Tchaikovsky: Merknet slaby svet svechi, Op. 73 No. 2 (La faible lueur de la bougie pâlit; Night)

As one of the leading interpreters of Russian music, and Benjamin Britten’s soprano of choice for some of his works, including the mighty War Requiem, it may come as a surprise to some that Galina Vishnevskaya began her professional career in 1944, singing, of all things, Viennese operettas (in Russian translation!) in the chorus of a travelling company. When the company’s leading soubrette broke her leg, Vishnevskaya graduated to lead roles, but her destiny lay elsewhere. As a girl, she had been fascinated with Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, and it was in the role of Tatiana that she made her operatic debut, in 1953, at the Bolshoi Theatre. Other roles followed, including Leonore in Fidelio (1954), Cherubino (!) in Le nozze di Figaro (1957), Madama Butterfly (1957) and Aida (1958). It was in the latter role that she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1962, and she added Liù (from Puccini’s Turandot) for her La Scala debut in 1964. Western critics were agog over this force of nature who had come, if not from out of nowhere, then at least from behind the Iron Curtain. They spoke of her in the same breath as Maria Callas, Renata Tebaldi, Birgit Nilsson and other giants of the era.

In 1955, she married Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, and together, they braved the Cold War tensions that continued to chill life in the Soviet Union. Rostropovich was, of course, a highly gifted pianist as well and accompanied his wife in recital on the stage and in the recording studio.

In 1961, under the supervision of Mercury Living Presence’s executive producer Wilma Cozart-Fine, they recorded material for soprano and piano key to Vishnevskaya’s life and career. Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death she called ‘one of the most important projects of [her] career’ and wrote that the performances of this song-cycle made her feel, ‘for the first time, [her] ethnic identity as a Russian singer’.

In addition to three Tchaikovsky songs recorded at these sessions, a further six were added to her discography seven years later, for Decca, these receiving their first release on CD.

Tchaikovsky wrote over 100 romances, settings of short poems, which are touching and sincere. The melodies are diverse and original and the accompaniment is rich and often very independent. These compositions are performed here by some outstanding Russian vocalists. As well as those listed above, the recording includes performances by the tenor Lemshev.