[6/5/2011] Fun with Rachmaninoff's "Isle of the Dead" (continued)

The June 3 "Fishko Files" report on Rachmaninoff's symphonic poem Isle of the Dead. (The image, which again you can click to enlarge, is the third of Böcklin's five Isle paintings, from 1883.)


Here's Wikipedia on Rachmaninoff's Isle of the Dead:

Isle of the Dead, Op. 29 is a symphonic poem composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff. Rachmaninoff was inspired by Arnold Böcklin's painting Isle of the Dead, which he saw in Paris in 1907. He concluded the composition while staying in Dresden in 1908. It is considered a classic example of Russian late-Romanticism of the beginning of the 20th century.

The music begins by suggesting the sound of the oars of Charon as they meet the waters of the river Styx. Rachmaninoff then uses a recurring figure in 5/8 time to depict what may be the rowing of the oarsman or the movement of the water, and as in several other of his works, quotes the Dies Irae plainchant, an allusion to death. In contrast to the theme of death, the 5/8 time also depicts breathing, creating a holistic reflection on how life and death are intertwined.

In 1929, Rachmaninoff conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra in a recording of the music for the Victor Talking Machine Company, which was purchased by RCA that same year and became known as RCA Victor. This recording was made in the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, using one microphone, and was later reissued on LP and CD by RCA Victor.

At this point I don't think there's much more to do that listen to the music.

RACHMANINOFF: Isle of the Dead, Op. 29

Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, Dimitri Mitropoulos, cond. Columbia/Sony, recorded Nov. 4, 1940

Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Fritz Reiner, cond. RCA/BMG, recorded Apr. 13, 1957

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Jascha Horenstein, cond. Reader's Digest/Chesky, recorded 1966

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Litton, cond. Virgin Classics, recorded May 1989

St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Mariss Jansons, cond. EMI, recorded January 1998



The conclusion of the composer's 1929 recording of Isle of the Dead with the Philadelphia Orchestra


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