Tchaikovsky became
acquainted with the eminent playwright
Alexander Nicholaievich Ostrovsky early
in the composer’s career and between
1864 and 1886 produced half dozen or
so works based on Ostrovsky's plays.
The largest of these was Tchaikovsky’s
first opera The Voyevoda of 1867-68.
A Voyevoda is a provincial governor.
Not only did the composer use Ostrovksy’s
play as his basis for the opera, but
also he convinced the playwright to
adapt the play into the libretto that
Tchaikovsky used. Unfortunately the
finished product, Tchaikovsky’s Op.3,
did not please the composer and he destroyed
the score. Sections of it were later
reconstructed from orchestral parts,
although much of it had been used in
later operas. Something similar happened
to the next substantial opus, the overture
Fatum of 1868, which the composer
also renounced and which was only published
after his death with the late-seeming
opus number 77.
Fatum and the
Overture to The Voyevoda are
the earliest items on this disc. There
are also dances from Tchaikovsky’s third
opera The Oprichnik, and from
the revised version of his fourth opera
Cherevichki (The Little Shoes)
as well as the Introduction from The
Enchantress and music from three
of the later operas. The intent is to
feature the lesser known operatic music.
While the excerpts from The Maid
of Orleans and Mazeppa will
be familiar, as well as The Queen
Spades Overture, the remaining works
are little known outside Russia, though
they have all been recorded at some
time. This disc not only enables us
to hear some rare music, but to sample
in miniature the operatic career of
Tchaikovsky, from first opera to next
to last.
The Overture to The
Voyevoda is unusual in that it shares
only a small amount of melodic material
with the opera and lasts over nine minutes.
This piece is from the time when the
composer was most under the influence
of Slavophile ideas and in particular
of Balakirev. The opening section has
some interesting material, not much
developed, but the middle section is
much more convincing and the last section
combines all the previous material in
a very exciting way. This is one of
the most lively performances on a disc
that frequently suffers from rather
stolid playing. At the other end of
the Tchaikovsky opera chronology is
the Queen of Spades. The overture
is a wonderful amalgam of the surface
splendor of 18th century
St. Petersburg and foreboding of the
tragedy to come. Kuchar and the Ukraine
do fairly well, although the end is
disappointing.
As we said above the
three excerpts from The Maid of Orleans
are often played. Again Kuchar and
his orchestra have a good feeling for
the Tchaikovsky idiom and play with
spirit, but they never quite warm up
enough to provide the excitement that
is potentially in the music. They also
suffer from over-miked percussion and
some crude playing from the brass. On
the other hand, the woodwinds are very
good, as they are throughout the disc.
The orchestra does much better with
the excerpts from Cherevichki.
This opera was originally entitled Vakula
the Smith, after a story by Gogol.
Tchaikovsky always loved this opera
and in the eighties reworked it into
its present form, which is periodically
performed in Russia. The Act III dances
contain some of its most charming music
and Kuchar responds with forceful conducting
and the woodwinds again with beautiful
playing.
The Enchantress
(also known as The Sorceress)
was started just after the composer
had finished his revised Cherevichki.
The Introduction is interesting because
it is a fluent combination of the magical
Tchaikovsky of the ballets and the folky
composer better known from some of the
instrumental works. Unfortunately, the
brass is pretty rough here and in the
Act 1 Danse, although Kuchar pulls things
out towards the end of the Danse and
produces a beautiful finish to this
piece. The players do only so well
with the Danses from Act IV of
The Oprichnik, but Kuchar brilliantly
reveals the contrapuntal elements in
the famous Gopak from Mazeppa
and the orchestra supports him with
some of their best playing.
This leaves us with
the one non-operatic work on this recording,
his first symphonic poem, Fatum.
This is also a Slavophile work with
the main theme letting us know that
the composer is a friend (at that time)
of the Mighty Five. Much of the drama
and passion that would appear in the
next year in Romeo and Juliet
are here, but they are not yet organized
and insufficiently refined. As it happens
this piece gets a wonderful performance
here - a problematic work like this
could not ask for anything better, although
there have been a few other recordings
of Fatum. This is not to say
that there is not some very good music
in the piece and little pieces of it
would emerge later in Swan Lake,
the 1812 Overture and the Fourth Symphony,
among others. But the work is stifled
by an unimaginative rhythmic scheme
and not enough material to contrast
with the main theme. Still, this is
not a work that should be totally forgotten.
All in all, this disc
contains some wonderful music. The performances
vary from lackluster to totally committed.
The recording venue tends to alternate
between producing a bland sound overall
and emphasizing the more strident elements
of the orchestra’s playing. At a bargain
price, however, it presents some of
the best of the composer’s lesser-known
operatic music. In addition, one should
not miss the misspelling of the attribution
or the cover image.
William Kreindler
see also
review by Raymond Walker
National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine/Theodore
Kuchar 
