Treasure of Russian Recordings Unveiled : Music: A joint venture assists official archives in releasing works outside former Soviet Union.

How would you like to hear the world premiere of Benjamin Britten’s Cello Symphony, with Mstislav Rostropovich the soloist and the composer conducting? Not, understand, the first recording but the first performance, from Moscow in 1964.

Or maybe piano trios by Haydn and Beethoven played by Leonid Kogan, Rostropovich and Emil Gilels or Shostakovich performing a variety of his own music?

These are among the treasures in the official archives of Ostankino, the Russian State Television and Radio Company. Through a joint venture agreement between Ostankino and the Los Angeles-based USSU Arts Group Inc., to be announced today at a press conference in Hollywood, those recordings have become available for release outside the former Soviet Union.

“We certainly believe that this collection is unprecedented in volume, containing over 300,000 audio and video recordings of classical music,” Yuri Kornilov, Ostankino’s general director, told The Times earlier, in comments translated by Tristan Del, USSU chairman.

“The Russian government feels that the oil reserves and the gold reserves may come to an end, but this resource will produce great music and income for many, many years.”

Everything that was broadcast in the former Soviet Union, from sessions of the Supreme Soviet to folk songs, went into the archive, now holding more 2 million recordings--and growing at a rate of 1,500-2,000 new entries every month.

“For a long time, the archives will continue to supply the independent states,” Kornilov says. “Politics have nothing to do with art.”

But lawyers do, at least for commercially recorded art. USSU is being represented by entertainment heavyweights Ziffren, Brittenham and Branca. Royalties will be paid wherever due, including to estates of deceased artists.

Kornilov says that Russian President Boris Yeltsin has visited the Ostankino studios and discussed the rights issues. It was decided that everything in the archives before Jan. 1 or July 17, 1992 (exactly which date is still to be determined) will exist in accordance with previous Soviet law, under which everything broadcast became the property of the state.

“From that moment (the January or July date), Russia will enter a new era, in accordance with international copyright laws,” Kornilov says. “It is not our intent to take advantage of people.”

In fact, Kornilov says that his company knows all too well what it is like to suffer infringement of recording rights. For years, the Soviet government allowed Melodiya, the official recording label, to take advantage of the archive--”raped” is the word Kornilov used--and release anything it wanted from the Ostankino (formerly Gostelradio) vaults.

Now Ostankino has nothing to do with Melodiya, and Kornilov goes so far as to assert rights to everything ever recorded by Melodiya.

“They take this issue very seriously,” Del says. “That would practically double their catalogue, to over 500,000 recordings.”

The list includes all the great names of Soviet music, beginning with violinist David Oistrakh in performances from the late 1930s. It also features visiting artists from all over the world, ranging from Paul Robeson to the opera company from La Scala, Milan.

The collection is being catalogued with new software provided by USSU, and the recordings transferred to digital audio tape. The sound from the old tapes is being restored with new equipment and techniques created by former Defense Ministry scientists, some of which is coming here in an exchange of technology.

Although recordings from the collection may be released or distributed through another company, the discussions of the Ostankino and USSU partners have been revolving around creating an independent label.

“Ideally, we’re thinking that if the label is to be created, then it could be called the Golden Archives or the Discovery Series,” Kornilov says.

Discovery is a key element in this enormous project. Kornilov says that the internationally known artists are only the lucky few whose music traveled outside the former Soviet Union. Left behind were many performers, composers and conductors of equal or greater worth.

There are even discoveries awaiting knowledgeable Russians. During the totalitarian years, some musicians became non-persons, and had their names removed from the archives. Kornilov has embarked on investigative research to restore those artists to history.

Del suggests that the earliest any of this material might reach consumers in the U.S. is the first quarter of 1993.

“We will try to make the first releases as exciting and thrilling as possible,” he says.

Kornilov hopes that the revelations of this material will attract new classical listeners. The success of the project, he says, will make it possible to establish a foundation, with some connection to the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, to assist young musicians in both countries and to promote interest in classical music.