3 comments about Prokofiev: War & Peace.

1. This version could become a standard. Great version, great singers, great orchestra...Better than Gergiev with low budget (?)...may be not as good as the Galina Vizhnestkaya (Patchayev) but more complete. A beautiful opera



2. Don't let the length intimidate you; there's really never a dull moment in this wonderful work. The big moments are thrilling-the choral epigraph, Kutuzov's aria, Moscow burning, the snowstorm, the choral finale-and Prokofiev links these all together with some of the sweetest lyricism this side of the Iron Curtain. Let's get the important questions out of the way first.

   Is the cover artwork worthy of the epic within? One of Chandos' most beautiful, yet masculine covers.

   Are the sublime sounds of the bass drum and gong caught admirably? Oh yes.

   Being a live recording, can one hear coughing? Only when Moscow is burning. This audience had to have been bound and gagged. Stage shuffling is barely audible.

   Do we finally get a palatable soprano for the role of Natasha? Yes. Morozova's voice is light and fresh, if a little detached. Prokofiev gives his most beautiful music--that ecstatic 7th leap!--to Natasha and her willing but doomed suitor Prince Andrey, sung by Roderick Williams. Williams has a lovely, rich voice. Of the three performances I've heard, (Rostropovich, Gergiev, Hickox), the Morozova/Williams duo is most satisfactory to me, both in the opening moonlight scene and in Andrey's death scene. Hickox's handling of the orchestral atmospherics in the death scene is exceedingly satisfying-Prokofiev brings back the beautiful moonlight music but this time he shrouds the melody with the most delicate harp glissandi. In a word, haunting.

   I don't know what to make of Alan Ewing's Kutuzov. His voice is strong, his intonation dead-on, and his portrayal full of character. But for a bass he's got a vibrato tighter than Sarah Brightman's. Matthew Boyden (?) of "Rough Guide to Opera" describes Ewing's voice as bellowing; I would call it more like braying. Being that Ewing gets the "big" aria, his voice--unique to say the least--may be an issue to some. I find it tolerable enough. The only other voice that (unquestionably) detracts is that of Igor Matioukhin, or Dolokhov-very wobbly.

   Hickox's youthful Spoleto Festival Orchestra produces a wonderfully idiomaticProkofiev-esque sound, and I've got to hand it to the Chandos recording team for capturing all the goings on so successfully. For a live recording, the depth and voluptuousness of sound is remarkable. Though I feel that Rostropovich captures the overall grandeur and excitement of Prokofiev's epic the best, his achievement is only marginally better than Hickox. And with Hickox, the more intimate scenes of the opera-those moments between Natasha and Andrey-are better served with the voices of Morozova and Williams. (IMHO Gergiev's performance is too hard-pressed to give the composer's delectable orchestral colors proper bloom. And those absurdly intrusive stage noises!)

   "War and Peace" is not like Prokofiev's other operas, such as "The Fiery Angel," "Love of Three Oranges," or "The Gambler." The lyricism and action sequences of W&P are more akin to his later ballets, "Romeo and Juliet" and "Cinderella," written while the composer was integrating himself into the new Soviet culture of his homeland. Though revised time and time again to satisfy the whims of the Soviet Artistic Committee, War and Peace is hardly the musical equivalent of "svimwear." (Remember that great commercial?) It's inspired and potent stuff. If you're squeamish about dropping the [money] on the complete opera, Chandos offers a single-CD recording of a suite from the opera arranged by C. Palmer. (CHAN9096)

   John Smyth




3. This is the 5th War and Peace I've ever bought on CD's and this is going to be the definitive one for me for a long time. The other 4 will be on sale soon!

   When I bought the Gergiev set some years ago I thought THAT was going to be the best set ever but Chandos has outdone all of them again.

   This recording beats Gergiev on quality of recording, sheer emotion, ensemble playing (unbelievable for a hand-picked summer youth orchestra Spoleto is!), choral singing and real understanding of this very lenghthy opera.

   Gergiev tries to give us some of the hysteria the opera doesn't have by overheating some scenes where Hickox gives the right emotions in Prokofiev's orchestral writing. He also never forgets to let us listen to the wonderfull use of wind and wood instruments Prokofiev uses throughout this opera. Clarinet, oboe and piccollo are just as rightly 'produced' as are the weight and power of mass scenes.

   So, the opera in this presentation clearly becomes a sometimes intimate drama rather than a oratorio showcase as with Gergiev.

   Under the sheer size of the mass scenes and the subject (Napoleon's War against Russia) lie just the same human problems as in all opera: love, hate, relations and opportunities. And that's what you get in this great performance thanks to the very committed playing of this festival orchestra and the great singing.

5 comments about R. Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier.

1. Of all the recordings of Rosenkavalier on the market, this is perhaps the truest to Strauss' intentions. Notwithstanding the fact that it has no cuts, the spirit of Strauss' mastery of Hoffmansthal-like dialogue is eminent in this recording. It also stars great singers like Maria Reining, Sena Jurinac, Hilde Gueden, Ludwig Weber, and Anton Dermota, singers who are true to the Viennese tradition and periodicity of this masterpiece. It must be said though, that the greatest contributions stems from the conductor and the orchestra. The Vienna Philharmonic is the only orchestra in the world I know that can play this piece with their eyes closed. Never mind the ravishing Berliners or the crystalline Dresdeners. Never mind the Concertgebouw or the Bavarian Radio Symphony. In the music of Strauss and Mozart, the Vienna Philharmonic has no rival, and how amazing they truly are in Der Rosenkavalier. With that said, Erich Kleiber leads a most authentic and spiritful account of the score. It has a lightness and a beauty that you can describe as an Imperial Torte, a Sachertorte, Kastanientorte, or a Mozartkügel with lots of Schlagober (Viennese for whipped cream) on the side. It's elegant. It's light, comedic, yet understated. It also has pathos and energy. If you're looking for the Viennese echt sound in a recording of the opera, this is the recording you should set your sights on.
   
