Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
Eugene Onegin -opera in three Acts (1879)
Yevgeny Belov - Eugene Onegin (baritone)
Galina Vishnevskaya - Tatyana (soprano)
Ivan Petrov - Prince Gremin (bass)
Sergei Lemeshev - Lensky (tenor)
Larissa Avdeyeva - Olga (mezzo)
Valentina Petrova- Madame Larina (mezzo)
Eugena Verbitskaya - Philipyevna (contralto)
Georgi Pankov - Captain (baritone)
Igor Mikhailov - Zaretsky (bass)
Andrei Sokolov - Monsieur Triquet (tenor)
Nikolai Timchenko - Precentor (bass)
Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra and Chorus/Boris Khaikin
rec. 1955, Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow
PRISTINE AUDIO PACO099 [68:56 + 73:03]
Pristine Audio’s release of the old Boris Khaikin recording of Eugene Onegin in their much appreciated ambient stereo sound is a definite improvement on any older versions of this recording which might still be available, including the official Melodiya CD release of which I possess a copy. The recording was made in 1955 for the Russian State record label although Vishnevskaya states in her autobiography that it was actually recorded in 1956. In her 1984 book Galina, A Russian Story, she recalled that when it had been announced that she had been chosen to sing the role of Tatyana for the recording, many of the other female artists of the Bolshoi Opera banded together to protest against her. She blamed it on the fact that opera recordings were only made every 25 years or so, which made so many voices get lost to history. How lucky we are that this important recoding was made at all? It was eventually used in a much-abridged version as the soundtrack for the classic Vyacheslav Tikhonov film of the opera.
Galina Vishnevskaya was just about 30 when this recording was made. The engineers captured a singer at the peak of her art. Her portrayal is passionate and heart-rending; her tone throughout is gloriously firm and true. In her book she speaks about Tatyana as being on an emotional sled that is careening out of control until it reaches the bottom and her rational self starts to take control again. On listening to her letter scene I find that she captures this emotional frenzy exactly. Her voice is alive to every shift of mood. In her 1970 EMI recording, made on a Bolshoi company visit to Paris, while she had the advantage of a fine stereo production, her tone had a tendency to blustery attackswhich somewhat hindered her passionate portrayal.
Yevgeny Belov is a very fine Onegin indeed. His job is a little easier in that he gets to remain cool and detached throughout most of the opera until the final act when he unlocks and releases his inner self. His singing is blessed with firm, full tone although I detect a slight tendency for his tone to sound pinched when singing softly in his upper range. Both Belov and Vishnevskaya are in superlative form for the final duet which is one of the most electric in the catalogue. She creates an especially stunning diminuendo midway through the duet.
Sergei Lemeshev was already something of a legend in Russia when he made this recording at the age of 54. Handsome-looking and possessing a plaintive sounding lyric tenor he became the ideal embodiment of the Goethe-like Lensky. By 1955 his lower voice has become somewhat dry of tone and sounds distinctly undernourished, but when he sails into his upper range the notes ring forth with glorious effect. I love the quality of a tear in the voice that he includes in his Act Two reproach of Onegin just before the final ensemble of the party scene.
Larissa Avdeyeva sings Olga with a solid mezzo voice that has just a hint of pungency to her tone. This gives an extra dimension to Olga’s usually rather anonymous character. This Olga sounds as if she is more engaged in manipulating the events which take such a tragic turn as the opera proceeds.
Ivan Petrov presents a seminal Prince Gremin with all the usual features of an excellent bass combined with a particularly fine upper vocal range. His aria is taken at a particularly slow pace perhaps to add emphasis to the Prince’s age. The smaller roles are all well portrayed and there is even a very fine but unnamed lyric tenor who sings the small role of the solo peasant just before the chorus enters near the beginning of the opera.
Borsi Khaikin holds a special place in the list of conductors who have tackled this opera and Vishnevskaya definitely idolized him in her book. His reading is very passionate and yet also very fluid. There is no tempo which does not modulate within itself often in some unexpected ways. This is very much a living, breathing occurrence throughout the opera. To use one example, the Act Three Polonaise opens at a more leisurely pace than one is accustomed to hearing, but just as you start to become aware of it Khaikin suddenly accelerates the pace. He even varies this faster pace with some really interesting rallentandos that pop up unexpectedly then disappear again.
The Pristine transfer is definitely the preferred way to hear this recording. For this review I downloaded the FLAC files from the Pristine web site which I later transferred to CD. This recording is still available to purchase on CD if one wishes. The original Melodiya recording had the orchestra recorded in a rather dim sounding acoustic. Pristine’s transfer from some LPs which are in excellent condition is not only quiet but the ambient sound process has given greater presence to the orchestra, notwithstanding some unfortunate imbalances by the original team of engineers which are not correctable. The voices have been given a slightly more flattering space in which to hear them than in any previous issue that I have heard. This will be the version I pull out over the Melodiya CD’s in future. For singers who are going to study these roles this recording remains the version that they should audition, if only to hear how much can be achieved in creating a three dimensional portrayal using vocal resources alone.
Mike Parr
Previous review: Ralph Moore
