Mily Balakirev

Christoff was born in Plovdiv on 18 May 1914. Educated as a lawyer, he was heard by the King of Bulgaria while singing with the famous Gusla Choir and at the behest of the King in 1942 he was granted a scholarship to study singing. He moved to Rome and for several years his teacher there was the baritone Riccardo Stracciari. He made his operatic debut in 1946 as Colline in La bohème in Reggio di Calabria, where his singing of the Coat Song in the last act earned two encores.

Although not a particularly large man, Christoff’s magnetic stage presence and piercing eyes made him always the centre of attention on stage, and he exerted command and authority not only over his fellow performers but on the audience as well. His rich, sonorous voice was compact and perfectly focused and, like his physical presence, made its effect in every part of the theatre. His performances as Tsar Boris were not declamatory in the normal sense, but their intensity drew everyone in his audience right down to him on the stage. Every word was clear, every gesture meaningful and every note unforgettable. One might also say that the dark, resonant timbre of his voice was unmistakable and that the sheer emotional intensity of his performances has never been surpassed.

Christoff’s perfectly controlled Slavic voice was ideally suited to the Russian repertoire, especially the roles particularly associated with Chaliapin. He was also ideal for a number of Verdi bass parts, notably Philip II (Don Carlo), Padre Guardiano (La forza del destino), Procida (I vespri siciliani) and Fiesco (Simon Boccanegra), but his repertoire covered a wide range of other Italian roles and a few French ones as well, particularly Mephistopheles in Gounod’s Faust. His German roles included Rocco (Fidelio), King Mark (Tristan und Isolde), Hagen (Götterdämmerung) and Gurnemanz (Parsifal). His concert repertoire also ranged widely, taking in the main composers of the Russian Romantic era, and this survey of Christoff’s art on record begins with what the writer John Steane remarked ‘may well constitute his prime contribution to recorded music and his supreme claim upon the enduring gratitude of musicians at large’, namely the complete songs of Mussorgsky. When first released on LP in 1958, the set was a milestone.

On Discs 4–8 of this set Christoff surveys the remainder of Russian art-song with the most intimate fusion of text and music – a power of advocacy unmatched by other singer on record, even the great Chaliapin.

CD 9 covers Christoff’s main Russian stage roles. These are recordings made in London with the Philharmonia Orchestra between 1949 and 1952 when Christoff was still at the beginning of his career, but already a fully developed and mature artist.

The final CD ranges right across Christoff’s operatic repertoire, with arias by Gounod (Faust) and Gluck (Iphigenia in Aulis), as well as Verdi, including the two great scenes from Simon Boccanegra and Don Carlo in which Christoff and Gobbi strike dramatic sparks off each other. In both cases, Christoff portrays with immense dignity and command the elderly figure of authority (Fiesco and King Philip II) and Gobbi is the young firebrand (Simon Boccanegra and Rodrigo, Marquis of Posa) confronting the older man. The remaining tracks return us to Russian opera and some of Christoff’s greatest roles, starting with Ivan Susanin in Glinka’s A Life for the Tsar. Finally, we hear three extracts from the 1962 stereo recording of Boris Godunov conducted by André Cluytens: firstly Boris’s Prayer from the prologue, where he has finally agreed to become Tsar. Later in the opera a chiming clock terrifies him and he begs God’s mercy on his guilty soul, and finally we hear again Boris’s death scene.

One of the 20th century’s great interpreters, Evgeny Svetlanov initially trained as a pianistcomposer before being appointed principal conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre Symphony Orchestra in 1962 and the USSR State Symphony Orchestra in 1965. The latter post was held for 35 years, a period which saw the ensemble become famed for its unique ‘Russian’ sound. Then, two years before his death in 2002, Svetlanov was sensationally fired from his position by the Minister of Culture. The reason? Too much time spent abroad and too little time spent in Moscow. Scratching the surface of an extraordinary number of recordings made by the conductor, this release is based on various live performances dating from between 1960 and 1983.

Svetlanov was particularly renowned for his commitment to the orchestral works of his homeland (a fact which makes his famous expulsion from one of the country’s top cultural positions even sadder), and the issue presents a feast in its compiling of such music; after hearing two of Borodin’s neglected symphonies, Nos. 1 and 3,we are introduced to several compositions by Glazunov before encountering the little-known figures of Dargomïzhsky and Balakirev. The collection then draws to a close with two of Rimsky- Korsakov’s least performed suites: assembled from their respective operas, The Snow Maiden and Pan Voyevoda were once national favourites. This 3CD set is not to be passed up. In combining Svetlanov’s championing of late-Romantic works with a highly individual school of playing, it offers a unique insight into the musical heritage of Russia and bursts with ineffable expression and shattering climaxes.A must-buy.

Balakirev was an outstanding Russian musician, pianist, conductor and composer. In this collection, all his symphonic works are brought together in chronological sequence. The works include Overtures on the themes of three Russian songs, King Lear and Suite for Orchestra. All are performed by the USSR State Academic Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the outstanding Svetlanov.

10CD boxed set collects all of Berezovsky’s recordings for both Teldec and Warner Classics.

Boris Berezovsky has established a great reputation, both as the most powerful of virtuoso pianists and as a musician gifted with a unique insight and a great sensitivity. He is regularly invited by the most prominent orchestras including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Rome), Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de France and Philharmonia Orchestra (London). He will make his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker in January 2012 With Teldec, Boris Berezovksy has recorded works of Chopin, Schumann, Rachmaninov, Mussorgsky, Balakirev, Medtner, Ravel and the complete Liszt Transcendental Studies. His recording of the Rachmaninov sonatas was awarded the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik and his Ravel disc was recommended by Le Monde de la Musique, Diapason, BBC Music Magazine and Independent on Sunday. Boris Berezovsky also won the BBC Music Magazine Awards in 2006.

