Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Mainly known for his symphonic works, especially the popular symphonic suite Sheherazade, as well as the Capriccio Espagnol and the Russian Easter Festival Overture, Rimsky-Korsakov left an oeuvre that also included operas, chamber works, and songs. Rimsky-Korsakov's music is accessible and engaging owing to his talent for tone-coloring and brilliant orchestration. Furthermore, his operas are masterful musical evocations of myths and legends.
Born in 1844, Rimsky-Korsakov studied the piano as a child but chose a naval career, entering the College of Naval Cadets in St. Petersburg in 1856. However, he continued with piano lessons; in fact, in 1859, Rimsky-Korsakov started working with the French pianist Theodore Canille, through whom he met Balakirev, an important mentor and friend.
In 1862, after graduating form the naval school, Rimsky-Korsakov was at sea for two and a half years, devoting his free time to composition. Upon Rimsky-Korsakov's return to St. Petersburg, in 1865, Balakirev conducted his friend's First Symphony, which was hailed as the first important symphonic work by a Russian composer.
Rimsky-Korsakov was appointed professor of composition and orchestration at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 1871. The following year, he married Nadezhda Purgold, a pianist. In 1873, Rimsky-Korsakov left active duty, becoming inspector of navy orchestras, a job which he held until 1884.
During the 1870s, Rimsky-Korsakov composed, conducted, and collected Russian folk songs. In 1878, he started composing the opera May Night, after a story by Nikolai Gogol, his first stage work based on a story containing fantastic motifs. Following the production of May Night, in 1880, Rimsky-Korsakov began work on Snow Maiden, based on Nikolai Ostrovsky's poetic retelling of a Slavic myth, which was performed in 1882.
Saddened by Mussorgsky's death, in 1881, Rimsky-Korsakov devoted himself to editing his friend's unpublished manuscripts. A master orchestrator, Rimsky-Korsakov felt obliged to help colleagues whose manuscripts needed revision. Thus, in 1887, when Borodin died, Rimsky-Korsakov agreed to orchestrate and complete Borodin's opera Prince Igor.
Rimsky-Korsakov wrote the Spanish Capriccio in 1887, completing the Russian Easter Overture and Sheherazade the following year. Having composed these resplendent works, however, Rimsky-Korsakov went through a period of despondency; there were deaths in his family, and, in 1893, Tchaikovsky died.
In 1895, Rimsky-Korsakov's Christmas Eve, another opera after a Gogol story, was produced. The composer's subsequent works recreated the rich world of Russian myths and legends. Sadko, completed in 1896, conjured up a medieval Russian legend. In 1901, Rimsky-Korsakov blended the legend of Kitezh and the story of St. Fevroniya to create a complex Christian-pantheistic narrative. Completed in 1905, the year when the politically progressive composer was temporarily dismissed from this teaching post, The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden, was produced in 1907.
Rimsky-Korsakov's last opera, The Golden Cockerel, completed in 1907, was inspired by a politically subversive story by Alexander Pushkin. The production of this work was a struggle, because the subject matter aroused suspicions among government censors. The opera was finally produced, in 1909, the year following the composer's death, by a private opera company in Moscow.
© TiVo
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Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade, Op. 35 (Digitally Remastered)
USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Yevgeny Svetlanov, Heinrich Friedhelm
Classique - Paru chez EMG Classical le 9 déc. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rimsky Korsakov - Scheherezade
Classique - Paru chez Piros - Dienc le 1 juin 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Romantic Thanksgiving
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Sergei Prokofiev, Alexandre Borodine
Classique - Paru chez UME - Global Clearing House le 21 nov. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Victor Merzhanov Plays Tchaikovsky & Rimsky-Korsakov
Classique - Paru chez Classical Records le 10 oct. 2002
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Rimsky - Korsakov, Scheherazade, Capricho Español
Antonio Janigro, Antonio Beltrami
Classique - Paru chez JamadaClassics le 5 nov. 2015
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Symphonic Suite No. 2 In F Sharp Minor, Op. 9 "Antar" - Piano Trio In C Minor
Musique de chambre - Paru chez RHI le 9 nov. 2015
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Relaxed Holidays
Modeste Moussorgski, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Dimitri Chostakovitch
Classique - Paru chez UME - Global Clearing House le 5 déc. 2020
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Rimsky-Korsakoff's "Scheherazade, Op. 35"
Pierre Monteux & The London Symphony Orchestra
Classique - Paru chez Master Classics Records le 1 janv. 1958
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Rimsky-Korsakov: Suite from The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh
American Symphony Orchestra, Leon Botstein
Classique - Paru chez American Symphony Orchestra le 11 sept. 2013
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Scheherazade (Classical Music Masters)
Classique - Paru chez Il Loggione Records le 2 mars 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio Espagnol, Op. 34 (Digitally Remastered)
Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Sergei Skripka
Classique - Paru chez EMG Classical le 9 déc. 2014
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Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade
Sir Eugene Goossens, London Symphony Orchestra, Hugh Maguire
Classique - Paru chez Everest Records le 28 juil. 1960
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Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade & Russian Easter
Classique - Paru chez Tuxedo Music le 18 avr. 2013
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Victor Fedotov. Rimsky-Korsakov: Borodin
Academic Symphony Orchestra Of The St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Victor Fedotov
Musique symphonique - Paru chez Classical Records le 3 avr. 2010
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The Art of Nikolai Golovanov: Rimsky-Korsakov - Christmas Eve, Tsar Dodon and Shemakhan Tsarina Suite
Classique - Paru chez Music Online le 7 déc. 2007
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The Vernizzi Brothers Basson Quartet
Classique - Paru chez SMC Records le 10 juin 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Clásicos del Milenio, Sherezade de Las Mil y Una Noches
Radio Symphony Orchestra Ljubljana
Classique - Paru chez Piros - Send le 29 mars 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nikolái Rimsky - Kórsakov
Classique - Paru chez Piros Comercial Digital le 14 févr. 2015
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Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: The Tale of Tsar Saltan [1953]
Ivan Petrov, Vladimir Ivanovski, Yevguenia Smolenskaya
Opéra - Paru chez Classical Moments le 4 mars 2015
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Temple University Wind Symphony
Temple University Wind Symphony
Classique - Paru chez Albany Records le 1 déc. 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo