Nikolai RIMSKY-KORSAKOV (1844-1908)
Sadko Opera in Seven Scenes [186:00]
Sadko - Nazhmiddin Mavlyanov (tenor)
Volkhova - Aida Garifullina (soprano)
Lubava Buslaevna - Ekaterina Semenchuk (mezzo-soprano)
Nezhata - Yuri Minenko (counter-tenor)
The Sea King - Stanislav Trofimov (bass)
Viking Guest - Dmitri Ulianov (bass)
Hindu Guest – Alexey Neklyudov (tenor)
Venetian Guest – Andrey Zhilikhovsky (baritone)
Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra and Chorus, cond. Timur Zangiev.
Stage director and set designer, Dmitri Tcherniakov.
Costume Designer, Elena Zaitseva. Lighting, Gleb Filshtinsky
rec. live February 2020, Bolshoi Theatre Moscow, Russia
Produced by François Duplat, TV & Video direction Andy Sommer
Video: 1 BD50, Full HD, colour 16:9, sound PCM 2.0. All Regions.
Subtitles; English, French, German, Spanish, Korean, Japanese.
BEL AIR CLASSIQUES BAC488 Blu-ray [186 mins]
Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera Sadko draws on Russian folk tales and is set in the 13th century. The Guild of Merchants in Novgorod mocks Sadko, a singer and player of the gusli (a mediaeval Russian psaltery), for his dream of journeying to distant lands for their commercial opportunities. But Volkhova, the Sea King’s daughter, promises to help him fulfil his dreams. She enables Sadko to fish three golden fishes from a lake, and thus fund his travels. Years pass, voyages are undertaken and imperilled, and a visit to the oceanic world of the Sea King is needed before resolution can be achieved. Thus like some other Russian operas it is episodic rather than tightly plotted. Gerald Abraham wrote “Sadko is not only Rimsky-Korsakov’s best opera (in the sense that it contains much of his best music in each of his different styles and that the musical level is more consistently high throughout), but his most individual – that in which he is most consistently and exuberantly himself and most profoundly Russian.”
Director of this production is Dmitri Tcherniakov, who depicts the stage history of the opera by deploying designs from six earlier productions, from the original in 1901 to the Bolshoi’s design from 1949 (listed and acknowledged in the booklet). These are of interest in themselves and some, like Novgorod’s harbour market in Scene Four and the Sea King’s domain in Scene Six, are spectacular, if to some modern eyes spectacularly kitsch. But Tcherniakov also treats all this design history ironically. Sadko, like the two female leads, wears contemporary clothes and gives a TV interview about himself before curtain up as if in a reality show. Sadko initially wonders into these fairy tale scenes via a theme park entrance with a neon sign announcing the location as “The Park Where Wishes Come True”. Remnants of those earlier sets and props are brought on the stage in the final scene, when the chorus have become a crowd of stage hands in grey overalls. Even in a reality show, the fairy tale scenic Russia - the central image and aesthetic of the opera - is unreal, mere stage detritus. Rimsky’s fine musical summation here is thus rather undersold.
There is a very strong cast. As Sadko, Nazhmiddin Mavlyanov is tireless (he is hardly offstage), his tenor reliable and robust rather than especially ingratiating in timbre. His dress and stage manner mean we never escape the impression that he has wandered on to a stage set that has nothing to do with him – which might be the point. The Volkhova of Aida Garifullina is most impressive, her attractive soprano voice intelligently used. She is not well served by her floaty, tie-dyed dress or the fussy direction when she is with her Sea King father. Her final scene lullaby is beautifully sung and touching, and she and Mavlyanov are very good together in the love duet of Scene Two. Outstanding, too, is mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk, whose lovely singing is expert and moving, making the most of the limited role of the neglected Lubava Buslaevna, Sadko’s wife. The three guest merchants each sing well in their scene four cameos, tenor Alexey Neklyudov being the pick of them.
The Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra plays well for the young Russian conductor Timur Zangiev. The Bolshoi chorus, which as in many a Russian opera has quite a lot to do, and they are very well drilled, both vocally and in stage movement. The filming does all that is required and the booklet notes (with a synopsis is in English, French and German) and disc tracking are both very well organised, making the opera easy to navigate. Curiously, there is only a stereo soundtrack, no surround sound option, which will be frustrating for those who watch opera films on a good home cinema set-up. Fortunately, that stereo sound in itself is very good. With the old 1980 Bolshoi film and Gergiev’s 1994 Kirov DVD of Sadko both now hard to find, this issue is the only filmed Sadko available. If you are not allergic to Tcherniakov’s manner, this has much to commend it, not least some fine singing.
Roy Westbrook
