Customer Reviews

Tchaikovsky - Mazeppa / Leiferkus · Gorchakova · Kotscherga · Dyadkova · Larin · Pederson · Margison · Zednik · Neeme Järvi

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

 

 

Recently all sorts of awards and praises have been bestowed upon Valery Gergiev's recent live recording of Mazeppa. While it is really good, I have to recommend this Neeme Jarvi's set over it. The main reason is innovative casting. Sergei Leiferkus at first appears to have too young sounding and too light of a baritone for the title character. But that's not true at all. His voice is ideal for communicating the menacing simultaneously with romantic qualities of the Hetman, a very complicated character one would love to hate. In contrast to rough all-out rendition provided by Putilin for Gergiev, Leiferkus is consistently noble and subtle, making the character an intriguing three-dimensional figure. The spectacular Kirov spinto soprano Galina Gorchakova sings his love interest, Maria, with passion and wise restraint of her very powerful voice to emphasize Maria's youth and impulsiveness. To complete the fateful triangle, Sergei Larin beautifully sings the role of ardent Cossack Andrei. Great Ukrainian bass Anatoly Kotcherga is Maria's father Kotchubey, his characterization is appropriately tragic and moving, particularly in Act II Prison Scene. And Maria's mother Lyubov is Larissa Diadkova, a rising star among mezzos with rich resonant sound, indeed similar to Archipova's, as the knowledgeable reviewer below points out. Even the small roles of Iskra, Orlik and Drunken Cossack are luxuriously cast: Richard Margison, Monte Pederson, and Heinz Zednik display complete understanding of Russian text and score.

This opera is the epitome of tragedy, even though it begins cheerfully. As soon as Mazeppa asks for the hand of his own goddaughter, the sequence of events progresses as a thunderbolt, pausing briefly only for the Hetman's passionate tuneful aria "O Maria". Not only did Mazeppa want Kotchubey's daughter, he also wanted his wealth, necessary for keeping up his large army. He resorts to torture and when the proud old man does not budge - to execution, keeping these deeds in secret from his beloved Maria. As the grizzly secret comes out, she blames herself for everything and her fragile mind is snapped after she becomes a witness to her father's execution. The opera's finale combines death scene and mad scene. As Andrei dies, (killed, alas, by fleeing Mazeppa), Maria tries to comfort him imagining he is her child. The atmospheric sounds of violins and winds make the lullaby motif eerie and unsettling.

The works of Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin were Tchaikovsky's lifelong inspiration. The operas "Eugeny Onegin" and "Pique Dame" are well known and appreciated. Somehow, "Mazeppa" fell into obscurity and had not been performed nearly as often, even though its source, the poem "Poltava", remains one of the most popular epic poems in Russian literature. Thus Maestro Jarvi makes a very strong case for it by involving Russia's major talents for this release. The Gothenburg orchestra is able to rise up a storm; the battle scene in Act III is stirring, much like the familiar 1812 overture. As usual, one can expect somewhat more intensity from Gergiev, but his cast, while very good, does not match Jarvi's "pound for pound." (Curiously, though, Gergiev also casts Diadkova as Lyubov.) Add crystal clear spacious digital sound and English, German and French translations, and this set becomes a definite First Choice.

As a composer of twelve operas, Piotr Illyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) was behind Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in the matter of importance and influence in the development of Russian operas. We know Tchaikovsky as a composer of orchestral works and ballets. However, among the real essences of Tchaikovsky was his operas. Whereas Pique Dame and Yevgeni Onegin has their occassion appearances on opera/theatrical stages, his other operas continue to be neglected (with some exceptions in Russia).

Mazeppa, the three act opera of 1884 strikes me as a bold, dark yet honest theatrical work: the opera which is part history and part romance (between Andrey and Maria). Based on Alexander Pushkin's epic poem "Poltava", Tchaikovsky's "Mazeppa" is nationalistic as well as personal and Act II is the most gripping of the three. Whereas some people deemed "Mazeppa" as hardly as memorable as Tchaikovsky's famous orchestral compositions, "Mazeppa" contains outflows of fine musical passages and retained the daring, dynamic, honest communicative essences of the composer. "Mazeppa" is to my mind a masterpiece.

