Russian Songs and Romances
Track listing below review
Elena Obratsova (mezzo)
USSR TV and Radio Russian Folk Orchestra/Nikolai Nekrasov
rec. 1981, location not specified
MELODIYA MELCD1002332 [42.28]
This CD was planned in 2014 as a tribute on what would
have been her 75th birthday. It now stands as a timely memorial to the
Russian mezzo who died in January 2015. She was actually aged 77, not
75, as is often believed, including by the producers of this CD; like
so many divas, she had knocked a couple of years off her age.
Obratsova was one of that first generation of Russian — or, more
accurately, Soviet — singers who were able to have real careers
in the West, unlike her immediate predecessors who had been trapped
behind the Iron Curtain. Obratsova made her debut as Marina in Boris
Godunov at the Bolshoi in 1963 and by the following year had sung
at La Scala (Marfa in Khovanshchina). Her British debut was
not until 1981 — the year in which this CD was recorded —
when she appeared as Azucena in Il Trovatore at Covent Garden
with Sutherland, Bonisoli and Mazurok. I saw her twice in that run and
remember well the tremendous power of both her chest and high notes
and the visceral intensity of her performance. Her last appearance in
the UK was at St John's Smith Square in March 2000, when she
gave a recital which I, quite unexpectedly, found heartbreakingly moving
in the Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky songs. She told me afterwards that
she wanted to come back and give a recital of Hugo Wolf songs, which
would have been, at the very least, interesting. She was still performing
in 2014, with several recitals in Russia and a performance of the Old
Countess in The Queen of Spades in St Petersburg.
The present recital is not of repertoire with which we immediately associate
her, but such songs were de rigueur for all Soviet singers
of that era. These "romances", as Russians refer to them,
are an equivalent to the Neapolitan songs of Italy: populist, melodic,
with an emotional range which is perhaps not deep but can be immensely
enjoyable and sometimes stubbornly memorable. The programme here is
almost exclusively of the soulfully melancholic type of song which might
be thought of as particularly Russian. In fact there isn't a
single song which could be called truly light-hearted or in a fast tempo
and there is a huge preponderance of waltz time. This does not trouble
me but some may find the recital a little unvaried. It is, however,
very well planned with the selection following a naturally-evolving
course. We start with a sentimental waltz, moving to a slightly livelier
one before a series of three slower, melancholy songs, followed by a
lighter song - and so on. The sequence has been carefully considered
and works very well. Several songs such as "All is quiet"
and "Calm, so calm" have a distinctly operetta feel. "Why
does my heart" is positively music-hall, with a striking resemblance
to "Oh, oh, Antonio". All are quite short and none outstays
its welcome.
Obratsova is in fine voice. Obviously, none of these songs is remotely
vocally taxing, but the light and shade of her phrasing and obvious
feel for the style are very impressive. For my own taste, her vibrato
would ideally be a little less loose and there is a certain acidity
at the top, but, then, that was Obratsova's way throughout her
career. The accompaniments are of the typical Russian "folk orchestra"
type, with its heavily balalaika and accordion-based sonority, and are
very well played, if slightly distantly recorded. The CD is a straight
reissue of the 1981 Melodiya LP, hence the rather parsimonious duration.
There are no musical masterpieces on this CD and the more austere listener
would doubtless regard its contents as mere kitsch, but I found it hugely
enjoyable.
Paul Steinson
Track listing
An Old Waltz (K. Listov - M. Ruderman)
'Tis Not You I Love so Ardently (A. Shishkin - M. Lermontov)
The Moonlit Night (M. Shishkin - N. Yazykov)
Misty Morning (V. Abaza - I. Turgenev)
I Won’t Tell You Anything (T. Tolstaya - A. Fet)
All Is Quiet (music and words by T. Tolstaya)
Why Does My Heart ... (anonymous, arranged by Ya. Prigozhi)
A Sad Maiden (A. Gurilev - A. Koltsov)
Prayer (P. Bulakhov - M. Lermontov; I Haven’t Forgotten You with
Years (P. Bulakhov - L. Zhodeiko)
Calm, so Calm... (anonymous)
My Old Husband (A. Verstovsky - A. Pushkin)
Short-Lived Dreams (P. Ladyzhensky - D. Rotgauz, G.Ratgauz)
A Deep-Red Shawl (anonymous)
