Rather like his contemporary
Dvořák,
Tchaikovsky strove all his life to write
an outstandingly successful opera. The
closest he came to this was Eugene
Onegin while Dvorak had ultimately
to be satisfied with Rusalka.
Iolanta (a.k.a. Iolanthe -
which has us sailing close to the wind
with G&S) was Tchaikovsky’s last
opera. It was written between July and
December 1891.
The libretto is by
Modest Tchaikovsky and is based on Vladimir
Zotov's translation of Henrik Hertz's
play ‘King René’s Daughter’ (1864).
It was premiered on 18 December 1892
at the Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg
just a year before the composer's death.
It had to wait until 1968 before its
UK premiere. Its US premiere took place
in 1933. Iolanta was part of
a double bill commission to be performed
on a single evening. The other work
was The Nutcracker. It is interesting
that Relief and Fedoseyev are planning
The Nutcracker for their next
release along with more Mahler.
The plot: Iolanta is
the blind daughter of René, King
of Provence. He has kept her blindness
from her. Ibn-Hakir, a great Moorish
physician, examines Iolanta and reports
to the King that she will only gain
her sight if she longs to have it. She
must be told about her blindness. Vaudémont
and Robert (Iolanthe's betrothed who
has affections elsewhere) arrive at
the castle. Vaudémont falls for
Iolanthe. He unwittingly reveals to
her that sight and light exist. King
René threatens death to Vaudémont
if Iolanta cannot regain her sight after
a further examination by Ibn-Hakir.
When Iolanta returns cured Vaudémont
is saved. Iolanta is lost in wonder
at the visual world she now discovers
for the first time. The ensemble and
the choir shake the rafters with the
final paean to light - the source of
life and truth.
Is it any good as an
opera? Yes, certainly. This is fully
mature Tchaikovsky as the many cross-references
to Manfred and the last three
symphonies attest. It plays for about
ninety minutes and may have formed the
pattern for Rachmaninov’s one-acters
(Aleko, The Miserly Knight
and pre-eminently Francesca Da
Rimini - in fact the latter was
to a libretto by Modest Tchaikovsky
as indeed is Iolanta) soon to
be issued in a DG Trio box in Järvi’s
excellent recordings.
Fedoseyev’s team is
well nigh flawless although I did sometimes
wonder if there should have been more
really quiet singing from the men. The
Vaudémont of Piotr Beczala sounds
youthful - he must have been an estimable
King Roger in the Amsterdam (2001/2001)
production of the Szymanowski opera.
He has all the fleshy yielding power
we know from Hvorostovsky and Atlantov
with just a trace of vibrato. He can
be best heard in the long duet with
Iolanta (tr. 15 of CD1). Olga Mykytenko
as Iolanta is in exceptional voice with
an even more celebrated international
career in front of her if this CD is
anything to go by. I hope that she will
not then forsake the less exalted but
fascinating roles such as this one.
She sings with commanding technical
control and with a power that is unleashed
judiciously and naturally. Her repeated
cries of Atchivo? (Why?)
ring out in grandeur in her Arioso
- Why until now have I not shed tears
(tr. 3, CD1). Definitely a track to
sample as also is the tr. 15 duet on
CD1.
The praise can be shared
around. Even the subordinate roles do
well. Nina Romanova, Bella Kabanova
and Larissa Kostyuk do enchantingly
well singing pp in the trio (Sleep,
May the angels waft you to dreamland)
for Martha, Brigitte and Laura. Trust
Tchaikovsky to make a gift of this delightful
music to collateral characters. It is
not far from the famous (‘British Airways’)
duet from Lakmé.
However not quite everything
is plain sailing: Benno Schollum is
evidently under pressure in his CD1
tr.8 monologue as King René and
this strain comes out in a wobble. Nevertheless
the audience loved it and I have heard
worse. There is applause at the end
of many of the arias. Otherwise the
audience is very quiet.
Instrumental details
are vividly captured. The bark of the
horns has a gripping and mordant authenticity
in CD1 tr.14 at 3.41. The harp, flute,
clarinet and trumpet all have significant
solo opportunities.
The marvellous melody
associated with the blessing of light
(first encountered in the garden scene
in tr. 15 CD 1 and sung in tr. 2 CD
2) and is related to the great horn-led
tune in Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony.
Here it is lent epiphanic renewal by
the slightest adjustments and re-tunings.
A variant of this fine melody also appears
as the resounding hymn to light that
closes the work on CD2 tr.6.
Now to the readings
from Pushkin's ‘Onegin’ alternating
with excerpts from Tchaikovsky's opera.
I have no Russian at all but was impressed
by the rolling combination of soft and
harsh colouration heard in the realisation
(nothing as pedestrian as a reading)
by Alla Demidova. On occasion the reading
accompanies the orchestral contribution.
This works very well. A similar effect
is secured in Prokofiev's melodrama
on Onegin. You can hear the Prokofiev
on Chandos in a fine English reading
by Timothy and Sam West and Niamh Cusack.
However the Russian language has more
atmosphere as you can hear in the Abdullayev
LP recording made on Melodiya in the
1970s - now there’s one that should
be reissued.
This Fedoseyev-directed
version of Iolanta prompts reappraisal
of Relief issues. First of all let's
exorcise the criticisms that have usually
accompanied Relief releases - especially
the Rimsky operas and the Fedoseyev
Tchaikovsky symphony series. Here the
recording is exemplary. There is no
shortage of heft, impact and transparency.
It is all captured in the lively acoustic
of the Moscow Conservatoire. Some other
Relief recordings have been opaque but
this one is just splendid and may spell
a new era for the label. The recording
level is set higher than usual so watch
the volume setting on your amplifier.
What about documentation?
This time there is a synopsis plus a
full libretto in transliterated Russian
and with parallel translations into
English and German. This is keyed into
tracks (of which there are 21 for the
opera and 14 for the alternating Demidova
reading). Navigation and study could
hardly be easier. So far so good.
It is a pity that the
Onegin tracks were not identified in
the booklet with the first line of the
original for the acted sections and
the name of the aria or orchestral extract
for the sections from the opera.
I have not been able
to compare alternatives of Iolanta
but the Galina Gorchakova version (442
796-2) in Philips' Kirov series with
Gergiev is highly regarded. It is from
1994. Vishnevskaya and Rostropovich
recorded the opera for Erato (2292 45973-2)
as they did with Prokofiev's War
and Peace. Once again at this stage
in her career Vishnevskaya was no longer
the fresh and innocent girl and her
portrayal surely suffers. I also recall
an EMI-Melodiya 2LP box issued during
the 1970s. Perhaps someone can tell
me what I am recalling. I remember that
being an excellent reading full of virile
attack but with scarifying sound and
some fairly squally soprano contributions.
The very un-Russian
eruption of enthusiastic applause at
the end of Fedoseyev’s Iolanta says
it all. This is a most accomplished
and life-imbued version of Iolanta.
All lovers of Tchaikovsky’s music,
especially the opera-philes, but also
those who know him only from Onegin
and have not dared to explore further,
must track this down. A top recommmendation.
Rob Barnett
Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow
Radio/Vladimir Fedoseyev 