Aram Khachaturian; Dmitri Kabalevsky - Masquerade Suite; The Comedians (Kirill Kondrashin)

Information

Composer: Aram Khachaturian; Dmitri Kabalevsky

• Khachaturian - Masquerade Suite
• Kabalevsky - The Comedians

RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra

Kirill Kondrashin, conductor

Date: 1958

Label: RCA / JVC

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Review

OK, since nobody seems to be making this particular JVC remastering available in the U.S. anymore, I’ll make the review brief.

I’ve heard quite a few of JVC’s XRCD audiophile remasterings over the years, but this is among the only ones for which I have never had the equivalent standard recording in my collection, so I have no basis for comparison to tell whether JVC’s very expensive processing of the master tape is superior to anything else available at regular price. I do know the album is currently available in RCA’s “Living Stereo” line at about $13.00 (along with Tchaikovsky’s Capriccio italien and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio espagnol), whereas the JVC listed at the original time of its release for about $35.00. To make matters even more dicey, I notice used copies of the RCA currently on-line for as little as three bucks. However, if in the past you’ve heard a difference for the better in JVC XRCD remasters, as I have, perhaps the search and the costlier investment would be worth it to you. Otherwise, who knows; I make no promises.

In any case, I was familiar with Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian’s Masquerade Suite, if not this specific recording of it, and I was very much looking forward to it here. However, I was also a bit disappointed in it. It had been maybe twenty-odd years since my last hearing it, and I’d forgotten how very loud and often bombastic the work could be. This is a matter of taste, of course, but I also found even the two slow movements, the Nocturne and Romance, somewhat lacking in inspiration. I could hardly fault Maestro Kiril Kondrashin and the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra for this, however, as they do their job with a splendid vigor and enthusiasm. To make matters slightly worse, RCA’s 1958 sound didn’t much impress me, either, remastered or not. The bass seemed plentiful and deep, to be sure, but the highs appeared a tad too bright and edgy for me.

Then I listened to the coupling, Russian composer Dimitri Kabalevsky’s The Comedians, and it was an entirely different story. I had never heard the complete suite before, but by the time I reached the “Comedian’s Galop,” I realized I’d heard this familiar music time and again without realizing what it was. The whole piece, ten short movements in all, is delightful, witty, and invigorating. More important, the composer appears to have scored The Comedians for a slightly smaller orchestra than Khachaturian’s, because while RCA recorded both it and the Masquerade Suite at about the same time, the sound of The Comedians seems smoother, deeper, and more transparent. In fact, I found The Comedians, as short as it is (about fifteen minutes), probably worth the steep asking price of the whole disc.

Let me put it another way: If you’ve never heard the two RCA recordings on this disc before, as I hadn’t, and you’re willing to take a chance, you might consider looking for the JVC remastering if you have a very high-end system, very deep pockets, and infinite patience finding it. Or you might try the standard RCA Living Stereo edition if you have a more-modest system, and you want to be sensible about things. No matter your choice, you might find the Kabalevsky, especially, exhilarating and fun under Kondrashin’s direction. I know I did.

— John J. Puccio

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Aram Khachaturian (6 June 1903 – 1 May 1978) was a Soviet Armenian composer and conductor. Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, he studied at the Gnessin Musical Institute and the Moscow Conservatory with Nikolai Myaskovsky, among others. As a young composer, he was influenced by contemporary Western music, particularly that of Maurice Ravel. In his Symphony No. 1 and later works, this influence was supplanted by a growing appreciation of folk traditions. His other works include Symphonies No. 2 & No. 3, the symphonic suite Masquerade, the ballet Spartacus, concertos, as well as film scores and incidental music.

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Dmitry Kabalevsky (30 December 1904 – 14 February 1987) was a Soviet composer. Born in St. Petersburg, he studied at the Scriabin Music School and later the Moscow Conservatory, where he joined the faculty in 1932 and gained distinction as a teacher. Beginning his compositional career with piano works, Kabalevsky later developed a personal style marked by clear tonality and vigorous rhythm. Influenced early by Nikolai Myaskovsky, he achieved wide recognition for works such as Colas Breugnon, The Comedians, and his Piano Concerto No. 2. He received numerous honors for both his music and public service.

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Kirill Kondrashin (6 March 1914 – 7 March 1981) was a Soviet and Russian conductor. Born in Moscow to a musical family, he studied conducting at the Moscow Conservatory from 1931 to 1936. He conducted at the Maly Opera Theatre in Leningrad, then the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. Kondrashin was chief conductor of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra from 1960 to 1975, in a period of notable achievement. He defected from the Soviet Union in 1978 while touring in the Netherlands, became guest conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in the same year, and remained in that position until his death.

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