xpost Lisitsian and Rimsky's Servillia now easily available on cd.
rich...@gmail.com
Rimsky's Servillia gets spoken of here from time to time. It is unlike
anything
else of this great master, and hasn't been performed in a
century....for no
good reason.
In about 1950, Melodiya finally recorded a series of excerpts with
Nlepp,
Lisitsian and Bron, among others. It has never appeared on cd to my
knowledge (it was paired with excerpts from Kashrei with Lisitsian),
and it
surfaces only on a couple of internet sites, usually in not very good
sound.
The Aquarius label is devoted to presenting a huge amount from the
Russian
operatinc and vocal archives, and a couple of years ago, as one of
their
flagship re-issues, brought forth Vestovsky's Gromboy, also a 1950
recording.
Gromboy is a generation or two prior to Serov, but has its own charms
and is
worth several listens. (the recording features Korolev and Pystovskaya
and
Thihonov under Katz). Even better, you get a selection of songs sung
by
Tarkov, and then as a super bonus, the extended scene from Servillia
with
Rimsky and Bron (about 14 minutes of music) in better sound than I
have
heard it before. (and finally, the extended Maria/Mazeppa scene). I
think we
may have more of Servillia in the next few years, but this, and
Fleming's very
fine rendition of her aria, are now the most easily available set
excerpts
available.
In purely vocal terms, I am not sure that Lisitsian has ever sounded
better, or
more dramatic, and there's almost no excuse not to indulge if you have
any
interest in Russian music or great singing.
Aquarius 347-2.
Mike Scott Rohan
wrote:
Good to know about this. Servilia laid a very large egg when
premiered, and its subject didn't suit post-revolutionary theatre;
that's probably why it didn't reappear. There was originally more
resistance to R-K outside Russia than you'd expect -- one English
critic famously shuddered "What a name for a composer! It suggests
fierce whiskers stained with vodka!" -- part of a distaste for
Russians generally. Several critics agreed about Tchaikovsky 1 that it
revealed "the barbarian savage said to lie at the heart of every
apparently civilized Russian." Tchaikovsky 1!!!!! What would they have
made of the original Mussorgsky? Fortunately Rimsky's version smoothed
the path, I believe because it was accepted in Paris and Germany
first. But Rimsky's own operas were then treated as poor relations,
except Golden Cockerel, because it suited the Ballet Russe style; and
that misjudgement still obatins with many of my colleagues.
What we need as much as recordings, though, is scores. I remember
managing, at the Soviet-financed bookshop Collets in London, finally
finding an LP set of Sadko (it stank -- literally, due to the glue on
the box!) and asking about the score. "Ah," said the assistant sadly,
"we've just 'ad Edward Downes and David Lloyd-Jones though this
morning asking about that -- and if *they* can't get one..."
Cheers,
Mike
Downes was of course the considerable conductor who counted second
only to Solti at Covent Garden, and conducted those excellent Gliere
CDs, and Lloyd-Jones, also a fine conductor, prepared the definitive
performing edition of the Mussorgsky Boris, superseding Pavel Lamm
ivanmaxim
>
> - Show quoted text -
That was probably the great old Bolshoi recording from about 1950 -
start turns from Reizen, Kozlovsky and Lisitsian!!!!! Nicely pressed
onto Arlecchino with some great Sadko recordongs as a filler and some
very interesting annotations. Wagner fan
rich...@gmail.com
>
> - Show quoted text -
That is very interesting. I tended to think that the Lamm editions
were pretty much the last word, but I gather that they are not on a
lot of these?
I have been spending a lot of time with Khovanschina over the last
number of months in various recordings, and in repeatedly comparing
the Lamm and the Rimsky versions of the score. Is there any other
score version you know of or would recommend? My favorite performance
still, after all this investigatiing, is the Nebolsin, not only for
the cast, but because as a conductor he observes literally all of the
written dynamics without every making it seem lifeless or academic -
very much the opposite. The worst recording I think I have heard is
the MET live performance under Emil Cooper in English, with a terribly
poor cast (including Tibbett on his last legs) and with only a
stellar Hines. But Cooper who was very important with this opera, as
you know, pays no attention, his cast pays less, and he reinvents
Rimsky, not to much effect as I can see.
All best
Mike Scott Rohan
wrote:
>
> That is very interesting. I tended to think that the Lamm editions
> were pretty much the last word, but I gather that they are not on a
> lot of these?
Lamm laid the groundwork, so of course L-J's is based on his, but it's
been the one most employed in the UK over my opera-going career. When
he was director of Opera North they laid on a special 60th birthday
production of it, with local lad John Tomlinson and a very fine cast,
which was one of the best things I've seen. The excerpts later
recorded by Paul Daniel are a pale shadow; Lloyd-Jones's much quieter,
more poetic feeling for that music was amazing.
>
> I have been spending a lot of time with Khovanschina over the last
> number of months in various recordings, and in repeatedly comparing
> the Lamm and the Rimsky versions of the score. Is there any other
> score version you know of or would recommend? My favorite performance
> still, after all this investigatiing, is the Nebolsin, not only for
> the cast, but because as a conductor he observes literally all of the
> written dynamics without every making it seem lifeless or academic -
> very much the opposite. The worst recording I think I have heard is
> the MET live performance under Emil Cooper in English, with a terribly
> poor cast (including Tibbett on his last legs) and with only a
> stellar Hines. But Cooper who was very important with this opera, as
> you know, pays no attention, his cast pays less, and he reinvents
> Rimsky, not to much effect as I can see.
>
> All best
I would not pronounce too readily here, it's such a matter of taste. I
like both orchestrations, well performed, but I tend to enjoy the
original Marina-less version to the later revisions. I enjoy the
bipartite Maryinsky set, but it hasn't got the best singers in the
world; it just works as an idiomatic ensemble performance, or rather
two. Also, my experience of Boris is wholly European, so I don't have
that much knowledge of the Met; I never heard Pinza, except on some
discs my wife's stepfather played me, and I only heard Hines live in
Wagner at the end of his career. I admire the Abbado in many ways, but
it isn't the one I turn to instinctively. I also like the understated
Gergiev DVD with Robert Lloyd, although his Russian's worse than mine!
I take it the Nebolsin you mean is the one that served as soundtrack
to the old Bolshoi film with Pirogov. I only have that on video,
Soviet era, and unsurprisingly I have trouble with the sound, which
prevents me assessing it fairly; it strikes me as a good, solid and
above all idiomatic reading, certainly. But I find more excitement in
the old Dobrowen, and I have a soft spot, despite the rough sound, for
the old Melik-Pashayev recording with George London grafted in --
towering central performance, unslackening drama, and M-P whips up the
tension. I also quite like Karajan and Cluytens in their individual
ways, especially vocally; but this is all very personal and not
necessarily expert. I will say, though, that I do not at all like the
Semkow with Talvela, or the Rostropovich.
Cheers,
Mike
rich...@gmail.com
>
> - Show quoted text -
Ah, thanks so much. I can't believe I didn't know about the Dobrowen!
I don't think I have ever heard it, and that now moves to assignment
1. He accompanies Schanbel on the later of the Beethoven Piano
Concertos, and something like 40 years after I first heard the set (on
the old Angel LPs, in that luxurious black box - a huge present to
myself in college after first year) they are still vivid in my mind.
You obviously konw this stuff MUCH better than I and I much appreciate
the pointers and recommendations.
Will follow up soon.
All best
Mike Scott Rohan
wrote:
Partly it's a professional knowledge; but I don't for example know so
much about the more obscure recordings, "historical" and so on, which
many swear by -- and, as I said, I've little experience of the US
stuff. Anyhow, so much is a matter of taste; a lot of people might
find Dobrowen old-fashioned and a bit stagey, and the sound is of
course mono, so don't expect too much. And sometimes there's a set you
know isn't the best, can't possibly be, and yet it says something to
you personally. Such is the Danish Boris with the late Aage Haugland
doing a Boris Christoff and singing all three bass star roles.
Haugland's distinctive metallic tone is even harder to disguise than
Christoff's was, the conducting is variable and so are some of the
smaller roles, but there's still something in the performance that
catches my interest. So do please take anything I say as just opening
a direction to explore.
Sometimes, too, a performance can mean a lot more to those who
actually heard the performers. For me, for example, splendid as many
Beethoven concertos are -- and what I've heard of Schnabel is indeed
extraordinary -- I most often put on a modest set with John Lill and
the Scottish National Orchestra under Sir Alexander Gibson, because
they're the first I heard, and there's still -- for me -- a unique
freshness in them. But if I were asked to recommend a set
professionally (although I don't actually deal with piano) it would be
one of the big bow-wows -- Schnabel, indeed, if modern sound wasn't an
issue, because Naxos have him at bargain price, or Solomon; or Andras
Schiff, or Brendel -- safer choices for the general.
But then, if music isn't personal, what is it? So many critics, and
even more interval wiseacres, don't remember that. I hate to hear
someone sneering at a particular preference; it's usually the first
mark of an ignoramus!
Cheers,
Mike
wkasimer
wrote:
> Ah, thanks so much. I can't believe I didn't know about the Dobrowen!
> I don't think I have ever heard it, and that now moves to assignment
> 1.
I hope you like Christoff - there's a lot of him on this set, like the
Cluytens.
Best transfer, BTW, is Naxos.
Bill
wkasimer
<mike.scott.ro...@asgardpublishing.co.uk> wrote:
> I take it the Nebolsin you mean is the one that served as soundtrack
> to the old Bolshoi film with Pirogov. I only have that on video,
> Soviet era, and unsurprisingly I have trouble with the sound, which
> prevents me assessing it fairly; it strikes me as a good, solid and
> above all idiomatic reading, certainly.
I also have this in audio-only (I think that it's on Preiser), and the
sound is OK. But I prefer the "other" Nebolsin, with Reizen dropped
in in place of Pirogov.
> But I find more excitement in
> the old Dobrowen, and I have a soft spot, despite the rough sound, for
> the old Melik-Pashayev recording with George London grafted in --
> towering central performance, unslackening drama, and M-P whips up the
> tension.
The presence of Arkhipova doesn't hurt, either. As with the
Nebolsin, I prefer the "other" one with Petrov, as originally
recorded, rather than with London.
> I also quite like Karajan and Cluytens in their individual
> ways, especially vocally; but this is all very personal and not
> necessarily expert.
I'm not much of a fan of either. I'm not a Christoff fan, which
pretty much rules the Cluytens out of consideration, and except for
Ghiaurov's well sung but rather bland Tsar, Karajan doesn't offer much
cast-wise.
> I will say, though, that I do not at all like the
> Semkow with Talvela, or the Rostropovich.
Ditto, albeit for very different reasons. Semkow assembled a very,
very good cast of little-known Eastern European singers - e.g.
Paprocki, Raptis, Mroz, Hiolski), but at the center is a Boris who's
really a little too soft-edged. And I'm not sure why - perhaps lack
of rehearsal and familiarity with the original orchestration - but the
orchestral contribution consistently lacks drama. Rostropovich has
the opposite problem - great conducting, truly awful cast.
I also have a soft spot for the Bolshoi set with Nesterenko,
Obratsova, and Atlantov, Ermler conducting. The Polish act really
breathes fire in that one.
Bill