Neemi Jarvi, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, and the Chorus of the Royal Opera (Stockholm) demonstrate of how much they thought of Mazeppa. Nothing but upmost admiration is at presence here and the recording is by far a model one. What is equally significant and pleasing was the quality of the singing. Galina Gorchakova as Maria brought the warm, sentimental femininity to her role whereas Larissa Dyadkova (the Irina Arkhipova of the 1990s) was convincing in bringing the maternal side as Lyubov, Maria's mother. Lyubov represents strength and wisdom and Larissa Dyadkova was sucessful in portraying those qualities as well. Sergei Leiferkus bought out the sterness of Mazeppa, the leader of the Ukranian cossacks, and Anatoly Kotscherga was telling in his role as Kochubey, Maria's father who were betrayed by Mazeppa. I especially admire the ending of scene I (Act II) where Kotscherga was remarkably real in portraying the vengence, the defiance, the anger of Kochubey. Sergei Larin gave his role as Andrey a passionate voice and Heinz Zednik added a marvellous humor as a Drunken Cossack. Richard Margison (as Iskra) and Monte Pederson (as Orlik) were also compelling.

Only Vasily Nebolsin and the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra and Chorus gave ultimately a thrilling performance of the work before Jarvi's recording. Alexander Ivanov (as Mazeppa) and Ivan Petrov (as Kochubey) were among forgotten legends as Russian opera singers. Ivanov bought out more of the deviance of Mazeppa and Nina Pokrovskaya was excellent in her portrayal of Maria (somewhat bringing out the stronger side of her persona). I truly hope for the re-issue of their orginal Melodiya LP recording of 1952.

However, among the currently available recordings of "Mazeppa", Jarvi's version is first-rate and therefore, a first choice, although Gergiev's performance with the Kirov Orchestra and Chorus is a close runner-up.

Recommendable, and with no regrets!

I can only recommend the two previous reviews as excellent analyses of this recording. I have two small reservations however, and both relate to Galina Gorchakova.

I wish to point out that I admire this soprano. She does not at all display the unsteadiness and wobble which is present in so many "great" Russian sopranos. She does, as one previous reviewer points out, have a large voice, which she manages quite well. However, her rich tone brings her character closer to the mezzo of her character's mother , Lyubov (Dyadkova). The two voices, though beautiful, are too similar. Dyadkova is quite within her role, however....Gorchakova maybe does not sound as juvenile as one would imagine Maria to be. Nevertheless, her interpretation is excellent.

The other quibble has more significance, but still does not detract from my 5-star rating (mainly because Russian operas are such rarities that a fine recording such as this deserves every encouragement): the famous final mad-scene lullaby. This is not in truth solely Gorchakova's fault but also Jaarvi's in that this stunning aria deserves a more sombre and meaningful interpretation. Subsequent interpretations (concert recordings) have left me with the unshakelable feeling that the aria was just a little too rushed.....but still, acceptably done. Here, I lament the wasted potential given such a great conductor and Gorchakova's lovely voice.

All in all, however, a definite winner! I cannot resist the temptation to make particular mention of Kotscherga's brilliant portrayal of Kotchubey. His excecution-scene aria is a moving tear-jerker. Well worth getting; if only it were more readily accessible........

Cosmo Chaykie Goes Native . . .
*
It is strange that this most immediately appealing of Tchaikovsky's mature operas remains out of the main repertoire and largely unknown: for here we have much fine music, beautifully scored and sung, with distilled human interests of devotion, passion, honour, betrayal, politics, torture, greed, ambition, murder, madness, and pathos in a tale of the Great Northern War which found its turning point at Poltava wherein Peter the Great made Russia the superpower it remains today.
Involved in the conflict was a certain Mazeppa, leader of the Cossacks in Ukraine.

Stories of Mazeppa have inspired Romantic poets and composers from Byron, Hugo, and Pushkin to Liszt and Tchaikovsky.

In his Mazeppa, cosmopolitan Tchaikovsky deftly explores the folkish idiom of the musical nationalists Glinka, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Borodin.

Tchaikovsky's Mazeppa was very successfully staged and frequently revived until World War I; thereafter its complexion of elements was not congenial to the Soviet ethos.
Yet one can only ponder why this splendid work--(falling directly between Evgeniy Onegin and The Queen of Spades)--remains so neglected by the major companies: probably the simple reason is that Pushkin's poetry really requires native Russian (or at least northern- or eastern-European) vocalists.

Kalinnikov (who saw the original production in 1884) writes, `The music is so likeable and so amazing in its grandeur that in the emotional passages I simply lost track of my surroundings. Tchaikovsky carried out his musical ideas so well . . . . The public especially loved the "Battle of Poltava" [Act III entr'acte], proof of which was that it was played twice. The scenes are remarkably well expressed by Tchaikovsky.'

