Ippolitov-Ivanov: Caucasian Sketches; Turkish March and Fragments [CD]

Russian composer Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov (1859-1935) is considered to be one of the lesser-known talents of the late Romantic/early Modern period, with his music rarely played in concert these days and his name shadowed over by such illustrious contemporaries as Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky and Alexander Borodin. Indeed, a search on Amazon for a comprehensive package of this composer will yield only this CD, a sort of 'greatest hits' consisting of the Caucasian Sketches (Suites No. 1 and 2), the Turkish March, and the assembled Turkish Fragments, all conducted by Arthur Fagen with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine. Information on the Internet is equally sketchy; a good deal of this review was paraphrased from the CD's liner notes.

The son of a mechanic, Ippolitov-Ivanov studied in his youth at the Cathedral of St. Isaac, where he served as a choirboy, and later at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. He completed his studies with famed instructor/composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and would owe a lifelong debt of influence to the master. The composer's first appointment was as a director of a music academy in Tiflis, Georgia, and Ippolitov-Ivanov spent seven years amidst the non-Slavic minorities of the region, absorbing their folk-music and culture. Upon returning to Moscow in 1893, the composer penned the two *Kavkasskiye Eskizi*, evoking the southern-exotic ambience of Georgia, particularly its amalgam of Christian and Islamic culture and the oriental influence of the region.

Caucasian Sketches, Suite No. 1 begins with 'In a Mountain Pass', a landscape tone-poem wherein a simple melodic passage grows and swells, climaxing with percussive fills before reaching a gentle denouement. The second sketch, 'In a Village,' is bookended with an exotic violin riff and, as its centerpiece, contains a cheerfully rustic folk-song; 'In a Mosque' progresses naturally from its decline, serene and gliding, before the 'Procession of the Serdar' literally bursts into the atmosphere with its regal, parade-like culmination of the previous themes.

Caucasian Sketches, Suite No. 2: "Iveria" refers to an ancient kingdom of this name, a Christian enclave and region marked as a meeting-point of civilizations, contested by Persia, the Ottoman Empire and finally Russia, courtesy of Catherine the Great. The suite starts off with the nine-minute 'Introduction: Lamentation of Princess Ketevana,' an initially somber preface that climaxes mid-way through, then scales back to its sorrowful motif. The tribal dance of the 'Lesghinka' builds methodically over the course of four minutes, erupting at last with pounding drums and furious string-work, and the 'Georgian March' carries the momentum with triumphant horns and another climax worthy of Borodin's *Prince Igor*.

The 'Turkish March' crashes in and sounds like a natural accompaniment to the Sketches, rather than a musical piece published thirty-five years afterward. Ippolitov-Ivanov's interest in the folk-music of the Uzbek, Kazahk and Turkish regions received official encouragement from the Russian government, for its unifying principles; politically, however, Ippolitov-Ivanov retained a measure of independence, ignoring contemporary quarrels about the encroaching dissonance of modernism and the demands of "usefulness" in proletariat art. He had already developed his style in the 1880s and 90s, and the final selections on this CD, the Turkish Fragments, display vividly this particular style, a Romantic-era lushness wedded to oriental folk-music, similar in approach to that of Bartok. 'At Rest' has an ironic title, given its smashing momentum in the center; 'Night' glides calmly into the aptly-named 'Festival,' a rousing finale to this suite.

If, gentle reader, you have a taste for exotic-tinged classical music, Ippolitov-Ivanov's `Caucasian Sketches' is a must-buy. Highly Recommended.

The orchestral music of Ippolitov-Ivanov featured on this CD is very enjoyable, colorful, exotic music that shows the influence of the composer's mentor, Rimsky-Korsakov. With all due respect to the negative review, I feel that the performances are excellent and the Caucasian Sketches Suite No. 1 is the best performance of the piece I've ever heard. Add to that the budget price, and this becomes an absolute must-own CD for those who like this kind of music! You'll discover that there's much more to Ippolitov-Ivanov than the famous "Procession of the Sardar".

The customer reviews here for this CD seem to be all over the map, ranging from calling it brilliant and indispensable to practically worthless. I'm a rather fanatical collector of classical music, and as rare as Ippolitov-Ivanov's music is, I have several different recordings of the first set of Caucasian Sketches ranging over many years. During those years it seems to have been a custom to play the "Procession of the Sardar" rather quickly and vigorously throughout, and I suspect that performance tradition was established because it was often played as an encore at the end of a concert, where it was desired to leave the audience with something fast, loud, and flashy. Those who learned, and only know, the piece as played in that manner could find it difficult to appreciate it done in a more expansive way. But I've come to appreciate it done more as an actual march, or "procession" as the composer called it, where a forceful expression of its ebb and flow using the wide dynamic range of a large orchestra can really create a thrilling effect.

The absolute best recording of the Sketches #1, in my view, is one conducted by Vladimir Fedoseyev and recorded for Melodiya during the Soviet era (which is very difficult to find, but can be found sometimes on eBay), and my second favorite is this one, which is cheap and very easy to find. The orchestral playing may not be quite as refined as the top orchestras of the USA and Europe, but what I think is more important is the color, verve, and enthusiasm with which it is played. Plus, this CD has the added bonus of the even more rare Sketches #2. The extant recordings of this suite, by Armenian and Australian orchestras, have no edge over this one in terms of spirited performance and authentic style and tone.

Bottom line for me is, this is an outstanding disc not just for a budget-minded buyer, but for the seasoned collector as well, and at this price, it's a no-brainer.