Search - Marina Domashenko, Olga Guryakova, Constantine Orbelian :: Tchaikovsky Duets: Domashenko and Guryakova

Magnificent !

Roderick Keech | Australia | 03/29/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A great debt is owed to the founder of Delos Music, the late Amelia Haygood, for creating a label that provided a platform for great Russian performers and composers.



Here, beautifully recorded using DSD technology, is a disc that is unfortunately named 'Tchaikovsky Duets'. I say unfortunate, as the items on the disc are not all duets, and not all those that are duets are performed by Olga Guryakova and Marina Domashenko - track 4 is a duet from Romeo and Juliet, performed by Guryakova and the tenor Vsevolod Grivinov.



This is not to say that the disc is anything but enchanting, from start to finish. Both singers are glorious and complement each other beautifully. Backed by the ever reliable Constantine Orbelian conducting the Philharmonia of Russia and the Spiritual Revival Choir of Russia, the programme commences with Tatiana and Olga's duet from Eugene Onegin, without question Tchaikovsky's most popular and well known opera.



Along with duets and arias from the composer's other operas - Pique Dame (Queen of Spades), Mazeppa, Oprichnik, The Maid of Orleans (Joan of Arc - for which there is still no decent complete recording) - are five non-operatic duets and one ensemble, sung here with another mezzo, Elena Manikhina.



Each piece demonstrates Tchaikovsky's lyricism and sheer emotional depth, and are a joy to listen to.



Those unfamiliar with his operatic works should find the 67:45 minutes of this disc confirmation of the master's ability to create beautiful melodies, no matter what the genre, and will hopefully go and seek the complete operas, of which there are many fine recordings.



Full texts with English translations included. Highly recommended on every level."

Almost perfect

Robert Levonian | Porto Alegre, Brazil | 03/31/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I had long despaired of ever having a complete set of Tchaikovsky's Six duets Op. 46, but it seems I will have to wait for some more time to enjoy the whole set. This CD has five of the six duets - duet number two (Scottish song) has been omitted. There are other two CDs with some of these songs, but both are incomplete.

1. Duets numbers 3, 4 & 6 are sung in French by Elisabeth Söderström and Kerstin Meyer (BIS-CD 17);

2. Duets 1, 3, 4 & 6 are sung in a rather incompetent English version by Janet Baker and Heather Harper, with none other than Benjamin Britten at the piano.

The present version is sung in Russian, and the piano accompaniment has been delightfully orchestrated by Alexander Gritsevitch.



As for the Romeo and Juliet duet, in my opinion, the best version is by Suzanne Murphy and Keith Lewis. I don't think it's possible to top the sweet rapture of this superb pair of singers (CHANDOS 8476). There are two other versions. One is a rare 1954 recording with Tatiana Lavrova and Sergey Lemeshev (Russian Disc 150020; the other a very competent rendering by Stella Zambalis and John Deniesky (BRIDGE BCD 9034). These two recordings include a short soprano part for Juliet's Nurse, but unfortunately the CD being reviewed here does not. Worse still, it cuts the passage in such a crude way that one immediately feels that something has gone awry with the music. That's the only reason I won't give it 5 stars.



The other numbers are competently performed, but one just has to compare Galina Gorchakova's rendering of Natalya's arioso in Opritchniki with the one recorded here to sense the difference between competence and artistry.

Allow me a single correction. The first duet from Eugene Onegin is not between Tatyana and Olga as stated, but between Madame Larina and the Nurse (Oops)!



The cantata - or trio, if you wish - Nature and Love has been recorded elsewhere (REGIS RRC 1182). To my surprise, the piano accompaniment here is orchestrated by an unknown hand. This surprised me, as James Murray, the author of the booklet in the other recording states that the piece was presented at a benefit recital for Tchaikovsky, but that

"Rubinstein's finances did not run to the hire of a full orchestra". Nevertheless, this is an excellent introduction to some of the most melodious arias and duets by this great composer. Strongly recommended."