Great Singers In Moscow
rec. 1901-1913
Nimbus Prima Voce NI7876 [76]

This compilation was released almost thirty years ago but is still available at a bargain price both as a physical CD and a download, and since I was gifted it by a generous friend I thought I would revisit it. There are many treasures to be found in Nimbus’ Prima Voce backlist; I have read some withering criticism of their “Ambisonic reproduction” transfer technique – the original 78 being played on a period phonograph through a large, acoustic horn, using ambisonic microphones in a carefully controlled acoustic space – but I have always found it to be very satisfactory in recreating the original listening experience. Twenty tracks featuring fifteen star singers of early 20C Imperial Russia are showcased here in selections tilted towards the Russian repertoire but also including a few items from Western European composers – even if all are sung in Russian.

The first three numbers from Rubinstein’s Nero and Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades exhibit passion but also qualities of ease and lightness which one does not necessarily first associate with any putative school of Russian singing – but in fact tenors such as Smirnov and Sobinov (who may be heard later in this recital), and those from the next generation such as Lemeshev and Kozlovsky, frequently sang thus. Even the first singer – in fact a baritone – is similarly disposed almost to croon and perhaps for some tastes the degree of pure and mixed falsetto is somewhat exaggerated and can smack of affectation but it is beautifully controlled and shaded. After a little diversion into the bell-like tones of celebrated soprano Antonina Nezhdanova singing an aria from The Snow Maiden, we return to that very typically Russian tenor sound with Boris Slovstov, who sings two more Rimsky Korsakov arias, ending the one from May Night with an ethereal, floated, pianissimo top B. The tenors indeed all sound almost indistinguishable – which is not a criticism; they share impeccable technique and for all I know, without researching it, also had the same teachers, hence the homogeneity of their sound. The contrast with Vladimir Kastorsky’s robust bass could hardly be more striking. His versatility is demonstrated by his singing two very different arias, the first Farlaf’s Rondo from Glinka’s Ruslan i Lyudmila, virtually a patter song, the second from A Life for the Tsar, Ivan Susanin’s famous grand and melancholy “They guess the truth”. We then hear “a proper contralto” in Yevgeniya Zbruyeva singing another aria from A Life for the Tsar. Vasily Damayev is rather more robust than his fellow tenors in yet another Rimsky aria, this time from Sadko, with has a haunting, soaring and insistent refrain very reminiscent of so many Russian choral numbers based on folk songs. The best-known singer here is of course Chaliapin, singing an aria from Boris Godunov – surprisingly, not one for the eponymous anti-hero but instead Pimen’s narrative. The sonority of his bass never fails to impress. I was unfamiliar with soprano Natalia Yermolenko-Yuzhina who apparently also had a brief but very successful career in the West; here, she sings the nightingale aria from Tchaikovsky’s mostly forgotten The Oprichnik then duets with tenor David Yuzhin in “Fuggiam” from Aida. Both singers prolong sustained notes beyond good taste but vocally she is impressive, full and even across a wide range, from a rounded top to a trenchant lower register. Mezzo-soprano Vera Petrova-Zvantseva is an agile, adept Azucena; the gruppetti of “Stride la vampa” are despatched with élan. The Steersman’s aria from The Flying Dutchman is a novelty in Russian but is decidedly well sung by tenor Alexandr Alexandrovich – another of the second, lustier, Russian tenor type, but still capable of sweet diminuendi. While great soprano Antonina Nezhdanova was a known quantity to me, the aria she sings here from Goldmark’s Ein Wintermärche wasn’t, so presents another pleasant surprise. Her prolonged trills and coloratura are highly accomplished, as is the almost equally celebrated Yevgeniya Bronskaya in the highly decorated Gounod aria. Sobinov and Smirnov sing what are almost warhorse arias in the context of the comparative rarities on this disc; the latter, as the notes suggest, might have been considered to be rather too given to applying self-conscious “effects” – especially those prolonged ppp phrases – but it makes for fascinating and indeed beautiful listening, whereas the former is, as ever, a model of restrained good taste in the dreamy aria from Manon; likewise in his duet from the same opera with Nezhdanova we are in a sphere of near vocal perfection.

Given the venerability of the source material here, this anthology is remarkably listenable and provides a comprehensive survey of the extraordinary depth of vocal talent available in Moscow all those years ago.

Ralph Moore

Contents
Rubinstein: Nero
1. Epithalamium (Recorded 1908)
Nikolay Shevelyov (baritone)
2. Oh grief and care (Recorded 1909)
Lev Klement’yev (tenor)
Tchaikovsky: The Queen of Spades, Op. 68:
3. Forgive me, heavenly being (Recorded 1901)
Nikolay Figner (tenor)
Rimsky Korsakov: Snegurochka (The Snow Maiden)
4. Gathering berries (Recorded 1908)
Antonina Nezhdanova (soprano),
5. Full of wonders (Recorded 1913)
Boris Slovtsov (tenor)
Rimsky Korsakov: May Night
6. How quiet here…Sleep, my beauty (Recorded 1913)
Boris Slovtsov (tenor)
Glinka: Ruslan i Lyudmila
7. Farlaf’s Rondo (Recorded 1908)
Vladimir Kastorsky (bass)
Glinka: A Life for the Tsar
8. They guess the truth (Recorded 1906)
9. My poor horse has fallen (Vanya’s aria) (Recorded 1913)
Yevgeniya Zbruyeva (contralto)
Rimsky Korsakov: Sadko
10. Ho! my faithful company (Recorded 1911)
Vasily Damayev (tenor)
Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov
11. Once at eve (Pimen’s narration) (Recorded 1911)
Feodor Chaliapin (bass)
Tchaikovsky: The Oprichnik
12. The nightingale in the grove (Recorded 1911)
Natalia Yermolenko-Yuzhina (soprano)
Verdi: Aïda
13. Fuggiam gli ardori inospiti (Recorded 1908)
Natalia Yermolenko-Yuzhina (soprano), David Yuzhin (tenor)
Verdi: Il trovatore
14. Stride la vampa (Recorded 1910)
Vera Petrova-Zvantseva (mezzo-soprano)
Wagner: Der fliegende Holländer, WWV. 63
15. Mit Gewitter und Sturm (Recorded 1913)
Alexandr Alexandrovitch (tenor)
Goldmark: Ein Wintermärchen
16. Schmücket euch mit Rosen (Recorded 1910)
Antonina Nezhdanova (soprano)
Massenet: Manon
17. Instant charmant … En fermant les yeux
Leonid Sobinov (tenor)
Gounod: Roméo et Juliette
18. Je veux vivre dans ce rêve (Recorded 1913)
Yevgeniya Bronskaya (soprano)
Bizet: Les pêcheurs de perles
19. Je crois entendre encore (Recorded 1909)
Dmitri Smirnov (tenor)
20. Ton coeur n’a pas compris (Recorded 1910)
Antonina Nezhdanova (soprano), Leonid Sobinov (tenor)

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