Russian Archives: Leonid Kogan Edition

Posted By : stote | Date : 28 Nov 2009 16:19:28 | Comments : 10 |

A significant testimony of the extraordinary art of Leonid Kogan, one of the greatest violonist ever

“

I don't know how they do it, but the good people at Brilliant Classics have struck gold again. Here are more than 11 hours of prime recordings by Russian violinist Leonid Kogan for less than it costs to take the family out to some hamburger joint. The "Historic Russian Archives" series has been a godsend for anyone curious about (or addicted to) the greatest classical musicians from inside the former Iron Curtain. Add the present release to Brilliant boxes devoted to David Oistrakh and Victor Tretyakov and you are set for a winter weekend wallow in some of the greatest violin-playing ever to be captured by a microphone.
Indeed, in the decades after World War Two, Oistrakh, Kogan, and Tretyakov were the big three among Soviet violinists – win, place, and show, if you will. The differences between Oistrakh and Kogan had more to do with character and style than with quality. Oistrakh's rise to the very top was aided by his more outgoing personality, whereas Kogan, who also was a much smaller man, was more self-effacing. The Soviet government also promoted Oistrakh more, for whatever reason.
Kogan was born in 1924 in the Ukraine, the son of a photographer who played the violin on the side. At first, Kogan was not an avid student, but his growth accelerated during lessons with Abram Yampolsky, after the family moved to Moscow. Kogan's nascent talent was recognized by Jacques Thibaud. He studied at the Central Music School in Moscow, and then at the Moscow Conservatory, completing his post-graduate work in 1951, the year that he won the Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels. His professional debut took place a decade earlier in Moscow, where he played the Brahms concerto. The Soviet Union awarded him several prizes for service, and in time, he himself became a valued judge and pedagogue. He died in 1982, the victim of a heart attack.
Kogan excelled in both the concerto repertoire and in chamber music. In fact, his wife was violinist Elizaveta Gilels, sister of pianist Emil Gilels, and their son Pavel became a violinist and conductor as well. (Pavel is the conductor in several of the performances included in this set.) Like Oistrakh, Kogan made a few studio recordings in the West, mostly for EMI. (Several of these have been reissued on the Testament label.) The bulk of his recordings were made in the Soviet Union, however, and their availability outside that country has been catch-as-catch-can, which is another reason why this Brilliant box is so valuable.
Kogan's grasp of technique was excellent, of course – arguably better than Oistrakh's – a consequence of his devotion to playing exercises such as scales on a daily basis. Such exercises allowed his tone to remain full even when he was playing in the violin's highest registers. He was not a flamboyant player, but he always gave the music its emotional due, and there was no lack of excitement in his interpretations either. From the Baroque repertoire to Berg's Violin Concerto and works by contemporary Soviet composers, Kogan found the right approach, varying the essentially cantabile style of his playing to suit the repertoire.
The recordings on this set originate both from studios and live performances. Rather than discussing all of them, I am going to limit myself to a few comments about particular selections. Suffice to say that there's nothing here that disappoints and much that is inspirational, and most of the recordings have been preserved in very good sound.
One of the most pleasant surprises here is a performance of Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto, coming from the year before Kogan's death, with his son of the podium. Even in the United States, this concerto is not performed with any regularity, so it is unusual to hear a performance coming from the former Soviet Union, and surprising (although perhaps it shouldn't be) to hear it done so idiomatically.
