Customer Reviews

Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Opera fans, listen up! Somehow the 60s Melodia recording (once available for a short time through now-perished Legato Classics) is obtained by Opera D'Oro. This is not a live recording (as most of this company's budget price releases). It is a good studio recording remastered, sounding surprisingly balanced and clear. It boasts the greatest singers of the Bolshoi Theatre: Galina Vishnevskaya, Sergei Lemeshev, Evgeny Belov (in title role), Larissa Avdeyeva, and Ivan Petrov. Boris Khaikin who, at the time, was seconded only by Alexander Melik-Pashayev leads one of the best orchestras in the world. Galina Vishnevskaya, well known for her splendid accounts of taxing works of Shostakovich and Prokofiev, is the best Tatiana one could imagine. The composer himself would admit that this is the voice he was looking for when he created his favorite heroine. Incredibly expressive and powerful, yet subtle and vulnerable at the same time. Exquisite phrasing that could not even be lost on non-Russian speaking audience; listen to the naiveté of the letter scene versus the flood of emotions covered with coldness in Act III. She is head and shoulders above the rest of the cast, which is still first-rate. Belov's relatively high tessitura brings out the cruelty of the character, particularly during the ball scene where he heartlessly wounds Lenski's poetic heart. Even though Dmitri Hvorostovsky is the best reigning Onegin with his dark, honeyed baritone, Belov's account is interesting and appropriate. Lemeshev was one of the most sophisticated singers of his time, and this says a lot. While I personally prefer tenors with strong low registers, Lemeshev's voice appears perfect for the part of dreamy, romantic, and highly vulnerable poet. Avdeyeva is idiomatic flirtatious Olga, and Petrov's deep smooth bass is an ideal choice for aged yet passionate and devoted Prince Gremin. Given the set's budget price, it has no translations and brief liner notes. I wished for a nice (even if pricey) edition complete with information about these incredible artists. Don't let it stop you from immediately obtaining it though. An absolute must have before it disappears again.

Previous Amazon reviewers have commented on the history of this recording and its performers. I have nothing to add to that.

I shall say only this. When you hear the opening words of the very first duet you will be impressed. With each succeeding number, you will raise your opinion until you realize that this is one of those amazingly rare performances in which everything is right. This "Eugene Onegin" is the true measure of the opera, and a worthy companion to the Schipa "Don Pasquale," the Gigli "Andrea Chenier" and the Callas "Tosca."

This is indeed a great performance. This is not a live recording at all, but a very mediocre transfer of a studio recording. My copy has all the scratches and dust clicks that would appear if I had taped it myself from an lp set. This leads me to believe that this pressing was made from a rather standard set of lps, and NOT the master tapes. This disturbed me at first, as well as the sloppy sound engineering of the whole production. Often the voices are TOO forward in the mix, but never too distant. What makes this such a gem is the all around solidity of the performance (Vishnevskaya at her best...the best Tatyana ever to sing the role) and the price. It is a rare find, and well worth the drawbacks of a rather sloppy transfer from lp.

All that having been said, I whole-heartedly recommend this. The performance is solid throughout (very "Russian" if I can be allowed to make liberal use of that moniker). Who knows how long this will be around? It may reappear in a better transfer someday, but this is a great steal at this time. Get it quick!

This is probably the best performance of EUGENE ONEGIN on CD. However, this Opera d'Oro version seems to have been made from LP's of this mid-1950's recording. There is now an edition of this same performance on Preiser that has been beautifully remastered and reveals much more of the glory of this wonderful cast, conducter,and orchestra. The performance is treasurable. Buy it in the best sound available -on Preiser!

Those reviewers discussing the artistic merits of this great recording have pretty much said it all. As to the one reviewer taking serious issue with the sonic quality -- perhaps he got a bad copy or else Opera d'Oro has cleaned it up since then. My copy, just purchased, has extremely clean sound, a bit on the dry side, but overall satisfying. I totally agree that this is one of the gems in their catalogue.

Other reviewers unanimously give this set 5 stars, but some worry about the sound. For info, in Europe, this version has now been re-released by BMG under the Melodiya label at budget price. Presumably it will be available soon in the US.

With a cast perfectly suited to the roles (my particular favorite is Lenski, as his voice fits the part perfectly), and a very affordible price, it's something everyone should have. The only thing I don't like about it is, with it being a live performance, (this adds to the brilliance and intensity) there are very occaisional spots where the orchestra gets off (Act II, Waltz), and there are points where it is taken slowly enough so the live singers can handle it. Other than that, it is a recording everyone must have.

