NEW YORK—As he demonstrated recently in “Don Carlo” at the Metropolitan Opera, Dmitri Hvorostovsky is one of the world’s leading Verdi baritones. However, he has also had a lifelong commitment to the music of his native country, Russia.
His recent concert at Carnegie Hall, at which he was accompanied on piano by Ivari Ilja was devoted to two Russian composers, Sergei Rachmaninov and Georgy Sviridov. Rachmaninov’s work is better known, but the singer also made a strong case for Sviridov, whose “Petersburg” cycle contains settings of nine poems by Alexander Blok.
The composer had worked on the cycle, written especially for the baritone, for 20 years and completed it three years before his death.
Aside from producing a glorious sound, Hvorostovsky becomes fully immersed in the mood of each song, from the nostalgic (for example, “Do you remember the evening”) to the highly dramatic (for example, “I am nailed to a tavern counter”).
An announcer appeared before the start of the second half to ask the audience to hold their applause until the end, but the crowd could not restrain themselves. The dashing baritone persevered and even returned for four encores. The first was with his accompanist for Rachmaninov’s most famous song, “In the silence of the secret night” and the rest were a cappella.
Hvorostovsky’s CD
Hvorostovsky’s latest album, “In This Moonlit Night” (on Ondine) is also a recital of Russian songs with Ilja on piano. The composers on the CD are Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Taneyev.
As with the concert, there is a mix of the familiar (the first two composers) with a lesser-known composer, in this instance Taneyev.
The six Tchaikovsky songs are moody (in fact, one is entitled “In the midst of gloomy days”), but the Mussorgsky (The Songs and Dances of Death) is downright brutal. Death claims everyone, from a baby (sung to a haunting lullaby) to soldiers on a battlefield.
The Mussorgsky songs have also been recorded by sopranos and basses, sometimes with orchestral arrangements, but the original piano accompaniment, as done here, is the most powerful.
The Taneyev pieces are mostly melancholy, from the “Winter path” to “Stalactites” with “frozen rows of bitter tears.”
Barry Bassis reviews NYC shows, concerts, and exhibits as wells as new CDs and DVDs.
