Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade
Rimsky-Korsakov: Mlada – Procession of the Nobles
John Georgiadis, Solo Violin
London Symphony Orchestra
Evgeny Svetlanov, conductor
Scriabin: Le Poème de l’extase
USSR State Symphony Orchestra
Evgeny Svetlanov, conductor
Recording date: 21 February 1978 (Rimsky-Korsakov) & 22 August 1968 (Scriabin)
Location: Royal Festival Hall, London
Label: B BBC Music Legends/Medici Arts
Publication: 2003
ASIN: B00009IB0G
About the recording of “Le Poème de l’extase” at the Royal Festival Hall, 1968:
“Baffling, staggering even, Evgeny Svetlanov’s version defies classification. From the first notes, a sense of menacing doom, irremediable chilliness. The hardness of the orchestra, the live is excellent, is a powerful affirmation of the writing impulse. The hysterical dimension of the partition is revealed here like nowhere else. “We alternate between the most electrifying tension and the most fatalistic abandon” in an “Onslaught of violence brought on by a concertante trumpet solo” . We witness a titanic combat on which the orchestra seems to stake its very existence. A vital, irrepressible sense of urgency. The last two crescendos, separated by an immense silence, and the power of the ultimate, seemingly endless, chords “come together as a gesture in the face of an infinite horizon”. Yes, really, this is one of the greatest concerts in the history of music recordings.” – Stéphane Friédérich, September 2015, Magazine Classica