{"title":"Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov","description":"\u003cp\u003ecomposer. in the Russian Nationalism tradition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCore member of The Five; celebrated orchestrator with vivid coloristic effects and exotic narratives. Scheherazade is his most iconic work.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSignature works:\u003c\/em\u003e Scheherazade, Op. 35, Flight of the Bumblebee, Russian Easter Festival Overture, Op. 36, Capriccio Espagnol, Op. 34, The Golden Cockerel.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"rimsky-korsakov-christmas-eve-etc-golovschin-moscow-234523","title":"Rimsky-korsakov: Christmas Eve, Etc \/ Golovschin, Moscow So","description":"RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Christmas Eve \/ Night on Mount Triglav","brand":"Naxos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":44626209833194,"sku":"730099478922","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/218773.jpg?v=1778346050"},{"product_id":"rimsky-korsakov-scheherazade-boughton-philharmonia-orchestra-255946","title":"Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade \/ Boughton, Philharmonia Orchestra","description":"Classical Music","brand":"Nimbus","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":44624991748330,"sku":"710357708725","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/2021215.jpg?v=1778325262"},{"product_id":"the-best-of-rimsky-korsakov-234761","title":"The Best Of Rimsky-korsakov","description":"Nikolay Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) served in the Russian navy and with the encouragement of his mentor Balakirev, a member of \"The Five,\" pursued his musical education. He taught at the St. Petersburg Conservatory from 1871 till \"Bloody Sunday\" in 1905 when he was dismissed for political involvement. Many of his students also went on to successful careers in music. He taught Glazunov, Respighi, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Myaskovsky, and Lyadov among so many. While he composed operas, chamber music, songs and choral music it is his orchestral material that he is at the front of the line including Scheherazade, Capriccio Espagnol, Russian Easter Festival, and Antar all represented on this CD. And yes his famous \"Flight of the Bumble-Bee,\" template for the Green Hornet theme, and used in numerous cartoons and films is included. Also included is a duet arrangement by Kreisler for violin and piano of the \"Hindu Song,\" well known as \"The Song of India\" made famous by Tommy Dorsey.","brand":"Naxos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":44624807100650,"sku":"730099667425","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/86233_c41bfa4a-cd95-41bf-8882-beaaf306c627.jpg?v=1778382187"},{"product_id":"the-beecham-collection-saint-saens-samson-et-dalila-op","title":"The Beecham Collection - Saint-Saens: Samson et Dalila, Op.","description":"At the Festival Hall, on 24 April, 1960, an 80-year-old Sir Thomas Beecham gave what would turn out to be the final concert he conducted with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London. SOMM Recordings is releasing the last work on that historic programme as part of it's continuing Beecham Collection of live recordings-the Bacchanale from the opera Samson et Dalila by Camille Saint-Saens. Unbeknownst to them, the audience's tumultuous reception of this performance proved to be a farewell to Beecham on the London concert platform. In June 1960, he suffered a cerebral thrombosis and never conducted again; he died on 8 March 1961.     Jon Tolansky, a former musician at the Royal Opera House who has since specialised in making documentary features on composers and performers, recalls hearing this programme as an 11-year-old. \"I had never heard anything remotely like it,\" he says, \"as Sir Thomas, now standing fully upright on the podium, became a generator of electric lightning and as the Royal Festival Hall seemed to be shaking, most especially in the last two minutes or so, in a catastrophic earthquake.\"    This historic release also includes live recordings of Saint-Saens's First Cello Concerto and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade. Once again, audio restoration is by the renowned audio recording engineer Lani Spahr,�whose work has recently been honoured with four Gramophone�Magazine Editor's Choice Awards-for Bruckner from the Archives Vols I and IV and, more recently, Bliss, the Composer Conducts and E.J. Moeran's music conducted by Sir Adrian Boult.    Beecham was always what The Times called \"a quietly persistent advocate for Saint-Saens,\" and he offers attentive support to the 1958 reading of Saint-Saens's First Cello Concerto by Ukrainian-born soloist Mischel Cherniavsky. The concerto is in one continuous movement with three tightly structured sections sharing interrelated ideas. Cherniavsky came from a family of nine musically gifted children, and he played in the Cherniavsky Trio with two of his brothers from 1901 until 1934, after which he was mostly based in London and France.     The live performance of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade on this release was given at the Royal Festival Hall on 21 March, 1957. This fell right in the middle of recording sessions when the orchestra was immersed in the piece for three days, which goes some way to explaining the glorious quality of the playing in the concert. What Rimsky-Korsakov described as the \"various fairy-tale wonders\" he had in mind when composing the work come across in Beecham's live performance with a freshness and brilliance that make for an unforgettable experience. A 24-year-old Steven Staryk became leader of the�RPO shortly before these recordings, earning the title \"king of concertmasters\" from�The Strad�magazine. About his performance on this concert The Times wrote \"the solo playing of the new leader, Mr Steven Staryk, must have due acknowledgment.\"","brand":"SOMM Recordings","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012552216810,"sku":"758871013420","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4491454-3522702.jpg?v=1778216141"},{"product_id":"rimsky-korsakov-christmas-eve-vasiliev-muzychenko-popov","title":"Rimsky-Korsakov: Christmas Eve \/ Weigle, Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester","description":"\u003cp\u003eSebastian Weigle conducts this acclaimed Oper Frankfurt production of Rimsky-Korsakov’s operatic rarity Christmas Eve. This CD version is taken from the same live performances as the DVD\/Blu-ray, released in November 2022 (2.110738 and NBD0154V). Rimsky-Korsakov blends Christian and pagan elements, Ukrainian folk songs and carols, and atmospheric orchestral interludes in this vivacious and fantastical village romance.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Naxos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012581576938,"sku":"730099054379","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4253313-3142907.jpg?v=1778238406"},{"product_id":"rimsky-korsakov-scheherazade","title":"Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade","description":"A mystic realm tinged with the scent of foreign spices, bewitching music, vivid color and sensual delights... Orientalism sparked a new wave of romanticism in Western art in the 19th century, which had a profound influence on artists. At the time, The Arabian Nights had long been popular in Russia, in a French translation by Antoine Galland that indulged the Francophile passion for all things Arabic. For Rimsky-Korsakov who had a life-long fascination with fairytales especially those from the exotic setting of the mythical Orient,\"Scheherazade\"was an ideal theme. Born into a family of Russian naval officers, music and the sea became his passion since childhood and he graduated from the Naval Academy of St. Petersburg to become a naval officer himself. While pursuing his musical studies, he embarked on numerous ocean voyages, visiting Brazil, America, Europe etc The Oriental Ballet Suite \"Thousand and One Nights\" was originally conceived as an orchestral work, first published for piano solo in 1927, and then arranged for orchestra by the composer himself. It gained popularity immediately after it's release and was broadcast on several radio stations.","brand":"Danacord","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012687974634,"sku":"5709499985007","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4384346-3290496.jpg?v=1778223074"},{"product_id":"rimsky-korsakov-scheherazade-smetana-the-bartered-bride","title":"Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade - Smetana: Bartered Bride: Overture \u0026 Dances","description":"These classic Vox recordings feature two former music directors of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in their prime - Walter Susskind (Smetana) and Jerzy Semkow (Rimsky-Korsakov). Newly remastered from the original tapes.","brand":"Vox","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012725395690,"sku":"747313304387","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4339076-3184724.jpg?v=1778236844"},{"product_id":"rimsky-korsakov-scheherazade-a-tale","title":"Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade, A Tale","description":"This album offers a new approach to the character of Scheherazade, with Rimsky-Korsakov's musical masterpiece transcribed for the forces of Ensemble K and a previously unpublished text, freely adapted from the Thousand and One Nights and ancient love poems, which tells the story of Scheherazade. The Franco-Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani plays Scheherazade, while Kristin Winters is her sister, Dinarzad: 'For me, this story is a literary and historical treasure of humanity. But our collective imagination has seen Scheherazade as either a seductress or a submissive woman who told stories to survive. The greatness of this character goes far beyond that, and in fact represents the ancient figure of the \"hero\", or rather the heroine!', says Simone Menezes, who is artistic director of this project. For this second collaboration with Alpha Classics (after Amazonia, ALPHA990), she presents two versions of the programme, one with music and texts, the other with Rimsky-Korsakov's music alone.","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012763308266,"sku":"3701624510810","price":22.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4357681-3205603.jpg?v=1778232416"},{"product_id":"rimsky-korsakov-die-fuenf-raeuber-und-das-geheimnis-im-sack-scheherazade-op-35-4035719001976","title":"Rimsky-Korsakov: Die fuenf Raeuber und das Geheimnis im Sack; Scheherazade, Op. 35","description":"\u003cp\u003eTogether with narrator Rufus Beck, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin presents \"The Five Thieves and the Secret in the Sack\". Inspired by the Thousand and One Nights, it is a magical story about the power of friendship. Author Katharina Neuschaefer and illustrator Martin Fengel captivate their young audience with this exotic tale, set amid the vastness of the desert – and musically illustrated by the colorful sounds of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's \"Scheherazade\".\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BR Klassik","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012791259370,"sku":"4035719001976","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4135055-2902959.jpg?v=1778240755"},{"product_id":"rimsky-korsakov-orchestral-suites-747313278770","title":"Rimsky-Korsakov: Orchestral Suites","description":"Rimsky-Korsakov' orchestral genius shines through in his colourful operatic suites, and that from his final opera Le Coq d'or is richly dramatic and expressive.","brand":"Naxos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012946317546,"sku":"747313278770","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1912418.jpg?v=1778342614"},{"product_id":"rimsky-korsakov-legend-of-the-invisible-city-230373","title":"Rimsky-korsakov: Legend Of The Invisible City Of Kitezh \/ Vedernikov, Kazakov, Panfilov","description":"\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"COMPOSER12\"\u003e RIMSKY-KORSAKOV \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12bi\"\u003eThe Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronya \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"BULLET12\"\u003e • \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e Vitaly Panfilov (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003ePrince Vsevolod\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Tatiana Monogarova (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eFevronya\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Mikhail Gubsky (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eGrishka Kuterma\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Mikhail Kazakov (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003ePrince Yury\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Gevorg Hakobyan (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eFyodor Poyarok\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Marika Gulordava (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003ePage\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Valery Gilmanov (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eBedyay\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Alexander Naumenko (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eBurunday\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Alexander Vedernikov, cond; Cagliari Th O \u0026amp; Ch \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"BULLET12\"\u003e • \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e NAXOS 2.110277\/78 (2 DVDs: 187:28) Live: Cagliari 5\/2–4\/2008 \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eI wanted to see this video because, for many years, I’ve heard exorbitant praise from certain critics regarding \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eKitezh\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e, yet in listening to the commercial recording conducted by Valery Gergiev I felt let down. The music seemed to me flat and characterless, lacking drama, development, and momentum. Surely, I said to myself, a good stage production would change my mind, as it did with Mussorgsky’s \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eKhovanschina. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eYet opinions on \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eThe Invisible City of Kitezh\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e (to abbreviate its title) are divided. Although many critics wax ecstatic over Rimsky-Korsakov’s magnificent \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eorchestration\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e for this work, few outside Russia are very impressed by the opera as a whole. It is an overlong, derivative grand opera in which two old tales of magic were welded together by librettist Vladimir Belsky, and finally presented intact in 1908. Even the first Russian audiences didn’t care much for it, finding it very old-fashioned in concept and musical style as well as overly rambling, though it is still periodically revived, mostly within Russia. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eThis production gives us a rare glimpse of the opera as performed in Italy. The audience reaction is not enthusiastic; on the contrary, when the applause comes at the ends of acts, it sounds like perhaps 80 to 100 people half-heartedly clapping. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eOne glance at the production tells you why. Although it is not \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eRegietheater\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e—the characters are, thankfully, clad in traditional-looking costumes—Eimuntas Nekro?ius’s idiotic staging has too much symbolism and too little that resembles reality. The first act, set in the “woods,” presents a stage littered with “wooden” structures, bird houses and the like. Get it? Woods. The presentation of Little Kitezh, where the maiden Fevronya is to marry Prince Vsevolod, is cluttered with giant, tinfoil-covered bell-like objects with people popping out of their tops. Get it? Bells. This kind of idiocy continues throughout a production of a work in which the music itself is also static and rarely wedded to the text. In act IV, scene 1, where Fevronya and Grishka are supposed to be wandering in the woods, what you see is a plain blue-tiled floor with two Erector-set structures in the background. Apparently, Nekro?ius ran out of birdhouses, but not to despair! When Grishka runs off into the woods and Fevronya is left alone, two giant, hideous bird creatures sneak out of the woods and behind her as she sleeps. Perhaps Nekro?ius has seen too many of the \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eAlien \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003emovies. In the final scene, supposed to represent Kitezh triumphant, the stage is filled with objects that look like rocket silos. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eMusically, many passages sound like leavings from \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eBoris Godunov,\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e and not good leavings at that, so even when the singers are excellent the plot crawls along. It is an opera more about characters who stand there and sing than about characters creating a musical drama. Compare, for instance, the first act to the similar situation in Verdi’s \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eDon Carlo.\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e A prince meets a beautiful woman in the woods, and they fall in love. Verdi miraculously manages to wed lovely music, some of it even memorable, to a flexible musical structure in which the orchestra comments on or moves the action. Rimsky-Korsakov creates a static structure wedded to pretty but undistinguished melodies that just toodle along, and do so for half an hour. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eMoreover, the plot is remarkably dismal and depressing for a magic or fairy-tale opera. Everyone sings about death even \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003ebefore \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003ethe Tartars invade Russia, and several characters die except Fevronya and the seedy drunkard Grishka Kuterma, who becomes a traitor, willing to turn Kitezh over to invading Tartars \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eand\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e finger Fevronya as the snitch just to save his own worthless hide. Prince Vsevolod goes off to battle for Kitezh, not to win it but to die in it. (I’m guessing he flunked military school.) He does so, but returns in the second half of act IV as a ghost, and at the end of the opera Fevronya marries the ghost. And you talk about overlong … each of the first two acts runs over a half hour, but each of the \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003elast\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e two acts runs more than an hour apiece. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eGetting to the performance, Tatiana Monogarova is simply magnificent as Fevronya, not only vocally but histrionically, which is important because this is a rare Russian opera in that the soprano dominates everything. Here is a woman who fully understands how to inhabit a role. You come to believe wholeheartedly in her character within the first five minutes she is onstage, and she holds you in her thrall to the end. As for her voice, it is a remarkably rich lyric soprano, close to spinto in power, exactly the kind of voice Rimsky wanted for this part. Her midrange, in fact, reminds me strongly of Mirella Freni at her best, only with more power. The top range is not as lovely as Freni’s, but it has its own interesting luster and more metal. Monogarova made her American debut as Lisa in \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003ePique Dame\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e in Houston in 2010, and also began singing Cio-Cio-San around the same time in Europe. She is signed with IMG, and I really do wish her well in what I hope will be a major career. