Modest MUSSORGSKY (1839-1881)
Khovanshchina (Rimsky-Korsakov edition)
Dimiter Petkov - Prince Ivan Khovansky; Todor Kostov - Prince Andrey Khovansky;
Nicola Ghiuselev - Dosifey; Alexandra Milcheva - Marfa; Maria Dimchevska -
Emma; Madya Dobriyanova - Susanna; Lyoubomis Bodourov - Prince Vasily Golitsin
Bulgarian National Choir ‘Svetoslav Orbetenov”
Sofia National Opera Orchestra/Atanas Margaritov
rec. Bulgaria Concert Hall, Sofia, 1978
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 94255 [3 CDs: 39:10 + 61:27 + 62:21]
At first appearances, this Khovanshchina isn't too bad. There are a
number impressive voices in the cast. Everyone involved sounds very Russian,
although in fact they are all Bulgarian. And the recording sounds clean and
true, even 'modern' despite dating from 1978.
But first appearances can be deceptive, and it soon becomes clear that this
isn't an ideal Khovanshchina by any standards. It is a product of Cold
War politics in many respects. Western record companies, unable to work in
Russia but still on the lookout for Russian-sounding voices, saw countries
like Bulgaria as the best compromise they were going to manage.
What they found there were very old-fashioned performing traditions, competent
and dependable, but nowhere near as exciting as what was then happening in
the Western opera houses. This is probably the last ever recording of Khovanshchina
to use the Rimsky-Korsakov version rather than the more dynamic Shostakovich
or Stravinsky versions. The conductor Atanas Margaritov seems comfortable
with Rimsky's civilising influence, and gives a sweeping lush performance
that is more in keeping with the editor's cosmopolitan view of the work than
it is with the Mussorgsky's more brutal original conception.
This, of all operas, should make you sit up. So a performance like this that
you can easily put on as background music is obviously doing it little justice.
But that said, the quality of the singing is one of the reasons why it is
so easy on the ear. The three bass leads, Dimiter Petkov, Todor Kostov and
Nicola Ghiuselev, all have the power, clarity and low notes required for their
respective parts. Ghiuslev is the most profundo of them, and his passages
in the lower register are a real treat. Good too is Alexandrina Milcheva as
Marfa. She has a rich, lustrous tone and puts in plenty of vibrato. Comparisons
with Ferrier are fitting, and demonstrate both the quality of her voice, and
the old-fashioned style of her performance. The orchestra is impressively
precise, but there is rarely much excitement or drama from them. Again, both
Rimsky and Margaritov should share some of the blame for that.
The distribution of the singers across the stereo array in this concert hall
recording is impressive, perhaps a little more emphatic than in a modern recording,
but not excessive. The balance between the singers and the orchestra is also
finely judged. The cleanliness and roundness of the sound suggest that invasive
noise reduction process were applied during the digital mastering. More annoyingly,
there is a considerable amount of crackily interference in the right channel
for much of the first CD. This was evidently already present on the recording's
previous CD release, on Capriccio in 1996, so for once Brilliant Classics
aren't to blame.
Gavin Dixon
Not an ideal Khovanshchina by any standards.