There have only ever been two recordings of Prokofiev's
Semyon
Kotko in the catalogues. This, the first, was made in mono in 1960 by
Russian radio forces. The later one, in stereo, was made by Valery Gergiev's
Kirov forces during a theatrical run (
review) of the opera during the late 1990s and issued in 2000 (
review). Doubtless in consideration of the exigencies of stage
presentation, Gergiev's recording was heavily cut with some fifty minutes of
music omitted. Now,
Semyon Kotko may not be the greatest of
Prokofiev's operas -
The love for three oranges would contest that
title with
War and Peace - but no music by the mature Prokofiev can
ever be truly unworthy of consideration. Since it is only the 1960 version,
under consideration here, that gives us the score at full length this must
to a considerable degree be considered
hors concours.
The situation is complicated by the fact that this recording exists in two
different transfers. In 2003 Chandos issued a still-available version in
re-mastered form as part of their 'historical' series, and in that format
the recording was considered by
Rob Barnett and
Jonathan Woolf). I will therefore refrain from repeating here
the lengthy summary of the plot that he provided in his review, referring
readers to his comprehensive consideration of the matter of Prokofiev's
politically inspired revisions of the text. The Chandos reissue presumably
derived from commercial LP or tape issues of the original recording; this
Melodiya version is re-mastered from the original tapes - Rob Barnett
commented favourably on the Chandos sound. The main difference between these
two reissues centres on the manner of their presentation. Whereas Chandos
provided full texts and translations of the libretto - and in view of the
complicated ramifications of the plot these are absolutely essential - here
Melodiya restricts the listener to a small booklet in Russian Cyrillic and
English, containing considerable detail on the history of the composition
but very little about the opera itself. The synopsis, basic in the extreme,
is not even cued to indicate what happens on each track. Under the
circumstances, and given that the Chandos recording remains available, those
who want to hear Prokofiev's opera can only be recommended to that release
rather than this cheese-paring Melodiya reissue.
With the exception of such obviously popular works as
Peter and the
wolf and
Romeo and Juliet, there has been a tendency over the
years for commentators to be rather condescending about the works of
Prokofiev's Soviet career. During the period of the Stalinist purges, both
Prokofiev and Shostakovich were consistently attacked by Party
apparatchiks for their failure to conform to the model of
'socialist realism'. Unlike Shostakovich, Prokofiev was denied the
opportunity in later life to develop beyond these imposed constraints.
Having been unfortunate enough to die on the very same day as Stalin, he was
never able to supervise the revision and revival of works that had been
suppressed, or to write new ones in the relatively freer atmosphere of
Khushchev and his successors. For that matter, neither did he enjoy the more
dubious benefits of posthumous controversy following the publication of his
'memoirs'. One of his final requests was a heartfelt plea for Rostropovich
to promote his opera
War and Peace; and in the event performances
even of that opera in anything like a complete form had to wait for some
twenty years after his death . and still longer for Rostropovich's recording
(Warner). Works like
Semyon Kotko, which had been the subject of
political revisionism even before its composition had been completed, never
really stood a chance.
In one way this Melodiya reissue
does improve on the Chandos
version: we are given the full names of all the participants. In the Soviet
era recordings and performances generally gave just the initial and surname
of singers and conductors, which often left listeners in some doubt as to
who exactly these performers might be. Chandos, working from the original LP
issue, were unable to supply the missing information; Melodiya, presumably
with access to the relevant contracts and paperwork, have now furnished the
full forenames of all those concerned - as given in the heading to this
review - with the odd exception of the conductor, who
was given his
full name by Chandos and had also conducted the first performance twenty
years earlier. The names of the chorus and orchestra are also now supplied
differently from those in the Chandos release, although they are clearly the
same bodies of performers. The booklet fails at any point to mention that
the recording is in mono only, although that is clearly implied by the
performance date; Chandos were more honest about this, and Rob Barnett
commended their "consumer-orientated frankness".
However it is pleasant now to be in a position to give full credit to the
cast. They are placed very forwardly in the recording balance, but there are
not too many of those dreadful Slavonic wobbles in evidence and a great deal
of the singing is decidedly enjoyable. Rob Barnett commented favourably on
the singing of Nikolai Gres in the title role, but one also notes with
pleasure the contributions of Tamara Yanko, Lyudmila Gelovani and Tamara
Antipova in the three leading female roles. All of them produce good solid
steady tone, something than can by no means be taken for granted in Soviet
recordings of this period. Again it is not possible to be complimentary to
several of the other singers - there are, as one would expect, some
excellent basses - because one has no real idea about who is actually
singing at any given point. Even the track-listings only give the names of
the first singer on each track.
Those who are content with hearing only a cut version of this mature
Prokofiev score will be quite satisfied with the Gergiev release, available
both as a separate item and as part of a bumper box of Kirov recordings (the
latter minus libretto). It has to be admitted that there is a fair amount of
what could unkindly be described as note-spinning in the complete opera.
Those who are reluctant to forego any music by this composer will need the
1960 recording, and the mono sound remains quite acceptable even by modern
standards. It should also be noted that the singing on the 1960 set is
generally rather stronger and more consistent than in the live Kirov
recording. Even so listeners are better served by the presentation on the
Chandos version than on this Melodiya one, particularly if they want to
understand what is going on at any given point in the score. The company
really should reconsider what they need to supply for potential purchasers,
either in the booklet or on line, in what is after all still pretty obscure
repertory.
Paul Corfield Godfrey
