Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The only modern masterpiece!, July 13, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Shostakovich - Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk / Vishnevskaya, Gedda, Petrov, LPO, Rostropovich (Audio CD)
Out of all the operas written in 20th century, "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk" certainly stands out as being the richest in melodies and bravest in expression. It is truly the work of Genius. Shostakovich put all the power of his glorious talent for musical character sketching behind this work. In 1934 Dmitri Dmitrievich was reaching his prime, he was idealistic, and not yet taken through the years of communist punishment. In her autobiography "Galina", the singer explains that at the time the composer was also madly in love with his first wife. As a result, Katerina has some of the most beautiful music he had ever written. The men in the opera, by contrast, have the most brutal, alarming, and dark music. All the music carries shades of folksongs, but it's generous, expansive, and flowing for Katerina, and often syncopated, broken, harsh for the men. You can't help liking "Lady Macbeth" and feeling sorry for her. The opera is recorded with the great cast, but the two shining stars here are the incredible husband and wife team of Galina Vishnevskaya and Mstislav Rostropovich. Both great admirers, friends, and, in a way, pupils of the composer, exiles at the time of this recording, they put a personal touch to this opera, unmatched on record. The legendary prima donna of Bolshoi, Galina Vishnevskaya is her best here. Her immense voice adapts easily to extraordinary high demands of the role, from tender heartwarming pianissimos to powerful but always clear fff. When it comes to subtleties and vivid characterization, she has no equal. Plus, Katerina is one of her favorite roles, she has starred in the movie "Katerina Ismailova", and no matter how many recordings and productions of this opera you might see, you won't find anything to remotely resemble her performance. The greatest cellist of our time Mstislav Rostropovich proves once again that remarkable instrumentalists can make extraordinary conductors. He revels in passion, beauty, and intricacy of the score, always maintaining cohesiveness in the orchestra and warmth and fullness of sound. The interlude following the death of Boris serves as a great example when rather than the finality if death the listener feels the terror of things to come. In Nicolai Gedda's experienced hands, Sergei comes through just as the composer wanted us to see him - a shallow, weak, cowardly and indulgent man, not worthy of Katerina's love. When in scene five he says, "I wanted to declare you my wife before God" we know: he is lying! Under his reassuring that he is a man of culture and understands what love is, there is only a villager who happened to be at the right place at the right time to offer Katerina a mere substitute for what she wanted a great love to be, only to abandon her when he has nothing more to gain. Bulgarian bass Dimiter Petkov offers a very vivid portrayal of lusty old (but still strong) man. His Mephistophelean laugh and later - his ghostly appearance sang on very low echoing notes make him the ultimate bad guy. Loved the policemen! What a fantastic picture of "law-and-order" in Russia, still true these days. EMI offers very clear and well-balanced sound (which was, probably, extremely difficult to accomplish), a nice booklet graced by a picture of beautiful Galina Vishnevskaya, and good liner notes. I would love to have Cyrillic texts, but the phonetic spelling is done correctly. An absolutely fantastic set, the best tribute to Shostakovich!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Magisterial Performance of a Masterpiece!, August 26, 2000
This review is from: Shostakovich - Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk / Vishnevskaya, Gedda, Petrov, LPO, Rostropovich (Audio CD)
Without a doubt, this is one of the greatest opera recordings of the twentieth century! The opera itself, here restored to its original form -after metamorphosing into 'Katerina Izmailova', the original libretto (and score) hidden from the world for thirty years- is one of the masterful achievments of Shostakovich's life. Rostropovich has assured himself a high place in the pantheon of artists who have rendered incontestable service to mankind by this recording. Katerina's aria which opens the opera is a remarkable piece of theatre in and of itself, not to mention a perfect preamble of what is to come, and is radiantly sung by Vishnevskaya in full command of her extraordinary gifts, every nuance intact, her intimacy with the role apparent from the outset. The blood of this score is so entirely Russian, and so clearly purchased with that particular life-sacrificing art peculiar to the Russian humanist aesthetic, that its musical language reveals itself straightaway as an organic part of the glorious continuum of Russian art, one of the reasons of course that Stalin chose it to forge his hammer against everything truly Russian. The political history of this work of art, fascinating though it is, yet remains an ignoble and indeed unimportant footnote beside the lasting triumph of this particular opera. Nicolai Gedda here demonstrates why he is a legendary tenor- Sergey's grief, and what remains of his inner life are wrought like gold at every turn; it is a performance of towering artistry and unparalleled beauty. The London Symphony is shocking in its perfection, heated by Rostropovich's mystical gifts and pouring itself out like a Russian lover. Others more learned and capable than I have written far more lucidly than I could hope to in praise of this eternal work of art, yet I wish to call out the majesty of this masterpiece, encourage others to purchase it, make it their own, and thereby give homage to a genuinely rare human experience bequeathed to the world by Shostakovich, here restored to its preeminent place by the irreplaceable artists and collaborators who have understood what this work means to humankind, especially in an age of unbelief.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
REMASTERED VERSION NOW AVAILABLE, July 14, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Shostakovich - Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk / Vishnevskaya, Gedda, Petrov, LPO, Rostropovich (Audio CD)
EMI has remastered this enduring classic on its "Great Recordings of the Century" line, and it is available. Here's the ID number for finding it on Amazon, or just do a search for Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk: B000063UM3
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
