Search - Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Uri Zagorodniuk, Valery Borisov :: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Iolanta

Blind Passion

tmallon | Quakertown, PA United States | 06/04/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Not only a brilliantly creative mind, Tchaikovsky was the only Russian composer of his time with a formal musical education. Iolanta's original woodwind treatments is one example of why the late Igor Stravinsky was so enamored with this composer. However, replacing traditional string accompaniment with woodwinds drove Rimsky-Korsakov to trash the piece in his memoirs. Nicolai went on to mention how much more favorably Iolanta was received over Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker (So much for that critique!). Gustav Mahler tried to make a case for Iolanta to become regular opera repertory, but with little luck. Iolanta is yet another buried Russian opera. However, Tchaikovsky simply didn't write a bad opera. The story about a blind princess learning to see through love was a deliberate choice of subject matter by the composer for this, his last, opera. The ironically symbolic connotations reflect Tchaikovsky's own troubled love life. Once again, his brother Modest wrote the libretto. There has been some criticism of that writing. Just chalk the libretto's limitations to the subject matter (medieval fairy tale) and the fact that the brothers were just coming off Pique Dame, possibly opera's most original libretto (can't hit all of them out of the park). Still, the music is as powerful as any of Tchaikovsky's operas and better than almost all the French operas (except Carmen) that influenced him. The main cast requires ten very capable singers (another reason this isn't performed too often). And that's where the Philips' Kirov series comes to the rescue. If you've purchased any of them before, you're probably getting familiar with some of the Kirov's cast. Galina Gorchakova (Pskovitjanka, Invisible City, Maid of Pskov) is wonderful and very moving as Iolanta, the blind princess. Gegam Grigorian (Prince Igor, Pique Dame) is remarkable as the love-struck count. Pulling it together is the silky bass sound of Sergei Alexashkin (Mazepa, Sadko, War and Peace) as King Rene'. This recording is an easy listen. After the first few times, it becomes downright haunting. As for Iolanta, it will continue to gain ground over the next century. Buy it! Just base the purchase on blind faith."

Highly emotional performance of this fairytale

bartoli-fan | Netherlands | 09/26/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Having listened to the CD as well as the same orchestra, chorus and director (but different singers except for King René) performing in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw I must say I have seldomly been in such high spirits after an opera. It's a highly moving story, although not historically accurate, more like a fairytale. This opera was performed together with "the Nutcracker" and at that first performance in 1981 was received better than "Nutcracker".Having listened to it with such delight it is only a pity that nowadays mainly Russian audiences have the pleasure still to see it performed live. The music is the strongest part here, which was intended by Tchaikowsky:he meant to give a deeper meaning to what was happening on the stage mainly by the music. It doesn't fail to deeply touch the listener's heart. It has lots of melodies that seem typically Russian to me, full of passion and these melodies keep haunting my imagination in a sense I hadn't thought anymore to be possible. The CD is a little expensive given the fact that it only lasts 96 minutes (just 24 for the second CD, why not put parts of "The Nutcracker" on it ?) but is well worth the buy. Like with me it may well change your whole preference for styles and languages in opera. The booklet has the Russian cyrillic, Russian transliteration, English, German and French texts, as well as an introduction in these languages and in Italian but no Italian text (remarkably)."

A different Tchaikovsky experience, but fully worthwhile

bartoli-fan | 09/22/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Anyone who is familiar with Tchaikovsky's propensity for big emotional melodies will probably find "Iolanta" to be, initially, a little dry. It lacks the high voltage of "Pique Dame" and "Eugen Onegin" and is more intimate in scope. Having said that, this is still a worthwhile listen and evidnece that Tchaikovsky could do more than excite emotions. Certainly, Gergiev and his ensemble, notably Gorchakova and Hvorstovsky, make the best case for this opera. I'd still probably prefer Tchaikovsky's other operas, but this is a rewarding listen."