The Tchaikovsky concerto on the fourth disc is one of the best I've ever heard – an ideal blend of sentiment, excitement, and control. Although he was only in his twenties at the time, Kogan displays a great deal of maturity in this performance, and it is no wonder that he won the Queen Elizabeth Competition the following year. Also, the sound quality is astonishingly good. Were it not for being monaural, one could swear that it was recorded just yesterday. Twice in the first movement, leading up to an orchestral ritornello, Kogan plays a passage that was unfamiliar to me – an alternative version?
The Khachaturian concerto is associated with Oistrakh, who was the first to play and record it, but Kogan's reading is no less fine. In fact, one of his studio recordings in the West was of this concerto (in 1958, with Pierre Monteux and the Boston Symphony Orchestra: RCA Living Stereo 09026-63708-2). This earlier performance features the composer himself on the podium for authenticity, and finds the violinist in a particularly extraverted mood, and beautifully soulful in the second movement. Dare I say it? He is more sensitive than Oistrakh here. The long first-movement cadenza is, I believe, the original one. (Oistrakh wrote his own cadenza, and it is flashier not but necessarily better, although many violinists seem to prefer it.) Again, for 1951, the sound quality is remarkable. (There is no applause, so I wonder if this was a studio recording.) The Concerto-Rhapsody was composed for Kogan in 1961. As its name suggests, it is much looser in construction. Kogan also makes a very good case for it, and leaves this listener wondering why this work is not played and recorded more often.
The last movement of the Beethoven Concerto (live) has a rarely achieved fierce (yet appropriate) joy. The "Turkish March" from Beethoven's Ruins of Athens is, for the lack of a better word, cute, and it makes the audience chuckle… as did I, the first time I heard it. Kogan shows off his sense of humor here. The Kreisler Rondino is played with authentic Viennese charm.
Kogan the chamber musician makes an excellent impression on the ninth disc, with a performance of Rachmaninoff's Trio élégiaque. The Kogan-Luzanov-Svetlanov trio was not an ad hoc group, but rather an established group that played together frequently. (Earlier, Kogan was in a trio with Emil Gilels and Mstislav Rostropovich.) This is one of the set's few stereo recordings.
The tenth CD is quite interesting, because it contains unusual arrangements of familiar works: Franck's Violin Sonata arranged for violin and orchestra, and Schumann's C-major Fantasy for violin and orchestra, here arranged for violin and piano! (In both cases, the arranger(s) are not identified.) Schubert's C-major Fantasy for violin and piano separates the two of them, and it is played in its "original violin-piano version" according to the CD jacket, a statement with contradicts Dr. David Doughty's note that it is played in an arrangement for violin and orchestra. (Does Brilliant mean that Kogan plays the work in Schubert's original and supposedly "unplayable" version?) Anyway, if you love the Franck Sonata, you'll certainly want to hear this almost garish version for violin and orchestra at least once. Kogan's intonation is not always reliable here, although it is just fine in the Schubert and Schumann.
I generally couldn't imagine listening to 11 eleven consecutive hours of violin music. With Kogan, however, the hours flew by, and I've returned to quite a few of these performances several times. There's no question about it: this box is a superb buy. (I almost said "investment," but at this low price, it's almost inappropriate to use so grandiose a word!)
Copyright © 2007, Raymond Tuttle.
http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/b/brl93030a.php

