Alexander Glazunov (1865-1936)

The Seasons - Ballet, Op. 67

Alexander Glazunov conducting

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Glazunov's only recording as conductor ... was made for Columbia in 1929. The recording producer, Joe Batten, recalled the occasion thus in his autobiography: "(The Seasons) was recorded at the old Portman Rooms in Baker Sreet. I shall never forget meeting him, tall, elderly, so ill with gout and rheumatism that I wondered if he could stand the physical strain of three or four hours of intensive recording. But he did, and produced a performance of sheer beauty."

... when Glazunov was invited in 1931 to conduct a concert at Eastbourne, the local "Eastbourne Chronicle" had this to say: "Glazunov electrifies the orchestra, much as Sir Thomas Beecham - certainly it did not want for lack of impetus and his conducting, though dignified like that of Nikisch, is full of vigor and a grace that is infectuous. His qualities are commanding, and through sheer personality he produces mass emotion, not only in the orchestra, but in the audience. The augmented orchestra acquitted itself nobly ... Glazunov had it in complete control."

1. Winter: Introduction; Four Variations (Frost, Ice, Hail, Snow)

2. Spring: Scene

3. Summer: Waltz of the Cornflowers and Poppies; Barcarolle; Variation and Coda

4. Autumn: Bacchanale; Appearance of Seasons; Petit Adagio; Scene; The Bacchantes; Apotheosis

Symphony Orchestra / Alexander Glazunov

(LP transfer; recorded 1929 by Columbia UK)