   The cast is magnificent too. Maria Reining may be an older Marschallin, but listen to how she phrases the lines of her character. This is truly the mark of an aristocratic woman. Her Act I monologue is sung with pathos without the artificiality that mars Schwarzkopf's performance. Her Marschallin is sung with a reactive, conversational precision that makes the character all the more palpable. I think she successfully brings out the nobility and wisdom in a woman who most sopranos would interpret as more proud than human. Sena Jurinac sings the title role, and what a great change of pace it is to hear a soprano in a role that was written for this role. Jurinac phrases Octavian's lines with his two lovers word for word and with feeling. I would say that she betters Christa Ludwig in this role due to the natural lift of her voice. It is boyish, but not immature. A very handsome portrayal of Count Rofrano. Sophie is taken by the cute-sounding Hilde Gueden. I think her ravishing voice makes this role one of the best I've heard with Helen Donath, Annaliese Rothenberger, and Lucia Popp. A work of a true artist indeed. Ludwig Weber sings Ochs accurately and with humor, avoiding all the buffoonery that makes this character a laughing stock rather than a despicable baron. Anton Dermota is luxuriously cast as the Italian tenor. I will always prefer Pavarotti, but his tenor is good as it is.
   
   To sum up, this is a great recording of a perennial Strauss favorite. I still love the Solti cast for the great pacing and the spirited and well-assembled cast, but this is a great reference recording for anyone who wants to learn more about Strauss' most beautiful masterpiece.



2. This was the first Rosenkavalier I ever heard, some forty years ago, and I must have gone to the library ten times to listen through earphones to it. But on reacquaintance I must say that the mono sound is more than a bit edgy and shallow. When reviewers say that Maria Reining is past her prime, I think it should be clarified; her voice is mature but still beautiful--she's a Marschallin well into her forties. Of course, if you love something, you love it as a whole. On the whole I still love Kleiber's conducting, which is so clear and unsentimental (insofar as that's possible amidst so much strawberries and cream), and even more I love the touching reminder of old vienna before the horrors of WW II descended and destroyed a golden illusion.



3. After the heavy and extroverted music of Salome and Elektra, Richard Strauss, whom I consider one of the five greatest Opera composers ever, turned to a more delicate and viennese kind of music. From all the masterpieces with such characteristics he composed, Der Rosenkavalier is definitely the most perfect example of Strauss' talent. It has a wonderful, involving music, altogether with some incredibly tangible characters and profound drama. It alternates harmoniously moments of humor based on the Viennese Operettas and moments of pure reflection and depth. But, above all, this music is all about vividness, sincerity. The singers must not only sing beautifully. They also need to live the characters they're performing.
   Here we have a Golden Age recording of Der Rosenkavalier, and it offers everything this opera requires to charm the listener. Certainly Maria Reining isn't in her best prime anymore, and in fact her voice doesn't sound as velvety as Schwarzkopf's or as youthful as Della Casa's. On the other hand, it's impossible to resist to the creamy and sincere quality of her mature voice, to the controlled and beautiful use of portamento and to the noblety and refinement of her interpretation. Maria Reining, who had had a successful career since the early 30's, takes us back to the elegant tradition of singing from the times Strauss was still composing some of his most famous operas.
   Sena Jurinac sings an elegant and lively Oktavian. While her voice isn't as masculine as one would have from heavier mezzos, it's velvety and versatile and her characterization of the young gentleman is one of the most credible ever recorded. Hilde Gueden, who's maybe the greatest Straussian lyric coloratura soprano, is a flirtatious and charming Sophie. Her interpretations are always lively and involved in a dream-like Viennese atmosphere. Besides, her voice is ideal to this role. Its creamy and rich sound, girlishness and perfect technique are simply irresistible. In overall, each one of those legendary sopranos managed to understand the real meaning of those deep characters. The result is that, as we listen to this recording, it seems as we get to know real people's feelings in real situations (and that's exciting!). Other great performances are Ludwig Weber's caricatural Baron Ochs, Anton Dermota's flawlessly sung Italian Tenor and Alfred Poell's adequately aristocratic Faninal.
   So why should you buy this recording? Surely there are other versions which are more hyped, but, among all the other famous recordings, the only one that can rivalize with this one is Schwarzkopf's classic recording conducted by Karajan (EMI). However, even that recording couldn't inspire the vivid emotion and pure excitement the way this legendary version did. Renée Fleming sings one of the most stunning Marschallins ever, but unfortunately she didn't record any complete studio recording. The sound is quite good even by current standards (and it was recorded in 1954!) and the whole atmosphere is amazing. Don't lose the chance of listening to truly legendary Straussian singing!



4. This is one of the greatest operatic recordings ever made. It captures a wonderful Vienniese spirit missing from all other recordings. Maria Reining as the Marschallin is past her best (to make up for it get the Lehmann excerpts) but still knowng and charming. The rest of the cast is unbeatable; Sena Jurinac, Hilde Gueden in their young primes and Ludwig Weber is a black voiced aristocratic Ochs. Smaller roles are filled with regulars from the Vienna State Opera. Erich Kleiber's conducting is exactly right; the right amounts of sentiment and spirit. The mono sound is warm and full. If you ever thought Rosenkavalier could be boring, buy this set. The time flies by and you'll feel great afterwards.



5. If you want to listen to an "authentic" Viennese Rosenkavalier, this is the one. Erich Kleiber sets the model of how this piece should be conducted and the Vienna Philharmonic transparent sound is everything this music calls for. The recording is mono, but natural and very clear. The cast couldn't be more natural in this repertoire. Although Maria Reining is accused of being past her best days (in her best days, she was unbeatable!), she is still the most aristocratic Marschallin. She avoids sentimentality and goes for a witty, sophisticated and nonchalant performance. Her creamy soprano is still the instrument Strauss himself was so fond of. Sena Jurinac's Octavian is a classical impersonation. Her voice is silvery as the rose she is going to deliver to Sophie, but still retains an inimitable warmth. Everything she does exhales musicianship and she proves here why she was a favourite at the Vienna State Opera. Ludwig Weber's dark bass fulfills everything Strauss asked him to do in a natural Viennese accent. Only Hilde Güden is a bit heavy handed about her Sophie, but she doesn't spoil the fun and there is still Anton Dermota's Italian Tenor!

5 comments about Verdi: Un Ballo in Maschera.

