Vissarion Shebalin (1902-1963), a neglected Soviet composer

[kyjo]

I have gotten much pleasure out of Shebalin's music. His five symphonies and the other orchestral works that were recorded by Olympia are very fine works which show no signs of any brash propagandistic elements that can plague the music of some lesser-known Soviet composers. All of his symphonies show the influence of his teacher, Miaskovsky, especially nos. 1-3. 4 and 5 show more similarities with Prokofiev and Shostakovich, but their influences are masterfully assimilated into Shebalin's personal style. No. 5 is a deeply personal work that took me a couple listens to fully appreciate it. It's quite an eloquent work. His Violin Concerto is a wonderful work with a beautiful, almost transcendent slow movement. The two orchestral suites which were recently recorded by Toccata I was less impressed with, as they struck me as sounding like Shostakovich's lighter music without the good tunes. I am not familiar with his nine string quartets, which are reportedly of very high quality. The Olympia recordings of them (and the Dramatic Symphony Lenin, which I have not heard either) are, unsurprisingly, quite difficult to get ahold of. ::) BTW anyone having trouble getting ahold of the three Olympia discs of the symphonies and other orchestral works (besides the one with the Lenin Symphony) will be pleased to find that they have been reissued at ArkivMusic as ArkivCDs. Any other Shebalin fans out there?

                                         


(I hope I have succeeded in trying to make my composer posts less prolix ;D)

[guest377]

I was able to snap up those Olympia  and Russian Discs shortly after they came out... oh for the Tower Records days.....
Dave

[kyjo]

I was able to snap up those Olympia  and Russian Discs shortly after they came out... oh for the Tower Records days.....
Dave

Lucky you ;D

[albert]

I agree about the Violin Concerto. Time allowing, I will hear again Symphonies n.1 and n.3.
In actual concerts I attended to, the name of Shebalin appeared only as "reconstructor" of a "Symphony on two Russian themes" by Glinka (remote concert with Svetlanov and the URRS State Orchestra).

[guest377]

sometimes those cds appear on amazon or ebay.

[tapiola]

I own every CD shown and then some but have never been able to get inside this composer. As a person he was very highly regarded for his integrity and courage. Shostakovich had his portrait on his wall along with Beethoven. During the 1948 attacks he was the only one who stood and  said the attacks were "ridiculous". Of course he paid for it with loss of work, position and a stroke that ruined his health and eventually caused his early death.

[guest377]

I was able to snap up those Olympia  and Russian Discs shortly after they came out... oh for the Tower Records days.....
Dave

oh yes.. Tower used to have a section called Olympia CDs... there were so many at one time.

[guest145]

I own every CD shown and then some but have never been able to get inside this composer.

Me too, unfortunately. I respect his music, and the man, but it just doesn't speak to me.

[ttle]

Not that it helps in any way to get into his music, but respect for the man is even strengthened when you read Karetnikov's quite marvellous book of memoirs (Theme and variations). Karetnikov, obviously, turned to a totally different musical path, which almost prevented any performance of his music for a quarter of a century and led him to the brink of starvation, but he always retained his admiration and affection for his old master.

[dholling]

The Quartets are generally very well written (with nos. 5-7 being folkloric masterpieces that look back to Tchaikovsky and the traditionalists). His Trio op. 39 (1946) is glorious.
My favorite of Shebalin's works is not doubt "The Taming of the Shrew" which ought to be better known by now?  :-\

[Vandermolen]

Count me in here. I love Symphony 1, which shows the influence of his teacher - the mighty Miaskovsky. Also, Symphony 5, a rather poignant and sad conclusion to the cycle. Good news about the Arkiv issues.