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Giuseppe VERDI (1813-1901) La Traviata, Melodrama in three acts. Text by Francesco Maria Piave. (Sung in Russian) First Performed 6 March 1858. Teatro La Fenice, Venice Violetta Valery, Yelizaveta Shumskaya (sop); Alfredo Germont, Ivan Kozlovsky (ten); Giorgio Germont, Pavel Lisitsian (bar); Flora Bervoix, Yelena Gribova (mezzo); Gastone, Y Filin (ten); Barone Douphol, Anatoli Yakhontov (bar) USSR State Symphony Orcestra/Alexander Orlov. Recorded 1947 Appendix: Pavel Lisitsian (bar) Verdi Arias Il Trovatore, Il balen Un ballo in maschera, Alla vita che t’arride Un ballo in Maschera, Eri tu? Aida, Ciel! Mio padre (with Natalia Sokolova, sop) GUILD HISTORICAL - THE RUSSIAN LEGACY SERIES - GHCD 2305-6 [65.09+70.14]

In this latest in Guild’s The Russian Legacy series Larry Friedman extols the virtues of the tenor Ivan Kozlovsky (1900-1993). He further suggests that he is young-sounding for his age suggesting uncertainty as to whether the recording was made in 1947 or 1954 (p.5 of the booklet). Incongruously, a few lines later, he notes that the conductor, Alexander Orlov, originally a White Russian prince, died in 1948! Given the normal exemplary standards of accuracy of the Guild booklets, I hope my reading of that is correct and not a sign of old age on my part. Certainly, Ivan Kozlovsky has an agreeable light, slightly nasal, tenor voice. His careful phrasing in Un di felice (CD 1 tr. 5), soft singing and even tone are welcome virtues in any tenor. However, his reedy tone and tendency to near parlando the odd phrase are more questionable. So too is his tendency to abbreviate the ends of phrases (CD 1 tr. 12). The high note of Oh mio rimorso! is squeezed rather than ringing. As his Violetta, Yelizaveta Shumskaya (1905-1908) is a lightish lyric voice with some coloratura skills and with the virtue of dramatic vibrancy. In Violetta’s great act 1 scene (CD 1 trs. 6-8) there is not enough colour in her voice in É strano! Whilst she also tends to swell on the note, spoiling any smooth legato. Her diction is good. As Germont pére Pavel Lisitsian (b.1911) doesn’t show much variation of tone but uses his voice expressively. His confrontation with Violetta (CD 1 tr. 14) brings out some of Yelizaveta Shumskaya’s best singing. Lisitsian’s Di Provenza (CD 1 tr. 20) is not impressive. He reaches for the high notes and his tone is rough. His singing of four Verdi baritone arias, (CD 2 trs. 20-23) also shows his rawness of tone and lack of legato, at least to my ears. It may be that he is not helped by singing in Russian whose glottal nature can be inimical to those virtues when transferred from their own genre to translations, particularly of the Italian and French repertoire. Although Eri tu (CD 2 tr. 21) appears to have been recorded at the same session as the previous Alla vita, the sound is distinctly thinner with the voice more recessed. The overall recording quality is fair for its vintage. Given that listening to La Traviata in Russian is several steps beyond listening to it in English, in terms of how the voice sits on the music, this issue is only for collectors interested in the vocal traditions of Russia. Others can pass by, assured that they are missing no fantastic vocal or interpretative revelations. Robert J Farr Advertising Rates Visitor stats MusicWeb International has over 40,000 Classical CD reviews on offer Discs received Having a problem Donating? Gerard Hoffnung Concerts & The Bricklayer Story MusicWeb can now offer you discs from the following catalogues: Prices include postage There will be NO VAT Rises [Acte Préalable £13.50] [Arcodiva £12.00] [Avie from £6.25] [British Music Society £12.00] [CDACCORD from £13.50 ] [ClassicO £12.50] [Hallé from £11] [Heritage £10] [Hortus £14.99 ] [Lyrita ONLY £11.75 ] [Nimbus Special prices] [Northern Flowers £13.50] [REDCLIFFE £11 ] [Sheva £11] [Tactus £11.50 ] [Talent from £12.00 ] [Toccata Classics £10.50 ] Musicweb Special Offers Monthly Best Buys   New Releases New Releases   MusicWeb sells the Polish catalogue CDAccord £10.50 post free W-W MusicWeb sells the Arcodiva catalogue £12.00 post free W-W £11.75 post-free world- wide     Google Ads - for information about privacy matters, click here.  Amazon Musicweb International is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

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