Alexander Mosolov (1900-1973) was tijdgenoot van Sjostakovitsj. Ook hij kampte (te modern) met censuur van het Sovjet-regime. Het enige werk van Mosolov dat hier soms te beluisteren is, is de illustratief beukerige ‘machinemuziek’ De IJzergieterij (1927). Na twee seizoenen in de Goelag (het zouden eerst 8 jaar zijn) vond Mosolov zijn idioom noodgedwongen opnieuw uit. Geen ‘pervers’ avant-gardisme meer, maar muziek zoals het Harpconcert (1937): sprookjesachtig, een soort 20ste-eeuws antwoord op Rimski-Korsakov, rijk aan oriëntaalse invloeden. Klinkende harpvirtuositeit – heel veel meer dan alleen lieflijk – en stampend martiale passages maken dit tot een concert dat je met plezier meermaals beluistert. De herontdekking van het harpconcert (kom op orkesten, programmeer dit straks eens als opmaat tot een symfonie van Sjostakovitsj!) en Mosolovs latere Vijfde symfonie danken we aan de inzet van de Nederlandse dirigent Arthur Arnold en het Moscow Symphony Orchestra – waarvan hij chef-dirigent is. Goed nieuws: er komen dankzij en met dezelfde uitvoerenden nog meer aan de vergetelheid ontrukte Mosolov-symfonieën (nrs. 3 en 4) aan.

The performance from the Moscow Symphony, with its Dutch-born, conductor, Arthur Arnold, gives full vent to those harsh elements in the opening movement leading to the peaceful attitudes of the in his slow central Adagio. For the finale the mood is a compendium of all that has gone before, the ‘trionfale’ creating a big and noisy conclusion. With the multi-award winning young American harpist, Taylor Ann Fleshman, the concerto is a pleasant score, using fast fingers it portrays an instrument of sparkling charm and beauty, the final Toccata suitably brilliant and jolly. Very good wide dynamic range sound.

The Harp Concerto—a piece worthy of a place in the mainstream repertoire—is Mosolov’s ‘response’ to the 1938 concerto by his teacher Glière, and is heard here in its first complete performance. By 1939, when he wrote it, his style had been irreversibly “corrected” by his experiences in a labor camp and it is an example of Mosolov’s obediently pliant style of composition from this period. Three of its movements were first performed in 1939 at the Moscow Conservatoire with Vera Dulova as the soloist, but the manuscript score and parts were subsequently consigned to oblivion before being rediscovered and restored for performance by the conductor of this recording, Arthur Arnold. In the first half of the 1960s, Mosolov largely busied himself in writing uplifting patriotic potboilers with titles such as Hello, New Harvest and Glory to Moscow, but he also managed to produce a handful of more enduring works for his desk drawer. These include the fifth symphony, which was never performed in his lifetime and remained unpublished until 1991. Its colorful, if uncontroversial, scoring makes it an enjoyably fascinating addition to the corpus of neglected Soviet-era symphonies now seeing the light of day for the first time. These are fascinating additions to the corpus of neglected Soviet-era works.

Harpist Taylor Ann Fleshman’s dynamic and expressive touches enhance the instrument’s sound from start to finish, be it melancholic or glittering. As far as the Symphony No. 5 is concerned, the central slow movement is the most captivating. It’s somewhat mechanical pulse and lugubrious overtones expose facets reminiscent of the younger composer. The members of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra and conductor Arthur Arnold well capture this work’s darkly resonating core.

The performance of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra is excellent under Arthur Arnold, a Dutch conductor who lives in Canada and the Netherlands and is chief conductor of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra.

There are presumably a great many other pieces by Mosolov which remain either unperformed or totally neglected since their first performances, and the example of the Harp Concerto here does demonstrate that some of them at any rate do not deserve their total disappearance. It is indeed solely thanks to the enterprise of conductors such as Arthur Arnold and the exploratory curiosity of the Naxos label that we are given the opportunity to discover such examples as these. I could not find it in myself to lend much support to a live revival of this particular Mosolov symphony (there are others which might possess greater character), but I would go some way to hear a performance of the Harp Concerto, and I am delighted to be afforded the opportunity to listen to it occasionally on this disc.

The Moscow Symphony Orchestra, led with heroic gesture by Arthur Arnold, does justice to this dramatic score. This recording opens doors to other unknown works by Mosolov.

Still with Russian composers, but this time one who is known for a single piece of music—the cataclysmic (and very brief) ‘Iron Foundry’. This Moscow disc from Naxos is illuminating, demonstrating that the composer was more than a one-hit wonder, his Fifth Symphony being a work of genuine substance and invention. It is given a serviceable performance here…

The long-suffering Alexander Mosolov deserves rehabilitation, and these fine performances and sound make a good case. If you like this symphony, by all means try the (unnumbered) Symphony in E (1944), a darker work, more Russian and more romantic. Performances and sound are first rate.

…The work is attractively written for the soloist, and far more contrasted in tone and atmosphere than the symphony. It’s an ambitious piece: four movements lasting thirty-seven minutes, but as played here by soloist Taylor Ann Fleshman, the time passes by pleasantly enough. Truth to tell, both works sound very good as performed by the Moscow Symphony under Arthur Arnold, and for anyone curious about the minor highways and byways of Soviet-era music, this disc will likely prove a mandatory acquisition.

The Concerto…highlights the excellent harpist Taylor Ann Fleshman. Arthur Arnold’s generous playing and the richness of his orchestra’s sound do perfect justice to this cinematic music.

Harpist Taylor Ann Fleshman’s technique and phrasing are outstanding in this performance. Her captivating interpretation leaves no doubt that this work deserves a lasting place in the harp concerto repertoire. It is always nice to encounter an effort to keep lesser-known composers’ music alive—Arnold and the Moscow Symphony certainly make a strong case for increased future performances of Mosolov’s music.