Blumenfeld, Catoire: Symphonies. Royal Scottish/ya

Blumenfeld: Symphony in C minor Op.39; Catoire: Symphony in C minor Op.7

How can two such attractive Russian symphonies be completely unknown? On this superb Dutton recording, Martin Yates, leading the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, performs the only symphonies by Georgy Catoire and Felix Blumenfeld. These contemporaries are remembered as pianists, yet both were so much more. Catoire was a protégé of Tchaikovsky and studied with Liadov. His Symphony in C minor is in four large-scale movements redolent of the great Russian nationalist composers. Just two years younger than Catoire, Blumenfeld was conductor of the Mariinsky Theatre from 1895 to 1911. His Symphony in C minor, subtitled À la mémoire des chers défunts, is a stupendous score honoring those killed in the failed 1905 Revolution.

Price: $24.98