Stokowski
was English-born of a Polish father and an Irish mother. He became
an American citizen in 1915. He made the Philadelphia Symphony
Orchestra one of the world’s finest and gave first performances
in America of many major works. Not renowned for his work in the
opera house, he made orchestral transcriptions of major works
and presented operatic excerpts at Philadelphia. These included,
in 1929, the US premiere of the original version of Boris Godunov.
However, for a series of performances in San Francisco in 1952,
and the accompanying recording sessions from which the Russian
component of this CD is derived, he reverted to the traditional
Rimsky-Korsakov edition. Stokowski chose, as his Boris, Nicola
Rossi-Lemeni (b 1921) who at the time was rather overshadowed
in this part by the formidable Bulgarian bass Boris Christoff.
Rossi-Lemeni had a considerable, well toned, sonorous instrument
which he could use, as here, with great variety of nuance and
feeling. Like Christoff in his two studio recordings, Rossi-Lemeni
doubles the parts of Boris the King and Vaarlam the Friar. For
the latter (tr.6) he lightens his tone and is suitably roistering.
However, more impressive is the variety of tone, expression and
feeling he brings to the facets of Boris’s character so superbly
expressed in this opera. In the ‘Coronation Scene’ (tr.3) Rossi-Lemeni
is full toned and imperious, yet suitably distraught while not
losing focus when Boris, part mad, confronts his conscience (tr.8).
In Boris’s ‘Farewell and Death’ (tr.9) the singer conveys a full
range of emotion and expression as he clasps and instructs his
son and dies as the chorus chant in the background.
In
these excerpts the chorus play a full and vibrant part. They are
able to benefit from, and complement, the more luxuriant textures
of the Rimsky edition which Stokowski handles with aplomb. The
booklet gives a brief track-related synopsis and a transliteral
libretto with English translation.
As
to the Wagner, well, many people like orchestral arrangements
and undoubtedly Stokowski was a master of the genre as is exemplified
here. If you can listen to Act 3 of Parsifal without Gurnemanz’s
solid tones, and with a lyric heldentenor as Parsifal, then you
will enjoy what is here, albeit that the recording is rather drier
than on the Boris tracks.
The
51 minutes of the ‘Boris Godunov’ excerpts on this CD, and the
quality of the singing of Rossi-Lemeni and the chorus, justify
the purchase of the disc. An added incentive is that highlights
from the opera are not otherwise available, at least in the UK.
Until recently we had the original version of the opera on Erato.
This featured Raimondi in the title role conducted by Rostropovich.
Robert
J Farr
see
also review by Paul
Shoemaker
Leopold Stokowski and his
Symphony Orchestra. Recorded New York 1952