Felix Plays Glière Korsun, Glière and Scriabin

Lighthouse, Poole

Ukrainian singer, pianist, organist, conductor and composer, Anna Korsun’s works explore the human voice and traditional instruments alongside electronic sounds allowing the music to speak for itself. Glière is remembered as a true successor to Tchaikovsky, especially because of his music for Russian ballets. Like so much of his music, the Horn Concerto is skillfully crafted and complete with inventive harmonies, and bright orchestral colours, infused with Slavic folk melodies and late Romantic sonorities. The irresistibly beautiful andante has a film score-like feel that becomes a real Hollywood tearjerker, while the final movement conjures up exciting Russian dances and marches. Scriabin’s Second Symphony is a big work. With echoes of Tchaikovsky, Wagner and R Strauss, its deeply personal sound goes far beyond the conventional four-movement symphonic scheme with its surging chromatic language, sophisticated thematic development and brilliant, yet subtle, colourful orchestration. Its heart is the sumptuous and brooding central andante, which opens and closes with the flute imitating the sounds of birds.