POWER PLAYERS Russian Arias for Bass ILDAR ABDRAZAKOV CONSTANTINE ORBELIAN, CONDUCTOR KAUNAS CITY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA KAUNAS STATE CHOIR 1 0 13491 34562 8 ORIGINAL DELOS DE 3456 ILDAR ABDRAZAKOV • POWER PLAYERS DIGITAL iconic characters The dynamics of power in Russian opera and its most DE 3456 (707) 996-3844 • © 2013 Delos Productions, Inc., © 2013 Delos Productions, 95476-9998 CA Sonoma, 343, Box P.O. (800) 364-0645 [email protected] www.delosmusic.com CONSTANTINE ORBELIAN, CONDUCTOR ORBELIAN, CONSTANTINE ORCHESTRA CITY SYMPHONY KAUNAS CHOIR STATE KAUNAS Arias from: Arias Rachmaninov: Aleko the Tsar & Ludmila,Glinka: A Life for Ruslan Igor Borodin: Prince Boris GodunovMussorgsky: The Demon Rubinstein: Onegin, Iolanthe Eugene Tchaikovsky: Peace and War Prokofiev: Rimsky-Korsakov: Sadko 66:49 Time: Total Russian Arias for Bass ABDRAZAKOV ILDAR POWER PLAYERS ORIGINAL DELOS DE 3456 ILDAR ABDRAZAKOV • POWER PLAYERS DIGITAL POWER PLAYERS Russian Arias for Bass ILDAR ABDRAZAKOV 1. Sergei Rachmaninov: Aleko – “Ves tabor spit” (All the camp is asleep) (6:19) 2. Mikhail Glinka: Ruslan & Ludmila – “Farlaf’s Rondo” (3:34) 3. Glinka: Ruslan & Ludmila – “O pole, pole” (Oh, field, field) (11:47) 4. Alexander Borodin: Prince Igor – “Ne sna ne otdykha” (There’s no sleep, no repose) (7:38) 5. Modest Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov – “Kak vo gorode bylo vo Kazani” (At Kazan, where long ago I fought) (2:11) 6. Anton Rubinstein: The Demon – “Na Vozdushnom Okeane” (In the ocean of the sky) (5:05) 7. Piotr Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin – “Liubvi vsem vozrasty pokorny” (Love has nothing to do with age) (5:37) 8. Tchaikovsky: Iolanthe – “Gospod moi, yesli greshin ya” (Oh Lord, have pity on me!) (4:31) 9. Glinka: A Life for the Tsar – “Chuyut pravdu” (They suspect the truth!) (5:56) 10. Sergei Prokofiev: War and Peace – “Velichavaya v solnechnykh luchakh” (Majestic, flashing in the sunshine) (4:31) 11. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Sadko – “Viking Song” (2:53) 12. Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov – “Coronation Scene” (8:18) Total Time: 66:49 CONSTANTINE ORBELIAN, CONDUCTOR KAUNAS CITY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA KAUNAS STATE CHOIR 2 The world-renowned basso Ildar Abdra- role – one of the most pivotal in Russian zakov first gained international acclaim music,” says Abdrazakov. In addition to – not in Russian music, as expected of Igor’s famous recitative and aria “Ni sna, a singer who was born and educated in ni otdykha…” the album includes virtu- Russia – but in Italian and French reper- ally all of the greatest hits of Russian bas- toire. His stunning victory at the Maria so repertoire. Callas International Television Competi- tion in Parma at the age of 24 led to his Mr. Abdrazakov first learned some of debut at La Scala as Count Rodolfo in these pieces while studying singing in Bellini’s La Sonnambula and numerous Ufa, his hometown, where he graduat- successful appearances in works by Mo- ed from Ufa State Institute of Arts. He zart, Donizetti, Rossini, Verdi, Berlioz, performed a few of the roles at the Bash- Bizet, Gounod, Offenbach, and Boito on kirian Opera and Ballet Theatre. But his major opera and concert stages around voice — silky, smooth, elegant and sexy the world. basso-cantabile, almost baritone in quali- ty – then sounded too young for Russian The forays into Russian repertoire were operas, which demand heavier and more surprisingly rare -- until now. While pre- mature basso timbre. paring to appear in the title role in a new production of Borodin’s Prince Igor at the Now at the age of 37, as his voice is gradu- Metropolitan Opera, Abdrazakov began ally becoming deeper, darker and denser, working on his first exclusively Russian the singer is ready to tackle them, taking solo album, which coincidently is the first music lovers on an enchanted journey solo aria album of his career. through Russian opera. He is doing this with the help of such an experienced In fact he wanted to present this album conductor as Constantine Orbelian, who as the companion to his first Prince Igor. is well known for his numerous collabo- “It will give people a chance to hear me rations with Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Renée in Russian operatic repertoire and to pre- Fleming, Anna Netrebko and Sondra pare for my interpretation of this major Radvanovsky to name just a few. 3 Russian opera is uniquely rich with great love stories – traditional tenor territory – bass roles. The basso voice, associated but mostly with historical or fantastic plots with depth and power, was first cultivat- with didactic and heroic content, where ed in Russian church music, which huge- the personages are old and wise; or brave, ly influenced Russian operatic language. mighty and powerful; or tragic and noble; The country has produced many