Ippolitov-Ivanov's Symphony No. 1 in E minor, Op. 46, was written in 1908 and dedicated to Vasily Ilyich Safonov, a Caucasian musician and former director of the Moscow Conservatory.
Composer Biography
Ippolitov-Ivanov was a pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov and later became director of the music school and conductor of the opera in Tblisi (Tiflis) in Georgia.
Composer Biography
Ippolitov-Ivanov enjoyed a friendly relationship with Tchaikovsky, evidenced by about thirty surviving letters between them, with Tchaikovsky addressing him intimately as 'golubchik'.
Composer Biography
Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, unlike many nationalist Russian composers, came from a less privileged background, as his father was a mechanic in the royal household.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Ippolitov-Ivanov maintained an interest in oriental music, particularly the music of ethnic minorities in the Soviet Union, while retaining his acquired harmonic and compositional techniques.
Performer Biography
Choo Hoey, the conductor, was awarded Singapore's Cultural Medallion in 1979 and made an Honorary Doctor of Letters by the National University of Singapore in 1989 for his contributions to music.
Performer Biography
Choo Hoey, the conductor on this album, was the founding Music Director and Resident Conductor of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra from 1979 to 1996.