”

CD I
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Concerto pour violon & orchestre n° 3 en sol majeur, K.216
Orchestre Symphonique d'Etat, direction Kirill Kondrachine
Enregistré le 24 avril 1959
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Concerto pour violon & orchestre en la mineur, BWV 1041
Orchestre Philharmonique de Moscou, direction Kirill Kondrachine
Enregistré le 3 novembre 1962
Sonate pour violon & clavier en si mineur, BWV 1014
Vladimir Yampolski, piano
Enregistré le 21 octobre 1947
Nicolo Paganini (1782-1840)
Caprices pour violon seul : N° 9 en mi majeur - N° 23 en mi bémol majeur
Enregistré le 17 février 1953
Ernest Bloch (1880-1959)
Nigun (Improvisation), tiré de Baal Shem, trois tableaux de la vie spirituelle hassidique pour violon & piano
Vladimir Yampolski, piano
Enregistré le 21 octobre 1947

CD II
Edison Denisov (1929-1996)
Partita pour violon & orchestre de chambre (d'après la Partita n° 2 en ré mineur, BWV 1004 de J.S. Bach)
Enregistré le 9 mai 1981
Ensemble instrumental inconnu, direction Pavel Kogan
Dimitri Chostakovitch (1906-1975)
Concerto pour violon n° 1 en la mineur, op. 99
Orchestre Philharmonique de Moscou, direction Kirill Kondrachine
Enregistré le 24 avril 1959
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)
Introduction et Rondo capriccioso pour violon & orchestre en la mineur, op. 28
Grand Orchestre Symphonique de Moscou, direction Alexander Gauk
Enregistré le 1er novembre 1951

CD III
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Sonate pour piano & violon n° 9 "Kreutzer" en la majeur, op. 47
Grigory Ginzburg, piano
Enregistré le 30 mai 1952
Sonate pour piano & violon n° 10 en sol majeur, op. 96
Samuel Alumian, piano
Enregistré le 4 janvier 1975

CD IV
Piotr Ilyitch Tchaïkovski (1840-1893)
Concerto pour violon & orchestre en ré majeur, op. 35
Orchestre Symphonique de la Radio d'Etat de l'URSS, direction Vassili Nebolsin
Enregistré le 1er octobre 1950
Valse-scherzo pour violon & orchestre en ut majeur, op. 34
Orchestre Symphonique de la Radio et de la Télévision d'Etat de l'URSS, direction Alexander Gauk
Enregistré le 29 mai 1952
Méditation pour violon & piano, op. 42 (Transcription pour violon & orchestre de Glazounov)
Orchestre Symphonique d'Etat de l'URSS, direction Kirill Kondrachine
Enregistré le 3 octobre 1960
Henri Vieuxtemps (1820-1881)
Concerto pour violon & orchestre n° 5 en la mineur, op. 37
Orchestre Symphonique d'Etat, direction Kirill Kondrachine
Enregistré le 22 février 1952

CD V
Ernest Chausson (1855-1899)
Poème pour violon & orchestre, op. 25
Orchestre Symphonique d'Etat de l'URSS, direction Pavel Kogan
Enregistré le 9 janvier 1980
Pablo de Sarasate (1844-1908)
Fantaisie de concert sur Carmen pour violon & orchestre, op. 25
Grand Orchestre Symphonique, direction Vassili Nebolsin
Enregistré le 10 avril 1950
Henrik Wieniawski (1835-1880)
Légende pour violon & orchestre, op. 17
Grand Orchestre Symphonique de la Radio d'Etat, direction Alexander Gauk
Enregistré le 29 mai 1952
Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
Concerto pour violon & orchestre, op. 14
Orchestre Symphonique d'Ukraine, direction Pavel Kogan
Enregistré le 15 décembre 1981
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Adagio pour violon & orchestre en mi majeur, K.261
Orchestre Philharmonique de Moscou, direction Pavel Kogan
Enregistré le 23 mai 1981

CD VI
Ludwig van Beethoven
Concerto pour violon & orchestre en ré majeur, op. 61
Romance pour violon & orchestre n° 1 en sol majeur, op. 40
Orchestre Symphonique de la Radio et de la Télévision d'Etat de l'URSS, direction Guennadi Rojdestvenski
Enregistré le 27 décembre 1970
Marche turque (tirée des Ruines d'Athènes (Arrangé pour violon & orchestre)
Orchestre Symphonique Académique d'Etat, direction Pavel Kogan
Enregistré le 23 mai 1981
Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962)
Rondino sur un thème de Beethoven, pour violon & orchestre
Orchestre Symphonique Académique d'Etat, direction Pavel Kogan
Enregistré le 18 mai 1976
Georges Bizet (1803-1869) / Franz Waxman (1906-1962)
Fantaisie Carmen sur des thèmes de Carmen, pour violon & orchestre, op. 25
Orchestre Symphonique Académique d'Etat, direction Pavel Kogan
Enregistré le 23 mai 1981
Jules Massenet (1803-1869)
Méditation de Thaïs, pour violon & orchestre
Orchestre Symphonique d'Etat de l'URSS, direction Pavel Kogan
Enregistré le 9 janvier 1980

