A Roslavets album that makes me both happy and sad

 

I was happy to find this album of Nicolai Roslavets' second, third and fourth piano trios by the German group Trio Fontenay.  I've enjoyed the album, available on Hoopla Digital. I particularly liked the third trio. 

I was curious why the trio had chosen those trios of Roslavets. Well, it turns out that they are the only ones that could be recorded -- the first and fifth piano trios are lost, according to the list of Roslavets' works on Wikipedia. 

This sort of sad discovery is not unknown for the composers I am interested in. Alexander Mosolov wrote five piano sonatas, and I've listened to four of them again and again, but the third has been lost. 

Some love for Gavriil Popov on Twitter

A photo of composer Gavriil Popov posted at the myaskoviev 2 Twitter account. The caption from the Tweet says, "Gavriil Popov (12 Sept 1904-1972) claims the dubious distinction of being the first Soviet composer to have a work banned outright after its premiere- the fate of Symphony no.1 (1935). Among composers named and shamed in 1948, his career never recovered and he died an alcoholic."

There are so many sources of information on the internet, I have to figure out what is worth my time and attention. A Twitter account I continue to make time for is the myaskofiev 2 account that I wrote about earlier, and which is the source of the Popov photo posted above. 

Here is another photo from the account I could not help bookmarking: 

Speaking of Popov, I noticed that the Hoopla digital library app and website, available at most public libraries in the U.S., has added the Leon Botstein/London Symphony Orchestra performance of Popov's first symphony. It's a performance I haven't heard yet; I'll listen to it soon. 

New recording of Mosolov harp concerto

Alexander Mosolov's "lost" Concerto for Harp and Orchestra dates back to 1939, but it was not recorded until 2020, when a world premiere recording was made by conductor Arthur Arnold and the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, with harpist Taylor Ann Fleshman as the soloist.

Now there is a second recording.  French harpist Xavier de Maistre has released a new recording of the Mosolov concerto, with WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, conducted by Nathalie Stutzmann. The recording also has a Reinhold Glière harp concerto. More information here. 

The album is available from the usual streaming services and at Freegal, the music streaming service offered by some public libraries in the U.S.