Rimsky-Korsakov: Sadko

COMPOSERS: Rimsky-Korsakov
LABELS: Philips
ALBUM TITLE: Sadko
WORKS: Sadko
PERFORMER: Vladimir Galusin, Valentina Tsidipova, Marianna Tarasova; Mariinsky Opera/Valery Gergiev; dir. Alexei Stepaniuk (St Petersburg, 1994)
CATALOGUE NO: 070 4399

PRESENTATION: *****







Rimsky’s operas are too easily



stigmatized as mere fairy-tales,



lacking characterisation and depth



– conveniently forgetting The Tsar’s



Bride and The Invisible City of Kitezh,



among others. In Sadko, though,



those weren’t his priorities; he was



creating the operatic equivalent of



an illuminated manuscript. Sadko



illustrates the great bylina (folk epic)



of the seafaring merchant-minstrel



of ancient Free Novgorod, with



whom as sailor and musician himself



Rimsky felt an affinity. Sadko’s



adventures, seducing Volkhova,



daughter of the Sea-King, to help



him on his voyage, inspire one of



Rimsky’s most gorgeous scores,



derived from his tone-poem and as



pervaded by the sea as Sheherazade,



but full of richly Russian colours.



Gergiev conducts a sweeping



performance, with a typically



superb cast of the Kirov’s revival



years, full of rising stars – Diadkova,



Ognovenko, Bezzubenkov and the



superb character tenor Gassiev.



Contemporary stars sing the Three



Guests, Grigorian rather forced in



the famous ‘Song of India’, the late



Bulat Minjelkiev a resonant Viking.



Galusin, one of today’s most exciting



lirico-spinto tenors, sails through the



killing title role with steely tone and



more expressiveness and charm than



of late. Tsidipova’s piercingly clear,



slightly tremulous soprano is equally



fine for Volkhova. Charming also is



the staging, reproduced from airy,



painterly 1920s sets. Museum opera,



maybe; but then museums are there



to preserve treasures. And this is an



absolute gem. Michael Scott Rohan