Modest MUSSORGSKY (1839-1881)
Sorochyntsi Fair (orchestrated and completed Vissarion Shebalin, 1931) (1874) [99:38]
Night on the Bare Mountain [10:56]
Alexander BORODIN (1833-1887)
Polovtsian Dances [13:34]
Cherevik - Latko Koroshetz (bass); Khivria - Bogdana Stritar (mezzo); Parassia - Vilma Bukovetz (soprano); Kum - Friderik Lupsha (bass); Gritsko - Miro Branjnik (tenor); Afansy Ivanovich - Slavko Shtrukel (tenor); Gypsy - Andrei Andreev (bass); Chernobog - Samo Smerkolj (bass)
Slovenian National Opera Orchestra and Chorus/Samo Hubad (Sorochyntsi Fair)
Vienna Symphony Orchestra (Night on the Bare Mountain); Der Singverein der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, Vienna (Polovtsian Dances)/Willem van Otterloo
rec. world première, 27 November 1955, Salle Apollo, Ljubljana
Transfers from: Philips 12" white label test pressings ABL 3148-49 (Sorochyntsi); Grosser Saal, Musikverein, Vienna, 23 February 1958 (Night, Dances); Fontana 10" white label test pressing EFR 2012
Ambient stereo
PRISTINE AUDIO PACO053 [60:46 + 54:14],
Mussorgsky’s unfinished opera was inspired by Nicolai Gogol’s collection of Ukrainian short stories “Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka”; a little treasure trove of potential opera plots which also inspired Tchaikovsky’s opera Cherevichki and Rimksy-Korsakov’s Christmas Eve. Mussorgsky died leaving only a series of sketches and much of the music uncomposed. There have been several attempts to pull it together in a performing edition since his death in 1881, the most successful of which is Soviet era composer Vissarion Shebalin who himself composed an opera based on Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew. It is Shebalin’s version that has generally been used as the basis for recordings of this work.
The opera is essentially a series of little folk vignettes which, because of the patchy nature of its composition, strikes me as fairly disjointed and patchy with regards to its inspiration. There are a few nice moments, the most notable one being the well known Night on Bare Mountain dream sequence which Mussorgsky had adapted from his earlier orchestral work to include at the beginning of the Third Act.
Pristine Audio has created its transfer from an original Philips LP of the first complete recording of the opera which occurred in Yugoslavia (now Slovenia) during the mid 1950s. The Slovenian National Opera boasted a wonderful ensemble at that point, with a series of singers who were well versed in many styles of singing, at least based on the evidence of this recording. There is only a single wobbly sounding voice in one of the smaller roles. Although there are no star names among the cast which would be familiar to the public today there is certainly a great deal of pleasure to be found from encountering the voices recorded here. The young ,marriageable Parassia is sung by Vilma Bukovetz who possesses a traditionally Slavic spinto of some heft combined with an engaging manner. Her male lead, Gritsko is sung by Miro Branjnik who has a clear yet vibrant tenor that reminded me of the young Neil Shicoff. There are times that he seems a little uncertain of pitch but this is not a serious flaw to enjoyment overall. The unhappy wife Khivria is sung by the rich sounding mezzo Bogdana Stritar. She gets to sing the longest, most aria-like scene in the opera and she does more than justice to it. Latko Koroshetz as Cherevik possesses a bass with a slight tremolo which only adds to his character as a husband whose wife is a force to be reckoned with. Bass, Andrei Andreev makes a warm sounding Gypsy with an almost baritonal quality to his singing that is quite pleasant. The combined forces of the Slovenian National Opera play well for Conductor Samo Hubad who conducts a reading which is more elegant than passionate.
Pristine’s Ambient Stereo process shines the best possible light on this old
mono recording and in particular showcases the interesting orchestral effects when the male cast members are hunting around for the Demon during the high point of Act two. I auditioned this recording in its Digital Download format which I converted to CD before playing in my sound system. Pristine has also included a nice bonus of the orchestral version of the Bare Mountain scene and Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances, both of which are performed in spirited readings by Viennese orchestras under Willem van Otterloo. The original orchestral version of Night on Bare Mountain is definitely more fully engaging than the opera’s choral scene with bass solos by the Demon, Chernobog, which pales slightly in comparison.
Ultimately I suspect that Sorochyntsi Fair is one of those operas that are more effective when seen in person than encountered in a recording. A series of colourful and fantastic, costumes and the frenetic stage directions would do much to distract one from the uneven score.
Mike Parr
Previous review: Rob Barnett ~ David Chandler
