Composer: Mikhail Glinka
Performer: Taras Shtonda, Ekaterina Morozova, Vadim Lynkovsky, Aleksandra Durseneva, Vitaly Panfilov, Maria Gavrilova, Maksim Paster, Irina Dolzhenko, Bolshoi Theatre Chorus
Orchestra: Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra
Conductor: Alexander Vedernikov
Number of Discs: 3
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Pentatone
Release: 2004
Size: 3.42 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
CD 01
Ruslan and Lyudmila, Op. 5 (Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka)
01. Overture
Ruslan and Lyudmila, Op. 5, Act I (Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka)
02. No. 1, Introduction. Dela davno minuvsikh dnei
03. Est’ pustynnyi Kraj
04. No. 2, Lyudmila’s Cavatina. Grustno mne, roditel’ dorogoi
05. No. 3, Finale. Chada rodimye
06. Chto sluchilos’?
Ruslan and Lyudmila, Op. 5, Act II (Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka)
07. No. 4, Entr’ acte
08. No. 5, Finn’s Ballad. Dobro pozhalovat’, moi syn
09. No. 6, Duet of Finn and Ruslan. Blagodaryu tebya, moi divnyi pokrovitel
10. No. 7, Scene and Farlaf’s Rondo. Ya ves’drozhu
11. Rondo. Blizok uz chas torzhestva moego
CD 02
Ruslan and Lyudmila, Op. 5, Act II (Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka)
01. No. 8, Rusian’s Aria. O pole, pole
02. Dai, Perun, bulatnyi mech
03. No. 9, Scene with the Head. Kto zdes’ bluzhdaet
04. No. 10, Finale. The Tale of the Head. Nas bylo dvoe, brat moi i ya
Ruslan and Lyudmila, Op. 5, Act III (Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka)
05. No. 11, Entr’ acte
06. No. 12, Persian Chorus. Lozhitsya v pole mrak
07. No. 13, Gorislava’s Scene and Cavatina. Kakie sladostnye zvuki
08. No. 14, Ratmir’s Aria. I zhar, i znoi smenila nochi ten’
Ruslan and Lyudmila, Op. 5 (Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka)
09. Act III. No. 15, Dances
Ruslan and Lyudmila, Op. 5, Act III (Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka)
10. No. 16, Finale. O moi Ratmir!
11. Vityazi! Kovarnaya Naina
CD 03
Ruslan and Lyudmila, Op. 5, Act IV (Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka)
01. No. 17, Entr’acte
02. No. 18, Lyudmila’s Scene and Aria. Vdali ot milogo
03. Akh ty dolya, dolushka
04. No. 19, March of Chernomor
05. No. 20a, Oriental Dance. Turkish Dance
06. No. 20b, Oriental Dances. Arabian Dance
07. No. 20c, Oriental Dances. Lesginka
08. No. 21, Chorus. Pogibnet, nezhdannyi prishlets!
09. No. 22, Finale. Pobeda, pobeda, Lyudmila
Ruslan and Lyudmila, Op. 5, Act V (Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka)
10. No. 23, Entr’acte
11. No. 24, Ratmir’s Romance. Ona mne zhizn’, ona mne radost
12. No. 25, Recitative and Chorus. Vsyo tikho!
13. No. 26, Duet of Ratmir and Finn. Chto slyshu ya? Lyudmily net?
14. No. 27, Finale. Akh ty svet, Luydmila
15. Kogo nam bogi shlyut?
16. Slava velikim bogam
Mikhail Glinka’s opera Ruslan and Lyudmila is a landmark work in the history of Russian opera, yet the number of complete recordings made of this work can be counted on one hand. This is in spite of Ruslan and Lyudmila’s popular overture and a variety of oft-recorded excerpts derived from the opera. Part of the problem is textual, as the original Glinka manuscript was accidentally destroyed through means that are historically still rather murky. This new Pentatone recording is the first to benefit from a new critical edition of Ruslan and Lyudmila prepared by Russian musicologists Nadezhda Taterina and Evgeny Lavashev, a condition explained in detail in a confusingly translated portion of the massive 183-page booklet that comes with this set.
Apart from the confusing booknote, everything else about this set is something to write home to “Mom” about, especially if she lives in Russia. The recording, made at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, is absolutely stunning — you really feel as though you are at the opera house watching Ruslan and Lyudmila being performed. The cast is very good; it is worth singling out soprano Ekaterina Morozova, who is entrusted to the difficult and pivotal role of Lyudmila. Morozova gets off to a rough start, but quickly finds her way and is outstanding for the balance of the set. The Bolshoi Theater Orchestra under Alexander Vedernikov sounds splendid rendering the orchestral component of the score, significant as there are a lot of purely instrumental passages in Ruslan and Lyudmila, at least 45 minutes’ worth of the total opera. If the listener has ever wanted to hear what Glinka’s Ruslan and Lyudmila is all about, then this Pentatone set is automatically your first choice for the work.