# Svetlanov... Let's talk about him



## Tarneem (Jan 3, 2022)

I knew it 2022 won't end before I discover a treasure 

Just today I listened to some of his music, I have to say hi compositions are brilliant. effortless to listen, but unfortunately I have to say some of his compositions are not perfect, for example transitioning from one key to the other is not that flexible, and also sometimes I feel that his melodies should be phrased for longer times...


I don't know,,,, what you think????


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Pleasant, interesting music which doesn't scale any great heights. But then Svetlanov is a very fine conductor and actually a very fine pianist too, so he's allowed not to be top class at absolutely everything!


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

His first symphony I think is terrific and it's too bad that getting the performance materials is so difficult; what a nice addition to the repertoire if people would just give it a listen. People seem to really like Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff, so Svetlanov's music falls right in line. There's a haunting tone poem, the Red Guelder Rose that I really enjoy. The piano concerto is also worth a listen. Maybe someday someone will take it upon themselves to make new recordings of his orchestral music; those Melodiya recordings suffer acoutistically. Svetlanov is another one of those conductors whose composing side brought a lot of intelligence and understanding to the podium. Not every record he made was great, some were pretty awful (Dvorak New World, Mahler anything eg) but when he was on fire, he was outstanding. I got to hear him live once doing Shostakovich and Prokofieff - great concert.


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## dko22 (Jun 22, 2021)

As a big fan of Svetlanov the conductor (heard live concerts with the LSO, Gothenburg Symphony and his finale foreign orchestra, the Residentie Orkest) I listened to the symphony decades ago and revisiting it, it certainly has its moments -- I particularly enjoy the scherzo and the coda is also touching. The would be no harm at all in substituting this every now and then for a Rachmaninov symphony.


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## feierlich (3 mo ago)

Great Tchaikovsky/Scriabin/Rachmaninov interpreter, but I'm generally more suspicious about a composer who's more known as a conductor than a conductor who's more known as a composer. For example, Strauss, Webern, Stravinsky, Hindemith, Boulez, Maderna, Stockhausen and Zender are all great conductors; but say Furtwängler, Kletzki and Salonen are not so great composers.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

I played two Svetlanov (composer) CD's from my collection this year:

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Yevgeny Svetlanov: Symphony No. 1, The Red Guelder-Rose (Russian State Symphony Orchestra, Yevgeny Svetlanov, Warner)*

Yevgeny Svetlanov (1928 - 2002) was a Russian conductor, composer and a pianist. The energetic symphony is from 1956, and is relatively old-fashioned (although with hints of Shostakovich at places) but a good listen. It is difficult to find information about The Red Guelder-Rose (mainly because there is an actual rose with that name and that dominates the google results). It is a sometimes melodious, sometimes rhythmic orchestral piece, that sounds nothing like a rose. It is a very good piece though, for me even better than the symphony.










*Yevgeny Svetlanov: Daybreak in the Field; Three Russian Songs; Pictures of Spain, Rhapsody No.2, Daugave, Russian Variations (USSR Symphony Orchestra, Yevgeny Svetlanov, Raisa Bobrineva, Russian Disc)*

An interesting cross-section of works from this Russian composer who is probably better known as conductor. I particularly like the melancholic Three Russian Songs (well sung by Raisa Bobrineva), the colourful Pictures of Spain, and the exhilarating second Rhapsody.


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