{"product_id":"kalomiris-rhapsodies-symphonic-poems-1","title":"Kalomiris: Rhapsodies - Symphonic Poems","description":"\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"COMPOSER12\"\u003eKALOMIRIS \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12b\"\u003eRhapsody No. 1\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"SUPER12\"\u003e1. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12b\"\u003eRhapsody No. 2,\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e “Song to the Night\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"SUPER12\"\u003e1.” \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12bi\"\u003eLyrics\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"SUPER12\"\u003e2,3. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12bi\"\u003eIn St Luke’s Monastery\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"SUPER12\"\u003e1,4. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12bi\"\u003eMinas the Rebel, Corsair of the Aegean.\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"SUPER12\"\u003e1\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12bi\"\u003e The Death of the Valiant Woman\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"SUPER12\"\u003e1 \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"BULLET12\"\u003e • \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e Byron Fidetzis, cond; \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"SUPER12\"\u003e1\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003eRussian St S Capella; \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"SUPER12\"\u003e2\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003eKarlovy Vary SO; \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"SUPER12\"\u003e3\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003eJulia Souglakou (sop); \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"SUPER12\"\u003e4\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003eEva Kotamanidou (nar) \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"BULLET12\"\u003e • \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e NAXOS 8.572451 (76:38 \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"EXTRAS12\"\u003e\u0026amp;\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e available at naxos.com\/libretti\/572451.htm) \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eManolis Kalomiris (1883–1962) was born in Smyrna (now Izmir on the western coast of Turkey), and received his early education in Constantinople (I have used the pre-Ottoman name of that city in deference to Kalomiris’s Greek heritage). His musical education was largely accomplished in Vienna, where he studied both piano and composition. After graduation he spent several years as a piano teacher in Karkov, Ukraine, where he absorbed the music of the great Russian nationalist composers and, upon finally settling in Athens, vowed to create a similarly inspired Greek national school of music based on his culture’s indigenous music, literature, and myths, and enhanced by the more modern compositional trends and techniques of his time. Toward that end he founded the Hellenic Conservatory in 1919, and, in 1926, the National Conservatory. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eThe first work on this release, the Rhapsody No. 1, was composed in 1921, and is certainly Greek in flavor. Long-limbed, melismatic melodies underpinned by metrically uneven time signatures impart an aura of Eastern exoticism. There is, however, an odd but effective convergence of both means and styles. The piece, as with everything else on this release, is leavened with, to a greater or lesser extent, an illuminating French twist. Originally written for piano solo and replete with some quite Francophile harmonies, it was later orchestrated and conducted by Gabriel Pierné, which is the version given here. Hearing Kalomiris’s harmonizations, it is clear as to why Pierné was so enamored of this piece, and strove to popularize it. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eRhapsody No. 2, “Song of the Night,” also composed in 1921, was likewise conceived for piano solo, and documents a greater depth and sophistication in Kalomiris’s language than found in the First Rhapsody. The subsequent and equally brilliant orchestration heard here was done by this release’s conductor, Byron Fidetzis, in 1987–88. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eLyrics\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e (text by Angelos Sikelianos), also known as \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eSongs of Sikelianos\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e, takes one, given the sounds and inflexions of the Greek language, farther into Kalomiris’s core than the two rhapsodies. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eLyrics\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e was premiered in Athens in 1937. Designed for soprano and orchestra, it is scored more lightly and transparently than the two rhapsodies. Sikelianos’s texts are vividly and often pungently realized by Kalomiris. Here, as in all effective musical settings of poetry from Schubert forward, one has difficulty determining exactly where the word ends and the music begins, and vice-versa. Soprano Julia Souglakou manages the often large intervallic leaps with great aplomb, and also supplies ravishing \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003emezzo-voce\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e singing where needed. The same year, 1937, also saw the first performance of \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eIn Saint Luke’s Monastery\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e for narrator and orchestra. In this melodrama (not a pejorative) for female narrator and orchestra, the Greek language further defines and elucidates Kalomiris’s music much as Bartók’s Hungarian and Sibelius’s Finnish underpin theirs. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eThe remaining pieces—\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eMinna the Rebel\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e and \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eThe Death of the Valiant Woman\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e—were composed in 1940 and 1945, respectively, and are, given their underlying programs, Greek to the core. Here Kalomiris’s musical language is more pithy and direct than in the earliest pieces on this release. In them pastels give way to stark primary colors and their underlying narratives are writ large. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eThe works have been arranged in roughly chronological order and show a progression in the language of a worthy composer who at first felt that he had to play a game of catch-up in order to become valid, who assimilated as many of the “legitimate” trends of his time, and who finally found his own voice. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eThese performances by the Russian State Symphonic Capella and the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra are technically faultless by current world standards. Their ability to project the essences of this music can be laid at the feet of their Greek-born conductor, Byron Fidetzis, who turns in a truly masterly job and delivers performances that are equally full of expertise, verve, and passion. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eThe sound, like the performances, is well up to current standards. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan style=\"font-weight:bold\"\u003eFANFARE: William Zagorski \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Naxos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49682282217752,"sku":"747313245178","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/1769790.jpg?v=1777571730","url":"https:\/\/hbdirect.com\/products\/kalomiris-rhapsodies-symphonic-poems-1","provider":"HBDirect","version":"1.0","type":"link"}