In October 2004, still with Warner Classics International, the Berezovsky Trio recorded the Shostakovich Trio n°2 and Rachmaninov Trio Elégiaque n°2, which were awarded the Choc de la Musique in France, the Gramophone Award in the UK and the Echo Classic 2005 in Germany. His Solo live recording of the Chopin/Godowsky Etudes, released in January 2006, received the Diapason d'Or and the RTL d'Or.

Born in 1888, the Russian soprano Oda Slobodskaya won a scholarship for secondary education but, having completed her schooling, to her displeasure, found herself working with her parents in a second hand clothes shop. Despite having no formal musical training, she travelled, at the age of eighteen, from her hometown of Vilno (then part of the Russian Empire) some 300 miles to St. Petersburg, to audition. She was successful. During the Russian revolution she was ordered to join other singers on obligatory tours to factories and farms to entertain the workers. At the invitation of Diaghilev she starred in the premiere of Stravinsky’s opera Mavra. The impresario Rabinoff organised for her to tour America as star soloist with The Ukranian Chorus and while there she made a successful solo debut at Carnegie Hall in New York. But, as a displaced Russian living abroad when appreciation of the Russian repertoire was minimal, Slobodskaya had difficulty finding a good manager. It was at this point that her career took a most unexpected turn. She was persuaded that as a stop-gap measure to earn some much-needed cash she might utilise her talents in the Variety Theatre rather than the opera house, and so under the assumed name of Odali Careno she made her variety debut in Baltimore in 1928. Dressed in a stunning eau-de-nile gown, she was a sensation, singing a mixture of familiar opera arias, ballads and popular songs.

Slobodskaya’s recordings are few and far between. A handful of Medtner songs with the composer at the piano were recorded early in the 20th century for HMV. In 1938 she recorded eight sides of Russian songs for a limited edition set of four 78s issued by the Rimington van Wyck record shop in Leicester Square. Slobodskaya had been heard on the radio by Mr. Frederick T. Smith, owner of RvW, and he was so overwhelmed by her voice that he paid for the records to be recorded by Decca. They were issued in May 1942 in a limited edition of 2000 in an attractive brown and gold album. Decca recorded her again in 1945 and 1946, and then in 1961.

The recordings are of cult status, much sought after by collectors of great vocal treasures, and this is their first issue on Decca CD. Andrew Dalton has compiled the collection and provided the liner notes, and the booklet is illustrated with all the album jackets as well as illustrations from program booklets, making this a real collector’s item.

This release marks the launch of an Eloquence series of notable recitals of songs and opera arias by some of the great voices of Decca and Deutsche Grammophon.

Pianist Danny Driver has garnered overwhelming critical praise – and a Gramophone award nomination – for his previous discs for Hyperion. His authoritative and virtuosic performances of York Bowen and CPE Bach have placed him firmly in the ‘one to watch’ category. For his latest disc, he turns to one of the giants of the Russian piano world.

This disc looks beyond the ubiquitous ‘Islamey’ to some of Balakirev’s most important works – which are curiously underrepresented on disc. The Piano Sonata in B flat minor is a major achievement of the period and one quite unlike any contemporary large-scale piano composition. Its absence from the standard repertoire is unfortunate, as it is fully worthy of such a place. Undoubtedly this marvellous recording will provoke a reappraisal.

Mily Balakirev (1837-1910) was the founder of the group of Russian composers called ‘The Mighty Handful’. Together with Borodin, Rimsky Korsakov, Cui and Mussorgsky he helped create a distinctive Russian school of music that was not reliant on the influence of the Austro German school.

Studying at the St Petersburg Conservatoire, he won the praise of Glinka, and had an influence on the young Tchaikovsky. He wrote two symphonies, two piano concertos, several symphonic poems and many piano works. On these 6CDs his entire output for piano can be found.

A superb pianist, he produced one of the most taxing works ever written for the instrument, his Oriental Fantasy Islamey. His piano sonata is no less impressive, and the Seven Mazurkas are wonderfully melodic works. There is much to discover on these discs. Sadly, Balakirev suffered a complete nervous breakdown in 1871, and he withdrew from life, eventually emerging to take up a minor management role on the railways.

In 1876 he began to compose again, and in 1883 was appointed as director of the Imperial Chapel. He retired in 1895, and continued composing, but by now considered old fashioned and was forgotten even by his old friends. However, one young composer, Igor Stravinsky had a soft spot for him, and pitied him as he suffered from bouts of depression.

In 1997, The Holst Singers and Stephen Layton produced a disc that immediately became a cult classic and a best-seller. ‘Ikon’, a selection of great Russian choral music from the 19th century, dazzled with its grand, opulent beauty. Now the same forces return with Ikon II. Many of the works recorded here are by composers whose names will not be familiar – but the extraordinary quality of the music is unmistakable and immediately enthralling.

2010 sees the 200th anniversary of Chopin’s birth, and among the many celebratory recordings, this disc will stand out as an historic record of the composer’s extraordinary influence and legacy.

Chopin’s unique style of piano writing was to utterly transform the way in which composers wrote for and thought about the instrument. Few escaped some aspect of that legacy until the early years of the twentieth century; and few pianists have not had Chopin’s music in their concert repertoire. Small wonder that so many composers and pianistcomposers— major and minor—have felt moved to pay their respects to a musician for whom there is almost universal approbation. A fascinating selection of hommages are represented here.

Jonathan Plowright has recently been described as ‘one of the finest living pianists; the possessor of qualities that should no longer remain a secret’ (Gramophone). His formidable technique and musical integrity combine in a disc which is a must for any pianophile.