The Tsar’s Bride Galina Vishnevskaya
Vladimir Atlantov
Irina Arkhipova
Evgeny Nesterenko
Choir & Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre/Fuat Mansurov
Melodiya MELCD1001876 2CDs ADD
Mlada
Sinfonietta on Russian Themes in A minor * Alexey Korolev
Tatiana Turaginova
Vladimir Makhov
Alexey Bolshakov
Great Choir of the All-Union Radio
Male Group of the Choir of the Bolshoi Theatre
Great Symphony Orchestra/Evgeny Svetlanov
* State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the USSR/Evgeny Svetlanov
Melodiya MELCD1001829 3CDs ADD
The Tsar’s Bride
Further exploration of the Russian Melodiya vaults gave us this reissue of two historical recordings of fascinating but little-known opera’s from Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakoff. The Tsar’s Bride dating from 1899 may be Rimsky-Korsakoff’s most popular opera in Russia, abroad it remains still very much a gem to discover. Even rarer is Mlada, a mythological opera-ballet extravaganza with a Wagnerian, Ring-influenced orchestration, premiered in St. Petersburg in 1892, wherein, curiously, the title role is taken by a dancer rather than a singer. Read the full review on Classical Net