What a magnificent
treat this is! True, there is no doubt
who TDK/EuroArts see as the most marketable
person (product?) here, given the striking
photo of Anna Netrebko on the cover
(and the fact her name is highlighted
in red and given extra space over Dmitri
Hvorostovsky and Mischa Maisky (and
pity poor Viktor Tretyakov and Elisso
Virsaladze, who are in a lower type-face
still). Having said that, and implied
this is all marketing ploy, it has to
be said that the musical evidence does
bear out this implied hierarchy remarkably
accurately.
The Shostakovich Overture
is an appropriately fanfare-bedecked
affair. With Temirkanov at the helm,
the introduction is galvanised into
a blazing crescendo into the Allegro.
Temirkanov’s batonless conducting is
famously idiosyncratic -
he is a real conductor for the
musicians, not for the audience – yet
he certainly gets result. Watching him
carefully, it is easy to wonder just
where the bottom of his beat
is. Nevertheless the results speak for
themselves, with jollity galore (not
that Temirkanov smiles much).
The Saint-Saëns,
with soloist Viktor Tretyakov, has an
Introduction with a lovely expansive
feel to it (almost Sibelian!). The conductor,
Nikolai Alekseev, looks rather text-bookish
in demeanour. This is a dramatic reading
though, and it is easy to be sucked
in by Tretyakov’s easy virtuosity in
this frothy piece. His stopping in the
brief cadenza is simply superb.
Elissa Virsaladze is
a name new to me. Ravel’s Left-Hand
Concerto holds no terrors for her. Conductor
Nikolai Alexeev prepares for Virsaladze’s
entrance in exemplary fashion. Virsaladze
is an eloquent player for whom Ravel’s
writing holds no terrors; interesting
that you can hear her fingernail clearly
on the first major gliss!
The only problem is that neither
soloist nor orchestra fully enter Ravel’s
world – take for example the pianist’s
staccato, which tends towards the harsh,
born more of Moscow than Paris.
The Tchaikovsky Polonaise
is more of an interlude between soloists
than anything else. Alekseev manages
to make it more than just this, though,
with a real bite to rhythms and a generally
celebratory feel. But interlude it only
can be, as the star is up next, Anna
Netrebko in a mesmeric account of Lucia’s
Act 1 Cavatina from Donizetti’s Lucia
di Lammermoor. A great sense of
line and a real grasp of the dramatic
moment are by now Netrebko knowns, but
her cadenzas astonish even on repeated
listening, as do her perfect scales.
The Puccini Bohème excerpt
overlaps with her Prom appearance this
year (http://www.musicweb-international.com/SandH/2004/May-Aug04/prom73.htm
) and she is no less impressive on home
turf, projecting the most amazing tenderness
in the later parts of the aria.
Hvorostovsky’s Tchaikovsky,
big of voice and identifiably him in
sound, rather stood in the shadow of
Netrebko in the emotive stakes. It was
easy to remember Hvorostovsky was doing
a single excerpt as part of a mixed
gala concert, whereas with Netrebko
one is transported to the opera in question
itself. Better is ‘O Carlo ascolta’
from Verdi’s Don Carlo, more
dramatically alive and with a nice legato
line.
In repertoire terms,
it is Respighi’s Adagio con variazioni
that provided the discovery for this
reviewer. Maisky makes you feel this
is an undiscovered masterwork. The terrain
is varied and Maisky responds masterfully
to the Romantic outpourings, the segments
that need more bite and those that need
generous, almost refulgent, tone. The
almost Wagnerian harmonic slip Respighi
uses near the end is most memorable.
The rhapsodic glow
of Bruch’s Kol Nidrei unsurprisingly
finds Maisky also in top form, . The
pacing is spot-on, as is Maisky’s awareness
of harmonic shifts. A pity applause
comes in too fast at the end, ruining
the atmosphere.
The final item (the
Rachmaninov fanfare is more of a musical
‘farewell’) is a 13-minute section from
Pagliacci, uniting our two vocal
stars, here as Nedda and Silvio. Netrebko
confirms impressions and seems more
aware of the words, both the sensuality
of their very sound and of their meaning,
soaring magnificently hen required.
Hvorostovsky is more earth-bound ,,,
it is Netrebko that remains deeply ingrained
in the memory.
The Rachmaininov is
wheeled out after 11 soloists have taken
a united bow. A large, brassy, brazen
minute’s worth (1’13 to be precise),
it is all trumpets and drums.
This must surely have
been a concert to remember. The atmosphere
does not quite transfer across onto
DVD, but do see it if you can, if only
for the Respighi (Maisky) and anything
Netrebko contributes to.
Colin Clarke
aAnna Netrebko (soprano); bDmitri
Hvorostovsky (baritone); cViktor Tretyakov
(violin); dElisso Virsaladze (piano);
eMischa Maisky (cello); St. Petersburg
Philharmonic Orchestra/fYuri Temirkanov,
gNikolai Alekseev. 
TDK/EUROARTS
DV-COGSP [112’00] 