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eVitaly Panfilov, as Prince Vsevolod, is neither an interesting actor nor a particularly fine singer. The voice is fluttery, dry, and percussive. He sings on pitch and phrases well, but that is all one can say of him. His stage presence registers somewhere between nil and mediocre. On the other hand, Mikhail Gubsky as the nefarious Grishka Kuterma is a superb stage actor, though his voice is strictly that of a good comprimario. Nevertheless, the world needs good comprimarios, and he is certainly one of them. His pathetic wheedling is completely believable. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eA word of praise is also due Marika Gulordava in the somewhat thankless role of the Page. The Page is analogous to Cassandra in \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eLes Troyens\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e or the Simpleton in \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eBoris,\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e someone who warns of danger to come. Though her role is important it is not as long as either of the other two, yet Gulordava is simply stunning in her one big scene. Her voice is not as beautiful as Monogarova’s, but it has a laser-beam focus with a bright, perhaps over-brilliant top. As a musician and singing actress she is first-rate. I also hope for her to have a good career. Mikhail Kazakov, singing the role of Vesvolod’s father, Prince Yury, has a nice voice but an uneven flutter and a constricted low range, a real detriment for a Russian bass. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eAlexander Vedernikov is a fine conductor who obviously loves and understands this music. He brings out all of the wonderful orchestral subtleties of the score and moves the opera about as well as can be expected under the circumstances. Indeed, his conducting here is finer for this particular work than Gergiev’s. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eMy copy of the DVD may have been defective, but all through the first two acts the video is out of synch with the audio, as if one were watching something in which the video was on a two-second tape delay. On the second DVD, most of it is in synch, yet there are still strange moments when the picture freezes for a couple of seconds, only to jump ahead and eventually catch up with the audio. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eThus there are good and bad points to be taken into consideration in approaching both the work and the performance, but if you are fond of \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eKitezh\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e I would recommend this for the excellent acting of a handful of participants and the excellent singing of the two sopranos. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan style=\"font-weight:bold\"\u003eFANFARE: Lynn René Bayley \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e -------\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e THE LEGEND OF THE INVISIBLE CITY OF KITEZH AND THE MAIDEN FEVRONYA\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Opera in 4 Acts. Sung in Russian\u003cbr\u003e  Libretto by Vladimir I. Belsky\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich – Mikhail Kazakov\u003cbr\u003e  Hereditary prince Vsevolod Yuryevich – Vitaly Panfilov\u003cbr\u003e  Fevronya – Tatiana Monogarova\u003cbr\u003e  Grishka Kuterma – Mikhail Gubsky\u003cbr\u003e  Fyodor Poyarok – Gevorg Hakobyan\u003cbr\u003e  Page – Marika Gulordava\u003cbr\u003e  Two notables – Gianluca Floris, Marek Kalbus\u003cbr\u003e  Bedyay – Valery Gilmanov\u003cbr\u003e  Burunday – Alexander Naumenko\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Lirico di Cagliari\u003cbr\u003e  (chorus master: Fulvio Fogliazza)\u003cbr\u003e  Alexander Vedernikov, conductor\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Eimuntas Nekrošius, stage director\u003cbr\u003e  Marius Nekrošius, set designer\u003cbr\u003e  Nadezhda Gultiayeva, costume designer\u003cbr\u003e  Audrius Jankauskas, lighting designer\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Recorded live from the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Sardinia, 2 and 4 May 2008\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Picture format: NTSC 16:9\u003cbr\u003e  Sound format: PCM Stereo \/ Dolby Digital 5.0 \/ DTS 5.0\u003cbr\u003e  Region code: 0 (worldwide)\u003cbr\u003e  Subtitles: English\u003cbr\u003e  Running time: 187 mins\u003cbr\u003e  No. of DVDs: 2 (DVD 5 + DVD 9)\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Naxos AudioVisual","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":46012985245930,"sku":"747313527755","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1912423.jpg?v=1778338146"},{"product_id":"rimsky-korsakov-legend-of-the-invisible-city-kitezh-albrecht-netherlands","title":"Rimsky-Korsakov: Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh \/ Albrecht, Netherlands Opera Philharmonic","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNote: The Blu-ray version is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRimsky-Korsakov’s opera is a fanciful fairytale, yet at the same time a parable on repression and political conceit. The peasant girl Fevroniya’s prayer that the city of Kitezh becomes invisible, thus protecting it from Tatar attack, is magically heeded. The girl herself, however, is captured by the invaders. The leitmotifs and highly expressive musical tone-painting tell the story, based on a pantheist world view, almost on their own. Grand crowd scenes contrast with a internal treatment similar to the music dramas of Richard Wagner. Marc Albrecht conducts the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and the dramatic staging comes from the renowned Russian director, Dmitri Tcherniakov.