Phil‟s Classical Reviews Atlanta Audio Club November, 2020 “Amour eternel” – Ekaterina Siurina, Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 5 Shostakovich: Songs and Romances soprano; Constantine Orbelian, Irina Feoktistova, pianist Margarita Gritskova, mezzo-soprano; conductor,Kaunas City Symphony (MSR Classics) Maria Prinz, pianist (Delos) (Naxos) Ekaterina Siurina, born (coincidentally) This review is something new for me in What I said about Margarita Gritskova in Ekaterinburg, Russia, completed her that I am listening to postings on the in my “Russian Tribute” column studies at the Russian Academy of MSR Classics website instead of (Summer, 2019) goes double in this Dramatic Arts in Moscow. I won‟t bore either a physical CD or a download. new release of Songs and Romances you with a list of the competition They are the result of an extraordinary by Dmitri Shostakovich, especially that honours she has won, but instead will collaboration of two Russian emigrées her interpretive skills revealed “a keen content myself with saying that, while who now reside in the wild frontier of intelligence at work engaging with still a student in 1999, she made her Chicagoland, pianist Irina Feoktistova poetry of real literary substance [and] professional role debut as Gilda and mezzo-soprano Evgenia Pirshina, making full use of the wonderfully in Rigoletto opposite the celebrated who here utilizes the skills she has expressive quality of her voice.” As baritone Dimitri Hvorostovsky developed in her other career as opposed to the songs of Tchaikovsky, photographer and creator of stunning Rimsky-Korsakov, and Rachmaninoff In addition to some of the usual color realizations. The natives of St. that we heard in the earlier album, suspects in an aria recital of the sort Petersburg and Moscow, respecively, these romances by Shostakovich are we have in the present release by combine their talents in a program of often grim, satirical, darkly emotional Delos Productions, we are also given sound and imagery that will really blow and sombre, requiring the utmost of two great arias from operas that you you away! Gritskova and her recital partner, won‟t get to hear very often for various pianist Maria Prinz. reasons. First, Louise by Gustave In that context, it seems fitting that the Charpentier (1860-1956) is seldom subject should be two works by the In contrast to the earlier CD program, staged because of scenic difficulties, altogether extraordinary Alexander the poetic texts that inspired Dmitri so that we are much more likely to Scriabin. Was he a visionary or merely Shostakovich are all over the board, in hear the aria Depuis le Jour in recitals. a madman and an incredible egotist? quality as well as mood. We begin with Because of the richness and density of We get numerous clues to the Scriabin The Dragonfly and the Ant from 3 Charpentier‟s orchestration, it requires paradox in the two works presented Fables by Ivan Krylov, a retelling of the range and depth of tone Siurina is here, Piano Sonata No. 5 and Vers la Aesop‟s tale of the grasshopper and capable of bringing to it. In this aria, flamme. Both reveal aspects of his the ant with a distinctly Russian the heroine reminisces, “Since the day artistic goals and tortured strivings. piquany. “So then you,” rebukes the I gave myself to you, / My destiny Ant, “Without a thought sang away the seems strewn with flowers/ I tremble One of the things that gets tortured in entire summer. That‟s fine business. deliciously / At the tender memory of Scriabin‟s Sonata No. 5 in F-sharp Go on then – dance now!” our first day of love.” The sentiment Major is tonality itself. At a time when may sound sappy, but the richness of he was getting disenchanted with any There follow 2 romances by Japanese expression of a Siurina can really put theory of tonality as a limiting concept, poets in Russian translation: Before this aria across! this sonata in a single movement the Suicide, the song of a heart heavy makes an honest though decidedly laden, and For the First and Last Time, Hampered by a libretto that is eccentric attempt at key resolution, a song of sorrowful regret for a lost unbelievably melodramatic and by working through extended episodes in love in which Gritskova uses her emotions that are excessive even by B major with sustaining pressure from expressive voice to good effect. the usual operatic standards, Georges E-flat before finally arriving in the Two Romances on verses by Mikhail Bizet‟s Les Pêcheurs de perles (The neighborhood of F-sharp. We should Lermontov are Ballad, in which a Pearl Fishers) is another opera that note, by the way, that F-sharp major is maiden cajoles her naïve lover into doesn‟t get presented very often these a particularly rich, if difficult, key with diving into the depths of the sea to days. That‟s a pity, judging from the six sharps in its signature, something recover her lost necklace –with a rich lyrical