Saturday, September 7, 2013

TCHAIKOVSKY : THE ENCHANTRESS

Radio New Zealand Concert network
Sunday 21st of June 2015 at 6.03 - 9 pm
Sunday 8th of September 2013 at 3.03 - 6 pm

PYTOR IL'YICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893):
The Enchantress, an opera in four acts
2015
Prince Nikita Kurlyatev................... Vladislav Sulimsky
Princess Yevpraksiya Romanovna... Agnes Zwierko
Prince Yuriy..................................... Maxim Aksenov
Mamïrov........................................... Vladimir Ognovenko
Nenila............................................... Hanna Schwarz
Ivan Zhuran...................................... Martijn Cornet
Nastasya............................................ Asmik Grigorian
Foka.................................................. Martin Snell
Polya................................................. Natalia Kawalek-Plewniak
Balakin............................................. Erik Arman
Potap................................................. Stefan Cerny
Lukash.............................................. Vasily Efimov
Kichiga............................................. Nikolay Didenko
Payísy............................................... Andreas Conrad
Kudma.............................................. Martin Winkler
Arnold Schoenberg Chorus, ORF Radio SO, Vienna/Mikhail Tatarnikov
(recorded in the Theater an der Wien, Vienna by Austrian Radio)
2013
Prince Nikita Kurlyatev.................. Vladislav Sulimsky
Princess Yevpraksiya Romanovna.. Elena Manistina
Prince Yury..................................... Eduard Martnyuk
Mamïrov......................................... Vyacheslav Pochapsky
Nenila............................................. Tatian Erastova
Ivan Zhuran.................................... Alexei Pashiev
Nastasya (Kuma)............................ Anna Nechaeva
Foka................................................ Mikhail Diyakov
Polya............................................... Anastasia Kikot
Balakin............................................ Vadim Tikhonov
Potap............................................... Vladimir Krasov
Lukash............................................ Boris Rudak
Kichiga........................................... Valery Gilmanov
Payísy............................................. Mikhail Seryshev
Kudma............................................ Andrei Arkhipov
Bolshoi Opera Chorus & Orch/Alexander Lazarev
(recorded in the Bolshoi Theatre, by Russian Radio Moscow)

INTRODUCTION
SYNOPSIS
PREVIEW
REVIEW (Moscow Times)

To be truthfully (not 'brutally', but perhaps ruefully) honest, I have never heard of this work by my beloved Chaikovsky; I have come to admire him more and more, and I was particularly touched recently when I heard about his friendship with Brahms (what language did they use for communicating, was it French?).    
     Charodéyka (The Sorceress, though Enchantress is better, as Nastasya was enchanting fair) stands at number 9 of the eleven in his list of operas, following Cherevichki (resurrected in London in 2009, as noted here). That was a comedy, this is something of a tragedy (though the Flemish Opera turned it into 'a grotesque farce' in 2011, but it was all right if you kept your eyes shut and simply listened to the music). This was composed in the period of his 5th symphony, and the big tune from that really impressed me in my childhood in Sydney (it was used as the intro to a series of historical documentaries, entitled The Passing Parade, I think, on the same radio station (2GB) that regaled me with Wagner's wonderful Rienzi overture at the start of every news broadcast. As I write this I have been hearing Verdi's Traviata from New York, and then the Requiem of Brahms from the London Proms. But there are other worthy composers. Today I also listened to two good operas of Rachmaninov', namely Francesca da Rimini and The Avaricious Knight.
    Pyotr said he toiled laboriously over this work, and even though it was withdrawn after its first performance night, he hoped its time would come. Alexander Lazarev has now brought it back so that we can savour it.

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