1. I heard this recording on the internet radio station Viva La Voce, and although I much prefer the Un Ballo recording I own- Placido Domingo, Katia Ricciarelli, Renato Bruson, Elena Obraztsova/Claudio Abbado- this one is not all that bad and has a grand, sweeping effect, as if it were a more mainstream Verdi opera and not the minor one that it is. Un Ballo is not as popular as it once was although it still remains in the repertoire of some opera companies. The cast is the draw - everyone love Pavarotti (I don't) and he makes a passionate, bombastic Riccardo in this recording. Though Pavarotti's bright, blazing voice is not suited for Verdi which often calls for a daker voice, his Riccardo is his only passable Verdi performance. He made a terrible Manrico and Radames. If you're a fan of Pavarotti, this recording should be in your collection. Soprano Margaret Price has a beautiful, dulcet voice, with rich melodic tone and when she wants to she can step up the drama. But she's not my favorite Amelia nor do I feel she is really suited for Verdi or for this character. A lyrico-spinto voice is necessary for Amelia. The Amelias of Leontyne Price and Katia Ricciarelli are the best on record and set the bar high for excellence in this role. Renato Bruson has a gorgeous baritone voice, with masculine bite but all his critics were right in declaring he was not wholly suited for Verdi (if he sang Amonasro in Aida, Simon Boccanegro, Rigoletto or Germont- none of these must have been good) Bruson is a bel canto baritone and his voice is tailor made for Donizetti. His only one fine Verdi role was Nabucco. Here, although he sings with dramatic commitment, he falls short in greater musicality. But again, if you're a fan, you will eat it up and enjoy his performance. But even more miscast than Bruson is Kathleen Battle as Oskar. Miss Battle sounds like she's singing Susannah in Mozart's Le Nozze Di Figaro or Zerlina in Don Giovanni. Her voice is beautiful, let's not argue that, but it's not right for Verdi. She is no Verdi soprano, which is why she could never really command such roles as Violetta or Gilda. Hers is a very light and agile voice and although Oskar is a coloratura part, it does not sound well on Kathy's throat. Sorry. George Solti conducts with supreme dramatic force but there is rarely any beautiful moments. Only Pavarotti and Price shine in this one and if you're fans of theirs, this recording is for you.



2. First of all bravo Solti. I am very impressed with his reading of this score. He combines lyricism and nervousness very effectively. The Act II duet is a good example of those two qualities.
   The cast is very good except Bruson. Luciano Pavarotti and Margaret Price do a wonderful job. Price's recording of the aria at the beginning of Act II might be the best. The phrase up to the high C is very good. Plus she sings with a lot of emotion. She is a very well rounded singer with repertoire ranging from Verdi and Wagner to Schubert which is impressive. Pavarotti's two recordings of Riccardo are both wonderful. He sounds a little bit better vocally in the 1971 recording. However this is still excellent singing from him. His musicality and expression were never anything to brag about, but he sang Riccardo so well when he was in his prime. It was a great role for his voice. Kathleen Battle is a very good Oscar, however I have trouble with her because she is such a rotten person. Christa Ludwig works very well for Ulrica. I could use a darker sound, but it is still very good. As for Renato Bruson I think the character Renato has to be sung by a Verdi baritone to be convincing. Bruson always sounded like a lyric baritone who was good for Donizetti and Bellini. Plus the high notes just don't cut it. He barely gets up to the two high G naturals. They are simply too weak. Verdi wrote both of these G naturals, so therefore they have to be there. Overall this is a great recording, but if you are a baritone you might want to try the recordings with Milnes, Bastianini or Robert Merrill.



3. Verdi's UN BALLO IN MASCHERA has been one of his perennial favorites since it was first performed and it is easy to understand why. The music is charming and it's plot about a King who falls in love with a married woman, almost causes her to be unfaithful which results in his death by her jealous husband, and the king's forgiving his attacker, is dramatic to say the least. It is also, interestingly enough, based on a true story. The action is supposed to take place in Sweden, but Italian censors feared that the death of a king could cause regicide in Italy, so the king became a royal governor in colonial Massachusetts and was renamed Riccardo. In most productions today, the action takes place in Sweden.

   Luciano Pavarotti has a strong tenor voice that is well suited for the lead role of Riccardo, and his interpretation of the role in this recording is one of his best recorded performances. Margaret Price, a soprano not often associated with Verdi, sings Amelia and is probably one of the pleasant surprises in the set. Renato Brunson sings his role with fervor. We can feel both his anger and hatred in his interpretation of Amelia's jealous husband, also named Renato. Christa Ludwig plays the fortune teller Ulrica and we also hear the light and flexible voice of a young Kathleen Battle as Oscar, the page boy.

   While there are other admirable recordings of this opera with tenors such as Jussi Bjorling, Franco Corelli, and Placido Domingo, and a reasonably good recording with Jose Carreras as Riccardo, this set, under the baton of Sir George Solti has it all: a fantastic cast, a wonderful chorus and orchestra, and a great conductor.




4. This is a great, great recording of perhaps Verdi's most tuneful opera. The whole performance is wonderul. Some think that Solti presses too hard in Verdi, but I like it. Even in Rossini, I like Schippers (Sills' Lucia) who puts some drama into the work instead of milk-sop conducting of some. Give me some guts, please!
   Pavarotti was about to lose his interest in opera at the time of recording, and this is, I believe, his last great recording. He does act, sings some soft tones and is regal. A really great King (or Duke).
   Margaret Price is absolutely gorgeous. I just love her singing, with beautiful pianissimos, excellent acting and rock solid high C's. The slow acent to the climax in the Act II aria is thrilling. Chesty notes follow with great easy and drama. Bravissima
   Bruson: Simply put, one of the most beautiful voices in history. I can only describe it as lush, vocal velvet. He sings with great drama and depth of charactarization. I just LOVE this baritone.
   Ludwig and Battle: Great. No problem. Both singe with accuracy and committment.
   My favorite "Ballo" on disc!



5. Oh how wonderful it was to hear this recording. I was very anxious about buying this recording because I absoultely love the Maria Callas version, a role truly designed for her voice, and yet there came Dame Maggy Price. I have loved her since my first experience with opera which was the televion broadcast of her Aida with Pavorotti.

   Well she didn't dissapoint! A truly new approach, a voice that found ease in the difficulties of the role and yet new exactly who Amelia really is. I can't help saying I love this diva. She has a much wider variety of tone colours, fortissimos and pianissimos than dear old L. Price. Whom I also love but just dosen't do it for me in this role.

   However the biggest suprise was Pavarotti, who doesn't yell for once, a rare occasion for this singer. I usually hate Pav but not ths time and then when he sings with Dame Maggy the vocies the electricity and the passion are all overwhelming.
   Brunson is a wonderful Renato, Christa Ludwing a trully different Urcila.

   However I almost didn't buy this recording because of Kathleen Battle, oh she is disgusting. I recently saw a performance that put the whole operatic tradition to shame. However luckily the role is small, her vocie is young and fresh and the emotional extremes of Oscar are rather limited, just like Miss Battle.

