any one knwo what they would have been paid for their performance? I think London would have paid less than the Met, where F&M would have gotten $1k (well, M insisted on 1.001K
Не знаете, купюры в хоре "Собралися мы, гости торговые" и в былине Нежаты о Волхе - авторские или нет? Кто и когда их ввел? Почему в одних записях и клавирах - "нашей веселою", а в других - "нашей никольщиной"? Как же правильно?
The action takes place in the 16th century in Moscow, during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. Act I. Evening in Prince Zhemchuzhny's garden. The Prince has promised his daughter Natalya in marriage to Molchan Mitkov. She bemoans this fate to her old nurse Zakharyevna and her maids. Her true love Andrey Morozov arrives with his friend Basmanov, the Tsar's favourite, and a group of oprichniks (the Tsar's personal paid bodyguards). On Basmanov's advice, Andrey has decided to join the guard in order to take revenge on the Prince for having robbed and evicted him and his mother. When they have gone, Natalya returns and mourns his loss, unconsoled by the singing and dancing of her maids. Act II. In her peasant hut (Scene 1), Andrey's mother, the Boyarynya Morozova, laments on her misfortunes and worries about Andrey's association with the oprichniks. Andrey comes to tell her of his friendship with Basmanov, but she refuses all help from the oprichniks. Andrey does not tell her of his plans to enlist. At the Tsar's headquarters in Aleksandrovskoye (Scene 2). Andrey takes a solemn oath of total loyalty to the Tsar, and has to renounce all previous liaisons with his relatives, his mother and his beloved Natalya. Their family's old enemy Prince Vyazminsky does not trust the new recruit, but under pressure from Basmanov, he agrees to accept Andrey as a new oprichnik. Act III. In a square in Moscow, the crowds complain about the behaviour of the oprichniks, and Andrey's mother is taunted by boys as a “she oprichnik”. Natalya runs into her arms for protection from the pursuing Zhemchuzhny and her old groom. Andrey appears in time to save her, but the two women are horrified to find that his companions are the oprichniks. The Boyarynya Morozova condemns her son, and solemnly disowns and curses him. All are stunned at this turn of events. Basmanov suggests that the Tsar might consent to release him from his oath. Act IV. At the Tsar's quarters in Aleksandrovskoye, the wedding of Andrey and Natalya is taking place. Andrey is to be released from his oath at midnight. But before that hour, Prince Vyazminsky interrupts the festivities with news that the Tsar has sent for Natalya. Despite Vyazminsky's insistence that this is only a test of Andrey's loyalty, Andrey breaks his oath by refusing to let her go. He is arrested and Natalya is carried away to the Tsar. Vyazminsky leads the Boyarynya Morozova to the window, where she sees Andrey being executed. She screams and collapses to the ground, dead.
The story is set in the Ukraine and Saint Petersburg, during the reign of Catherine the Great. Act I. On a moonlit night in the Ukrainian village of Dikanka (Scene 1), the witch Solokha is approached by the amorous Devil. The Devil is upset with the smith Vakula (Solokha's son) for painting an ugly picture of him in the local church. As he flies off with Solokha, the Devil raises a snowstorm and steals the moon, so as to wreck Vakula's courtship of Oksana, daughter of the cossack Chub, who is now seen stumbling drunkenly through the darkness with his friend Panas. In Chub's hut (Scene 2), Oksana is admiring herself in her mirror and has little time for his wooing when Vakula arrives. When Chub lurches in, covered with snow, Vakula fails to recognise him and throws him out. Oksana then furiously drives Vakula away, pretending that she loves someone else. But when she is alone, listening to the village girls sing Christmas carols, she confesses her love for him. Act II. While Solokha is flirting with the Devil in her hut (Scene 1), they are interrupted by a knock at the door. The Devil hides in a sack while Solokha admits the mayor (Pan Golova), who then also sings of his love for Solokha. After another knock at the door, the mayor hides in another sack, and the scene is repeated in turn with the schoolmaster and Chub, each hiding in a sack as the next one declares his love for Solokha. The final guest is Vakula. Unhappy love must have made him weak, he thinks, as he staggers out carrying the mysteriously heavy sacks to make space in the hut for the Christmas festivities. Outside (Scene 2), Oksana is among a crowd of carollers. She admires a pair of slippers (cherevichki) which a friend is wearing. When Vakula, arriving with the sacks, offers to find her a better pair, she mockingly promises to marry him if he will bring the Tsarina's own slippers. Vakula leaves miserably, still carrying the sack containing the Devil, while the mayor, schoolmaster and Chub emerge from the other sacks, to the astonishment and amusement of the carollers. Act III. On the moonlit bank of the river (Scene 1), Vakula is tempted by the water-sprites (rusalkas) to throw himself into the waters. But when the Devil creeps out of the sack and tries to bargain for his soul, Vakula seizes him by the tail. With the Devil at his mercy, Vakula leaps on his back and forces him to fly to the Tsarina's palace in Saint Petersburg. They arrive at the palace (Scene 2) at the same time as a band of Cossacks, who have been granted an audience with the Tsaritsa. While a ball is in progress in the Great Hall of the palace (Scene 3), Vakula and the Cossacks are received in the throne room by the Prince. Vakula's request for the slippers is met with amusement, but his wish is granted, and amid the festivities he slips away again on the Devil's back. Act IV. On a sunny Christmas morning in front of the church in Dikanka, all the villagers are rejoicing, except for Solokha and Oksana, who are worried about Vakula's disappearance. Suddenly, Vakula is seen approaching. He has brought the slippers for Oksana, who admits that she has loved him all along. Chub gives the young couple his blessings, to general rejoicing. Source: en.tchaikovsky-research.net/pages/Cherevichki
I think it is one of the best litmus tests of pianistic ability to listen to the pianist accompanying an assortment of other instruments playing solo. There are many adaptations that have to happen in timing, in dynamic, in phrasing, in communication of emotion. Here, Richter scores very highly - he’s an incredible accompanist. Of course, these two knew each other very well in every possible way, which is bound to be an advantage when playing such extraordinary stuff as Beethoven cello sonatas, where you need to come together as one in order to tap into their deepest elements. OMG how I miss the days when I explored these wonderful pieces with a close friend and magnificent recreational cellist. There will perhaps never be greater music for cello and piano than the Beethoven sonatas. Well, then you mustn’t forget that wonderful Rachmaninov. Oh, enough of all this impossible thinking; life is wonderful because we have these masterpieces from different eras. Here’s a question: what would Beethoven have thought of Rachmaninov cello-piano music. I think there would have been, for Beethoven, a short period of musical shock, followed by a short period of adjustment, followed by a short period of learning, followed by a miraculous creation of Beethoven in the style of Rachmaninov. I think one of the measures of greatness in composers from the late classical and romantic eras would have been their ability to fall in love with and emulate each other’s styles, and to hell with the musical orthodoxies of their respective eras.
Замечательный ансамбль солистов, хора и оркестра под руководствоим блестящего советского дирижера Мелик - Пашаева. Архипова и Петров вообще вне сравнений.
