As he demonstrated recently in “Don Carlo” at the Metropolitan Opera, Dmitri Hvorostovsky is one of the world’s leading Verdi baritones. However, he has also had a lifelong commitment to the music of his native country, Russia. His recent concert at Carnegie Hall, at which he was accompanied on piano by Ivari Ilja was devoted to two Russian composers, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Georgy Sviridov. Rachmaninoff’s work is better known, but the singer also made a strong case for Sviridov, whose “Petersburg” cycle contains settings of nine poems by Alexander Blok. The composer had worked on the cycle for 20 years and completed it three years before his death especially for the baritone. Aside from producing a glorious sound, Hvorostovsky becomes fully immersed in the mood of each song, from the nostalgic (e.g., “Do You Remember the Evening”) to the highly dramatic (e.g., “I am nailed to a tavern counter”). An announcer appeared before the start of the second half to ask the audience to hold their applause until the end, but the crowd could not restrain themselves. The dashing baritone persevered and even returned for four encores. The first was with his accompanist for Rachmaninoff’s most famous song, “In the silent night” and the rest were a cappella.
Hvorostovsky’s latest album, “In This Moonlit Night” (on Ondine) is also a recital of Russian songs with Ilja on piano. The composers on the CD are Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky and Taneyev. As with the concert, there is a mix of the familiar (the first two composers) with a lesser-known composer, in this instance Taneyev. The six Tchaikovsky songs are moody (in fact, one is entitled “In the midst of gloomy days”), but the Mussorgsky (The Songs and Dances of Death) is downright brutal. Death claims everyone, from a baby (sung to a haunting lullaby) to soldiers on a battlefield. The Mussorgsky songs have also been recorded by sopranos and basses, sometimes with orchestral arrangements, but the original piano accompaniment, as done here, is the most powerful. The Taneyev pieces are mostly melancholy, from the “Winter Path” to ‘Stalactites’ with “frozen rows of bitter tears.”
Soprano Dinara Alieva was born in Azerbaijan, and has sung at Bolshoi as well as the Vienna State Opera, Frankfurt Opera and Deutsche Oper Berlin. She has also won a number of international competitions and appeared at Carnegie Hall. Alieva has a new Naxos CD entitled “Russian Songs and Arias,” on which she is accompanied by the New Russia State Symphony Orchestra conducted by Dmitry Yablonsky. She studied with Montserrat Caballé, who described Alieva’s talent as a “gift of Heaven.” The recording supports this assessment. She begins with a sublime rendition of Rachmaninov’s wordless “Vocalise” and shows her capacity to convey emotions with Tchaikovsky songs (with orchestral accompaniment rather than piano) plus a highly dramatic account of the Letter Scene from “Eugene Onegin.” Also included are two arias each from Tchaikovsky’s “The Queen of Spades” and Rimsky-Korsakov’s “The Tsar’s Bride.” Hopefully, the Met will sign her up.
Some years ago, I was at a chamber music concert when many in the audience started humming along to one of the pieces, Alexander Borodin’s String Quartet No. 2 in D. The reason is that the theme was used for “Baubles, Bangles and Beads” in “Kismet,” the popular musical based on his music. Listeners may have a similar reaction when listening to “In the Steppes of Central Asia” (“Sands of Time” in “Kismet”) which is contained on the 2-CD set of Borodin Symphonies on Brilliant Classics with Mark Ermler conducting the Symphony Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre. Borodin’s symphonies are also highly listenable. His third symphony, like his opera “Prince Igor,” was left uncompleted at his death and completed by others but still manages to satisfy because of his melodic gift. These performances are well executed and recorded. Incidentally, “Prince Igor” will be performed at the Met next season. The opening night opera will be “Eugene Onegin.”
Pianist-composer Yelena Eckemoff was born in Moscow. She studied classical piano there and has a Master’s Degree in piano performing and pedagogy from the Moscow State Conservatory. She now lives in the United States and has emerged in recent years as a compelling jazz composer-performer. Her new CD, “Glass Song,” with Arild Andersen on bass and Peter Erskine on drums, is quite timely: about the transition from winter into spring. The album booklet contains photos taken at the sessions as well as Eckemoff’s poems about each piece. The CD is high quality chamber jazz, notable for her lyrical pieces as well as the pianist’s touch and her interplay with Anderson and Erskine.