   Solti is big in his conception, but it all works well with the voices predominating and a clear sense of form and architecture emerge from his direction. Wonderful, absoultely wonderful. Dame Margaret Price shows why she should joins the ranks of Arroyo, Callas, Price, Steber, and Farrell. Bravo!

3 comments about Verdi: La Forza del Destino.

1. This is one of the three or four most satisfying recordings of this great, sprawling opera - and two of the others also feature Tebaldi. To hear her at her very best, you need to go to the legendary 1953 live set, thrillingly conducted by Mitropoulos - Del Monaco also is stunning here - but the sound is pretty woolly and Aldo Protti merely adequate compared with the burnished, nut-brown tones of Bastianini. The 1955 Decca studio recording, in excellent stereo sound, is very good - I cannot believe how snooty some critics (especially British ones who rave about weedy, effete voices like those of Pears, Bostridge and their like) are about Del Monaco in this, probably his best role; to me he is tremendous, but it has to be said that for sheer glamour, Corelli tops him in this 1958 recording (also available on black white DVD). The cast assembled is without peer, although some might reasonably prefer Siepi to Christoff in the role of Padre Guardiano; both are deeply satisfying. The sound is good and although Tebaldi is a little ungainly at times, this is a passionate, committed performance of real stature and Corelli's admirers will need no convincing; his duets with Bastianini are priceless. Buy it - only be aware that the common stage cut of about ten minutes is made in Act 3 (just after "Urna fatale") of the duet beginning "Ne gustare m'e dato", leading to "Sleale! Il segreto fu dunque violato" and culminating in the sword fight between Alvaro and Carlo (so wonderfully recorded by Caruso and De Luca) - so it's not a complete version, unlike the studio sets.



2. The video of this performance was an audio experience with snow but the Harvey Cd set there is no visual distraction. The sound really hurts the orchestra as it does in the VAI recording where the New Orleans Orchestra is just not good but the voices there is from another time warp. That recording has Milanov and Warren at their very best despite some whiners in some reviews. Sorry! Back to the Correlli, Tebaldi stunner. I think this is the only extant recording of Correlli in this role. I remember a matinée broadcast from the Met many many Saturdays ago in the late 50's with Correlli and Tebaldi and others. Corelli's big aria casued pandemonium. It is a shame he never recorded it in the studio with this cast. Vocally this is a miracle and so is the VAI recording where I think Milanov sings one her greatest performance in this role. She could be inconstant but she is on here. Buy but them both! Charge it! You'll have two great historical performances on Your shelf. The opera itself has poor moments but the casts here make it a masterpiece!



3. In spite of its rambling plot and reliance upon coincidence, "La Forza del Destino" has some of the most beautiful music in opera. Having heard numerous recordings (including the Met's 1984 video with Leontyne Price) plus a live performance, I can say without a doubt that this version is my favorite. I can't think of a more perfect cast of singers.

   When Herbert von Karajan first conducted Renata Tebaldi at La Scala in 1946, he exclaimed on hearing her sing "Ah! La voce d'angelo!" (Ah! The voice of an angel!) - possibly a comment on her location (she was singing in the organ loft) - but his description also fits her voice.

   In this recording of 'Forza,' Tebaldi spins out phrases of sheer tonal velvet, especially in Leonora's aria, 'Madre, pietosa Vergine' outside the monastery, and later when her voice floats out over the voices of the monks in the prayer 'La Vergine degli angeli.' Then you will have to wait until opera's end for 'Pace, pace, mio Dio.' Thank God Bach was Protestant, or we would have nothing to counter the gorgeous, compelling religiosity of this Verdi, as sung by Tebaldi.

   Listen to Franco Corelli sing 'La vita e inferno all'infelice,' one of the most difficult and beautiful tenor arias that Verdi ever wrote, or to his duet with Bastianini, 'Solemne in quest'ora,'and you may agree with those of us who believe he was the twentieth century's greatest tenor.

   The grim determination of Ettore Bastianini's Don Carlo di Vargas makes him a perfect foil to Correli in the Act IV duet "Invano, Alvaro, ti celasti al mondo." Corelli will break your heart, even though he is a somber rather than piteous Padre Raffaello. There is none of the Gigli sobbing in his music.

   Boris Christoff is a majestically sung Padre Guardiano. Just imagine Boris Godunov as a rather terrifying Italian monk.

   The two minor but important roles of Fra Melitone and the gypsy, Preziosilla are perfectly rendered by Renato Capecchi and Oralia Dominguez. If this 'Forza' hadn't had such strong principals, these two characters might have stolen the opera. I usually consider the fortune-telling, war-mongering gypsy and the short-tempered Franciscan monk annoyances to be gotten past so that I can hear the principals sing, but Capecchi and Dominguez demand a careful listening for these roles.

   This performance is conducted by Francesco Molinari Predelli.

4 comments about Thomas - Mignon / Horne · Welting · Vanzo · Zaccaria · von Stade · PO · de Almeida.

1. This recording, the only complete Mignon is without a doubt, the finest available. Marilyn Horne as Mignon is the astonishing Horne, as she always is. Ruth Welting is always supreme, and in this recording, one of a handful of Welting's recordings available, her voice is magnificent. The high reaches of her range are smooth and effortless. The recording is Ruth's legacy to the opera world, and we will forever miss her beautiful coloratura voice. Vanzo is magnificent as are Zaccaria and von Stade. The recording is a must have for anyone's collection.



2. Opera lovers who buy this 3 CD set will receive very good value indeed. There's three and a quarter hours of delight. Arias for the four or five principal characters in the opera are frequently heard in extract; here they can be heard in context. There's a lullaby, a styrienne, a polonaise and - of course - Mignon's "Connais-tu le pays?". Thomas, the composer, somehow managed to express homesickness much more successfully in this aria than Schubert, Hugo Wolf, or any other composer who attempted settings of Goethe's text.

   Opera lovers are unlikely nowadays to see a production mounted of this once popular opera. I saw it once only in Vienna when I was nineteen. I remember being enchanted by its melody and rhythm driven score. I remember the suspense created when the soprano attempted her five minute "Je suis Titania". Would she get through? Could she provide genuine trills? Would she finish her final cadenza in tune? I remember also thinking that it was a difficult opera to stage (Mignon is rescued from a fire).

   No such thoughts need spoil your enjoyment of these CDs. All members of the starry, international cast are in fine voice, Almeida draws every nuance and colourful detail from the score, and the warm, comfortable acoustic makes for easy listening.




