Songs And Dances Of Death · Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Songs And Dances Of Death · Dmitri Hvorostovsky · Kirov Theatre Orchestra · Valery Gergiev
APE+CUE 223 MB | Booklet | MP3 HQ 102 MB | Scans | EASY CD-DA 12 | No Log | 1994
Songs And Dances Of Death · Dmitri Hvorostovsky
(11 Songs and Dances of Death Dmitri Hvorostovsky (bar); Kirov Theatre Orchestra / Valery Gergiev.
Philips C] 438 872-4PH; 0 438 872-2PH (62 minutes: DDD). Texts and translations included.
Rimsky-Korsakov: Sadko—The paragon of cities; Beautiful city! Kashchey the Immortal— In this, night's darkest hour. Snow Maiden (second version)—Under the warm blue sea. The Tsar's Bride—Still the beauty haunts my mind. Borodin: Prince Igor—No sleep, no rest. Rubinstein: The Demon—Do not weep, my child; On the airy ocean; I am he whom you called. Nero—Vindex's Epithalamium: I sing to you, Hymen divine! Rachmaninov: AlekoAleko's cavatina. Mussorgsky: Songs and Dances of Death.
There are few operas I would rather see revived than Rubinstein's The Demon (first given in 1875). The three scenes for its eponymous anti-hero sung here by Hvorostovsky are known to collectors from recordings in the past by (among others) Chaliapin, who sang the title-role on stage. Hvorostovsky now makes them available to a new generation and thereby enhances the case for the work's revival. The baritone, superbly supported by Gergiev and his Kirov orchestra recorded in their own theatre, has done nothing better than his impersonation of the devil so ingeniously characterized by the composer. In the first extract, he is insinuating and inveigling, in the second he catches the ethereal atmosphere created by Rubinstein, in the third he projects the gloating demon to the life. This is splendid stuff.
So is Vindex's rollicking Epithalamium from the same composer's Nero, a piece favoured by Hvorostovsky's mentor, Lisitsian (Preiser, 8/93). Hvorostovsky sings this with wonderful breadth and confidence. Then he changes character again to bring before us the emotional torment of Rachmaninov's Aleko as he recalls the love Zemfira once had for him.
The best of the Rimsky items as regards music and interpretation are Nizgir's aria from the Snow Maiden and Gryaznoy's musing on past triumphs in the field of love from The Tsar's Bride. Here Hvorostovsky varies his tone more successfully than in the other Rimsky pieces or in Prince Igor's aria, where he seems chary of varying the colour of his tone and sometimes forces his voice at the top beyond its natural limits, a danger signal perhaps.
A feeling that he may be trying to do too much all at once is confirmed in the Songs and Dances of Death, which really need an imposing bass rather than a lyric baritone to make their true mark, yet these are more than acceptable performances on what is undoubtedly Hvorostovsky's most enjoyable recital to date, immeasurably helped by the support and the excellent recording. However, Philips are to be reprimanded for giving us hype about the artists and then failing to place any of the arias in context. Some 'back to basics' here wouldn't come amiss but don't let that stop you hearing a fascinating disc. AB
Gramophone. May 1994: Page 118
CD
Rimsky-Korsakov:
Sadko—The paragon of cities; Beautiful city! Kashchey the Immortal— In this, night's darkest hour. Snow Maiden (second version)—Under the warm blue sea. The Tsar's Bride—Still the beauty haunts my mind.
Borodin:
Prince Igor—No sleep, no rest.
Rubinstein:
The Demon—Do not weep, my child; On the airy ocean; I am he whom you called. Nero—Vindex's Epithalamium: I sing to you, Hymen divine!
Rachmaninov:
AlekoAleko's cavatina.
Mussorgsky:
Songs and Dances of Death.
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