May Night Overture

RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Sheherazade / The Tale of Tsar Saltan. Sheherazade, Op. 35 ( I. The Sea and Sinbad's Ship 9:18, II. The Kalender Prince 11:23, III. The Young Prince and the Young Princess 9:58, IV. Festival at Baghdad - The Sea 11:26). The Tale of Tsar Saltan, Op. 57 ( I. The Tsar's Farewell and Departure 4:33, II. The Tsarina in a Barrel at Sea 7:23, III. The Three Wonders 7:05) Conductor: Batiz, Enrique. Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra. Artist: Nolan, David. Label: Naxos

"certainly does not lack excitement"

Classic CD

"Batiz's Tsar Saltan is quite simply one of the finest I have heard, brightly paced and in the final tableau passionate to a fault"

American Record Guide

"Batiz proves an impulsive, purposeful interpreter... this budget issue is at least as compelling and just as exciting as its full-priced rival, and rather better recorded, standing comparison with the best of previous versions"

Gramophone

 

RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Sadko; Capriccio Espagnol. Op. 34; Russian Easter Festival Overture, Op. 36; BORODIN: Prince Igor - Polovtsian Dances. TCHAIKOVSKY: Romeo and Juliet - Fantasy Overture; Swan Lake Waltz (Act 1); Symphony No. 6 in B minor. Op. 74 (Pathetique). Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Enrique Batiz, conductor.

"Many fine things come from this disc, not least that the brilliant Mexican conductor Enrique Batiz begins a Rimsky-Korsakov orchestral cycle with this "Volume I". Batiz brings a special vitality and jaunty spirit to these clever works óthe sort that made his recording of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony so special. (Still, to my ear, the best available). The means are unusualó often slower-than-aver-age tempos. By getting such emphatic accents and soaring lyricism from his players, the result offers a wonderfully fresh feeling of emotional depth. And a fresh experience from "Capriccio Espagnole" hasn't popped up in 30 years of recording history.

"The ensemble is not to be sure, the Philadelphia Orchestra. But it is good, and plays with such vim and panache that the disc proves utterly winning. AVS, by the way, is a high-tech British firm England's answer to American Telarc. Sonics are superb. Highly recommended."

(Heuwell Tircuit; Classical Records; The San Francisco Chronicle,August 1986)

* Capriccio espagnol. Op. 34; May night overture; Russian Easter festival overture. Op. 36, Sadko, Op. 5.

* ASV Dig. DCA7ZC DCA 549 [id.]. Mexico City PO, Batiz.

"Batiz's performances have plenty of spirit. . . the horns are good and there is a fine trombone solo in the Russian Easter festival overture. Sadko comes off best, with Batiz obviously in sympathy with its atmosphere. The digital recording is brilliant. . . with sometimes fierce brass and the Festival overture dominated by the percussion."

(The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs, Cassettes and LPs 1986)

 

The twenty-ninth issue of Variations, "the quarterly magazine of the classical selection club" which is published in London and only includes albums with sales of over 20,000 copies, bears the cover title "Enrique Batiz Conducts Great Russian Masterpieces". Apart from a review of the Featured Album -"an anthology of some of the most exotic and romantic works in the orchestral repertoire . . .conducted bythe highly gifted Enrique Batiz", the issue presents the following letter from Batiz to the club members:

Dear Member.

I have always been attracted to music that is rhythmically exciting; for me, Russian music represents an ideal combination of rhythm, seductiveness and national sentiment. I was therefore especially pleased to learn that these recordings have been chosen as the main selection for the Classical Selection Club.

Each work is a masterpiece in its own right and I hope you will derive as much pleasure from listening to them and the orchestras as I did from making the recordings.

Yours sincerely,

ENRIQUE BATIZ

 

RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Sadko; Capriccio espagnol, Op. 34; Russian Easter Festival Overture, Op. 36; BORODIN: Prince Igor • Polovtsian Dances. TCHAIKOVSKY: Romeo and Juliet - Fantasy Overture; Swan Lake Waltz (Act 1); Symphony No. 6 in B minor. Op. 74 (Pathetique). Philharmonic Orchestra of Mexico City; Enrique Batiz, conductor.

