PROKOFIEV Story of a Real Man [1961] (2 Discs, Chandos) Mark Ermler BOLSHOI for Sale

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PROKOFIEV Story of a Real Man [1961] (2 Discs, Chandos) Mark Ermler BOLSHOI For Sale

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PROKOFIEV Story of a Real Man [1961] (2 Discs, Chandos) Mark Ermler BOLSHOI:
$35.00

Story of a Real Man was based on the heroic tale of a Soviet airman who overcame the amputation of his feet to fly again and become a war hero by shooting down seven German planes in 1943.
Prokofiev wrote the opera in 1948 with two aims in mind. He wanted to create a politically correct stage work that would protect him as Stalin launched a new purge of the arts. And he wanted to write an artistically sound Soviet opera. His first aim was imperiled by the opera\'s poor reception, leaving him suspect as a modernist. The second aim is still in doubt despite this idiomatic performance recorded after a 1960 Bolshoi revival that, significant cuts notwithstanding, makes a case for the neglected work. While the text suffers from politically inspired naïve optimism, there\'s plenty of fine music.
Instrumentally, it\'s reminiscent of the composer\'s Semyon Kotko, another neglected patriotic war epic with worthy music. The opening and closing choruses, several of the pilot\'s monologues and scenes, the love duet, dance music, and Act II\'s closing tableau are all outstanding. This Bolshoi production makes a strong case for the opera. Ermler\'s idiomatic conducting is never sentimentalized and always fluid. The singing is excellent, with baritone Yevgeny Kibkalo a convincing hero, and the supporting cast boasts numerous fine voices and deft characterizations. The 1961 Soviet sound is clear and vital in Chandos\'s remastering. --Dan Davis
SERGEI PROKOFIEV(1891-1953)Story of a Real Man Op. 117(1948)An Opera composed in four actsre-arranged in three acts by M Mendelson-ProkofievaLibretto by S.S. Prokofiev and M. Mendelson-ProkofievaBased on the novel by Boris Polevoy

Alexei, a pilot - Yevgeny Kibkalo baritone
Olga, his fiance - Glafira Deomidova soprano
Grandfather, Mikhailo - Georgi Shulpin tenor
Vasilissa, grandmother - Vera Smirnova alto
Varya, a farm woman - Margarita Miglau mezzo soprano
Petrovna, a farm woman - Antonina Ivanova soprano
Seryenka, a farm boy - Aleksandr Suzanov
Fedya, a farm boy - Vladimir Kurguzov
Andrei, a pilot friend of Alexei\'s - Georgi Pankov bass
First surgeon - Leonid Maslov tenor
Second surgeon - Nikolai Zaharov bass
Alexei\'s mother - Valentina Petrova mezzo soprano
Klavdia, a nurse - Kira Leonova mezzo soprano
Commissar - Artur Eizen bass
Kukushkin, a pilot - Alexei Maslennikov tenor
Gvozdev, a tank driver - Vitali Vlasov tenor
Vasili Vasilevich, the head surgeon - Mark Reshetin bass
Zinochka - Maria Zvenzdina mezzo soprano
Colonel (Valeri Yaroslavtsev)

Mark Ermler, conductorChorus and Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre
STUDIO Recording : 1961, Moscow, based on 1960 Bolshoi Theatre production of the revised version by Mira Mendelson
The booklet presents the sung texts in the original Russian (Cyrillic only; no transliteration) alongside English, French and German translations.

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PROKOFIEV Story of a Real Man [1961] (2 Discs, Chandos) Mark Ermler BOLSHOI For Sale

PROKOFIEV Story of a Real Man [1961] (2 Discs, Chandos) Mark Ermler BOLSHOI: $35.00

PROKOFIEV Story of a Real Man [1961] (2 Discs, Chandos) Mark Ermler BOLSHOI:
$35.00