Alexander Vedernikov, The Bolshoi Theatre – Glinka: Ruslan and Lyudmila (2004) [DSF DSD64/2.82MHz + FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Alexander Vedernikov, The Bolshoi Theatre – Glinka: Ruslan and Lyudmila (2004)
DSD64 (.dsf) 1 bit/2,8 MHz | Time – 203:31 minutes | 8,03 GB
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 203:31 minutes | 3,97 GB
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Artwork: Digital booklet
Fairy opera in 3 parts, 5 acts

Alexander Vedernikov and a large cast of musicians, soloists and chorus singers from the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow deliver Glinka’s masterpiece Ruslan and Lyudmila in the original authorial version. This triple album was recorded live in Moscow over four nights in April 2003, the live performances and now this recording garnering international acclaim.

Mikhail Glinka’s opera Ruslan and Lyudmila is a landmark work in the history of Russian opera, yet the number of complete recordings made of this work can be counted on one hand. This is in spite of Ruslan and Lyudmila’s popular overture and a variety of oft-recorded excerpts derived from the opera. Part of the problem is textual, as the original Glinka manuscript was accidentally destroyed through means that are historically still rather murky. This new Pentatone recording is the first to benefit from a new critical edition of Ruslan and Lyudmila prepared by Russian musicologists Nadezhda Taterina and Evgeny Lavashev, a condition explained in detail in a confusingly translated portion of the massive 183-page booklet that comes with this set.

Apart from the confusing booknote, everything else about this set is something to write home to “Mom” about, especially if she lives in Russia. The recording, made at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, is absolutely stunning – you really feel as though you are at the opera house watching Ruslan and Lyudmila being performed. The cast is very good; it is worth singling out soprano Ekaterina Morozova, who is entrusted to the difficult and pivotal role of Lyudmila. Morozova gets off to a rough start, but quickly finds her way and is outstanding for the balance of the set. The Bolshoi Theater Orchestra under Alexander Vedernikov sounds splendid rendering the orchestral component of the score, significant as there are a lot of purely instrumental passages in Ruslan and Lyudmila, at least 45 minutes’ worth of the total opera. If the listener has ever wanted to hear what Glinka’s Ruslan and Lyudmila is all about, then this Pentatone set is automatically your first choice for the work.

Tracklist:

01 – Act 1 Overture
02 – No 1: Introduction: “Dela davno minuvsikh dnei”
03 – “Est’pustynnyi kraj”
04 – No. 2: Lyudmila’s Cavatina: “Grustno mne, roditel’ dorogoi”
05 – No. 3: Finale: “Chada rodimye”
06 – “Chto sluchilos”
07 – No. 4: Entr’acte
08 – No. 5: Finn’s Ballad: “Dobro pozhalovat’, moi syn”
09 – No. 6: Duet of Finn and Ruslan: “Blagodaryu tebya, moi divnyi pokrovitel”
10 – No. 7: Scene and Farlaf’s Rondo: “Ya ves’ drozhu”
11 – Rondo: “Blizok uz chas torzhestva moego”
12 – No. 8: Ruslan’s aria: “O pole, pole”
13 – “Dai, Perun, bulatnyi mech”
14 – No. 9: Scene with the Head: “Kto zdes’ bluzhdaet”
15 – No. 10: Finale: The Tale of the Head: “Nas bylo dvoe, brat moi i ya”
16 – Act 3: No. 11: Entr’acte
17 – No. 12: Persian Chrous: “Lozhitsya v pole mrak”
18 – Gorislava’s Scene and Cavatina: “Kakie sladostnye zvuki”
19 – No. 14: Ratmir’s Aria: “I zhar, i znoi smenila nochi ten”
20 – No. 15: Dances
21 – No. 16: Finale: “O moi Ratmir!”
22 – “Vityazi! Kovarnaya Naina
23 – No. 17: Entr’acte
24 – No. 18: Lyudmila’s Scene and Aria:”Vdali ot milogo”
25 – “Akh ty dolya, dolushka”
26 – No 19: March of Chernomor
27 – No. 20: Oriental Dances: a:Turkish Dance (Allegretto)
28 – b: Arabian Dance (allegro con spirito)
29 – c: Lesginka (Caucasian Dance)
30 – No. 21: Chorus: “Pogibnet, nezhannyij prishlets!”
31 – No. 22: Finale: “Pobeda, pobeda, Lyudmila”
32 – No. 23: Entr’acte
33 – No. 24: Ratmir’s Romance: “Ona mne zhizn’, ona mne radost”
34 – No. 25: Recitative and Chorus: “Vsyo tikho!”
35 – No. 26: Duet of Ratmir and Finn: “Chto slyshu ya? Lyudmily net?”
36 – No. 27: Finale: “Akh ty svet,- Luydmila”
37 – “Kogo nam bogi shlyut?”
38 – “Slava velikim bogam”