Reviews
The Telegraph
by Geoffrey Norris
With this recording of Aleko, Gianandrea Noseda and the BBC Philharmonic complete their trilogy
of Rachmaninoff’s operas for Chandos
The focal aria for Aleko, which has long been a staple of the Russian baritone repertoire, is sung
here with anguished passion by Sergey Murzaev.
The duet for his errant lover Zemfira (Svetla Vassileva) and her new squeeze, the Young Gypsy
(Evgeny Akimov), brims with lyrical ardour, Vassileva hurling out taunts to the spurned Aleko in the
vicious aria that follows. Unlike Rachmaninoff’s other two completed operas, Aleko is conceived in
separate numbers, but Noseda’s skill here is to maintain control of pacing and to keep the drama both tense and fluid.
Turin’s Teatro Regio chorus adeptly assumes its role as a band of Bessarabian gipsies and the BBC Philharmonic plays superbly.
FINANCIAL TIMES
By Andrew Clark
The teenage Rachmaninov wrote his Pushkin one-acter in 17 days. Indigestion? No, inspiration.
Aleko has the flavour of a Russian Cavalleria rusticana, with the hero murdering his gypsy
sweetheart and her lover. Musically it echoes Borodin, notably in the opening chorus.
Rachmaninov’s voice may not yet be distinctively personal but the result is attractive, particularly in
a performance as well cast as this.
Everyone – including the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and the chorus of Turin’s Teatro Regio –
gets a chance to bask in the spotlight. But it’s Aleko’s central Cavatina, where he ruminates on his
lover’s infidelity, that defines the drama, and Sergey Murzaev seizes his chance, singing with the
histrionic grandeur we have come to expect from Russian basses. Svetla Vassileva and Evgeny
Akimov are scarcely less vivid as the ill-fated lovers.
Whether Aleko would work as well in the opera house is anyone’s guess, but it manifestly works on
CD, and Noseda can take much of the credit. Having served an early apprenticeship in St
Petersburg, he relishes the colour of the music and profiles its fine contours, never resorting to
cheap emotionalism.
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