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Monthly Archive: March 2025

Stanislav Kochanovsky Conducts – Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov – Harmonia Mundi

Stanislav Kochanovsky Conducts – Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov – Harmonia Mundi

by | Mar 17, 2025 | Classical CD Reviews

TCHAIKOVSKY: Suite No. 3 in G Major, Op. 55; RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Capriccio espagnol, Op. 34; TCHEREPNIN: Prelude to “La Princesse lointaine,” Op. 4 – NDR Philharmonie/ Stanislav Kochanovsky – Harmonia Mundi HMM 905 102 (65:18) (2/14/25) [Distr. by PIAS] ****:  Conductor Stanislav Kochanovsky assumes the director’s post at the NDR Philharmonic, Hanover, for the 2024-25 season, where notables Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt and Hans Rosbaud once reigned. In this album recorded in September 2024, Kochanovsky leads a program of Russian music dear to his heart and training in St. Petersburg. The most familiar work, Rimsky-Korsakov’s 1887 brilliant display piece, Capriccio espagnol, a virtual catalogue of orchestral color and timbre. My own preference remains George Szell and his honed Cleveland ensemble on the Epic label (BC 1002). The four-movement Tchaikovsky Suite No. 3 caught my imagination by way of Thomas Scherman and his own Little Orchestra Society LP on Columbia (ML 5256), which in my opinion warrants CD incarnation. The Rimsky-Korsakov score remains the most innately exciting selection; yet, for all of the propulsion assigned to the faster, national dances, the Alborada and the Fandango, Kochanovsky opts to take the Variations: Andante con moto at a glacial pace, likely to show off concertmaster Sarah […]