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRecorded live at the De Nederlandse Opera, February 2012\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNikolay Rimsky-Korsakov\u003cbr\u003e THE LEGEND OF THE INVISIBLE CITY OF KITEZH \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Recorded live at the De Nederlandse Opera, February 2012 \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePicture format: NTSC 16:9\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSound format: LPCM 2.0 \/ DTS 5.1\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRegion code: 0 (worldwide)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSubtitles: English, French, German, Dutch, Japanese, Korean\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRunning time: 187 mins\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNo. of DVDs: 2\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNo. of Blu-ray discs: 1\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEW\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe score, premiered in 1907, is filled with rich late romantic music, none of it virtuosic in the bel canto sense, but all demanding strong voices able to cut through the large orchestra. The orchestral and choral work is excellent. The long leading role of Fevroniya requires a great deal of stamina as well as a strong lyric-spinto soprano. Svetlana Ignatovich fills the bill vocally quite well, and her acting radiates the goodness and innocence of this idealized woman. Her Prince, handsome tenor Maxim Aksenov, is a perfect physical fit for the part; and his voice is pleasant enough for what is not really the leading part. As his father, Vladimir Vaneev displays an excellent bassbaritone and creates a believable benevolent leader. The baritone Alexey Markov has plenty of voice for his Act III scene relating the horrors of the Act II violence. Other strong contributions come from Gennady Bezzubenkov as a street singer, Mayram Sokolova as a fearful mother, and Vladimir Ognovenko as a frighteningly evil leader of the Tatars.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBest of all is tenor John Daszak as Grishka— a great role. The man is a drunken, almost amoral reveler; later, he is beset by guilt and hallucinations. Daszak makes the most of the role, from the man’s early disregard for anyone but himself to his need for comfort and understanding at the end. He so completely creates the character that his singing and acting can’t be separated; they work together completely to create a memorable portrayal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI certainly would recommend this production to anyone wanting to become familiar with a major Russian work that isn’t performed that often outside Russia, though I would not be surprised to hear that this production (also done in Barcelona and Milan) would be available at other houses. The booklet has a fairly good synopsis and a good essay on the work, but no timings. There is also a bonus track with some interesting comments by the conductor and director.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e-- American Record Guide\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Opus Arte","offers":[{"title":"Blu-Ray","offer_id":46013050781930,"sku":"809478071099","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"DVD","offer_id":46025388458218,"sku":"809478010890","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/809478071099.jpg?v=1779997858"},{"product_id":"rimsky-korsakov-sadko-zangiev-bolshoi-theater-954172","title":"Rimsky-Korsakov: Sadko \/ Zangiev, Bolshoi Theater Orchestra [DVD]","description":"\u003ctable\u003e  \u003ctbody\u003e  \u003ctr\u003e  \u003ctd\u003eIn the 13th century, the rich merchants of Novgorod mock the dreams of far-away journeys and of commercial conquests brought forth by Sadko, a musician and singer. But Volkhova, the Sea King’s daughter, is enchanted by Sadko’s voice, and promises to help him fulfill his dreams... Sadko is a decisive work in Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s aesthetic evolution. As in many operas, the composer draws his artistic material from Russian folk and fairytales, but also from old musical and poetic forms. The result is a prodigious opera, whose modernity - both dramatic and musical - erupts from the fabulous resources of traditional Russian epics, but also from the wonders of the marine universe, close to his former navigator self’s heart. A subtle analyst of the slavic soul, stage director Dmitri Tcherniakov comes back to the great stage of the Bolshoi Theater and devises a surprising production that perfectly underlines the ambiguities of this paradoxical opera, between past and present, fantasy and reality. He surrounds himself with magnificent Russian soprano Aida Garifullina, but also some of his favorite singers : Mikhail Petrenko, Ekaterina Semenchuk... In the pit and at the head of the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra, young Russian conductor Timur Zangiev breathes in this little-know masterpiece all the energy, all the poetry, and all the passion it requires.\u003c\/td\u003e  \u003c\/tr\u003e  \u003c\/tbody\u003e  \u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"BelAir Classiques","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":46013087678698,"sku":"3760115301887","price":27.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4012963-2758657.jpg?v=1778231252"},{"product_id":"rimsky-korsakov-sadko-zangiev-bolshoi-theater-954173","title":"Rimsky-Korsakov: Sadko \/ Zangiev, Bolshoi Theater Orchestra [Blu-ray]","description":"\u003ctable\u003e  \u003ctbody\u003e  \u003ctr\u003e  \u003ctd\u003eIn the 13th century, the rich merchants of Novgorod mock the dreams of far-away journeys and of commercial conquests brought forth by Sadko, a musician and singer. But Volkhova, the Sea King’s daughter, is enchanted by Sadko’s voice, and promises to help him fulfill his dreams... Sadko is a decisive work in Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s aesthetic evolution. As in many operas, the composer draws his artistic material from Russian folk and fairytales, but also from old musical and poetic forms. The result is a prodigious opera, whose modernity - both dramatic and musical - erupts from the fabulous resources of traditional Russian epics, but also from the wonders of the marine universe, close to his former navigator self’s heart. A subtle analyst of the slavic soul, stage director Dmitri Tcherniakov comes back to the great stage of the Bolshoi Theater and devises a surprising production that perfectly underlines the ambiguities of this paradoxical opera, between past and present, fantasy and reality. He surrounds himself with magnificent Russian soprano Aida Garifullina, but also some of his favorite singers : Mikhail Petrenko, Ekaterina Semenchuk... In the pit and at the head of the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra, young Russian conductor Timur Zangiev breathes in this little-know masterpiece all the energy, all the poetry, and all the passion it requires.\u003c\/td\u003e  \u003c\/tr\u003e  \u003c\/tbody\u003e  \u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"BelAir Classiques","offers":[{"title":"Blu-Ray","offer_id":46013088858346,"sku":"3760115304888","price":27.