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ID: MELCD1002102
CDs: 2
Type: CD
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Collection:
Opera Collection
Subcollection: Choir and OrchestraFirma Melodiya presents a recording of Anton Rubinstein’s opera The Demon. This wonderful work, which was inspired with the poem of the same name by Mikhail Lermontov and then inspired the likes of Mikhail Vrubel and Feodor Chaliapin, became a milestone in the history of music theatre. Unfortunately, the opera was almost forgotten by the public and musicians, and only a few of its fragments were widely known. It is only lately that Russian and foreign opera houses have been showing a new interest in it.
Rubinstein finished the opera in 1871. One of the greatest pianists of the 19th century nicknamed “tsar of the stage”, a composer and conductor, the founder of the first ever Russian conservatory in St Petersburg, he stood at the summit of glory and in full possession of his composing mastery.
The Demon combined traditions of Russian and West European music art and did justice to the colour of Caucasus. The opera was a great success with the public and accepted enthusiastically even by the composers of The Five, Rubinstein’s ideological 'opponents'. “A superb artist”, wrote Modest Mussorgsky in a letter to Vladimir Stasov.
Of all recorded versions of The Demon, we offer the one realized in 1974 by the soloists, choir and orchestra of the All-Union Radio lead by the outstanding maestro Boris Khaikin. Alexander Polyakov, a young bass-baritone and future soloist of the Bolshoi Theatre performed the main part. Nina Lebedeva, a Bolshoi soloist and remarkable performer of Russian and foreign operatic repertoire sang the part of Tamara. Alexei Usmanov (tenor), a soloist of the All-Union Radio, performed the part of Sinodal.
Alexander Polyakov (Demon), Nina Lebedeva (Tamara), Evgeny Vladimirov (Gudal), Alexey Usmanov (Sinodal), Nina Grigorieva (Nanny), Nina Derbina (Angel), Yury Elnikov (Messenger), Boris Morozov (Old Servant)
Academic Choir of the USSR All-Union Radio, USSR State Radio Symphony Orchestra, Boris Khaikin |
| 29.00 eur Temporarily out of stock |
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ID: MELCD1002277
CDs: 2
Type: CD
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Collection:
Choral Collection
Subcollection: Choir and OrchestraRecorded: 1965
Firma Melodiya presents a recording of Sergei Taneyev’s opera Oresteia, a revived masterpiece of Russian music.
The author worked on the opera for twelve years (1882-1894), in a period when Prince Igor, the Queen of Spades, Iolanta and Mlada were created. However, Oresteia remained a unique phenomenon in history of Russian opera. Sergei Taneyev was the best and favourite pupil of Tchaikovsky and Nikolai Rubinstein, a prominent educator and music theorist who brought up Rachmaninoff, Scriabin and many other famous pupils. Unexpectedly for his friends and peers, he was inspired with the ancient story (Aeschylus’s tetralogy) which met his aesthetic ideals of harmony and perfection.
Taneyev masterfully used a broad arsenal of music and dramatic techniques of the late 19th century - an intricate system of leitmotifs, evolving dramaturgy of operatic scenes, and a combination of freely recitative and arioso fragments. The special part of the chorus reflects the spirit of ancient theatre with bright orchestral bits frequently becoming culminations (the famous entr’acte The Temple of Apollo at Delphi). The opera is full of tragic anticipation of Fate, which makes it close to Tchaikovsky’s symphonism, but a heartwarming finale resolving the conflict is typical for Taneyev’s views thus deviating from Aeschylus’s fatalism. Wisdom and Love conquer the dark forces of revenge, insidiousness and malice - that is the bottom line of this monumental operatic interpretation.
Oresteia did not have a lucky stage life - it has been staged on a small number of occasions. The version of the State Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theatre of Belarus realized and recorded in the 1960’s is one of the best productions of the opera. That recording is featured in this set. The main parts are performed by the soloists of the Belorussian theatre V. Chernobayev, L. Galushkina, A. Bokov, T. Shimko, I. Dubrovkin and N. Tkachenko. The choir and orchestra are conducted by the People’s Artist of the Belorussian SSR Tatiana Kolomiytseva. |
| 29.00 eur Temporarily out of stock |
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ID: MKM315
CDs: 2
Type: CD
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Collection:
Opera and Ballet
Subcollection: Choir and OrchestraDramatis Personae:
Mstivoy, Prince of Ratar - Alexey Korolev, basso
Voyslava, his daughter - Tatyana Tugarinova, soprano
Yaromir, prince of Arkon - Vladimir Makhov, tenor
Morena, a deity of the nether world, appearing in Act I as old woman Svyatokhna - Nina Kulagina, mezzo-soprano
Omnipotent Priest Radegast - Alexey Bolshakov, baritone
Lumir - Valentina Klepatskaya, mezzo-soprano
Kashchei - Choir
Chernobog - Choir
A citizen of Novgorod - Yuri Yelnikov, tenor
His wife - Tamara Yerofeeva, mezzo-soprano
Varyag - Alexander Tikhonov, baritone
Tiun - Anatoly Blagov, basso
Moor from the Caliphate - Vladimir Tsarsky, tenor
1st Seller, selling skins - Ivan Kartavenko, tenor
2st Seller, selling arms - Yevgeny Pervyshev, basso
3st Seller, selling beads and idols - Lidia Kazanskaya, soprano
4st Seller, selling yarn - Tamara Antipova, mezzo-soprano
5st Seller, selling fish - Nina Kulagina, mezzo-soprano
Silent Dramatis Personae:
Shadow of Princess Mlada - 1st mime
Shadow of Princess Cleopatra - 2st mime
Chorus and Great Radio Symphony Orchestra of the USSR
Conductor Evgeny Svetlanov
Recorded: 1962 |
| 29.00 eur Temporarily out of stock |
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ID: AQVR172-2
CDs: 2
Type: CD
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Collection:
Opera and Ballet
Subcollection: Choir and OrchestraOpera: folk-tale in 4 acts, 9 scenes. Libretto based on the novel by Nikolai Gogol written by the composer
The first performance took place on November 28, 1895 in St. Petersburg at the Mariinsky Theatre.
