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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
TOP OF THE CLASS,
By DAVID BRYSON (Glossop Derbyshire England) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Rachmaninov: Aleko / NEEME JARVI (Audio CD)
This was Rachmaninov's submission to Arensky's composition class at the Moscow conservatoire as part of his final examination. If my dates are right, he was 19 when he composed it in something like 3 weeks and that is comparable as a phenomenon to what Mendelssohn achieved at a similar age. I can recommend Aleko sincerely to anyone looking for an unfamiliar short romantic opera. The libretto is simple and effective, a tale of lost love, jealousy and murder based on Pushkin's The Gipsies. It's not Otello, but I would call it very good music indeed. I don't hear any of the knockout tunes such as I know from his concertos, but it's at an impressive level of inspiration and accomplishment, not least in its orchestration. The performance strikes me as excellent, Ilya Levinsky in particular as a boyish and ardent 'young gipsy' -- this must be the only opera where the tenor lead does not even have a name. In terms of style it is not particularly radical, but I wonder whether there was some influence from Carmen -- quite a lot of the music of either opera would remain in the form of songs and dances if they were given as stage plays. Of other influences I heard a definite touch of Swan Lake in the prelude, but otherwise not much Tchaikovsky but a fair amount of Borodin in the dances. It's fine old Russian tragic-romantic stuff, and I just loved the lovers' tryst (in Russian, of course) -'Tell me, where shall we meet again?' 'There, beyond the mound, by the grave.' Where else, where else indeed? It made me yearn for the odd cigarette-factory. The recorded sound is first-class.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews) 4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
TOP OF THE CLASS,
By DAVID BRYSON - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Rachmaninov: Aleko / NEEME JARVI (Audio CD)
This was Rachmaninov's submission to Arensky's composition class at the Moscow conservatoire as part of his final examination. If my dates are right, he was 19 when he composed it in something like 3 weeks and that is comparable as a phenomenon to what Mendelssohn achieved at a similar age. I can recommend Aleko sincerely to anyone looking for an unfamiliar short romantic opera. The libretto is simple and effective, a tale of lost love, jealousy and murder based on Pushkin's The Gipsies. It's not Otello, but I would call it very good music indeed. I don't hear any of the knockout tunes such as I know from his concertos, but it's at an impressive level of inspiration and accomplishment, not least in its orchestration. The performance strikes me as excellent, Ilya Levinsky in particular as a boyish and ardent 'young gipsy' -- this must be the only opera where the tenor lead does not even have a name. In terms of style it is not particularly radical, but I wonder whether there was some influence from Carmen -- quite a lot of the music of either opera would remain in the form of songs and dances if they were given as stage plays. Of other influences I heard a definite touch of Swan Lake in the prelude, but otherwise not much Tchaikovsky but a fair amount of Borodin in the dances. It's fine old Russian tragic-romantic stuff, and I just loved the lovers' tryst (in Russian, of course) -'Tell me, where shall we meet again?' 'There, beyond the mound, by the grave.' Where else, where else indeed? It made me yearn for the odd cigarette-factory. The recorded sound is first-class.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent performances of a very interesting work,
By G.D. - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Rachmaninov: Aleko / NEEME JARVI (Audio CD)
Rachmaninov's early opera Aleko inhibits the world of Tchaikovsky and The Mighty Five (although the former more than the latter). It is not a masterpiece, but still a mightily impressive, accomplished and interesting work containing several striking themes, numbers and arias. It surely deserves a place in the collection of any serious opera lover, and while I am not overly familiar with the alternative recordings, the one at hand can be firmly recommended.
First of all, it sports a fabulous Sergei Leiferkus, whose firm and steady and beautiful tone is full of character and depth. Second, Maria Guleghina is an expressive, expertly sung and steady Zemfira - I can hardly imagine this pair of soloists being much bettered in their respective roles. They are backed by a solid casting of the minor roles and a very good chorus, and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra is surely on top form. Järvi plays up the Tchaikovskian qualities of the work - full of drama, pathos and fire - and draws some marvelous playing from the orchestra (listen in particular to the brass, especially the snarls and braying in some of the orchestral interludes). The sound is big and a little reverberant, but thoroughly effective in this powerful work. A strongly recommended release, then, of a very appealing work. |
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