3. The crazy SONY people kept this important recording in their archives for over 2 decades. I just don't know what's wrong with them, (they still are hidding Donizetti's Gemma di Vergy with Caballe recorded live in NY in 1976. Surely one of Caballe's best recordings). As for Mignon it's a lucky charm of an opera. This recording is excellent, with Horne in spectacular voice as the heroine, but it is perhaps that great and underrated tenor Alain Vanzo who steals the honours. He gives an exquisite performance. Von Stade is also there. Don't miss it!



4. Mignon is a beautiful opera that inexplicably -- and, in my opinion, unjustly -- lies outside the standard repertory. This wonderful recording appeared on LPs several years ago and now is availble on CD. If you like melodious romantic operas you will almost certainly like Mignon. And it is unlikely that you will ever encounter a better performance.

3 comments about A Life for the Tsar.

1. Bulgarian people understand more or less Russian partitions. It's an honest version but do not have great expectations. Other versions as Melik-Pachayev are less complete but much better.



2. Tchakarov was a very good conductor, and I admit that he is doing all he can in this recording. The opera is complete and performed in the first Glinka version. Martinovich and Tozcyka are both good, but I wish their voices could be a bit larger and lower for Susanin and Vania. The higher voices are disasterous. Pendachskaya is funny and in some moments unpleasant. The worst of the soloists is the American tenor Chris Merrit. He has a strangly dark lyric tenor, with a very unpleasent accent. He tries to sing all high notes and therefore, the phsycological partait is not shown. The small roles are actualy sung better then the major ones.



3. Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (1804-1857) is considered to be the father of Russian classical music. Glinka essentially was the first Russian musician with a formal musical training (at the Boarding School for the Nobility in St. Petersburg and later in 1833-1834 with Siegfried Dehn in Berlin for composition). Before Anton Rubinstein founded the St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music in 1862 (with his brother, Nikolai Rubinstein the founder of the Moscow Conservatory by 1866), there were no formal professional institutions of music of any kind. Glinka was born into a wealthy family and was exposed to music of the West.

   Glinka's extensive travel abroad (to Italy and then to Berlin) gave him additional exposures, this time to the operas of Rossini, Bellini, Donezetti, others. After he returned to Russia from composition lessons under Dehn by 1834, Glinka understood music and especially operas enough so as to embark on his first opera, "A Life for the Tsar."

   "A Life for the Tsar", also the first Russian opera, was completed by 1836. The original title was "Ivan Susanin" but was changed to "A Life for the Tsar" by Glinka in dedicating the operas to Tsar Nicholas I after his visit to the rehersals. The orignal title was restored by 1918 by the Soviet Regime.

   The highly successful premiere of the work on November 27th, 1836 ensured the opera the permanent place in the repetoire in virtually every theatrical stages in Russia. Incidentially, "A Life for the Tsar" was performed (and recorded) more often than Glinka's second opera "Russlan and Ludmilla."

   Above all the recordings made on this work, Tchakarov, the Sofia National Opera Chorus, the Sofia Festival Orchestra, and the star singers gave a highly memorable and a polished performance. Not only did they performed the complete version of the work, there's this intimacy and warmths embetted. Boris Martinovich (as Ivan Susanin) was very commanding in his portrayal as a peasant of the Domnino village who love Russia and its Tsar enough the sacrifice his life. Alexandrina Pendachanska as Antonida (Susanin's daughter) was also magnificent and vivid while the rest of the cast never ceased to amaze me.

   Emil Tchakarov was on his way in possibly recording all of Russian operas. Sadly he succumbed to the AIDS endemic by 1991 at the age of 41. Sony Classical is doing him great justice in keeping his recordings undeleted. This recording is a gemstone, especially since recordings of Russian operas continue to take the back seat (either because original recordings of Russian operas never made it to the record shops or were deleted too prematurely or because new productions of this operas in theaters outside Russia are deemed as too risky by today's opera companies). This wonderful recording, however, is a reminder of just how much we are missing.

   Recommended, with grace.

5 comments about Gluck - Armide / Delunsch, Workman, Naouri, Podles, Beuron, Polegato, Kozená, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Minkowski.

1. It seems to be the general consensus that Armide, while quite good, is not Gluck's strongest work. While that could be true, it certainly is my favorite opera by that composer, and it is extraordinarily performed here. When I bought this, I had was not overly familiar with Gluck's works, having heard 'Paride ed Elena', which is a masterpiece in itself, and is perhaps the most "French" of all of Gluck's Italian operas, as well as the somewhat uninspired recording of 'Iphigénie en Tauride' done by Boston Baroque and Pearlmann. I was also, at that time, unfamiliar with the operas of Lully, Rameau, and even Handel. This, however, inspired me to look into those composers, and now, I would say, after hearing other works by Gluck, that this is the closest work by him to those of French composers, such as Rameau and Francoeur. But there are some significant differences, namely that unlike Francoeur, with whom Gluck differed only sixteen years in age, Gluck followed the neoclassical model of composition, as opposed to the baroque/rococo styles of Francoeur, Rameau, and Mondonville, another French composer of that time. This never actually occurred to me until I heard the recent recording of Francoeur's opera 'Pirame et Thisbé', which was originally composed in 1726, but revived in 1771, six years before Armide saw its premiere. And yet that work is perhaps closer to Gluck's opera than anything by Rameau. But there is a significant gap, and it would be nice to hear those works which fill it, although there might not be any hope of that. Anyway, Armide is quite different from anything by Gluck that I've heard, and I don't seem to know where to look for anything else quite like it. However, if you enjoy Lully, Rameau, or any other French baroque composers you may well like this. But it also seems something like Mozart in a very bizarre way, but significantly less so than 'Orfeo ed Euridice' or 'Iphigénie en Aulide'. And it does make one regret that Gluck didn't set other libretti by Quinault, such as 'Atys' or 'Persée'.



2. I owned the Philippe Herreweghe / La Chapelle Royale recording of Jean-Baptiste Lully's Tragédie lyrique, 'Armide', long before I bought Minkowski's recording of Gluck's opera. I was eager to learn what Christoph Willibald von Gluck would do with Philippe Quinault's libretto nearly one hundred years later. I think the differences are interesting. Of course, Gluck dropped the prologue, and Gluck's orchestra is considerably different from the one employed by Lully.
   In both operas the role of Armide is sung by a soprano and the role of Renaud is sung by an haute-contre (tenor) voice.
   
   I have listened to both operas extensively and I cannot honestly say which one I prefer. The Gluck opera owes a clear debt to Rameau and his experiences in Opera Seria. Lully's work is a masterpiece and it contains music of incredible richness and expressiveness.
   