There are currently available on the classical music market several different versions of Tchaikovsky best-loved opera.
However, it appears that this half-century old Bolshoi recording of this work is 'the' Russian recording currently available, since, apart from the film version, other versions are not totally Russian. Bychov's version has Focile as Tatyana and Hvorostovsky in the title role, Levine's Mirella Freni and Thomas Allen, Gergiev has Fleming and Hvorostovsky. Other versions in other languages have different singers from other nationalities.
Perhaps the most memorable Tatyanas available on modern recordings come in the forms of Freni, Popp and more recently, Fleming. None of them are Russian. For me, after listening to this old recording, my view of the 'best Tatyana' becomes fixed on Galina Vishnevskaya.
While also native Russian, GV is much more expressive and nuanced then most of her other notable compatriots. Her Letter Scene is infectiously dramatic, and her first Act is demurely innocent, while the emotionally charged last Act is a sheer demonstration of fiery conflict. It is a great shame that this physically beautiful and vocally sublime singer had not been able to leave any visual recording of this beautiful work.
The rest of the Bolshoi cast in this recording is highly capable, with perhaps another standout in the lyrical tenor Lemeshev, who sings the role of Lensky. Lemeshev gives a very vivid account of the not too substantial role of Lensky, most in the Second Act before the duel with Onegin. Shicoff in Bychov's version comes close, but not surpassing, Lemeshev's. The German version of Wunderlich is sublime, but again, it is in German. Probably the best Lensky in the memory of most music lovers comes in the person of Gedda. I would say that Lemeshev's version offers another best alternative apart from Gedda's.
While Hvorostovsky is perhaps the best Onegin ever, Vishnevskaya is certainly the best Tatyana.
The recorded sound is very acceptable.

The "just short" only refers to the studio instead of a live recording. I had been looking for something "new" to hear (I'm priviledged to do nothing but hear or see opera every waking moment). Because I hadn't heard or seen Eugene Onegin for at least a year, I went for that, and this recording. So I was curious to see what others thought of it, and was not suprised, only very satisfied to know that it's so well thought of. I think I bought this immediately it was released sometime in 2002; after all, just look at the cast

It amuses me to read reviews kvetching about the recording quality of this Opera d'Oro issue, when you consider that if you buy it in its basic version rather than in the de luxe set with libretto, it costs less than a deli sandwich - for one of the seminal great recordings of this glorious opera by performers wholly immersed in a tradition which ensures that all kinds of details and subtleties emerge. To take an example at random, listen to the way Khaikin and the orchestra follow every accelerando, rubato and nuance of the peerless Lemeshev's first aria, "Ya lyublyu vas", his declaration of love to Olga; it's as if singer and instruments are breathing in concert. Anyone who is not swept along by this performance isn't listening to the music but to the technology. It's true that all Opera d'Oro have done is to transfer from LP's onto CD and there is a little light swish and crackle from time to time, but the 1955 mono sound is crystal clear, very forward and not at all "boxy" as one reviewer complains. This was good recording for its time and captures that peculiarly Russian atmosphere so essential to the piece.

It is noticeable how quickly Khaikin moves things along; no dopey, droopy mooning and lingering; depth of feeling is conveyed by the singer-actors inflecting the words with emotional colour and by the conductor's constant, minute attention to to phrasing; no tempo is constantly sustained for more than a few bars before something is marked or emphasised - but it never sounds contrived or artificial; this is singing as natural as speaking.

Vishnevskaya's bright, vibrant tones are perfect for the hysterical ingenue Tatyana in the first act and she matures wholly credibly into the grande dame of the last Act. Belov has been criticised as a dull stick of an Onegin but he, too, succeeds in convincing us of a transformation from aloofness to desperation, and he evinces that directness and clarity with the text which characterises every member of the Bolshoi cast. His very forward, hard-edged baritone is perfect for the cocksure, patronising brute which is Onegin in the first act to the imploring wreck of the opera's last few pages. Onegin has doubtless been sung by baritones more intrinsically beautiful of voice such as Yuri Mazurok, Thomas Allen and Pavel Lisitsian but Belov interacts sensitively with Vishnevskaya and certainly does not disappoint in the fervour of his appeal to Tatyana; the last scene builds to a thrilling and heart-rending climax. The supremacy of this cast and performance is confirmed by a beautiful account of his great aria by Ivan Petrov as Prince Gremin; he manages to sound dignified, noble, mature and lovestruck all at once - and what a treat to hear a true Russian basso profondo with the warmth, flexibility and top notes of a basso cantante. As I have already said, Lemeshev is without equal; his plangent, liquid tones and the ineffable sweetness of his tenor spoil you for all other interpreters of the super-sensitive and immature Lensky.

Mr Cantrell is right in his review: this recording belongs to that small, select bunch of timeless, near-perfect interpretations. Anyone still listening out for imperfections in the recording medium more than a few bars in has no soul.