ANTON RUBINSTEIN (1829-1894): Symphony No. 2 in C, Op. 42 “Ocean”

New this month (Aug 2017) is another recording of Rubinstein's music. Hopefully, we will see a cycle out of this from the MD&G label.

ANTON RUBINSTEIN (1829-1894): Symphony No. 2 in C, Op. 42 “Ocean”, Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 63, Don Quixote, Op. 87, Ouverture Triomphale, Op. 43, 2 Dances from the Opera The Demon, Trot de Cavalerie, Sérénade russe No. 1, Op. 93 and Valse Caprice (latter two arr. Karl Müller-Berghaus [1829-1907]).

Label: MD&G

Reference: 335 2016-2

Format: CD reissue

Price: $18.98

Description: Three different sides of Rubinstein are on view on the first disc of this reissue: the exotic Orientalist of the Demon ballet music, the Classicist of the 1864 concerto, very much in the style of Schumann, and the Progressive modernist of the Lisztian tone-poem Don Quixote of 1870. In the original, 1851 four movement version, the symphony is pure early German Romanticism with, perhaps, a touch of Russian folk music in the slow movement. The Ouverture comes from the following year and is a splashy, colorfully orchestrated celebratory piece for an unknown purpose while the arrangements of popular piano pieces by Müller-Berghaus (an excellent arranger whose other works included Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2) make for unusual fillers. 2 CDs for the price of 1. Alban Gerhardt (cello), Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra; George Hanson. Original 2003 & 2004 releases.