SHCHEDRIN The Left-Hander
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Rodion Konstantinovich Shchedrin
Genre:
Opera
Label: Mariinsky
Magazine Review Date: 06/2015
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 119
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: MAR0554
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
The Left-Hander |
Rodion Konstantinovich Shchedrin, Composer
Andrei Popov, The Left-Hander, Tenor Edward Tsanga, Ataman Platov, Bass-baritone Kristina Alieva, The Flea, Soprano Maria Maksakova, Princess Charlotte, Soprano Mariinsky Chorus Mariinsky Orchestra Rodion Konstantinovich Shchedrin, Composer Valery Gergiev, Conductor Vladimir Moroz, Alexander I; Nicholas I, Baritone |
Author: John Warrack
There are indeed resonances here down the length of Russian history, and Shchedrin goes for his opportunities. Some are fairly straightforward: there is a brash send-up of the pomposity of Buckingham Palace but plenty of Slav nostalgia with folk instruments and, ironically, unaccompanied choral singing from the splendid Mariinsky Chorus mourning the inventor wholeheartedly – once he is safely dead. But the ironies are many-layered; and though these may seem to invite music, Shchedrin is sometimes defeated by them. He has much of the manner of Shostakovich at his most Gogol-like, and can hardly be blamed for not having quite such an individual acuteness of invention.
Valery Gergiev conducts a sharp performance, one fully alert to the satires that enmesh the work. The Flea itself is depicted by a nimble coloratura, Kristina Alieva, and its maker – something of a yurodivy, Russia’s enduring Holy Fool – is affectingly sung by Andrey Popov. Vladimir Moroz sings eloquently as both Tsars, Alexander I and Nicholas I, strongly supported by Edward Tsanga as the Ataman (Commander) Platov, though Maria Maksakova goes rather over the top as Princess Charlotte. There is a hefty drinking contest in an impressive storm involving Andrei Spekhov as an English Under-Skipper belting out our national anthem in rivalry with the Left-Hander. The booklet has parallel Russian/English translations, with short (too short) essays also in French and German.
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