Search - Tchistiakov :: Glory of Russian Opera

A great introduction to Russian vocal music

moskvich | Moscow | 02/20/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Chistiakov proves that he is the best Russian operatic conductor since Marc Ermler(I do not even want to mention the heavy and dull Gergiev). He is the student of the excelent Ilya Musin, a conducting professor from the Leningrad conservatory, and he recieved good training as a conductor of the Sverdlovsk philharmony. In the first disc he sets a perfect tempo for each work. In my oppinion, the most memorable are the Dawn on the Moscow river from Khovanshchina in the brighter and more cassic Rimskiy-Korsakov version and the overture to Ivan Susanin (Life for the tsar), in which the Allegro passage is the best since Melik-Pashayev's. The Bolshoi orchestra is responding well to his leadership. The second disc is perhaps the best one in the whole set. The Kromy scene from Boris Godunov (once again in the version by Rimskiy-Korsakov) is led with such vigor, that it is hard to immagine that it is a studio recording. Bass Vladimir Matorin and tenor Alexandr Arkhipov as Varlaam and Missail and the Bolshoi chorus make this Kromy the most dramatic ever. When I saw Godunov in the Bolshoi, Matorin sang the role of Boris, and I must say that Varlaam suits his voice better. He is one of the singers who sang all three roles in Boris. In fact, his first ever recording was of Pimen, in the first recording of Boris in the original Mussorgskiy version. The "Drinking scene" from Khovanshchina is also remarkably well performed. (By the way, the Scribe is sung by Alexandr Arkhipov, but his name is not stated in the booklet) The choral prayer which ends the scene is hard to discribe with words. The Mlada fragment is also very well performed by Vladimir Bukin, Olga Teriushnova and the chorus. The Life for the Tsar epilogue and the all time american favorite Polovetsian dances from Prince Igor are also very fine. The last disc is conducted By Emin Khachaturian, the nefew of the composor Aram Khachaturian, and features bass Pyotr Glubokiy. He is noticable as Pimen and Susanin, but I would prefer to have some different voices sing those arias. Of course the chorusmaster Stanislav Lykov deserves credit for keeping up the chorus since the death of Alexandr Rybnov."