It’s almost comical to read comments by people who know nothing about singing trying to damn the great Koslovsky. This is a precious document of an effortless style of singing now extinct. If you don’t “get it” just move on. And go back to school.
Wonderful singing! Interesting to watch this just after listening to Fritz Wunderlich sing the same aria (in German). FW has a beautiful voice - more attractive in timbre, in the Western European tradition - but he doesn't have nearly as much impact (IMO) as Kozlovsky does here. I think it may be largely that IK is at home in the Russian idiom: he seems to live the piece rather than just sing it. His voice has more variety and color, the minimalist acting is more effective, and he conveys the devastating sadness that is ever present in the work. I need to revisit the whole opera - it has been too long.
He is waiting for his counterpart in the duell and is reminiscing his youth and is wondering what awaits him, if he survives or dies. And if he dies if the woman he loves will think of him. On this account you can find one more version of this aria, performed by another great tenor of that time - Sergei Lemeshev. It's as beautiful.