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4012964-2754030_6eebb0f4-9069-4108-aeb0-ebe745038486.jpg?v=1778389756"},{"product_id":"rimsky-korsakov-antar-scheherazade-bakels-malaysian-philharmonic-171559","title":"Rimsky-Korsakov: Antar, Scheherazade \/ Bakels, Malaysian Philharmonic","description":"\u003cp\u003eHaving recently recorded the symphonies of both Glazunov and Rachmaninov, we continue our Russian theme with the first of a series of recordings of Rimsky-Korskov's symphonies. These are performed by the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Kees Bakels. The present disc couples one of Rimsky-Korsakov's most popular pieces with a symphony that deserves a much wider audience. Both works swhow their author's fertile, often fantastical imagination as welll as the mastery of orchestration for which he is renowned. While Scheherazade is in every orchestra's repertoire and most music lovers' collections, Rimsky-Korsakov's symphonies inexplicably remain under-recorded and appear infrequently on the concert platform. Both works exemplify the Romantic notion of programme music (where extra-musical references are explicitly related to what we hear). Rimsky-Korsakov had a vivid sense of colour that brings his programmes to life and which make his works highly appealing. The disc once again illustrates just how good the Malyasian Philharmonic Orchestra is under its founding conductor Kees Bakels.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BIS","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013262954730,"sku":"7318590013779","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/2263452.jpg?v=1778316159"},{"product_id":"rimsky-korsakov-kashchey-the-immortal-863800","title":"Rimsky-Korsakov: Kashchey the Immortal","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn November 1900, the music journalist Yevgeny Petro-vsky gave Rimsky-Korsakov his libretto, entitled Prince Ivan, which is loosely based on Russian folk tales about a mean and ugly wizard. Despite being initially interested in the text the composer eventually rejected it, put off by its unfathomable symbolism. However, in the summer of the following year the score of Wagner’s Siegfried pro-vided inspiration for fresh and innovative harmonic ideas, which he decided to include in a work dealing with motifs of black magic. With the help of his daughter Sofia, he wrote his own script based on Petrovsky’s original, and as early as in spring of 1902 he had a one-act opera in three scenes ready – Kashchey the Immortal – which was successfully staged in Moscow before the year had ended. The work is presented in a brilliant new interpretation on this new release.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"DUX","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013271802090,"sku":"5902547014852","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3972980-2720515.jpg?v=1778258553"},{"product_id":"rimsky-korsakov-scheherazade-1","title":"Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade","description":"One of the greatest musical creations of Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov is undoubtedly his Scheherazade symphonic suite. The work, which is based on the famous tales of Princess Scheherazade of the Arabian Nights, has now been interpreted by the Philharmonia Zurich with its general music director Fabio Luisi at the rostrum. And one of its Zurich Opera House performances –with the ensemble “in top form”, to quote the Neue Zürcher Zeitung – has now been committed to recording. “Concertmaster Bartlomiej Niziol, who, with his solo violin, embodies the figure of Scheherazade as she tells her life story, plays his prominent part with impeccable intonation and great creative freedom; and Fabio Luisi conducts with a keenly emotional air and, with deftly-varied drive and restraint, brings the whole tale to outstanding dramatic life.”","brand":"Accentus Music","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013313155306,"sku":"7640165881064","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3892089_ba513c38-1dbb-4d7f-a03b-d86b6d9e3c13.jpg?v=1778280692"},{"product_id":"rimsky-korsakov-le-coq-dor-the-golden-cockerel","title":"Rimsky-Korsakov: Le Coq d'Or (The Golden Cockerel)","description":"The old Tzar Dodon, tired of ruling his country, manipulated by his political advisors - among which the obscure Astrologer - and showing little interest in protecting his kingdom against foreign agression, relies on a magic Golden Cockerel to warn him in case of an attack. But when the Cockerel tells him of his own defeat, the Tzar quickly falls in love with his enemy, the beautiful Tzaritza of Shemakha, who easily convinces him to surrender his empire by making him propose to her. A cruel and sardonic fairytale, Rimsky-Korsakov's Golden Cockerel draws from a poem by Alexander Pushkin, and undoubtedly counts among the most subversive works in the history of music. A very direct attack against autocracy, stupidity and political inertia, it was censored and premiered only in 1909, one year after Rimsky-Korsakov's death. This new production from the The�tre de la Monnaie was imagined by Laurent Pelly. Drawing from the modernity of Rimsky-Korsakov's musical and dramatic imagination, the ambiguities of it's specular structure, and it's underlying reflection on language, manipulation and absurdity, the French stage director underlies the heavily symbolical aspects of this fierce and pitiless tale, all the while remembering both it's historical context and it's universal philosophical depth... French conductor Alain Altinoglu works wonders with the The�tre de la Monnaie Symphonic Orchestra, and reaffirms his strong affinities with Russian music, which were already made clear in the Tchaikovsky dyptich Iolanta \/ The Nutcracker at the Paris Opera in 2015.","brand":"BelAir Classiques","offers":[{"title":"Blu-Ray","offer_id":46013329211626,"sku":"3760115304475","price":27.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3772661.jpg?v=1778386949"},{"product_id":"rimsky-korsakov-tsars-bride-barenboim-peretyatko-tomowa-80918","title":"Rimsky-Korsakov: Tsar's Bride \/ Barenboim, Peretyatko, Tomowa-Sinto, Kranzle, Cernoch [Blu-ray]","description":"\u003cb\u003eThis Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003ca class=\"links\" href=\"album.jsp?album_id=2108441\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlso available on standard DVD\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Based on an historical case, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tsar’s Bride takes place in the suburbs of Moscow during the reign of Tsar Ivan IV, “the Terrible”, during the latter half of the 16th c. Widowed, he is looking for a new wife, his third. He chooses the young Marfa. She loves another man but bends to the Tsar’s will and renounces her love for the other. From this plot, Russian director Dmitri Tcherniakov retains only the frame. A live competition is organized for a virtual monarch, much like the reality shows of today. Here, the characters become the various players of the audiovisual industry bringing an acerbic critic to contemporary television. Daniel Barenboim conducts the Staatskapelle Berlin. With Olga Peretyatko, Anita Rachvelishvili and Johannes and Martin Kränzle. Recorded at Staatsoper, Im Schiller Theater Berlin, in October 2013.