great or all of the above. The bass voice seemed basses, from Glinka’s contemporary Os- perfectly suited for that – as well as for sip Petrov to Feodor Chaliapin – and lat- purposes of comic relief, which is also an er, Reizen, Pirogov, Gmyria, and Mikhai- important feature of Russian opera. lov, to name a few. At this point of his flourishing career, Russian composers loved the bass voice two time Grammy-Award winner Ildar and often assigned leading roles to it, like Abdrazakov – the “… sensational bass… Susanin, Ruslan, Boris Godunov, and who has just about everything – impos- Prince Igor. There is no shortage of other ing sound, beautiful legato, oodles of fi- important and colorful bass roles. Boris nesse …” (TheIndependent ) is capable of Godunov has several: the title role, Pi- doing rich justice to all these aspects. men, Varlaam, Jesuit Rangoni and a few lesser ones. Khovanshchina has two ma- Take for example Ruslan, the young pro- jor bass roles: Dosifey, the leader of the tagonist of Glinka’s second opera, Ruslan old believers, and the powerful, unruly and Ludmila (1842), based on Pushkin’s Prince Khovanski. Prince Igor demands tale. Losing his beloved Ludmila on their four differently colored bass voices, in- wedding night to the evil dwarf Cher- cluding the lead; and Rimsky-Korsakov’s nomor, he goes on a heroic journey to “Sadko” also has four. find and save her. In the scene “O, pole, pole…” he is at the very beginning of his It should be noted that Russian opera, perilous adventure. Looking at a silent which had a late start and rapid develop- battlefield, he contemplates the unknown ment (mostly during the 19th century), future, dreams about his girl and asks the was concerned not as much with romantic gods for a sword suitable for his mighty 4 hand. The mood of the scene shifts from with patriotic pride, anguish, grief and sadness and thoughtfulness to valor and fatherly love. A dark and pensive recita- resolve, which alternate with tenderness tive gives way to an expressive cantilena and longing. with remarkably long phrases. One of Ludmila’s potential suitors – and In some ways, the hero of Borodin’s unfin- therefore Ruslan’s rival – is the coward, ished Prince Igor (the composer worked Farlaff. Glinka, who lived in Italy and on it for about 20 years until his death in studied the bel canto style at the time of 1887) is a close relative to Glinka’s noble Donizetti and Rossini, writes for him a characters. The opera was based on one typical basso-buffo aria in rondo form. of the earliest masterpieces of Russian lit- Hoping for an easy victory (after receiv- erature: the 12th century epic “The Word ing a promise of help from the sorceress on the Regiment of Igor” (Slovo o polku Naina), Farlaff jumps from paralyzing Igoreve), about an ill-fated military cam- fear into a fast and breathless blur of paign initiated by the Russian prince Igor words and notes. against the nomadic tribe of Polovtsy. Captured by the enemy, Igor thinks of his Glinka’s earlier opera, A Life for the Tsar shameful defeat, his wife and homeland, (1834-36) – proclaimed the first Russian and cries out passionately for freedom. national opera because of its patriot- ic plot – was based on actual historical Though Abdrazakov had not yet per- events, and offers much musical sophis- formed it on stage at the time of this re- tication. This opera has another bass pro- cording, he definitely had his eyes on the tagonist, Ivan Susanin, a simple peasant, great role of Boris Godunov (from Mus- who sacrifices his life to save the young sorgsky’s historical opera of the same ti- Russian tsar. His farewell aria is sung tle, 1872-74). The aria “Skorbit dusha…” in the darkness of an impassable win- marks the beginning of the tsar’s reign. It ter forest, where he has led the enemy’s begins with dark premonitions, changes vanguard. It is a portrait of a man facing into prayer and finally becomes a call for inevitable death; a meditation, suffused celebration. 5 Nothing could be farther from this rec- and educator, Rubinstein possessed a itative-like dramatic scene than the fero- solid compositional technique and great cious folk-dance-like song of the vagrant melodic talent. He had studied in Berlin drunkard Varlaam, the very embodi- with Siegfried Dehn (also Glinka’s teach- ment of the wild, mighty and dangerous er 12 years earlier) and been influenced side of the Russian soul. “Kak vo gorode by Schumann and Mendelssohn. Both bylo vo Kazani” tells the dramatic story qualities are apparent in The Demon’s of Ivan the Terrible’s victory over the ta- Aria, an impressive musical portrait of tars in their own city of Kazan. the lonely and mysterious hero wander- ing in the cold heavens and searching One of the most famous scenes of for human love. The part was written for Rimsky-Korsakov’s epic fantasy “Sad- bass-baritone, and is often performed by ko” (1894-96) takes place on the mar- baritones.