# Alexander Borodin - Symphony No. 2



## HansZimmer (11 mo ago)

How do you rate this piece?


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## haziz (Sep 15, 2017)

Excellent! A very underrated symphony by a great composer.

My favorite recording is by Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony. Ernest Ansermet with the L'Orchestre De La Suisse Romande also made another fine recording.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

I voted Good. I like the piece but there are others in the Russian repertoire, including by Borodin himself, which float my boat more. Favourite recording: Carlos Kleiber with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Martinon/LSO....also Mitropoulos/NYPO


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

The music literally sounds like a sprawled adventure village in the lushest fields and cliffs on a beautiful day. I think it's Borodin's highly ethereal sense of harmony, his abundant woodwind writing, and bright colors that accomplish this; rather, I'm not sure what I'd rate the symphony right now but Borodin always has a naturally perfect quality to his music, even though it may not challenge, or excite, it always already sounds pre-perfected, as though every note and instrument had to be right.


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## Chat Noir (4 mo ago)

I saw/heard this symphony at Utrecht concert hall around 2016/2017 and thought at the time that the first movement was interminably long. And I have sat through many long works. The slow movement is very lyrical and and enjoyable. I rated it good.
On the whole I prefer Borodin's chamber music.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Great symphony that deserves a regular place in the concert of every major orchestra. It used to be there, but recent generations have ignored it and leave it to amateur community orchestras to negotiate. The symphony is also a prime candidate for a definitive edition in new, corrected and readable parts.


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## HansZimmer (11 mo ago)

Chat Noir said:


> I saw/heard this symphony at Utrecht concert hall around 2016/2017 and thought at the time that the first movement was interminably long. And I have sat through many long works. The slow movement is very lyrical and and enjoyable. I rated it good.
> On the whole I prefer Borodin's chamber music.


It's not long the first movement. 7 minutes (in a symphony of 27-28 minutes) for the romantic period is not long. Maybe what you want to say is that the theme of the first movement is rudimental (and the variations don't make it more exciting) and it bores you after 3 minutes.


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## Chat Noir (4 mo ago)

HansZimmer said:


> It's not long the first movement. 7 minutes (in a symphony of 27-28 minutes) for the romantic period is not long. Maybe what you want to say is that the theme of the first movement is rudimental (and the variations don't make it more exciting) and it bores you after 3 minutes.


Perhaps that, though it was just at that performance and the seat was a bit uncomfortable. I've listened to it before on recordings and wasn't quite as bothered.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Voted very good, I prefer the no 1 which is excellent 
Favourite recording .Neeme Järvi -Gennady Rozhdestvensky -Kyril Kondrashin and Gergiev .


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Not really a fan of Borodin in general.


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

To add to my previous comment, his music also has a very Mongolian heart. Borodin's adventure-themed and airy approach to composition I find the most pure and perfect of the Russians, like the Bach of "Russian romanticism," more profound than say, Tchaikovsky's approach of simplistic aesthetic sensibilities, where ie. anything truly adventurous must ultimately tie to his grey scheme. On my always-improving and toughening scale, I would currently award this work a 6/6.


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## Scherzi Cat (8 mo ago)

I listen to it often and find it very enjoyable. Currently I listen to Kleiber but I will have to give Schwarz a spin because I like the work he did on Rimsky-Korsakov.

Postscript: I tried the Schwarz and found the performance to sound stilted in comparison to the Kleiber. I tend to gravitate to the clearer sonics of a newer recording, but for now I’ll stick to the old one.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Ethereality said:


> On my always-improving and toughening scale, I would currently award this work a 6/6.


Being generous, I'd give it a 3/6.


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