Various - Russian Opera Arias Vol. 2 (Grishko) [CD]

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Vladimir Grishko Russian Opera Arias, Vol. 2The nineteenth century saw the flowering of Russian nationalism in the arts, above all in opera, where composers could explore essentially Russian subject matter together with music that had its roots in national tradition. Among the group of five contemporary nationalist composers, described by their mentor, the polymath Vladimir Stasov as the Mighty Handful, Nikolay Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov eventually assumed a leading position, using his gradually acquired technical knowledge both in his own music and in the revision of works by his colleagues Mussorgsky and Borodin, after their relatively early deaths. Rimsky-Korsakov’s sixth opera, Sadko, was completed in 1896 and first staged in Moscow two years later. The libretto by the composer was derived from traditional heroic ballads and is set first in Novgorod. Sadko, a psaltery player and singer, offends the gathering of Novgorod merchants. Leaving them he wanders by the shore of Lake Ilmen, where the swans he sees on the lake are transformed into the daughters of the Sea King. He is rewarded by the Sea King’s daughter, Princess Volkhova, who tells him he will catch three golden fish, the source of his future success, after various adventures. These include a visit to the realm of the Sea King and marriage to Princess Volkhova, before she is finally transformed into a river and Sadko, now a rich man, can return to his wife. 1 The Introduction suggests the calm sea, 2 while Sadko’s Melismatic Song is sung as Sadko wanders alone by Lake Ilmen in the second scene of the opera, his music drawing the enchanted swans to him. Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky represents a more cosmopolitan form of Russian musical nationalism. His opera Cherevichki (The Slippers) was first staged in Moscow in 1887. It is based on the earlier Kuznets Vakula (Vakula the Smith) of 1876, with a plot derived from Gogol’s Christmas Eve. The blacksmith Vakula’s mother, the witch Solokha, helps the Devil steal the moon. One after another village worthies call at Solokha’s house in the dark, to be hidden in sacks, which Vakula takes outside, when he returns home. His beloved Oxana teases him, demanding the Tsaritsa’s shoes, if she is to marry him. Vakula contemplates suicide, ready to drown himself. 4 He laments his fate, as he carries the last sack, from which the Devil suddenly emerges, and is forced by Vakula to help him in his quest. 3 In the palace a group of cossacks, seeking an audience, dance to entertain the company, and Vakula, granted his strange request, is transported home by the Devil, now to marry Oxana. Aleko, with a libretto derived from Pushkin, was a set graduation text for Arensky’s composition pupils at the Moscow Conservatory in 1892. Rachmaninov’s setting won him a gold medal and the highest distinction, publication, and, in 1893, performance at the Bolshoy Theatre. Aleko has taken refuge from society to make h

Introduction, from 'Sadko' - Rimsky-Korsakov

Ah, you dark oak grove, from 'Sadko' - Rimsky-Korsakov

Danse des cosaques, from 'The Slippers' - Tchaikovsky

Does your heart not hear my terrible grief, from 'The Slippers' - Tchaikovsky

Men's dance, from 'Aleko' - Rachmaninov

See, beneath yon firmament, from 'Aleko' - Rachmaninov

Involuntarily I am drawn, from 'Rusalka' - Dargomizhsky

Gypsy dance, from 'Rusalka' - Dargomizhsky

There is a deserted land, from 'Ruslan and Lyudmila' - Glinka

Krakowiak, from 'A Life for the Tsar' - Glinka

Brothers into the snow storm, from 'A Life for the Tsar' - Glinka

It is all different, from 'The Tsar's Bride' - Rimsky-Korsakov

The thundercloud has scurried past, from 'The Tsar's Bride' - Rimsky-Korsakov

Entr'acte, from 'The Maid of Orleans' - Tchaikovsky

No! The charm of a feisty beauty's embraces, from 'Iolanta' - Tchaikovsky

Polovtsian march, from 'Prince Igor' - Borodin

Slowly the day was fading, from 'Prince Igor' - Borodin