Search - Dargomizhsky, Tchistiakov, Bolshoi Theatre Orch :: Dargomizhsky: The Stone Guest [Le Convive de Pierre]

A very important opera.

moskvich | Moscow | 01/26/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This work is unknown in the west, but the influence this work had on such composors as Mussorgskiy is enourmous. The cast is very good, especialy Nikolay Vassilyev and Tatyana Yerastova. Chistiakov is one of the best conductors I ever heard. The sound is very good. In small roles the recording features some of the best character singers in the Bolshoi - Alexandr Arkhipov, Piotr Glubokiy, Boris Bezhko and Nikolay Nizenko."

A solid perfarmance

moskvich | 09/25/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Stone Guest holds a special position for me: that was the first opera I ever saw in the Bolshoi, when I was ten. It was a great experience. The statue scene shoked me the most. This recording was made 2 years after I saw the opera. Andrey Chistiakov makes a very poetic opera out of the prosaic score. The opera is written after Pushkin. Dargomizhskiy did not even have a libretto. the hole work is written to Pushkin's words. Stone guest is a shorter and more intence work than Mozart's opera. The only comic chararcter is Leporello. Don Juan is sung by one of the Bolshoi's leading tenors Nikolay Vassilyev. He has a nice, focused dramatic tenor, and he is allways allert. Leporello is Viacheslav Pochapskiy. He, perhaps has poor voice (when you compare him to other Russian basses), but dramaticly he is allso more than acceptable. Soprano Marina Lapina (Donna Anna) is a good dramatic soprano, and Tatyana Yerastova is a good Laura. Nikolay Reshetniak is a perfect don Carlos. The small roles are taken very well. Nicolay Nizenko is a great Statue, Boris Bezhko is a wonderfull monk. The two guests are Alexanrd Arkhipov and Pyotr Glubokiy, both famous character singers."