Collections of Ippolitov Ivanov's music have appeared before on Marco Polo and Naxos but this new AS&V issue has a good variety of the unknown alongside the rare. We begin with a spirited performance of the "Jubilee March', a characterful account by Tjeknavorian and his Armenian players followed by a energetic presentation of the second Caucasian Sketches Suite. The Introduction is given weighty resonance by the Armenian strings and Tjeknavorian finds just the right amount of panache and bombast not to make the Georgian March sound too plainly rhetorical. By far the most interesting item on disc is the unknown, "Mtsiri', a sort of rhapsodic ballade with a solo soprano part. Hasmik Hatsagortsian is a persuasive advocate of the piece and the mystical colours of the music are well portrayed by orchestra and conductor. Another short vocal item, "I Wonder if it is Misfortune' has Vardouhi Khachatrian in the solo mezzo part and she is also well attuned to the native music. Tjeknavorian rounds off with brisk and authoritative accounts of the now famous Turkish March and Turkish Fragments, the latter's "During the Rest' is quite magical here. At almost 78 minutes, no one can complain of being short changed and the music, if not of top-drawer quality, is enjoyable and melodious. All Russophiles should snap this up without delay.
Copyright © 2001, Gerald Fenech