DMITRI HVOROSTOVSKY

Sings of War, Peace, Love and Sorrow

Arias from Prokofiev: War and Peace; Rubinstein: The Demon; Tchaikovsky: Iolanta; Mazeppa & The Queen of Spades

Dmitri Hvorostovsky (baritone), Asmik Grigorian (soprano), Irina Shishkova (mezzo-soprano), Vadim Volkov (countertenor), Igor Morozov (tenor), Mikhail Guzhov (bass); Helikon Opera Chorus; Academic State Symphony Orchestra of Russia/constantine Orbelian

Delos DE 3517 53:51 mins

For all his success in Italianate roles Dmitri Hvorostovsky hasn’t abandoned his native repertoire. Here he samples major Russian operas that still remain marginal abroad, with a fine young cast including Asmik Grigorian, daughter of celebrated tenor Gegam Grigorian and a star in her own right. In Prokofiev’s

War and Peace the opening scene, a lyrical nocturne, provides a strikingly beautiful duet for her and mezzo Irina Shishkova, framed by Prince Andrei’s increasingly ardent reflections. Hvorostovsky recorded this soon after treatment for serious illness, but his familiar rich tone seems undiminished, and it’s hard not to sense some extra feeling in Andrei’s reaffirmation of life. His voice is rather light for the dastardly Cossack Mazeppa – ‘a Ukrainian separatist’, the notes call him! – but his forceful delivery carries it off; Duke Robert’s amorous paean, from Iolanta, suits him better.

In the more familiar Queen of Spades he sings Tomsky’s ballads, spooky and amorous, with sardonic gusto. Almost unknown in the West beyond a Melodiya re-release, The Demon is variable and somewhat verbose, but impressed even Rubinstein’s opponent Rimskykorsakov. In the final scene the Byronic Demon pursues the virginal Tamara into a convent. Hvorostovsky’s silky intensity makes his blend of vampiric passion and vulnerability credibly seductive, and Gregorian’s bright-toned resistance understandably desperate.