Delos has lately been making classic Russian Disc recordings of seldom-heard Russian music available to the public again - most notably the important works of pianist, composer and pedagogical pioneer Anton Rubinstein. This release offers Don Quixote and Ivan IV, his two “symphonic pictures” of memorable characters, in performances that have long been ranked as being the best available. Many of Rubinstein’s contemporaries considered these unique works to be among the finest music he wrote.

Don Quixote is a different sort of musical portrait of Cervantes’ famous fictional character that depicts the deranged old knight’s noble dreams and actions with sympathy and subtle humour, while avoiding the kinds of overtly comic musical portrayals we have from other composers.

Likewise, his more serious tone-picture of Ivan IV (“Ivan the Terrible”) casts a comparatively favourable musical image of Russia’s legendary first Tsar, emphasizing his personal energy, idealism and grandeur rather than his notorious brutality.

As in the rest of Delos’ acclaimed re-releases of Rubinstein’s music on Russian Disc, these sweeping and idiomatically true performances are from the dependable State Symphony Orchestra of Russia, under the assured baton of Russian Maestro Igor Golovchin.