript that Arnold discovered in the library of the Russian National Museum of Music in Moscow. Orchestra parts were created to get the works ready for performance.
By the winter of 2018, Arnold and the MSO were preparing for a concert and recording session. “There were clear mistakes in the printed score of the 5th Symphony, but with no manuscript to reference, I could only compare notes with other parts of the score and with the manuscripts of his other symphonies. There are no traditions to fall back on. It’s exciting to discover a never performed work to that depth.” says Arnold.
The harp concerto offered a particular thrill in this regard. Not only had it never been completely performed (Gauk decided to scrap the third movement Gavotte for the premiere in 1939) but Arnold was able to share the groundbreaking event with a young musician connected to one of his other artistic projects — the Pacific Region International Summer Music Association (PRISMA) Festival & Academy in Powell River, British Columbia, Canada.
American harpist Taylor Ann Fleshman was the winner of PRISMA’s 2018 Concerto Competition. The first prize is the opportunity to perform in the MSO in Russia. The 24-year-old got a whole lot more than she bargained for.
“For me it was obvious to give Taylor the chance to be the soloist for the harp concerto,” says Arnold. “It’s so important to support young musicians. She’s an excellent harpist, has proven herself at PRISMA and was ready for the big leap. What a great opportunity for her career.”
Arnold and Gutbrod expect that the album, recorded at the Mosfilm Studios, will result in future performances of Mosolov’s music by other orchestras around the world. An upcoming biopic by filmmaker Matthew Mishory, entitled Mosolov’s Suitcase, is also part of their multi-faceted plan to bring the composer more recognition.
“What Shostakovich was so afraid of—being deported at night—happened to Mosolov,” says Arnold. “How did the actions of the regime impact his writing? He has a clear change in style after his imprisonment, but why? Natural development, political influence, a combination? We will probably never know. It is clear however that the musical language of Mosolov is his unique own and needs to be heard. I feel privileged to be able to discover and study manuscripts of these never-performed symphonies and it is an honor to premiere and record them, so that Mosolov’s musical voice doesn’t get lost and will be known to a broader public.”
Arnold recently discovered the manuscripts of Mosolov’s 3rd and 4th symphonies in the Russian State Library and is preparing them for performance with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra and for recording on Naxos “World Premiere Recordings.”
Currently Arnold is working closely together with music publisher Kompozitor St. Petersburg to create an official edition of the Concerto for Harp and Orchestra that will be available for performance in the near future.
To purchase a copy of the album, visit https://naxos.lnk.to/8574102.
For bookings, commissions and music rental, contact Latitude 45 Arts Management: latitude45arts.com.
ALEXANDER MOSOLOV
Alexander Mosolov was one of the foremost composers of the Russian avant-garde during the 1920s. His music was considered 'a testament to the revolutionary spirit of his time’, but the legacy of his fame from that period now rests solely on his work The Iron Foundry. Soviet-era politics brought persecution and imprisonment, and these two recorded works were both composed after his ‘rehabilitation’. The harp concerto – a piece worthy of a place in the mainstream repertoire – is Mosolov’s ‘response ’to the harp concerto by his teacher Glière, and is heard here in its first complete performance. Coupled with the first recording of his final and colorful 5th Symphony, these are fascinating additions to the corpus of neglected Soviet-era works.
ARTHUR ARNOLD – MOSCOW SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Dutch-born conductor Arthur Arnold is the Music Director of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra since 2012 and the Artistic Director of the Pacific Region International Summer Music Association (PRISMA) Festival & Academy in Canada. He is a guest conductor for orchestras all over the world.
The Moscow Symphony Orchestra is one of Russia’s leading orchestras, recognized for its outstanding discography, with its recording of film music by Bernard Herrmann (Marco Polo 8.225168) named among the top ten recordings of 2001 in The Economist. International awards for its recordings include CD of the Month awarded by CD Review, the prestigious Diapason d’Or and the Chairman’s Choice at the Cannes Classical Awards.
TAYLOR ANN FLESHMAN
Young harpist Taylor Ann Fleshman has, among numerous awards, been First Prize winner of the 2018 Pacific Region International Summer Music Association’s concerto competition. After performing and recording the Mosolov Concerto for Harp and Orchestra in Moscow for Naxos she was invited to the PRISMA Festival to perform the work as a guest soloist for the North American premiere with the PRISMA Festival Orchestra under the baton of Arthur Arnold.
Interesting post. Have you read The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov? A great novel about life in the USSR.
ReplyDeleteIt's one of those books I've always meant to read, but haven't gotten around to.
ReplyDelete