TATIANA MAKUSHINA (Soprano)
THE WIRELESS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
(Leader, S. KNEALE KELLEY )
Conducted by NICOLAI MALKO
Although naturally at home in a very special way in the music of his own countrymen, and especially the present-day representatives of Russian Music, Nikolai Malko is no narrow-minded specialist. Listeners cannot have forgotten the impression he made when he conducted the B.B.C. Orchestra in March of this year - his first visit to London. Trained in the school of Felix Mottl, he has all those magnetic qualities of command over his forces which a great conductor must possess, and in Vienna and other parts of Europe where he has appeared, his forceful energy and thoughtful insight into his music have impressed the critics profoundly.
This Suite is taken from a little-known opera by Rimsky-Korsakov, Christmas Eve, based on a story by Gogol. There is a slow introduction, which depicts a frosty Christmas Eve in the country. Without a break we are led through the various scones, all taken from the third act of the opera.
First there is a dance of stars in the sky, a Mazurka, procession of comets, and Czardas. Clouds cover the sky and the stars disappear. Wizards and witches appear with all tho traditional symbols of their craft, and there is a wild witches' dance. The smith Wakula flies across the sky on a winged horse, and the witches rush after him. Through the night mist the lights of the town can be seen. We are then to imagine a brilliantly lighted hall in the castle of the Czarina: a Polonaise is danced; the Devil appears, and darkness falls.