   Buy both, if possible.



3. It's possible to get a strong sense that this opera improves as it goes along. That's been my own experience with it, but it's not so easy to account for why. The best I can come up with is that it's not the performance that gives me this feeling but partly the music itself and above all the libretto.
   
   The story seems to me to break cleanly into two distinct parts, the second part starting at act IV. From this point on we have abandoned Damascus and Christian armies and been spirited away to an enchanted island. Apart from the two principals Armide and Renaud (Rinaldo) acts IV and V have an almost completely new cast from the previous acts, and Armide has changed roles from being a powerful sorceress to being just another heroine spurned in love, a kind of downmarket Dido who finally just magicks herself away leaving the rest of them to their own devices, the Christian armies that the earlier acts were supposed to have been about literally nowhere. This in turn highlights two separate sides of the composer's personality - the dramatist and the composer of tableaux. He excelled in both capacities, but it may have been a bit much to expect him to switch from the former role (in the earlier acts) to the latter within the limits of a single work. Gluck was a musical rationalist and reformer, but also a musical politician and in-fighter, and I suspect that in Armide the two sides to his musical personality come into conflict to a certain extent, with the tableau-composer coming out on top. Keen to establish himself in Paris, he took over the traditional libretto used by Lully, involving a lot in the way of ballet-music and set-pieces in the later acts. Whether he would have done this given a freer hand and fewer entrenched interests to placate, I rather doubt. On the other hand, he was very good at that sort of thing, and I feel simply that his best inspiration belongs in these later acts, the gem of the whole work being a long aria for Renaud. This is not to say that there is not a lot of fine stuff in acts I-III as well, the jewel of those being another aria for Renaud, just that these acts are not, by and large, quite the greatest Gluck.
   
   The challenge for the interpreters, on this view, is how to handle the first three acts. The excellent liner-essay tells us about a performance from Toscanini that failed, seemingly because the performers tried to ham up the music as if it were Verdi. If so, that was asking for disaster - this music is not at that kind of voltage, and Minkowski knows better than to treat it as if it were. Taking it for what it is, I would say they all do a first-class job. The cast are largely francophone, and the two Americans sing their French very convincingly too, which is particularly important in the case of Workman as Renaud as he seems to me to get the best music in the entire opera. The direction throughout shows admirable taste and sense of proportion - the demons for instance are very urbane and well-behaved demons, the kind of demons you could safely invite to dinner, and I am astonished that Gluck doesn't try to make any kind of effect out of the diamond shield. Brahms is not known as a musical dramatist and his Rinaldo is one of his less-performed works, but his treatment of the moment in Goethe's text when the diamond shield is displayed is simply awesome.
   
   We are in safe hands with Minkowski in music of this period. Period instruments are of course used, and the scale of the performance is judged exactly. If the earlier acts seem less dramatic than they might have been, my feeling is that that is down to the music not to the performers, who know what to avoid. Armide is not Gluck's greatest work, but it's very fine one and this is a set I wouldn't have wanted to miss. To what extent it will suit other listeners I have no way of knowing, but I have tried to make coherent sense of how it all comes across to me.



4. To modern music lovers, Gluck is best-known for his Orpheus and Euridice and, to a lesser extent, for Alceste. But he was also the composer of other operas which deserve to be remembered. Among these operas is Armide, which Gluck composed in 1777 for the Paris Opera. (By that time, he had revised his earlier versions of Orpheus and Alceste for staging in Paris.) In setting Armide, Gluck took the liberetto written by Phillipe Quinault which had been used by the great French composer Lully in his opera, Armide, presented in 1686. Thus, Gluck was deliberately setting himself in competition with the earlier master. After Gluck's opera, other composers have set the Armide story, including Haydn in an opera and Brahms in a cantata, Renaldo.
   
   This CD of Armide features the musicians of the Louvre conducted by Marc Minkowski and a distinguished cast of singers. Mr. Minkowski specializes in early music with an emphasis on scores and composers that have not received the attention they deserve. We are fortunate to have CD's readily accessible to explore Gluck's Armide. The work comes through in this release with intensity and passion.
   
   Armide is a story of the power of love and of the war between love and hate. The heroine, Armide, is a sorceress who has just defeated an army of Christian crusaders. She values her freedom and declines to marry unless to a man who can defeat the crusader's hero, Renauld. In the course of the story, Armide casts a spell on Renauld to make him, for a time, love her. But, unfortunately for Armide, she falls in love with Renauld totally and unconditionally. Renauld is ultimately rescued and abandons Armide who bewails her loss mightily and destroys the magic palace she had built for herself and Renaud.
   
   Gluck was known for attempting to integrate text and music into an artistic whole rather than for indulging in lengthy musical flourishes for their own sake. In Armide, he carries out his artistic programme in part. But there are long sections of dances, musical interludes, and scenes that have little dramatic intensity and which run counter to Gluck's austure style of composition. This is probably due in part to Gluck's decision to use, without editing, the early liberetto by Quinault which had been adopted to the different compositional style of Lully. (In the years between Lully and Gluck, some composers had tried to eliminate various portions of Quinault's text to speed-up the action. But Gluck took the original liberetto.)
   
   Gluck's Armide is not often performed today, but it is a treasure. The heroine, Armide, is a great multi-faceted role with arias expressing the extremes of passionate love and deep hatred. The role is beautifully performed on this CD by Mirelle Dellunsch. There is a character in the opera titled "hate", -- hate personified with lengthy arias worthy of the Queen of the Night -- performed guttily and intensely by Ewa Poodles. Charles Workman is an effective Renauld, but this music belongs to the women leads.
   
   The first and fifth acts of Gluck's Armide move with swift intensity while some of the more relaxed material is in act two and, particularly, in act four. For me, the most powerful musical moment of this score comes at the end of the opera in Armide's aria "La Perfide Renaud" which shows her fury at her abandonment by Renaud. Also in Act 5 is a beautiful duet between Armide and Renauld and an "Air Sicilien" featuring the solo flute. The scenes with Hate are stunning.
   
   Gluck's Armide is a grand opera by a great composer. It will delight listeners willing to be adventurous as well as lovers of opera, early classical music, and passionate music. It is a joy to have this work available.



5. Having long admired Gluck, the one opera that was missing from my collection was "Armide," but I was not certain if this recording would bring out the dramatic side of his music. (So many modern, "historically-informed" performances of his music don't.) Upon listening, however, I felt that although the singers presented herein are mostly smaller-scale Handelians and Mozartians, they do indeed bring out some of the flavor of this fascinating work.
   
