MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

alternatively
CD: MDT AmazonUK AmazonUS

Nikolai RIMSKY-KORSAKOV (1844-1908)
May Night (1878-1879) [123:40]
Levko – Vitaly Taraschenko (tenor)
Hanna – Natalia Erasova (mezzo)
Pannochka – Marina Lapina (soprano)
The Mayor – Vyacheslav Pochapsky (bass)
The Distiller – Alexander Arkhipov (tenor)
The Mayor’s sister-in-law – Elena Okolycheva (mezzo)
The Clerk – Piotr Gluboky (bass)
Kaleni, the Village Drunkard – Nikolai Reshetniak (bass)
Sveshnikov Academic Choir/Evgeny Tyrianko
Bolshoi Theatre orchestra/Andrey Chistiakov
rec. 1995, Moscow. Libretto not included
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 94036 [65:10 + 58:30]

Experience Classicsonline



As with all Rimsky-Korsakov’s operas May Night only has a handful of recordings, among them a Capriccio release under Alexander Lazarev. That’s available as part of a four-opera set – review – which looks very tempting if you can get it at a good price. Brilliant certainly has a reputation for producing discs on a tight budget and, as Naxos and other lower-price labels have proved, quality needn’t be compromised in the process. Thankfully there’s no trace of old, Soviet-era sonics here, but Russian vocal traditions take a little longer to adapt. But even if you’re allergic to excessive vibrato May Night has enough good tunes to keep you listening to the end.
 
It certainly starts well enough, with all the sparkle one expects of this composer. As for the Bolshoi band, what they lack in refinement they make up for in animation. The recording is somewhat recessed – veiled, even – the chorus of villagers sounding a tad fierce in the climaxes. Vitaly Taraschenko’s love-sick Levko is pleasing, if plaintive, his serenade to Hanna sung with more ardour than charm. In the ensuing duet, Natalia Erasova’s Hanna sounds girlish enough, but there’s no disguising her wide vibrato. It’s all rather underpowered, Taraschenko struggling under even the slightest pressure; moreover, he delivers his tale of the drowned maiden as an unvarying monologue, quite without life or feeling.
 
Oh dear, not the most encouraging start. Nikolai Reshetniak’s Kaleni the village drunk and Vyacheslav Pochapsky’s Mayor are adequate although, as with Levko and Hanna, they’re apt to sound monochromatic. And just sample the end of Act I, where Levko tries to enlist the village lads’ help against his rival in love; really, it’s hard to imagine a less vital performance than this. Even Rimsky’s score is drained of its usual piquancy, making one long for the energy and thrust of a Gergiev. As for Act II, the broad comedy of the Mayor’s dinner with his sister-in-law and the Distiller – interrupted by the hapless drunk – is painfully short on humour, the band chugging along dutifully in the background. Inexplicably, the trio and village lads’ song is split between discs one and two, which is both annoying and unnecessary.
 
May Night isn’t Rimsky’s most inspired opera by any stretch of the imagination, but it deserves a livelier, more committed performance than it gets here. And although Elena Okolycheva’s sister-in-law breathes some life into the performance it’s not enough to stop it from flat-lining at times. Yes, the ethereal opening of Act III is atmospherically done – how much better it would sound if the orchestra weren’t so distant – and Levko seems much more comfortable at low volume. There is some lovely music here, but it’s only hinted at, thanks to Chistiakov’s workmanlike conducting and a lacklustre recording. Matters improve slightly with the appearance of Pannochka and the dances that follow. That said, rhythms are generally flaccid and, as a whole, the performance never rises much above mediocrity. It certainly doesn’t do justice to Rimsky’s colourful score.
 
Listening to this May Night on a wet November one makes the experience all the more dispiriting. Indeed, I can’t remember an opera recording that fails so miserably – and on so many levels – as this one. Avoid.
 
Dan Morgan

 

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools






Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.