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"BelAir Classiques","offers":[{"title":"Blu-Ray","offer_id":46013367582954,"sku":"3760115304055","price":27.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3002896.jpg?v=1778390486"},{"product_id":"rimsky-korsakov-the-invisible-city-of-kitezh-730099028875","title":"Rimsky-Korsakov: The Invisible City of Kitezh","description":"The Invisible City of Kitezh, completed in 1905, is a remarkable opera that fuses folklore, mysticism and realism. Its subject is the story of the advancing Mongol army�s entry to Great Kitezh and the city�s subsequent miraculous survival. Rejecting archaisms and the more religiously inclined suggestions of his librettist, Rimsky-Korsakov sought to create an opera that �is contemporary and even fairly advanced�. It is therefore through-composed, hinting at times at Wagnerian procedure, and flooded with the composer�s rich, apt and brilliant orchestral palette, fully supportive of the powerful vocal writing.","brand":"Naxos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013396189418,"sku":"730099028875","price":25.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1957481.jpg?v=1778319968"},{"product_id":"rimsky-korsakov-scheherazade-op-35-stravinsky-le-236068","title":"Rimsky-korsakov: Scheherazade, Op. 35; Stravinsky: Le Chant Du Rossignol","description":"Drawn from the worldwide catalog holdings of Sony Classical, which includes both the Columbia\/CBS and RCA Victor label imprints, the SONY Classical Originals, SONY Classical Masters Singles and Box Sets, SONY Opera and Opera House series offer an extensive selection of highly desirable and collectible pressed import editions, smartly-designed and graphically-pleasing, featuring the most sought after recordings by the world's preeminent, legendary artists both past and present, with many titles newly re-mastered in 24bit High Resolution Audio.","brand":"Sony Masterworks","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46015558025450,"sku":"886977003622","price":11.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/2808080.jpg?v=1778300848"},{"product_id":"may-night","title":"MAY NIGHT","description":"Sapyegina\/Lissovsky\/Fedoseyev\/Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra.","brand":"Relief","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46020398579946,"sku":"7619934914821","price":26.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/2002635.jpg?v=1778254085"},{"product_id":"rimsky-korsakov-scheherazade-etc-serebrier-london-po-67611","title":"Rimsky-korsakov: Scheherazade, Etc \/ Serebrier, London Po","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis selection is a High Definition Compatible Digital (HDCD) recording.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Reference Recordings","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46024133345514,"sku":"030911108922","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/283764.jpg?v=1778184639"},{"product_id":"rimsky-korsakov-snow-maiden-fedoseyev-tchaikovsky-so-225690","title":"Rimsky-korsakov: Snow Maiden \/ Fedoseyev, Tchaikovsky So","description":"Sokolik\/Arkhipova\/Sakharenko\/Fedoseyev\/Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra.","brand":"Relief","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46025309257962,"sku":"7619934914920","price":37.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/2002636.jpg?v=1778325215"},{"product_id":"rimsky-korsakov-symphony-no-3-sinfonietta-op-31","title":"RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Symphony No. 3 \/ Sinfonietta Op. 31","description":"RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Symphony No. 3 \/ Sinfonietta Op. 31","brand":"Naxos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46025333309674,"sku":"730099581226","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/126986.jpg?v=1778345989"},{"product_id":"rimsky-korsakov-romances-prudenskaya-garben-388622","title":"Rimsky-Korsakov: Romances \/ Prudenskaya, Garben","description":"Over the years I and several other reviewers on this site have been bemoaning the failure of Melodiya, when reissuing their recordings of rare Russian material, to provide texts, translations or indeed adequate booklet notes of any meaningful description for their releases – a damaging omission which does little to make more accessible the excellent recordings themselves. In this selection of Rimsky-Korsakov melodies, CPO have gone to the opposite extreme. Not only do we get the full texts complete with translations, but we also are vouchsafed a lengthy essay from CPO stalwart Eckhardt van den Hoogen discoursing on the composer himself, his psychological background, his attempts to establish himself as a pedagogue, and many other peripheral issues while managing almost entirely to avoid any discussion of the music itself as featured on this disc. Now, I fully appreciate the efforts that CPO put into their booklet notes, which do indeed in many issues offer valuable insights into the music and the composers themselves. However, the turgid prose style of Professor van den Hoogen (which often seems to totally defeat Susan Marie Praeder’s attempts at English translation), are perhaps best regarded in the light of the provision of unintentional amusement. In a final footnote, the booklet essay of eight pages (in small type) notes: “The fact that the Firebird hymn is heard in the Night will be mentioned here for the sake of curiosity and registered completely free from all speculation.” If it is not the intention of the author to discuss the matter, why mention it at all? Earlier in his essay the writer attempts to turn the received opinion of the last century on its head by describing Mussorgsky in the following terms: “Ilya Repin’s famous portrait really tells us everything we need to know about the last years of this original sloth’s life: from his dishevelled hair and watery eyes to the red bulb of a nose shining like a sad lighthouse out of the rolling hills of his face.” Is this really “everything we need to know” about a composer whose output of songs has not only comprehensively outdistanced Rimsky-Korsakov’s in reputation but is also by some considerable margin the most often performed body of vocal works coming from Russia during the nineteenth century?