   Unlike Gluck's "Alceste" or "Iphigenie en Tauride," "Armide" is less stark, less strophic, more melodic. One might almost describe it as "radical Mozart." Gluck seemed to be purposely striving here for an opera that was both inherently (which is to say, musically) dramatic and yet tuneful. The result is a delightful work in which recitatives, arias, ensembles and choruses slip seamlessly one into the other, much like the works of his Italian successor, Spontini.
   
   Mark Minkowski drives this performance with incredible intensity from first note to last, and his singers are for the most part able and up to the task. Mirielle Delunsch and Charles Workman were particularly delightful, though the female supporting singers were likewise superb. Their voices are not only pretty and well-supported, but they understand the French style and have the characteristic "French vibrato" which adds to the color of the work. I was particularly struck by Renaud's lyrical, entrancing aria by the side of the stream, with its sparse yet piquant orchestration.
   
   In 1909 Toscanini revived this opera at the Met with Olive Fremstad and Enrico Caruso, two singers known for having cannon-sized voices. I wonder how good it really was, though of course Fremstad was a real artist and capable of almost anything. Nevertheless, the opera did poorly at the box office, not because audiences thought it was tuneless but because it didn't have any held high notes for either principal. A pity; they definitely missed the point of this opera. Nevertheless, I only give this recording four stars instead of five because I would have liked a more dramatic and fully-delineated character out of Delunsch, and because some of the male supporting singers range from just acceptable to dreadful.

5 comments about Handel - Serse / Malafronte, J. Smith, Milne, Bickley, Asawa, D. Thomas, Ely, McGegan.

1. This is one of the truly great Handel opera recordings of the last twenty years. As usual, Nicholas McGegan proves himself to be one of the two or three greatest Handelian conductors of our time. The singing from beginning to end is first class. This opera is known for the famous largo "Ombra mai fu," but the music in this entire performance is a sheer delight.



2. Nicolas McGegan leads a spritely performance of this late Handel opera. The countertenor, Asawa, is excellent as are Milne, Bickley and Ely. In the comic role sounds like an actor who is singing. Though billed as a bass, his voice lacks resonance and depth. The biggest problems, however, are the two leads. Smith sounds like someone who is close to the end of a nice career. She is ready for seconda donna roles...too old for Romilda. In the title role Malafronte is inadaquate. She seems incapable of shaping a phrase musically. Her "Ombra mai fu" sounds amateurish. She is somewhat better in the more dramatic sections where she has to fill out the voice more but the all important matter of shaping the phrases is still absent. Many have praised this recording but I found it dissapointing because of the reasons above.



3. I like giving 5-star reviews. If I don't it's because something's more 'wrong' than 'missing'.
   
   Firstly though, I'll say what is so 'right' about this opera. To begin with, Brian Asawa. Apart from a superb technique, the sheer beauty of his voice alone makes him worth hearing. Susan Bickley as Amastre is the other protagonist who makes this a luxurious experience. Her firm and beautiful chest register punctuates her sumptuous tones with some heart-stopping moments. "Or che siete speranze tradite" in Act 2 is truly magnetic and in her preceeding exchnage with Elviro, she is most compelling (and I don't necessarily mean 'forceful' here). Lisa Milne, blessed with a light golden voice, sings her soprano role of Atalanta with grace and beauty without sounding too 'airy'. Truly beautiful. David Thomas' Elviro may have been a little overdone in the comic scene dressed as a flower-peddler but he is otherwise suitably expressive and reliable. Dean Ely's Ariodate is deep and firm...again beautiful.
   
   Judith Malafronte's Xerxes isn't so much what's wrong, but she wouldn't have been my first pick. She's not as clean of attack as desirable and doesn't possess the sort of tone that would convince anyone of her 'trousers' role. In fact, the singing technique may be satisfactory but the sound is unattractive to my ears. Bickley in this lead role would have been brilliantly cast....or (can we be even more ambitious) the fabulous Bernarda Fink (now THAT'S hoping for a lot!). Nevertheless, Ms. Malafronte was adequate (if not suitably heroic), though many countertenors have done superior renditions of 'Frondi tenere....Ombra mai fu'. Again, as hope springs eternal (even ex post facto), I can only wonder at what the more full-voiced countertenor Andreas Scholl would have made of this role.
   
   My real grouse then? Jennifer Smith's Romilda. While her performance is passionate (which is her sole mitigation), she manages to sound like Arsamene's mother....PARTICULARLY alongside Brian Asawa's ravishing countertenor. At times she is flat....that annoying sensation that just borders on the horizon of your perceptions but is nonetheless 'there'. Nowhere is this more vivid than the duet with Arsamene in Act 3: "Troppo oltraggi, troppo inganni". Ms. Smith is audibly taxed and struggles to 'hit' (her goal) rather than 'eventually reach' (her approximate effect) her high notes beside a flawless Mr. Asawa. The result is frustrating for me, especially when listening to Handel. The standard for baroque music involves greater surety and precision, otherwise it just sounds messy....especially where there is ornamentation. Unsteadiness and flatness/sharpness just don't fit in. It is unfortunate that modern recornings of this opera seem to be plagued with terrible Romildas.
   
   Nevertheless, I give it 4-stars because it's my favourite Handel opera and the performance 'evens out' overall, producing a 'good enough' rating. The style of this work isn't made too cloying or artificial by a preponderance of arias. There's more recitative and hence more 'real' drama. Coupled with the fact that this is a love story bordering on tragedy, albeit with a happy ending, the added passion combines with the other elements to make this one of Handel's most convincing and moving pieces...and very alluring music.
   
   The conducting is wonderful and achingly elegant. There are no extremes of speed. The strings are well harmonised and the harpsichord graceful, without sounding too exhuberant. The recording is well balanced and the acoustics are dramatically effective. There is some very effective sound direction to convey events occuring off-stage or aside; e.g., Romilda's music after Arsamene and Elviro enter scene 1, Act 1; and again during the duet recitative between Elviro and Amastre at the beginning of Act 2.
   
   But even further tribute to Mr. Asawa. I think he's brilliant and his rave reviews are well-deserved. I WILL be exploring his recordings further. He has a naturally high pitch and the tone is truly stunning. I will also continue to be drawn to the reliable opulence of Ms. Bickley and (newly added) Ms. Milne. Still well-recommended, though I frown at the price.



