Utah Symphony Orchestra / Abravanel,Maurice Russian Legends & Dances CD

Abravanel is very good in this music - crackling with energy tempered with tender ways with the great melodies. Antar is a neglected prize among Rimsky's works ranking with Sheherazade... Caucasian Sketches have These You Have Loved status with Procession of the Sardar establishing the idiom for a thousand Hollywood triumphal and barbarous marches... The Gli?re is a fun piece that stamps emphatically and clearly influenced by Mussorgsky's Pictures from an Exhibition. As an inexpensive single disc collection of less obvious Russian repertoire this is difficult to top. I recommend it strongly. (Rob Barnett / MusicWeb International)

1. Rimsky-Korsakov: 'Antar' Suite (Symphony) Op. 9 2. Ippolitov-Ivanov: Caucasian Sketches Op. 10 3. Gli?re: The Red Poppy Op. 60 4. Khachaturian: Gayaneh Ballet Suite