\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Still, one has to concede that Professor van den Hoogen always gives good value for money, and he clearly values Rimsky-Korsakov’s output of songs highly. And the performances here do much to justify his enthusiasm. Maria Prudenskaya has spent most of the last ten years working in German opera houses and specialising in Wagner and Verdi, and she fully comprehends the dramatic demands that high romantic music demands of its singers. She was a superbly responsive mezzo soloist in a live Bavarian Radio recording of Verdi’s Requiem under Mariss Jansons a couple of years ago, which I reviewed enthusiastically for this site. Her Waltraute in the 2016 Bayreuth Ring was a towering highlight in an admittedly generally execrable production, and her absolute steadiness of tonal production and gleaming higher register are a real pleasure to hear – not a suspicion of Slavonic wobble here. She also displays a plentiful employment of reflective half-tone, as well as an unexpected (and beautifully floated) upper range in the oriental-sounding Op.2\/2 (track 30). Her accompanist Cord Garben is a stalwart contributor to many recitals of song, and as always he relishes the challenge of unfamiliar repertoire. Rimsky-Korsakov was not himself a pianist, and his writing for the instrument was condemned during his lifetime as unidiomatic; but he always gets the effects that he wants to convey. The recording was made some three years before the aforementioned Verdi Requiem – it is not clear why it has waited so long for release – and the recorded sound is fine, even if a little more reverberation might have been welcome.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  The disc assembles a whole collection of ‘romances’ identified solely by opus numbers on the CD box, and by transliterated Russian titles at the front of the booklet. They vary in length from just under a minute to a maximum of four minutes; there are thirty individual items here. As might be expected they are all highly proficient settings, generally reflective rather than dramatic, and all have an immediate melodic appeal. Rimsky’s choice of poetic texts is admirable, with Tolstoy, Lermontov, Pushkin and Heine (in Russian translation) featured. They are not assembled in order of composition, which robs the listener of a chance to hear how the composer’s style developed over the years; but Rimsky’s opus numbers are often misleading, with earlier pieces subjected to later revision – it is a pity that the extensive booklet note did not find room to explore this development, including indeed references to songs not actually included on this disc! There are moments which occasion surprise: the clear echo of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata in Op.39\/1 (track 5), for example, is an unusual reference to non-Russian material. The treatment of the theme quoted by Stravinsky in The Firebird at the outset of Op.8\/2 (track 23) is totally different from that of Rimsky’s pupil.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  The songs are generally grouped by the poet whose verses are set, although Rimsky does not seem to make any real stylistic discrimination between his lyrics. Most will I suspect be totally unfamiliar to listeners, although some may have crossed the hearer’s path in miscellaneous recitals of Russian song. But since titles (let alone translations) may differ between one recording and another, there seems to be little point in itemising them here.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  So far as I can see this is the only current available single disc devoted entirely to the composer’s output in the field, although Brilliant Classics do have a three-disc compendium of his ‘complete songs’ although there appear to be some individual items omitted (77 songs are included out of some 80 apparently given in  published editions), and they are distributed between a whole raft of different singers and pianists. This set suffers also from the fact that no sung texts or translations were provided, even in its original issue on Chant du Monde in 1993. Rimsky-Korsakov enthusiasts will obviously have to own the ‘complete’ set; but for lesser mortals this CD, with its judicious selection complete with transliterated text and translations into both German and English, will be more readily approachable. The music itself will certainly prove enjoyable.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  – MusicWeb International (Paul Corfield Godfrey)","brand":"CPO","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46025339601130,"sku":"761203778324","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3584310.jpg?v=1778302617"},{"product_id":"rimsky-korsakov-piano-duos","title":"Rimsky-Korsakov: Piano Duos","description":"Originally released in 2007, Artur Pizarro and Vita Panomariovaite’s ‘Rimsky-Korsakov: Piano Duos’ has been re-issued as part of Linn’s ECHO series. 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A regular presence in concert halls throughout the US and Canada, this recording also comes as the TSO embarks, in August, on its first European tour since 2000 under the baton of Peter Oundjian, who this year celebrates his tenth anniversary as Music Director. He also conducts in this performance of Rimsky-Korsakov’s ever-popular symphonic suite Sheherazade.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Many composers have drawn inspiration from the collection of folklore known as the Arabian Nights but none has captured the imagination so vividly as Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov in Sheherazade, composed in 1888. In the story, Sheherazade escapes the murderous intent of her husband, the Sultan Schariar, by entertaining him with fascinating tales every evening for 1001 nights. Rimsky-Korsakov’s four movements allude to individual episodes and images from the stories in dazzling orchestral colour.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  The suite opens with a stern and strident brass theme representing the bloodthirsty Sultan. A winding melody for solo violin that returns throughout the work represents the answering voice of Sheherazade. The kaleidoscopic second movement has the character of a scherzo while the third is tender and lyrical. The finale is a boisterous and exuberant carnival, calmed by the return of Sheherazade’s theme which brings the work to a serene conclusion. -  \u003ci\u003eChandos\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e   \u003ci\u003eReview Quote\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \"Both conductor and orchestra make a very positive impression in Sheherazade. Oundjian shapes the music with passion and affection and pulls off some powerful climaxes. He is not afraid to go all out when the music requires it. 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