4. This is an excellent recording of what may be Handel's finest opera. The music is lovely and the performances are all excellent. This is considerably more than a lovely piece of music. When performed well, Serse (Xerxes in English translation) is a fine piece of stage work. It contains real wit and fine integration of the music and action on stage. There is actually a good English language version, though I am unaware of any recordings using this version.



5. Es Serse, de Handel, una de sus mas hermosas obras. Con un desarrollo dramatico in crescendo, contiene momentos musicales deslumbrantes y es quiza esta grabacion el mejor modo para acercarse a conocerla. Judith Malafronte es un rey imponente en lo dramatico, aunque a veces no sea completamente pulido en lo vocal. Su zona aguda pierde brillo en algunas partes pero se desenvuelve correctamente en las agilidades y canta con gusto su personaje. La Smith no tiene una voz hermosa pero su sentido del canto y su concepcion de la Romilda ganan a su favor. El resto del elenco cumple maravillosamente, el Arsamene de Asawa es antologico y la Atalanta de la Milne deliciosa. El Elviro de David Thomas es simplemente hilarante dando el caracter bufo de la obra de forma magistral. Pero, sin lugar a dudas, el cenit de la grabacion lo constituyen McGegan y la Hanover Band, en quienes la partitura de Handel brilla en toda su extension. En pocas palabras una adquisicion indispensable dentro de la discografia handeliana.

5 comments about Mozart - Complete Sacred Works / Harnoncourt.

1. I was just wondering why if this is called "Mozart Complete Sacred Works" why is it missing K. 20 Motet "God is our Refuge" (Psalm 46:1) am I missing it somewhere in the table of context or is it just me



2. This set is an adventure providing many wonderful discoveries. The C minor Mass K.427, the Coronation Mass, the Spatzenmesse, the Credomesse, the Vesperae solennes de confessore K.339, the Litanies Lauretanae and "de venerabili altaris sacramento", the Kyrie K.341--these are all vintage Mozart. The only disappointment is the Requiem, which lacks the clarity and intensity of Hogwood's.



3. I found the overall quality of the recordings and the artists to be consistently very good. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this collection based on the quality of the production--this is a great way to get a complete collection of Mozart's chorals at one shot.

   Having said that, it's obviously going to be a bit repetitive; it is overkill for the average listener. Unless you're certain you really want the complete collection, buying a few individual recordings will be more cost-effective. I don't regret the purchase, but I think it all depends on your level of interest.




4. I'm a non-musician, but have listened to a lot of Mozart. I was cataloging books at my library and popped this in, the first two CD's brought me to tears. I can picture myself praying in a gothic cathedral while listening to this. Oh that "church music" of today could even try to emulate the beauty.



5. First, let me make it clear that I didn't buy the whole set. The price and the volume is a bit intimidating, to say the least, and the sheer ubiquity of Harnoncourt recordings these days tends to breed a certain resistance in me. Therefore this review is based on the three discs I own (8, 9 and 10) - I'm withholding a star based on ignorance, not criticism. That said, I found the recordings delightful and more than once a pleasant surprise. The Masses can sound somewhat repetitive at times, but for me the real discovery was the many small and fragmentary pieces, which one doesn't come across often in other recordings. The Kyrie K.89 is a haunting vocal canon, so unlike a Mozart; the Miserere K.85, dark, powerful, with just a hint of Allegri; Kyrie K.322 and 323 little gems. The singing is clear and forceful. Contrary to the Amazon review above, I didn't find the baroque instrumentation to be a problem. I don't know if it's a good idea to buy the complete set (Amazon doesn't offer them individually, I think), but it's certainly a lot of CDs for the money -.- , and one thing I can say for sure is that there are bound to be similar discoveries for everyone.

2 comments about Tchaikovsky: Cherevichki.

1. Tchaikovsky's CHEREVICHKI comes as something of a revelation to me. Like many in the West, I knew well EUGENE ONEGIN and QUEEN OF SPADES. A few years back I discovered MAZEPPA (there are two fine recordings of that work, one with Jarvi and another with Gergiev, I believe). Of CHEREVICHKI, I had heard years back the the re-issued older recording on Preiser, but nothing prepared me for this magnificent recording! This recording of a live performance in Cagliari, Italy, is one the finest releases that Dynamic has given us; everything works, and works well. The vocalists, mostly native Russians---particularly Ekaterina Morosova and Valeri Popov--account themselves extremely well, but everyone does well in this performance. And then there is the sparkling conducting and leadership of Gennady Rozhdestvensky, who seems to adore the work as I now do. And what a marvelous orchestra those Sardinians have in Cagliari! They SOUND like the Bolshoi! I couldn't believe my ears.
   
   The work, itself, is based on the same fairy tale that inspired Rimsky-Korsakov in CHRISTMAS EVE (the translation of the title is variously "The Little Shoes" or "The slippers"). The music is a delight, chock full of rustic Russian melody. Here, then, is the "nationalist" Tchaikovsky at work, inspired to write a "folk" opera that will keep your feet tapping and bring a smile to your face.
   
   Oh, and yes, a full libretto in Russian-Italian-English, with good notes on the history of the opera, as well as a decent plot summary. Very handsome presentation. Very little stage noise for a live recording.
   
   In short, five stars is too little for this gem. Highly recommended; search it out, and enjoy



2. At last there is a chance to hear the magical opera, Cherevichki, in a modern recording. And an excellent one. I warmly recommend every operafan and operadirector! to get acquainted with this seldomly performed but most theatrical and surprisingly beautiful opera.
   The lyrical Eugen Onegin and the dramatic Pique Dame are well-known to most people, and many also appreciates the elegical, almost flegmatic Yolanta and the more robust but still beautiful Mazeppa. But Cherevichki, which is musically related to the fresh and spirited Nutcracker though more grotesque than the ballet, is still comparetively unknown in the west. It is, however, probably only a matter of a short time before it will be played in any adventurious operahouse anywhere in the world.
   The opera consists of many individual scenes with lots of appeal. After the brillant ouverture there is a wonderful parlando-scene between an imp and Vakula, the smith's mother, apperently a witch. Tchaikovsky at his most humourous! Consequently there are beautiful arias for the obligatory tenor and soprano, splendid chorus-scenes and marvellous stagemusic describing a fairytale landscape full of snow and undines.
   This live-recording is ravishingly conducted by Rozhdestvensky and all the roles are splendidly sung and performed by the russian cast, though I find the first scene more charmingly grotesque on the older recording conducted by A. Melik-Pashayev.
   This opera adds another, lively!, facet to Tchaikovsky's works, while we are waiting for a new recording of his more problematic, The maid of Orleans.