Kabalevsky’s two large works work in rondo form owe their existence to special occasions. During the preparations for the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow which took place in 1958 Kabalevsky was selected to write the compulsory work to be prepared by all candidates. There were, of course, ulterior motives for this idea as the Cold War had reached new heights at the time and the Soviet regime wanted to use the competition to prove the superiority of its pianists to the world. So Kabalevsky custom-tailored his Rondo in a minor Op. 59 to showcasing the strong points of Russian pianism.
The motoric main section constantly intersperses rapid sixteenth-note passages, clearly with the intention of demonstrating the finger strenghth of the “Russian School” and to outclass the contestants from Western Europe, while the cantabile middle section with its tragic character and its typically Russian rhetoric presented an insurmountable obstacle for any representative of the West’s fashionable “New Objectivity”. But all these elaborate plans came to nothing - who could have foreseen that a twenty-three-year old American student of Rosina Lhévinne named Van Cliburn would play more “Russian” than the Russians and take Moscow and the competition jury by storm? Cliburn’s live recording of this piece from the competition is a fascinating document of this situation, a few bloopers notwithstanding. After the competition, however, the piece fell into complete oblivion which is undeserved as this is an extremely attractive virtuoso showpiece with some great moments.
After an opening flourish, the rondo theme enters in the right hand with jaunty left-hand quavers in accompaniment. The first contrasting section uses the rondo rhythm but in episodic, sequential development with quicksilver arpeggiation insterspersed. This builds to a forte restatement of the four-bar introduction, followed by chromatic octaves in contrary motion which usher in the rondo's return. In sonata rondo form, the middle segment is a stunning, dignified section which begins in C-sharp minor, and moves through various other minor tonalities before a momentous restatement of its oepning in C-sharp minor. One trait of the Russian choral tradition is that of the znammeny chant, sung by basses, and an excellent example of this use in Kabalevsky's music is in the low octaves which open, and permeate, the middle section, with the melody sung above. The rondo theme enters, presto, in E minor, and is developed with semiquaver sequential patterns before the return of the opening rondo in A minor. The final contrasting section features a sustauined melody, doubled two octaves below in the left hand, with moving quavers in duple time in the inner voice. The vigorous coda, piu mosso, begins with the rondo theme in chords and builds dramatically to a stupendous finish.
(Naxos Music Library)
Please take note that the audio AND sheet music ARE NOT mine. Change the quality to a minimum of 480p if the video is blurry.
Original audio: • Kabalevsky. Rondo - Se...
(Performance by: Sergei Pavlov)
Original sheet music: en.scorser.com/...