Gliere: Symphony No. 2 / The Zaporozhy Cossacks

Reinhold Glière (Reyngol'd Moritsevich Glier), a Soviet composer of Belgian descent, was born in Kiev in 1875, the son of a maker of wind instruments. He played the violin and wrote music at home and studied for three years at the Kiev Conservatory before entering the Moscow Conservatory in 1894. There he studied the violin with Hrimaly, and composition with Taneyev, taking lessons in harmony from Arensky and his pupil Konyus and in orchestration from Ippolitov-Ivanov. He graduated in 1900 with a one-act opera-oratorio Earth and Heaven, based on Byron.

"This is still by far the best rendition of this symphony, even as of late 2002. This masterfully orchestrated symphony couldn't be more Russian, romantic sounding, as is the accompanying symphonic poem honoring the heroism of the Cossacks. This CD affords exciting listening at an irresistible price!" Tower.com