José Serebrier - Glazunov : Symphonies Nos 4 & 7 (2006/2020)

There are moments, even whole movements, in José Serebrier and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra's 2006 recordings of Glazunov's Fourth and Seventh symphonies that almost achieve greatness. Still, one shouldn't complain too much; after all, it's always a pleasure to hear Glazunov's superbly crafted, brilliantly colorful, wonderfully tuneful, and above all profoundly optimistic symphonies, even in performances that don't quite get it.

It's as if they're not able and willing. Serebrier has always been a highly skilled conductor with a commendable interest in Russian repertoire and the Scottish National Orchestra has delivered many bright and exciting recordings under Neeme Järvi. But as in the two previous Glazunov recordings, Serebrier doesn't seem to grasp the sweetly lyrical quality of the themes, doesn't appear to comprehend the strong character of the structures, and doesn't even come close to articulating the individuality of the inspiration. In response, the Scottish Orchestra plays professionally but without the kind of dedicated enthusiasm that makes a performance persuasive. The dedicated Glazunov fan will once again have to fall back on the classic Gennady Rozhdestvensky stereo recordings of the works with the ideally named USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra to hear what great Glazunov really sounds like: grandly heroic, supremely tender, and overwhelmingly affirmative. Warner Classics' digital recording is a tad too hard, a bit too gaudy, and a little too close.