69.00 PLN

2 CD:

Nr kat.: GL100740
Label  : GALA Records

Rudy Avila 5.0 out of 5 starsA Rare Treasure Opera- Beautiful Beverly Sills !!!! September 21, 2004 This is a must have for collectors of rare opera and for fans of the American soprano Beverly Sills. The Russian composer Rimsky Korsakov is best known for his "Flight Of The Bumble Bee"- which in itself is part of one of his operas about a tsar turning into a bee. Korsakov had a knack for the exotic (he composed music for the Arabian Nights story of Scheherezade) and his music, which is essentially Russian- Western in a Romantic sense, is perfect for the world of fantasy. This opera "Le Coq D'Or" French for "The Golden Cockerel" may have been written in French by Korsakov (who spoke various languages)and most undoubtedly it was also in his native Russian. The plot is taken from a Russian fairy tale about a strange, Oriental kingdom and the search for the enigmatic golden bird "The Golden Cockerel" that has the gift of prophecy. Korsakov was not the only Russian to write an opera based on a fairy tale. Sergei Prokofiev based his opera "The Love Of Three Oranges" on another Russian legend. This recording (I don't quite recall since it's been a while that I've heard it) is in English, translated directly from the French libretto. The dynamic duo that was Beverly Sills and bass Norman Treigle feauture their brilliant operatic and acting talents to this recording. Norman Treigle had a keen sense of theatre and he shared much success with Beverly Sills at the New York City Opera. His bass voice was earthy, sonorous and quite lovely note-for-note, allowing us to hear every line of the text. Back then, there were no supertitles superimposed on a screen. It was more important for singers to really enunciate and speak clearly, even act as if in a play, to get the message of the opera across. Beverly Sills sings the role of Queen Shemakah, a fiendishly difficult coloratura part. Lately, this opera is hardly performed at all which is sad because it's a gorgeous story along the lines of Mozart's Magic Flute. Perhaps in some European locations they still produce this opera, perhaps a recording appears now and then and there is a DVD production of it in circulation. Beverly Sills was the first soprano to make the role of the Queen Shemaka her own. No one at the time was singing the role. The Hymn To The Sun is a high coloratura aria in which the Queen honors the sun. It is hauntingly beautiful. This recording is worth buying if only because of Beverly Sills and Norman Treigle, two marvelous singers in the opera scene of the 60's and 70's. For fans of Sills, this recording is a must have. Also, hardcore fans will be pleased to know that this same opera was videotaped and filmed in the early 70's and there exists a film production out there somewhere in the underground market. *** SOURCES: ~ "Le Coq d'Or" - New York City Opera broadcast, November 9, 1971. ~ "Mozart and Salieri" - 1951 Russian radio broadcast. SOUND: ~ "Le Coq d'Or" - wretched stereo! (See the earlier review by Mr. Clement for the grim details.) ~ "Mozart and Salieri" - adequate 1950s mono. CAST OF "LE COQ D'OR": King Dodon - Norman Treigle Queen Shemakha - Beverly Sills Astrologer - Enrico di Giuseppe Amelfa - Muriel Costa-Greenspon Gvidon - Gary Glaze Afron - David Rae Smith Polkan - Edward Pierson Le Coq d'Or - Sybl Young CAST OF "MOZART AND SALIERI": Mozart - Ivan Kozlovsky Salieri - Mark Reisen CONDUCTORS: ~ Le Coq d'Or - Julius Rudel, with the Orchestra and Chorus of the New York City Opera. ~ Mozart and Salieri - Samuil Samosud, with the All-Union Chorus and Orchestra.