Cesar Cui (1835-1918)

A Feast in Time of Plague (1900 - 31:39)
Three Scherzos, Op. 82 (1910 - 18:47)
Les Deux Menetriers, Op. 42 (1890 - 6:14)
Fair Spring, Op. 66, No. 4 (1905 - 9:15)
Budrys and His Sons, Op. 98 (1915 - 5:31)

Andrei Baturkin, baritone (Feast & Budrys)
Alexei Martinov, tenor (Feast)
Dmitri Stepanovich, bass (Feast)
Ludmila Kuznetsova, mezzo-soprano (Feast & Fair Spring)
Tatiana Sharova, soprano (Feast & Les Deux Menetriers)
Russian State Symphony Orchestra
Valeri Polyansky, conductor
Recorded Grand Hall of Moscow Conservatory, July 1999
Released June 2004 (USA)
Chandos CHAN 10201 [71:58]

Cesar Cui was one of the five "Mighty Handful", a group of nationalist
Russian composers also including Rimsky-Korsakov, Balakirev, Mussorgsky,
and Borodin.  Cui was the least mighty of the group, and recordings
devoted to his music are infrequent.  The only other recording I know
of is a Naxos disc of piano preludes that I favorably reviewed back in
May of 2002.

Cui was not an agreeable person.  He made many attacks on composers who
wrote music more modern than his, and you can 'take it to the bank' that
no composer was more derivative than Cui.  He bad-mouthed and put in
writing his diatribes against Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Strauss, Wagner,
Stravinsky, and other wonderful composers.  Come to think of it, Cui
would have made the perfect Soviet music censor.  The humorous aspect
of the matter is that he had less musical inspiration than that held by
those he lambasted, and I imagine he basked in this fact although he
enjoyed telling folks he was the greatest composer ever born.

Is Cui's music unworthy?  Not at all.  Although revealing music of no
harmonic or other type of adventure, Cui's works can be quite captivating.
He is a pro at turning a phrase and coming up with attractive melodies.
I consider Cui's most rewarding music to be of the 'miniaturist' type
such as in the Naxos disc of preludes, but he shows on the new Chandos
disc that he well handles larger-scale works.

The Chandos program is set up very well.  The Three Scherzos, the only
purely instrumental pieces on the recording, are found mid-way through
the disc and thereby possess an intermezzo element.  These three pieces
are typical Cui creations with fetching and elegant melodies imbued with
a glowing confidence somewhat similar to Elgar.  From my view, they are
perfect as an intermezzo.  Are they little masterpieces?  Hardly, but
they are immediately attractive and have remained that way through
continued hearings.  Just close your eyes and enter the ballroom world
of the rich and famous.

Of the three orchestral songs that follow the Scherzos, Les Deux
Menetriers/Two Ghostly Fiddlers is by far the most rewarding and an
exceptional setting to a poem by Jean Richepin.  Involving two white
fiddlers who ride to the Kingdom of the Dead, the music conveys the
macabre environment splendidly with great tension and desperation.  The
melodies are the most compelling that Cui ever wrote, and the soloist
Tatiana Sharova has one of those 'doom and gloom' voices that is perfect
for the piece.  Further, when the music becomes more relaxed and positive,
Sharova has no problem lightening her voice and taking on a glowing
disposition.  She is indeed a sensual personality, and I end up being
very impressed with her as well as the composition.

"Fair Spring" is one of ten songs titled "Echoes of War".  In this
particular song, a young maiden mourns the death in battle of her brothers
and sweetheart.  Although a very negative subject, the music is actually
more positive in mood than the Two Ghostly Fiddlers.  Having the soloist
honors is the mezzo-soprano Ludmila Kuznetsova.  Her voice isn't as
attractive in tone as Sharova's, but the pipes are very deep and strong.
Kuznetsova sounds like what I would expect from Mother Russia.

I'm not particularly impressed with "Budrys and his Sons" which depicts
a silly little tale with somewhat repetitive music not up to Cui's best
by any means.  A dad sends his three sons off to war for the sole purpose
that they come back with riches and fame.  Instead, they return with
Polish wives.  If you think that's amusing, perhaps you will enjoy the
song more than I do.  The baritone soloist sounds fine, but he is
shortchanged by both music and text.

That takes me to the major work on the disc, "A Feast in Time of Plague"
that is essentially an one-act opera.  A catastrophic plague is the order
of the day, and folks are dying in droves.  Four people get together to
eat a meal, not knowing if it will be their last.  As the opera progresses,
we get to know how each one is mentally coping with the dreaded situation.
Each of the vocal soloists performs excellently except for the tenor
Alexei Martinov whose tone is not attractive; he also has the distinction
of being the only soloist of inadequate expressiveness.  Fortunately,
Martinov's role is a minor one and just a tiny blot on the production.
The dialogue is interesting and based on an adaption by Alexander Pushkin
of a dramatic poem written by John Wilson.  As for the music, it is very
enjoyable with ample variety and enticing melodic content.

Polyansky and orchestra perform admirably, kicking up plenty of energy
when needed and conveying a fine degree of poignancy as well.  The
soundstage strikes me as being typical of Chandos orchestral recordings,
perhaps a bit less rich than the norm.

Don's Conclusions: There are a host of people that don't have much
appreciation for the music Cesar Cui, but I am not among them.  True,
he isn't one of the great Russian composers.  However, whether listening
to Cui's Preludes or the works on the Chandos disc, I have no doubt that
he had a penchant for effective melodies and the ability to musically
convey the heart of a poem or drama.

Overall, I tend to think of the disc as one of the year's 'sleepers',
given that the program is an obscure one from a composer of little repute.
Also, the enterprise is on the lucky side in that its two negative
properties don't last long.  "Budrys and his Sons" takes only 5 1/2
minutes, and the Martinov role in the major work is merely a supporting
one.

I give the disc a fairly strong recommendation and find Two Ghostly
Fiddlers a special work with exceptional singing and Cui's most gorgeous
music.  The libretto and texts are offered in English, French, German,
and Russian.  Booklet notes are informative, and ample time is spent on
the deriviation of each work on the program.  I find the cover art
stunning, portraying the dinner party taking place during the Plague.
Do check this disc out; you might be pleasantly suprised.

Don Satz
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