ASV digital DCA 549

"The Capriccio is a great orchestral showpiece. Enrique Batiz leads a sprightly, superbly recorded performance,. . . equally brilliant Russian Easter Overture. Sadko, an early, much-revised symphonic poem, and the overture to Rimsky's first opera, May Night,. . . and the Batiz achieves pleasing, carefully phrased results."

( U.S.A. Ovation; April 1987)

Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade, Op. 35a. Russian Easter Festival Overture, Op. 36. Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra / Seiji Ozawa. Philips® 0 438 941-2PH (58 minutes: DDD). ítem marked “ recorded at a performance in the Grosser Saal, Musikverein, Vienna during April, 1993”.
Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade, Op. 35. The Tale of Tsar Saltan, Op. 57—Tsar's fareweil and departure; Tsarina in a barrel at sea; The three wonders. Philharmonia Orchestra / Enrique Bátiz. Naxos ©08 550726 (61 minutes: DDD).

Scheherazade is a work which brings the very best out of Seiji Ozawa, a colourist who likes to mould the music and make it dance. Instead of his own Boston Symphony, here he conducts the even richer-toned Vienna Philharmonic, with strings all the more sensuous in a live recording. It was made during a concert in the orchestra's home, the Musikvereinsaal in Vienna, and the tensions of a live performance consistently add compulsion to a work which can seem disconcertingly episodic. The violin solo of the leader, Rainer Honeck, from the start gives one a sense of firm purpose in the unfolding of these musical fairy-tales. Except in the love-scene of the third movement, "The Young Prince and Princess", Ozawa’s speeds tend lo be on the slow side, but he readily sustains them, building up the climaxes with satisfying weight and concentration.

Where the performance surprisingly tends to fall short—certainly in relation to the Philharmonia version under Batiz is in (he dance-rhythms of the second movement, the "Kalender Prince", with the oboe and bassoon solos sounding self-conscious and rather jerky. But where the Viennese woodwind players fall short of their British rivals, the Viennese strings arc at their most sumptuous. The recording, forward balanced, is satisfyingly warm and lull, though not ideally well-detailed. Not everyone will relish the inclusion of applause at the end of the fourth movement. The welcome fill-up, though recorded in the same venue during a studio session, has similar characteristics.

Baliz's recording with the Philharmonia is the second version to appear on the budget Naxos label, and completely supplants its predecessor (under Ondrcj Lenard, 10/90). Batiz proves an impulsive, purposeful interpreter. I have already suggested that in the second movement, his performance is more lilting, with rubato more persuasive, helped by superb Philharmonia wind-playing. The fanfares which interrupt in echelon (track 2, 3'18") arc brisk rather than weighty, eon-firming a more volatile approach than Ozawa's. In the third movement the Philharmonia strings may not be quite as rich as the Viennese, but with the excellent, well-balanced recording revealing more inner detail the result is more refined, with a delectably lilting clarinet entry on the grazioso dance-rhythm at fig. D (track 3, 3'30"), presumably the work of Michael Collins. David Nolan's violin solos are more individually rhapsodic, if not always as immaculate tonally as the Viennese. In short, this budget issue is at least as compelling and just as exciting as its full-priced rival, and rather better recorded, standing comparison with the best of previous versions. The fill-up can be warmly recommended too, three movements from the five which Rimsky included in the orchestral suite of musical pictures from Tsar Saltan, starling with the delectable march entitled the "Tsar's farewell and departure". The other movements are "Tsarina in a barrel at sea" and "The three wonders", with die over-played "Flight of the Bumble-Bee" hardly missed.

