SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Stravinsky, Borodin: Soloists, Chorus of the Mariinsky Theater, Valery Gergiev (conductor), Kirov Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, 4.12.2007 (BH)

Stravinsky: Les noces (1914-1917; 1921-1923)

Mlada Khudoley, Soprano
Nadezhda Serdyuk, Mezzo-Soprano
Alexander Timchenko, Tenor
Gennady Bezzubenkov, Bass
Turi Alexeev, Percussion
Vladislav Ivanov, Percussion
Andrey Khotin, Percussion
Yuri Mischenko, Percussion
Arseny Shuplyakov, Percussion
Evgeny Zhikalov, Percussion
Alexander Mogilevsky, Piano
Maxim Mogilevsky, Piano
Svetlana Smolina, Piano
Youlia Zaichkina, Piano

Borodin: Prince Igor, Act II (1869-1870; 1874-1887)

Igor Sviatoslavich, Prince of Seversk: Evgeny Nikitin
Vladimir Igorevich, Igor’s Son: Sergei Semishkur
Khan Konchak, Polovtsian Leader: Alexey Tanovitski
Konchakovna, Konchak’s Daughter: Zlata Bulycheva
Ovlut, a Polovtsian: Vasily Gorshkov
Polovtsian Girl: Tatiana Pavlovskaya


To the best of my knowledge, Valery Gergiev has never done Stravinsky’s Les noces here, nor has he recorded it—a bit surprisingly.  With a superb array of soloists, pianists and percussionists at Carnegie Hall, in the final night of three, he emphasized the visceral, elemental thrust of Stravinsky’s masterpiece, which in four scenes depicts a wedding, its participants and the celebratory feast afterward.  Those onstage did a superb job navigating twenty minutes of rhythmic treachery.  In Gergiev’s hands, the score almost comes across as a minimalist precursor, almost like a rawer version of Andriessen.  The four soloists—Mlada Khudoley, Nadezhda Serdyuk, Alexander Timchenko and Gennady Bezzubenkov—were all excellent, as were the six percussionists and four pianists.

However, I kept wondering why the sound felt slightly dampened, and slightly more blurred, lacking the crisp edges needed to show the composer’s raw primitivism. The chorus, in particular, lacked the punchy sound it had in the Glinka and Rimsky Korsakov.  I wonder if just a few feet made the difference: in contrast to the chorus placement for the previous two concerts (all the way back against the stage), here the forces were positioned closer to the center.

The Borodin fared much better, sonically, with the massive Kirov Orchestra and chorus filling the stage and six soloists stretched across the front.  The second act of Prince Igor shows the Polovtsian camp at evening, where Prince Igor and his son Vladimir are being held captive.  After a series of moving arias, the Polovtsian leader asks women and warriors to perform a series of dances at the end of the act, possibly the opera’s most famous excerpts.

Tatiana Pavlovskaya, so radiant as Kupava in Snegurochka the previous afternoon, here sang the Polovtsian Maiden, beginning the act accompanied by the peerless Kirov chorus.  The Orientalism that Borodin inhaled surfaced immediately, with the orchestra in swirling patterns, and soon Konchakovna appears, ardently sung by Zlata Bulycheva who was so memorable two days prior in Glinka’s Ruslan and Ludmilla.

As Prince Igor, Evgeny Nikitin was especially moving in his first appearance, using his dark and weighty tone to recall his wife.  Sergei Semishkur used his gorgeous tenor to maximum impact as Vladimir, Igor’s son, and his long scene with Konchakovna was one of the evening’s high points.  And in a scene in which Konchak questions Prince Igor, the tall bass Alexey Tanovitski unleashed malevolence, continuing a silent glare out into the audience even when he wasn’t singing.

But the evening truly came to life when the fabled dances began, fired by the ferocious playing of the orchestra and some incandescent singing by the chorus.  The final section, in which the composer exhorts the entire ensemble to new levels of excitement as the dances collide, was overwhelming.

Bruce Hodges

Editor's Note. Reader Bas van Westerop emailed from Holland to say that there is a recording of Les Noces by Gergiev and the same four pianists featured in this concert. It's part of a 4CD set of live recordings from the Gergiev Festival Live section of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra's web site and is available for purchase online at a cost of 35 Euros. Click HERE for the link.