Tchub - Sergei Krassovsky (bass)
Oksana - Natalia Shpiller (soprano)
Vakula - Dmitri Tarkhov (tenor)
Solokha - Nina Kulagina (mezzo-soprano)
Golova - Sergei Migai (baritone)
Panass - Vsevolod Tutunik (bass)
Deacon - Sergei Streltsov (tenor)
Patsuk - Alexei Korolev (bass)
Devil - Pavel Pontryagin (tenor)
Empress - Ludmila Legostaeva (mezzo-soprano) |
| 32.00 eur Buy |
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ID: AQVR374-2
CDs: 2
Type: CD
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Collection:
Opera Collection
Subcollection: Choir and OrchestraPrince Yuri Vsevolodovitch . . . . . . . . . ALEXANDER VEDERNIKOV
Prince Vsevolod Yurevitch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VLADIMIR IVANOVSKY
Fevroniya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NATALIA ROZHDESTVENSKAYA
Grishka Kuterma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DMITRI TARKHOV
Feodor Poyarok . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ILYA BOGDANOV
Young lad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LIDIYA MELNIKOVA
Psaltery player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BORIS DOBRIN
Bear handler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAVEL PONTRYAGIN
Bedyai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LEONID KTITOROV
Burunday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SERGEI KRASOVSKY
Alconost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NINA KULAGINA
The choir and orchestra of the All-Union radio, conductor - Samuel Samosud
Recorded live from the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, January 19, 1955
Narrator - Boris Plotnikov |
| 32.00 eur Buy |
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ID: MELCD1002050
CDs: 3
Type: CD
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Collection:
Opera Collection
Subcollection: Choir and OrchestraE. Andreyeva, E. Bulavin & V. Radziyevsky
Choir & Orchestra of the Moscow State, Gennady Provatorov
It is hard to name another opera with a fate as complicated and dramatic as that of its heroine. Shostakovich came up with the idea of composing an opera based on Nikolai Leskov’s novel Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District, perhaps the most outright and cruel work of the Russian classical literature, in the early 1930s. Finished in 1932, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District (as the opera was originally titled) was staged two years later in Leningrad and then in Moscow caused a heated controversy.
However, the opera was condemned after Stalin saw it. “A mess instead of music” - that was a title of a scathing article in the Pravda in January 1936. It marked the beginning of unfounded criticism at Shostakovich for “formalism”, while Lady Macbeth was banned from the stage. The ban was lifted as late as in the early 1960s when Shostakovich had realized the second edition of the opera under the name of Katerina Izmailova. The opera was staged in Moscow and later it took the place it deserved in Russian and foreign theatres. Melodiya presents a historically first recording of Shostakovich’s opera made at the Moscow Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre in 1964 soon after the premiere of the second edition. The premiere was conducted by a young maestro Gennady Provatorov.
In 1966, the recording was given a Grand Prix du Disquein France. |
| 39.00 eur Temporarily out of stock |
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ID: MELCD1000764
CDs: 3
Type: CD
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Collection:
Opera Collection
Subcollection: Choir and OrchestraLibretto by the composer after the Tragedy by Alexander Pushkin.
Version and orchestration by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Opera in 4 Acts with a Prologue. Libretto by the composer after the Tragedy by Alexander Pushkin. Version and orchestration by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Boris Godunov-Ivan Petrov; Feodor-Valentina Klepatskaya; Xenia-Tamara Sorokina; Nurse to Xenia-Yevgeniya Verbitskaya; Prince Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky-Georgy Shulpin; Andrey Schelkalov-Alexey Ivanov; Pimen-Mark Reshetin; Grigory, the Pretender-Vladimir Ivanovsky; Marina Mnishek-Irina Arkhipova. Chorus and Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre of the USSR. Recorded in Moscow, 1962.
“I see the people as a single great personality inspired by one definite idea. That was my task, that was what I wanted to bring out in my opera”, said Mussorgsky of Boris Godunov. The revolutionary idea of Boris Godunov is clearly brought out in the brilliant scene of the people’s revolt (the final scene, “At Kromy”). The mighty song of the rebellious people comes as a burst of indignation against Tsar Boris and his “offsprings” whom the people hold reponsible for all their misfortunes. The idea of composing an opera after Pushkin’s historical tragedy waz suggested to Mussorgsky by his friend and admirer V. Nikolsky, a specialist in history of the Russian language. Thet was in 1868. By this time Mussorgsky’s realistic talent and interest in the life of the people had already become apparent. He accepted the idea of writing a historical opera with enthusiasm. He was absorbed in study of the historical material of the epoch. V. Stasov aided him in finding the texts of folk songs and supplied him with the information drawn from various historical sources. The opera was staged in Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre on December 16, 1888. |
| 39.00 eur Temporarily out of stock |
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