quality of the aria Siurina which no doubt appealed strongly to musical depiction of the restlessness sings here, Me voila seule dans la nuit Scriabin. and turmoil of the sea as a correlative (Here I am, alone in the night). for the human passions– and Morning After a deep rumbling from the depths in the Caucasus, with its evocation of In this aria the Priestess Leila, in of the instrument, we are plunged into a break of dawn setting where a young solitude, reflects on her clandestine what seems absolute quiet, like the man encounters maidens bathing in meetings with the fisherman Nadir. It is vast stillness of the universe, for which the shadows. What will follow next? preceded by a breathless rush in the Pirshina finds a visual correlative in a The poet asks, “how can they flee if string section, reflecting the powerful planetarium show where the restless the sweet thief is so very near?” emotions that are surging in her movement of the heavenly bodies breast. In an aria so richly and underlies the ininitial impression of The expressive ranges Gritskova and imaginately scored in the woodwinds, stillness. The excitement picks up in Prinz encompass so well in the especially in the horns, siurina‟s voice stages, and the music now becomes Lermontov poems continue in two rises to the occasion, shaping the bold increasingly urgent, with bullets of light poems by Marina Tsvetayeva. In contours in the music as the warmth of streaming from a source as the visual “Whence comes such tendrness?” we Leila‟s reminiscences allows her to component for what is happening in hear the thoughts of a woman who is subdue her inner turmoil (for the Feoktistova‟s compelling performance. uncertain as to whether to trust a new moment at least). Then, just as we are expecting a well- love: “These are not the first curls that deserved climax of virtuosity, Scriabin I have caressed, and I have known lips Other favorite arias among the 14 pulls the rug from under us, and the darker than thine.” And “No, the drum selections on this program include music vanishes without a trace! was beating” captures ambivalence in Juliet‟s quietly passionate Je veux a young soldier as to whether to hurl vivre (I want to live) from Charles Vers la Flamme (Toward the Flame) himself into the fray, in words that Gounod‟s Romeo et Juliette and was one of Sriabin‟s last works before conceal Shostakovich‟s own feelings Marguerite‟s “jewel aria” O Dieu! Que his untimely death in 1915. Its simple at being rejected by Soviet officialdom. de bijoux from Gounod‟s Faust, where melody consists of descending half Rebirth, after Alexander Pushkin, a demand for high, bell-like tones will steps, with unusual harmonies and provides the consoling thought that pose a real challenge for any soprano. tremolos serving to create an intense, even the thickest coat of black paint Signore, ascolta! (My Lord, listen) from fiery luminescence. The central image will not hide forever the beauty of an Giacomo Puccini‟s Turandot, the in Pirshina‟s visual realization seems underlying painting. urgent plea of the slave girl Liu to to be the sun itself, which provides the Prince Calaf for whose life she fears in clue as to Scriabin‟s unusual title. The There follow two Romances on Verses his coming encounter with the cruel composer believed that a continuous by British Poets, including William Turandot, also rates high marks for tor accumulation of heat would lead to the Shakespeare‟s lesser-known Sonnet the gracious tenderness and flexibility fiery destruction of the earth and all its 66, “Tired with all these, for restful of Siurina‟s voice. So does Micaela‟s creatures, an event which he eagerly death I cry,” with its unmistakable note aria je sais que rien ne m’epouvante (I anticipated. The sonic equivalent of of bitterness and world-weariness that know that nothing frightens me) from this inexorable movement “towards the must have meant something to Georges Bizet‟s Carmen, in which she flame” is the constant buildup and Shostakovich to have even chosen to is building up her courage for her crescendo we experience throughout set it. Two Verses from Jewish folk coming meeting with the woman she the piece. At a playing time of 5:37, Poetry include a tender Lullaby and a fears and hates. this super-charged fusion of romantic Warning to young girls not to go and modern technique does not strolling before dawn. Then we have 2 Siurina‟s account of the heroine‟s overstay its welcome. Stunning flare- Greek Songs, including Pentosalis, the heart-melting aria Si, Mi chiamano ups of flame in Pirshina‟s animation bitter reflection of a youth disappointed Mmi (Yes my name is Mimi) from enhance Feoktistova‟s playing of the in love, and Zolongo, the defiant song Puccini‟s La Bohéme is followed by powerful, sudden chords within the of women who are determined to kill the tender duet O soave fanciulla (O melody line and the echo-effect themselves rather than accept slavery.