# SS 18.11.2017 - Khachaturian #3 "Symphony-Poem"



## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

A continuation of the Saturday Symphonies Tradition:

Welcome to another weekend of symphonic listening! 
_*
*_For your listening pleasure this weekend:*

Aram Khachaturian (1903 - 1978)*

Symphony No. 3 "Symphony-Poem" 

1. Allegro moderato, maestoso - Allegro - Andante sostenuto - Maestoso - Tempo I

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Post what recording you are going to listen to giving details of Orchestra / Conductor / Chorus / Soloists etc - Enjoy!


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## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

Another Symphony is up for the weekend and this weekend we're heading back to Russia for Khachaturian's Third. I'm not familiar with this one so I'm looking forward to giving it a spin.

I'll be listening to:

Fedor Glushchenko/BBC Philharmonic

And here's a YouTube link for those who can't find or don't have a recording:


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

​Khachaturian: Symphony Nos. 1 & 3

Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Loris Tjeknavorian

I am going with this one.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Can't remember too much about this work, so I'll dig out my Tjeknavorian recording on ASV. Have to say that the misrepresentation of the Cyrillic alphabet on the cover nettles me a bit.


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## D Smith (Sep 13, 2014)

I'll listen on youtube. I'm pretty sure I've never heard this work before.


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## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

Please..if at all possible listen to the Stokowski/Chicago recording. That ASV does not do the piece justice.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Vasks said:


> Please..if at all possible listen to the Stokowski/Chicago recording. That ASV does not do the piece justice.


Right. the Stoki/CSO recording has to be the classic....too bad it's only avaible in a big collection..unless it has been released separately??


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

elgars ghost said:


> Can't remember too much about this work, so I'll dig out my Tjeknavorian recording on ASV. Have to say that the misrepresentation of the Cyrillic alphabet on the cover nettles me a bit.


And the fact that there's a sizable cut towards to end of this otherwise intriguing piece. But that First Symphony saves the day.


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## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

Heck148 said:


> Right. the Stoki/CSO recording has to be the classic....too bad it's only avaible in a big collection..unless it has been released separately??


Ah yes, but then there's good old youtube. Only it's split into "two parts"

PART 1






PART 2


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

This work is on my dream list to perform someday. What a noisy, empty, vulgar work it is! And I love it. If ever there was a work perfectly suited to Stokowski's usual tasteless, vulgar presentation, this was it! That should have been released on a single cd early on.


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

Never heard this one before, so here goes this version


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## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

BOMBASTIC is the least I can say about this symphony. Glushchenko with the BBC Philharmonic is the most overwhelming recording of this work.


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## Mika (Jul 24, 2009)

Haydn man said:


> View attachment 99300
> 
> Never heard this one before, so here goes this version


Will listen this one also.


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

If you are looking for Stokowski's performance it can be found in this Sony boxed set - which is available on Spotify for those who use it.

View attachment 99308


I will give it a listen tomorrow.


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## D Smith (Sep 13, 2014)

Since our Saturday Symphony threads have received some criticism, I'm happy to give my first listening response. Not very subtle, is it? But enjoyable anyway. I especially liked the organ solo and the brass. This work is certainly worth visiting again- I'll try and find the Stokowski version as it seems right up his alley.


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

I have now had the pleasure (?) of listening to Stokowski's recording of the Khachaturian third Symphony.

That has to be one of the strangest openings to any symphonic work I've heard - the strings and tamtam drums combine to make a tumultuous noise that is simultaneously exciting & violent. The organ solo section almost seems as if it belongs in another work, it really doesn't sit well with the rest of the piece for me.
Scored for a large orchestra with a doubled wind section and a massive section of additional trumpets it certainly creates a huge noise. Stokowski seems to revel in the piece - I certainly didn't sense any feeling of him holding back.

A little further investigation informs me that the piece was written for the 30th Anniversary of the Russian Revolution which is also a couple of years after the end of WWII - which only makes the work more puzzling as I don't hear much music that I would instantly regard as celebratory.

That's my thoughts on what is a new Symphony to me, granted, based on one listen - not one I'm likely to rush back to. But I'm certainly glad to have heard it.


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## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

No. 3 with Mravinsky: gripping, you have to add dynamics to the flat recording with your own imagination


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

Aargh - what a weekend to decide to be away; I've been waiting years for an excuse to discuss this work (in fact any - or all - of Khachaturian's symphonies).
If I remember correctly, the Stokowski was the first recording in the west and, compared to the superb performance by Kondrashin on Melodiya which appeared here in the UK in the 1970's (HMV/Melodiya); it has not worn well. Khachaturian's 3rd symphony may be loud, over-scored and bombastic, but so are many other works and it deserves to be heard at it's best. For my money the best has to either the aforementioned Kondrashin, or the much more recent (1994) Chandos recording by the BBCPO under Fedor Glushchenko. Both let rip, both have a well-recorded organ which is placed nicely forward, but not enough to overwhelm the orchestra (were such a thing possible in this work), and both have a confidence that they can get through this and enjoy it! The Tjeknavorian recording, also from the 1990's on ASV loses out in all those ways - it's flat-sounding, has a feeble organ and seems to tread very carefully where it ought to be on fire! That disc does have a very good recording of the 1st symphony however (though even that's not as good as Tjeknavorians' earlier recording with the LSO), and it's a pity the 3rd lets it down as being it's an Armenian orchestra and conductor, it really should be top-notch.
So it's been over 20 years since anyone made a commercial recording of this work and it really does need looking at again. In the meantime, if you really don't like this symphony and want to hear it being destroyed, have a listen to this live performance from Japan and weep (or sing for joy - up to you).


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