This performance by Järvi/GSO with superb vocalists Galina Gorchakova, Sergei Leiferkus, and Heinz Zednik is extremely satisfactory in every way, while DG's recording is excellent vis-à-vis microphone placement, ambience, and balance between orchestra and vocalists.
*

A hetman is or was a Cossack warlord, such as Jan Mazeppa in the late 17th century and early 18th. What the real historical truth is about him I have no idea, as the sources vary hugely depending on which version of his life-story they want to promote. For present purposes we need at least to understand the plot used by the librettist Viktor Burenin with some input from Tchaikovsky himself, because if we go straight into listening to the action without this minor research the story will seem disjointed to the point of being downright unintelligible.

In act I Mazeppa is visiting Kochubey, chief magistrate of the Poltava district in the Ukraine. To Kochubey's horror the elderly Mazeppa tells him that he intends to marry his daughter Maria. Mazeppa's feelings for the girl seem genuine, but they are only part of his bigger agenda to obtain Kochubey's fortune as a dowry to finance his political plans. Maria herself is for some reason infatuated with her elderly suitor, to the chagrin of the young Cossack Andrey who cannot comprehend how she manages to prefer this old goat over himself. Kochubey's counter-strategy consists of telling the Tsar, Peter the Great, that Mazeppa intends to wrest the Ukraine from him. However this tactic misfires, and between the acts Peter turns Kochubey over to Mazeppa, who claps him in irons, tortures him and executes him. The execution is where we rejoin the action in act II. In fact what Kochubey had told Peter was perfectly true, Mazeppa had schemed with Sweden (again between the acts) to take control of the Ukraine, and the last act starts with the battle of Poltava, in which Mazeppa is routed. From this point the action is at least comprehensible, whether or not we think it makes sense. Andrey seeks revenge but is shot fatally by Mazeppa, who then goes missing - that is literally the last we see or hear of him. Meantime Maria has gone mad and the opera ends with a final lullaby that she sings over Andrey (whether or not she understands who she is singing it to). It is an odd way to end the story, and the best explanation I have is that it allows for a duet between soprano and tenor.

After two complete hearings I have yet to detect any weakness on the purely musical side of this set. The question is whether you think the two principals, superb singers though they are, have the right voices for their roles. Two hearings leave me still undecided, but I suspect I shall be no further forward after 20 hearings, so for now here is the issue as it seems to me. Is Leiferkus a bit lightweight for Mazeppa, and is Gorchakova slightly heavyweight as Maria? Leiferkus has plenty of personality, and I can envisage him as a leader. If he sounds to be on the young side, that at least makes him credible as a lover, but to imagine him as a sadistic torturer takes more imagination than I can lay claim to; but that may only show that I do not know enough torturers. Moreover his vocal texture differentiates his baritone easily from the bass of Kotscherga as Kochubey, whereas Maria does not contrast greatly with Larissa Dyadkova as her mother. On the other hand, the mother's part is a small one, and it is unrealistic to expect operatic heroines to `sing small' - we have to suspend disbelief, and the make-believe needed here is nothing when I think of some of the bosomy divas I have seen and heard as Violetta, who is supposed to be dying of consumption.

The final lullaby may or may not be a problem, but I am not necessarily looking for it to reduce me to tears, given how strange the whole scene is. In Sadko the sea-princess Volkhova in the Gergiev version does exactly that to me with her lullaby to Sadko before he has to leave her, but that is Rimsky and this is Tchaikovsky. Rimsky's idea of opera was a concert in costume, Tchaikovsky is serious about it as drama. Maria's lullaby is not just a piece of pretty music tacked on at the end - it IS the end of the tale, and it has to be sung as part of the drama, or I suppose it has. Anyway that's my story, your honour, and I'm sticking to it.

Sergei Larin as the tenor Andrey is excellent, but so are the smaller solo roles, so is the chorus, so is the orchestra, and so is the direction. I'm sure I really knew that it does not require Gergiev to conduct Tchaikovsky operas, but it's nice to have the point confirmed. The recorded sound is good, not as rich as in the Kirov/Gergiev Iolanta and Pique Dame that I have recently acquired, but many will doubtless prefer it like this. A special word of commendation for the English liner note, unsurprising since its author (also author of the excellent synopsis) is Richard Taruskin. The Russian original is printed transliterated into Roman script, the English is at least good English and I presume entirely accurate, and the text is there in German and French also. One pleasant touch is that the tracks are subdivided into simple Dewey-decimal subdivisions in print. Is there any reason why this can't also be done on the cd itself?