CD VII
Aram Khatchaturian (1903-1978)
Concerto pour violon & orchestre en ré mineur
Orchestre Symphonique de la Radio de Moscou, direction Aram Khatchaturian
Enregistré le 25 juin 1951
Concerto-Rhapsodie pour violon & orchestre en si bémol mineur
Orchestre Philharmonique de Moscou, direction Kirill Kondrachine
Enregistré le 11 novembre 1964
Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937)
Nocturne et Tarentelle pour violon & piano, op. 28
Andrei Mytnik, piano
Enregistré le 23 mai 1953

CD VIII
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Sonate pour violon & piano n° 3 en ut mineur, op. 45
Enregistré en 1947
Sonate pour violon & piano n° 1 en fa majeur, op. 8
Enregistré le 19 septembre 1947
Grigory Ginzburg, piano
Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909)
El Puerto (de Iberia), arrangé pour violon & piano
Enregistré le 30 avril 1952
Sevilla (de Suite espagnole n° 1), arrangé pour violon & piano
Enregistré le 9 février 1953
Andrei Mytnik, piano
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Il pleure dans mon cœur (de Ariettes oubliées), pour violon & piano
Nina Kogan, piano
Enregistré le 17 janvier 1978
Henri Vieuxtemps
Rondino (de Trois Morceaux de salon) pour violon & piano
Vladimir Yampolski, piano
Enregistré 1947
Pablo de Sarasate
Malagueña (de Danses espagnoles), op. 21 pour violon & piano
Abram Marakov, piano
Enregistré le 7 janvier 1949

CD IX
Serge Rachmaninov (1873-1943)
Trio élégiaque en ré mineur, op. 9, pour piano, violon & violoncelle
Evgueni Svetlanov, piano - Fiodor Luzanov, violoncelle
Enregistré le 19 mai 1973
Tikhon Khrennikov (né en 1913)
Concerto pour violon & orchestre n° 2 en ut majeur, op. 23
Orchestre Symphonique Académique d'Etat, direction Evgueni Svetlanov
Enregistré le 1er mai 1977

CD X
César Franck (1822-1890)
Sonate pour violon & piano en la majeur (Transcription pour violon & orchestre)
Orchestre Symphonique Académique d'Etat, direction Pavel Kogan
Enregistré le 9 janvier 1980
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Fantaisie pour violon & piano en ut majeur, D934, op. posth. 159
Samuel Alumian, piano
Enregistré le 4 janvier 1975
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Fantaisie pour violon & orchestre en ut majeur, op. 131 (Arrangé pour violon & piano)
Andrei Mytnik, piano
Enregistré en 1953

Tracklist :

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Posted By: Powis Date: 28 Nov 2009 16:44:24

Thank you very much. Brilliant.

Posted By: Kraehe Date: 28 Nov 2009 16:54:26

Sweet - thanks!

Posted By: pmarkov Date: 28 Nov 2009 21:02:57

What is the password?

Posted By: stote Date: 28 Nov 2009 22:49:15

password : kogan

Posted By: pmarkov Date: 29 Nov 2009 10:56:00

Great thanks!

Posted By: zedda piras Date: 13 Dec 2009 17:14:23

Great thanks!!!

Posted By: tbavax Date: 12 May 2010 03:16:39

thank you so very much

Posted By: sneffels Date: 10 May 2011 21:26:43

Thank you for this amazing music!

It would be nice to have at least a track list, though, so we know what music on what tracks. Is this possible?

Posted By: twisterwes Date: 06 Jan 2012 20:02:07

see track list here:
http://music.barnesandnoble.com/Leonid-Kogan-Edition/Leonid-Kogan/e/842977030303

Posted By: eminenz Date: 20 Jan 2012 18:04:15

Unbelievable that these links are still working.
Thanks so much!

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