Max Derrickson

Anatol Liadov   (1855-1914)

The EnchantedLake, Op. 62 (Fairy Tale Picture)

There is not a great deal of Liadov’s music that is heard often, yet what stays in the repertoire is lovely.  Besides about nine orchestral pieces that
find performances, there is also a host of art songs and piano pieces.  Theyremain played because of a magical inventiveness simply unique to the creation of Anatol Konstantinovich Liadov.  Of particular beauty are the Eight Russian Folksongs, Op. 58.

Russian born, Liadov (1855-1914) studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatorie.   He studied with the master Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and their friendship lasted throughout their lives.  A famous story of the private, mysterious life of Anatol Liadov is that of his marriage.  Upon counsel  from his friend Rimsky-Korsakov, he married.  After the marriage was secured, no one was ever allowed to meet her.  Visitors presumed she might have been a figment of the imagination.  Such was the private life of Liadov.

[. . .]

Such is The Enchanted Lake (1909), a whimsical, lush portrait of a lake being home to water nymphs, wood sprites, and all manner of fairies.   Liadov creates a mystical, magical place of charm and beauty, enthralled in the other world.     [. . .]