At long last we finally have what appears to be a complete recording of Glière's 
The Red Poppy, and at a bargain price. This set includes thirty-six separate 
numbers, more than three times any other I can recall. Yet, even so, there is 
one small mystery. A couple of months ago I received a card from a reader asking 
if I knew what had happened to the "Charleston" that opens act III. He stated 
that the one included in the old Yuri Fayer recording on Vanguard, issued in the 
1950s, had a "Charleston" that he considered preferable to the one in the new 
Naxos set. (This was a different recording than the one by Fayer issued on 
Melodiya-Angel 40089 which included nine items of the thirty-six.) I was 
confused by this as I have never heard the older Fayer disc and was unaware that 
Naxos had issued The Red Poppy. (This set was evidently issued elsewhere last 
year for it bears a 1995 copyright, even though it just arrived here for review 
in early May.) The second mystery was solved once this set arrived for review. I 
still don't know the answer to the first problem. If anyone who reads this can 
enlighten the questioning reader and myself, we would both be grateful.

Though Glière was born in Kiev in 1875 and studied at the Moscow Conservatory 
with Taneyev, Arensky, Conius, and Ippolitov-Ivanov, we tend to think of him as 
a Soviet rather than a Russian composer. He taught at the Gnessin Conservatory 
(Prokofiev was his pupil there) and later in Kiev. All three of his symphonies 
were completed well before the Revolution of 1917. From 1920 until his 
retirement in 1941 he taught composition at the Moscow Conservatory. His musical 
style was deeply rooted in nineteenth-century Russian Romanticism.

During the Soviet Era his main musical influence was the ethnic music of the 
various Soviet Republics. The 1926 ballet, The Red Poppy, was set in a Chinese 
seaport and shows that Glière's ethnic studies reached as far as China for the 
pentatonic scale is much used. The plot is a simple one in which a young 
Chinese, Tao-Hoa, falls in love with the captain of a Soviet cargo ship, to whom 
she gives a red poppy. Her manager, Li-Shan-Fu, disapproves and tries to force 
Tao-Hoa to give the captain poisoned tea. Tao-Hoa, of course, refuses. The 
famous "Russian Sailors" Dance closes the first act. The second act rather 
inexplicably takes place in an opium den. This does give an opportunity for some 
very imaginative dances. In act III there are preparations for a Chinese theater 
presentation. This is the point where the Charleston appears, and what a hoot it 
is! These preparations are interrupted by a coolie uprising. The captain is 
saved from death in the uprising by the efforts of Tao-Hoa. He and his men sail 
away safely, but Li-Shan-Fu shoots Tao-Hoa for thwarting her plot. As she dies, 
Tao-Hoa hands a red poppy to a little girl. The flower of course represents 
communism which was believed would be the salvation of the poor and downtrodden. 
In the closing scene the "Internationale" is heard.

The plot may not be particularly convincing but, I suspect, that a staged 
performance could be gorgeous. Certainly the music is as varied as a 
kaleidoscope. When we hear the six dances that make up the suite in their proper 
context, it is interesting to discover that the opening and closing movements of 
the familiar suite actually are the ninth and tenth parts of the score, 
respectively. Anichanov plays the score with a great deal of feeling and 
effectively projects the music.

This is an absolute must for anyone interested in Russian ballet music or in 
Glière. Decent notes and very good sound complete this desirable bargain issue. 
In fact the sound is nearly of demonstration quality with smooth highs and rich, 
deep bass.

  --John Bauman