EG, Gramophone, june 1994

 

Scheherezada es una obra que siempre trae lo mejor de Seiji Ozawa un colorista que le gusta moldear la música y hacerla danzar. En vez de su propia sinfónica de Bostón aquí él dirige la aun más rica tonalmente Filarmónica de Viena, con cuerdas de lo más sensuales en una grabación en vivo. Fue grabada durante un concierto en la casa de música de Viena, y las tensiones de un concierto en vivo, consistentemente le agregan compulsión a una obra que puede parecer desconcertadamente en episodios. El solo del violín del líder, Reiner Honeck, desde el principio le da un sentido de firmes buenos resultados en el desarrollo de estos cuentos musicales. Excepto en la escena de amor en el 3er. Movimiento, "El joven príncipe y la joven princesa", los tiempos de Ozawa tienden a estar en el lado lento, pero el los sostiene siempre bien, llegando a los clímax con satisfacción y concentración.

En donde la ejecución sorpresivamente se queda corta -ciertamente en relación a la versión de la Filarmonía dirigida por Bátiz- es en los ritmos danzantes del 2o. Movimiento, "El príncipe Kalender" con los solos del fagot y el oboe sonando demasiado inconsistentes y más bien desiguales.
Pero en donde las maderas vienesas se quedan cortas con sus rivales británicas las cuerdas vienesas están de lo más suntuosas. El disco de Ozawa tiene un balance de frente, es satisfactoriamente cálido y lleno, aunque no está muy bien detallado en las ideas. No a todos les va a gustar la inclusión del aplauso al final del 4o. Movimiento.
El bienvenido Opus 36 aunque grabado en la misma sala durante una sesión de estudio, tiene las mismas características.

El disco de Bátiz con la Filarmonía es la 2a. versión que aparece para la Compañía Naxos y reemplaza completamente a su predecesor (Ondrej Lenárd 10/90). Bátiz prueba ser un interprete impulsivo (y con empeño) que obra con proposito y con buenos resultados. Ya sugerí de antemano que en el 2o Movimiento, su ejecución está realizada con generosa elegancia, más alegre, con rubato y mayor elocuencia, más creíble, ayudado por los imponentes y admirables ejecutantes de la sección de vientos madera.

Las fanfarrias que interrumpen en ascenso (track 2, 3'18") suenan con fuerza y agilidad, interpretación mucho más vivaz que la hecha por Ozawa. En el 3er. Movimiento las cuerdas de la Filarmonía pueden no ser tan opulentas como las vienesas, pero la excelente y muy bien balanceada grabación digital revela más detalles internos que al final ofrecen un resultado más fino, con una entrada airosa del clarinete en la danza rítmica del "grazioso" (track 3, 3'30"), que suponemos es el trabajo de Michael Collins.

El violinista David Nolan toca sus solos de manera rapsódica, aunque no consigue la tonalidad inmaculada del concertino vienes. En resumen, este disco es por lo menos igualmente imponente y excitante que su rival de alto precio, y además está mejor grabado. Por estos motivos, acepta y soporta ser comparado con el mejor de cualquier versión anterior. El disco se completa con el Opus 57 y en general, está altamente recomendado.

Gramophone, The Review, June 1994

 

 

Melodies of fantasies
Rimsky-Korsakov
Sheherazade and The Tale Of Tsar Saltan, Batiz/The Philharmonia . NAXOS 8.550726. $13.90

THIS new recording of two Russian works is given by Mexican conductor Enrique Batiz, who is in town for two weekends of performances with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. On this CD, he conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra of London.

The symphonic suite, Sheherazade, is one of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's (1844 -1908) more famous pieces, while The Tale Of Tsar Saltan is a rather unknown but nevertheless interesting work. Inspired by Tales Of The Arabian Nights, Rimsky-Korsakov painted in the former, in his own words, "a kaleidoscope of fairy-tale images and designs with an Oriental character".

Sheherazade was the slave who postponed her execution by telling 1,001 stories to the ruler, and Rimsky-Korsakov took four of these stories and set them to music.

Sheherazade herself is represented musically in the piece, as a weaving violin melody which reappears at the end of each section.
The four scenes are The Sea And Sinbad's Ship. The Kalendar Prince, The Young Prince And The ''Princess and The Festival At Baghdad.

Batiz does a wonderful job of injecting life and vigour into the performance, as it has an international momentum of its own, and the exoticism (to Europeans, at least) in the music is brought out quite vividly.

The Straits Times, Thursday, July 22, 1993