Although Sergei Leiferkus does not have the most powerful baritone in the world, his insight, intelligence, intuition, authority, and soulfulness more than compensate. And in the Russian art song repertoire, he hardly has any competitors. His recordings of Glinka and Tchaikovsky are flat out magnificent. But decades from now, when art song aficionados speak of Leiferkus, it will be his recordings of the songs of Mussorgsky that are mentioned in hushed whispers and reverential tones.Not since Boris Chirstoff's sublime survey ...
Read More
Although Sergei Leiferkus does not have the most powerful baritone in the world, his insight, intelligence, intuition, authority, and soulfulness more than compensate. And in the Russian art song repertoire, he hardly has any competitors. His recordings of Glinka and Tchaikovsky are flat out magnificent. But decades from now, when art song aficionados speak of Leiferkus, it will be his recordings of the songs of Mussorgsky that are mentioned in hushed whispers and reverential tones.Not since Boris Chirstoff's sublime survey of the complete Mussorgsky songs has another singer of comparable stature scaled the heights Leiferkus reaches in the first volume of the songs. His The Songs and Dances of Death are among the most terrifying, moving, and truthful ever recorded. His The Puppet-Show is dreadfully, nastily witty and his Forgotten is heartbreaking. His Darling Savishna is drop-dead funny. And his concluding Mephistopheles' Song of the Flea is grotesquely hilarious. In all ways, this is one of the best...
Read Less
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
New. Size: 5x4x0; This rare CD is still sealed in plastic. One critic described it as a "very strong disc from St. Petersburg baritone Sergei Leiferkus. Two of the major selections contained here, the cycle "The Nursery" (1872) and "The Puppet Show" ("Rayok" in Russian, 1870) are dramatic presentations rather than conventional songs. Leiferkus does almost all of "The Nursery" in a falsetto mimicking the nanny. "Rayok" is a 15-minute long sequence of scenes in pitter-patter, exhibiting the sort of modal, repetitive writing that is familiar to fans of Mussorgsky's two major operas, "Boris Godunov" and "Khovanischina." Leiferkus' performance in "Rayok" is notably strong. Also included are several of Mussorgsky's better-known individual song, including that black joke about despotism "Mephistopheles' Song of the Flea" (1879), and the very original short song "Darling Savishna" (1866)."
